Some Kind of Monster

by Albany Walker

  “And that was just a wire,” Calix counters.

  I rise to my feet and extend my hand toward Grim. “Maybe you should hold on to this. I might break it.” My fingers are trembling, but I ignore it. He gives me a look that says I’m being absurd, but he takes it from me anyway.

  When I turn around, I’ve either lost my expanded sight, or all the circles have been broken. I don’t trust the latter assumption, so I don’t tell the guys.

  Pushing onward, we continue at our slow pace, edging our way through the forest and getting closer to the witch. I open my senses, searching for anything out of place, and come up empty. The sickly feeling that accompanied the corpses evaporated just as quickly as the spell was broken.

  My heart starts to beat fast. We can’t let Antonio evade us again. There’s an urgency to the desire to get rid of him now. I wanted him dead because he posed a threat to people I care about, but then he fucked with my best friend and made it personal. I knew I would never stop searching for him, but even then, he was just a thorn in my side, not a real threat. However, the risk of letting him live has grown to a point where we can’t allow him to escape us again. If power is what drew him to me, he’s about to learn he should have left well enough alone.

  The outline of a building finally comes into view. I actually stop in my tracks because I wasn’t expecting to see it. As I examine the structure, more of what’s been hidden behind a ward invades my senses. This isn’t like the thin purple mist. This is like the heaviness I felt at the club and the place where we found Aeson. Dirty magic happens here, and by the feel of it, it’s a lot.

  “Jesus Christ,” Gunnar mutters when he gets a look at the building. It’s covered in symbols and runes. Every square inch of the old wooden slat boards is marked with symbols, and I have no idea what they mean.

  “Can you decipher any of that?”

  “Not with any certainty. There’s just too much. It looks like spell over spell.” Gunnar’s wide shoulders are bunched up, and he still has his knives fisted in his hands. He looks over at me. “If I had to guess, I would say they are warding spells. Some designed to keep people away, others to protect what’s inside.”

  I nod, that makes sense. “This isn’t like the circle magic. I can’t see a way to break it,” I confess.

  “We knew he would have safeguards in place,” Calix reminds me.

  “I’m going in alone,” Gunnar declares.

  “Ah, not happening.” I cross my arms over my chest, making sure not to stab myself with Gunnar’s giant knife.

  “He’s already bound my powers, Dami. It’s the only thing that makes sense. If one of you guys walk in there, you might be in the same position. I’ll go in alone, get close enough to use our binding spell on him, then take him out.” He says it like it will be so easy. “Plus, I know what to look for, so I don’t get caught in a trap.”

  “No, we should stay together. I mean, look at this place: the entire house is a trap.” I throw my hands toward the building.

  “He’s right, Dami, and we’re right here. If anything goes wrong, we’ll go in, but let’s let him try first,” Calix implores.

  I look at Grim, hoping he will be the one to see reason, but he just stares back at me without saying a word. He doesn’t have to. I can tell he’s on board with the plan. “It doesn’t feel right,” I argue. “I’m telling you I think we should all stay together.”

  “Give me ten minutes. I may not have my ability, but I can still take this guy.”

  “Even if you could go Berserk, I still wouldn’t want you to go in there alone, it’s not about that,” I snap angrily. “I thought Grim was going to blink in, drop the amulet, and get away so you could kill him.” I look around.

  “That was when we thought we had the element of surprise. He knew we were coming, expected us,” Calix counters.

  “I don’t like it.” Everything in me is telling me not to let him go inside, especially not alone, but I feel like I don’t really have a choice. I expect them to trust me, so I need to trust them too.

  “Ten minutes,” Gunnar pleads, sensing my indecisiveness. “He won’t expect that,” he whispers, turning his back to the house. “I’ll head into the woods, backtracking until I can get around to the other side of the house. You guys do something to distract him, call his attention to your group, he won’t even realize I’m not with you.”

  “We can do that.” Calix balls his hands into fists, accepting the challenge.

