Home for Horny Monsters Book TwoChapter 3 Planting the Seeds
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Kisa sat on the roof of the house, her eyes locked on the wrought iron gate at the back of the property line. It had been over a week since Mike had gone through it and returned with the devil dog in tow. Despite his reassurance that Cerberus was no longer a danger to them, all she could picture in her mind was being chased through the misty woods by a fire breathing beast.
Memories of her trip into the Underworld from so long ago had rushed in on her like ice water. She had fled from the sight of the creature to hide somewhere deep in the house. It wasn’t until Tink tracked her down later that she was able to calm down and return to the rest of the house. She hardly ever went into the backyard anymore, afraid that Cerberus might come through the gates and pounce on her.
Her deep-seated fear of the devil dog was instinctual, and it was yet another cat-related problem which bothered her. Death had been very impressed by Mike’s journey into the Underworld, but very disappointed when he learned that nobody had thought to map the place while they were there.
“Aha, I have it!” Death sat next to her on the roof, his robes pulled up to reveal bony legs as he frantically scribbled in his notebook. He flipped it over to reveal that he had, in fact, written the word CAT in blue crayon. He had also drawn a highly unflattering picture of her beneath it.
She scowled and took the picture from him. “You spelled it right, but did you have to draw giant tits on me with nipples? They’re bigger than my head.”
“Hmm?” He took the drawing back and examined. “Ah, I see. In my haste to identify your gender as a woman, I neglected to account for scale. I should draw your breasts much smaller next time, or maybe not at all.”
“Don’t draw my tits at all,” she yelled, then snatched the drawing out of his bony hands. Death regarded her patiently for over a minute before she groaned and handed him the paper back. “I’m sorry I yelled at you. I’m just ... grumpy is all.”
“I’ll bet,” said a voice from behind her, and she jumped to her feet and spun around to see Mike standing there. He wore a button-down shirt with a pair of slacks. Without any difficulty, he walked down the sloped roof toward them. “May I?”
“Yes, Mike Radley.” Death handed over the paper and waited while Mike scrutinized it.
“You did a very good job,” Mike told him. “Did the thicker crayons help?”
“They did indeed, Mike Radley. However...” Death held up his fingers to reveal blue smudges of wax all across them. “There seems to be a tradeoff for their convenience.”
“I would assume fine motor control can be learned, but you don’t have any muscles, so I’m not sure where that leaves us. Still, this shows a lot of improvement, and I think this one should go on the fridge.” He handed it back.
“You honor me with your words, Mike Radley.” Death took the drawing and clutched it tightly against his chest. “I shall put it up at once so that all may be proud of my achievements.”
“Sounds goo—no, not that way!” Mike stuck out his hand as Death hopped off the side of the roof and plummeted to the ground. “Tink, dodge!”
There was a loud thud, followed by the sound of Tink shrieking in anger. Death had plummeted into the work table she had set up beneath them and caught the edge of it, launching her tools across the yard, some of which landed in Naia’s fountain.
Shrieking, Tink held up her hammer like she was going to throw it. Death shouted his apologies, which nobody else could hear, before letting himself into the house. Tink threw her hammer in the bushes, causing a pair of rats to burst free and run for safety in the garage.
“Geez,” Kisa muttered, looking over the edge. “He’s like a child. You know that, right?”
“We were all children, once. It’s only a matter of time before something comes along to burn away that innocence.” He rubbed his side with one hand, right by his hip. “I wanted you to know that I’ve noticed how much time you spend with him. Thank you.”
“Please. He follows me around is all.” She walked along the edge of the roof, her back to Mike. He had barely said anything to her since his return from the Underworld. The few times she had seen him for longer than a few seconds, he had been busy either researching something or spending time with one of the others.
Time fucking them, that was. It had been a shock the first few times she had walked in on Mike with one of the other girls, but now she had seen him have sex with almost everybody in the house. She had been dumb enough to ask Death about it, which had turned into an hours-long explanation regarding his take on human relationships. However, she had learned from Abella that Mike and Naia shared some sort of spiritual bond that made the others so attracted to him.
Whatever magic he possessed didn’t seem to have any effect on her, thank god. She felt embarrassed by how eager the others were to please him, treating him like a celebrity rock god, or something. They seemed to fall over each other trying to make him happy, and if he wasn’t so damned nice to everybody, she probably would have left out of disgust.
