The Monster Within - Book 1

Chapter 10

At a loss for anything to do, I spend most of my days next to nans hospital bed. Whether she's asleep or awake, I'm there as long as it's within visiting hours. Justin picks me up from the cabin and drops me off at the hospital on his way to work and picks me up when visiting hours are done. I honestly don't know what I'd do without him.

As we drive towards the hospital again for the fifth time this week I turn to him.

'Thank you, Justine. I appreciate everything you're doing for me.'

He gives me a small smile before moving his hand to my knee. My eyes glance down to it resting there. Although it doesn't stay there long after he catches my hesitance and quickly removes it, placing it back on the steering wheel.

'I was wondering...' He starts. '... If you wanted to go out for dinner? Just to get you out of the house, you know.'

I look at him as he keeps his eyes on the road in front of us, as if he was too nervous to look at me.

'If that's the only reason...?'

'I just don't like thinking about you alone in that cabin, twiddling your thumbs.' He smiles, like it's something he thinks about often.

'Then I'd like to. It would be nice to have something other than a microwave meal.' I laugh.

'How about tonight? I don't have work tomorrow so...'

'Yeah, tonight would be nice.' I reply.

So after I've sat by nans bedside as she sleeps all day, I meet Justin downstairs where he always picks me up.

'Hey.' I say, stepping in the car.

'Hey. How is she today?'

'No change. She wakes up for food and medicine, but she spends most of the day sleeping. I just wish I had more time with her.' I admit.

'It's hard. I remember going through it with my dad when he was in hospital.'

'Yeah.' Is all I can think to say.

I did feel a little a guilty not asking him more about his dad, but I didn't want to talk about anything sad. Spending hours with my nan in her final days were starting to take their toll and I just wanted something else to focus on. Something, anything a little more cheery.

We ride the rest of the way in silence to a restaurant near the hospital. 

'Here we are.' Justin smiles as he jumps out of the car.

I follow his guide, climbing out from my side when a rustle from a near by bush catches my attention. I freeze on the spot with my hand on the car door, focusing on the dense foliage, waiting for some sort of movement. But there's nothing. It's silent and perfectly still, not even moving when the wind passes. Despite the quiet, I know there is something in there. I don't know how I know, but I do. I can feel it. I can feel whatever is in there, watching me. I can feel its eyes moving over my body. My feet move under me without me thinking about it, as if my body was being drawn towards whatever is lurking within. All I can hear is my feet tapping along the tarmac of the carpark as I edge closer and closer. Before I can reach the hedge, Justin calls me, breaking whatever trance I was in.

'You coming?'

'Ye... Yeah.' I turn to him, offering him a weak smile. 

I take one more look behind me to the deep green shrub before I follow Justin into the restaurant.

'Table for 2?' A petite, young brunette waitress asks.

'Yes, please.' Justine replies to her as we follow her to a table near the window, giving me a view of the carpark.

A carpark I spend most of the night looking over, hoping whatever was in that bush will make itself known.

'Can I get you some drinks?' The waitress asks, bring my attention back to the table.

Justin looks at me, letting me order first as I ask for a vodka coke and he goes for a woohoo.

'A cocktail?' I tease as soon as the waitress has gone.

'Is it a crime for a guy to like fruity drinks?'

'Not a crime. Just... Unusual.' I laugh, feeling a little lighter then I did just moments ago.

We spend the meal getting to know each other a little more. Justin and his family moved to town a few years after I left. Doctor Grant seemed to have got very close to my nan after her husband and Justin's dad past. Nan was no stranger to death. She lost her brother at a young age and then her husband and her daughter. Plus most of the Conri family that she would have been close to as they were her closest neighbours. I guess she developed a good coping mechanism after all that lose, which makes her the best person to have around when it happens to you.

After dinner I pass on dessert as it had been a long day and I just yearn for my bed. The drive back is quiet with us just listening to the radio on a low volume. We pull up to the cabin and from the outside it just looks... dark and cold. It looks empty without nan there.

'So... I had a great time.' Justin says, bring my attention back to the inside of the vehicle.

'Yeah. It was a great distraction. Thank you for dragging me out.' I reply, giving him a smile.

He sits there for a second, not moving. His eyes flick down to my lips. He doesn't give me a moment to respond before he lunges across the car, crashing his lips against mine. When he first kisses me, I don't reciprocate. I'm just frozen in place. But when I feel his tongue graze along my lower lip, something takes over my body. Some sort of hunger I've never felt before. I find myself leaning into his kiss, resting my hands on his chest as I slide my tongue into his mouth. His mouth muffles a moan that slips from me, barely audible over the radio.

The craving inside me builds and builds. I put it down to the fact that I hadn't had sex in such a long time as I push him back into his seat and climb into his lap. I straddle him with my thighs wrapped around his waist, continuing to kiss him as I start to grind against him.

He pulls away from me, panting for air. 'Wait, maybe we should go slower?' He says.

I hear the words he's saying, but something in me can't stop. I pull his hair, exposing his throat as I trail my lips down his jaw to his neck, kissing and biting.

'Cas?' He says in a breathless voice as if he's about to give up his protest and give in to me.

I continue to grind against him as I suck at his neck. Then I feel something sharp slide past my tongue, coming into contact with Justin's skin. Something like a fang protruding from my jaw. The copper taste fills my mouth before I realised what's happened.

Justine lets out a scream, pushing me off his lap. 'Did you just bite me?' He shouts, bringing his hand up to his throat. He pulls the hand back, revealing blood. He looks back to me with a look in his eye. A mix between confusion and horror.

'I think you need to leave.' He tells me.

I don't move right away as I try to comprehend what's just happened.

'I'm sorry, I didn't mean to...'

'Didn't mean to? I'm bleeding for fuck sake.' He shouts at me.

I grab at the door handle in a bit of a panic, unsure of what to do.

'I'm so sorry Justin' I say as I climb out the car before he pulls away leaving me standing there.