Monster

by Yolanda Olson

  “It’s been a while hasn’t it,” he said crossing his arms over his chest and smiling.

  No words presented themselves on my behalf.

  I couldn’t find anything to say.

  The blind rage had taken over me again and rendered me speechless. I knew I had to control it because if I didn’t he’d have the upper hand.

  Clenching my fists at my side I turned my body completely to face him. The smile faded from his face when he saw how I had to control my urge to rip him to shreds. He pushed one of the low-hanging branches out of his way and stepped out of the shadows.

  “You're angry,” he said thoughtfully. “Why?”

  “Why? WHY? Because you made me into a monster,” I screamed at him.

  “A monster? Is that what you think you are,” he asked.

  A short, sarcastic laugh escaped me. “You know what? I didn’t come here to have a chat. I didn’t cross state lines looking for you to ‘catch up.’ And I sure as hell didn’t come to try to be bffs.”

  Taking a step closer to him, I started to attempt the rage control again. His grin reappeared when he realized what I wanted. Took him long enough.

  “Just so you know,” he started casually, “this wouldn’t be a fair fight. I made you so I’ll always be faster and stronger. I guess I should’ve told you that before I moved on.”

  Closing my eyes, I took a deep breath and then another step forward. Faster, stronger; that I was fine with, but he wasn’t smarter than me now that I was in this form and I was going to use that to my advantage.

  “I didn’t want to leave you behind,” he said suddenly serious, “I just. I had never really made one of you and stayed around long enough to care before.” He started to walk slowly around me in wide circle. “With as unexpected as it was, I did wind up wishing I’d kept you after a few days.”

  My eyes snapped open. Kept me? What did he think I was? A pet?

  I stood perfectly still watching him circle around me. I was going to let him give his speech. After all, everyone deserves to have last words.

  Circling back to the tree I had found him by, he leaned against it and looked up at the moon that was rising behind me higher than any moon had recently risen before.

  “I’d like to discuss a deal with you,” he said.

  “No deals.”

  “Just hear me out, Finn,” he said seriously.

  Exhaling the breath I had been holding from earlier I sprang at him with all the power I could muster. Since he wasn’t expecting it, I was able to catch him off guard, knocking us both to the ground.

  Pinning him to the ground with my legs and wasting no time, I immediately started to attack him with an animalistic ferocity. Blood flew from all directions, landing on my face and clothes, but I continued on beating him, blinded by my rage.

  I felt him stiffen underneath me then with a loud cry, he kicked me hard in the stomach and sent me flying back through the air. Grunting, I hit the tree hard and slid down to the ground. Angrily and clumsily, I shoved myself off the floor and lunged at him again but this time he sidestepped my attack.

  Turning I watched the facial lacerations I gave him start to close up. Smiling at me he clapped his hands in a genuinely encouraging way. This guy was crazy; that was becoming obvious.

  “That was quite the display,” he said with a smile. I prepped myself to lunge again. “Ah ah ah,” he said waving a finger at me. “You might want to wipe my blood from your face. It makes you look uncivilized.” Looking around on the ground he spotted and old dirty rag and tossed it at me.

  Making no attempt to catch the cloth I used my hands to roughly clean my face of any blood, then wiped them quickly on my jeans. Nothing he said, nor kind gesture he made was going to stop me.

  “Kendall looks like you. Except for the blonde hair,” he said thoughtfully again.

  “What,” I asked confused.

  “Kendall? She reminds me of you. I can't help but think that if you don't want to be my ... well,” he cleared his throat, then continued, “maybe I'll have her take your place.”

  “If you DARE go near my sister, so help me I will—”

  “You have thirty days to decide then,” he said cutting me off.

  I watched as he disappeared into the night. My fists had clenched at my sides again and dug so deeply into my palms, that I could feel the warm blood flowing from them.

