Monster

by Yolanda Olson

  He laughed and said, “It's North Dakota. When isn't it close to almost winter here?”

  Yeah, he's got a point.

  “So where is this Hall of Mirrors? I suddenly feel like taking a walk,” I said grinning.

  “Ryker!” Remy yelled from one of the stable windows, “Look!”

  Grabbing me by the elbow Ryker took me with him to the window that Remy was looking out of. For a second it looked like he didn't see what she was talking about but then his face became grim. Looking out the window I saw a head of short, snow white hair walking briskly by.

  The person stopped and turned to look at the window. My mouth almost dropped. He had to be the most exquisite 'man' I had ever seen. He had wide beautiful cobalt blue eyes, full lips, and a muscular jaw. His face gave away his youth though, he couldn't be more than eighteen years old. In human years anyway. He had the body of an ancient warrior, and something in those eyes told me he might have been older than that. When we locked eyes through the window, he smiled at me and gave me two-fingered salute.

  I didn't smile back. I already knew that something was very different about it.

  And besides the last time I got suckered by a pretty face, I died. I watched as he lingered for a moment before finally turning his back to us and heading off toward wherever it was he was headed to.

  “He likes you,” Remy said finally breaking the stony silence.

  “Am I supposed to be impressed?” I asked.

  “No. I can just tell he likes you. Not by the fact that he smiled at you, but by the fact that he stayed for a moment before leaving. He was the first to arrive here and then the female a few nights after him.”

  Ryker put a hand on my shoulder and pulled me away from the window. Then he looked at Remy and signaled her to follow him. I moved to go with them but he stopped me.

  “Stay here for a moment. I need to speak to her in private,” he said with a smile.

  I obeyed. I stayed by the window with my arms crossed over my chest looking outside. The heated whispers between Ryker and Remy caught my attention though. I looked over and saw them speaking with their heads close together.

  Remy was shaking her head vehemently and Ryker was motioning impatiently with his hands. Finally it looked as if though she conceded. She hung her head for a moment then looked over at me. Then she and Ryker approached me.

  “I have a favor to ask of you,” Ryker started.

  “Sure,” I said curiously.

  “I want you to go out there and find out what you can about that man. What he is and why he brought the female with him.”

  Laughing I put my hands on my hips and looked at him. At first I thought he was joking but he didn't even crack a smile. I looked at Remy and she refused to meet my eyes.

  Shaking my head, I punched the window once and it broke wide open. I hopped through and poked my head back in.

  “Put a board on this. I'll be back as soon as I can.”

  Before either of them had a chance to say anything I was off in the direction the man had walked in. If they wanted me to socialize, I was going to have to have a clear head. As I walked I noticed that all the fledglings seemed to have turned into live statues. Watching me with their eyes but caught in the movements they had been doing when I was going by. Lucky for me that they didn't have a taste for my blood or this would've been one hell of a fight.

  In the distance, near the Death Wheel, I saw the man with the white hair. Why do they all have to be near that stupid thing? I though angrily to myself.

  As I approached he turned slightly and smiled. Even his profile was intoxicating, and I had to be sure not to get roped in by his face or anything he said to me. The closer I got the wider the smile seemed to get.

  Maybe I should wipe that stupid smile off his face then ask questions.

  “So you're the one this whole problem is about, eh?” he said as I got within ten feet of him.

  “That would be me,” I called out still waking.

  He turned his whole body to face me and his smile went from wide to a boyish grin. I didn't feel anything weird coming from him so I knew that I wasn't in any danger, but anybody that was keeping company with Ava sure wasn't going to be on my best friends list.

  “It's a pleasure to meet you, Finnegan. May I call you Finnegan or do you prefer Ms. Sloane?”

  “Actually I prefer Finn. And I'd prefer it even more if you got the hell out of Devils Lake and took Ava with you,” I said finally stopping in front of him.