Still, when he had appeared on the roof, she couldn’t help but notice that his hair was perfectly styled, and the wind on the roof ruffled his shirt in a manner that highlighted the muscles in his chest. Even mother nature was falling over herself to make him look good, and she snorted at the idea.
“It really is appreciated,” he said. “I’ll admit, I get stuff done much faster without having to explain myself to him, so you’ve been a big help to me. But that’s not why I’m up here.”
“Oh?” She smirked and turned around, but was surprised to see that he had removed his shoes to walk along the edge right behind her. “Aren’t you afraid you’ll fall?”
“Used to be. Heights don’t bother me anymore.”
She narrowed her eyes at him. “How did you get up here, anyway?”
“Climbed up,” he answered. “Abella told me you were here and offered me a lift, but she has a habit of demanding certain favors from me afterward.”
Kisa snorted again, then looked away. Indeed.
“Anyway, the real reason I came up here was because of Zel’s ceremony tomorrow. She’s becoming the official chieftain of the whole herd, and she invited some of us to come and take part.”
She had no interest in the centaurs other than to watch them out in the front yard as they worked. If nothing else, they had been entertaining to observe. “Why do you think they want me there?” she asked, then scampered up the roof to hop onto one of the turrets.
“They didn’t request you specifically.” Mike stood just below the turret now. “I was just wondering if you wanted to go with me. There’s supposed to be dancing and music, and I thought you might enjoy getting out of the house for a bit.”
She stopped on the edge of the turret, then turned around. “What kind of music?”
“I have no idea,” he told her, then turned to look over the yard. “It’s really pretty up here.”
She scowled, ready to tell him that the roof was hers. Abella usually kept to herself, which meant that other than Death, it was one of the only places she could be alone. However, she bit her tongue.
“Anyway, if you wanted to come, I wanted you to have a heads up so you can pick out a dress or something. Tink is making a dress for herself and offered to make you one, too.”
“Tink ... is going?” The idea of Tink going too brought up a weird feeling in her chest. Though some of her memories had returned, they were sporadic and rarely made sense. Her love-hate relationship with the goblin was something she struggled to understand, and this was one of those times. It shouldn’t matter to her that Tink was going, but for some reason, it did.
“She is, but mainly because I told her she needs a break. She’s had to rewire the entire house and upgrade the circuit box, which hasn’t been done since it was first installed sometime last century. She’s trying to put more safeguards in as a result of Quetzalli’s mishaps so that she doesn’t have to keep working on it. Apparently the wires have melted in some places, and if the house wasn’t magic, she’s fairly certain a fire would have been started. I think we could all use some downtime. Oh, right. Speaking of wires...”
He pulled something out of his pocket and held it out to her. She took it from him and saw that it was an electronic device with a touch screen and a pair of earplugs.
“It’s the latest iPod,” he explained. “It’s kind of like a phone, but it’s for playing music. I went ahead and loaded a bunch of stuff on there and started a Spotify account for you, which is a way to listen to new stuff. The record player is fun and all, but you can use the wireless earbuds to listen to your music wherever.”
He gave her a brief rundown of how everything worked, and she tried her best to follow. She had been asleep for so long that the latest technology was like magic to her, but the touch interface seemed simple, and she was able to get the earbuds to fit in her ears with a little bit of help. She was pleased to hear the stream of tunes when she hit play, but then paused the music.
“What’s the catch?” she asked him, suddenly suspicious.
“There isn’t one. I know you like to dance is all, and the wireless buds will make it easier for you to dance wherever you want. Oh, but be careful not to lose them. I had trouble getting those ones. Apparently, there’s a bit of a shortage.”
She looked at the iPod and then back at him. “No, really. There has to be a catch. You want something, don’t you? Give me a gift, make a small request, make me feel like I owe you something.”
He shook his head. “Nope. As Caretaker, I’m supposed to make sure everyone is happy and healthy, or at least that’s my take on it. I don’t even know you that well, but I have noticed that you love music and like to be on your own. This way, you can do both. Anyway, I need to get downstairs. I promised Jenny a game of checkers.” He walked away from her and toward a corner of the roof where he was able to drop down a level before climbing onto a drain pipe and going the rest of the way down.
