Making Monster Girls: For Science!

by Eric Vall

  “I’m sure the citizens wouldn’t care if two rabid dogs were put down,” the Duchess purred. “Don’t dogs travel in packs? If there is a second man, then you two were most likely working together. Or, that’s what I’ll tell everyone, I’m sure they’ll believe me.”

  “You’re a corrupt, despicable woman.” I barked.

  “Corrupt?” Edony drew back, narrowed her eyes, and lay a thin hand to her exposed chest. “I’m doing what is best for my city and its people. Now, let’s get you out of that jail cell so we can begin the festivities.”

  The Duchess reached into her pocket, held a single, worn skeleton key in her hand, and stepped toward my cell door. My breath halted, and I felt my face go cold as all the blood drained from it. I… I was going to die today, all the work I’d done on the cover-up had been meaningless.

  Edony shook her head, chuckled, grinned, and slipped the key into the door with a clatter of metal on metal. I had to do something… could I escape her if I tried? Hit her with one of the objects in my cell? I glanced to the side, spied the rusty, stained bucket to my left, grimaced, and then shuffled toward it.

  “Don’t try anything,” the Duchess snapped. “I’ll kill you in an instant if you make any sudden movements.”

  Goddamnit… how could I escape this?

  “Duchess!” a muffled voice shrieked.

  Edony whipped her head, glared toward the still open door, took a single step toward it, and then paused as a constable tumbled in. The petite woman’s face was strained, and she panted as she leaned against the wall.

  “Duchess…” the constable cried again.

  “What?” Edony snapped. “What do you want?”

  “We’ve… we’ve found something…” the constable wheezed. “At the duchy…”

  “Can this be handled later?” the blonde growled, glanced toward me, and then widened her eyes.

  “We found… bodies.” The petite woman righted herself, took a deep inhale, and then took a step forward.

  “Bodies?” Edony murmured. “At the duchy? What do you mean?”

  “Madam, you have to let Mr. Rayburn go,” the constable stated.

  “Why?” the Duchess roared, stalked closer, and loomed over the petite constable. “He was about to be executed! Why would I free him?”

  “The bodies we found are Delphine Vallantine’s.” The petite constable shrank back. “And the Warden’s. From the scene, it looks as if he killed her… and then himself.”

  “Are you sure?” the blonde barked.

  “Positive,” the constable nodded. “We’ve brought them back from the duchy. The medical examiner is looking over them now if you would like to go in and see.”

  “Leave us,” Edony stared down her pointed nose and commanded. “I will be in a minute to look over the corpses.”

  “Y-Yes, Lady Edony,” the constable stammered, turned on her heel and raced out.

  Edony whipped around, and for a second, her violet eyes glowed gold with her immense power. Static crackled the air, bit at my skin, and raised the hair at the back of my neck as the Duchess stalked closer. The blonde jammed the key in the lock, turned it, ripped the door open, and then stood doorframe.

  “Would you look at that, Charles,” Edony growled. “You’re free.”

  “I told you I didn’t do it,” I uttered.

  “I want you to listen to me, Alchemist,” the blonde whispered. “You’ve escaped me twice so far, and this a word of warning, this is the last time. I’ll allow you to walk out of this jail as a free man, but that is the end. I will kill you, slaughter you until there’s nothing left but a smear of blood on the ground. I don’t care about the laws of the land. I’ll break every rule, even renounce my status as Duchess of Edenhart, I don’t care, but I will destroy you. Maybe not today, in front of these lovely… constables of the queendom, but it will happen. Mark my words, Charles, the moment your soul leaves your body will be blissfully orgasmic for me, and I will savor it for the rest of my life. Now, get out of my sight before I change my mind and rip you limb from limb right here in this jail cell.”

  The Duchess stepped out of the way, held the cell door open, and the electricity flowing through the air heightened. I glanced at her once, hurried out of the cell, moved toward the door, and then paused. I turned, examined the Duchess’s face, gritted my teeth, and curled my hands into fists.

  “It’s time for you to listen to me, Edony,” I growled. “My entire life, I’ve heard those words spewed at me from hundreds of women. If they wanted me dead, I wouldn’t be here right now, and you’re just another one of them.”

