iNSaNiTY: One-Shots

Monster: Saurtis

WARNING: Foul language, implied substance abuse, and implied character torture/death.

Sam always thought of a monster as something with big teeth and red eyes. A beast that hides in closets and under beds. But he never thought a monster could be human.

It was a bright sunny day. There wasn't a cloud in sight and the whole town seemed to be in a good mood. That was, until, a disgruntled cry came from one of the apartment buildings. It was only loud enough to be heard in the room, but it was something that the town would be aware of later. "Taurtis, what the heck?!" Sam stamped his foot. He looked a bit like a toddler throwing a temper-tantrum. "What happened to my money jar?"

"Uh," Taurtis glanced away from his video game for only a moment. "We kinda ran out of snacks and I was all out of cash. So I borrowed from you."

Sam's eye twitched. Almost all the coins in his jar were taken. "Taurtis, I was saving that money."

"Oh, you were? My bad."

Sam snapped the pencil in his hand. Taurtis was becoming more and more reckless with everything. He blew through money like it was nothing, he was going out more, and he showed a lack of remorse for all of it. "I've told you before, Taurtis," Sam said through grit teeth. "If we ever need anything in the house -- tell me."

Taurtis didn't acknowledge him.

Sam felt his suppressed rage bubble to the surface. All the days of Taurtis's downward spiral -- the weeks -- suddenly became too much. Sam threw one of the pieces of pencil right at Taurtis's head with the strength of a baseball player. By the time it left his hand, he had a bad feeling tugging at the pit of his stomach. "Ow!" Taurtis dropped his controller and placed his hand on his forehead. "What the hell, Sam? That fucking hurt!"

"You know how I feel about cussing," Sam snapped back. It was petty time, and they both knew it. They knew Sam wouldn't let anything slide during this moment.

Taurtis glared. When he removed his hand it was clear that Sam caused some damage. There was a bright red mark on the center of his forehead. "Really? That's your biggest concern right now? You could have killed me!"

"Good! Maybe if you died I wouldn't have to deal with the lack of funds in my house."

Taurtis looked shocked for a moment. But only a moment. His expression turned into a scowl as he marched up to Sam. Sam was taller, but Taurtis knew he could snap him like the twig he was if he had to. "You know the only reason you have this apartment is because of me --"

"Oh don't start with that," Sam interrupted. "You may have had a stable income before but what about now? You lost everything, Taurtis. Your job, your house -- even your girlfriend!"

Taurtis visibly flinched. "D-don't..."

"Ever since you've been staying with me all my money has gone down the hole. I'm the only one working now. I'm the only one earning any money, but you're the only one spending it. Where does it all go? What have you been doing? Are you really all that self-centered that you don't even --"

"Shut up!" Taurtis shoved Sam. He looked up with tears in his eyes and Sam almost felt bad. Almost. "I-I've been having a rough time, okay? I've been... I've been..." He clenched his eyes shut. "I've b-been doing things you might not approve of. I d-didn't actually use your money to buy snacks. I..." He trailed off only to begin a new sentence. "I-I didn't mean for this to happen, Sam. You've gotta believe me."

Sam stared at his friend for a moment. There was a part of him that wanted to forgive, but there was another part that wanted revenge. Taurtis was sucking up his income like it was nothing -- and for what? To support his filthy habits? Sam felt himself being split in two. Unfortunately for Taurtis, the spiteful side was winning. "Y'know, Taurtis," Sam put an arm around his friend. "I think we've gotta get you clean."

Sam was never really known to anyone outside of his immediate family to be violent or brash. It was also never really known for sure if he had a serious mental condition -- he hid things too well. All they knew is that sometimes he got a little out of control.

The whole town found that out when they heard Taurtis scream.

A/N: This actually went in a completely different direction than I wanted it to.