Monster

by Yolanda Olson

  I took a deep breath and did my best to warn her, “R... r....”

  Cody’s entire body whipped in my direction. I had gotten his attention and I knew that I didn’t have it in a good way. Slowly he walked toward me like he was in some kind of a trance. Folding half of his body, he bent down to look me in the face and then he tilted his head to the side. I closed my eyes and hoped he wouldn’t hurt me. I still didn’t trust him in his cold fury.

  When I opened them again I saw that he was leaning down on the right side of my head, taking a deep breath, almost as if inhaling my scent. He closed his eyes as he took me, letting out a satisfied sigh. Opening his eyes again he looked me in the eyes and pulled his arm back, raising his fist, then he brought it forward with all his might.

  But instead of driving it into my face, which looked like he was going to do, he drove it directly above my head into the tree that I was leaning against. Pulling out a giant piece of the tree bark he turned and nodded at Remy, who with the flick of a wrist, entangled Ava in her whip.

  He looked down at me again. His dead uncaring eyes locked onto mine. I was surprised that the demon reached down and traced a finger down the stitches on my face. But it wasn’t in a caring way, it was in a curious way. Even if I had the ability to fight back I wouldn’t have done it. I knew better.

  Turning completely, he started to make his way back toward Ava with the chunk of wood in his hand. I had no idea what he was going to do but the curiosity was running rampant inside of me.

  Remy ran over to me and hoisted me off the floor. With superhuman strength she dragged me over to Cody and sat me down on the floor next to him. She kept a knee in my back to prop me up and waited for Cody’s next move.

  The demon in him never had much to say so I knew we weren’t going to get an explanation. Instead he just shot a hand forward and caught her around the neck.

  Raising the tree bark high above his head, he brought it down hard into her chest punching a hole into her. The blow knocked her to the ground.

  To my surprise Ava didn’t scream or even look scared. Instead she just smiled and stood there. At one point she even looked bored. Looking down at the wood that was sticking out of her chest, she reached down and yanked it out.

  “You watch too many movies,” she said with a sneer.

  Cody just smirked in his furious silence. Then I watched as his body shivered slightly. He turned his head and I saw that his eyes were normal again. He looked confused for a second and turned his head to the other direction.

  “Finnegan?” he yelled frantically.

  “She’s right here,” Remy said pointing down to me.

  Looking down at noticing where I was he suddenly looked faint with relief. Ava was still standing there watching everything unfold but he didn’t seem preoccupied with her anymore.

  “Come on dolly, I’ll carry you back home,” he said hoisting me up in his arms.

  I let him pick me up then I let my eyes wander over to Ava. I blinked twice. “Hm? Oh. Yeah she won’t be able to regenerate from that hole in her chest since the sun has already damaged her. It’ll make her easier to kill later,” he explained.

  Ava, having overheard his comment, looked down at her chest in horror. It finally sunk it what it was that Cody had done to her. Remy giggled and rolled her whip up.

  “That was a smart thing to do,” she said to him.

  “Thanks. I have my moments sometimes,” he said with a grin.

  “You should leave, by the way,” he said facing Ava again. “If you don't I might not be able to control myself,” he said his eyes flashing demonic than normal.

  Ava still shocked by what had been done to her, stumbled a few steps back then shot Cody a look of pure hatred, then shot out of sight. He just shook his head and looked down at me making a goofy face.

  For a moment Remy looked uncomfortable. She looked down at me then at Cody, obviously indicating that she wanted to say something to him.

  “Can you set her down somewhere? There’s something important you need to know and I don’t want to upset her,” she said.

  I was curious. What could Remy possibly say that would upset me? Why were there secrets all of a sudden?

  “I’m going to put you down for a sec, dolly. But we aren’t going far and we won’t be gone long okay?”

  I let my eyes turn to Cody, which actually went a little faster than I thought it would. I blinked twice and felt a smile spread across my face when he kissed me on the nose. I’d have to ask why he did that so much.