Kisa snorted, then pulled one of the buds out of her ear to look at it. It looked like something from space, but the sound quality seemed pretty nice.
“There’s always a catch,” she muttered.
“You’d think so,” said a feminine voice from behind her. Kisa startled and dropped the earbud, only for a black scorpion’s tail to whip around her and snag it with a pair of pincers on the end.
“Is everybody trying to scare me off this fucking roof?” She turned around to see Lily the succubus there. “Seriously, none of you make any fucking noise moving around up here! And why are you even up here anyway?”
Lily contemplated Kisa and then took the earbud off of her tail. “Actually, I’ve been up here quite a bit. You don’t even know I’m here most days, because I make myself small and hide on the other side of that.” She pointed to the top of the turret. “I don’t like it in the house because it’s just so full of people all the damned time and I just want to kick back and look at the clouds.”
“Maybe you should go back to your corner of the roof, then, and leave me alone.”
“Now, now, Catnip, you keep talking to me like that and I’ll show you just how many lives you have left.” She handed over the earbud. “I overheard what you said about him and decided to do my good deed for the month.”
“And what? Tell me he’s actually a good guy or something?”
Lily sighed. “Ugh, never mind. If you want to waste the next few months of your life wallowing, be my fucking guest. I’ll do my good deed somewhere else.” She started to walk away and then spun around. “And you know what? Demons can’t lie. So whatever I had to tell you was going to be fucking golden.”
Her wings popped open and she launched herself into the sky, spiraling upward until she was little more than a speck.
Kisa frowned, then looked at the earbud in her hand. The succubus was one of the few people here she didn’t already have a missing history with, and it occurred to her that her own response had been less than kind.
Had she always been this way? So angry and eager to push others away?
“Kisa.” When the old man spoke, she immediately shook her head and put in the earbud, eager to drown out whatever memory was surfacing. With the touch of her finger, she started a hip hop playlist that made her tail flick back and forth to the beat. Looking down at the iPod, she contemplated Mike and his words as a song she had never heard before saturated her thoughts.
He seemed too good to be true, but was he? If not for the sex stuff, she would probably be less distrustful, but she hated the idea of just ending up as another notch on his bedpost.
She felt a stirring in her stomach, thinking about how he had looked standing on the edge of the roof. Would it really be that bad if she did?
A shadow passed overhead, and she looked up in time to see Abella land on one of the reinforced beams of the roof, the metal groaning under her weight.
“Fuck it,” she muttered, then moved toward the same spot where Mike had descended. Her rooftop refuge was no longer quiet, and she decided that her room would be a better place to stay.
Once on the ground, she walked past Tink, who was running the wire along the side of the house. She stopped for a moment to watch, then continued inside to find somewhere quiet.
The house itself was crowded with rats who were repairing holes in the plaster. It looked like the house would be back to normal again in a few days at the current rate, and she found herself distracted more than once by the swishing tail of one of the rats. She had discovered not too long ago that she not only had a prey drive, but the sight of a dangling string awakened weird feelings in her that she avoided indulging in.
The last thing she wanted was shit from Tink about playing with a string.
Once in her room, she saw that a note had been put on her brand new bed. Her room actually had furniture now, which was a welcome change from when she had first arrived. She picked up the paper and turned it over.
Green dress in armoire, Tink adjust tomorrow, it said in curly letters.
Crumpling up the note, Kisa moved over to the small armoire that they had put in her room and then opened it. Hanging from the rod was an emerald green dress that felt like silk. Tempted to shred it, she pulled it down and held it against her body and then walked over to look at herself in the mirror.
It had been cut to account for her tail, and the skirt was flared at the bottom. Kisa twisted her hips in time to the music from her earbuds and noticed that the fabric shimmered with her movements. The sides of the dress had high seams, which would allow for maximum mobility.
It not only looked like it would fit her, but it looked like it had been designed for dancing. As the beat in her ears continued, she just had to know how it would look while it was on.
“God damn, tiny-titted booger,” she muttered, then slid out of her clothes to try the dress on.
Mike picked up the sports coat on his bed and put it on. He had ordered it online and Tink had made some alterations to it, and it now fit perfectly. He stopped in the bathroom to admire how it looked in the mirror, only to see Naia staring at him with a hungry look in her eyes.