  Then I ran as swiftly as I could back to the fairgrounds. I was going to find Ryker and Kendall as quickly as possible and move them both out of the state. I figured if I moved Ryker with her, then she'd be safe at times when I wasn't around.

  As the branches swung back and slapped me in the face while I ran, I felt the last bit of memory flow back to me.

  Gosh it’s dark in here, I had thought to myself. The first corner we had turned had been strobe lights so at least there was some kind of way to see. But now we were out of that room and in a room so dark, I wouldn't have known that someone was with me until he shifted.

  Shrinking back against him when the carriage stopped, I felt safe. Suddenly a wall next to us had opened and I screamed so loudly that I muffled his laughter at my jumpiness.

  The ghoul that jumped out of the wall retreated with a horrific moan, and the cart lurched forward again.

  “You scare too easily,” he had said tightening his grip on my shoulders.

  “Yeah well,” had been the only reply I was able to come up with.

  “I can help you get over that.”

  “I'm sure,” I had replied with a nervous giggle as we turned the corner.

  The next room wasn't pitch black. It had crudely painted glow in the dark paint splattered all over the walls, lit up by black lights. I had been so taken in by the horrible 'paintings' on the walls that I hadn't noticed that Skiles had somehow shifted himself in the small cart to face me.

  “Do you want me to help you,” he had asked.

  Absently I had just nodded, terrified of what might be coming out of the walls at us. “Sure, if you can,” had been my distracted response.

  “Close your eyes then,” he had whispered no more than an inch from my ear.

  With as close as he had been to me, his scent had overpowered any common sense I had and I had become intoxicated by his closeness. Slowly I had felt my eyes flutter shut. He gripped my arm tightly and removed my jacket from me. Gently he had run his hand over my left upper arm.

  My body had been shivering with anticipation.

  Then the pain had set in. It had been so strong I hadn't even been able to scream.

  I couldn't fight back because his grip was so strong. His teeth tore through my skin and straight down to my bone.

  The acidic venom had been excruciating. And it had been paralyzing. I felt my bone snap and heard him draining the fluid in the bone, extracting my blood cells.

  Feeding off of me, while I was slumped helplessly.

  That was all I had been able to remember, until I had woken up the next evening in a graveyard. At least he had the decency to take me somewhere he knew no one would look for me.

  Bastard.

  Lowering my head I ran faster through the brush and trees until I finally saw the light of the carnival shining brightly. I didn't bother slowing down as I sped through the people oblivious to the danger that was lurking on the outskirts.

  Not slowing down, I ran past the game booths, the food carts, and the rides straight to the stables. Leaping over the door, I started calling for Ryker. I ran to the back when I didn't hear him to the stall where we sat hoping that he would be there with Kendall. Instead I found one of the girls she had been with.

  “Hey,” I said briskly stepping in, “Where's Ryker and that girl he was with?”

  She looked up at me with wide, frightened eyes. For a moment she looked like she didn't trust me. I took a step back and let out an impatient sigh.

  “I'm not going to hurt you, alright? Now where did they go?”

  When she didn't speak I took two steps forward and
realized that her eyes seemed to be unfocused. Clapping my hands loudly twice in front of her face seemed to bring her back to reality.

  “Who... who are you,” she asked.

  “The person that just asked you an important question,” I replied sharply.

  She shrank back against the wall looking petrified. What's her problem, I wondered to myself in frustration.

  “Look,” I started a little softer, “I’m not going to hurt you. I just really need to know where they are.”

  “They left.”

  “Obviously,” I said tapping my foot impatiently, “where did they go?”

  “I ... I guess I don't know. The man said he didn't want anyone to know where they were going so no one could tell.”

  Her big hazel green eyes seemed to unfocus again as she stared at me.

  Whatever was going on in her mind was of no consequence to me anyway. Taking one last look at her I shook my head and turned to leave the stall.

  Suddenly I had an attack of conscience for wanting to leave her there. Sighing loudly I went back to her and yanked her up off the floor and dragged her out of the stables.

