bioluminescence

monster under the bed

Blue clutched at her side, pressing her palms against her wounds, desperately trying to cease the rapid outflow of blood. But all she managed to do was get her hands wet and stained.

Blue would have liked the light from the street lamps but she could not risk being seen again. Especially since she got stabbed the first time. And now, she thought, with blue hands stained with blood, I really do look like a monster.

The gaping wound on her stomach hurt. Blue had never felt such pain before. It leaked the dark 'unnatural' blood that ran through her veins. She was losing energy and her vision was starting to get blurry. But there was simply nothing else she could do other than drag herself home. To Wylan and Winnie. The only place she'd be safe. If she gave up now things would only get worse. Uglier. Redder.

The first time she met them was in their school park. She'd spent the night there, under a domed structure that she later realised was meant to be climbed by the children. It gave her cover and that was all that mattered to her. But she'd overslept and when she woke up, the first of the kids had started to arrive. She'd heard their happy voices and laughter and she'd smiled. She often dreamt such dreams but in them, she played with the children. Her skin the same colour as theirs and her hair, straight and light brown. Normal. In them, she was happy.

But a second later she'd realised that she wasn't dreaming this time and she'd sat bolt upright, her heart beating madly. She was terrified. So scared that she couldn't even move a limb, frozen in fear.

Blue prayed that no one would notice but of course, they had.

Her sudden movement must have caught his attention, and the next thing she knew a boy with fair hair was staring right at her. He had light, kind eyes, wide with surprise. She was startled to see that there was no horror in them.

She'd covered in fear but Wylan had not screamed in terror as most kids did. Instead, he'd excitedly exclaimed, "You're a Smurf!"

Blue had blinked.

"An overgrown Smurf." He'd added as an afterthought. "Oh, I wish I had Smurfberries!"

With that he'd gone off running, shouting for a Winnie, saying he'd "finally found a real-life Smurf. And she's human-sized!"

They'd even called her a human-sized Smurfette until they'd seen her hair. This time they did scream but Blue had made an effort to make them trust her again. Wylan and Winnie had given her a chance. They were the only ones to have ever done that and she was determined to make it work.

To Blue's utter disbelief, it had. She'd lodged in their house secretly. They renamed her Blue (which she thought was very unoriginal but at least they didn't try to name her after her hair). They kept her existence hushed and word never got out. It was a wonder how two children could keep a secret such as this, so safe. They'd sneak her food every day but their mother would never notice because Blue ate so very little. She hid in their room never once coming out of the house.

Until tonight.

Blue had gotten curious. Curiosity killed the cat. It was a human proverb but it had proven to be true, quite literally for Blue now.

It had been a year since she'd seen the outside of Wylan and Winnie's house. She'd wanted a bit of fresh air. She convinced herself she could handle the world. She'd done it for years before Wylan and Winnie took her in, after all. But it had been a while and apparently, Blue had lost touch.

Soon after she'd crept out, she'd gotten herself stabbed. They were a pair of street bullies who'd tried to get some money off of Blue. Or possibly do much worse. But they'd screamed and thrown their knife at her immediately after they'd seen her face. Her blue skin, her snake hair, her sharp teeth and blood red eyes.