  “I would, but I can't. See she's not my responsibility. She's quite annoying really, but I can never resist a good battle. Especially not with all the little monsters she's made here. Though I can't get her to tell me why she wants to kill you. Any ideas?” he asked cocking his head to the side.

  “Maybe. Listen, can I just ask you a question?” I didn't wait for his response.

  “See, I've got some friends holed up in that barn over there and it's kind of an inconvenience. Any chance you can just tell me what you are and what you want and take this group of children with you?”

  Giving me a wry smile he said, “I have a few conditions of my own first if you don't mind.”

  Of course you do!

  “Shoot,” I said sighing impatiently.

  “Well first I'd like you to ask me my name. Deals can't be made between strangers.”

  “Alrighty. What's your name?” If this is what I have to do to get him out of here then I'll play this stupid game.

  “Cody,” he said smiling warmly.

  “Great, Cody, it's nice to meet you. As you already know, I'm Finn. Now what else do you need so I can get on with my existence?”

  “You have a lot of rage don't you?” he asked laughing.

  Little did he know that my rage was about to explode all over him if he didn't hurry up and leave the damn fairgrounds. I nodded and he laughed again.

  “So you want to know what I am. I want to know why Ava wants to destroy you. How about you tell me first, then I'll tell you?”

  “No dice,” I said putting my hands on my hips. “We already started with introductions and my name was first, which means you're first at telling me what I asked.”

  “That's only fair. Considering you asked me two questions, I'll chose the second to answer. What I want is to know what you've done that's caused this kind of creation. I've never seen it before and I've been around longer than your vampire friend, Kaeden. That is why you two are at each other’s throats, isn't it?” he asked curiously.

  “Apparently this chick has some kind of creepy crush on Kaeden. Not my concern. As a matter of fact a lot of this stupid stuff isn't my concern. Hell you're not my concern. I'm just doing this as a favor for my friends. So. When do you plan on leaving?”

  “One of your friends there has been hurling incantations at me since I've been here and it's giving me a headache,” he said rubbing his temples. “It'd be great if you could get her to stop.”

  “Yeah sure, I'll get right on top of that,” I said dismissively. “Right now we're one for one on the answering questions. Here's the part where you tell me what you are so I can stop biting my nails with anticipation,” I said in a bored tone.

  “Old.”

  “You know if you tell me things like that I don't think I'll be able to keep it to myself. I mean old is so much information that I don't even know where to begin!” I said sarcastically.

  Throwing back his head he laughed loudly. Then in a flash he pushed me behind him and I heard the sound of sinew and bone snapping. I turned around to see what happened. Looks like a fledgling got a little brave and tried to attack me and he saved me.

  “Why'd you do that?”

  “I like you. You're very funny and I think we could be great friends,” he said casually as he tossed the torn body parts to the side.

  “No. I have enough friends and half of them I don't even want. Look, I'm not asking you to do anything difficult. I just need you to get these blood hungry abominations out of here. Please.�
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  “But I already told you that they aren't my responsibility. I have nothing invested in this so I don't really care what they do – Argh,” he said grabbing the sides of his head.

  “What's wrong?” I asked half curious, half annoyed.

  “That damn gypsy just slung another curse at me.”

  I bit back a grin. I knew that I liked Remy so quickly for a reason. Cody hunched over in pain still holding his head in his hands and I found myself delighted by his reaction.

  As he struggled to get his breathing normal again, I weighed the pros and cons of this situation. On the upside it was funny as hell. On the downside, if the fledglings decided to take now to attack me, I'd have to run. And I wasn't one for running from a fight.

  Reaching over I helped him stand up straight again and he smiled gratefully at me. I just rolled my eyes and let him go.

  “Thanks,” he said.

  “Whatever. Now besides being old, what are you? Give me a couple of hints or something.”

  Sniffling he stood up and looked at the barn, then back down at me.

  “I’ll tell you mine if you tell me yours,” he said with a smirk.

