The Monsters in Your Neighborhood

by Jesse Petersen

  She swallowed hard. “Hyde kept telling me that he was my only friend now. That if you ever knew what I’d done you’d hate me even more than you already did. That you’d destroy me. I was scared and confused and, trust me, I’ve felt super-shitty ever since.”

  Alec held her gaze evenly. He’d always been pretty good at reading people. His instincts were honed and he listened to them when he thought what they were saying was important. There were subtle nuances to tone, even to scent, when a person was lying or not. Deep down, he knew Linda was telling the truth now. The whole truth, even though she was afraid of him, of Natalie, of all of them.

  “I have not been with the group long,” Pat said, his deep, buttery voice a balm on the ragged nerves of everyone. “But it seems that Linda has come to us now. She did not have to do that.”

  Drake moved toward her. Linda flinched, but he reached out a hand and touched her arm briefly. He smiled, revealing that one silly fang. “It was right of you to tell us.”

  “Seriously?” Natalie burst out, her face a deep pink. “So we’re just all going to forgive her for nearly getting Alec killed and aiding and abetting a robbery of a book that can kill Kai and Rehu, too?”

  “This from the woman who is still seriously thinking of giving the same book to the Van Helsings herself?” Drake asked, spearing her with a pointed gaze. “No matter what Alec has to say about it?”

  Natalie stepped back. “What? No. Wait. I just—how did you know?”

  Drake smiled as he reached up to tap his forehead. “What is it you call it? Monster powers, darling.”

  Alec shut his eyes. All this bickering wasn’t going to help anyone. And it seemed like somehow he had ended up being the one who had to fix it.

  “Okay, can everyone just calm down? Just chill.”

  The rest of the monsters stopped arguing at his quiet statement and they all stared at him expectantly. Huh, so he was supposed to do more than shut them up? Great, he hadn’t taken his hero pill that morning or anything.

  “Look,” he began, feeling exceedingly awkward in this, his Big Moment. “Who wanted who dead, who did what, why someone said something to someone about their cat . . . it’s all meaningless at this point. It’s the same shit we’ve been yapping about in therapy for, like, a decade or more. Right now we have to figure out what to do to get this chip out of my head so I don’t have the biggest freak-out in the history of monster shit, and to get that book back so that Hyde or the Van Helsings don’t use it to turn Kai and Rehu into little ugly piles of dust.”

  “My dust pile would be fabulous, thank you,” Kai interjected with an arched brow. “But yeah, that’s what we have to do.”

  “I think it’s pretty obvious what has to happen next,” Natalie said, folding her arms. A steely quality had hardened her jaw and her stare. Alec wasn’t sure he liked it. “We have to get that book from Hyde.”

  “Yeah,” Rehu agreed. “Thanks, Miss Obvious.”

  “And take it to the Van Helsings,” Natalie finished with a challenging glare for Rehu.

  “Wait, the real book?” Alec asked.

  Natalie tilted her head. “Do you think they’re so stupid as to fall for a fake book? Of course the real book.”

  Kai’s mouth dropped open in shock. “I’m sorry, but what the fuck are you talking about?”

  Natalie leaned closer. “I’m sorry, did I stutter? I said we need to take the book to the Van Helsings. Should I say it in Egyptian?”

  Kai lunged, but Rehu caught her by the sleeve, hauling her back so they wouldn’t all get to be witness to the hottest girl monster fight ever. Alec might have been disappointed by that fact were he not just as shocked by Natalie’s suggestion as the mummies were.

  “Natalie, we aren’t going to let the Van Helsings kill Kai and Rehu just to save me.” Alec shook his head. “I think I made that pretty clear, right?”

  She looked at him with a frown. “I never said we were. But Rehu and Kai aren’t the only ones who need saving. You do, too. And we have to do this in a way that gets all of that done.”

  “What do you propose?” Kai asked, her anger seemingly under control, at least for the moment.

  Natalie let out a nervous sigh. “We get the book from Hyde. Then we take it to the Van Helsings and make sure they take Alec’s chip out. Once that’s done, we bolt with the book. Even if we have to kill every damn Van Helsing in that house to escape. Alec is safe. Rehu and Kai are safe. Oh, and I want to rescue that Creature they have under their control, too.”

