The Beast

by Barry Hutchison

  ‘So modest,’ she purred. ‘A true hero.’

  ‘Um... maybe we should talk about this another time?’ I suggested.

  Rosie giggled softly in my ear. ‘It’s OK. He’ll get fed up and go after the others in a minute. I don’t think he likes your ex-girlfriend much.’

  ‘She’s not my... wait. Ex-girlfriend?’

  ‘Well, of course, pumpkin,’ Rosie said, hugging me tighter. ‘I’m your girlfriend now.’ Her voice took on an excited edge. ‘I wonder what he’ll do to her when he catches her? Whatever it is, I hope it’s painful, the witch.’

  ‘What?’ I muttered. I tried to pull away again, but her arms were like steel bands around my chest. ‘What are you—?’

  ‘She doesn’t appreciate you. Not like I do. She made fun of you. The little witch laughed at you!’

  ‘Rosie,’ I grimaced. ‘Stop. You’re... you’re hurting me.’

  BANG! The door shook in its frame. BANG! Guggs, it seemed, wasn’t going anywhere.

  Rosie’s grip relaxed and I heard her give a sigh of annoyance. ‘Why won’t people just leave us in peace?’ she demanded. ‘First it’s your friends, then it’s mine.’

  She stomped over to the door. I watched in horror as she pushed the bed aside and reached for the handle.

  ‘No, don’t! What are you—?’

  I was too late to stop her. She yanked open the door just as Guggs launched himself towards it. He gave a screech of triumph as he flew into the room and landed right beside Rosie.

  A moment later, the sound died in his throat when Rosie jammed her fingertips against the centre of his chest. Guggs’ eyes went wide. His neck snapped down in time to see Rosie push her fingertips straight through his chest bone.

  Billy’s cousin made a low, gargling sound as Rosie withdrew her hand. His legs went limp and he fell awkwardly on to the floor. In Rosie’s hand, Guggs’ heart pumped twice, then stopped forever.

  ‘Now, pumpkin,’ beamed Rosie, letting the organ drop to the floor with a schlup. ‘Where were we?’

  illy’s voice squawked from my hip as Rosie slowly closed the bedroom door. ‘Kyle? You there? We’re back at the police station, up on the roof, over.’

  ‘Don’t answer it,’ Rosie said. She ran her fingers through her long, blonde hair as she stepped over Guggs’ broken body, leaving a bloody streak right across her scalp. ‘Let it just be you and me for a while.’

  ‘What... what are you?’

  She half-smiled, half-frowned. ‘What a strange thing to ask,’ she said. ‘I’m your girlfriend, you silly sausage.’

  ‘Oi! You there or what?’ Ameena’s voice hissed over the radio. ‘Answer us, will you?’

  ‘You’re supposed to say “over”,’ Billy’s voice explained in the background.

  ‘Shut up, Billy.’

  Rosie’s face had grown darker with every word.

  ‘Why won’t they be quiet?’ she spat. ‘Why won’t they leave us in peace?’

  ‘They’re worried about... us,’ I explained.

  I recoiled as Rosie reached towards me, but all she did was flip the walkie-talkie’s off switch, silencing the voices on the other end.

  She smiled. ‘So let them worry.’

  ‘You’re one of them, aren’t you? An imaginary friend. From the Darkest Corners.’

  ‘What does it matter where I’m from? All that matters is that we’re together at last.’

  ‘My dad sent you, didn’t he?’

  Rosie nodded slowly. ‘But he didn’t tell me how cute you were.’

  She tried to put a hand on my face, but I pulled sharply away. ‘So, what? He brought you and the Beast here together? To kill everyone?’

  ‘No, silly,’ she giggled. ‘He brought me and I made the Beast.’

  ‘You... made it?’ I frowned. ‘But how?’

  Rosie chomped her teeth together, answering my question.

  ‘And what about the others? The screechers? You made them too?’

  ‘A few,’ she nodded. ‘Then they made others, and those others made others still. It’s like a virus, see? Passing from one to the other.’

  Her delicate features pulled into a frown. ‘And if your ex really was bitten, then she should’ve changed already. What’s up with that?’ A thought occurred to her. ‘Bet she was just looking for sympathy from you. Bet she faked the whole thing so you’d give her a hug.’