“Looks good from back here,” she told him. “Wish I could go with you.”
“Me. too,” he told her, then turned around to give her a peck on the lips. “Don’t think we could fit the centaur tribe around your fountain.”
She pouted, then gave him a wink. “You owe me a hot soak in the near future.”
“Yeah, I do.” He touched her cheek and she turned into water and vanished down the drain. On his way out of the bathroom, he stopped when he saw Lily sitting on the edge of the bed. She was in an elegant black gown with red trim and had on black lace gloves. Around her neck was the pendant he had given her, an antique stone in a silver setting.
“You look delicious,” she said, then stood to join him. “And I am so ready for a night on the town.”
“Yeah, it’s kind of weird. With everything going on with faerie queen plans, Zel’s ceremony kind of snuck up on me.” He held still while she adjusted his collar. “Will be fun to blow off some steam before going back to the Underworld.”
Lily scowled. “Still planning to swim upstream in the Underworld, are you?” She was referring to a plan that Beth had concocted. During Samhain, the veil between worlds would become thin, allowing the fae and other spirits to cross over. Mike’s plan was to see where they were coming from and track their origin until he made it back to the queen’s court, a plan made much easier now by the fact that he could now ride Cerberus through the Underworld.
“I don’t have a better idea. According to Sulyvahn, the flow of time between the two places synchronizes, so we don’t have to worry about me getting stuck there for thirty years by accident.” He picked up a pair of ties from the bed. “What do you think?” he asked, holding each one up to his neck.
Lily took the ties from him and threw them on the floor. “You look stupid in a tie,” she declared, then undid the top button of his shirt to open his collar up. “When someone tells you to dress nice, it doesn’t mean you have to look like an asshole.”
“I...” He didn’t know how to respond, so took her advice and threw the ties back on the bed. “You’re here super early. I’m not headed to see the Moon Tribe for a few hours yet.”
“Oh, I know. I wanted to come with you when you head to the other house. Maybe meet my new little sister, see if she likes to play dress up.”
Mike laughed, then picked up the backpack sitting by his bedroom door. It was heavy, packed to the brim with paperback books. He had been tempted to buy Amymone an e-reader but had no way for her to keep it charged. “I would love the company. Come on, let’s go.”
He led her downstairs and then out back to the gate. Naia waved to them as they passed, and he unlocked the padlock before swinging the gate open. The mists of the Underworld curled around his limbs like snakes, but the effect no longer bothered him. Once inside the Underworld, he cupped his hands to his mouth.
“Cerberus!” His voice vanished into the woods, and he turned to look at Lily. “I thought it was bad news for you to be in here? Something about demons coming to check on you?”
She shook her head. “I won’t be in here long, and even if they show, they will see Cerberus and leave. Demons don’t fuck with hellhounds, it’s a bit of an unspoken rule.”
“There’s my fun fact for the day.” He turned his attention to the mist just as a large shadow formed and then leapt toward him. Cerberus landed with a loud thump, then sniffed his face before transforming into a woman. Their leather outfit looked slightly more refined now, and each head had black bows in their hair.
“I’ll be fucked,” Lily muttered. “You really did it. You domesticated one of the fiercest predators in existence.”
He nodded. “This shouldn’t be a surprise to you, I know you’ve been reading my memories.” Lily had been back in the Dreamscape with him most of the week, trying to help him refine his techniques. The Shadow had been mysteriously absent, so the succubus had been putting Mike through the paces.
“Seeing it in real life is different,” she told him, then stuck her hand toward Cerberus. The head nearest to her swiveled to sniff her hand, and then the beast had formed once more, a trio of growls rumbling from her chest.
“Easy, Cerberus. Lily is a friend.” He patted the fur of Cerberus’ chest, and the rumbling dwindled. “That’s a good girl.”
“Why do you talk to her like she’s a dog?” Lily asked.
“Well ... isn’t she?” He frowned at the question, then looked at Cerberus. “I figured the enchantment that bound her to me made her more human, but that was it.”
Lily shook her head. “Cerberus are actually very smart. Whatever changed because of the magic really only gave her the ability to transform.”