  “But he’ll still have a chip in him,” Alec said.

  She shook her head. “I don’t care. We’ll get the controller and we’ll find a way to fix him or something. But I’m not leaving him there. He’s my . . . well, I guess he’s kind of my brother.”

  “That’s your plan?” Igor said blankly, with a “you are crazy” stare piercing into her.

  She nodded. “Well, that’s my general idea—the actual plan is more complex, of course. But what I need to know is are we going to work on this together, or are we all just working for ourselves?”

  Alec held his breath, as everything in his world depended on what was happening right now. On what their answer would be, because he knew for a fact that he and Natalie couldn’t do this alone. Even though that girl would try. Because they apparently loved each other. That was a thing now. And it was weird, but he liked it. But it wouldn’t help them win.

  Pat stood up. “I will help. In any way I can.”

  “Great,” Natalie said with a grateful smile. “You know the sewer access points, right?”

  “To just about everywhere.” Pat grinned.

  “Then I think I have a place for you.”

  “I’ll help.” Drake sighed. “I hate the Van Helsings, and I don’t mind all of you. So I suppose it’s an easy enough choice.”

  “I’ll help,” Linda said with a swipe at her teary eyes. “I owe you.”

  Igor grinned, stood, and bowed. “You know my nature is to serve. Of course I’ll help.”

  Alec turned toward Rehu and Kai, standing together, both with their arms folded and frustratingly unreadable expressions. “What about you two?”

  “I don’t like the idea of taking the book into the heart of Van Helsing country,” Kai said. “It’s a risk.”

  Natalie blinked. “All of it is a risk. I’m just asking you to take it with us. Even if you decide it’s the last time and you’re done with all of us after, will you help us now? We need your brains, as well as the muscle power mummy strength affords.” She gritted her teeth. “Please.”

  “Wow, ‘please’?” Rehu chuckled. “You must be desperate.”

  The two mummies exchanged a look and then Kai shrugged. “Okay, okay. We’ll help.”

  Natalie squealed in delight and rushed over to hug Kai. Alec laughed as Kai’s face twisted in confusion and a mild revulsion.

  “Ew, stop. Personal space.”

  “Sorry,” Natalie said as she backed away. “Sorry.”

  Kai’s lips twitched with humor despite herself, humor she erased as she raised a finger and wagged it at Natalie. “But we’re going to need a lot more detail on your plan than ‘get book, take book to evildoers, save everyone.’ It’s a bit vague.”

  “A bit?” Rehu repeated, incredulous as always.

  Natalie nodded. “Of course. We’re going to have tons of detail. Right now.”

  She scurried over to the rest of the group, asking for paper and pens and a bunch of other crap. But as Drake went to find everything she asked for, Alec couldn’t help but wonder: Natalie said she had a plan. But would she say anything . . . anything at all to get their help? Even if it was a pack of lies?

  Natalie could feel sweat beads rolling down her neck as she stalled for time by asking for paper and pens. She said she had a plan more detailed than the one Kai had been all snotty about. And she was certain she would come up with one. She had to.

  She shot a glance at Alec. He was standing on the outside edges of the g
roup, watching her with those wolfie eyes that said he knew she was full of shit and he was just choosing not to call her out on it because he . . . well, he loved her, apparently. Which was weird, but good.

  “Okay, Natalie,” Kai said, pulling a nail file from her purse to work at her nails. “What’s the plan?”

  Natalie sucked in a breath. Scenarios were racing through her mind. It was hella loud in there.

  “We’ll break into two groups . . .” she began. “One set of us will have to go to Hyde’s and retrieve that book he stole, as well as see if we can get any info on his surgery and grab the controller for Alec.”

  “Right,” Alec said. “And we’ll have to be careful, because he can trigger me at any time.”

  Natalie turned to stare at him. “Um, you can’t go.”

  He shook his head and she could see all the argument in him, the anger that pulsed below the surface like a super-mega PMS.

  “Fuck that!”

  She folded her arms. “And you just gave the exact reason why, Alec. Hyde could trigger you at any time. I assume you have to be within a certain range for him to do it—radio waves and whatnot—so we can’t let you anywhere near him.”

