Monsters

by Katie May

  Ms. Stevens smiles, the slightest curl of her thin upper lip. Her eyes are dreamy, wistful, as if my words had pulled her into a pleasant memory. She shakes her head rapidly and clears her throat.

  “Have fun. Be safe.”

  Smiling awkwardly, I hurry out of the classroom to find both Jack and Mason waiting for me. They both glance up from their phones when I exit, and in eerie synchronization, shove them into their pockets.

  “Ready for your next class, Pinkie?” Mason says with a devious smile.

  “Ugh I hate fighting,” I groan, throwing my head back. “I always end up accidentally stabbing or punching myself.”

  With a sly grin, Mason jabs his elbow gently into my side.

  “Well, I’ll be there, and I can assure you that I won’t let any harm come to you. Even harm you do to yourself.”

  “I always keep a first aid kit on me,” Jack whispers, and I turn towards him with bright eyes. I can guess how tough this is for him—talking around strangers. He seems unbelievably shy and soft-spoken, almost to the point where even his hands don’t want to be seen. He’s making an effort, though, and as his self-appointed best friend, it’s my job to encourage him.

  “We’re going to need it,” I tell him with a small smile. His smile is more tentative, more hesitant, but it’s still there.

  Mason watches our exchange with a curious look, but when I turn back towards him, he replaces it with a shit-eating grin.

  “Race you to the gym?” he challenges wickedly, the question directed at both Jack and me.

  Jack’s face turns sheepish. “I’m not really the best runner,” he admits. “I’m more like Violet on that front. I trip more often than I stand. But you two can go! I’ll be right behind you with my first aid kit. I think you’ll need it.” And then, the shy, quiet boy winks at me. Winks!

  I’m so distracted that I miss Mason’s quick, “Go!” He’s already halfway down the hall, shouldering through students, when I regain my bearings. Cursing at the expanding distance between us, I pick up my speed…

  And promptly run into a chest of solid muscle.

  Vin places his hands on my shoulders to steady me.

  “You okay? I saw—”

  Before he can finish whatever he’s going to say, I lift my leg and knee him in the balls.

  Motherfucker shouldn't have messed with a monster.

  Chapter 12

  Jack

  I stumble to a stop just in time to see Violet knee Vin in the groin and grab a fistful of his hair. She speaks to him, too softly for me to hear, and I watch in rapt fascination as she then shouts to the gathering onlookers, “Does anyone have a removable arm I can use to beat the shit out of him?”

  One of Frankenstein’s creations—an immense green monster with thread woven into his face—removes his arm and hands it to her like an offering. She takes it with an easy, slightly sardonic and sociopathic grin, before turning back towards Vin.

  And proceeds to hit him with the arm.

  I watch quietly for a moment, admiring the petite female the way I had only ever admired my paintings. I have the sudden, irresistible urge to draw her. Those plump lips I yearn to kiss, memorize. Her luscious breasts straining and bouncing beneath her thin shirt. Her shapely legs.

  The students begin to chant, “Fight! Fight! Fight!” A few men race forward, eager to see the bloodshed, and I’m shoved against the wall brutally. My anger festers briefly, materializing in a cascade of white hot fury. I push it down just as quickly. The last thing I need is for Hux to appear now.

  Hux.

  My heart hurts when I think of my older brother, but I bury those emotions under lock and key—so deep that not even a necromancer can raise them.

  Straightening my glasses that have been knocked sideways in the hustle, I focus on Violet who is currently sitting on Vin and...tickling him?

  Yup. My little monster is using the borrowed arm to tickle Vin’s side, and Vin—the epitome of cool and collected usually—is laughing hysterically, attempting to bat her away.

  Oh, how the mighty have fallen.

  “Alright, back it up. Nothing to see here, folks. Just your average day at the Academy.” Mason rejoins the group, shooing people away with a wave of his hand. A couple gripe and groan, but the majority seems to realize that no murders will be occurring at this point in time.

  Unless someone can be tickled to death. There’s a very real possibility that is happening before my very eyes.

