The Howling

Chapter Twelve

        She felt arms around her, pulling her up. "Let's get you out of here," the water demon whispered softly. Cradled in his arms, she felt the rocking motion as they moved down the hallway. 

        The sound of phones ringing reverberated through her mind. It echoed throughout the hallway. An endless ringing that was driving her mad. 

        She pressed her hands against her ears to block out the sound, but even then, her hands did little to dull it. It was inside of her now. Infecting her. She could feel the noise, like beetles under her skin, crawling and writhing. Like an itch she would never be able to get rid of.  

        Her father's voice was rising up in the back of her mind. "Hey sweetie..." 

        "So phones huh?" the water demon asked. "An interesting choice for your own personal torture. Any particular reason or are you one of those people who hate listening to conversations in elevators or bathrooms? I always did think that was rude. Especially in the bathroom. I may be a monster but at least I don't broadcast what's going on in the public restroom to the person I'm speaking with on the other end. There are just some lines that shouldn't be crossed." 

        He was rambling again. She concentrated on his voice instead of the ringing, welcoming the sound of his voice now and the distraction it offered. 

        "So, little girl. Are you going to tell me your name now? I think it is a just reward for helping you out of here. I think it was very gentlemanly of me. I mean, you're just like a lady, draped in my arms like this." 

        She swallowed, afraid that her breakfast might come up with her name. "Villette." 

        "Villette. Lovely name. A bit old fashioned. It's French, isn't it? Well it sounds French. Did your mother or father decide on it? Or was it more of a joint effort since, well, having babies is a joint effort, what with the-" 

        "Mother," she answered quickly. "You?" 

        His laughter reverberated through his body, all the way through his arms that shook her slightly. He ignored her question. "Your mother. A human?" 

        Villette nodded. 

        "I've never had a mother before. I often wondered what the concept was like. Is it how it is in the movies? They love you, smother you with affection, embarrassing you in front of your potential boyfriends? And do they bake cookies nonstop? Is that a mother requirement of some kind?" 

        "How..." her voice trailed off and she swallowed again, "are demons made?" 

        He was silent for a moment. "I don't think I want to tell you that, little Villette." 

        She was starting to hear her father's voice again. "Your mother's asleep now." 

        "Why?" she practically screamed, desperate to drown out her father's voice with the demon's prattle. 

        "If I told you, little girl, you might get scared. Then you wouldn't want me to carry you. Then I'd have to set you down. Then you'd be surrounded by all these ringing telephones and where would that leave you? A big, bad demon and a bunch of phones? You might drop dead of terror." 

        She couldn't tell if he were joking or being serious. Probably some kind of mixture of both, she decided. "Talk about," she started but then her father's voice crept in again.  

        "It's boring, you know how it is." 

        "How about the time I sank the Titanic? Will that work?" he asked when her voice trailed off. Her eyes snapped open and she looked up at him in horror. But he continued his story with a reminiscent smile stealing across his face. "So there I was, on this ship right, and things were going great. I mean there were parties and dancing and booze. Oh, don't get me started on the booze. I'm having a merry old time and then I hear this conversation about the ship's supposed to be unsinkable. Unsinkable, can you believe that?