“Cerberus, is this true?” he asked. The hellhound transformed back into a woman and sneered at Lily.
“Master speaks to Cerberus how master wants,” they said, each head speaking only a word at a time. “Cerberus is a good girl for master.”
Stunned, Lily shook her head. “Well fuck me in the ass, she’s got it bad for you. I shouldn’t be surprised.”
“Shit, now I feel bad. I’m—” he was about to speak when Lily clamped a hand over his mouth.
“Romeo, I’m not certain how powerful the enchantment is that bound her to you, but if she is deferring to you as an alpha male, I want to remind you that she is still a fire-breathing demon who relies heavily on instinct. If she were to feel that her own status has shifted, it could be problematic. She’s your bitch, you’re not hers.” She released her grip on him when Cerberus growled at her. “Just a thought.”
“It’s okay, Cerberus,” he said, then looked at Lily. “Thanks for the reminder. Cerberus, take us to the other house.”
The scowl on Cerberus’ faces disappeared, and they all nodded eagerly before becoming the beast once more. Mike climbed onto their back and pulled Lily up behind him once she changed her clothes into a red tank top and jeans. Once settled, he grabbed a handful of fur and held on tight while Cerberus broke into a loping trot.
The ride was different every time. The other day, it had only been five minutes long, but it usually averaged half an hour. Lily was leaning back with her hands behind her, and her tail was curled lovingly around his thigh.
“So what have you been up to during the day?” he asked. “I heard Quetzalli mention you at breakfast.”
She laughed, a sound that echoed back to him from the trees. “The zombie and the dragon have become quite the odd couple, if I say so myself. Caught them experimenting in Dana’s bedroom last night. It was quite a sight.”
“Experimenting?” He knew he had heard her right, but suspected she was hiding something. “Experimenting how?”
“The dragon was completely naked, for starters.”
His cock twitched in response, but Lily’s tone was teasing. “She was naked? What were they doing?” When Lily didn’t answer, he looked over his shoulder and saw her biting her lip, clearly trying to buy some time to think of a clever (yet truthful) response.
“Oh, fine. You’re no fun. Dana was trying to teach Quetzalli how to control her electrical charges. She can summon a charge, but can’t control it once it’s there on account of her busted horn, and Dana is tired of having her toys get blown up by the field.” Lily rolled her eyes dramatically. “She also was trying to teach Quetzalli how to make a shifting electromagnetic field via alternating currents. Something about being able to test the shielding inside the drones in the backyard without losing them in the greenhouse. It was nerd stuff. You would love it.”
“Maybe. I struggled with learning about electricity in school, and I’m not much better now, even though ... well, you know.”
“Do I ever.” She grinned and stroked his thigh with her tail. “Been a while since I’ve ridden the lightning myself.”
He grunted and turned back around to face forward, refusing to take the bait. He had spent countless hours recently with Lily in the Dreamscape, and she absolutely loved tormenting him sexually while they were in there, peeking into his mind to read his thoughts. Out here, she didn’t have that luxury, so he figured turnabout was fair play.
“So ... why was she naked?” he asked.
“Something about the static build-up,” she answered. “You would have loved it. The dragon has quite the rocking body.”
Inwardly, he nodded. Quetzalli had a very curvy figure, but their relationship right now was primarily storm facts and keeping her fingers out of the outlets.
Out in the mist, dark shapes shifted about, but Cerberus ignored them. Mike saw the hint of faces appear in the darkness, and frowned. “Are these lost spirits?” he asked.
“Some. It’s possible to become stuck here and wander forever, but you could also be seeing hints of another plane. Think of them all like giant, four-dimensional spheres rotating through this world, and realize that you can see glimpses of them. They could also be spirits like the ones trapped at the other house, and if we knew how to pass into their world, we could go talk to them.”
“Like the ones that live by the shadow’s castle?”
“Exactly. That fucker has pulled them all inside his castle walls, so I can’t even chat them up anymore. Not that it ever did me much good. I’m fairly certain he’s up to something, but no idea what.”
Mike smirked. “Burning down my world, most likely. Last I spoke with him, he said he had found somebody else to take his bargain. As far as I know, nobody in the house has spoken with him, so it must be someone on the outside. Do you think it could be Amir?”
