Monster

by Yolanda Olson

  I looked over at Cody and Phoebe who were watching everyone walk into the house. I wanted them to stay too but I didn’t know if they were going to accept the gesture. Besides, I was really curious as to what it was that they fed on.

  “Are you guys coming?” I asked from the doorway.

  They looked at each other in surprise, “You want us to stay too?” Phoebe asked.

  “Of course I do! I’m not going to have everyone stay and kick you guys out. Come on in to Casa de Sloane. Like I said there’s a lot of rooms in here. Just pick one and it’s yours until this whole thing is over and done with.”

  Phoebe smiled at her brother and as she walked past me, she gave me a pat on the shoulder. I turned slightly and watched her climb the stairs to find a room to stay in.

  “This is really nice of you, dolly,” Cody said as he walked past me.

  “I figure it’s the least I can do. If everyone is willing to get into a fight to the death just to help me, then I figure we can all use comfortable beds to sleep in before it happens.

  “I know, right?” He said laughing.

  I pushed the door closed behind us. I could feel him lingering behind me still as I secured the locks.

  “What’s up, Code?” I asked him when I turned around.

  “Well, I was just wondering where I sleep,” he said sliding his arms around my waist.

  Laughing I put my hands on his chest and gave him a gentle shove back. There was no way that was going to happen. Not what he wanted, and definitely not tonight.

  “You can sleep anywhere in the house you want. Anywhere that isn’t downstairs,” I said giving him a pointed look.

  Once again he laughed throwing back his head. Then he put an arm around my shoulders and grinned. “Come on, what kind of guy do ya take me for? I just wanted to sit with you while you sleep.”

  I stared at him with an unbelieving look.

  “I swear!” He said throwing up his hands, “See the cool thing about me and Pheebs is that we don’t sleep,” he had me so wrapped in conversation that I didn’t realize that he was already walking us down the stairs to my room.

  “Really? Doesn’t not sleeping make people crazy?”

  “Yeah, if you’re human,” he said with a grin. He opened a door in front of me and gently put a hand on my back to push me in, then closed the door behind us.

  “So anyway I figure that watching you sleep is another way to keep you from running off like you did last time. Almost got yourself killed! Why if it hadn’t been for me—”

  “Alright already,” I said giving him a shove. Then I looked around and realized that we were in my room. I turned and looked at him. He grinned and ran over to the mattress and laid down on it.

  “This isn’t all that comfortable you know,” he said looking at me.

  “Comfort’s not the point. The point is to be able to sleep.”

  “Why are you such a self-punisher,” he asked suddenly as he gazed out the window.

  “I’m not,” I said walking over to my desk and pulling out my journal. I knew he was right but I didn’t want to talk about it.

  “Finnegan, you sleep on a mattress that’s so old you can feel the floor underneath it. You sleep by the window on purpose hoping that the sun will take you out. You were reckless in the skirmishes; probably hoping you’d get killed. You live in a house that’s practically collapsing and you stay hidden from the world. You’re a glutton for punishment and I can’t figure out why.”

  I didn’t answer because I felt myself getting angry. I didn’t want to have an argument right now so instead I flipped open my journal then fished around inside the desk for a pen or pencil. I heard him sigh loudly and get up.

  “I’ll be back,” he said as he headed out of the room.

  Don’t hurry, I thought to myself. As I flipped through the pages I wondered where he was going. Then I decided not to think about it and found a clean page to write on.

  What is going on in this world?

  Paige is like me now, which makes me wonder if Kendall is too.

  Cody has a sister who’s helping us out.

  The gypsies and the vampires almost tore each other to shreds.

  I think I’m Cody’s girlfriend.

  So far, we’ve already ‘broken up’ and ‘gotten back together’ in a day.

  Something more surprising than that?

  How about the mock fights we’ve been doing.

  Found out that when I’m enraged my body can take a beating and then go back into place.

  I guess that’s a good thing, since Code says there’s something coming after us.