  “Here, take this.” Gunnar hands over a small square to Calix. The silver metal glints as he turns it over then looks up at Gunnar.

  “If I’m not out in ten minutes, make sure he has to come out, plus it should break the wards.”

  “You want him to light the fucking house on fire?” I hiss.

  Gunnar shrugs. “I should survive it, and we don’t have an accelerant. It will take a while to get going.”

  “This place is a hundred years old and entirely made of wood. It’ll go up like a fucking bonfire!”

  “We’re wasting time,” Grim states, ignoring my comment.

  “You better figure something else out, because we are not burning that building if you’re inside it.” I will not budge on this.

  “Then I guess I better just kill him quickly.” Gunnar smiles then reaches for me, planting a bruising kiss on my lips. When he tears his mouth from mine, he’s still smiling. He gets off on this shit. If I didn’t feel like he was in danger, I probably would too, but I’m too worried about him.

  “Why don’t we just light it up now? He would still have to come out, right?” Gunnar tilts his head to the side. His face is still close enough to mine so I can see when his eyes go a little unfocused.

  “I guess I’m just used to running into trouble, not waiting for it to come to me,” he admits without shame.

  “Maybe there is something else we can do.” Calix looks down at the Zippo lighter in his hand.

  Not knowing if Antonio has eyes on us or not, we emerge into the clearing where the house sits. We don’t try to hide our presence at all, but Gunnar stays back in the woods, moving slowly around to the other side of the house. A black car comes into view, parked near the small front porch.

  It’s sleek, and while not anything as special as Betty, it still pains me to know what we’re about to do to it. Calix’s shirt has already been ripped into shreds, and he has the fabric fisted in his hand. With one quick jab, he breaks the driver’s side window. Holding up the ribbons of material, he ignites the ends and tosses them quickly into the car.

  Calix jogs backward, watching as black smoke starts billowing out of the vehicle. The smell is wretched, but I don’t see any flames, just heavy smoke. “Fucking leather seats. I got some on the floor, so it’s going to take a minute to get going,” he mutters, sliding the lighter into his front pocket.

  Movement from the house catches my attention. Did that curtain just move or was it my imagination? That’s right, dumbass, watch what we’re doing.

  Within moments, the area around the back of the house lightens as the flames Gunnar took with him catch fire. I was right, the place goes up like a match while the car fire is still struggling to smolder.

  I hate that Gunnar is away from us, but we needed eyes on the other side of the structure in case Antonio tries to escape that way.

  My body feels tense, poised for a fight, even though the only way things will get physical for me is if shit goes really bad, and I’m not planning on that happening. I scan the house inch by inch, waiting for the asswipe to manifest like a fucking magician, but nothing happens for several long minutes. I start to shift from left to right. “Where is he?” Fuck, maybe lighting the place up was a bad idea. “He couldn’t have gotten away, right?”

  “Give it time,” Calix says calmly.

  The roof of the house starts to billow black smoke. I lift my forearm to shield my face from the heat. It’s hot as hell, and we’re standing back several feet. The noise of the fire grows to a roar, until it sound
s like a freight train bearing down on us as the flames engulf the building.

  Finally, the front door crashes open, and at that exact moment, I hear a scream echo from Gunnar. The figure coming from the house is much too small to be him, so I search the area, wondering where it could have originated from.

  He lets out another howl, this one filled with pain, but the noise cuts off all too quickly as if something took his voice.

  The figure at the door walks out slowly, as if fire isn’t chasing him. Every inch of my skin crawls when I see him. “Boogey?” I mutter hesitantly. I’m so completely confused as to why he would be here.

  I look behind him, expecting to see someone else emerging from the fire-ridden house, but there’s no one.

  Grim steps up close to my side as my childhood crush runs his gaze over me. His lips lift in a sneer when he eyes my rounded stomach. My hands come up to rub it protectively. I don’t like the way he’s looking at me.

  “Why are you here?” My voice is unsteady. I really want to know where Gunnar is, but I need to deal with this first. Even though the light of the fire should be illuminating him, he’s still mostly made of shadows.

