Invisible Monsters

by H L Macfarlane

  “Dorian, I think we’re only waiting for you, now,” Patrick said. “The club are all ready to go, except – Poppy.” He narrowed his eyes at her arm. “How’s your injury? I don’t imagine you can take part in something like white-water rafting. Which is a shame, because the course is one hell of a ride.”

  Poppy didn’t know how to respond. She was dying to get out of the facility and she loved white-water rafting. But she knew she shouldn’t be getting her bandages wet in order to keep up the facade that she was still injured.

  But then she saw Dorian’s face. Something about his expression very much suggested he absolutely didn’t want Poppy to go.

  Which meant, of course, that she would.

  She grinned as she swung her arm around slightly. “The wound has fully closed up, actually. It’s just a little sore. I don’t see why I can’t join in today.”

  To her satisfaction Dorian looked furious. “Poppy, do you really think that’s a good –”

  “Come on, Dorian, we haven’t seen the president in action at all,” the burly man said. He smiled at Poppy as he held out his hand. She dutifully shook it, though she wanted nothing more than to recoil. “The name’s Nick. I don’t think any of us have had the pleasure of meeting you.” He gestured towards the thinner man. “This is Steven, and the lovely lady to my right is Aisling.”

  Aisling still didn’t look at Poppy. Clearly she didn’t think Poppy was worth her interest.

  “Well if you really insist on trying to kill yourself once again,” Dorian said, having schooled his expression to something far more jovial even though his eyes were tight with irritation, “then you better go get ready. We’ll meet the club down by the loch in fifteen minutes.”

  Poppy swept her gaze over the group of people in front of her. It was clear they wanted to talk without her present, which suggested that Patrick probably was a monster. Nodding her head in goodbye, she left the room quickly. But something stopped Poppy from leaving the west wing. She glanced back at the door.

  I want to know what they’re talking about, she thought. Looking upwards, Poppy wondered if it was worth creeping through the ceiling as she had done in order to eavesdrop on Dorian almost two weeks ago. The only reason she’d been caught back then had been because she’d been so panicked by what Dorian had said.

  Now Poppy was numb to words. There was nothing she could hear that would cause her to react like she had done before. It was the only way she could avoid breaking down entirely, after all. It was a flawed coping mechanism, Poppy knew – it was only a matter of time before the horror of her situation came crashing down around her – but for now it was working.

  Smiling grimly, she pulled herself up into the ceiling, the action much easier now that her arm was completely healed.

  Almost immediately she felt a hand around her ankle pulling her back down. For one horrible second Poppy thought it was cold and clawed, but when she turned her head to see Dorian haul her down to the floor and out of sight of the staff room door she was relieved to see that he was still human.

  Dorian was furious. “Might I suggest not eavesdropping on a group of monsters who could rip you apart in a matter of seconds, Poppy?” he whispered into her ear. Poppy struggled against his arms, but Dorian held onto her so tightly she could barely breathe.

  “Is it so wrong for me to want to know what they’re saying?” she bit out.

  “I’ll tell you what they’re saying if you’ll just stop being so damn nosey.”

  “Oh, and I’m supposed to believe you?”

  “If it’ll stop you so wilfully and carelessly putting your life on the line then of course I’ll tell you what they’re saying,” Dorian growled, irritated beyond belief. “Or have you forgotten that in order for our deal to stand then you need to be alive?”

  Poppy said nothing. She supposed Dorian was right.

  “That doesn’t change the fact that I don’t trust you.”

  “And I don’t trust you, yet here we are.”

  “Let go of me, Dorian.”

  He only tightened his grip as he bent down and muttered, “Not until you promise to behave.”

  Poppy took a few moments simply to listen to the beating of her heart. It was thumping painfully in her chest; Dorian could no doubt feel it against his arm.

  “Fine,” she eventually said. “Fine. Let me go. I need to get ready.”

  “Don’t stand out today.”

  Poppy turned her head to look at Dorian. His face was far too close. “What do you mean?”

  He sighed. “If anyone sees how talented you are then they’ll want you. The fewer clients who have cause to pay you any attention the better.”

