"I am the monster" -Tyler X Wednesday

The Monster Within Him

At first, it was like two separate parts of me. My hunger for blood, and then my urge to be a normal teenager. It was fine, I could control it. I didn't even remember it. .....Until I did.

It was a late Saturday night, and my dad had gone to sleep and I woke up in a pool of blood in a pile of leaves, with scattered remains all around me. With dirt embedded in my hair, I woke up, and screamed.

The memories came to me in flashes, how I lurked within the trees, stalking my prey(in this case a late night hiker), and then ripped them apart, piece by piece. Blood soaked my nail beds, and my eyes felt saggy and crazed. My head was pounding, and I could hardly breathe. From then on, I started to enjoy it.

Not me, precisely. The monster. I tried to deny it, but slowly the monster and me were becoming one. I tried living a normal life, but the monster took control. But then she found me. Marilyn Thornhill. She gave me what I never had. Answers.

She treated me like a son, she helped me. All I had to do was listen. She said we were helping people. Boy, was I wrong.

I never meant to get attached to Wednesday. I never meant to use her either but I still did. I never meant to become the monster. But I played the cards I was given. And Wednesday just happened to be the one rolling the dice.

[Three Weeks after Escape]

Tyler Galpin was clawing his face vigorously. His fingernails scraped his skin, as he pawed at his flesh, trying to get the decaying smell off.

The worst part about being a monster was the nasty roadkill smell that never left your skin. It lingered, and was a burning reminder of how badly he has screwed up. His mind instinctively went back to her. The kiss, her fear.

Don't feel guilty. Guilt is weak.

The submission was instant. He rid his mind of Wednesday. All he cared about now was finding somewhere the cops wouldn't look. He didn't have his car, and he didn't have any idea where to go. He wished he could have made a game plan before he broke away from the cops.

He wondered how his mom stood it, and how dad still loved her despite what she was. Or did he love her at all after he found out?

He refused to think of Wednesday as he kicked a tree stump. His face was bleeding, he felt the blood drip down his lips. His face used to be pretty, but now when he looked in the mirror all he saw was a face that was easily morphed into a monster's.

He glanced at the sky, dull and gray and asked himself, Why am I still in Jericho?

Unfortunately his hypothetical question was answered by his alter ego. Because we haven't killed everyone yet. Be patient.

He almost thought, who cares about this town? But refrained. He couldn't even think freely anymore.

~~~

Why do I keep going back under the roof that makes me miserable? Wednesday asked herself, as she sat straight up in the leather cushion in her family vehicle.

Nevermore Academy was only a few minutes away and some part of her felt a little dull at returning to the place with so many memories of wreckage and violence. But every other part of her was exhilarated.

She thought of Enid, Rowan, and all her other acquaintances. Except for him.

Tyler Galpin. The coffee shop barista, the boy she thought could do no harm. Of course her first kiss would be a murderer. She was careful not to say monster. She wondered if he even cared for her, or if she was a pawn.

In all honesty, she probably couldn't give him what he wanted even if he did care for her. She wasn't friend material, much less more than friend material. She would stomp on his heart, crush his soul, and put her needs above everything else. She knew that, so why was there a little hole in her chest that was still aching?

When she arrived, her parents waved her farewell but she couldn't really care less. She nodded at them, and spun around to retrieve her luggage from Lurch. She bid her brother and her parents farewell silently as she clicked her heels up the steps. The family vehicle pulled away, and the doors opened with a large creak.

When she stepped inside the dark corridor it looked exactly the same. She hoped this semester wouldn't be a mirroring of the last.

Suddenly, she felt a presence behind her, she turned around to find a familiar pair of blue eyes staring at her, along with a puff of blonde hair that was dyed in tufts. Enid Sinclair.

Her lips quirked up at the sight of her previous dormitory companion. "Enid," she greeted, and Enid wrapped her in a fuzzy warm hug. Wednesday shivered, but allowed the contact.

Enid held her by her shoulders as she pulled away. "Wednesday! How have you been? I tried calling you but you never answer."

"I try to refrain from socializing through electronic devices."

Enid rolled her eyes and pulled out the device in question, tapping it eagerly. "Is that why you didn't answer any of Xavier's texts?"

She quirked an eyebrow at Wednesday. Wednesday started walking up the staircase. "That, and many other reasons that I don't care to elaborate on," She snapped her fingers and Thing wiggled out of his compartment within her brief case. "So, am I to be forced to tolerate your company this semester?"

Enid nodded, and pulled the strap of her large duffel bag over her shoulder. "Yeah! And we'll have even more fun then last semester! I have so much tea to fill you in on!!" She clicked her high tops on the steps as she followed Wednesday up.

Wednesday nodded. "I assume we don't have the same idea of fun," She deadpanned, Thing now perched on her collared dress shoulder.

Enid waved a hand dismissively. "You just don't know what fun is."

"Fun is trivial when life is filled with everlasting problems."

Enid groaned. "Okay, now I see why they give us a break in between semesters."

"So I have time to forget every ridiculous thing this school has taught me?" Wednesday inquired.

Enid rolled her eyes. "Didn't you want to come?"

"My will to not quit is greater than my will to be satisfied with my education," She replied. "Besides, I wouldn't want to miss out on all the gory violence this school has come to show me."

"You're weird."

"I'm complex."

And that was true, everything was complex though, not just her.

A voice amidst the bushes laughed.