THE MONSTER INSIDE ME: The Immortal Chronicles: Book One

by Tristin Clark

“Yes, he is! STOP HIM EMILIA! HE’S GOING TO KILL HIM!” I ignore her.

  “HE’S A MONSTER!” I shout, my voice going deeper than I ever heard it.

  “What?” her head shakes in confusion. A smirk plays on my lips and I bend to Van’s eye level and rest my hands on my knees.

  My tone is calm, yet there’s a condescending humor to it.

  “I was going to apologize to you tonight. I only wanted to protect you from him. He’s a monster Van. He’ll hurt you.” And like a radioactive explosion, I explode. The darkness inside me explodes. Gone is the calm and in comes the fiery rage. “He’ll hurt you! He’ll hurt you just like he was about to hurt me!" I yell.

  “What. Did. You. Say?” Austin’s speaks from behind.

  CHAPTER 25 - WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?

  There’s a loud thump and suddenly, Van is on her feet and rushing to the boy gasping for air on the ground. I turn slowly and face one angry and terrifying giant.

  Austin wanted to know the truth, well here it is. Here it is for everyone to hear.

  My eyes are fixed on the blue-eyed boy standing ahead of me, but my words are directed towards my dear friend Van.

  “Last weekend at Chris’s party. You thought I ditched you Van but guess what? I didn’t. I needed you and you weren’t there. I SCREAMED for you and you couldn’t hear me. Where were YOU? HUH? WHERE WERE YOU? Hooking up with Jamie?” I can feel the rage in my voice. I can feel it flood my everything. “I asked you to stay by my side and not abandon me and you did and GUESS WHAT? Cole found me. He LIED to me. Told me you were passed out in one of the rooms. I followed him and then he locked the door and pushed me on the bed and held a hand over my mouth.”

  Everyone around us had become ghost quiet. Austin continues eyeing me, waiting for me to finish all while the blood in his veins burns ten times hotter. Van is cradling a barely conscious Cole in her arms and glaring at me in confusion, shock and disbelief. I turn to her and move closer, passing the blue-eyed boy. I stop, towering over her.

  “You want me to keep going Van?” I can see it in her eyes. A part of her wants to believe me. A part of her feels guilty yet there is another part of her that I can tell, did not believe me at all.

  “While I was screaming for you, he held me down, put his hand down my panties and assaulted me with those sick fingers. The same ones he touches you with. Oh! And let’s not forget. He pulled my panties off and was just about to stick his dick in me but by the grace of God I was able to knee him hard enough and run away. So that’s the kind of monster your precious Cole is. The kind that assaults and attempts to rape unwilling girls that deny him. I denied him Van and look where that almost got me! Now do you understand why he is wrong for you.”

  “You’re the one who is wrong,” she replies, and her words hit me like a stake through the heart.

  “What?” I barely whisper. “You think I’m lying? You think I just made all that up? Really? Do you really think I’d make all that up and humiliate myself in front of everyone just to get you to understand? Does our friendship mean nothing to you? After all these years!” I am panting. Breathing heavily. I am burning from the inside. Austin’s fire is taking control and running rampant within. Maybe it’s his emotion, maybe it’s mine or maybe it’s ours. Either way, I am a ticking time bomb, on the verge of exploding once more.

  Van looks almost as enraged as I and goes on to speak,

  “You call yourself a friend? I knew you two liked each other! I knew it this whole time. You both tried to be discreet, but I saw ya’ll. I saw the smiles, the light touches. I saw everything and I waited for you two to come clean. I waited and I thought maybe you had moved on. You did move on and I was so happy. Happy that I could finally have the guy I love and then you say this! You tell me this lie! A real friend wouldn’t try to steal her best friends crush and lie about it with some bull shit story. A real friend wouldn’t try to cover up from being a slut—" I slap her. I slap her hard, right across her face.

  She holds the side of her cheek, while gazing at me in shock.