  Only one person stays behind. Vin’s sister. Vanessa, if I remember correctly. She stares down at her brother, arms folded over her chest and one eyebrow raised.

  “Really?” she asks. Vin’s laughter begins to die off...only for Violet to find a new spot to tickle, and it returns with a vengeance. He half-heartedly swats her away, but I know he’ll never truly hurt her. How I know that is a mystery, but I know in my heart that Vin will do everything in his power to protect the scary beauty.

  Violet.

  Her name sounds like music to my ears, and that in itself is strange. I’ve never been the romantic type, so to suddenly compare her name to music is weird as frick.

  Violet, a reverent voice repeats in my mind. I jump, glancing over my shoulder with wide eyes. I have only ever heard this voice on camera. Darker than mine. Raspier. The hints of an accent from his days in England.

  “Hux?” I whisper, trying to nonchalantly glance down both hallways. The halls have emptied, everyone else having already entered their classrooms.

  There’s a beat before, Jack?

  The voice is coming from inside my mind.

  But…

  But that’s impossible. I’ve been dealing with Hux for hundreds of years, and never, not even once, has he manifested himself in my mind when I’m still occupying my body.

  Where’s my precious treasure? Hux demands, tone curt. My confusion only grows.

  Precious treasure?

  In the last few centuries, I have released Hux more times than I care to admit. He has taken a few lovers during that time, but he has never once referred to them as his “precious treasure.”

  Unless…

  I recall my lack of time in the cemetery. The curious look in Violet’s eyes. Something inside my mind snaps into place as understanding dawns.

  Frick, I think, and Hux’s answering chuckle reverberates through my head.

  Still not using swear words, I see? he notes with veiled amusement. My cheeks flame, and I turn towards the wall to hide my reaction from the others.

  I’ve missed you, brother, I admit. The truth of that statement surprises even me. It’s hard to miss someone you never truly met. For as long as I can remember, he has been an extension of me. Another side of me I never had the pleasure of meeting. When we were younger, we would exchange notes. But that all changed after…

  I clear my throat, reinforcing the walls around those horrid memories.

  Let me see her, Hux demands, and with great reluctance, I turn back towards the fight at hand. Violet is now being restrained by Mason, and Vanessa is helping her brother up. Vin himself looks wildly disheveled, his hair tousled and his normally immaculate clothes wrinkled, but his eyes are bright. Heated.

  Aroused.

  The Van Helsing stares at Dracula’s daughter as if he has never seen a girl before. As if he never wants to see another girl. I imagine his expression is similar to my own.

  She’s glorious, Hux praises, tone awed. I can’t help but agree with him.

  Perfect, I agree. Because, really, what sane monster would take on a Van Helsing...and win? Only someone like Violet Dracula.

  Perfect for us, Hux states. An image jumps to the forefront of my mind, and heat travels through my veins. The visual isn’t mine, however, but Hux’s.

  Her body under mine as I thrust into her, those perfect tits bouncing in my face. In the vision, my demeanor changes, and Hux takes over, pounding into her brutally and savagely. She goes from crying my name to Hux’s, easily able to differentiate between the
two.

  I shift uncomfortably, aware that it would not be appropriate to sport a raging boner at the moment.

  She’s ours, Hux says darkly, and I can hear the conviction in those two words. The need.

  For the first time ever, I agree with my brother.

  Yes. Ours.

  “I’m fine,” Violet is reassuring Mason, patting his arms to indicate he should release her. “I’m not going to murder Vin...yet.” She flashes the Van Helsing a sharp-toothed smile, and I notice the bulge in his pants jump.

  Is she experiencing the Great Period? Hux asks me seriously.

  The what?

  Before he can respond, Vanessa speaks up. “I like you, Violet. I like you a lot.” She throws her silky dark hair over her shoulder. “It’ll be a shame when I eventually have to kill you.”

  Hux roars in my mind at her threat, demanding to be released and set fire to the girl. Mason stiffens ever so slightly, subtly pushing Violet behind him. Even Vin whips his head around to glare at his sister.