  Ah! There's the jerk that I knew that was lurking all along! Finally he surfaces.

  “If I decide to tell you, will you leave?” I knew I was crazy for considering this but I was starting to get aggravated with him.

  “I make no guarantees.”

  At least he's honest, I thought to myself. I shrugged and he grinned. He started to walk away and I stood there watching. Turning he jerked his head in a motion for me to follow him. I looked back at the barn and then back at him. I dug my hands into my pockets and followed close behind me. I still kept some distance in between us just in case.

  “Don't worry, I'm not going to hurt you, I just want a little privacy. Those mongrels don't know what I am either,” he said with a sly grin.

  I grinned and fell into step next to him. We walked quickly to a big building labeled House of Mirrors. He stepped aside to let me enter first. Putting a finger to his lips he motioned for me to follow him. After we had navigated about five different hallways, we wound up in a room completely surrounded in mirrors.

  He grabbed my hand, lowering himself onto the floor and bringing me down with him. I didn't try to resist, because I wanted to know what he was. Maybe this is how everyone feels about me.

  “Okay so,” he said smoothing his hair, “I'm going to tell you about me. Try not to throw yourself at me when I'm done,” he said with a grin.

  “I'll do my best to contain myself,” I said rolling my eyes.

  Laughing, he stood up quickly and did a spin. His long black leather style jacket spun with him making him look like a pretty albeit deadly flower in bloom.

  “I am the result of what happens when an angel and a demon fall in love,” he said.

  “What?”

  “My dad was an angel. My mom was a demon. When a boy and a girl love each other very much...”

  “Yeah I get it,” I said cutting him off with the wave of a hand. I really didn't want the 'talk' from Cody of all people. “I just didn't think that was, you know. Possible.”

  “Possible, yes,” he said sitting back down. “Allowed? Now that's a different story. See after that happened, dad wasn't allowed up and mom definitely wasn't allowed back down. So they got shoved into some kind of limbo realm and that's where I was born. When I grew up I realized that wasn't the place for me so I split,” he said making a whooshing sound with his mouth and hands.

  “So you can age then?” I asked suddenly fascinated.

  “Only if I want too,” he said with a sly smile. “Perk I guess of being an outcast. Anyway I shared,” he said leaning back on his hands, “I think it's only fair that you share.”

  “Wait, there's something else I want to know,” I said holding up my hand.

  Nodding agreeably, he looked at me and waited for me to continue. “Do you have any kind of power? Like anything special that you can do?”

  “Ha! No one's ever thought to ask me that. Then again no one else knows what I am, but for sure. I can do a quite a few cool things. I'll show you eventually.”

  I suddenly felt very uncomfortable. I knew that it was my turn to tell him about myself but I really didn't like saying the word out loud. Besides, if he was as old as he claimed to be shouldn't he already know? Here goes nothing.

  “I'm not going to come right out and say it. I hate the word. I hate what I am. But I'll give you a hint. I'm not human. I'm not a vampire. I'm definitely not an angel or demon. I'm not alive, but I'm not dead. I'm ... animated.”

  “Animated? So you’re a cartoon then?”

  I slapped my forehead with my hand, there was no way he was going to get me to say the exact word.

  “I’m just kidding,” he said laughing and putting a hand on my arm. “I know what you are. I just wanted to see if I could get you to say it. I’ve been watching you for a very long time and I’ve never heard you say the words out loud. That’s all.”

  I glared at him, which made him grin. How is it that everything in the world seemed to want to know what I was and now three things actually knew? So much for being incognito.

  “Okay great. Now I think we’ve answered the main portions of each other’s questions. I’m going to have to ask you to leave the fairgrounds now.”

  Shaking his head very slowly he looked me right in the eye. “I’m not leaving.”

  “Then learn to live with the headaches pal, because I’m going to make sure that Remy keeps them coming.”