  “How dare you!” I yell. “You want to talk about what being a real friend is? A real friend would have been there for me! You call me a slut, yet you were the one getting fucked by some guy that means nothing to you! A real friend would have believed me. A real friend would side with me no matter what but no you’re right,” I chuckle at the end, before continuing,

  “You are no friend of mine Van. We’re done. We are so done. You’re dead to me. I don’t ever want to see you again,” I end in seriousness.

  The sound of many ringtones and beeps of all kinds, distracts me from my rant. I glance up and notice everyone’s eyes and ears glued to their phones. Van notices too and then hears the sound of her own cell phone ringing. She pulls her phone out and eyes the screen. Her wide eyes dart up to mine and then she hesitantly answers her phone.

  “Hello?” she weakly greets.

  “Yes Mrs. Daniel. She’s right here. Wait, wait. What? Who is?” Her eyes grow big and her bottom lip begins to tremble.

  Suddenly, everyone is screaming and running frantically. I glance down at Van and see her placing her phone in her side pocket.

  Chaos ensues around us. I watch. Observing the anarchy in a cloudy state of knowing. I am lost in my own bubble of realization. Everyone knows. They all know.

  I feel a calming hand rest on my shoulder from behind me. I place my hand over his, before turning to see my blue eyes.

  He is calm. While the world around us is on the verge of collapse, my little world is blooming.

  A small, warm smile begins to build on those pouty lips of his. His warm hand splayed on my lower back, pushes me towards him until I am pressed against him. My hands press against his chest and then move up to grip his shoulders.

  “They know, Austin,” I softly tell him.

  “I know,” is all he says.

  “What do we do?”

  “We do nothing. I will take care of it all.”

  “Are you going to make them forget?” I ask.

  “I’m going to make them suffer.”

  (BANG)

  I jump in the arms of the boy holding me. Neither one of us ever saw it coming…

  Austin’s mouth drops, his eyes go wide. His hand squeezes my shoulder and then his head falls, and mine follows.

  “Austin!” I scream in panic, when I witness his shirt stain with blood.

  Both his hands move to press against his stomach and then he brings his hands up between us. We both gaze down at the dark liquid that covers his palms, before gazing at one another with wide eyes.

  “You’re bleeding. Austin…” I cry.

  I look over his shoulder and see Cole and Van. Cole is holding a gun towards Austin, while Van struggles to hold Cole’s weak self, up.

  “NOOO! WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?” I scream at them.

  Suddenly, Austin falls to the ground. I fall with him and move to kneel behind him. I hold him dearly, with one arm wrapped around his chest, while my other hand holds his head. He lays between my thighs, resting up against me. He’s applying pressure to his bleeding wound. I am in tears.

  “Austin… nooo. No. You’re going to be okay. Please be okay,” I whimper, while kissing his temple and cheek.

  The blue-eyed boy glances up at me and lightly chuckles. His bloody hand rests against my cheek and he smiles softly.

  “I’ll be fine, my sweetness, but I can’t say the same for your friends.” My smile drops. I glance towards Van and Cole.

  “RUN!” I yell.

  Austin attempts to slowly sit up, groaning, while holding his palm against his wound.

  “I said RUN!” I repeat, yet they don’t move.

  “No! Not without you!” Cole’s hoarse voice yells.

  “Em! Come with us! PLEASE!” Van begs.

  Austin is now on his feet and is stalking slowly towards the two. I quickly jump to my feet and follow after him.

  (BANG, BANG)

  “NOOOO!” I scream.

  Col
e fires two more shots, slaying the giant and bringing him to his knees. I rush to his side and attempt to hold him up.

  “No, no, no. Austin. No. Please no,” I cry. His head turns to me and he grins maliciously, before turning that evil glare towards Van and Cole.

  “Oh. You two are dead,” he darkly threatens. “You two are so dead.” He throws his head back and begins laughing like a sadistic nut.

  While my attention is set on the laughing, bleeding giant, Cole sneaks up on us and grabs my hand. He yanks me up on my feet and pulls me away from the boy quickly. Austin’s head drops and his eyes flash open, revealing one dark, malevolent glare and for the first time, I witness the true darkness behind them.

  I try to pull away from Cole’s grip.

  “No! Let me go Cole!” I order him. Van rushes to me and grabs my arm along the opposite side of Cole. I try to pry her hand away too.

