Making Monster Girls: For Science!

by Eric Vall

  The brunette’s face twisted into a grimace, and she stepped to the edge of the hole, gazed down, and her right ear twitched.

  “What’s the matter?” I whispered. “You look upset.”

  “It’s strange,” Daisy whispered.

  “What is?” I asked.

  “She used to be me,” the bear-girl uttered. “Or I used to be her, but I have no memories of my life as her. I think I should be glad because from what I’ve heard, she was a terrible person. Standing here, I feel no connection to her at all. In a way, she helped give me life, but, in my world, her life was meaningless and pathetic. I care nothing for her, or my past.”

  “She was an awful woman,” I stated. “And not to sound cruel, but she deserved the death she received. I hope in the future, I can rid the world of more women like her, but I’m not sure if I’ll get the chance if we’re caught.”

  “We won’t get caught.” Daisy’s hands curled into tiny fists at her sides, she glared down into the hole, and then turned away with a scoff. “I’ll make sure of it. No one will stand in our way, Charles, not the Warden, or other aristocrats and certainly not the Duchess. My sister told me she wants you to make more women like us. I agree with her. I’m having fun. I love you both so much. I want more sisters.”

  “I will do anything to make you and Val happ--” I started to say, but the sound of crashing underbrush broke us away from our conversation, the brunette rushed over to me, stood by my side, and I reached into my pocket for the heavy, black pistol. I held the weapon in my hand loosely as Valerie exploded back into the clearing on all fours, skidded languidly, laughed loudly, and then pounced toward us with wide, wild eyes.

  “Heeeeere he coooomes!” the feline-woman giggled. “Ohhh, he’s sooooo mad! Teeheeeeee!”

  Valerie slithered to a stop with her body turned to the side, hopped to her feet, bent her knees, breathed heavily, and aimed her glowing blue eyes toward where she’d just come from.

  “Goddamn beast!” a familiar voice roared from just beyond the brush. “Where’d you go? I’ll find you, trap you and then skin you alive!”

  “Come and get me, you bald bastard!” the feline-woman shouted.

  The brush rustled, shook, and then parted as Milton forced his way through. His beady brown eyes squinted through the darkness, searched for the clearing, settled on the three of us, and then froze.

  “Well, well, well,” the Warden grumbled, placed his hands on his hips, and lumbered forward. “If it isn’t Charles Rayburn…”

  I squared my shoulders, rose to my full height, pressed my lips into a firm line, and then took a single step forward.

  “What do we have here?” Milton tilted his head at both of my monster-women. “I see you’ve been doing more than just experimenting in your lab, Charles. What are they? Beasts? Women? Both? Just wait until the Duchess hears about this, you’ll be dead before sunrise.”

  “He has a baton,” Valerie whispered. “But that’s the only weapon he’s carrying.”

  Milton trudged forward, was breathing hard and only stopped when he nearly fell in the hole we’d dug. The Warden stared down at it in confusion for a second, his eyes widened, his chubby mouth dropped open, and strange, strained noises exploded up his throat.

  “What… what is that?” the stout man gasped. “A corpse? Y-You really did kill someone?”

  “Milton, I’d introduce you to our poor deceased friend,” I grinned, stepped forward, and tucked the revolver into the waistband of my trousers. “But, I’m sure you’ve already met the one and the only Delphine Vallantine…”

  “You really did it…?” Milton scrambled backward, reached around his ample belly, grabbed his baton, unclipped it, and held it aloft. “You murdered Delphine?”

  “You didn’t think I did it?” I crooked up a single eyebrow. “That’s wonderful, hopefully, my acting tricked the Duchess too.”

  “It’ll all be for nothing when I tell her!” Milton shrieked. “You’ll be skinned alive, Charles Rayburn! You’ll be the centerpiece of her collection of skins before you know it!”

  “No, that’s not going to happen.” I shook my head.

  “And why not?” the Warden snapped. “You think I won’t tell her?”

  “It’s not that you won’t tell her,” I chuckled darkly. “It’s simply that you won’t be able to. You see, Milton, just like your men and Delphine, I’m going to kill you, and the Duchess will never find out.”