  “I don’t think your sister is ... different,” Cody said from over my shoulder.

  I screamed in surprise and he laughed. I turned around to glare at him, whipping my journal closed.

  “This book is private,” I said in a seething tone.

  “Sorry, but you were so into what you were writing, you didn’t notice me come back in, so I just wanted to see what you were so wrapped up in,” he said with a boyish smile. “By the way, do you like it?”

  I looked in the direction he was pointing in and gasped. He had a found a beautiful solid wood bed that was enormous. I walked over to it and ran my hand along the sheets smiling when I realized they were silk. The bed had curtains draping from it the same beautiful color as a ruby.

  I pulled myself onto it and was surprised at how soft it was. I stretched out letting out a happy sigh.

  “Where’d you find this?” I asked dreamily.

  “It was in one of the rooms upstairs. Pheebs actually showed it to me, I guess she heard me walking around and she figured I was looking for a bed to sleep in. Pretty, isn’t it?” he asked running hand over one of the curtains.

  “Definitely,” I replied hugging a pillow to my chest. “Wait a sec,” I said looking at him suspiciously, “How’d you get this done with me sitting in the room.”

  “Ah,” he said with a grin, “That’s a trade secret. Anyway,” he continued as he walked to the door and locked it, “I figure you can have the bed and I’ll take that pathetic excuse of a mattress.”

  I watched him as he slid my journal into the desk drawer. Then he walked over to the wall and flipped the light switch shrouding the room in darkness except for the sun’s rays that were trying so hard to break through the rain clouds. Humming to himself, he removed his jacket and hung it on the mirror of my desk. He came over to me and gave him a kiss on the forehead and went back to where the mattress was by the window and plopped himself down.

  I pulled the sheets up to my chin and turned on my side. I suddenly felt really bad for having him sleeping on the floor when this bed was so big and comfortable.

  I sighed.

  “Don’t sleep on the floor, Code. There’s plenty of room up here.”

  “I’m alright down here, kid,” he replied.

  “Would you just get in this bed?” I asked tightly.

  I heard him chuckle as he stood up. He came over and sat on the left side of his bed removing his shoes. Tossing them into the corner, he spun his legs onto the bed and stretched out. Then he turned on his side and looked at me. I held his gaze for a moment. Smiling he lifted one of his arms slightly off the bed. I giggled and scooted myself over to him placing my forehead on his chest. I felt his fingers over the sheet as they slid slowly up and down my back. For some reason it was so soothing that I felt myself ‘dying’ faster than I normally did.

  “Night, dolly,” he whispered.

  “Mm,” I said feeling myself already half way into my faux death.

  For the rest of the day, I had the world’s most peaceful sleep. No dreams, just a dark quiet world where I stayed for the next few hours in bliss, ignorant of the world around me. I was so refreshed that night when I woke up, unlike other nights.

  It made me come to a conclusion. Either I needed to keep sleeping in this bed or I need to keep sleeping in Cody’s arms. I wasn’t sure yet. Smiling I let my eyes flutter open and saw
that his side of the bed was empty. I looked up and around the room and saw that his coat was still there and his shoes were still in the corner. Then faintly upstairs, I heard the familiar sounds of his raucous laughter.

  I lay there for a moment rubbing my eyes before I got up and walked out of the room. Making my way up the stairs and down the hall I smelled something vaguely familiar that appealed to me when I was alive.

  Following the smell, I wound up in an opulent kitchen that I didn’t even know I had. At the stove was Phoebe making enough breakfast to feed an army and she was fast about it too. In the few moments that I had been standing there she had piled two plates full of bacon strips and now she was busily making a different array of omelets.

  “Hi,” she said brightly when she saw me. Cody who was sitting on one of the counters gave me a big smile.

  “Help yourself,” Phoebe said as she pulled a pitcher of orange juice out of the refrigerator. I was shocked to see that thing still worked. Or that anything in the kitchen worked for that matter. “What kind of omelet do you want, hun?” she asked as she went back to the stove.

