Monster

by Yolanda Olson

  “No. You owe it to me,” he said stepping closer. “Tell me what you have decided or tonight, you die.”

  I started to laugh. I couldn’t help it. Little did he know, that was what I wanted more than anything.

  I glanced around him after I had composed myself.

  “Kennie?”

  She struggled against Ava and whimpered again.

  “Finn, help me!”

  “No,” I said softly.

  The sudden silence felt like it was bearing down a thousand pound weight on me. The crickets stopped chirping. There were no more sounds associated with the night that could be heard. It seemed as if though everything alive had stopped.

  “Why won’t you save me?” she screamed in terror.

  “Because. You’re not the same person I loved before. Emotions change when you’re a monster, Kendall. I can’t save you if I don’t love you anymore.”

  Ava released her.

  Her body was shaking when she hit the ground.

  I felt nothing.

  That wasn’t my sister. Not anymore. Remy and Charlie were more my sisters than Kendall.

  I turned my attention back to Skiles.

  He was giving me a smug smile.

  I unzipped my jacket and pulled my hood off of my head.

  “Do you remember these clothes? This is what I wore the night you killed me.”

  I could feel myself starting to boil over with anger. “This what I woke up in the night you dumped me in the cemetery like a pile of compost. This is what I walked around in for days after you abandoned me.” Steady Finnegan or you’ll be blinded by the anger. “This is how I want you to see me before you die.”

  I let out a yell and ran at him, taking him down hard to the ground.

  His laughter made me angrier than I already was.

  Turning us over, he straddled me and held me down by my shoulders. “So young and undisciplined,” he said to me in disgust.

  Maybe this is going to be harder than I thought.

  “Do you really think you’re going to kill me, Finn?” he asked softly.

  “You better believe it,” I replied throwing him off of me.

  I scrambled to my feet and got ready to attack again when I saw that he was standing next to Kendall. He draped an arm around her shoulder and whispered something to her.

  She nodded and brought her hands up to her face and shoved her hood off of her head. Slowly, she raised her face to look at me.

  We locked eyes.

  The bitter smile she wore on her face, those cold dead blue grey eyes.

  I felt myself wavering on my feet.

  I stumbled backward a step and felt Cody’s strong arms suddenly around me, holding me up.

  “That’s why I didn’t want to be here,” he whispered into my ear.

  I turned my face to his, but my vision was so blurred I couldn’t really see him.

  “Finnegan, get up. Get to your feet. We have to finish this,” he said in a soft, but serious tone.

  Cody’s never called me Finnegan before.

  I blinked a few times.

  My sight came back into focus.

  I looked into his eyes.

  He was still possessed.

  It was the demon that had talked to me.

  Cody pushed through the demon to be able to get me back to my feet.

  I nodded and stood up, pushing his hands gently away.

  “Go back to the line,” I whispered to him.

  Nodding, he cast one look at his sister and went back to the others.

  “You’re so pathetic,” Kendall said.

  She started to walk toward me.

  “Do you really think that this would’ve gone this far if I didn’t want it too?”

  “What?” I asked confused.

  “Finnegan Sloane is so perfect. Everyone loves her so much. No one noticed me when you were around. Mom and Dad sure didn’t. I never really had many friends. You had them all. Everyone looked at you like you were some kind of superhero. I loved you Finn. But when you disappeared, I was so happy. The tears that I cried were tears of joy, not sadness. That night at the amusement park, I saw Skiles first. I wanted him to talk to me but you stepped in once again and took away any attention I might have gotten. I waited until the two of you came out of the haunted house ride. I followed him when he dumped you in the cemetery. I hid behind a tree while you writhed in pain and until you got to your feet again. Slowly at first, moaning loudly, and walking with stiff movements. I knew what he had done to you. He infected you with some kind of virus that turned you into the living dead, a zombie.”

  I cringed. I really hated that word more than anything else in the world.