  “M-My men?” Milton echoed, tapped his baton against his chest, and then pointed it. “You’re the one who killed my men? As I suspected? There were no poachers, at all? It was all you?”

  “I don’t know anything about poachers,” I shrugged. “But yes, Valerie and I killed your men the night you saw us here.”

  Milton’s shock quickly turned to rage, he huffed through his open mouth, gritted his teeth, and held the baton over his head. The plump man raced forward with a loud cry, his feet pounded against the dirt, his lips pulled back into a snarl, and he launched himself at me.

  The Warden flew through the air for a second, but I wasn’t afraid, I knew what I needed to do. Milton’s body was inches away from impact, I brought up my right knee, slammed it into his flabby belly, brought up my right hand, and punched him in the jaw. The crack that came after resounded around the small clearing, and a soft groan exploded up Milton’s throat.

  “Chaaaarles,” Valerie purred, pressed her hands to her chest, and wriggling in place. “I never knew you were soooo strong.”

  “I once read a book on pugilism,” I huffed. “But I am no expert. It’s just satisfying to waylay this scoundrel.”

  “Get ’em, Charles,” Daisy cheered as she raised her tiny fists in the air and made slow punching movements.

  The stout man charged me again, but I stepped aside and punched him against the shoulder. He flew sideways, tumbled a few yards, landed on his side with a low grunt, and then scrambled to his feet. He wobbled for a second as blood spurted from his bottom lip. Then he spat on the dirt, and I saw the shiny remnants of one of his front teeth.

  “You’re a strong fucker, aren’t you, Alchemist?” the Warden faltered on his feet, wiped the blood off his chin with his shirt sleeve, and then took a step forward. “Wouldn’t have thought so since you spend all day in your dark, damp lab creating disgusting she-beasts.”

  “Science and the study of educational books should never be underestimated.” I stepped forward, lifted both hands in front of me, circled the Warden, and avoided a downward sweep of his baton. Milton changed direction with the weapon, came up from the side, but I rolled my shoulder, deflected it with my outer forearm, whipped around, and jabbed out at his back. My curled fist connected with the slope of his spine, forced him forward onto his knees in front of the shallow grave, and then I gripped him by the sweaty hair.

  I wasn’t very skilled with the martial arts, but the warden was even worse, and his portly form was hampering his movement.

  “Hit him again!” Daisy roared, raised her hands into the air, and jumped up and down like a spectator watching a boxing match. “Hit him!”

  “I can’t,” I snarled, glared down into the man’s hazy brown eyes, and then leaned in closer. “As much as I want to beat you to a pulp, I can’t. Let’s just say, Delphine put up a fight against you while you kidnapped her… that’s why you’re all bruised and bloody, but, in the end, you won.”

  “What are you going to do to me?” the Warden gasped, blood sprayed into the air from his broken lips, and he trembled on his knees.

  “There’s no harm in telling you, so, let me set the stage for you,” I sneered. “You, Deputy Warden Milton Nenderthaw, had a long, one-sided romance with the now-deceased Delphine Vallantine. Time and time again, she refused you, rejected your offers of a consort contract, and finally, after years, you snapped. You arrived at her manor, saw me leaving, disheveled with a post-coital glow about my face and rage rushed through your entire body.”

  “None… none of this is true!
” Milton protested, jerked away from me, but I managed to keep him in place.

  “I know that, this is just the little story I came up in my head,” I snorted. “It’s most likely what the other aristocrats will believe too once they find your bodies. As I was saying, rage rushed through your body. You broke into Delphine’s manor, saw that there were no servants around, went to her chambers, and subdued her somehow. You killed her, out of lust, rejection, and absolute devotion, and then took her corpse back to your shack where it rotted to the state it’s in now. You brought her corpse out here for a proper burial, and once you saw her in the grave, you couldn’t take it anymore. Your lost love, resting in the arms of death like… like… a goddess.”

  “Stop… please,” Milton blubbered. “I’ll do anything… I’ll even help you, and I won’t tell the Duchess what you’ve done! I won’t breathe a word, or tell a single soul!”

