The Monster's Hippy

A Deep Clicking

She woke at the clap of thunder, bringing back old memories of an unsolved fear of storms. She reached for her hand and found the shard gone and white cloth wrapped around. "What the-" The creek of her door caused her to look up, music drifted in as though it always had. Curiosity got the best of her and she stood and stepped out and down the stairs, reentering the room.

The bodies were gone, decorations back in place, and a slice had been cut from the cake, ready and waiting. She looked around and saw no one, pausing before walking to the seat with the cake before it. She bluntly sat, looking at the pastry for a second before raising the fork and taking a bite. She sat back, looked up, and jumped to her feet. 

Several feet away, stood a creature, for it couldn't possibly be a man. It wore a formal suit with shiny black shoes and a pair of bright red fingerless gloves crested his clawed hands, but what really stood out was its face, like a patchwork of human skin with no eyes or nose to be seen, only a mouth, black looking and fanged. It cocked its head at her and sort of clicked in the back of its throat, pulling back part of its suit to reveal some of the white shirt underneath had been torn off. She looked down at her wrapped hand and connected the dots.

"You did it?" It nodded gently, awaiting her to speak further. "What are you?" It walked up to the table, pushing a slip of paper to her, it was the note from before but this time there was a name at the bottom.

"Look-See?" She looked back up at the creature's fleshy face. "I don't think that counts as a name." He seemed to shrug before pointing to the 'Happy Birthday Lily' sign overhead and swinging his finger back to her, leaning forward a little so his claw gently poked into her chest. His repeated this two more times before she understood.

"Yes, Lily, that's my name. But I go by Clover now." It clicked again, gently reaching up and weaving his claws into her hair, palm grazing her cheek. Another clap of thunder resulted in her dropping to the floor in a ball with a light yelp. She looked up to find the creature kneeling before her, head cocked curiosity to one side.

"I-I'm afraid of thunder and lightning, mom used to say when it was at it's loudest it was honoring me." Another clap, she lowered her head and began to cry. "Mom, I miss you..."

Unexpectedly, the Look-See slipped one arm beneath her legs and the lower on her back, soon holding her bridal style against his chest, where she found no heartbeat. There was, however, an unmistakable tenderness to the way he carried her back to her room and lay her on her bed, sitting beside her. She paused before reaching up and gently resting a palm on the back of its hand, the glove was soft but thin, obviously it had been worn out over time.

"Thank you." It leaned forward a little, as if trying to speak somehow, gaze carefully taking in hers. It paused before resting a palm on her cheek again, clicking sweetly with a gentle smile. She paused, before slowly smiling back.