The Tales of Flesh and Blood

Yet Another Monster Guy

The scream that was immediately ripped from my throat turned into a pained yelp in the split second it took for my chair to find solid ground. Of course, the chair exploded into millions of splinters upon impact, which sent me falling flat on my ass before gravity and momentum decided to send me on my back.

Ouch.

"Oooh, what the hell," I groaned, sliding my arms from the now-loose rope and wood to cover my face with my hands. My knees were bent in the air, and I was reluctant to move much more than what I had already. I could feel the splintered wood beneath me, and with my body flooded with adrenaline, I was scared to find out if any of the larger splinters made their new home inside my skin.

Shit like this was the reason why I was never inspired to be like the people from the movies. People from the movies were just plain fake.

After letting the pain gradually overwhelm my body and decrease to a numbing throb, I let my hands fall to my sides and glared up at the ceiling. The spot that I had fallen through was already covered by metal, as if there had never been a hole to begin with. It was dark, but there was an actual torch on the wall nearest to me that casted a bit of dim, useless light in such a gloomy room. I was surrounded by old, aging stone with moss lining some of the cracks. There were areas, though, where the cracks lined odd places of the stone, as if some spots were becoming overburdened by weight. That, or someone decided to ram a heavy object against them, judging by the uneven surface. And from my peripheral vision, I could see what looked like a door made out of solid, thick iron bars. Was I in a dungeon? Stupid doors, stupid woman, stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid-

What sounded like a series of chains rustled against the floor, enough to make me raise my head to peer in the sudden direction. A man was standing with his back pressed against the wall, his eyes wide in shock. I took a moment to think about what he just saw: a girl strapped to a wooden chair falling through the ceiling, who probably looked just as worn and torn as the stone surrounding us.

At first, he looked like what any old bedraggled man who had been kept in a dungeon for a few months would: long, knotted russet-brown hair with streaks of gray, an equally messy beard, and a weathered face that was used to working in outdoor environments. He was almost as big as Joey, with a broad chest and large hands accustomed to heavy lifting. Dressed in a checkered red-and-white flannel with a thick pair of jeans, I would have definitely placed him as having come from the same place as Hadi's boyfriend, at the least.

I made the mistake of blinking.

Because then he was no longer a man, but a humanoid thing with orangish scales alongside his nose and beneath his eyes, which were the same shade of violet as mine. His hair and beard were stark white, and the skin that wasn't covered by those strange scales was just a shade darker than his hair.

For a moment, I was speechless, unable to do anything but stare at him with the same wide-eyed expression he had given me. Then he lifted his chin and parted his lips to reveal a set of very sharp, jagged teeth - perfect for ripping through flesh and bone, if he wanted.

"What the fu - holy shit," I exclaimed, my mind urging me to my feet faster than what my body could actually manage. I nearly stumbled forward with the anxious momentum, and I threw myself back as quickly as I could, not caring when my back slammed into the opposite wall of this guy.

I blinked again, and again - and again, waiting for him to turn back to normal. When nothing changed, I opened my mouth, then decided to shake my head, instead.

"Look, man, just make it quick," I found myself saying. "I really don't want to know what it feels like to be eaten alive."

The man-thing stared at me with sad, knowing eyes before he sighed and gave a brief shake of his head. The next time I blinked, he . . . well, he was back to being human, but I was no less anxious to move out of this spot, that's for sure.