Monsters & Fairytales (9 page)

I bolted for the doorway. Somehow it was closed again. I didn’t understand it. I had just walked through it! Maybe in my panic I had hit the door and it had shut? However it happened, I needed to get out of here. It wasn’t opening though. I tugged and tugged and threw myself in another screaming panic. I was banging on the door hoping someone would magically appear out there to save me. 

“Stop screaming!” A deep voice, sort of with an accent, yelled at me.

I stopped screaming instantly and dropped the snow globe. He sounded way too proper to be a burglar. And there was something else about his voice, maybe I stood a chance to live?

“What do you want from me?” I asked bending down to pick back up my weapon.

I was shaking uncontrollably. I could hear it in my own ears.

“I came on account of Ms. Frances.” He said.

My body instantly transformed. I went into attack mode. Hearing someone bring up my mother and tell me she sent him, they were here to hurt me.

“You bastard!
What is going on?!”

I rushed over and grabbed the closet doors. I flew them open and reached my left hand out to turn on the light. I fumbled for a few seconds but managed to light up the closet. Then I jumped back and prepared myself for the attack.
             

There was so much adrenaline rushing into my body it was crazy. But who on earth would be breaking into my house only to ask for my mother? At least, I thought that’s what ‘on account of’ meant: to ask for. No maybe that meant sent by. How could she send anyone? This was all an evil game, regardless of his intentions. It had to be someone from the bank to check on me. They didn’t think I was packing. What a joke. This guy was in for it.
             

I tried to peer through the clothes but all I could make out were two feet. They were black, shaggy almost. The calves seemed to be arched and the
feet were paws, completely dog like. I had a strange feeling I had seen them before, but I wasn’t certain. There was a tail with a point on the end of it that resembled an arrow. I reached for it. Suddenly it rushed to the other corner. I huffed and sat back up. Spike was right next to me. He hadn’t moved very far, but he was standing his ground. He eyes were locked on the intruder. I bent back down to try to get a better look again.

“What, what are you wearing?” I asked.

It was so dark in there for having turned on the lights. Were they broken? It was quiet. Spike wasn’t growling anymore. My fear and adrenaline kept steadily lowering. It was nice, in a way, because it allowed me to think a bit more rationally.

“Aren’t you afraid?”

He spoken
like we had been having a conversation together. His voice was a tad nervous. It made my fear come back. Was he trying to threaten me?

“Afraid? Fear is a long way from the feelings that are soaring through me right now.” I lied, a little.

Of course I had a tinge of fear in my system, but I was mostly just fed up with all of this. I had been standing there nearly defenseless in the dark for a while now, and this man was still standing in the closet taunting me. I was ready for him to show himself. He needed to just get it over with.
             

My hand started shaking. I didn’t realize how tight of a grip I had on the snow globe. I swapped hands and stretched my right one out. I wasn’t trying to make it obvious, but I guess it was too late. If he were watching me, he would have seen that I was armed. Hopefully that gave me some control in this situation. 

“I-you promise not to attack me?” He stuttered.

It worked. He was looking at me. How come I couldn’t see him? How come Spike wasn’t attacking anymore? Was he using mind control? I was anxious. My head was getting hazy. He was awfully silent.

“Hello?” He asked.

“Yes?”

I felt like I had almost fainted. I forgot what he asked me.

“I asked you to promise you won’t attack me.”

“Oh.”

What was with him and reading my mind?

“Right.
Of course I promise not to attack the man that just broke into my house to rob me and cut me up into a bunch of little pieces.”

I rolled my eyes. He was insane, clearly.

“I’m not here to rob you.”

He sounded as if he were insulted. How could I insult him when he’s the one who broke in?

“Oh, great.
You’re a murderer. I knew it. It’s just my luck. Look, can you just come out and do it quickly? I’m not really big on suffering agony.”

“I can assure you that I am not going to hurt you, either.”

His voice started to echo. Was he getting farther away?  The closet wasn’t that big. This wasn’t making much sense.

“Then why break in?!” I shrieked. I felt like I had to yell for him to hear me.

“I told you already.” He yelled back.

It was getting faint now. I was trying to see where he was going, but it was just too dark. Stupid lights, why’d they have to go out today?

“You said you were here on account of my mother. What’d you mean by that?”

I stepped forward and moved a few hangers. There was something going on behind the wall of my closet that I had to see. He was still getting farther away. A strange scent was coming out that was utterly enticing. The back wall looked different. It was as if the darkness blended beyond the wall, as if the wall didn’t even exist anymore. I didn’t understand it. I heard him say something but his voice was a faint whisper. I couldn’t make out the words.

“Where are you going?” I muttered.

Suddenly I got a feeling that I had lost him. I couldn’t hear his breathing anymore. My foot crossed the line into the back wall of the closet and a strange cold breeze hit my face. I touched my cheek. The scent was more intense than ever. I heard a strange pop and his breathing started to echo in my ears again.

“I thought you wanted me to leave?” He said. It startled me.

I jumped back and instantly felt consciousness come back into me. Shaking the odd feeling, I tried to understand what was happening. Had he really just changed the back of my closet? There was no way. Something else had to be going on. Had I hit my head again? Am I even awake yet? This was a dream. It had to be.
             

I looked around the room to see if there was a sign of entry. The window wasn’t broken, the blinds were shut and in place, there were no holes in the wall, and the door was still closed. Something very strange was going on. I found myself really, really hoping it was all a dream. I kind of remembered the dream, to be honest. I had been here before, standing in front of my closet. My brain wanted to tell me there was something more. There was a part of my memory that was saying I knew this; it was more than just déjà vu.