  I gave Cody a wide-eyed look. Hopping off the counter, he came over to me and grinned. “Trust me, she’s a pretty good cook. Her food has only killed a few people in her entire existence.”

  “I have not,” she said throwing a hand towel at him, which he caught with a laugh.

  “That’s not what I’m worried about,” I whispered to him. “I can’t eat human food and I don’t want to hurt her feelings.”

  “How do you know you can’t?” he asked in a loud stage whisper.

  Phoebe came over and placed a vegetable omelet in front of me with a smile, “You don’t have to eat it if you don’t want too. I wasn’t going to make food for just me and my brother and no one else.”

  “I’ll bet you haven’t tried eating people food since you went through the change,” he said biting a piece of bacon in half.

  “The change? You make it sound like I’ve been through menopause,” I replied giving him a shove.

  Sliding an arm around my waist, he laughed and kissed me on the cheek. “How’d you sleep by the way?”

  “Actually it was great,” I said looking at Phoebe again who was busy making more omelets.

  “Good,” he said giving me a squeeze then kissing me on the side of my head.

  “What is this?” came a voice from the door.

  I looked over at Drake who was standing there looking at all the food. He looked like he wanted to devour it but he wasn’t sure if his stomach would hold it down. He ambled over to the plate of bacon and inhaled deeply.

  “Not those,” Phoebe said walking over to him. “You won’t be able to hold those down. These are for you guys,” she said pulling out a different plate of bacon.

  Something about it looked a little funny.

  Drake picked one up and turned it over, eyeing it suspiciously. Then he just shrugged and bit into it. All of a sudden his body started to shake with laughter as she served him an omelet with odd-looking meat in it. Putting a couple of strips of bacon onto his plate, walked out of the room laughing.

  “Man that’s a cool trick,” he said on his way out.

  “What’s a cool trick,” I asked her curiously.

  “That plate of bacon,” she said turning back to the stove “is made entirely of human blood and pig. I know that they feed on animals more than they do humans, so I thought I’ve give them a treat.”

  I looked at Cody who winked at me. I turned back to Phoebe, “So what kind of meat did you put in that omelet?”

  “Human,” she said with a smile. “Don’t worry, I didn’t kill anyone to get it. The body was still fresh when I found it so the blood was still good. I just put it on ice overnight.” She turned away from the stove again to make another plate of special bacon.

  “The vegetables in your omelet by the way? Not vegetables. That’s what marrow looks like when it’s exposed to other elements. Water, oil, egg.” She leaned down on the counter resting her chin in her hands with a smile.

  I looked back down at the plate in shock. Is that even possible? I grabbed the fork that sat on the plate and cut a little section of the marrow omelet, stabbing it with my utensil.

  Phoebe went back to cooking while Cody brought a stool around the island for me to sit on. Then he hopped onto one next to me and grabbed another piece of what I assumed was angel/demon bacon. I brought the fork up and held it an inch away from my mouth. After about two seconds of hesitation, I just placed it in my mouth and ate the piece of egg that I had on the fork. To my surprise it was delicious. I heard Phoebe chuckle and I looked over at her to see that she had been watching me out of the corner of her eye. Before I knew what I was doing I had devoured my plate, which left Phoebe looking pleased.

  Next to me Cody blew out his breath and stood up, stretching his arms above his head. I glanced at him and he kissed me on the nose. Rolling my eyes, I laughed and took my plate over to the sink.

  “You don’t have to do that you know. I made the mess,” Phoebe said smiling.

  “No, you made the food. The least I can do is clean the dishes and pans so you can have some time to relax and eat too.”

  She gave me a grateful smile and fixed herself a plate. She took it over the island and pulled up a stool, which Cody promptly kicked out from under her as she was preparing to sit. Laughing she picked the stool up and stuck her tongue out at him. He smiled turning his attention back to me. The only reason I knew it was because I felt his eyes on my back.

