Not All Monsters Get Along

I kept my mind off Candice and Ivy by working harder and having mindless chit-chat with customers.

Around four, the bar died. Between five and six, it was just me and my coworkers cleaning up.

We all stayed until the bar closed at 7:30am. But it was only closed for the day, reopening against at 10pm.

When 7:30 came, I gratefully took my jacket and everything else I owned from under the counter.

“G'night guys, see you tomorrow,” I shouted and everyone else wailed a goodbye or a 'have a good day, man'.

I went out the back door like I always did. The sun had rose a while ago and cast everything in an early-morning, orange-gray glow.

I stuffed my hands into my pockets, and started the walk home. It wasn't a long walk, it was actually nice after a night of working. My boss, Stephen, had forged paperwork to land me the job, since I was underage. I drank with the customers, and Stephen treated me like any of his other coworkers. I think the reason behind this was the fact that he had some good relations with the cops in this city, and they overlooked Stephen's underage employees.

I felt the hairs on the back of my neck stand up and as I was about to turn, hands grabbed the back of my neck and of my arms, slamming my chest against the wall as a bag was thrown over my head. I screamed until my arm was jerked up, silencing me into tears. I felt a handcuff crush my wrist, and then the other. I was then jerked around and shoved forward, my feet working when the rest of me didn't.

“Let me go, please. I'll give you whatever you want,” I begged, my shins hitting the edge of something and the sharp, hot pain made me swear. I tripped on the edge, my chin bouncing off the floor of the vehicle. My feet were kicked in and the door slid shut behind me. I was in a van. Handcuffed, with a bag over my head.

I pulled at the restraints and screamed in frustration. I kicked at the door and shouted for someone to hear me.

The van roared to life, muffling my screams, and I rolled as it wrenched into motion. I stayed on my stomach, pulling at the handcuffs and listening for anything to identify the people who drove the van.

After what seemed like hours, we rolled to a stop and two doors opened and slammed. It took a moment, but soon the door to my left slid open and I was dragged out. I got my feet under me and as soon as I was stable, we were moving again.

There were two people, and they moved like one person.

Another door was open and something else was moved. The gravel changed to cement, and then the ground disappeared from under me all together. I landed on my side, hissing in pain. One of them landed next to me, and dragged me across hard packed earth. With a tug on my shirt, I knew it was time to regain my footing. I struggled with getting my feet under me, but once I did, things happened fast.

My hands were released only to be restrained with thicker, reenforced shackles, the hood was thrown off and a light was shown in my face.

No one spoke. They moved around me, never getting in view. The chains above me moved and shifted, pulling my feet off the ground and tugging on my shoulders to the point of agony.

They hissed at each other beyond the light, and then one of them left. The light was turned off and I shut my eyes, not being able to adjust.

“You'd never believe that your own family would do this to you, would you?” My eyes snapped open to see Kennedy grinning at me. I knew she was twisted, but this? This was too much.

“W-what are you doing?” My voice broke and she sat in a chair positioned right in front of me.

“Your father and I decided this was the best way. Starve you from human contact, human souls, the outside world, until you were delusional. Feed you after a month, and if you hadn't accepted our lifestyle, we'd just let you rot down here.” My head swam.

My father was behind this. My father had teamed up with this psychopath and had locked me down here. He hadn't even shown his face. What a coward.

“And you think that's going to work?” She grinned and practically danced in her seat.

“We're the only ones that know you're here. This room is soundproof. What do you think happens when I get bored? You don't think I'm above torture, do you?” I stared at her and decided she was completely crazy.

“You wouldn't,” I growled and she shrugged. She was taking it like a challenge. She stood up, disappeared into a back room, and came back with her arms behind her back.

She slithered up close and got behind me. My body jerked and I tensed as hot pain ran up my spine and exploded in my head. It took a moment, but the scream that left my lips was fill of agony. Whatever it was that Kennedy had, she was trailing it along my back, across my ribs, and finally shoving it against my stomach. My vision went black and then refocused on her face as she stared up at me. I grit my teeth as she waved a simple piece of metal in front of my face. She had gloves on.

“This is pure gallium. To humans, it's just a normal metal, not very strong at all. To us, it reacts with our souls, and burns our flesh. However, it leaves no mark,” she explained and pressed it to her own forearm. She hissed, but there was no physical indication that it was painful.

She put it down on the chair and turned back to me. She revealed a small sliver of the shining metal and slid it into the fatty region of my thigh. The air left my lungs and I tried to regain sanity. It was as if molten lava was being poured over my leg and burning away the flesh surrounding the area.

She said something and then left.

I was alone.

With this pain. With my thoughts. With the darkness.

I was alone and this was just the first day.