All My Favorite Monsters

Between

[Addie]

A wet, cold something nudged me awake.

It was dark. Where am I? What's going on?

My eyes opened. Ambers stared back, black pupils observing me. More of a blur, but I could see the figure, despite how much it blended into the background. My hands felt around until I found my glasses, and I groaned as I pulled myself up, putting them on.

The figure was a wolf, a black wolf with dragon wings and reading glasses set on her nose. Something clicked in my mind. I remembered this wolf. Back when my YouTube channel was meant to be a gaming channel, I had made her. I hadn't named her, only thought of her as myself.

The wolfdragon huffed as my eyes met hers. She barked, a low, gravelly sound. Another figure came out. A robot. He looked like a Five Nights at Freddy's animatronic. And he was. Axolotl gills drooped on either side of his head. The place on his chest where his speaker should be was a mess of wires and machinery, as was the tip of his tail. The metal that made his pink skin was discolored in many places, some of the plates dark and dirty, others light pastel like they should be. His glowing eyes flickered, like they were struggling to stay alight.

"W elc ome bac k, cr ea tor," the animatronic said, his voice garbled and distorted.

"Pastel," I greeted awkwardly, recalling the axolotl's name.

Pastel smiled. "Wo nDE rful. S He re M Emb ers  m E."

The wolfdragon growled, taking a step towards me. Pastel held out the clarinet he had in his hand in front of her, blocking her path. Old and fresh blood coated the bell, indigo blue blood.

Styrmir, I thought with dread.

I slowly stood, cautious. Pastel was definitely the kind who would kill me on sight if I tried to run. Or at the very least FNaF-jumpscare me. And I'm not sure I'd enjoy a real-life animatronic jumpscare, despite how much I liked horror.

"Wh ere dO yOu th INK you' rE go ing?" Pastel said in the robotic, obscured voice.

"N-nowhere," I stuttered, "I'm just... standing."

Pastel put his finger to where his ear would be, seeming to listen to something before looking back to me. "CoM e on. Cr es cent's r eady f oR yo u."

The wolfdragon walked behind me, growling to push me along. I nervously walked, trying to keep a social distancing extent of six feet from the canine-reptile.

I walked along with the two characters, looking around the void and wondering how Pastel found his way around here without getting lost until he finally stopped. I hadn't been looking in front of Pastel, so I wasn't sure if there had been anyone standing there before.

In front of us were two figures. One was DJ, who I gave a small, milquetoast wave to. I didn't like her, and she obviously didn't like me, but I recognized her and my mind told me to wave at the person I knew. School habit. DJ glared at me, which almost made her seem older than she looked.

The other could only be Crescent. Black crimson hair fell to her shoulders, her ruby eyes observing me up and down. Her maroon tail, darker than Inferno's but still similar, swayed slightly. She definitely had the vampire look, with her black cloak that had a collar that kind of stuck up.

In my mind I scowled at past me. Be more creative, eleven-year-old me.

"Creator!" Crescent said, kind of sounding like a happy greeting but at the same time almost threatening. "We meet at last."

"Where are the others?" I demanded.

Crescent laughed. "Oh, such a hurry. You just got here, why not hang out for a while?"

"Because you're killing people!" I objected.

"They all kill people, why does it matter that I do?" Crescent said simply.

I stayed silent, not because I agreed, but because I had nothing to say to that.

"Now, to answer your question," Crescent continued, "I can't tell you where all of them are. Not even the group Tempest and Pastel brought here with you."

My heart sank. She had all of them as well?

"But I can give you one," Crescent smiled.

She brought out a pen, identical to mine, and sketched something on the back of her hand. Suddenly, a gray and crimson lump of fur appeared on the ground. Wings drooped, limply laying on the ground as the figure struggled for breath.

"Paralysis!" I exclaimed, running forwards. I knelt down and picked up the small demon, cradling him in my arms. His small, red eyes blinked open slowly. His fur was matted with blood, and I felt teeth marks along his side.

"C-Creator?" I heard his voice weakly in my mind.

I sighed in relief. He was still alive.

"What did they do to you?" I asked, not expecting an answer.

"You... shouldn't be here..." he said.

"Well, I don't really have a choice," I said, slightly a chuckle. "I was kind of kidnapped."

Paralysis didn't answer. He blinked slowly, like he was closing his eyes for a nap, before snapping them back open. He was struggling to stay conscious, I could tell. I ran my fingers through his bloodsoaked pelt.

Crescent laughed gleefully. It pained me to hear how much it sounded like me. "How tragic. But don't worry. He'll live."

She twirled the pen in her hand. "Now enough chitchat."

She looked behind her. "Will you take our little friend here back to the others?"

Another figure joined Crescent and DJ. I inhaled sharply, shocked.

"I-Inferno?!" I exclaimed.

Inferno looked down at me, her gaze emotionless. One of her tentacles wrapped around my torso, pulling me to my feet. I clutched the limp Paralysis in my arms as I stared at her. When I didn't move, she growled.

"Move it," Inferno snapped. Her voice sounded somehow more demonic than usual. I took a step back, then submissively looked to the ground and followed as she led me through the dark.

"Inferno, why are you working with her?" I asked eventually.

She didn't reply. Her dispassionate gaze kept forward. I looked back to the ground, petting Paralysis as I followed.

----

INFERNO NOOOO-

and also

p a r a l y s i s

1070 words