  “You insolent--”

  I’d finally made a decision, and once I stepped from the precipice, there was no turning back. I had to do something, not just for myself but also for the men of Edenhart.

  “No, if you kill me, right here and now,” I smiled. “The constables will drag you into a cell, I may be a man, but I’m an innocent man. You may be stronger and more powerful than me, but I have science on my side, and no matter how mighty you are, it will overcome everything in its way. So, go ahead, plot your revenge against me, but know, I won’t bend to you when you extract it, if anything, I will fight back harder and stronger than ever.”

  I let the words sink in for a moment, but Edony didn’t retort, just stared at me with wide, horrified eyes. I turned on my heel, grabbed the door, slammed it shut, and walked out of the jail.

  The decision was made for me, I had no other choice, but to follow the path laid out before me.

  I had to kill the Duchess and destroy the city of Edenhart.

  Not just for science, but for the women I loved.

  Chapter Twenty One

  It was early evening by the time I emerged from the depths of the jail, I barely glanced over my shoulder at the oppressive building, and turned down the brick street toward him. I kept my eyes straightforward, aimed up at the high hill where my manor was located. I wanted to return home as soon as possible, Daisy and Valerie were probably worried sick about me, and they wouldn’t rest until I was safely back in their arms.

  “Weren’t you taken in this morning, Alchemist?” a woman leaning against a brick wall and smoking a rolled cigarette called to me. “I half-expected you to be strung up by now, what happened?”

  “Cleared of all charges.” I waved over my shoulder. “I’m an innocent man, and it’s been proven.”

  “Huh,” the aristocrat shrugged, aimed her eyes farther down the road and pursed her lips. “You may be innocent this time… doesn’t mean you won’t be next time.”

  I ignored that last bit, turned, and hurried down the paved street. I was nearly walking by the time I reached the outskirts of the city, and the sun was just beginning to dip down in the west. I broke out into a sprint as the brick pavers beneath my feet dropped away to dry, packed dirt.

  I pumped my arms, slammed my feet forward, and breathed heavily as the ground lifted into an incline, but I wouldn’t stop until I reached home. I was dead tired, exhausted from the past few day’s events, and from my interaction with the Duchess, but I had to push on until I reached home. I had to see Daisy and Valerie, needed to know that they were alright without me, even for a few hours.

  I had to tell them how much I loved them.

  The manor came into view over the crest of the hill, and the teeniest bit of relief washed over me. I wasn’t sure how much longer I’d live in the house, or if Edony would evict me within the next few days, but for the moment, it was the only point of solace.

  No lights burned in the windows, but I spied the warmth of a candle in the distance through the glass panes of the front door. I pushed myself harder, my breaths came out shakily, and sweat dripped down the sides of my face, but I didn’t care, I was almost there.

  “Valerie!” I cried, stomped up the steps, and gripped the metal door handle in my palm. “Daisy!”

  “C-Charles?” a distant voice answered.

  I slumped against the front door, rested my sweaty forehead
on the grain of the wood, and took a massive inhale. The door swung open before I pull back, and I stumbled forward into the dimly lit foyer. Two sets of arms caught me before I could fall, and my two monster-woman wrapped themselves around me.

  “You’re home!” Valerie sobbed into my chest. “I can’t believe your home!”

  “We thought for sure you were dead,” Daisy mumbled. “We thought they were going to kill you.”

  “They can’t kill me,” I chuckled. “At least, not yet.”

  “How are you here?” the feline-woman leaned back, stared into my face, and wrapped her arms tighter. “Why did they let you go?”

  “They found Delphine’s and the Warden’s bodies at the last second.” I smiled, held both of the sniffling women away from me, and examined their pink, tear-stained faces. “They can’t kill an innocent man if there’s proof… the Duchess was going to kill me anyway, she said so herself when she came to take me from the jail cell, but a constable ran in and told her what they found.”

  “The Duchess was going to kill you?” Daisy squinted her eyes, frowned, and furrowed her eyebrows. “Without any proof? How can she do that? The constables that were here the other night said that they couldn’t take you in without having anything definite.”