  “I’m kidding,” Vanessa says with a roll of her eyes. “I’m not murdering the little vampire.” She grabs her backpack from where she’d deposited it on the floor during the tickle fight and winks at Violet. “Yet.”

  With that ominous statement, she sashays away, humming beneath her breath. Violet watches her go with more amusement than fear on her face. She turns back to us eagerly.

  “Does that mean we're best friends again?” she asks indicating the hall where Vanessa has disappeared down. Mason sighs heavily, and Vin pinches the bridge of his nose.

  Let me know if the slayer ends up being a threat, Hux warns darkly. I’ll take care of her.

  Um…I’m not sure Violet will be happy if you killed her apparent best friend.

  Hux doesn’t reply, and for a moment, I think he’s retreated to wherever it is he goes when he’s not in my body.

  But no, I can sense his presence hovering at the edge of my awareness. A pesky fly buzzing around my head but never landing.

  I protect my precious treasure, he replies at last, and the words send a chill through me. Fuck, Hux is a scary motherfucker when he wants to be. His letters didn’t tell me that.

  Chapter 13

  Violet

  How did this become my life?

  Beating a boy with a severed, grizzly monster hand. Planning murder of the painful variety. My new best friend threatening to kill me.

  I don’t think I’m a horrible person. On a scale of one to ten on the murder scale, I’m a solid four. A perfect number, if I do say so myself. Definitely not deserving of all this shit.

  Vin continues to stare at me, expression unreadable. After a moment, he tangles his fingers through his hair and releases a pent-up sigh.

  “Are you going to apologize?” I ask, irritated. Honestly, I don’t really care if he apologizes. I just want to hear him talk again in that sexy-as-fuck Romanian accent. I can listen to him talk all day. I’m pretty sure he could call me a toilet-plunging cockroach and I would still swoon.

  It doesn’t change the fact that I’m fucking furious at him and want him to suffer.

  When he remains stubbornly silent, muscles flexing and lips in a thin line, I dismiss him. I won’t give him the time of day anymore.

  “Wait. That’s it? You’re just leaving?” Vin calls to my retreating back.

  Ignoring him, I turn towards Mason who has fallen in step with me, a smug smile on his handsome face. “Where’s the gymnasium?”

  “Violet, don’t fucking ignore me,” Vin warns darkly, still a few steps behind. Jack moves to stand on the other side of me, brows drawn in confusion. He looks to be deep in thought, his mind a million miles away.

  I nudge him inconspicuously and offer him a timid smile. “You okay?”

  “Yeah.” He matches my smile with one of his own. Again, it isn’t a full one, but it’s better than nothing. I’ll make it my personal mission to make him smile and to have that smile meet his eyes. He just needs to be more confident, to know that he doesn’t have to hide with me. He winces suddenly, rubbing at his temples with his fingers. “Just a headache.”

  “Do you have anything in your medical bag? Fairy drugs or something?” I know fairy medicines—a combination of herbal supplements and magic—are ten times more reliable and potent than human medications.

  Jack surprises me by taking my hand in his and giving it a reassuring squeeze.

  “I’ll be fine. Seriously.”

  “Violet, can we just talk about this?” Vin demands, still behind us. Still in my shadows because I’m a vindictive bitch.

  “What do we learn in fight class?” I ask, volleying my gaze between Mason and Jack. Mason has his lips pressed together to fight off his encroaching smile, but he still answers.

  “Usually, they teach us proper ways to defend ourselves.”

  “Sometimes they have us work on offensive maneuvers,” Jack adds quietly, scrubbing at his nose. “There are more monster hunters than just the Van Helsings. We never know when we’ll have to fight for our lives.”

  “My favorite is when we play games,” Vin adds, eager to implement himself into the conversation. He trails behind us like a besotted puppy. “Sometimes we play an epic game of Capture the Flag or Tag.”

  When I don’t respond, staring purposefully ahead, Mason clears his throat and repeats, “My favorite is when we play games. Sometimes we play an epic game of Capture the Flag or Tag.”

  I smile at him brightly. “That actually sounds like a lot of fun. I love games...but I can’t say I’m excited to get my ass whooped.”