  Rosie curled her fingers in until her nails left half-moon- shaped marks on her palms. ‘Ooh, she makes me so mad,’ Rosie spat. ‘Don’t worry, pumpkin. First chance I get, I’m going to tear that witch’s heart out.’

  ‘No, you won’t,’ I said.

  Rosie glared at me. ‘What?’

  ‘You’re not going to touch her. I won’t let you.’

  She gave a sharp shake of her head. ‘Tell me... Tell me you don’t still care about her.’

  ‘Yes,’ I said. ‘I do.’

  ‘But, but, but you’re my boyfriend, not hers!’

  ‘No,’ I said. ‘I’m not.’

  ‘But I appreciate you. She doesn’t. She makes fun of you!’

  I shrugged. ‘At least she’s real.’

  ‘I’m real, pumpkin,’ Rosie said.

  ‘No,’ I said. ‘You aren’t. And that story about your parents. That wasn’t real either, was it? You made it all up.’

  She didn’t answer me.

  ‘Thought so,’ I said. My heart crashed against the inside of my chest as I moved to go past her. ‘Now, if you don’t mind, I’m going to go and find my

  friends.’

  ‘Mind?’ she cried, and her voice became a shriek. ‘Of course I mind! Don’t you dare walk out on me!’

  ‘I’m going, Rosie,’ I told her. My hand closed around the handle of the door. ‘Deal with it.’

  ‘You’re not going anywhere!’ she said, and her shriek became a screech. She covered the gap between us in a fraction of a second. Her hand clamped down on top of mine, squashing it against the door handle. The colour drained from her eyes and they became a rich, oily black.

  Her hand was changing shape when it pressed against my chest. The fingers were widening, the knuckles becoming sharp, ragged bone. She gave a grunt and shoved me. The room passed in a blur as I was propelled away from the door. My back struck the wall and I dropped to my knees, winded.

  Get up, screamed my brain, but my legs struggled to obey. At the other end of the bedroom, Rosie was also down on the floor. She was hidden by the bed, but the cracking of bone and the tearing of flesh and the sound of her frenzied screams told me a very different Rosie was about to get back up.

  A chill draught rolled in through the window. Shakily, I placed my hands on the sill and pulled myself to my feet. A small porch with a slanted slate roof sat just outside.

  As Rosie continued to writhe on the floor, I clambered through the open window and let myself fall on to the porch roof. The slates were slippery and I lost my footing right away. My bum thumped against the roof, and then I was falling. The snow proved to be an effective cushion again, and I escaped unhurt from the drop.

  My legs were still unsteady as I began to run in the direction of the police station. My hands fumbled for the walkie-talkie as I ran. ‘Ameena. Billy. You there?’

  Nothing. Then a crackle. Then, ‘Finally,’ Ameena said. ‘Where are you?’

  ‘Heading your way!’

  Static hissed at me for a moment, before Ameena’s voice broke in again. ‘You can’t come here. Turn back. You hear me?’

  I heard Billy’s scream in stereo – over the radio and from just around the corner. Ameena swore, then there was a clatter, and then there was nothing but the soft crackle of static.

  ‘Ameena?’ I said, jabbing the speak button. ‘Ameena? Answer me.’

  KA-RAAASH!

  The bedroom window and part of the wall behind me erupted. A snarling, screeching monstrosity landed on all fours in the garden, making the ground tremble beneath my feet.

  I hurled myself on, tripping and t
umbling through the snowdrifts. I had to get to the police station. Had to get away from the monster that had been Rosie. Had to make sure Ameena was...

  Was...

  The police station was half-buried beneath an onslaught of screechers. They were there in their hundreds, battering against the walls, throwing themselves through what remained of the glass doors.

  There were even some on the roof. I could see Billy and Ameena swinging at them, knocking them back, but there were more climbing up on all sides, and others still behind them.

  Some of the screechers were bent double, howling and screaming, the bones erupting through their flesh as they changed – evolved – into Beasts.

  I stopped. There was no point running now. There was nowhere left to run to. Instead I turned around, and got my first proper look at the thing that Rosie had become.

  It looked like the Beast, only a new and improved model. Its head and body were bigger, its limbs longer, the muscles more defined. An exoskeleton of ragged grey bone almost covered it completely. Other bones jutted from its joints like machete blades, each one more lethal-looking than the last.