  “But—” he began.

  Igor raised a hand. “She’s right and you know it, might as well not argue. Anyway, you two don’t have to be attached at the hip, do you?”

  “Most of the time,” Kai cracked, and Rehu snickered.

  “Like you two should talk,” Natalie snapped. “Alec, you know he’s right, you know I’m right. Don’t get all moon cycle on me.”

  “Oh, nice, bring up the moon cycle.” He folded his arms.

  Kai dug around in her purse. “Shit, Linda is right. You may need some feminine product for that attitude, Wolfie.”

  “Shut it,” Alec said, but he was smiling, just a little. Natalie breathed a sigh of relief. “So, okay, you say I can’t go to Hyde’s, where do you want me to be?”

  “Pat, you said you have access to sewer info?” she said. “Will you take Alec with you? And Igor and Drake?”

  “Sure. But why, Natalie?”

  “I’ll get to it in a minute.” She took a deep breath. “Okay, so Linda, Kai, and Rehu, that means the four of us will be going to Hyde’s to retrieve everything we need.”

  Linda shivered. “I don’t know. He’s . . . he’ll be furious.”

  “Honey,” Igor said, “like a very famous book once said, he’s just not that into you. So be strong. Channel your inner Carrie and dump Mr. Big.”

  “What?” Linda said, her face utterly blank.

  Igor rolled his eyes. “Okay, when this is over, I say I’m going to have a marathon with you.”

  “Of what?”

  “SITC!”

  “He’s talking about a TV show,” Natalie explained with a heavy sigh. “And we’re so far off topic that it makes my head hurt. The bottom line is, we need you with us.”

  “Why?” Linda whimpered.

  Natalie shut her eyes. “Because you know where Hyde is, and, I assume, he doesn’t know you ratted him out yet. So he’ll let you in, presuming you’re still an accomplice to all this.”

  Linda’s face was whitefish-pale, even under her bright green scales. “Natalie—” she began, her voice no more than a weak whisper.

  Natalie fought for empathy, for kindness. It wasn’t the first thing on her mind at the moment, but she was trying.

  “Look, Linda, I get it. You’re going to have to face him and he’s going to be super-pissed and probably violent, and I’d guess you’re going to break up—but he’s done some really bad things here.”

  To her credit, her eyes didn’t start leaking like usual, but Linda’s mouth did turn down and she sniffled. “Okay.”

  Natalie took a breath and wrapped an arm around the Swamp Dweller. “But you know it’s for the best and we’ll all be with you, okay? You want to fix what you did, right? You said you did.”

  Linda deepened her frown. “Yes. Yes, okay. I’ll come with you.”

  “Great. While we’re doing that, Alec will go with Igor, Drake, and Pat down to the sewers. Protect him, do you hear me? Igor, you know a little about monster surgery, right? Check him out as best you can, wrap his head in tinfoil if you think it’ll help block Hyde’s signal. Drake, use your mind control to help. Whatever—just protect him.”

  “What happens if he does turn, if Hyde triggers him and the signal can transport to him?” Pat asked.

  “Hit him in the head with something,” Natalie said. “Really hard.”

  “Hey!” Alec burst out. “Um, I’m right here.”

  “Sorry, honey, but it works. Just try not to damage him too badly. Or his face.”

  “Oh, thanks for that.” Alec rolled his eyes. “See how you like being hit in the head with a pan.”

  “Mutter on your own time,” Rehu said with a shake of his head. “We’ve still got a lot to cover. What happens then? If we get the book and Alec isn’t triggered in the process, I’m still confused about us bringing the book to Van Helsing. When Kai and I show up in their living room, I’m guessing they’re going to figure out we’re not there for a peaceful social call.”

  She swallowed. “Well, you won’t. We’ll meet Pat, Igor, Drake, and Alec down in the sewer system and head over to the closest exit to the Van Helsings’. Alec and I will go up, but you’ll all wait.”

  “Wait,” Kai breathed. “No way. You could double-cross us!”