  With that I stood up and brushed myself off. I started to navigate my way through the maze of mirrors. This is a lot harder than he made it look¸ I thought as I walked into another mirror. I put my hands out in front of me and started to feel my way through. I knew that eventually I was going to have to come out on the other end of the building.

  Then the lights went out. The humming sound of the generator died leaving the place eerily quiet. Suddenly my legs and hands started to shake. Even after all these years and everything that I had been through, being in any kind of amusement like setting in the dark still scared me to death. I closed my eyes and counted to ten. I knew that I would be okay if I could just get out of here and the fear that was welling inside of me made me want to start punching my way through mirrors so I could get out of here as quickly as possible.

  Opening my eyes again, I took a step forward when I heard a faint giggle in the darkness. I whipped around trying to see all around me but it was too dark. My breathing was becoming labored now and I could feel myself starting to lose it.

  Picking up speed I started to go as quickly as possible through the maze, walking into mirrors more often than not.

  Damn it. I rubbed my forehead and hoped that I didn’t have a bruise. I needed to be more careful in this hall of horror but I had to get out as quickly as possible or I was going to lose it. I turned a corner and heard another ripple of giggling this time closer. Suddenly the lights came back on. I looked into the mirror and screamed which prompted the lights to turn off again. But not before I saw her. I didn’t know who she was, I assumed her to be a fledgling but she looked terrifying.

  Her eyes were the color of onyx so I knew she was in a blood rage. Her pale face had blood splattered all over it and her white top was also soaked. Her brown hair was pulled up into pigtails and when she smiled into the mirror from somewhere behind me, I saw a row of razor sharp teeth.

  Now I didn’t scream because of her appearance because to be honest, I’ve seen scarier things. The reason I screamed was because I didn’t realize she was that close to me. I guess I thought I had a little more time to get out of this place before she caught me. I guessed wrong.

  I could hear her labored breathing in the room but refused to show any more signs of fear. I walked into the next hall hearing her rapid footsteps behind me.

  When I marched into the next hall I noticed that her footsteps were no longer behind me but I still he
ard her breathing and the slight sound of creaking. Then the lights flashed on again. I squinted into the mirror to try to find her, but I didn’t see any trace of her. I turned and glanced around the room. Still nothing. When I turned back to the mirror and looked again, I realized why I hadn’t heard her footsteps anymore. I put a hand over my mouth and tried to control the curse words that I wanted to let fly. She was still in the room, only this time she was crawling across the ceiling.

  Closing my eyes, I decided to end this game in this room. I turned, the lights went off again, I lunged toward where she had last been and came up with nothing.

  She giggled again, but this time half way through her giggle became muffled. Then I heard her screams behind something. Almost as if someone had gagged her or covered her mouth with their hand.

  “Hold this would ya?” came the voice in the darkness handing me something cylindrical. “And turn it on, I want to see what I’m doing.”

  Cody, I never thought I’d be happy to see you.

  I turned on the flashlight that he handed me and turned it on him. He had the fledgling by her neck and he was dangling her a few feet above the floor. Flashing me a smile he motioned me to come over to him.

  “Come on, she’s not going to bite you. I won’t let her,” he said with a grin.

  As I approached she became even more frantic in her blood rage and started to kick at the floor and claw at his hand.

  “Ah, ah!” he said to her tightening his grip. “God, these things are so melodramatic,” he said to me.

  “Tell me about it,” I said standing next to him. “I’ve never seen one look like that so far. And I didn’t know they could crawl on the ceiling either. Plus one hundred and fifty points on the creepy scale.”

  Cody chuckled, “Tell me about it. So. What should we do with her?”

  “We? You’re the one that has her by the neck buddy.”

  “Well if you want I can let her go,” he said loosening his grip and smirking at me. For a moment he completely released his grip, then caught her quickly again just as her bare feet reached the floor.

  “I have a better idea,” I said. He looked down at me curiously. “I figure that since this is a carnival and they’ve decided to take over, maybe we should give her a taste of one of the rides.”