  The mouth was made up of four sections. They all opened outwards as the creature launched itself at me, revealing four complete rows of saw-like teeth. A shock of electricity zapped through me. It took every ounce of my willpower to push it away. My dad needed me to use my powers so he could unleash the Darkest Corners on the world. This, all this, was just a taster of what would happen if I did. So I wouldn’t. I wouldn’t help him. I wouldn’t give in.

  Even if it meant dying.

  I held up my hands, ducked down, screwed shut my eyes. The monster roared as it descended on me, closing in for the kill. In the darkness behind my eyelids, I heard another sound – another roar, just as wild and as savage as the first.

  Opening my eyes, I saw not one but two monsters, joined together, each one tearing and clawing at the other. They crunched on to the snow in front of me, then bounced over my head. They were still spitting and swiping at one another as they rolled and spun down the hill towards the police station.

  The sound of the Beasts scattered the screechers. They fell and leapt and clambered over one another in their hurry to escape the approaching monsters. Not that the monsters had noticed them. They were too busy fighting, too locked in battle to notice anything else going on around them.

  Up on the rooftop, Ameena kicked the last of the screechers off, then snatched up her walkie-talkie. ‘What the hell’s going on?’ her voice hissed at me. ‘Why’s there two of them?’

  ‘One of them’s Rosie,’ I explained. ‘The bigger one.’

  ‘I knew there was something dodgy about that girl! No one cries that much.’ Ameena almost sounded pleased. ‘Not so pretty now, is she?’

  ‘The mucus is a bit off-putting, yeah,’ I said.

  ‘How come they’re fighting?’

  I hesitated, my finger held over the talk button. Eventually, I pressed it. ‘The Beast... saved me.’

  A static buzz, then: ‘Why?’

  I considered just coming out with it, but decided I should build up to it gently first. ‘I thought the Beast was the one biting people and turning them into screechers, but it isn’t. It’s Rosie. She’s the monster. She bit someone and turned them into that thing. The Beast, it was just Rosie’s first victim.’

  I hesitated again. I didn’t want to believe what I was about to say, but what choice did I have? It was the only answer that made sense. ‘Or rather, she was the first victim.’

  The monsters rolled apart and turned to face one another. The Beast – the first one – stood with its back to me, blocking me from “Rosie’s” view. It was crouching low, its limbs tensed, ready to leap into battle.

  ‘I thought whatever had attacked the policewoman had taken Nan prisoner, but... these things don’t take prisoners. You either outrun them or you die, and Joseph told me Nan wasn’t dead.’

  The walkie-talkie gave a crackle. ‘You’re not saying what I think you’re saying?’

  I looked across to the monster that had just saved my life. ‘I... I think I am,’ I said, nodding slowly. ‘The Beast didn’t take my nan. The Beast is my nan.’

  he Rosie-monster let out a bellowing cry, drowning out most of Ameena’s response.

  ‘...what you saying? Your nan’s brain’s in that thing?’ was all I caught.

  I watched the Beast snap and snarl, trying to scare its opponent into running away. ‘I don’t think so,’ I replied. ‘The screechers, they’ve all lost their minds, and I think so has Nan. Mostly. But there must be a part of it in there that recognises me, or something. She’s a monster, but a monster who doesn’t want to see me get hurt.’

  ‘That’s convenient.’ I could suddenly hear Ameena’s voice in both ears. I turned to find her hurrying up behind me, with Billy at her heels.

  The creatures screeched and howled as they resumed their fight. Rosie was bigger and more powerful, but the Beast was fast. It slashed out with a bony spike just as Rosie charged towards it. The blade pierced Rosie’s shoulder and was driven deep in by the monster’s weight.

  ‘Way to go, Kyle’s nan,’ Ameena whistled, but she had spoken too soon.

  There was a loud krik of breaking bone and the Beast let out an agonised howl. Rosie pressed forward, appearing not to notice the spike sticking out of her shoulder. Her fist slammed like a sledgehammer against the Beast’s chin, flipping it on to its back. It shrieked again as its weight snapped the spikes that jutted out from its spine.

  Rosie was on it in a heartbeat, thundering more blows against its head, slashing it with her bony blades. Thick, oily blood began to stain the snow around them, and Rosie threw back her head and howled in triumph.

  ‘She’s killing her,’ I realised. ‘She’s going to kill her!’

