Monster of Monsters #1 Part Two: Mortem's Contestant

by Kristie Lynn Higgins

  "Baka, you say things that do not make any sense."

  Kein yawned again, and then she said, "I know. I'm a baka. The existence I want is all imaginary, and the existence I have is becoming unbearable."

  "You are so unusual. Did you have any friends among the humans?"

  Kein hugged the pillow tightly as she asked, "In which of my worlds, the imaginary or the real?"

  Shukujo answered with, "I care not of your imaginary world."

  "No, I've no friends among the humans, but that did give me a lot of time with myself, and I've gotten to know myself very well."

  The giant spider part of Shukujo's body lay on its belly as if it liked to hear Kein speak, and her voice lulled it into a calm rest while Shukujo continued to talk to the human, "You always seem to find the positive of every situation. Are you cursed with the silver lining syndrome?"

  "I know all too well that there are things that can never turn out no matter what I do, so I don't think I have this disease you speak of," Kein answered. "I just make myself see something positive if at all possible. It's the only way that I've been able to..."

  She stopped speaking.

  "Go on," Shukujo coaxed her as she rested her elbow on the large spider head that was in front of her torso and leaned her head on her hand. "Do not stop now. Explain to me why you have to be so cheery."

  "It's the only way that I know how to survive the darkness. It's the only way I can keep putting my shoe in front of the other."

  "I am not sure I understand," Shukujo said as the spiders that lived in her lair slowly came out of their lodges and moved closer to the two as if some sort of harmony was being forged.

  "Moving forward... Not giving up... Keep on living, that's what I mean," Kein spoke as she placed a hand over the pants' back pocket that held the invitation, and then she said, "Everyone needs something to live for."

  "I think I understand," Shukujo replied. "It is like my plan for revenge. My goal in life is to make those who hurt me suffer."

  "Kind of," Kein told her. "But I was thinking of much happier thoughts." Her eyes started to grow heavy, so she repositioned her pillow, then lay her head on it, and asked, "Shukujo, what makes a person a monster?"

  "Person?"

  "I mean all of us beings."

  Shukujo laughed.

  "You don't believe a human can be a monster?" Kein questioned.

  "I know humans can be monsters. I have just never heard a human think of any other human as a monster."

  There were a few moments of silence, and then Kein said, "You're right."

  "About what?"

  Kein rubbed the middle of her back between her shoulder blades as she spoke, "Humans can be monsters. They do cruel things to their own kind."

  Shukujo realized she was also tired and started to nod of where she lay, and then... her eight eyes flew open in self rage. She had spoken with a human like she used to, she spoke to a human as if their kind weren't at war with her own. Shukujo quickly stood, then paced next to the Kumo'sakai with her eight legs as she considered the consequences of getting too close again, and after a few moments, she said, "I cannot have you here. You need to leave."

  "It's so cold in here," Kein said as she pulled her legs up and lay in a fetal position. "It must get colder at night. I can see my breath. How can you stand it?"

  "Did you hear me?" Shukujo yelled at her as memories from her own sad and dark past flashed through her mind. "I want you to leave, and I want you to leave right now!"

  "There must be a draft. You should have the Controller do something about the draft."

  "Are you purposely ignoring me?" Shukujo questioned her.

  Kein sighed, and then she asked, "Where do you want me to go? There's no place else."

  "I do not care where you go as long as it is not here. No, I take that back. I can make you a nice warm bed. All you have to do is cross the Kumo'sakai, and I will wrap you up in something warm."

  "Something warm," Kein repeated as if the words incited some memory she had safely tucked away, and then she spoke softly, "Like threads of white." She shook off her past, not wanting to linger in sweet memories that only brought her sadness, so she focused on her present and told the Kumovon, "The offer is tempting... but I will decline for now."

  Shukujo screamed an angry shout.

  Kein heard the outrage and misery within the scream, and she spoke, "You must really hate humans. A human must have done something very terrible to you."

  "Hate is too mild a word," Shukujo told her. "I despise all your kind, especially those of you of the Hanta. They do not care who they kill. All of us monsters are the same."

