Not All Monsters Get Along

The sunrise was bright and colorful. Not that I could tell which color was which, since I was color blind.

I quickly packed a backpack of water and snacks, plus my mom's camera, which had been set to black and white permanently.

Everyone thought I was retarded, so I was in special classes. People assumed too much.

I scrawled a quick note to Sarah, making it look somewhat like my mom's writing, telling her that she had called off work to spend the day with me and apologizing for not calling Sarah, but figured she'd still be asleep.

I hurried out, the clock telling me it was just after six in the morning.

I walked all the way to the city, and took photographs of the people hurrying to start their day. I ignored the strange looks I got. A kid walking around the city was a strange sight, but that didn't stop me. I smiled at the people who looked at me, and even smiled at the people who didn't.

“Don't you know it's dangerous for a kid to be out on his own?” The voice startled me and I turned to it's owned. An older man with a beard and long hair smiled at me from a table set outside, his morning coffee steaming in the chilly air.

I shrugged at his statement, his face sending a thrill of fear through me.

“Don't you know it's rude not to answer someone?” He smiled and I shrugged again. He was a stranger, his opinion didn't matter to me. “What, can't you talk?”

I lifted one shoulder, then the other. I looked down at my camera, and turned it on. I looked back at up at him and he was still smiling.

“Go ahead,” he said and sipped his coffee. I took his picture, and another, when he looked back at me.

I know him from somewhere, I thought, studying his face. A memory tugged on the corner of my mind, but I couldn't bring it up.

“Do I know you from somewhere?” His question was simple, but it brought on the memory at full force.

The man screamed and I jumped, not expecting the sound. I peeked around the corner of the building, and several people cornered a simple man. The man's face was contorted in fear, and each of the predators took turns in breathing in a blue smoke from the man's mouth. When they each had a bit, the man swayed, then a knife flashed and his arm was on the ground. The man didn't feel anything. He seemed to not see or feel anything. His limbs were hacked off one by one. Each limb was taken by a member of the pack, and the sounds of messy eating entered the air. They were eating the man, now nothing more than a torso and a head, the eyes still opened and staring, unseeing, at the stars above. A scream came from my mouth and the leader looked up, catching my eyes before I turned and ran back to my mom.

I blinked and took a step back from him.

He smiled a lazy smile and set his mug down. He stood up, put a ten dollar bill on the table, and stalked toward me. I could only describe his movements as animalistic. “You're that kid that saw us, aren't you?”

I turned and ran, ducking around people, my heart thumping in my chest.

”You're not like other children, Tyler. You're special,” my mom whispered, rocking me back and forth. I blinked back tears. I looked back but he was no where to be seen. I settled down once I had reached the park and I sat down shakily. I pulled out a bottle of water and drained half the bottle before I noticed someone had sat next to me.

“That's why you don't talk, huh?” The man put his arm on the back of the bench and gripped the hood of my jacket. I stared forward, his bloody smile racing behind my eyes. “I'm not going to hurt you, kid.”

I put my water away and pulled away from him, shaking his hand off my hood. I stared at him, and he stared back. I looked down at the camera, and flipped through the pictures. I came to the picture of a fairytale monster and showed it to him. He barked a laugh.

“I'm not the worst monster out there, boy.”

I wish I had stayed home.

I stood up and the man followed my every move with one of his own.

“G-get,” I croaked, swallowing, my vocal cords protesting. He waiting as I tried to get the rest of my sentence out. “Away ffffffffffrom me,” I managed, my voice hoarse. He smirked.

“Keep your mouth shut about what you saw, boy. We have no business with children,” he warned and walked away, whistling with his hands in his pockets.

I hurried home. I locked the door behind me once I had crossed into the threshold and my eyes flicked to the clock on our microwave. I had been gone only two hours, but I left the note for Sarah and went to my room. I didn't want her here today. I could take care of myself.