  A pair of footsteps made their way into the kitchen. I turned slightly and saw Ryker and Remy. Phoebe smiled at them and pointed out the plates of bacon and omelets that were suitable for them and a bowl of fresh fruit that she had put out.

  They smiled in thanks and helped themselves to the food that had been laid out.

  Finally done with the pans and dishes, I went back to my seat.

  Soon after the gypsies walked out of the room, the rest of the group walked in.

  Chase and Shane helped themselves to their special food while Kaeden grabbed an apple to eat.

  “Wait,” Phoebe said, “That’s an actual apple.”

  “It’s fine,” he said biting into it.

  He sat himself next to me and put his elbows on the island, “How was your sleep?”

  “Good. How was yours?” I asked looking at him.

  “Fine. So do we want to practice again today?” he asked crunching into the apple.

  I leaned over, resting my arm on his shoulder and let out a sigh. I really didn’t want to but I knew he was only trying to help. I’d be in pretty bad shape if I didn’t get all the practice I could get. Next to me Cody shifted on his stool. Under the table I reached over and put my hand on his leg. I felt his hand immediately close on top of mine, intertwining our fingers.

  “Yeah, let’s do it,” I said finally.

  “Okay. Tonight will be completely different just so you know. I had time to think of another possible attack strategy.”

  I looked at him, my face still rested against his arm. Even though he didn’t look at me I could tell his mind was working overtime on ways to attack me and I narrowed my eyes.

  “What’s going to be so different?” I asked sitting up straight.

  “Teams,” he said simply. Then he stood up and threw his apple core into the garbage can.

  “Teams? So we’re going to fight in groups?” I asked curiously.

  Leaning on the counter he smiled and nodded, “I figure we’ll have to be ready for anything. But I don’t think teams will be picked, this isn’t a game of kickball. So we’ll draw straws or something to see who ends up on whose team.”

  “I like it,” Cody said with a grin. “Kind of a wild card strategy.”

  “I hope we’re on opposite teams, big brother,” Phoebe said with a grin, “Then we could show them the kind of chaos we’re really capable of.”

  11. Death

  (Day Twelve)

  Afte
r we all indulged ourselves on the breakfast that Phoebe had made, we sat around for a little bit to let our food have a chance to digest. I mean if I took a stomach shot right now, I'd probably throw up on someone.

  It seemed like everyone was in good spirits, talking and laughing together. In a way, everyone looked almost human, with the exception of the gypsies who obviously already are. I was standing in the doorway of the ballroom. We chose that room to hang out in because it was big enough for everyone to stretch out comfortably in.

  Kaeden sat in what he seemed to think was his sofa chair. In a way he looked regal sitting there. Hard to believe he was only a kid when he transitioned. The vamps were scattered on the floor by him, while Ryker and Remy were standing by the fireplace. Cody and Phoebe on the other hand were busy throwing each other across the room and practicing their landings.

  When I was sure no one was watching me, I walked out of the room quietly and went out the front door. I sat down on the stairs and stared out across the front lawn. I still couldn't shake the feeling that Kendall had been turned. It made me wonder, that if she had been, she could possibly be as vicious and vile as Paige was now. It didn't matter to me. If she was different, then she wasn't my sister anymore and I wouldn't show her any mercy.

  I rubbed my hands over my face irritably. I looked over my shoulder at the house and thought about setting it on fire with everyone inside. To me it would be an easier way for them to die if we had to face an army of what I was. Not to mention whatever crossbreed monsters that Ava was trying to make.

  Ava.

  Where had she been hiding herself lately? I mean not that I wasn't grateful that she was nowhere to be found, but it started to make me uneasy. I wondered if she was amassing another army of fledglings to come after me again. Of course, the last time I brought the fight to her. I smiled at the idea of taking her by surprise with as accidental as it was. She obviously didn't think she could take us out herself if she had found Cody and asked him to help her. Fat chance of that happening now.