  I felt the dirt under me as he placed me under a willow tree. I listened as his fo0tsteps retreated back toward Remy, and again as both of their footsteps retreated further away. I could hear their hushed voices as she spoke and had I been in my normal state, I would’ve been able to kick my hearing up and hear the entire conversation.

  “What!” came Cody’s angry shout.

  I jumped. I didn’t think that anything she said would get that kind of reaction from him. Now I was dying to know what they were talking about. God, that was such a bad pun, I thought grimly to myself.

  “I’m going to kill him!” Cody shouted as his footsteps came toward me angrily.

  “I don’t think he was in his right mind when he said it,” Remy said desperately.

  “I don’t care! It wasn’t a difficult thing to do and just because he seems to think that he’s in charge of this show, he goes and makes a stupid decision like that!”

  Reaching down, he roughly scooped me off the floor. Securing me in his arms, he looked back at Remy.

  “I hope you can run, Red.”

  The next thing I felt was the rushing of the air, as Cody ran faster than any speed I could ever reach. The scenery flew buy in a whirlwind of colors and passing voices. I almost felt safe enough to fall asleep in his arms. To be honest, I would’ve if I hadn’t been so curious. I think if I knew any better I would’ve fallen asleep to avoid what was coming.

  Suddenly I felt myself going up. We were back in Kaeden’s home so quickly that it seemed almost impossible. Cody pounded up the steps, and took me to the spacious living room where I saw another beautiful grand piano sitting. He placed me on one of the long, velvety soft couches and left the room. His jacket made a loud whooshing sound when he spun on his heel.

  “Are you crazy?” I heard him shout angrily. From the height of his octave, I gauged him to be about three rooms away.

  “Is it necessary to shout?” I heard Kaeden yell back at him.

  “Obviously it is! I can’t believe you could be so stupid!” Cody screamed.

  There was an eerie silence that followed that. I didn’t know what was going on since I obviously couldn’t see them. I hoped that they would remember that at one point they had become something like friends and they would refrain from hurting each other.

  I heard a pair of lone footsteps heading down the hall and then entering the room I was in. I wanted to turn and look to see who it was, but I knew that it would take superhuman strength and I’d probably roll too far without being able to stop.

  “Finnegan, I have to speak to you.”

  Kaeden.

  “Yeah well she can’t talk right now. Want to know why? You know that damn vampire that you happen to be so fond of? Well he decided to mix some kind of crap in that damn tattoo needle and fill Finn with whatever the hell it was. Want to know what it did to her? It slowed her down. She can’t talk. She can’t move. Hell, I’m surprised she can still breathe. The only thing she can answer is yes or no. Want to know how? Blinks. One for no. Two for yes. So feel free to ask her anything you want, but don’t expect anything more than a blink!”

  Cody was furious. I didn’t know if he would attack Kaeden for Drake’s sins. I hope he remembered how much I cared for Kae as a friend and prayed that he would be able to control his anger.

  “Cody please,” Kaeden said in a voice that was way too polite, “Let me speak to Finnegan about what has happened and then you can damn me all you want.”

>   Silence. He didn’t get a response, but I could still feel his rage so I knew that he was in the room. Though I didn’t know where.

  “Now what I’m going to tell you is going to alarm you, but just try to remain calm,” Kaeden started.

  With the way he talks you’d never know that he was just a kid when he transitioned, I thought to myself.

  “Brian is gone.”

  My body stiffened. I started to blink rapidly. Not for yes or for no, but to fight the anger that was building up and to get a reason for it.

  “Calm down,” he said noticing how frantic I had become.

  My breathing was erratic and I was afraid that even though my lungs hadn’t been affected, that if I didn’t calm down they might collapse. Cody immediately ran over to me and took my hands.

  “Dolly, focus,” he said softly. “You can’t help if you hyperventilate yourself into a coma.”

  I wanted to laugh. That had to be one of the funnier things anyone had ever said to me. I closed my eyes. I felt him rub my hands with his thumbs. It was such a soothing gesture that I felt myself instantly calming. After a few more seconds, I opened my eyes and smiled at him.