  “Van! Let me go!”

  “No! You’re coming with us!” she demands. “Cole! Grab her! We’re taking her with us.” I shake my head.

  “No. No. Don’t— Let me go!” But they don’t listen. Instead, Cole lifts my body over his shoulder and carries me away. I glance over his shoulder and spot my blue-eyed beauty attempting to slowly stand.

  “NOOOOO!” he screams, while reaching for me.

  “AUSTIN!” I scream and reach towards him.

  Cole and Van are running, sprinting away in a hurry.

  “Let me go! He will kill you two! You have to let me go! I can stop him! Let me go!” I scream but it’s no use.

  Van rushes ahead of us and opens the back door of Cole’s car. Cole tosses me in the back seat and jumps in beside me. Before I have time to open the door beside me and escape, Van speeds away.

  “You guys have to let me go! He’ll kill you! PLEASE!” I scream.

  “He’s going to kill me no matter what, now that you’ve told him that ridiculous lie!” Cole shouts.

  “I didn’t lie! You did those things to me!”

  “Are you crazy! Is he feeding you crazy! I would never hurt you! You know I wouldn’t! I don’t understand… why did you say that? Why would you say those things? I love you Em. I’ve always loved you—” Cole confesses and somehow, I believe him.

  “Enough! Jesus Christ! Enough already! You two are making it insanely hard to be your friend right now! It’s one thing to deal with a cold-hearted bitch of a best friend, but now I have to deal with BOTH my best friends being little bitches and going behind my back and falling for each other when you BOTH know how I feel about you Cole. That’s just fucked up… oh and now I we have to deal with the beheader as your psychotic boyfriend? Really Emilia? God you sure know how to choose them,” Van says.

  “I still don’t know what the Hell you two are talking about. Van, Cole and I never liked each other like that. We never—”

  “Yes, we did!” shouts Cole.

  “You did Emilia. I told you I knew this whole time. Your serial killer boyfriend must have swiped your memory or something because I saw you and Cole. I saw ya’ll at the party. I saw ya’ll go into that room, smiling and holding hands and giggling like two in love little idiots,” Van states.

  “Em… I didn’t do those things to you like you said I did. I swear to you I didn’t. None of that happened. Not like you say,” Cole adds.

  “Then what did happen?” I ask.

  “You and me… we— Well we went to one of the open bedrooms. We didn’t do much at first besides lay on the bed and talk for a while and then— then we started kissing and one thing led to another and we began fooling around and were going to have sex, at least I assumed it was leading there. Things were getting heated between us—”

  “Did we do anything else?” I interrupt him and ask.

  “You let me touch you. You told me to touch you. You told me you wanted me. You wanted me to be your first and that’s when I told you that I loved you and then you told me you loved me and then that’s it. That’s all I remember. Everything goes black after that. It’s like a part of my memory was just erased. I woke up the next morning in the same bed and you were gone. I tried to call you that weekend, but you never answered. I was going to wait to talk to you on Monday but then I saw you with the new guy…

  I thought maybe you regretted what we did at the party. I thought maybe you felt bad because of Van. I figured maybe you were that Van would find out about us but then after seeing you with that sick fuck, I realized that there was no way you could have had any feelings for me, because if you had, then you would have never put me through what you did. You broke my fucking heart Em.”

  “Cole… I wish I can remember it the way you described but that’s not how I remember it at all.”

  “I know. He did something to your mind. He did something to mine too, that’s why I can’t remember what happened afterwards. He’s a monster Em. He’s killed people and he’s going to kill you.”

  “No. No. He would never hurt me. He loves me,” I assure. Cole takes my hands in his.

  “I love you. I love you, Em. I would never hurt you and I know, deep down, that you believe me. You’ve always said that you trust me more than anyone, well trust me when I say, you can’t stay with Austin. He’s a killer—”

  “A fucking serial killer!” Van interrupts.