  “I doubt that,” I barked. “So, after seeing your lost love in her grave, you were overcome with guilt. You couldn’t take it, not only had you killed an aristocrat, but you’d killed the only woman you’d ever loved… not that she’d ever love you back, but that’s beside the point. So, you took out your flintlock, but of course no one knows how you got it since it's illegal for a man to carry or own a weapon, especially once with such power.”

  I reached around my back with my free hand, pulled the heavy pistol out, held it tightly in my fist, and then placed it within Milton’s line of sight. The chubby, little man yelped, wriggled desperately against my hand, but I quieted him as I brought it to his temple, right above his left ear.

  “Overcome with guilt,” I repeated. “You took out your revolver, placed it against your head, and… killed yourself. Does sound about right, ladies?”

  “Yes, Charles,” Valerie nodded excitedly. “It happened exactly like you said.”

  “Riddled with guilt and shame,” Daisy reiterated, glued her eyes to the man on his knees, and then grinned. “He couldn’t take it anymore. If he couldn’t have her in life, he’d have her in the one after.”

  “You were a man obsessed with Delphine,” I stated. “You couldn’t get her out of your mind, and that’s why you killed her. You were angry that she never allowed you to be a consort, she thought you were unworthy, ugly, fat, or simply undesirable.”

  “That’s not true!” Milton cried. “I’ve never looked at a woman with lust! I-I’ve only ever wanted to serve them! Let me go, Charles, and I-I’ll work for you! Please! Spare my life, and I’ll find someone else for you to use! P-P-Please don’t kill me! I was a good man, an honorable man! Even if I were a beast or a brute!”

  “Do you really think I can trust you?” I snarled as I jabbed the gun against his flesh. “Every moment I’ve spent with you, I’ve watched you lick the dirt off of the Duchess’s boots. You’d turn on me as soon as I let you go… and that’s why I have no other choice than to do this, Milton. You’re the solution to all of my problems, and I thank you for that.”

  “Charles,” the stout man blubbered. “Please.”

  “Enough,” I commanded, pulled back the hammer on the gun, and then rested my finger against the trigger.

  Milton opened his mouth to speak, but his words were drowned out by the explosion of the ball leaving the barrel. I kept my eyes open and wide, and blood burst out of the entry wound, blasted out the other side with a spray of scarlet as the bullet exited through his skull and whizzed through the trees. His body slumped forward, his mouth went slack, his eyes glazed over, and I let go of his hair.

  Milton tumbled forward into the shallow grave on top of Delphine’s rotting corpse. I gazed down at the two of them, wiped off the gun, bent at the knees, and then loosely placed the revolver in Milton’s limp hand. I stood with a sigh, brushed off my hands, wiped some brainmatter off my brow, raised my chin, and spoke to my two monster-women.

  “It is done. I’ll do anything to protect you both.”

  “We know,” Val purred.

  “And we love you for it,” Daisy whispered.

  Chapter Twenty

  I swung my head around the clearing, listened to any far-off sounds, and then turned toward where we’d entered into the forest. My heart hammered in my chest, and I was worried that one of the Warden’s men had heard the shot but no sounds exploded up in the distance.

  Edony’s duchy was huge and spanned out farther into the woods than any other aristocrat's property. The Warden and his man patrolled most of it during the night, but I was sure that they couldn’t cover the expansive property with their measly numbers. It seemed that no one had heard the commotion, or the gunshot blast, and relief washed over me.

  “It’s over,” I breathed, allowed a small smile to spread over my lips, and then laughed. “It’s finally over.”

  I sighed, stared up at the twinkling stars, and felt the weight of the world finally lift from my shoulders as my two beautiful women snuggled against me.

  It’d take a few days for the bodies to be found, but even then, I could live in peace without Delphine and the Warden breathing down my neck. Even after they were found, maybe the Duchess would finally back away from me a bit, I’d made it perfectly clear to her that I’d signed a contract with Daisy. Though it wasn’t the truth, the ‘verbal contract’ between me and the bear-girl offered at least a small bit of protection.

  “Let’s go home,” I whispered, down to my two monster-girls. “We can rest now… finally, after so long.”