  “So of course after we buried you, I found a way to get him to do the same thing to me. Even though I hated you I wasn’t going to let you be better than me in death too. And you’re not. You couldn’t even tell that I was different that night you saw me in the carnival. I mean why else would I have been in Devils Lake? Oh but you were so overcome with such emotion over seeing me that you didn’t notice. You didn’t even care to notice. You’ve always treated me like I didn’t exist. Well now you have to notice me don’t you?”

  “Wow, she’s crazier than a mental patient, huh?”

  She turned her head around and looked back at Quinn, who had an amused look on his face.

  “For someone who’s supposed to be so much better than Finnegan now, you’re awfully slow on the uptake.”

  “Did I ask for your opinion?” she asked him angrily.

  “No. But I’m more than happy to offer my opinion services. You’re standing there talking about how dumb Finn was that she didn’t notice that you were different at the carnival in Devils Lake. But how stupid can you be not to notice how much me and Finn look alike.”

  He walked past Kendall and pulled me a few steps back away from her. Grinning he put his arm around my shoulder and placed his face against mine.

  “Hey Ava! Want to know why I really smell like Finnegan?”

  Ava approached us and stood next to Kendall looking completely confused.

  “Wow, this is a really dense bunch isn’t it?” Quinn asked looking down at me.

  “Apparently.”

  “Finn’s my little sister, you bunch of geniuses!”

  “That’s a lie,” Kendall said angrily, “I don’t have a brother!”

  “Yes, you do,” I said to her. “Quinn was sent away before you were born. Didn’t you ever notice how I wanted to be alone most of the time? I wasn’t pushing you away because I hated you or thought I was better than you, Kendall. I was pushing you away because I missed Quinn.”

  “Stop trying to trick me,” she screamed lunging at me.

  That was enough to signal the fight to begin.

  Brian ran at Quinn.

  Ava tried to attack me, but Kaeden managed to stop her in the nick of time.

  Phoebe and Cody were locked in battle.

  Ryker and Remy charged at Kendrick and Maxwell, while Charlie ran at Billie.

  Drake on the other hand had multiplied a small army to take care of a new breed of monsters that had seemed to come crawling into the Quarry out of nowhere.

  I fell on my back, surprised by the force that my little sister was capable of. I pushed back with all my might and sent her flying through the air. I ran after her though, I wasn’t going to give her a chance to recuperate and kill any of my friends.

  I jumped up and caught her on the way down, slamming her with my new strength and rage. She let out a sickening moan as I cracked her as hard as I could into the Quarry.

  “Stay down little sister,” I sneered at her. “Even in death you’re still not better than me. Move and I’ll kill you.”

  I ran off to find Skiles.

  As I passed Kaeden I saw that he had such a grip on Ava that she wasn’t able to do much but kick her feet and claw at his hands. Her efforts proved useless though when he pulled back his other arm and ripped her heart out of her chest. Her bod
y shivered as she let out one long shriek of pain, then she went limp in his hands. He ripped her heart in half with his teeth and threw it down across the Quarry. He looked at me and I nodded.

  One down. Kaeden kept his promise.

  I turned my attention back to the melee and scanned the fight for Skiles.

  Kaeden ran past me to help Drake and his clones fight off the seemingly never ending attack of what I assumed to be Ava’s children.

  Guess they didn’t notice that Mama’s dead.

  “No! Don’t!”

  I turned to the shrill scream and saw that Phoebe was looking at Brian in pure horror. He had Cody by the sides of the head and was applying pressure.

  “Get away from him!” I screamed charging at him.

  Brian turned slightly and sneered when he saw me coming at him. He dropped Cody to the ground who just lay there almost as if he were dead.

  I tackled Brian around the waist and brought us both to the ground. I hit my head against the rocks and gravel harder than I intended and almost blacked out.

  Behind me I heard Phoebe as she ran over to Cody and was frantically trying to revive him.