  It made sense, of course, but Poppy didn’t like it anyway. It only reiterated that her entire club was being judged in the same manner; if Poppy underperformed then someone else looked better by comparison.

  “You have to give excuses for half the group, anyway,” Poppy reasoned, “since I’m saving half of them. Surely you can make an excuse for me.”

  “Are you serious?” Dorian scoffed. “You and I both know that your level of talent is not so easily ignored. They’ll want to know why I won’t let them bid on you, since I shouldn’t be taking my best stock for myself. For the others it’s fine, but you – they’ll ask questions about you. They’ll be suspicious. And they can’t be suspicious about you.”

  It was infuriatingly infallible. And yet even still, Poppy felt rebellious. She didn’t want to do what Dorian told her.

  “Fine,” she lied smoothly. “No showing off. I’m supposed to have an injury, anyway. Now let me go.”

  Poppy flinched when Dorian’s face brushed against her neck and shoulder. Her heart battered against her rib cage as his teeth grazed against her skin.

  “The fuck are you doing?” she whispered, resisting the urge to scream at him instead.

  “You’re fully healed again?” Dorian murmured softly. “All blood regenerated?”

  “I – yes.”

  “In four days, like before.”

  “Three,” Poppy corrected before she had the sense to stop herself. “I’ve been fine since yesterday. You took less blood this time, remember?”

  “Mhm.”

  Poppy didn’t know what ‘mhm’ was supposed to mean. She felt Dorian’s canines bite down into the muscle of her shoulder ever so slightly. They got sharper with every second that passed; as did his nails, which were digging into Poppy’s waist.

  “Dorian, stop,” Poppy said quietly, concerned. “I think you’re – stop, you’re transforming!”

  Dorian froze immediately. He let go of Poppy as he breathed in deeply. His blue eyes had a distinctly inhuman shine to them as Poppy stared at them, but only a blink later they were back to normal.

  “Saturday can’t come quickly enough,” he said, gazing at Poppy longingly. It disturbed her to no end to see him looking at her like that.

  She turned and all but fled down the corridor, not stopping to talk to anyone until she reached her bedroom.

  As she changed her clothes with fumbling, nervous fingers, it became clear to Poppy that, if Dorian wasn’t careful, he wouldn’t have to worry about any of his clients wanting to consume Poppy.

  He’d do it himself.

  *

  “Hey, Morph, watch that rock!”

  “Way ahead of you, Nate.”

  For whatever reason, Poppy, Nate, Fred, Jenny, Angelica, Casey and the ‘instructor’ Aisling had ended up in a raft together. Of course Poppy hadn’t wanted to be with Fred, but given her injury the vice-president had insisted upon it. She knew Dorian was sulking in another boat, having failed to get in beside Poppy, though he was watching her like a hawk. Patrick also seemed put out that he wasn’t in the same boat as Casey.

  Poppy had been careful so far to not show off too much – not for Dorian’s sake but because she was supposed to still be healing. But with every rock avoided and waterfall ridden and spray of foam in her face Poppy grew bolder. She found hersel
f laughing with glee as her boat drew ahead of the rest of the group.

  Nate’s eyes shone with enthusiasm as they looked at Poppy. “You seem much better, Morph!” he called out over the crashing waves.

  “Clearly I just needed some fresh air!”

  “Keep your eyes on the water, not each other!” Fred shouted at the two of them.

  Poppy was sitting by Jenny, making sure she was as far away from Angelica as possible. Angelica was too busy hitting her targets, anyway; despite how unpleasant her personality was, Poppy had to concede that she was truly an excellent archer. The best in their club, probably. This wasn’t surprising, given that Angelica was also in their university’s archery club.

  Jenny kept glancing at Angelica furtively, as if she might expect the other girl to sneer at her.

  “I saw you and Angelica in the shower room yesterday,” Poppy risked saying as their raft soared over a low waterfall. There was so much noise that her words only carried over to Jenny, which was what Poppy wanted.

  Jenny’s eyes widened. “What did you see?”

  “Enough. Why haven’t you told me or Fred about it?”

