Stars in the night

Part one: Who am I to define a monster

                                                                        Stevie
I grabbed my ratty old backpack and made a beeline for the door before Mrs.Rena could notice me. "Where do you think your going missy?" Too late. " I um was going to meet up with some friend." "Ha, what friends?" I could practically feel the alcohol from her breath. I turned to leave but Mrs. Rena grabbed my wrist. "Now missy you know the rules" I wouldn't meet her eyes and I suddenly became very interested in the uneven floor board my feet were resting on. Rena stabbed her cat like nails into my arm and gave a little cough, I could feel pinpricks of blood rise to the surface. I reached into the back pocket of jeans and felt for the cash I'd been saving and I took out a twenty praying that she'd be satisfied and leave me be. Even drunk, Mrs. Rena was extremely hard to read and after what must have been five minutes she gave a little grunt and released my arm. I practically sprinted out the front door.

I couldn't keep doing this I thought as I walked down the cracked sidewalk away from the house. Once I turned eighteen that was it I was gone, I'd probably already be gone if it weren't for Issa. I'd never stayed this long in a house before but I just couldn't leave when I met my pint sized partner in crime. The first time we'd met, the little runt was actually trying to pick pocket me! I was intrigued, sure she'd almost most definitely gotten herself a death sentence but boy did she have guts and that's when I decided I was going to take her in as my apprentice, a prodigy of sorts. Issa is only twelve years old but her soul is much much older and once I turn eighteen I'm going to legally become her guardian and it's just gonna be Issa and I against the world. But I'd have to make it to eighteen first and seeing that I'm only seventeen that dream was only that, a dream.

The sun was starting to rise and the rest of the world began to wake up, I picked up my pace so that I wouldn't be late. I turned a corner and headed straight for the woods. Once I'd actually made it into the forest I had to walk another ten minutes until I was at our meeting spot which was the big oak tree beside the river. When I'd finally made it to my destination Arie and Ben were already there waiting for me. Arie was the muscle, all stock and not a lot was going on up top if you catch my drift and Ben was the smarter of two but I don't exactly want to say that's he was the "brains" of the operation because then it would be an insult to people who actually have brains."Your late, Scottie". "Nice to see you too" I dumped the contents of my bag into my hand , three rings, a huge watch and two phones. Ben gave a little whistle and said "nice catch, where'd you pick up all that?". "Oh it was breeze, you know it's truly amazing how dumb rich folks are when it comes to boasting about their wealth" I responded. Ben took a minute pretending to think about a price and it took almost all my will power not to roll my eyes because I knew exactly how this was gonna play out Ben would give me a low price I would give him an overpriced one and we'd settle for a price I was after the entire time.

"Hmm fifty bucks"
"Two Fifty"
"One hundred"
"One seventy five "
"One fifty"
"Done"

Ben handed my wad of cash and I quickly stashed it in my back pocket "pleasure doing business with you fellows " and gave them a mock salute and was on my way. I was about half way back to Rena's when I heard dumb and dumber arguing, which wasn't unusual what was unusual was that they were still here they should have been long gone by now. I snuck up a little closer and hid behind a tree. "WHAT DO YOU MEAN YOU LOST IT!" Roared Ben. " He was giving me the puppy eyes again Benny and he needed a snack, don't be mad I'm sure we'll find Oswald" "ARIE WHAT THE HELL DID I SAY ABOUT NAMING THE GOD DAMED MONSTER" " Well what the hell was I supposed to call him, it? That's animal cruelty right there." Ben looked like he was about to explode. " WE COULD HAVE BEEN RICH! YOU KNOW WHAT JUST SART LOOKING OKAY!" This was very strange,in all my experience with dealing with those two I have never known them to deal in animals, which by the sounds of it was what they were looking for.

I turned to leave but stopped dead in my tracks, standing right in front of me not three feet away was a creature never in my lifetime I had seen before, I instantly grabbed my switch blade out of my back pocket and really studied it. It was was an earthy green and was about the size of a golden retriever it looked like moss was growing on its back and what was extremely strange about was that there wings on the bloody thing! They looked like two pieces of green leather stretched out over bone. It's eyes were huge and had ears that pointed sharply to the sky, I could see small but sharp teeth sticking out underneath it's lips which curled inwards and started to make a low growl once it noticed my weapon, warning me to back off. I took a step backwards and the thing took another step towards me I was about to make a break for it when Ben came in to focus. And he was holding a gun. "Not trying to steal my merchandise now are ya Stevie ?" "BEN are you crazy! Look at that thing where would I even keep it?? I'm in high school !!!"  Ben was too distracted by how I 'stole' his merchandise he didn't notice the creature or what ever it was slowly creeping up to him. When he did notice the thing was only five feet away from him and I may not be an expert in reading unknown creatures but it looked to me like the thing was pissed and was about to pounce. I took my window and started running away, faster than I ever had in my life unfortunately I conveniently forgot I was in the middle of a forest and tripped over some roots of a tree knocking myself out, but not before thinking theses final thoughts for now I wouldn't know the outcome of Ben but one thing was for certain, I was in trouble.