  “What's your name, kid?” I asked her as we walked back to my home.

  “Paige.”

  “Right. Well my name's Finn and it seems like I got stuck with a babysitting job here. So here's how this is going to work. You do what I tell you to do when I tell you to do it and you'll stay alive. Simple enough, isn't it?”

  The only response from her was a whimper. I rolled my eyes. As if having Skiles in town and Kendall being gone wasn't enough.

  When I saw that my street was in sight, I stopped walking and looked at Paige.

  “Listen. No one knows I live here. No one. I like it that way, so don't tell any of your little buddies about where I live, got it?”

  Without looking at me she simply nodded, still looking scared. I wanted to be angry with her but she was just being human. I guess that's one of the things that's a negative about being human. I'd have to remember to add that to my list.

  Pulling open the gate, I waved her in and looked around to make sure no one was watching us. Then we went up to the house. For a moment I thought of going in the way I normally did when I got home, but in case she turned on me later, I didn't want her knowing where my secret entrance was.

  Walking up the steps I grabbed the front door and ripped it off its hinges, gesturing her inside with my head. She stepped into the darkness and watched me as I put the door back into its frame, securing it with a couple of punches in key areas.

  Once I was sure the door was secure, I walked past Paige and told her to keep up. I wasn't sure where I was going to put her but the master bedroom seemed like a good place. We climbed the once ornate staircase and wandered down the hall.

  When we reached the door I put my hand on the doorknob and twisted it open.

  This room looked like at one point it was the most beautiful room in the world.

  The old ratty four poster bed looked like it could've been amazing. The worn heavy curtains that were pulled over the windows were still beautiful in an antique kind of way. When I heard her gasp behind me I knew that I had picked the right room for her.

  “As you probably guessed, this is your room. Keep away from the windows. I sleep during the day so if you happen to come across my room, which you won't, make sure you don't open anything that'll let the light in. I have a condition that makes me allergic to light. Got it? Great. Sleep well.”

  Closing the door behind me, I trotted down the stairs, and headed to the east wing of the house. Turning to make sure she hadn't followed me, I opened the door that led into a secret corridor and went in. Shoving open a door at the very end of the corridor, I stepped into my room.

  Tossing my jacket on the chair at my desk, I went to the window and grabbed the wooden board I had pulled off earlier. Holding it up to the window I punched it back into place. Now that I knew that Skiles was here I didn't have time to get burned up in the sun.

  Laying out on the old mattress I crossed my arms behind my head. Things had turned out to be way different than I had expected. I sure as hell didn't expect to see Kendall. I still had to figure out what was up with Ryker. I was stuck babysitting Paige. Not to mention I had thirty days to give Skiles my decision; Kendall or me.

  To me the choice was obvious. I wasn't going to let him have Kendall.

  Was I?

  Hmm.

  Being a monster sure makes you think differently. Even though I had teared up when I saw her earlier, I still didn't care for her as I did when I was human. That was becoming painfully clear to me now.

  I laid there weighing out my options.

  First was leave Kendall to fend for herself, and dump her friend.

  Second, sacrifice myself so that Kendall could live. And dump her friend.

  Third, kill Skiles.

  Fourth, kill Skiles, scare off Kendall from ever finding me again and make a meal out of, then dump her friend.

  I chuckled to myself as I mulled my four options over. There could be more options if I thought about it and I'm sure there were more options but these were the ones that appealed to me the most.

  Then the overwhelming feeling of bitterness washed over me. I never wanted this kind of life. It was chosen for me. I still remember that scene in the amusement park like a movie playing in my head. I should've known better. I should've kept my distance. I'm not the type of person to dwell on things though, and as such I never did believe in self-pity.

  Rolling over on my side I stared at the boarded window, something I'm obviously fond of doing. I hadn't written in my journal tonight, but so much had happened I'd be up for days. Ugh. Whatever. Time to rest. Then I'd worry about my problem upstairs in the evening.