  “I – I don’t know. I was hoping I could handle it myself.”

  Poppy gritted her teeth as the raft glanced against a rock. “What has she – what’s Angelica done to you? How bad has it gotten?”

  Jenny lowered her eyes. “I can handle it.”

  “That’s not what I asked, Jen. As president of the society it’s my responsibility to deal with any members acting out of order.”

  Jenny sighed, casting one last glance at Angelica before saying, “She’s hidden my bags and destroyed my coursework before. She once forced me to drink so much at a social that I couldn’t stop throwing up, then she took photos and threatened to pass them about if I didn’t buy all her drinks on future nights out. She pushed me down the stairs once just to see if my balance was good enough to not get injured.”

  Poppy stared at her, horrified. This wasn’t ‘ordinary’ bullying; Angelica’s actions were malicious. Her decision in three days had been made.

  But that didn’t mean Poppy could look at Angelica and be happy about it. So, instead, she looked at Jenny and smiled. She’d sacrifice Angelica this week, and save Jenny. It seemed only fair.

  “Everything will be fine. I’ll take care of it.”

  “You won’t – you won’t tell her I told you, will you?”

  “Of course not, Jen. Just trust me, okay? I’ll sort it out.”

  Jenny looked visibly relieved. “Thank you, Poppy. And I’m glad your arm’s doing much better; we’ve missed you out here.”

  “I’ve missed it too!” Poppy called out happily as the raft just barely avoided being toppled over. She caught Casey’s eyes as they both spied a tall waterfall crashing down into the large pool that signalled the end of the course.

  Casey quirked an eyebrow. “Sure you can handle that with your arm, King?”

  “Who do you think I am, Casey?”

  They both laughed. Dorian would scream at Poppy if she knew she planned to jump off the waterfall.

  She didn’t care.

  When finally the raft drifted to a stop in the pool, the two of them ripped off their life-jackets and swiftly jumped out of the raft, unsurprisingly to the sounds of several people shouting at them to come back. But Casey and Poppy paid them no mind.

  “Oi, girls, wait for me!” Nate exclaimed as he swam to catch up with them. Of course Nate was going to join them; the trio were the biggest daredevils in the society.

  It was easy to climb up to the top of the waterfall. Much of the journey was walkable, with only a few places here and there that required the three of them to use their hands to clamber over slightly more dangerous parts.

  “King!” Fred screamed up at them. His voice was barely audible over the roaring of the waterfall. “Don’t you dare jump with your arm like that!”

  Poppy wasn’t listening, and neither Nate nor Casey suggested that she back out of the jump. They were all giddy with adrenaline from the rapids and the sheer height of the waterfall they had finally reached the top of.

  Poppy looked at the two of them. “We better make this worth the climb.”

  Casey giggled as she pointed at some other people climbing up the rocks to join them. “Fred’s gonna be fuming that everyone’s followed suit.”

  “Good,” Nate said. “He’s grown too used to everyone doing what he says over the past few days. Just as well you’re healing up to disrupt his influence, Morph.”

  Poppy rolled her eyes. “Debatable, but okay. You guys ready?”

  Nate and Casey nodded as the three of them stood atop the waterfall and looked down. Poppy’s stomach squirmed in terrified delight; it was the kind of feeling she lived for. Yearned for.

  Down below she spotted the tiny figure of Andrew as the raft he was on settled on one of the banks of the pool. He was looking up at Poppy and smiling, like he was happy to see her back to her outrageous self once more. She hadn’t spoken to him since he’d refused to leave the facility, though Poppy knew she had to make it up to him. It’s not like Andrew knew what was going on, after all. Of course he’d want to stay.

  Just as Poppy prepared to jump, she spied Dorian. Irate, disbelieving Dorian.

  Serves you fucking right, Poppy thought with glee as she shared one last look with Casey and Nate.

  And then she jumped.

  For a few, blessed moments, there was nothing but the air roaring past Poppy’s ears, the lurching of her stomach and the sounds of Nate and Casey screaming in frenzied excitement. Poppy had no horrible decisions to make. She didn’t need to condemn anyone to death. She didn’t have to let a monster drain her blood or give up her freedom. She didn’t have to battle with the fact that her life may be a whole lot longer than she ever wanted it to be.