  He smiled back, then turned his head toward Kaeden and nodded. Letting go of my hands, he sat down in front of me on the couch and leaned his head back toward me.

  “Now before you get angry, you’ll have to understand that what was done was in the best interest of what is to come. We wouldn’t be able to win the fight that’s imminent if we had to worry about him. So, I let him go when no one was around. I told him to stay far away from you and from us and that he wouldn’t be in danger.

  From any of us,” he said looking hard at Cody who laughed.

  “Sorry, but I wasn’t here to promise anyone anything. If I happen to see him when I go for a stroll, he might happen to die. Wouldn’t be my fault,” he shrugged.

  “That’s fine, but I don’t think that’s what Finnegan wants. If she had wanted his death, then we would’ve disposed of him a long time ago. He obviously has some bearing on her, so he lived. It’s not hard to figure out Cody,” Kaeden retorted.

  “Dolly,” Cody started turning his head to look at me. “If I find Brian and kill him, would you hate me?”

  I laid there for a moment contemplating this. I squeezed my eyes tightly. On one hand I felt that Brian was my responsibility for obvious reasons. On the other hand I wanted to be rid of him as quickly as possible. I took a deep breath, and then blinked. Once.

  “That’s my girl,” Cody said with a grin.

  “Finn, what is that?” Kaeden asked suddenly coming closer.

  “What is what?” Cody asked looking up at him.

  “Your eyes. They ... they’ve changed color,” he said in shock.

  “What?” Cody asked jumping to his feet.

  “This last time that her eyes closed. The color ... Look at her Cody!” Kaeden insisted.

  How could my eyes have changed color? I’m already cursed with these atrocious blue eyes, what else could possibly happen to my dumb eyes?

  “Wow, Finn, he’s telling the truth. The new look is kind of creepy,” Cody said staring at me intently.

  I blinked rapidly again. I knew that would gauge an answer out of someone. I was wrong of course, it gauged a question instead.

  “Huh? Oh sorry,” Cody said shaking his head. It was obvious that he was transfixed with my eyes. “Do you want to know what color they are?”

  I let out an exasperated sigh and blinked twice.

  “Okay.”

  “Wait,” Kaeden said cutting him off.

  “What now?” Cody asked impatiently.

  “Don’t tell her. Let her see it,” he said walking to a giant armoire that stood against a wall. He opened one of the doors, and produced a small wall mirror. Then walked back to where I lay on the couch.

  “Now I don’t want you to be shocked when you see this, Finnegan,” he began. “But with the stitches in your face and the slow movements suddenly; these eyes look crazy.”

  I looked up at him and blinked twice to let him know that I would be okay. Slowly he brought the mirror up. When he held it directly above me, I refused to look for a moment. I didn’t want to see it suddenly. I had forgotten about the patchwork face I was sporting now. My clichéd movements were embarrassing still.

  If my eyes gave way to the stereotype of what I was, I wasn’t sure I would be able to handle what I was about to see. I was afraid that any mental stability I had would fly out the window.

  “Finn, if you want me to put the mirror away take two deep breaths and let them out,” Kae said softly.

  But I only took one. I had to see what I was turning into. I had to see what my final transition was. I opened my eyes and stared at myself. For a moment I just stared. My eyes had turned sea foam green. The kind of green that you would find a Kraken hiding in wait for a ship of unsuspecting sailors to go by in, before it drags the boat down to a watery hell.

  I continued to stare. Then after about thirty seconds, I felt a wave of nausea, followed by anger, disgust, defeat, and finally numbness.

  I turned my face away slightly. I couldn’t even cry the bitter tears that I felt welling up. I couldn’t find myself caring anymore. Kaeden was right. Once everything was put together now with these new monster eyes, knowing what I am was a dead giveaway.

  “Figures,” I muttered.

  Kaeden and Cody jumped. They looked at each other, then back at me.

  “Finnegan. You spoke,” Kae said in shock.

  “No, I didn’t,” I replied.

  Wait. That’s not my inside voice. That’s my actual voice.