  “Would this be better?” He makes the slightest shift, but everything about him changes. Now he’s a man. He looks human. This is the image of Antonio I’ve come to know. My mind scatters.

  I’m so confused. I don’t know if Antonio is pretending to be Boogey, or if it’s the other way around. “What the fuck is going on?” I snarl, ready to rip his throat out either way.

  “Come with me and I’ll explain everything,” he offers. His face may look like Antonio’s, but his voice is all Boogey. The sting of betrayal has me clenching my teeth so I don’t lash out. If he thinks I would go anywhere with him, he really is delusional.

  “You know me better than that, or should I say I thought you did.” I make a point of wrapping my hands around Grim’s and Calix’s. I’m not the lonely little girl I once was, hurt by the fact that I never felt good enough for anyone.

  The sharp edges of the amulet Gregory gave Grim poke into my palm. I’m not sure if Grim’s intent is for me to take it from him or not.

  The windows on the house shatter as a small explosion rocks what’s left of the building. The roof collapses, and none of us react.

  “I know that you’ll come with me if I tell you it’s the only way to save the other one,” Boogey says, while wearing the witch’s face.

  “Where is he?” I break away from my men, keeping the amulet in my fist as I do. It’s clear I’m going to have the best chance at getting close to him.

  “Come here, and they can go get him—what’s left of him anyway. The fire was a bad idea.” He fake winces.

  “Damiana.” Calix says my name like a warning, but I don’t know if he really is trying to warn me, or just make Boogey think that I’m going against his wishes.

  The image of Antonio drops, and he’s the Boogey I grew up with again, the one that held my hand under the bed. My stomach tightens, and I feel like I might throw up.

  “Ignore him,” Boogey coos, as if he’s happy I’m listening to him.

  “Tell them where Gunnar is and we can talk.” I cross my arms over my chest and give Boogey a hard look. If he knows me at all, he would never expect me to give up easily or be bossed around. I test the air, calling his soul to me, but nothing happens. Is it because he’s protected, or because he doesn’t even have a soul like the creatures he manipulated?

  “He’s in the cellar. I might have spelled the entrance to look like the back door.” I’m sure he survived the fall… now the fire?” He winces.

  “Go get him,” I order, without taking my eyes off Boogey.

  From my peripheral vision, I watch Calix dart past. “Send him too.” Boogey nods behind me.

  “He’s stubborn.” I look over my shoulder, making sure the fucker in front of me believes he has an advantage, but really, I want him to make his move. I want him close enough so I can activate the amulet. I should have been paying better attention, because I have no idea how to do that, other than to get it close to him. “Grim,” I call, but he doesn’t even look at me. His red, blazing eyes are all for the guy behind me.

  “Don’t waste your breath, Omnia.” His voice is layered, as if hundreds of him are speaking at once. It even sends a shiver down my spine. Every ounce of trepidation I might have felt evaporates. I know no matter what happens, I’m going to walk away from this, and so will Calix and Gunnar, but I want answers.

  “He’s…” I start, but Boogey grabs me roughly as I turn back around. His arm is around my throat, and I stumble a little. It’s easy to lose your balance when your center of gravity is so skewed.

  Grim charges forward, but I stop him with a raised palm. With my other hand, the one with the spell, I reach up as if to loosen Boogey’s grip on my neck, and the metal hits his skin and sizzles. Boogey lets out a started yelp and flings me away, digging into the black rune left behind on his arm. The useless trinket that held the spell falls to the ground.

  Grim pulls me away from Boogey as he continues to dig into his arm, his claw tipped fingers are covered in gore, but the mark remains. “What did you do?” He moves like he might jerk forward, but he’s stopped by an invisible barrier. Not even the spittle flying from his mouth flies past.

  “Would you look at that?” I tilt my head. “How does it feel to be caught in one of your own little traps?”

  “Fuck you!” He slams his hands against the barrier and looks around. I don’t want to dillydally too much, because I know snares are breakable. I’ve broken more than one myself, and he has much more experience than me.