  I got to my feet shaking. I realized that I had damaged myself in that uncontrolled rage. In a way I was ecstatic. It was, after all what I wanted, but I also needed to stay long enough to make sure that my friends were all going to survive.

  I staggered toward Cody and shoved Phoebe out of the way. It looked like he was dead. His eyes were vacant and his mouth was hanging open. I felt the tears pooling in my eyes as I leaned down and cradled his head in my hands.

  “Get away from my brother!” Phoebe screamed at me.

  All the fighting stopped.

  Everyone wanted to see who was making her so frantic and what had happened to Cody.

  Remy ran toward us and whipped Phoebe into in a restraint so strong she couldn’t get out of it. Charlie skidded over to where I held Cody and gently pried me away from him.

  “Finn, he’s dead. Let him go. We have to finish this.”

  “No,” I said choking back a sob. “I’m staying with him. This fight is over and it’s pointless now. Cody’s gone. I ... can’t ...” I started to cry uncontrollably.

  The rage hadn’t gone away though. If anything, holding the body of Cody made it only stronger and rush faster through me. Leaning down I brushed his hair out of his face and kissed him gently on his forehead. Sniffling I got to my feet and looked around at everyone around us. All of my friends and my brother were giving me sympathetic looks. Charlie was wiping tears from her eyes, as was Remy.

  Then I heard it.

  The laughter.

  The cruel laughter mocking Cody’s death.

  Enraged I started to push my way through everyone and found Kendall was crouched where I left her laughing.

  It only took two steps.

  One to reach her and the other to crush her skull.

  Her brain was destroyed so she had no chance of her survival. I stood there with her crushed skull in my hands, and heard her body fall to the floor. Kendall was dead. The hardest part was over.

  I let her head drop onto her body and sniffled.

  I looked up at the sky and sighed.

  None of my friends were supposed to die tonight.

  “Finn! Finn, come here!” Charlie shouted excitedly.

  I didn’t turn around. I didn’t care anymore.

  I killed my sister.

  Cody was dead.

  Nothing mattered.

  “Finnegan Sloane, get over here,” Remy shouted.

  My head dropped and my shoulders sagged.

  I was starting to feel lightheaded.

  I turned slightly and saw Billie’s body lying a few feet away.

  Charlie had taken her out faster than I had thought she would’ve and she did it as herself. I guess my speech about humans helped her realize she could do it as Charlie; not anyone else.

  Wiping the fresh tears away, I saw that Kendrick was crouched by Max’s dead body. He had a hole in his chest from having his heart ripped out.

  Ryker, I thought with a sad smile.

  Mostly everyone that had come to the fight was dead, and that included Ava’s children.

  I wavered on my feet again and looked back up at the sky.

  I felt a strong pair of arms lift me up off the ground, cradling me like a child. Kaeden was looking down at me curiously as he carried me back to where Cody’s body was.

  “Can you stand?” he asked me.

  I didn’t answer. I just let him put me on my feet.

  I took a step backward to steady myself.

  “What’s wrong?”

  I looked over to my left.

  Cody was on his feet again looking completely normal, and scared as hell.

  “I thought ... you were ... dead,” I said in gasps.

  “I told you that I couldn’t die. What’s wrong with you,” he asked again putting his hands on my waist.

  I took an involuntary step forward and then another back. My head was pounding and the pain was getting to be unbearable.

  “Finnegan,” he repeated, “what the hell is wrong with you?”

  I could tell he was worried because his voice wavered. I smiled slightly at him, “I’m dying.”

  “What? No. NO! I didn’t see that so it can’t happen! No!” Cody became frantic, shouting no over and over.

  “Get him out of here,” I said to Charlie, “I’m not finished yet.”

  I pushed Cody away and started to make my way toward Skiles. I was staggering and I knew that I wasn’t going to last much longer, but I was going to take him with me.

  “Finnegan!” Cody yelled. I heard him grunting while the others restrained him.

  Suddenly Phoebe appeared next to and grabbed me by the arm. Her face was tearstained and she looked determined.