  "I don't know what to say to you," Kein told her. "My kind can be very cruel, but they can also be compassionate."

  "Are you talking about yourself?" Shukujo asked.

  "Me..?" Kein chuckled. "No, I don't think of myself as compassionate. I'm more of..."

  "I don't really care," Shukujo told her. "Leave before I decide to break one of my clan's taboo, and I cross that line and..."

  "Don't do that," Kein snapped at her as she sat up. "At the most, you'll only have to put up with me for six nights, and it's not like we're having a slumber party." She slowly lay back down and said, "If you go deeper into your lair, I don't think you can even see me. Just turn your back on me and go further into your lair."

  "What a cruel thing to say," Shukujo spoke softly as she got this distant look. "Humans are so cruel."

  Kein wasn't sure why the Kumovon would say that. She didn't think there was anything cruel in her statement, but she did get a sense that the Kumovon may have been speaking to someone else, someone who existed in her thoughts.

  "I will still know that you are here," Shukujo yelled at her, drowning her past with her rage. "And do not speak to me as if we are equals. You claimed to have known one of my kind, but I do not believe you ever knew her as you say. Our kind never mix. We only kill or eat the other."

  "I'm really tired. I'm going to sleep now," Kein said as she took the pillow and turned so that she faced the stone wall.

  "You are not going to leave no matter how much I yell at you, are you?"

  Kein didn't reply.

  Shukujo threw up her hands, and then she stomped her way to the back of her lair as much as any spider could. Kein rolled over once she couldn't hear her complaining about her presence, then Kein took her pillow, and hugged it like a giant teddy bear. She thought about everything she had gone through that day and just wanted to cry.

  Shukujo stomped all the way back to her lair and moved over to a roaring fire in a large fireplace. She lowered herself to her belly and warmed her hands.

  "It is chilly..." she mumbled. "I doubt Controller would ever take care of the draft in here, and it does get much colder at night."

  Shukujo slowly closed her eyes and fell asleep. She woke sometime later. She heard sounds softly echoing through her lair, and they were coming from the front were that deplorable human was, so Shukujo headed back, but with lighter steps. She stopped when she could make out what the baka was saying, and Shukujo realized she was singing. The human's voice was terrible and slightly off key, but Shukujo recognize the song. It was a lullaby that was known only to her clan.

  Kein sang, "When the shadows fall and night has come, know I will wrap you in threads of white. When beasts of darkness prowl and eat, know that I am here as I wrap you in threads of white. No one will hurt you... No one will harm you... I am here, and you are safely tucked in my threads of white. Time has come to shut your eyes as I spin my web around you."

  Rage filled Shukujo's heart, and she started to race out to the human to scream at her some more, but then she heard Kein start to cry. Her sobs were filled with fear and trepidation, but they also lamented of loneliness. Shukujo pulled back into the shadows and listened as Kein started the song over.

  She never knew Shukujo was there, lost in her own memories and heartache. Kein unzipped her jacket and removed the braided necklace the la
dy had given her so long ago. She still wore it but safely tucked under her t-shirt, and she stared at its intricate braids as she played with the necklace.

  Kein sang softly, "My child... My child... Why has sleep not touched your eyes? Do you fear the howling wind or the creatures of the night? There are many things to fear and many things that fear us but know one thing, I am here. When the shadows fall and night has come, know I will wrap you in threads of white. When beasts of darkness prowl and eat, know that I am here as I wrap you in threads of white. No one will hurt you... No one will harm you... I am here, and you are safely tucked in my threads of white. Time has come to shut your eyes as I spin my soft web around you. Fear not my child as you sleep in my cocoon's warm embrace. My threads of white will hold you tight, so when shadows fall and night is here, know I love you and you are safe. When beasts of darkness howl and scream, know that I will never leave you. No one will hurt you... No one will harm you... I am here, and you are safely tucked in my threads of white. Time has come to shut your eyes as I spin my soft and warm web around you. Hush now... close your eyes... as I spin you in my threads of white."

