Hush

Hush: Inner demons and External Monsters

There was no way I could have saved Jack from mentally returning to the dark abyss, once he saw the girl from his tormented mind he mentally switched off, the vacancy in his eyes like that of staring into the hazy eyes of a corpse. I watched as Freckles grabbed him, and sensing something a little off when Jack didn't react, loosened his grip a little as Damon swung a fist to Jack's ribs and continued his tight fisted beating that never registered to Jack's mind. He stood as though he were a brainless punch bag, and the two boys, at first reluctant, grew excited and feral in his lack of response. I had two options, sit like a statue and feign as much indifference as Jack in this moment, or protect him like I was supposed to do. I glanced at him still holding the kitchen knife tight in his grip. He was too young to do what he had intended, he likely had never killed anyone before the officer, and even that was accidental.

'Jack don't do it.' I tried once more, but Jack's mind was elsewhere.

Something inside me rumbled to life, something I had yet to experience in my existence. It grew like a ball in my gut and suddenly I felt myself changing. My thoughts that were normally pure and carefully planned suddenly became sporadic, and my skin tightened around my claws as they grew inch by inch until they were dangerously long and sharp. I looked out of what now felt like a stranger's eyes and saw two entities within the two boys, their faces hollowed out and their mutated forms using the kids as puppets to their every need as each move they made, the two boys mimicked.

Clumps of my fur dropped from my once small body and my jaws spread wide to accompany the menacing teeth that now filled them.

Where I had been delaying to fight moments ago, I found my mind forcing my body forward claws first at the freckled child, his agonizing wail silenced by my own claws sinking deep into his mouth and gripping his lower jaw, pulling it so hard I heard the damp crunch as it broke in my grip.

The spotty child that had been this bully's accomplice stopped and stared, the evil entity within him letting go of his mind, and forcing itself out from the boy's eyes in the form of thick dark smog before vanishing from the kitchen.

I bit down on the freckled kid's cheek and forced my claws to scratch him like a scratch post down the other side of his face. Delighting in the sound of his muffled cry, and the sweet scent of his blood on my claws.

Jack who had stood vacant, watching the girl who had now disappeared, turned his attention to me and ripped me from the freckled boy's face with a panicked shriek. I felt the darkness within me dissipate and crawl back inside me as Jack wrapped his arms around me. My form returning to normal, my claws and teeth shrinking comfortably back into my natural state.

I stared down at the freckled boy lying unmoving on the floor, his face was torn beyond recognition. The sound of the spotty boy running from the room making the noise of what I'd imagine was a distressed goat, brought all my senses back. My sight had become clear and my mind was no longer clouded with hate. I knew Jack was seeing what I was seeing, and I wondered if he felt as successful as I did.

'Fuck,' Jack murmured. 'We need to get out of 'ere.' He turned me in his hands to look at me. 'What the heck did you do.'

'Saving you,' I answered. 'You entered into the dark realm, they would have killed you if I left them alone.'

Jack shook his head, 'I can handle myself.'

'With a knife?' I asked dubiously. 'Is that what you want Jack?'

He shook his head, looking down at Freckles on the floor groaning and going into shock. 'Not like this.'

Kick him.

I heard the voices speaking to Jack, they were willing him to indulge in his violent side. 'Walk away Jack, it's done.' I told him.

Jack turned just in time to see the spotty child standing with an older male. One of the carers of the orphanage, Mr Williams.