  “Phoebe, I don’t have the energy to fight you both,” I said.

  Remy must’ve let her go.

  “I know. I realized now that you mean more to my brother than I realized. I ... I’m going to help you kill the monster.”

  Skiles must’ve heard her. I saw him look around taking in the death that was scattered around him everywhere. Almost his entire legion of animals was dead and those that weren’t were restrained.

  We locked eyes again and I smiled an evil smile. A smile to let him know that he was going to die tonight. I wasn’t going to pass into the darkness alone.

  “Maybe some other time,” he said evenly.

  “No!”

  Skiles turned and ran swiftly over the side of the Quarry and into the shadows surrounding us. Letting out an enraged scream, I shoved Phoebe off of me and took off after him. I felt the adrenaline pushing me harder as I saw him in the distance.

  He was fast but in my anger I knew I could be faster.

  I was quieter than him too. Skiles never heard me coming. He didn’t know that

  I was on top of him until I had gripped him by the sides of his face; up and over I spun him and down into the ground. It was a beautiful hit. I knew that he was badly damaged but not dead yet.

  I grabbed the sides of his head again and forced him to look me in the eyes.

  “Go to hell,” I said before I crushed his skull.

  I tore his head from his body for good measure and crushed it against a tree.

  I staggered back to his body and sunk down to the floor next to him.

  I felt myself going.

  With each blink my eyes seemed to stay closed longer and longer.

  Finally. I get to rest in peace.

  I closed my eyes and I let out one last breath of air.

  Éloge

  I held her body tightly against me. I can’t believe she’s gone. I know that there’s a way to bring her back. There has to be. Eternity without Finnegan is going to be unbearable. I can’t live like this. I won’t.

  “Cody we have to go,” Pheebs said.

  “I can’t leave her here. Not in this place. Not with all this death
,” I said holding her tighter.

  “Then bring her. But the sun is coming up and the vampires will need to get out of the sun.”

  I nodded and stood up. I looked down at her fragile face.

  She looks so peaceful.

  I sniffled and willed myself not to cry.

  My love. My hope. My reason for being. Dead.

  Charlie came over to me and pulled Finn’s hood back over her head. I smiled at her and she looked away. She was crying and she didn’t want me to see it. I understood that though. All of us were hurting right now. All of us were trying to control ourselves. The only thing that was keeping me in check was being able to hold her.

  Kaeden led us all to the cemetery.

  I stood at the gates.

  “She doesn’t belong here,” I said to them.

  “I know,” Kaeden responded, “but this is where she’ll be safest.”

  “Come on, I’ll show you where she was supposed to be,” Quinn said soberly.

  I didn’t budge. I wasn’t going to put Finnegan into the ground. Not now and not ever.

  “Cody.”

  I looked at Quinn who was standing a few rows away.

  “Let me show you where she’s supposed to be.”

  I looked down at her again, and rubbed my cheek against hers. She was so cold.

  I cleared my throat and stepped in following closely behind her brother. We followed him all the way to the back of the cemetery. There was a Sloane Family plot there. He walked use over to a small headstone that had a picture of Finn when she was still alive. Smiling, happy, and human.

  I looked down at the scarred, beautiful, monster I held and realized that the way I knew her would be the way I would’ve loved her most.

  Quinn knelt down by her headstone.

  “I’m not putting her in the ground,” I said to him.

  “Neither am I,” he said running fingers over her picture.

  Sniffling he stood up and pointed at an above ground granite casket.

  “This was supposed to be for the next member of our family, whoever it turned out to be. We can put her in there. We can chisel something into the granite to remember her by. I think she would’ve liked it.”

  I looked at it. It was beautiful. The same color as Finnegan’s pale, smooth skin.

  It shown so beautifully in the moonlight. I held onto her while the others started to carve into the small casket with rocks they had sharpened. I would carve roses for her after we placed her inside. Finnegan always did love roses.