  Natalie turned to stare at her group member and sometime friend. “But I won’t, Kai. I swear to you on everything important in my life, on my stolen body parts, on whatever has meaning to you, that I will not betray you. Please, I’m asking you to trust me. To trust us.”

  Kai stared at her, unblinking, for what seemed like forever. Then she shook her head.

  “I’m going to fucking regret this . . .”

  “Thank you,” Natalie breathed. “And no, you won’t. Alec, you and I will go in, but we’re going to demand they fix you before we turn over anything to them.”

  “And if they refuse?” Alec asked.

  She hesitated. She didn’t want to think about if they refused. Leaving Alec so vulnerable? Or taking a chance that the thing in his head would somehow hurt him? Just the thought made her stomach queasy and her hands shake.

  “If they refuse, then . . . then I guess we turn back,” she whispered. “I swore to Kai and Rehu I wouldn’t put them in danger, and I won’t. But I think they’ll do whatever we ask. They want the book. I assume there are tons of pretty awful spells in there.”

  Kai hesitated and then nodded. “Yeah. They could probably make an army if they wanted to.”

  Natalie smiled, though she wasn’t feeling very happy about being right. “See. They want the book. So they’ll operate and once they do, we haul ass out of there, with the book and with the Creature.”

  Rehu arched a brow. “You think they’re going to let you do that?”

  “Well, they’re not going to ‘let’ me do anything. But once the rest of you come bursting in to fight them, we’ll be in control, with our monster powers and the element of surprise on our side.”

  Kai pondered what she’d said for a moment. “So you’re saying we’ll leave there with our heads intact, the book in our possession, and Alec and our other monster friend in tow.”

  “Yes,” Natalie said. “If everything works out, that’s the plan.”

  “It’s a shitty plan, Natalie,” Kai said with a laugh. “With massive danger and failure lurking around every corner. The likelihood is that we’re all going to end up dead or in jail by the time we’re done with this.”

  “So you’re out,” Natalie said matter-of-factly to call her bluff, even though her heart was sinking rapidly into the very base of her turning stomach.

  “No, I’m in,” Kai promised. “I’m so in, it’s not even funny.”

  “Yup,” Rehu agreed. “Isn’t everyone?”

  Natalie held her breath as she looked around the room. Everyone wa
s nodding, even if some of them looked pretty reluctant about it.

  “Good, okay.” She sighed. “Good. Then let’s get going, we want to get this over with as soon as possible.”

  Everyone started getting to their feet, splitting off into the two groups, but Alec stayed just where he was. Natalie moved over to him and took his hand.

  “Are you okay?” she asked, softly enough that no one else would hear.

  “I don’t like this splitting-up thing,” he admitted. “I hate that I’m not going to know you’re okay until you’re done with Hyde.”

  “I’ll text if I can,” she promised. “And you do the same. I’m worried about you, too.”

  He nodded, then cupped the back of her head and drew her in for a long kiss that made the rest of the group groan. When he pulled away, he said, “If you have to protect yourself, Natalie, do it. Think of yourself first and everything else second. Promise me.”

  She opened her mouth, but she couldn’t say it. She couldn’t say that she would abandon her efforts to help him in order to save her own ass.

  “Say it,” he repeated, and there was a wolfishness to his voice that she realized had nothing to do with Hyde’s chip.

  “Okay,” she said. “I promise. Now go, go with Igor and Pat and stay safe.”

  He nodded and followed the other two out the door. But as he disappeared from her sight, Natalie knew she had just lied to Alec. And she hoped it would be for the last time.

  15

  Hyde wasn’t staying at his townhouse anymore. He had moved to a suite at the posh Viceroy Hotel in the heart of Manhattan’s East Side, near the UN. It was an older hotel, which had catered to kings and ambassadors over the hundred years it had been open. Seeing it rise up above her, with all its promise of wealth and diplomacy, made Natalie sick with anger. How dare Hyde place himself in the same company as men and women who tried to better their world?

  “You look a bit stabby,” Kai whispered close to her ear. “Tone it down or Fish Sticks might not let us get near loverboy.”

  Natalie glanced at the Swamp Dweller. Linda was worrying her lip until dark green showed through her newly reapplied makeup, and she kept casting quick glances at Natalie as they walked across the street toward the hotel.