  3. Unlucky

  (Day One)

  I just spent an hour punching and kicking my kick bag.

  It feels good to let off some steam. Especially after last night.

  I knew he was here. I just knew it!

  Of course there were a couple of surprises but that doesn't mean that I won't do what I came here to do.

  No one is going to stop me or get in my way.

  If only I could ditch the dead weight I'm stuck with this would be a hell of a lot easier.

  Leaning back in my chair I stretched my arms over my head. I wiped my face and arms again with the towel that I had set next to my journal and stared at the ceiling. It was quiet up there so I was going to assume that Paige wasn't nocturnal.

  I could pick her off so easily if I wanted too but I wasn't hungry.

  Not yet anyway.

  She had at least another three days. But that wasn't the issue now anyway. The issue was finding either Skiles or Kendall and Ryker. I could follow Skiles' or Ryker's scent easily. As it stood Kendall really was the least of my worries right now.

  Closing the journal I set it aside. I stood up and tossed the towel into a hamper near the door. I started to hum to myself to keep me occupied while I straightened out my room. There would be no need for a shower, because the sweat rolled right off of my body like it was never there. Ironically enough, it didn't make me smell.

  That always made me chuckle considering what I was; that I had no stench.

  I walked over to the old armoire that was by the window. Opening one of the lopsided doors, I pulled out a black pleated skirt, white tank top, and a black off the shoulder shirt with a skull on it. Leaning down I fished out my white flip-flops and slid them on.

  Once I was dressed I headed back to the desk and grabbed my brush. Sitting down, I ran it through my hair a few times. Out of the corner of my eyes I saw my glittering skull hair clip so I decided to fasten my hair back out of my face today. It wasn’t a hunting kind of evening. It was a relaxing stroll through the town kind of evening.

  I stood up and looked at myself in the mirror, turning slightly to the side, then back again. When I was satisfied that I looked okay I headed toward the door whistling to myself as I passed
through it and out into the main hall.

  From upstairs I could hear the pacing nervous footsteps of Paige. Chuckling to myself I went up the stairs and knocked at her door.

  Immediately the pacing stopped and I could sense her hesitation with opening the door. Slow steps came to the door and I could hear her heart racing.

  I knocked again.

  “Just a minute,” she called through the door.

  Biting back a grin, I had to resist the urge to knock again. For some reason her fear was making me giddy. I raised my fist to knock at the door again but this time it swung open.

  “Hi,” she said nervously.

  “Hey,” I replied casually.

  “Going out,” she asked looking at my clothes.

  “Yeah. Did you get any sleep,” I asked noticing her bloodshot eyes.

  “Not really. I don’t sleep well in strange places. Not that this place is strange,” she hurried when she saw the look on my face, “I just meant in a house that isn’t mine. You know what I mean, right?”

  I nodded even though I had no clue what she was babbling about.

  “Alright so I’ll be heading out for the evening. There’s really nothing to eat in this house, so here,” I said handing her some money. “If you get hungry you can go out to eat. Don’t order anything though. I don’t want anyone here. Understand?”

  She looked down and scuffed her foot against the floor. “I don’t want the money. Would I be able to come with you instead? If I get hungry out there then I’ll buy something.”

  Crossing my arms over my chest I stared at her. She seemed old enough to hang out by herself. I tapped my foot on the floor and sized her up.

  “Change your clothes then. You look like you’ve been through hell. There’s some extra stuff in that drawer by the bed. The bathroom at the far end of the hall has running water and some towels. You can clean up in there. I’ll wait outside.”

  When I turned my back I heard her rummaging for clothes in the drawer I had pointed out. Well that’s my good deed for the day, I thought to myself as I skipped down the stairs.

  I pulled the door off the hinges again and leaned it against the wall outside. I walked over to the wicker chair that I found the first night I had come to this town and dusted it off. Taking a seat I looked out into the night and waited for Paige.