  She was merely Poppy King, jumping off a waterfall.

  Poppy knew how to dive properly, of course. Halfway through the fall she adjusted her posture, just as Casey and Nate did the same, and by the time they reached the bottom Poppy slid gracefully beneath the surface of the water. She was almost tempted not to resurface – to stay within the safety of the water until she took her final breath – but a hand on the back of her swimming costume hauled her up.

  It was Nate, who grinned as he pulled Poppy against him and kissed her. For a few moments Poppy was so overcome with adrenaline and dopamine that she reciprocated.

  “That was fucking brilliant, Morph,” he exclaimed when Casey broke through the water’s surface. She looked at both Nate and Poppy as if she knew the two of them had only just pulled apart from each other.

  Patrick waded to their side, eyeing Casey up appraisingly. Behind him, Fred and Dorian seemed to be holding a competition to see who could look at Poppy with more white-hot fury. Poppy ignored them.

  “I knew you were an excellent swimmer, Casey, but that was quite some dive,” the dark-haired, possibly-a-monster-possibly-a-man said.

  “Casey’s the best in our club,” Nate replied proudly. Casey beamed at the compliment. “She’d be the best in the swimming club, too, if she hadn’t quit.”

  Patrick looked confused. “Why would you do that?”

  “Because they’re all self-centred pricks,” she explained simply. “And I prefer swimming outside, anyway.”

  Behind them, the sounds of several more people leaping from the waterfall interrupted their conversation. Patrick laughed.

  “Something tells me Frederick won’t be happy about this. And you, Poppy!” He turned to face her. “I can’t believe you did all that with an injured arm.”

  “It’s mighty impressive,” Nick hollered as the group made their way onto dry land, where the rest of the club were. “We’re excited to see what you tackle next, Poppy.”

  She grinned despite herself. She felt too good to think about what Nick’s comment really meant. “Let’s just hope I don’t hurt myself again.”

  “Yes, let’s,” Dorian muttered fr
om behind him. “We wouldn’t want that at all.”

  Nobody seemed to pick up on his subtle sarcasm other than Poppy.

  “King, what the hell were you thinking?” Fred demanded as he appeared by her side. “You shouldn’t be doing anything like that when you’re injured! And now half the club’s following your lead!”

  Poppy stared at him, affronted. “Hey, it was as much Casey and Nate’s idea as it was mine.”

  “Don’t be so hard on Morph, Fred,” Nate said as he slung an arm around Poppy’s waist. “She’s allowed to have fun.”

  Fred looked like he wanted to slap the pair of them. Instead, he turned around and made for the long path back to the facility.

  “We should start heading back before it gets cold,” Poppy murmured, gently extricating herself from Nate’s arm in order to run after her sulking vice-president. “I’m sorry, Fred,” she found herself saying when she caught up to him, though she wasn’t really. “I didn’t intend for anyone to follow my lead. I just wanted to do something reckless.”

  He stared at her, green eyes incredulous at her admission. “Oh, so you’re actually owning up to how stupid you were? Now there’s a first.”

  “Hey. I’m trying to apologise here.”

  “Don’t bother. You’re lucky you didn’t hurt your arm any further. And all that water can’t be good for the bandages. You’ll need new ones.”

  “As if you needed to tell me that. I’ll sort it when we get back.”

  Poppy allowed Fred to march on ahead to stew in his own bad mood. She was well aware that Rachelle would probably catch up to him soon and talk some sense into him, after all.

  All Poppy wanted was to enjoy the walk back to the facility in blessed, false ignorance. She hadn’t felt so much like herself in almost two weeks. It was a heady, addictive feeling.

  “The vice-president and that silver-haired boy were very impressive in the raft,” Poppy heard a sultry female voice behind her say. “What were their names? Fred and…?”

  “Nate, I think. The one who kissed Poppy after they jumped off the waterfall.”

  “Yes, that’s the one. He clearly has no fear of heights, which is great. I wonder how the two of them would fare bouldering down in the caves.”