The thing struck back, its claws passing through Amanda's body with no effect. No, I was wrong, there had been an effect. No wound in the normal sense, but her appearance was changed. She looked less human, the lines of her body were altering, becoming more angular, as though . . . My mind rebelled at the conclusion I was drawing. The thing's claws tore through her transparent body again. She cried out once more, and now her voice was very alien: wind howling down a deserted alleyway would have sounded more human. The words, however, were clear as a bell: "Get out of here."