Monsters

Monster's favorite past time is scaring children. Not all of them do it of course, but many do. Every monster has their assigned kid. Your kid is little Melvin. You haven't known him long. Its been ten days. You have only seen/heard him twice. His parents have been yelling a lot. Melvin came in with a black eye yesterday. "I wonder what is happening down there." You grumble to yourself. Melvin has been asleep for about an hour. You thought about scaring him but wanted to learn more about him. As you grumble you hear him stir. "H-Hello" He calls out to you. You simply stop moving and slow your breathing. "TOO SOON!" You think loudly to yourself. Maybe he will just nod back off. You check on him and he screams and runs out. "Uh oh" you squeak out. "Uh hey, I am your monster..." You trail off but he is gone. "I should hide again, who knows what might happen." You have heard horror stories of monsters getting attacked. Maybe we get back under the bed. You crawl under and dig deep, keeping an eye out on the door, but making sure to be hidden. You hear more yelling and crying now, then a loud sound you can't quite make out. Then deep brutal crying that is getting louder as Melvin storms back up the stairs and into his room. He jumps into the bed and covers up. As you see him come in you see he is holding his eye again. "What is going on here." You think to yourself. "I will just wait and keep watching." You whisper, almost wishing Melvin heard this time.

Its been weeks. Melvin's black eye has come and gone and come again and gone. No idea what is happening, just yelling and crying. Finally one night Melvin leaves the room and you hear him scream a very painful scream you haven't heard before. Maybe he fell down the stairs? He comes back with a bloody nose, tears in his eyes, and both eyes are bloodshot. Possibly another black eye, or two. Then he looks directly at you as he walks in, closing the door and turning the light off. No way he sees me. Just as your thoughts resonate in your head he says, "Monster, I know your there. Scoot over please. I need to hide." His little voice is cracking the entire time. He is struggling to speak even. You push some things to the side and invite him in with your clawed hand. He doesn't hesitate crawls under and gets beside you. "Its more roomy under here than I thought. Your a big one and fit just fine." He says to you, his tears still rolling but not actively producing more tears. "Heh, us monsters are pretty good at hiding. Well, most of us...here you are looking me straight in the eyes." You say to him as you hand him a clean sock to soak up the blood on his face. He grimaces but sees it is at least clean and puts it to his face. "Well, you don't seem like a bad monster." His curiosity seems to have kicked in. "Well, some of us are bad. But not me, heck I don't even know why us monsters hide under beds anymore. Why can't I just hide in the closet? Or the attic? But here we are under the bed." you tell him quizzically. He responds meekly. "Well, do you mind if I lay down here tonight? You can have the bed if you want." You give a slight laugh. "I don't mind at all, in fact, I will sleep down here too so you are not alone." He smiles and snuggles a bit. It takes less than a few minutes and you hear him snore.

A few more weeks go by and you see Melvin a lot more lately. He goes to school every day you found out but each night you two talk. You keep asking about the yelling and stuff but he just responds with "It's not important." Certainly that is not all of it though. A few nights pass and you hear that sound again. Screaming in pain and followed by crying. Melvin again. Then you hear it again with some more yelling, but this time a woman. First to rush by the door is Melvin's mom. Almost instantly after is Melvin. He nearly leaps under the bed with you. His breath is fast and voice panicked "Help!" Just before his feet clear the edge though you see a man you haven't seen before. His dad maybe? He rushes towards the bed and before you can respond he grabs Melvin. Dragging him out. "You and your smart mouth kid.." SMACK!! The sound of the mans fist hitting Melvin in the face. Then the woman rushes in and tries to save the boy. SMACK!! SMACK!! The man hitting the woman over and over. Melvin is on the floor not moving. His mom pleading for the man to stop. Each hit dealing more and more damage.

Anger is an emotion you never though of in your life. It is not taught, it is simply learned. You can't even remember the last time you were even mad. But right now, your furious. The blood in your body is boiling. Your fur is standing on end. Suddenly just as you were thinking about what to do you find yourself already emerged from the bed. You hear the sound of someone walking up the stairs and then hear the voice "Let me have a run at that..." His voice trails off and his face turns to fear. He was clearly laughing before, but now he is not. Just as the scream leaves his mouth your lunge. You are a big fella of a monster. Two hundred and eighty pounds of fur and muscle. You pounce on the man coming in from the hall. Dropping both his bottle and cigarette on the floor in an attempt to run. It is no use. You already have him. Your claws rip into him immediately. The sound of his own blood filling his throat and lungs. He falls to the floor writhing, gasping, drowning. Then just as fast as you pounced on him, you turn to the man who hit Melvin. He has barely noticed, but seeing the dark brown fur out of the corner of his eye he turns. "What the ...." again, his words do not leave fast enough. By the time he is able to respond, he is dead.

Melvin's mom's eye are both swollen. She can barely see. Surely she would run if she knew what you really were. She just calls out with a whimper and her voice cracking. "I don't know who you are...but please, help my boy. Help Melvin." You move forward and nudge Melvin. He moves a bit but seems to pass out again. He is alive. Hurt, but alive. Melvin has told you lots about his mom. She is a wonderful lady. Meredith is her name. "Meredith, I am Steve. I am Melvin's friend. I need you to know I wont hurt you and that you are safe with me. But also, don't be scared of me, I am a monster." Just as you say this you can see her try to focus. Slight fear in her eyes well up but she just hugs you tightly. "You saved our lives tonight, I don't care what you are. You saved Melvin. You saved me..." You pick up Melvin and take him down stairs guiding Meredith down too. Over the course of an hour or so you talk to her and help her gain back her sight from her swollen eyes.
"So, I take it those two are dead. You have a bit of their blood on you still." she points to your claws. "Yes, I suppose they are. I have no clue what to do with them though. They can't stay there, Melvin needs sleep." You say as you wipe a warm washcloth over his head, him stirring slightly. "Well, we need to do something. The police can't know about you, and certainly they dont need to be found in this state. I might have an idea, but.. We need to be out of the house." Meredith has a long deep stare out into the distance. She could see the stars she is looking so far. "I can carry Melvin outside, I need a blanket though. I don't want him getting cold." you tell her. She hands you the blanket from the couch and tells you "Go hide in the back of the car out front. Take him with you and keep him warm. If you see or smell smoke. Just stay in the car. I will be outside shortly." You see her get up and grab some things from the kitchen. Some blankets from a closet jackets too. But you do what you were instructed to do. You sneak into the back of the car and hold Melvin close. Its not too cold outside, so this should be plenty.

Over the next few minutes you see flames start to rise from Melvin's bedroom. They spread very quickly, so fast that you worry about Meredith. But as promised, she makes her exit. She comes to the car and sits in the front. "You will have to hide or something, I don't know where you will go. But this house needs to burn for a while and I don't know where to take you." She is cold, serious, but warm. "Don't worry about me, I will hide and find you guys again. Melvin is my kid too. So your stuck with me forever." She smiles at your words and gives a slight laugh. "Well then, I have to call the fire department. Make sure you clean up good just in case and hide well. We will see you when you can find us again. Just stay safe please Steve. Thank you again for saving Melvin." She gives you a warm hug and you make your exit into the night air. Running towards the forest where your people are. You will get to see Melvin again. Just have to wait a few days or weeks. None the less, its time to hide and wait.