“No. That shit head doesn’t have a soul, so no bargain. Still, could be one of his cronies from the society, maybe someone who survived.”
“Like Elizabeth? We know she survived.” The witch had confronted him after the society had been gobbled up by a dimensional rupture. Other than her, he had no idea who could have survived, though Lily insisted that Amir must still be around.
“Maybe. To be honest, I don’t see someone like her parting with a piece of her soul. She knows what a bad idea that is, and it would take a serious bargain to convince her. I don’t know that there’s anything she would want so badly as to risk ending up as Emily did.”
“Speaking of,” he muttered, the house coming into view. Cerberus stopped at the gates and dropped them off, then gave Mike three quick licks before bounding into the misty woods once more. He gave a little wave and watched until their shadow disappeared.
“So I wasn’t going to say anything, but when they’re human, they look kind of like you.” Lily was leaning against the base of the fence. “What’s that about?”
“Yuki noticed, too. She thinks the magic tried to make her into a shape I would find appealing, but then got caught up on making too many changes and defaulted to the nearest human form. We’re lucky it didn’t turn me into a dog, or worse, leave them how they were. I wouldn’t have been able to establish dominance and bind her to me.”
Lily chuckled. “Oh, I’m sure you could have made something work.”
“Not without a ladder and the ability to hold my breath.” He walked past her and toward the house. “It worked out the way it did, and that’s good enough for me.”
They entered the home and stopped when they heard Emily wailing upstairs. Mike ignored it and kept going until he was in the backyard. Once outside again, he looked back to see Lily staring up the stairs.
“You okay?” he asked.
“You go ahead,” she told him. “I’m curious about something.”
“She’s not right,” he warned her. He was aware that she already knew this, but it needed to be said. “And be careful. She was barely in control last time I came, and I haven’t been able to get her to tell me anything. It’s like she’s stuck in a loop.”
“Oh, don’t worry about me.” She headed up the stairs with a determined look on her face. “I’ll meet you out back in a few minutes.”
He watched her ascend and then headed out back. Amymone was lying against the fountain, and her face lit up when she saw him. By her side was a stack of books he had brought on his last trip, and he suspected she had already plowed through most of them.
“Hi!” Amymone hopped to her feet and adjusted her dress, then carefully tucked a leaf into the book she had been reading. “Did you bring me more?”
“Yes, I did,” he announced, then set the bag down. Each book he handed her was treated like a treasure, and he allowed her to read the summary on the back before handing her the next one. She was chattering with excitement, and her enthusiasm was only transcended by the occasional wail from up above.
After a particularly loud scream, Amymone paused in her perusal and looked up at the window. “She’s in a mood,” she noted.
“Yeah, Lily went up to see her. She’s a succubus, so I’m not worried that she’ll get hurt.”
The dryad smirked. “Well, maybe not, but I wouldn’t underestimate what’s left of Emily.”
Once the words left her mouth, the bedroom window shattered. Lily tumbled through the air and landed on the ground with a thud. The glass from the window hung suspended in mid-air for a moment before reversing course and reformed, good as new. Once the window was rebuilt, Emily appeared behind it, her eyes filled with darkness.
“Lily, you good?” Mike was already moving toward her when she hopped to her feet with a scowl on her face.
“Yeah. Queen cunt up there wasn’t very happy to see me.” Lily brushed off her pants and then gave Emily the finger. “Tried to have a conversation with her and she went full Carrie on me, but without the blood.”
“Ooh, Carrie, that’s a good one!” Amymone ran to Mike and grabbed his arm. “Is King still alive and writing books? I love a good horror novel.”
“I assume so. I’ll try to get you some next time.” He looked up at the window. “It fixed itself.”
Yuki stood by the back door, her eyes on Naia’s fountain. The nymph was currently absent, resting in her spring. Unstoning the others had taken some time. After reviving Beth, the minotaur had been next, and it had taken almost everyone to calm the beast down. Scowling, he had stormed back into the Labyrinth, disappearing behind its thick, metal doors. Beth had been unable to follow, still weak from her transformation. Sofia had simply collapsed, holding her sides tightly. Naia, after a...