  Vin groans. “Are you fucking kidding me? Real fucking mature, Violet.”

  We stop in front of large red doors, and I hesitate. Sitting behind a desk, filling out notes, no one can see how much of a fuck up I am at monstering. It’s completely different from fighting with other monsters, proving myself to other monsters. Using my brain, I can do (somewhat). Using my fists? Yeah, just prepare me a bodybag.

  “You okay?” Jack whispers. He gives my hand another reassuring squeeze—I haven’t even realized they were still interlocked.

  “I’m fine,” I tell him, and I try to enthuse as much sincerity into my words as I can muster. Straightening my shoulder and raising my head, I try to recall one of the many life lessons my father has given me: act confident, and you’ll begin to feel confident.

  That, and don’t just bury a body. Burn it.

  I can do that. I can act like I’m not wanting to run in the opposite direction, find a colony of ants, and become the queen of the fucking anthill.

  With great trepidation, I push open the gymnasium doors.

  No one looks up at me when I enter. Not one single person.

  Well, that was anticlimactic.

  Various monsters are grouped together around the abnormally large gym. They tend to stick with similar species—water monsters in one cluster, giant monsters in another, and so on. The divide between the monsters is meticulously clear.

  I spot Vanessa and a few other hunters in one corner. All of them—minus Vanessa—glance up when we enter, and their lips twist into hideous, matching sneers. I barely resist the urge to flip them off, instead choosing to be the bigger person, and walk briskly towards the bleachers. I’m momentarily surprised when Mason and Jack follow me. And I’m even more surprised when Vin trails behind all of us, still grumbling beneath his breath.

  We sit as a group on the bleachers, me in the center like their motherfucking queen. Okay, maybe I’ve been reading too many romance novels, but can you blame me? With this many hot guys, I’m on sensory overload. I need to live vicariously through the protagonists of my novels. The last one I read was about a queen and her harem of guardians.

  Sigh.

  I want a harem.

  “Frankie?” Mason calls. “What are you doing here?”

  Frankie steps up to our little huddle, as always stylishly groomed. He’s wearing khaki pants, a button up plaid shirt, and a cute little bow tie. His
hair is slicked away from his face with gel.

  He’s not as muscular as the other men, but he’s still handsome. There’s something captivating about him, something that ensnares my attention and holds it hostage.

  “I have fight class during this hour,” Frankie says stiffly. He, like Jack, wears a pair of glasses, but while Jack’s are a means to hide his face and eyes, Frankie’s are designed specifically to call attention to his handsome features. The black frames are thicker and more stylish than Jack’s.

  “You never showed up to class before.” Mason’s voice is heavy with amusement. “What changed?”

  “Yeah, I thought you got some sort of pass because you were supplying the teacher with drugs,” the wind adds.

  That shall be Vin’s new name. He doesn’t deserve any other title.

  “I decided I wanted the exercise a class like this will offer me,” replies Frankie.

  Both Mason and the wind chuckle.

  “Okay, buddy. Okay.” Mason slaps him on the back, and Frankie winces, brushing his hand away. “And it has nothing to do with a cute girl’s attendance?”

  “Cute girl?” I snap, white hot jealousy surging through me. Who the fuck is Mason talking about? Who does Frankie think of as cute? And why am I acting like this? “Who’s the cute girl? Let me at her, and I’ll show her just how cute she is. I wonder how ‘cute’ she’ll be with my fingers in her eye sockets and her eyeballs in her ass.”

  Mason attempts to put his arm around me, but I shove it off.

  “Violet,” Jack whispers, and I turn to the only guy not on my shit list. “You’re the cute girl.”

  Oh.

  Ohhh.

  I flick a glance at Frankie who is smiling sheepishly and then at Mason who still looks amused.

  “Welp…” I begin, rubbing the back of my neck in embarrassment. “That was an overreaction.”

  “You don’t say,” Vin—shit, the wind—drawls bitterly.

  “Sometimes you just need to tell my hormones to tone it down a notch,” I tell Mason seriously who sputters and widens his eyes. “They’re everywhere. Just look them in the eye, and tell them to calm the fuck down.”