The cave was full of bats. Big, beautiful, black bats. Bats with names like Igor and Helga and Melpomene, and wings that made a hiss-hiss noise as they cut through the air.

And then, there was Tiffany.

Tiffany was the exact color of the sunset reflecting on the rain clouds, and there were shiny little bits of fire in her fur. Even her wings sparkled just a little.

The caver shone his flashlight into the heights of the chamber, and stopped abruptly, when he saw Tiffany glistening in the dark.

“That is the most beautiful stalactite I’ve ever seen,” he said to his friend.

Tiffany stretched out her glittery wings. “I am not a stalactite,” she said.

“Stalagmite,” he corrected himself, more for the camera on his head than out of any real courtesy.

“I am not a stalagmite,” Tiffany said, stretching her wings even further.

The caver moved his flashlight over her again, and scrunched up his face, as if he were trying to remember the name of those things where a stalactite and a stalagmite had finally grown together.

Tiffany flapped her wings fiercely.

“I am a vampire bat,” she said.

The caver tilted his head to the left.

“A huge, blood-sucking vampire bat,” she added.

The caver tilted his head to the right.

“I have fangs and everything,” she said. “I am not a stalagmite.”

The caver grinned with his dull little teeth. “So I was right the first time,” he said. “You’re a stalactite.”

“I’m a bat,” Tiffany said.

The caver took a picture. “Really… really remarkable.”

“No, I’m not. I’m a bat. A completely ordinary, every-day, normal bat.”

The caver took another picture while she flew around the cave and chanted, “Bat. Bat. Bat. Bat. Bat.”

And somehow, she could tell he still didn’t believe her.

She swooped down, and plunged her fangs into his throat to prove her point. She was a bat. That’s what bats did. And she did a good job of it. Probably gave him rabies and everything. At the very least, he ran away screaming and flapping his arms, and saying some words that weren’t very nice.

Because she was a bat. A huge, terrifying, vampire bat.

And nobody could stop her from doing terrifying bat things.

Be sure to visit the other stories in the blog hop:

Unwelcomed Visitors by Bill Bush

The Witch at the End of the Road by Katharina Gerlach

Unraveled by Bonnie Burns

Holiday Guest by Sabrina Rosen

Home by Barbara Lund

Missing Parts by Jemma Weir

A Perfect Match by V. S. Stark

The Glistening Bat by Karen Lynn

II-The Priestess by Raven O’Fiernan

The Old Ways by Nic Steven

Halloween Pest by Elizabeth McCleary