  “You guys don’t understand. I can’t leave him. We have this bond and it can’t be broken. I’m sorry Cole. I’m sorry I can’t remember us. I’m sorry I hurt you, but you and I were never meant to be together. Austin was always meant to come into my life. Him and I were always meant to be together. I love him. He is my life now and you guys have no idea what he is capable of. That’s why you need to let me out of this car now and keep driving as far as you can. I’ll try to stop him from coming after you guys—”

  “I’m already here,” whispers his voice from within.

  And then a loud thump is heard on top of the roof of the vehicle. We all glance up.

  “What was that?” Van worriedly asks.

  “That would be him. He found me,” I say, smiling warmly.

  CHAPTER 26 - SAY YOUR GOODBYES

  “He’s here. He’s come for me” I say, now smiling brightly.

  “Fucker better hold on then because I’m about to send his ass flying,” Van threatens just before she accelerates to a faster speed.

  Cole moves in front of me. He sits between my legs and hides me behind him. He turns back and takes my face between his palms, while gazing into my eyes.

  “Whatever happens Em. Know that I love you and I will always protect you. Until my last dying breath, I’ll protect you,” he assures and there’s something in his eyes. Something familiar... I can see his truth. I can feel it and it kills me.

  “Cole…” I cry.

  “I’ve loved you all my life and my biggest mistake, will always be, waiting this long to tell you how I feel. I should have told you sooner and I only wish I had more time, to tell you every day for the rest of our lives, but something tells me, I am out of time,” he says, while slightly smirking. “I love you Em. I’ll always love you,” he declares, right before pulling my face close and crashing his lips against mine in one passionate, brutal kiss. There’s a sudden flash. A memory. It’s quick but I see us. I see him and me and we are— we are kissing. We are kissing and holding one another intimately…

  Our kiss is disrupted by the loud crashing of glass. The window next to us brakes, shattering into tiny pieces. Cole pulls my head down against his lap to hide me from the debris.

  “EMILIA!” screams the blue-eyed boy. My heart flutters happily at the sound of his voice.

  I see his hands grip the top of the window frame. His head lowers, hanging upside down. He smiles wickedly and reaches his hand in through the window, towards me.

  “I’m here!” he eerily sings. “Come Emilia. Take my hand sweetness.” But Cole pulls me to the other side of the car, away from the boy.

  “Don’t listen to him. Don’t go with him,” Cole urges me. Austin disappears fr
om the window.

  The window behind us surprises us when it shatters. I duck and hide my face in Cole’s lap to avoid the flying glass.

  “Ahhh! Austin! Stop breaking windows!” I yell.

  I feel a hand grip the back of my shirt and yank me out of Coles arms.

  “Ahh!” I scream.

  “NOOO!” Cole screams, rushing to pull me back in the car before Austin yanks me out the window.

  Both boys are pulling me like a game of tug of war.

  “LET GO OF HER!” Cole yells.

  Suddenly, I’m falling on top of Cole after being released from behind. For a moment, I am laying on top of him and am instantly hit with a series of quick memories. This isn’t the first time we had laid in this position. No. This moment was only one of many. I gaze at him with wondering eyes. He was right. I saw it. I saw us. We were happy. We were together. He never hurt me…

  I place a palm against his cheek and smile warmly. He notices my smile and his eyes light up with such happiness.

  “You remember,” he cheerfully says.

  “I do. I remember Cole. I remember us. I remember…” I begin to say, before Van shouts.

  “HOLY FUCK!” Van screams. Both mine and Cole’s attention turns towards the front of the car. There. Stands the blue-eyed boy ahead of us, in the middle of the road, with one wicked grin.

  “DON’T HIT HIM!” I scream.

  Van swerves hard, right at the last second, barely missing the boy. The tires screech loudly against the road and then, were airborne.

  The vehicle rolls. Cole and I are tossed against the side door. His body crushes mine, then mine crushes his. We’re both tossed around like rag dolls, flying within the confined space of the car. Everything is in slow motion. Small shards of glass flies around in all directions within the vehicle. Everything is turned upside down until the car hits the pavement, roof first. My body comes crashing down against the front of the dashboard and I scream in agony.

  “AHHH!” I cry out in pain.

  Metal is heard scraping against the asphalt and its ear piercing.