  Elsewhere, Controller's room...

  Nearly an hour after end of day chime...

  "That is it for day one of Kein's week," Controller spoke to the Coaches. "Since all of you have finished paying out your wagers and adding bets for tomorrow, we can call this day and this session at an end for us. We will meet once again in let us say six hours, and at that time, we will see if anyone would like to make any new wagers."

  One by one, the Coaches' feeds went dark till only Blue Wolf's video remained.

  "Was there something you wanted to ask me?" Controller questioned her.

  "No," Blue Wolf replied. "It is just that..." She listened as she watched video of Kein, and then she finished, "The poor thing must be very lonely to be singing in a place like this, and I also believe the lullaby must be very precious to her for her to remember after all these years." Blue Wolf paused as if to say something else, but then she just said, "Tragic she cannot hold a tune."

  Blue Wolf's feed went black...

  Chapter Six

  The Second Day

  Kein didn't remember any more about that night except that she cried herself to sleep, and she woke the next morning with Shukujo glaring down at her from her spider-tower.

  "What time is it?" she asked the Kumovon.

  "It is time that you left my lair," Shukujo replied. "You also only have two more questions to ask me today."

  "Ahhh..." Kein complained half asleep. "I keep falling into your trap."

  "If you fell into my trap, I would be gorging on you by now," Shukujo told her. "Get up and ask me your next two questions."

  "Hold on... Hold on..." Kein spoke as she sat up, and then she complained, "I thought it was bad sleeping on the ground out in the woods, but this floor, it's like rocks."

  "Baka, it is rocks."

  "Right," Kein stated. "I was sleeping on rocks. It might have been hard, but for some reason, I slept so soundly. I haven't slept that soundly since..." she spoke and then whispered, "...since that time that only seems like a dream now."

  "I doubt you slept as soundly as you claim. You are in the lair of a Kumovon."

  "I am..." Kein stated with a smile. "...aren't I?" She whispered, "I slept here as if I felt safe."

  Kein slowly stood and stretched, but it didn't help her sore and tired muscles. Her stomach grumbled, and then she complained, "I'm so hungry."

  "Cross the Kumo'sakai, and you will not have to worry about your hunger, and you can satisfy mine."

  "See, I told you you liked me," Kein teased her as she sat back down too tired to keep standing. "You want me to come visit you."

  Shukujo decided not to play along with her this time, crossed her arms, and demanded, "Ask me your questions."

  "Hold on. I can't think just yet," Kein told her as she leaned her head against the wall and then closed her eyes.

  "Do not go back to sleep," Shukujo yelled at her.

  "I'm not. I'm trying to think."

  "You do not look like you are thinking."

  "I am," Kein insisted. "I'm talking to you, aren't I?"

  "Talking in your sleep," Shukujo spoke harshly. "Hurry and think."

  "I can't when your yelling at me," Kein told her.

  Shukujo started to scream, "I don't care if..!"

  "Shh..." Kein nearly whistled out as she put a finger to her own lips. "Quiet now."

  "Why should I?" Shukujo questioned.

  "I'll tell everyone what good friends we are if you don't," Kein told her.

  Shukujo scoffed, "They will not believe you."

  "They will if I tell them your name."

  "You cannot possibly know my name," Shukujo said.

  Kein threatened, "I will tell them it's... it's Cherry Blossom."

  "Cherry Blossom is not my name."

  "How do they know?" Kein asked her. "Are you going to tell them your name?"

  Shukujo thought about it, and then she said, "The moment I believe you are a complete baka, you say something like this that makes me believe you have been deceiving us this entire time."

  Kein made no comment to her statement and just said, "I have no idea what I want to ask you yet, so I'm going to go see one of the other Residents." She stood, removed a hair tie from a pocket, and then pulled her hair back as she mumbled, "I really need to brush my teeth."

  "You do look terrible," Shukujo stated. "You really should eat something before you go. It might help you wake up."

  "It would help, but I spent all my points last night on that pillow."