  “Hello?” I asked tentatively.

  I can talk again.

  “It looks like the poison pooled into your eyes letting your voice return. I’m surprised it didn’t damage anything in there. You can still see right?” Cody asked me.

  I nodded and decided to try something else. I secured a hand the side of the couch and placed the other one next to me. Taking a deep breath, I gave a push and was instantly on my feet. Quickly overcoming my surprise, I wondered if the poison as Cody had put it damaged anything that I could do.

  Or possibly enhanced me. I could be the new and improved Finnegan. “What time does the sun rise?” I asked suddenly.

  “In about twenty minutes,” Kaeden said suspiciously. “Why?”

  “I was just wondering,” I replied with a shrug.

  “Dolly,” Cody said chuckling, “You’re too much.”

  I smiled at him. He obviously knew what I was up too and he didn’t object. Kaeden on the other hand would probably shackle me in a dark corner until the moon rose the next evening.

  “Go to sleep Kae,” I said heading down the hall.

  “Finn, what are you going to do?”

  “I’m gonna sit on the front stairs for a little while. I’m sure the air will do me some good. I’ll be in soon. Promise,” I said punching him playfully on the arm.

  Before he had a chance to object, I opened the front door. I took a deep breath of nature and smiled. I reached back to close the door but Cody was standing in the doorway.

  “You know, in case it doesn’t work,” he explained with a smile.

  I grinned at him, and then sat on the wooden stairs. I placed my chin in my hands and waited. Either I was going to need more stitches in my face or I was going to be able to do something that even Skiles Dyson would envy.

  In a matter of minutes the first rays of the sun started to burn through the dark blue and purple night sky. The beautiful yellow and red rays started to overpower the dark velvety colors of the night, turning it red at first.

  I sat there waiting.

  Another blast of rays came through as the sun started to peek up over the horizon. The sky was turning a beautiful light blue now. Out of surprise, I put a hand over my eyes to shield the harsh light from the sun. My eyes hurt, but I gathered that was because I wasn’t used to seeing the sun yet.

  The sun continu
ed to rise. Hidden behind a blanket of white fluffy clouds at first, then dancing with them. Appearing and disappearing. Hiding and seeking; almost as if it were on a mission to find me sitting where I was. An abomination still walking the earth that needed to be taken care of.

  I took a deep breath.

  Suddenly, and almost without warning, the sun shot out from behind the cover of the clouds. I felt the warmth of the sun on my skin. I had to look away now. No hands shielding my eyes would help at all. The glare was too strong. The warmth started to get more intense, but dulled slightly when a cool breeze went by.

  “Holy crap, kid,” Cody said behind me quietly.

  I had forgotten that he was standing behind me and I turned slightly to look at him.

  “What?”

  “Your skin. It’s not burning,” he said in awe.

  “Yeah I noticed. I’m not sure but I think that Drake helped me. I knew he wasn’t trying to hurt me. I just knew it.”

  “Finn, get the thought out of your head. He was trying to kill you and it backfired,” Cody said sharply.

  “No he wasn’t. I trust him Cody. I know he wasn’t. Sure he’s a little messed up about losing his family so fast, but he’s not trying to kill me. He wouldn’t,” I insisted.

  Cody stood there for a moment in silence. I could tell that he was trying to regain his composure before he spoke. Either that or he was trying to pick the right words to say.

  “Finn, this isn’t a game. No one here is doing anything to help anyone but himself or herself. Well, with the exception of me, the gypsies, and the shape shifter, everyone and I mean everyone is out for themselves. You need to learn to do the same. Except to me, the gypsies, and the shape shifter.”

  “How are you so sure?” I asked skeptically.

  “I can see things, remember? You asked me that the first time we hung out. To tell you the truth you know a lot more about me than you do your new found friends here. I can see everyone’s intent, just not how it’s going to play out. It’s weird. This has never happened to me before. It’s like my mind is clouded somehow. But yeah. Don’t trust anybody that you don’t feel completely comfortable around.”