  “It seems that the Duchess and constables aren’t working with each other,” I breathed, ran a hand through my messy black hair, and closed my eyes for a second. “The constables following along pretty closely with what they’re taught in the queendom’s academy, but the Chief Constable follows what the capital wants. The Chief Constable is working pretty closely with Edony though, I would assume the redhead is going to become her right-hand woman.”

  “Does that mean that the Chief Constable will be as much of a threat that Edony is?” Valerie asked.

  “I believe so,” I sighed and nodded. “But… just for today, I’d like to live as a free man, forget all of my worries, and relax. I don’t want to think about the Duchess, her threats, or what will happen to us next.”

  “Weeeell,” the cat-girl giggled, eyed her sister with a sly smile, and then turned her face back. “We raided your house while you were gone.”

  “And?” I snickered. “What did you find?”

  “Did yoooou know that your kitchen has a wine cellar?” The ash-blonde grinned.

  “A what?” I tilted my head out of confusion.

  “A wine cellar,” Daisy echoed with a nod. “A room that holds wine or other spirits at a certain temperature and humidity. They’re typically built undergrown to keep the bottled and barrelled liquor cold and fresh.”

  Valerie and I both turned, stared at the tiny brunette, blinked rapidly, and then chuckled.

  “How do you know all of this?” I asked, reached out, ruffled her soft hair, and grinned. “I don’t think bears out in the wild have much knowledge of what wine cellars.”

  “Oh, no.” Daisy shook her head. “I didn’t get that information from my bear-memories. I got it from my Delphine-memories. She had over twenty wine cellars in her expansive manor, I could probably tell you the cubic feet of each one if you wanted. She knew a lot about wine cellars, it’s quite strange.”

  “And my manor has one?” I quirked an eyebrow.

  “Yes!” Valerie threw her hands into the air. “Daisy slipped on the rug to the left of your kitchen table, and it shifted a little to reveal a trap-door. We looked inside and found all sorts of different types of liquor!”

  “What are you suggesting?” I snickered.

  “Maaaaybe,” the feline-woman pulled away, stood on her tiptoes, grabbed the banister to the stairs, and then flipped on top of it. “Maaaaybe we could have a drink to celebrate your return?”

  “Well…” I breathed, tapped my chin, and then gazed down at the two of them.

  Valerie hopped down from the banister, scuttled closer, held her closed hands underneath her chin, pleaded with her eyes, and pushed out her bottom lip. Daisy stood a few steps behind her, and the bear-girl’s golden honey-colored eyes were slightly lowered as her mouth dropped open into a soft yawn.

  “I’m sure we could have a few drinks,” I grinned, chuckled, and then shook my head. “I definitely need one after the past couple days, hell, even the last few months. Do you want to drink too, Daisy?”

  “I don’t really care,” The brunette’s gaze met mine, and she smiled gently, and shrugged. “I found biscuits in the cabinet, and I’m more excited about those, but I’ll have a drink or two.”

  “Alright, then it’s settled,” I grinned. “We’ll have a drink and celebrate my return!”

  “Yaaaay!” Valerie cried, threw her hands into the air, and then pranced excitedly down the hall toward the kitchen. “I already brought up a few bottles that I thought were pretty… but I wasn’t sure how to open them. Daisy said we needed something called a ‘corkscrew,’ but I have no idea what that is, and everything I showed her from your utensil drawer wasn’t it.”

  “I’ll find it for you.” I shook my head, grabbed Daisy by the air, and followed after into the kitchen. “It should be in one of the drawers, or hanging on one of the hooks by the stove.”

  I entered into the kitchen, grabbed one of the five bottles Valerie brought up, glanced at the faded label, and then crossed the room toward the cabinets. Then I grabbed the corkscrew from its hook on the hall, turned, snatched up another cabinet, grabbed three glasses, and returned to the kitchen table.

  “Oooooh, that’s the corkscrew.” Valerie slapped her forehead with her hand. “I should’ve known from the curly tail.”