  “Yaaay!” Valerie giggled, raced forward, bent her knees, and then leaped into the air. “We can finally relax! Maaaaaybe take another bath? Oh! Charles! You should give Daisy a bath, I’m suuuure she’d love it!”

  The feline-woman rubbed her luscious body against me. I held her there as she pressed tender kisses to my cheeks and then lowered her to the ground. Daisy stepped forward with her arms outstretched, and I folded the tiny brunette into my side.

  “Charles,” Daisy grinned. “Let’s go home, have some snacks, and then take a nice long nap.”

  “Yes,” Valerie nodded and leaned her head back. “Let’s all take a nap! Your bed is big enough for all of us, isn’t it, Charles?”

  “Yes,” I chuckled, steered them toward the wagon, and then helped the two women up into the driver’s seat. “It could fit all of us. I feel as if I could sleep for ages.”

  I climbed in beside them, gripped the reins in my hands, gazed over the crime scene one last time, and then turned in my seat. I slapped the leather straps against the horse’s backs, the two beasts whinnied softly, pulled away, and then trotted through the darkened forest. I was worried that our wagon would leave clear tracks through the woods, but thankfully, the ground we traveled over was hard packed from weeks of drought. Our wagon left no trace behind us that we’d even been there, and it relieved me even more.

  I felt strange, as if my body was in some sort of dreamlike state with my brain still fully conscious, but, despite that, I was content. We’d solved two of our problems, and now, it was time for us to sit back and relax while the whole town searched for Delphine.

  “How long do you think it’ll take for them to find the bodies?” Valerie asked, wrapped an arm around her sister, and then turned in her seat.

  “I’m not sure,” I uttered. “Not very long, the duchy is patrolled heavily during the night. I’d say within the next few days, possibly by tomorrow.”

  “Do you think they’ll suspect you?” Daisy whispered as her eyes fluttered open and closed.

  “They have no reason to after what we’ve just done.” I shook my head. “I didn’t leave any evidence behind at Delphine’s, and we set the scene perfectly with the Warden, so no, I don’t believe they’ll come after me.”

  “What about the Duchess?” The cat-girl turned her head, leaned it against my shoulder, and sighed. “Will she stop threatening you?”

  “That I doubt,” I exhaled. “Edony is strong-willed and hard-headed, she’ll never give up… but with Daisy’s ‘contract’ in place, there isn’t much
that she can do… unless she goes against the queendom’s laws and decides to execute me.”

  “We won’t let her,” Daisy muttered. “She’ll never lay a hand on you, or we’ll kill her.”

  “You can’t do that, my dear,” I snorted. “I’ve given you the reasons why the Duchess has to stay alive and healthy.”

  “But there has to be another way.” The bear-girl sat up, blinked her eyes to clear the sleepiness away, and turned in her seat. “If she’s going to continue this onslaught, we have to fight back. We can’t just lay down and take it. You didn’t do that when Delphine threatened you and certainly didn’t when the Warden did the same.”

  “Daisy, please,” I sighed. “There are things in this world we simply must accept, and one of those is that the Duchess cannot be taken down, no matter what happens.”

  “Charles, listen to me for a moment,” the brunette protested. “Edony is the most powerful woman in the city. This is only my first time out of your laboratory, but think about it. If we turned her into a monster-girl, with her immense amount of abilities and strength, she could easily help us topple the matriarchy.”

  “That’s a good point, Daisy,” I stated. “But, we can’t.”

  “Charles, this is a pivotal moment!” Val threw her hands in the air. “We could change the tides against the society that punishes and degrades men! Also, it will be really, really fun to turn her into our third sister!”

  “The world won’t listen,” I sighed. “The whole continent can’t change because a man, and hypothetically three monster-women want it to. I won’t speak on it anymore. My loves, I’m sorry, we can’t do it.”

  “Alright…” The bear-girl lowered her head. “I’m sorry, Charles, it’s just that I love you and believe in you so much… you deserve to live in a world better than the one we’re currently in.”

  “You already know what I think.” Valerie nodded, grinned, and lifted her head. “We should just kill all of them! Turn them into monster-girls and live happily ever after! Everyone would be so happy, the men, the monster-girls, me, Daisy, A.B. and you, Charles.”