Monster Writing-Original Creatures

It wasn’t deep, only two feet. Enough to stand up in, at least. I could see what the wonderful smell was coming from. Across the face of the water, were pink lotus flowers. Their open-fan blooms floated peacefully with bristling petals. 

A figure walked into view.

 I crouched down, hoping not to be noticed. Unlike me, she glided across the surface of the water like a ghost. I couldn’t see her face because her back was turned.

 I put my hands on my knives, skeptical.

 She wore a flowy, pink gown that trailed behind her. Her raven-black hair was long and braided with wildflowers. 

She stepped forward, stooped down, and inspected a lotus blossom. 

I took my hands off my knives. She didn’t look dangerous at all.

“Hello” I said cautiously. “I was wondering if you could help me find my way back. I don’t know how to find my friends from here.”

She froze for a moment and straightened up. She tilted her head to the side as if she were listening. 

I took a hesitant step forward. 

“If you could just point me in the right direction I’ll be on my way.”

I noticed her skin. It was grey like stone. It glistened, wet with water from the pool. When she spoke, her voice sounded like a young woman.

“Help to find your friends? Is that what he needs, my pretties?”

She giggled. I was pretty sure she was talking to the flowers.

“Uh…yes please. Again, just point me in the right direction and I’ll happily get out of your hair.”

“My hair…yes…it is lovely is it not?”

The question surprised me.

“Um…yeah. It’s very pretty.” I stammered.

“…and my gown…” she continued, “…do you not think that it is beautiful as well?”

I stared at her. I guess she looked fine, but her tone was making the hair on the back of my neck stand on end.

“Yes, yes, it’s very beautiful. Now if you could just point me to…”

“The way to your friends…isn’t that what he wanted my pretties?”

The lotus flowers vibrated excitedly. Something didn’t feel right. Why was she so curious about my opinion on her looks? 

“I’m glad you think I’m pretty. Not many people do.”

“N-no problem” I stammered. “Listen, it’s been great getting to talk to you, but I’m afraid I have to…”

“Leave?! So soon?” Her bubbly voice quickly turned into a screech. “He’s trying to leave us my darlings, just like all the rest.”

“I’m sorry, I don’t mean to be rude, I just really have to get going.” I quickly started backing away to the entrance of the clearing. 

“Wait!” Her body stiffened up. She still had her back to me. 

“Yes?”

“…before you depart, I must ask…” She cocked her head suddenly, causing it to crack. “Do you think I’m beautiful.”

Not wanting to seem rude I shrugged. “Yeah, sure, of course I do.”

She turned around to face me. Well…’face’ is a weird word to use, especially since she didn’t have one. 

Her entire body was that of a beautiful woman, her long black hair shimmered in the light. Her gown glistened and gleamed with golden thread bordering the fabrics. However, where her face should have been, was a smooth surface of skin. I couldn’t help it. I retched. 

She didn’t take it well. 

A tear split across her face where her mouth should have been, revealing rows upon rows of razor-sharp teeth. Her back arched and she began to grow in size, tearing her gown to shreds. Her fingers stretched long and sharp like spears. Leathery wings sprouted out of her back. The top of her face remained without eyes, but her ears grew large and pointed.

 I was looking at a giant, eyeless, she-bat. 

“Wrong answer!” She shrieked. 

He got up from his work bench and circled around me. “You have such good manners boy…but you mustn’t try too much flattery with hellish beings.”

“Hellish?” I asked, nervously.

“Yes, lad. I am a demon-spawn after all.” 

He walked over to Pike and Ajax in their chairs and tussled their hair.

“A demon? Like a real-life demon?” 

He gave me a wink. 

He threw out his hands and his form shifted only for a moment. His head became a billowing pillar of smoke. His eyes blazed with blue fire. The shadows behind him bent along the wall, resembling outstretched wings, a raven. It vanished as soon as it had materialized, returning him to his old man state. 

“A demon, yes...” He put his finger to his lips. “…but for the right price I could be quite a big help. I could even tell you exactly how to get your friend back, you know.”

“Neither one of you will be leaving this place. We will raze it to the ground first.”

Sarah stretched out her fingers, and she began to contort and writhe on the ground like she was in pain. Her form began to melt away, shifting into something way different than human. 

Her skin became a sticky-black substance, like tar. Her head morphed into a canine shape. Not a cute dog either, rather an underfed alley-dog. A long tail sprouted from her end and cracked at the air in every direction like a whip. 

“What the heck is happening?!” I shouted. 

Emma didn’t say anything. She just stood there, frozen in terror. 

“I am the bringer of fire mortal.” She snarled at me. “I will incinerate you where you stand.”

“Um…how about, no?!” I said. Not the most heroic line. 

She snarled and started barreling down on me. I fell to the ground, put my arms in front of my face and waited to meet my end. It never came. 

BANG

Opening my eyes, Emma had snapped herself awake out of her shock. Having taken a fire extinguisher off the wall she had smacked the creature, formally known as Sarah, right over the head with it. Sadly, it didn’t seem to do much more than startle it. 

Sarah lashed her tongue out in several directions. As she hissed, steam began to rise out of her nose. I ran next to Emma and balled my fists, not that it would be of much help against a monster. Just then, a glow came from the inside of Sarah’s maw. 

“Pull the pin!” Seeing what was about to happen, I yelled at Emma.

“R-right!” She fumbled around as Sarah coughed up smoke.

“Emma?!” I asked frantically.

“I’ve got it!” She shouted, pulling the pin and squeezing the lever on the fire extinguisher just as Sarah started to barf up a wave of fire out of her mouth. The foam from the extinguisher was only meeting her fire and keeping it at bay for a moment. These things didn’t last long, and all Emma did was buy us a few seconds. It didn’t look like Sarah the tar-dog had any need to recharge her batteries as she poured all her fire on top of us. 

“No!” I shouted and dove in front of Emma. I figured if she was after me, I could at least save my sister from the flames.

“Simon!” Emma cried. She started to sob. 

The dog-creature started to bark with a dozen different voices. They all sounded like they were laughing at me. As the flames overwhelmed me, I waited for death to take. It didn’t. 

The dog stopped laughing and Emma stopped crying at the same time. I opened my eyes, and I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. I could have sworn Sarah had bathed me in a lake of fire, but she hadn’t. Instead, the flames were swirling around me like I was protected by an invisible, magic bubble. I reached instinctively towards the fire.

“Simon don’t!” Emma shouted. 

I don’t know why I touched it, but I had to. I had to understand. Touching it didn’t help me understand at all, because when I put my hand over it, it didn’t feel hot. It didn’t even feel slightly warm. 

“Curses!” The dog barked. “It doesn’t matter. If my flames will not harm you…” She stretched her hands out revealing sharp, pointed claws. “These will!”