  I moved to run forwards, to help, but Billy caught me and held me back. ‘You can’t!’ he told me. ‘You can’t get in the middle of that, you’ll be killed.’

  ‘Get off, Billy,’ I growled. ‘I’m not just leaving her.’

  ‘Of course not,’ Billy said. He gave me a curt nod and let go of my arm. ‘But just... let’s be careful. I’ve got your back.’

  He extended a hand to me. I shook it without hesitation. ‘Thanks, Billy,’ I said.

  ‘Can we save the bromance, please?’ Ameena said. ‘Kyle’s nan. Fighting a monster. Remember?’ She shook her head. ‘God, my life just gets weirder and weirder.’

  ‘Um... OK, here’s the plan,’ I said. ‘Ameena, stick next to me.’

  ‘What about me?’ Billy asked.

  ‘Snowballs,’ I said.

  Billy raised his eyebrows. ‘Snowballs?’

  ‘Hit the big one with it. Pelt it as hard as you can.’

  ‘Why?’

  ‘To get its attention. To annoy it.’ I patted him on the shoulder. ‘I know you can do annoying, Billy.’

  ‘Maybe I should do the snowballs?’ Ameena suggested. ‘I’m a better aim. Billy and I should swap.’

  ‘No!’ I said quickly. ‘Definitely not! Billy, snowballs, Ameena with me.’

  Billy hesitated. ‘But... but what if it comes after me?’

  ‘That’s the entire point,’ I told him, then darted off before he could complain.

  Rosie was still pounding on the Beast. She raised both arms above her head then brought them down hard. The Beast squealed as Rosie’s exoskeleton smashed hard against its face.

  ‘Now, Billy!’ I hissed. I’d pulled Ameena off to one side, out of Rosie’s direct line of sight. Billy wasn’t so lucky. He was standing directly in front of her. All she had to do was raise her head and she’d be looking straight at him.

  Billy, to his credit, did as he was told. Crouching, he hurriedly pressed together half a dozen snowballs and cradled them in the crook of his left arm. With his right he picked up the first one, took aim, and threw.

  The snowball landed silently in the snow beside the writhing bodies of the battling Beasts.

 
; PAF ! The second one found a target, but it was the wrong one. Pinned below Rosie, the Beast gave a growl as the snowball splattered across its head.

  ‘He’s useless,’ Ameena muttered. ‘I’m swapping places.’

  ‘No, you can’t,’ I told her, holding her back. ‘I need you here with me.’

  ‘Why? What for?’

  I felt my lips go dry. ‘Um... you’ll find out.’

  The third snowball exploded against the Rosie-monster’s chest. Billy recoiled in horror, getting ready to run. But she kept pummelling on the Beast, clawing at it, biting at it, and Billy took aim once again.

  PAF ! The snowball struck her right in the centre of her face. Her head snapped up and her black eyes became slits as she locked on to Billy.

  ‘Um... hi,’ he whimpered, and then he dropped the remaining snowballs, turned on his heels, and ran.

  With a kick of her back legs, Rosie set off in pursuit. Billy screamed as he ran. He dodged between cars, only for them to be flattened beneath Rosie’s immense weight.

  ‘She’s going to kill him,’ Ameena winced. ‘She’s too fast.’

  I hurried over to the Beast. It – she – lay on her back in the blood-slicked snow, barely moving. Barely alive.

  ‘Hold on, Nan,’ I said softly. I rummaged in the snow beside her until I’d found what I was looking for. ‘You’re going to be OK.’

  I ran back over to Ameena, struggling with the weight of the object in my hands. ‘What are you doing with that?’ she asked.

  ‘No time to explain,’ I said. I felt my cheeks prickle red. ‘And, um, whatever happens next, don’t hit me, OK?’

  Her eyes narrowed. ‘No promises.’

  ‘Right,’ I nodded. My hands were shaking and my head felt light at the thought of what I was about to do. ‘Here goes.’ I put a hand to the side of my mouth, took a deep breath, and shouted as loudly as I could. ‘Hey, Rosie!’

  Across the street, Rosie had just begun tearing through a fence Billy was using to hide behind. At the sound of my voice, she stopped. ‘Over here!’ I cried, waving one hand above my head. With the other, I wedged the thing I was holding into the snow between our feet.