Chapter Text
Life had always been easy in the little city. Everyone knew everyone – not everyone was friends, but they knew each other nonetheless. And so, basking in the simple familiarity of her home, the girl lounged. She watched as cars passed by the yard, spewing out exhaust as they went along.
Home was nice.
With the gentle breeze brushing against her cheeks, the girl let out a hum, leaning back on her hands. The grass beneath her tickled her thighs in a way that it always had, gentle and soothing. She was rather content to spend her hours out here, sitting in her grandmother’s front lawn, but alas, a hunger just as familiar as the city began to gnaw at her insides.
Grunting, the girl lifted herself from the grass with little effort. Almost as an afterthought, she reached down to brush the dirt from her jeans. She couldn’t just tromp into the house all full of dirt, especially with her dear aunt in town, now could she?
As she went to turn away and towards the house, a blur of black caught her attention. It swarmed at the very edge of her vision, tall and imposing; unrecognizable. A frown tugging at the corners of her lips, her head turned, eyebrows furrowed in quiet contemplation. Faintly the girl could hear her mother call for her from inside the house – “Skyla!” – but it went in one ear and out the other.
What she saw startled her. Taking a step back, both to distance herself from the creature and to regain her composure, Skyla barely suppressed a gasp. The creature was a monster in all meanings of the word. Its skin, black and oily, dripped to the ground, hissing as it made contact with the grass. Skyla could make out two small white orbs; probably the monster’s eyes, if it could even see. It stood on legs that were impossibly long, and its arms nearly swept over the ground.
Since she did not recognize it, as she did with other odd creatures that tended to approach her, Skyla began to back up. The vibe she was getting from this stranger was not a good one. Just as she took her third step backwards, it spoke.
“Come with me, child,” it whispered in a voice raspy and scratching. Slowly it extended an arm towards her, parts of its skin – was it even skin? – splattering every which way. Again it whispered, “Come.”
“No, thanks,” Skyla stammered, trying to find her voice. Noticing that she was fearful, the creature slunk forward, reaching its other arm out towards her.
“Come.” This time, its voice was more urgent, more agitated. Its eyes widened, no longer tiny beads of white perched on its face. Angry with the girl’s nonexistent sense of compliance, a line of holes opened beneath its eyes; a gaping, white mouth. Voice louder, now near a screech, it approached Skyla. “COME.”
Skyla decided that the current moment was the one in which she was to retreat. Doubling back, she sprinted towards her grandmother’s brick house. Throwing all caution to the wind, she screamed her mother’s name.
In a frenzy, her mother flew from the side door. Eyes blown with terror, she took her daughter into her arms, who was just as scared as she was – but in a much different way.
“With the way you were screaming, I thought someone was killing you,” her mother gasped, finally releasing Skyla from her grip. “What was that all about, Sky?” Wordlessly, Sky pointed to the space behind her, the spot where she had seen the monster. Her mother, perplexed, gave her a look of confusion.
“It was there, right there –” Skyla whipped around to point at the creature again. Instead, all she found was empty space; the sprawling grass, the tree that stretched upwards, the white fence where two pigeons now perched. Mouth gaping, she tried to form some sort of answer or explanation for her sudden scream, but none came.
Reassuring her daughter that nothing had been there, and that she was merely seeing things, Skyla’s mother ushered her inside for a drink of water. “Dehydration can do funny things,” she claimed, sitting Sky down and handing her a water bottle.
For a while, nothing all that grand happened. Skyla pulled her legs beneath her and watched as her mother cooked dinner, the clinking of pots and pans serving as background noise. Occasionally her mother would call for her, requesting a spoon to stir the soup with or for her to taste the pasta that continued to boil.
As if by chance, Skyla stood from her chair and wandered over to the kitchen window. Bored, she looked out into the yard – and that’s when she saw it again.
There stood the black, dripping monster, head tilted to look up at the girl framed in the window. Its gaping mouth opened and closed, but its words were lost to the wind. Though it saw its prize and dearly wanted it, the creature didn’t move an inch, plastered to the spot in which it stood. Oozing shadows and blackness, it soon vanished before her very eyes.
Blinking, Skyla stepped away from the window. Perplexed and confused and scared for her life, she went to sit back down. However, her mother had other plans for her.
“Sky,” her mother said, waving her ladle in her daughter’s direction. “Can you bring out that recycling for me? The bin’s out in the garage.”
“Outside?” Skyla found herself gulping in nervousness. “Can’t you just do it later?”
Her mother gave her own of her famous ‘you never do anything for me’ looks. “It’ll only take you a second, Sky.”
Hands shaking ever so slightly, Skyla wandered towards where the recyclables sat. Gathering them in her arms – still shaking in fear of what may meet her outside – she finally began to make her way towards the door. Behind her, her mother gave a hum of approval.
Thankfully, Skyla wasn’t immediately met with the monster. Moving as quickly as she could, she scurried in the direction of the garage, fumbling for the doorknob. Darkness greeted her. Sky swore under her breath, but she didn’t switch the lights on; she didn’t want to know what could be lurking. She knew her way towards the recycling bin, anyways.
As soon as she reached the bin and had dumped the garbage in with a series of loud clangs. Breathing out a sigh of relief, the girl turned back towards the door, where the light awaited her. Taking a step forward, she began to book it back towards the house. “Mom and Nonna are waiting for me, after all,” she spoke aloud, as if to quell the raw fear that clawed at her insides.
Arms wrapped around her waist. Startling, Skyla stumbled, a scream dying in her throat. Glowing in the dim were two white dots. The arms, slimy and wet, tightened around her, holding her in an embrace devoid of any warmth. Pleased with itself, the monster released a low growl.
“You come, now,” it hissed, pulling Sky closer, oblivious to her struggling. A wicked grin spread across its face. “COME.”