Lonely Monsters

twenty-five

They lay on the ground, gravel and grass pressing into their back. The wound in their side was weeping black blood, and they were just waiting for it to stop. They sat up, using delicate clawed fingers to touch it. It wasn't as bad as it was a few minutes ago. Down from a vicious gush to slow drip, the surface barely tacky. They looked back at the mess they had made, the glowing corpses of the monsters. Monsters that they had eaten, drank dry before driving a powerful clawed hand through their sternum and tearing open the chest cavity.

They stood up, looked at the sky and stared at the moon. They had called them, "girly" and "bitch". They vaguely understood those words, and felt along their neck and chest. Dainty limb, flaring hips, plush breasts and a flatness between their legs told them they were female. In their mind, they wondered if that was what they wanted. They closed their eyes, and visualized the world. Yes, that was what they wanted. She ran her sticky fingers through her hair, the strands becoming somewhat tangled on the blood and filth.

Her pointed ears perked, and she heard howls off in the distance. She looked at the smoldering remains, then frowned. They were not friends of those other things, these were food.

She pulled herself up from the dirt, took and running start and disappeared into the darkness.

*~*~*~*~*~*
I awoke with a start, the bed beside me feeling cold and empty. Rain poured in heavy sheets just outside our window, and farther off thunder boomed. I lifted my head up more and saw the small form of Dominique curled into her nest of pillows. I looked over the edge on my side and the darkness of the room was so large to me. I pulled my small legs up and let out a soft whimper. If I was too loud, the thing beneath the bed would drag me and my sister below. Keenan had said as such. Monsters loved eating little girls.

My vision became blurry with tears and I wanted comfort. Dominique snored soundly, and if I work her now, our Nanay would be so very angry at me. I crawled to the edge of the bed and looked down, breathing became such a chore to my small frame. I had to be brave, if just for a moment. Dominique would be safe, she had lots of blankets and if something woke her up she would cry really loud. Someone would come for her rescue in an instant.

So I climbed off the bed and ran. Through my mother's bedroom door, through the kitchen and began looking around. The lights of the backyard and the motion detector lights from our neighbors sent ominous shadows around the path I ran. I saw the gnarled fingers of the wakwaks reaching out to grab me, or maybe it was the mischievous Kapre playing cruel jokes on my vision with his shadow games.

I huffed, trying not to cry. If I cry, Keenan would call me a baby! I shuffled into the hall and on the couch was a dark figure. She shifted some and I felt my soul lift from my body-- a monster was in our house! And it had eaten Momma!

A car passed, and with the help of it's headlights I saw my mother, sitting on the couch with the curtains pulled to the side some. Relief flooded through me and I couldn't contain the sob that escaped me.

"Sweetheart?" Momma reached over beside her and flicked on one of the bulbs for the flower lamp we had. One click had all three bulbs, then two, then finally one. I scamped over to her and huffed into her thighs. Her fingers went through my hair, petting my head as I struggled to pull my short legs up on the couch to sit with her. Her hands went under my arms and pulled me up to lay down with her.

"Did the rain wake you?" I asked, rubbing my eyes on the heel of my hands.

"Rain?" she asked, curling a bit of hair around her finger.

"I heard thunder." I said softly, huffing some at the thought of the noise. Momma reached over and rubbed my back, calming my breathing.

"Oh, no, sweetheart, there's a car accident down the street." she said softly, pulling the slats of our curtains open enough for me to peak through. There were two ambulances, two police cruisers and a car that was turned on it's side. "No thunder... No more crying, Sweetheart." Her thumbs went under both my eyes, wiping my tears into my cheeks.