“Are you okay?” His voice boomed from the closet again. He had been waiting on me.

“I’m fine. I’d prefer it if you left the normal way rather than whatever it is you
are
doing in there.”

“The normal way?”

He seemed like he was laughing.

“Yes, through the front door.” I said.

I was beyond confused. My head was hurting again. Either this was a dream or he was a specialist in the field of breaking in and chopping up unsuspecting victims. A thought hit me: maybe he had been here since before I came home? Maybe he had been waiting on me all night until the morning when I started packing. He had been the reason I had woken up in my spare bedroom. Those boxes that had fallen, it had been him! My stomach felt ill.

“Please don’t cut me up and eat me.” I whispered to myself.

“What makes you think I’m going to eat you?”

He was insulted again. I jumped. I wasn’t expecting him to respond.

“Whatever it is you want from me, seriously, can you just get it done and over with already.”

I tightly closed my eyes and braced for impact. When nothing happened, I peeked one of them open.

“Hello?” I called out.

“If you really want me to come out that bad, then you have to not scream again.”

“Fine, I can do that.”

I stiffened my arms at my sides. I can do this. I can control myself. You have to, Mira. Spike is here. He’ll protect you. I reached for his collar and pulled him back next to me. We waited for the man to expose himself.
             

The clothes rattled and some boxes fell over. A four clawed animal foot exposed itself from beyond the clothes and junk. I had already seen this furry dog leg before. The leg led up to a torso that wasn’t covered in such thick fur, or any from what I could tell, but rather thick skin that was the same black. My breathing stopped as the rest of the creature emerged. He was massive, at least seven feet tall. In the light from the room, I noticed his skin looked like it was covered in a layer of black velvet.
             

His arms were huge and his veins were popping out so badly they looked like scars. His wings expanded a bit and his tail twirled nervously behind his Arnold Schwarzenegger body. His hands were twitching too, and one ran up through his slicked back hair. He smiled a very odd smile. I kind of liked it. But then my eyes met his piercing violet eyes. Reality caught up right quick. I was staring at a creature from another world. I screamed and chucked the snow globe against his head. In seconds his lifeless body fell to the ground. I was still screaming.
             

The snow globe rolled over to my feet. Seeing the shards of glass sticking out, I was worried if I had gotten him with any. I knew that was my point prior to seeing him, but now I wasn’t sure I actually wanted to inflict pain on him.

Kneeling down, I got close to his face. It was dark and hard to see anything. Something was familiar about him. I wasn’t sure what it was. I moved my hand to reposition myself and hit his shoulder. Instantly, images of him on that ledge outside of my window at my apartment flashed through my eyes. I saw him stalk me like he was going to attack me and then had I woken up in my room like nothing had happened. He had followed me here, though. I had seen him standing behind me by the glass
door,
I could remember the argument we'd had. He had left from this room, this closet. That’s when I had woken up in this room. Each time I seemed to have forgotten him, but now it was flooding back. I felt all my emotions again. I couldn’t understand anything. Why did this keep happening? Why did it happen at all?
             

When the breath ran out from my lungs, my ears could hear Spike barking. I closed my eyes and squeezed my head. Spike finally stopped. I opened my eyes; Sebastian was still lying there. I walked around his body to see if he was breathing. I couldn’t see any part of him moving with breath. Had
I killed him? I didn’t want to feel for a heartbeat because frankly, I wasn’t sure where or if he had a heart at all. I nudged his side. Nothing happened.

“You’ve got to be kidding me.” I sighed.

I picked up his arrow tipped tail and took a good tug on it. Nothing happened. I tugged harder and he rolled on his side. A breath escaped his lungs. I wasn’t sure if it was just because his body had moved. Maybe it was a breath of pain? People can moan in their subconscious if they were in pain. I looked even harder for a sign of something that he was hurt. Then I noticed that he was laying on his right wing awkwardly. Moving his upper body would allow me a reason to get close enough to check for life. I really didn’t want to break this guy.
             

I tucked my bangs behind my ears and bent down to listen for a heartbeat against the left side of his chest. I couldn’t hear a thing, not even faint breathing. This was bad. I had to roll him over and try to give him CPR. I didn’t want to ruin his wings any more than they may’ve already been. Looking closely at his back, I tried to find where they were connected to his body, so I could get them flat. They looked awfully uncomfortable.
             

I trailed my fingers around the part that connected to his upper back. His skin felt like velvet. It was weird. I rubbed my fingers together and then touched him again. I mean it had looked like velvet, but I never imagined it would feel like it. I got carried away and found myself tracing his chest. Had he always been this handsome? His muscle twitched. I jumped back. There was a slight smile forming on his lips. That’s when I realized he was laughing. His eyes opened to a beautiful maroon color. I looked at him for a second, intrigued, and then they focused back into that crazy violet.
             

I jumped up and screamed. He screamed back and flung himself up onto the futon. I was surprised it didn’t break under his weight, nor did he hit his head on the ceiling. He seemed to be well aware of his height and managed to hunch over just enough not to hit anything. I watched him look around the room until his scream faded. He was holding his tail in a manner that made him very much resemble the Cowardly Lion. I was obviously the Wicked Witch to him.

“Wait.” I stopped my thoughts. “You are afraid of me?”

“Where am I?” He huffed.

“My spare bedroom.”

“My spare bedroom?
How did I get here?”

He was a complete mess. He looked around the room frantically.