  “It’s alright,” I chuckled, grabbed the oldest bottle of wine, jammed the pointed end of the corkscrew into the cork, twisted it, and then pulled it out with a loud pop. “But I’m glad you waited, you shouldn’t drink when you’re sad or upset.”

  “We just missed you soooo much.” Valerie’s ears lowered to the sides of her head, and her sparkling blue eyes watered with tears. “We didn’t know when you were coming back or if you’d… come back at all.”

  “We thought you were dead,” Daisy uttered in a monotone voice, grabbed a biscuit from the plate on the table, and shoved the entire thing into her mouth.

  “Daisy!” the cat-girl cried, elbowed the brunette, and then gave her a pointed look. “We didn’t think he was dead! Don’t be so morbid!”

  “We didn’t think you were dead,” the bear-girl echoed through a mouthful. “But we thought they were going to kill you, those constables looked pretty serious when they dragged you out of here.”

  “Yeah,” I breathed, poured the golden champagne into three of the glasses, and then handed them off to each woman. “I thought they were going to kill me too… it got pretty close honestly. The Duchess was about to parade me out in front of the whole town and hang me, but thankfully, they found the bodies just like we planned. They couldn’t hang an innocent man, even if he is male.”

  “I’m glad you’re not dead, Charles,” the bear-girl smiled, and a few crumbs fell from her lips. “I love Valerie, she’s my sister, but this life, the one you’ve given me, would be meaningless if you weren’t in it.”

  “Thank you, my dear,” I nodded, smiled, and lifted my full glass into the air. “A toast to our lives together.”

  “Toast?” Valerie squinted her eyes, tilted her glass, and stared into the bubbling, golden liquid. “This isn’t toast, Charles.”

  “No, no, no.” Daisy shook her head, grabbed another biscuit, grabbed her champagne flute, lifted it, and then turned toward her sister. “A toast is a ritual in which a drink is taken as an expression of honor or goodwill. So, in this situation, we’re honoring Charles, and his return home to us.”

  “Ohhhh, I see,” the cat-girl nodded, lifted her glass higher, and then grinned. “A toast to Charles! Our one and only true love! May he stay with us always, snuggle and pet us every day, and then put his massive member inside of u--”

  “U-Uhm,” I stammered as heat burst across my face in embarrassment. “T-That’s enough of that.�
��

  “Why not?” the feline-woman protested.

  “B-Because.” I scrambled to find a fitting answer, rested my eyes on the bear-girl as she shoved more biscuits into her open mouth, and then turned back. “Because Daisy and I haven’t had relations yet, I’d like to keep our relationship true and pure until she decides it's time.”

  “Time for what?” Daisy asked through a mouthful.

  “Oh, just wait, little sister,” Valerie sighed, set down her flute, pressed her hands to her chest, and fluttered her eyelashes. “Charles will show you everything you need to know when the time comes, and only then, you’ll experience true bliss.”

  “Will I like it more than honey?” the brunette tilted her head, scratched at one of her tiny ears, and munched on the biscuit in her hand. “Or those elderflower crumpets or these biscuits?”

  “Yessss,” Valerie nodded emphatically. “You’ll love it more than anything in the world… though not as much as you love Charles.”

  “I don’t think I could love anything more than Charles,” the bear-girl stated. “Not even food or naps.”

  “That’s wonderful and all,” I chuckled, ran a hand through my dark hair, and then shook my head. “But I want to wait until Daisy decides it's time, do you understand? You showed interest in me from the moment you stepped out of my machine, Valerie, but I still waited until the time was right. I want to do the same thing with Daisy.”

  “I understand, Charles,” the ash-blonde nodded. “Buuuut, that doesn’t mean I have to wait anymore.”

  “True,” I chuckled, held my glass a little higher, and then inclined my head. “But let’s get back to what we were doing. A toast! To my return and that by some stroke of luck… that we prior planned out, I was saved. A toast to Valerie, my first successful experiment with my machine, and finally, a toast to Daisy, my second most successful experiment. I’m grateful to be your creator, but not only that, but your lover and caretaker. I’m fortunate to have you two in my life, and I want to share this whole world with you. I love you both.”