  "I cannot see how you spent all of your points you earned for winning Opening on a pillow," Shukujo told her.

  "I don't understand how the points work, but I also thought I'd have more to spend," Kein told her as she headed for the door. "I think I'm missing something about the rules of the Mortem."

  Kein cautiously entered the hallway looking for the werewolf pup. He was no were in sight, so she made her way to the vampire's parlor. She paused as she looked up at the bat symbol above the door frame, and then she thought she heard voices like those at a party, and then Kein heard the laugh of a sinister woman that she had heard before. A few images came to mind of dancing and drinking, then she entered, and the vampire was nowhere in sight, so she called out to him, "Labaron, are you there?"

  The couch creaked opened, and Kein realized that a coffin had been built within the couch or a couch had been built on top of a coffin.

  "What time is it?" he called out from the darkness of his bed.

  "I have no idea. I don't have a watch, and I seemed to have misplaced my phone."

  "I believe it's still morning," he told her with grogginess thick in his voice. "Come back when the sun is no longer up."

  "How can I tell?"

  He pointed to a gothic-style grandfather clock in his room that Kein caught sight of the night before. The grandfather clock looked old and detailed carvings of bats, wolves, and rats covered it. She noticed it was 7:15.

  "Why are you up so early?" he asked. "Did your roommate kick you out?"

  "You better not let the Kumovon hear you say that?" Kein warned. "She wants nothing to do with me."

  "We have that in common," Labaron told her as he pushed the lid of his coffin all the way over, and he sat up. "I don't believe I've been up this early in a long time."

  Kein noticed she swayed, so she went and leaned on the wall by the door still tired, and asked, "Do you want me to come back later?"

  "No, this is fine. I can sleep anytime," he told her, and then he inquired, "What questions do you have for me, ma chère?"

  "I wanted to ask you about the Atlantian."

  "It looks like you have decided on a strategy," Labaron spoke, then licked his tongue over his fangs as if he had morning scum, and added, "Beings are more inclined to talk about others than themselves."

  "You already caught on to my strategy, and here I tho
ught I was being sly," Kein spoke. "Getting the others to talk beyond the three questions is impossible, but you seem more willing to speak to me than them."

  "I have been told that I like to talk," Labaron stated. "I am also doing it because I want to spend more time with you. Rarely do I have a chance to speak to a human."

  "Is it because of the Blood Rage?" she asked.

  "How would you know of such a thing?" Labaron inquired of her. "I believe my theory from last night might just be correct, and if so, I know one of your secrets."

  "I'm only keeping two things a secret, and it's not what you think, and as for the Blood Rage, I just guessed about it. Since you're a prisoner here, you wouldn't have access to blood all that often, and when a vampire doesn't feed, they can go into this rage that causes them to turn into a blood-thirsty animal whose only desire is to gorge themselves on blood."

  "Younger vampires have that problem," Labaron told her. "But I am well over a hundred years old."

  "You're also an inductus'vampir, one who's not born but turned. A vampir'borne, one who is a vampire in the womb, has more of an ability to deny the Blood Rage, but inductus'vampir usually always succumb to it no matter how old they are."

  "How do you know that I am an inductus'vampir and not royal born?"

  "I'm only guessing again since you said your mother died," she replied. "I don't know if there's a difference in their outward appearance or in their essence between royal born and those turned, but you seem..."

  "Go on, ma chère. Don't stop now," he spoke a little offended when she stopped. "You were going to say ordinary."

  "I don't know what I was going to say, but it wasn't ordinary. An inductus'vampir is still extraordinary."

  "You're a careful one, backing off when you sense you might be in danger and then speaking to my sense of curiosity to encourage me to forget your insult, so I will play your game," he said and then asked, "How so, ma chère? How is an inductus'vampir still extraordinary?"

  "Vampires and werewolves are infected with a virus that wants to kill them, and yet they manage to live in a sort of harmony with this virus," she replied. "I'm not saying I want to be a vampire, but I'm jealous of the harmony you have with your infection."