  “Let’s end this quickly, shall we?” I mutter. “Tell me how the hell any of this is possible.” Boogey ignores my question and slams his fists on the invisible barrier created by the ward, his features distorting until he morphs back into the witch.

  Grim steps forward. His cloak is on, but the hood is back, exposing his devastatingly handsome face. His scythe is glowing the same red as his eyes, as if fire is dancing along the blade. “He’s a Boogeyman. They are able to create visages to inspire fear.”

  “So, he’s not Antonio? I don’t understand.”

  “You don’t understand anything!” the witch shouts. “You get to fucking live. All the rest of us are forced to exist in the shadows, just real enough not to wither away, yet you waste what you’ve been given, feeling sorry for yourself because the humans don’t like you, and your mommy and daddy were afraid of you,” he mocks.

  I raise my hand as if I might try to wring his fucking neck right through the ward, but Grim grabs my wrist, stopping me. “He’s baiting you.”

  “Dami, wait,” Boogey cries, and his voice sounds young, sad. He sounds and looks like the same lonely baddie I thought I knew when I was a child. “I wasn’t trying to hurt you. I just wanted to be more powerful so we could be together, really be together.” He licks his lips, his black tongue slithering along his too-white teeth.

  His lie holds a whisper of truth, so I examine him as he continues. “The witch wanted monsters he could use. He thought if he could filter the power through us instead of humans, it would last longer. Neither of us expected just how well the spell would work. I got all the power with none of the backlash.”

  “Then what?” I press, wondering what’s taking Calix and Gunnar so long.

  “Then I didn’t need the witch anymore.” Boogey steps back from the barrier, his arms falling to his sides. “He was my first sacrifice. I killed him the moment I knew how to do the spell,” he explains, like he can’t believe I didn’t already come to the same conclusion.

  In the next second, Grim’s sickle slices through the air, and Boogey’s head thumps to the ground. His body stays upright for a sickening second before it drops like a sack of potatoes. I plant my hands on my hips and glare at Grim. “I had a few more questions.”

  “The Berserker is calling me.”

  Everything else falls away—Boogey, the
fire, the betrayal, every question I thought was important. I suck in a horrified breath and run to the back of the house.

  “Gunnar!” I scream his name in a voice I’ve never heard. Every syllable is barbed with pain as it’s ripped from my throat.

  Grim is already kneeling on the ground next to Gunnar, who is lying flat on the dirt twenty feet from the back of the building. His face is marred with soot, and I can see some blisters along one side of his jaw, as well as other spots where it looks even more raw. His clothes are singed, but as I search over him, I watch his chest expand with a heavy wheeze before he starts barking out a racking cough. Calix helps him turn to the side and his entire body shudders with the effort.

  I fall to my knees, sobbing as I hit his back with weak fists. “Don’t do that, you can’t do that!” He lets out a groan that makes me cry even harder.

  “I’ll be fine now. The bastard is dead… He is dead, right?” He lifts his head off the ground, but it falls back onto the dirt with a thud as his eyes close.

  “He is dead,” Grim confirms. “If I would have waited any longer to kill him, you would have died.”

  “So, you’re okay? You’re yourself again?” I ask hesitantly.

  “Yeah, fucking Death saved me,” Gunnar mumbles as his body goes slack.

  “I think he just passed out.” Calix chuckles. I look over at him and note he has some burns on his arms and hands too.

  “Are you okay? Thank you for saving him, both of you.” I look between them with tears brimming in my eyes.

  Chapter 28

  “Oh, fuck!” I reach for the side of my lower stomach. The intermittent tightening I’ve been feeling over my belly has ramped up from uncomfortable to downright painful.

  “What’s wrong?” Calix inquires. A wide swathe of gore is smeared across his face in a macabre reminder of what we just went through. Gunnar opens his eyes and rolls his head to the side, allowing me to see various burns marring his flesh. Good thing I know he heals fast.