Even Monsters Can Love

Realising the Lies.

I walked through the small, narrow corridor that led to Zalgo - I mean 'dad's' throne room. He'd said he had something to tell me on my 16th birthday and that I'd really 'die' at the sight. Of course, this wouldn't make me suspicious since he frequently make terrible death puns but this made me question. What was the thing he had in store for me? Would he finally let me go to the surface and kill my first victim? My thoughts were shut down as I realised it probably wouldn't be that exciting.

I knew I was nothing like him and it bothered me to no end. But I couldn't very well just go up and ask him about my real parents. I had vague memories of my mother but none of my father. Maybe it was Zalgo but that didn't explain why I was a faceless being - with the exception of pure black eyes with no white or irises - at the height of 7ft and had huge tendrils protruding from my back. It didn't explain why my hair was jet black and my skin was chalk white. I sighed in disappointment.

As I neared the door to his throne room, I stopped and straightened out my suit jacket, flattening the creases with my slender fingers before I entered the room and walked over to my father with long strides. He offered a small smile which I didn't have the strength to return. "Happy birthday, sweetness." I almost puked at my nickname. I wasn't 5 anymore. I sighed and looked straight down at him on his throne. I was a good foot taller than him when he stood but when he sat, it was 2.

"Good morning father. Did you sleep well?" I inquired, feeling the need to like I did every morning. Simply, he nodded, no words or utterances as he stood, clasped both my hands within his and guided me to the right hand side of the huge room, the granite floors sparkling under the dim candle light. Wordlessly, I obligately followed him to a small table with pictures strewn across it in an untidy manor. I blinked, surprised. My father wasn't one for untidy workstations. He was OCD, after all.

"You have been prying for years about your real family. I feel it right now that I tell you the honest truth." Father began as he plucked a photo from the oaken table littered with various sized portraits of different people. "I find it only fair you understand why your mother and I took you in." His voice was solemn. I quirked a nonexistent eyebrow and he offered a comforting smile. "Your real family abandoned you." His deep voice was soft as he stroked his hand through my hair and sighed.

"We found you on the side of the road; weeping and drenched as it was raining." He gave a short pause and I immediately began doubting the words rolling off of his tongue but refrained from using mine. "We thought it only right considering you were but 4 years old, we felt the obligation to take you in and raise you as our own." My hands fisted and I took a deep breath. "Your real father was a no-good bastard." He hissed. I'd seen him angry beforehand, sure, but never when it came to people he didn't know.

"And he still is that way." My father's conclusion left me with more questions than it had answered. 'What were their names?' And, 'Where are they now?' Or, 'Did they ever love me?' With these thoughts in mind, I exited my father's company and gave a mournful sigh of defeat. It was the same story year after year about how evil my real parents were. I was used to it by now, obviously, but it still made me feel heartache. But how did he know so much about people he 'didn't know' supposedly.

I walked back to my room in utter silence, nodding in acknowledgement to any of the Proxies I passed. There was a huge void within me. Where I assumed my heart was. After closing, locking and bolting the door, I did something no one else knew I could. I took my human form. I'd discovered I could when I turned 14 and had hidden it ever since. I felt myself shrink, my tendrils recoil and saw my skin change to beige. My suit jacket, white shirt and skirt fell from my small body to pool at my feet.

My hair changed from raven to chestnut and my eyes were a bright grey that shone whenever I managed a smile. I walked to the dresser to the left of my doorway and yanked the doors open. I examined the sets of clothing before opting for a pair of black skinny jeans, a grey button up shirt with w black tank top underneath and grey converse. I was a monster, sure, but I still had a little bit of style when necessary.

If he wasn't gonna let me go to the surface and discover the truth, I'd go on my own. Even if the punishment was to be chained in the dungeon without any food or water for a few days for disobeying him or going somewhere without his permission first. I paused as someone knocked on my bedroom door. I froze; eyes widened and I held my breath. Hopefully, whoever this person was, would just turn around and walk away if I didn't answer for a long period
of time.

I signed in disappointment as the knocking on my door continued. I closed my eyes and focused all of my energy into my hands. I knew I could teleport but I didn't know how far or if I could teleport up to earth. But it was worth a shot, right? With a light nibble to my bottom lip, I let my thoughts wander a little back to what I remembered. About my previous family. I didn't remember much but I wanted to dwell; to bask in the glow of what I could. My memories began slowly.

'Memory'

"Slow down!" My mother yelled as she chased me. The wind blew our hair wildly behind us but I was quicker than her. Or I thought I was. She caught me and scooped me up as I squealed in delight with a bright face. She smiled in delight down at me and pecked my cheeks before spinning me around and plopping me down on the ground. I stuck my tongue out at her and wrinkled my nose in a fake expression of disgust. I looked right above me as I sensed a presence behind me. A man stood.

A faceless man. I didn't know who this man was because I couldn't tell if he had a real face or if I didn't remember it. The memory was a blurred one but I could determine my mother's eye colour but nothing about my dad. Maybe he just wasn't as close to me and I didn't want to remember him at all. Maybe something was telling me to forget...

'Present time'

But then again, maybe Zalgo was right about them... But what if he wasn't? What if they were searching for me? What if...