Lily sipped at her cocktail, smiling at the ocean waves that crashed into the shore, scattering sand along its edges. Technicolor crabs that looked like they had been drawn by a toddler scurried in every direction, a remnant of a childhood memory seeking shelter from the crushing surf. While the drink was good, Lily was a little sad that it had no bite to it — it was impossible to get truly drunk from a dream. “Hey!” Lily held up her drink. One of her beach minions ran forward to refill it....
Mike gazed morosely at his cellphone, watching the timer for the sundial eventually hit zero. For good or bad, he wouldn’t be there to reset it. Time was up. Standing on the terrace of the tower, it took a supreme effort to stick his phone back in his pocket rather than throw it off the side. “I take it the dial has reset.” Ratu spoke from the chaise lounge behind him, her legs dangling off the side. She was engrossed in another of Yuki’s journals. She had stayed up most of the night,...
“A dullahan?” Mike frowned. “I’m afraid I don’t know the term.” “I’m yer friendly headless horseman, lad.” The dullahan still held his own head in one hand, and was now swinging it back and forth like a macabre pendulum. “My job is similar to a banshees in that I deal with dead spirits, though I usually cut a more dashing figure on my horse. So I guess I’m technically just headless.” The grin on his face was impossibly wide, his lips stretched nearly to his ears. “I want to speak to the...
Mike opened his eyes. He was lying in his bed with Tink wrapped around his feet. The ceiling up above had somehow become a dome-shaped skylight, allowing him a perfect view of the stars as they swirled about in the night sky of the Dreamscape. Sleep in the Dreamscape was an enigma for him. Despite knowing that he was asleep, he still became tired after a while and allowed himself to crash on his bed. He didn’t actually have dreams while he was here, but instead entered a meditative state...
Daryl stood outside the garage apartment, staring up at the windows above the garage door. It had been no easy matter tracking down the delivery girl. Luckily, she worked several jobs around town, and was well known by name at more than a few establishments. Those who knew her also knew her story. Apparently the love of her life had died in a terrible motorcycle accident. They had scraped what was left of Alex Winters off of the highway, leaving behind grieving parents and a closed casket...
“Did you have a good nap?” The voice was cold, snapping Mike out of his slumber. Tink’s arms clutched him tightly, and he pushed the blankets off of his head, staring at the dark figure in his room. He reached out to touch the lamp, warm light bathing the angry figure in the doorway. She stood with her arms crossed and a messenger bag slung over her shoulder. “Uh ... hi Beth.” Mike slid sideways out of the blankets. “So, uh, I’m sure you have some questions.” Sitting up, Mike tried to keep...
Mike wasn’t sure what he expected to see once inside the tower, but it certainly wasn’t this. What he had thought was the entrance to the tower was in fact an outer wall. A large courtyard full of flowers and creeper vines would have been impressive enough, but the sheer number of butterflies, bees, and even birds had him staring in awe. An entire ecosystem had been formed inside these walls, complete with a small waterfall that flowed out of the cliff itself and fed into an irrigation...
Mike stared at the piece of paper in front of him, then looked up. Jenny stood on the other side of the paper, holding a large pencil in both hands. She was tapping her foot impatiently. He sighed. “How about W?” Jenny drew the last leg on the hanging stick figure, then drew an X over each of his eyes. He heard a distant cackle come from all around the room, and she dropped her pencil. He scrutinized the puzzle before him and then looked at her. Somehow, despite guessing all the vowels,...
The gray skies of the Underworld did little to improve Mike’s mood, and the occasional wail from the house made his stomach sour. Yet he sat quietly as Yuki told Amymone about how she had escaped from her tower. “ ... and after we sent the Society packing, Mike forgave me for trying to kill him.” Her tale done, Yuki put her hands in her lap. “And so I live in the house again. It’s really weird that nobody remembers me, but I’m hoping to try and rebuild those relationships. It’s frustrating,...
Mike held the small sledgehammer in both hands, dubious that he would be able to strike another living being with it, much less a minotaur. Still, it was better than nothing, which made him feel a little bit better. Mike had debated purchasing a gun, but he knew next to nothing about them other than to point the long, skinny end at stuff you wanted to kill. His lack of education aside, Naia had warned him against such a purchase for the sole reason that she had no idea what other creatures...
Mike yawned, covering his mouth, then set his book down on the cart. It was dangerously full, and he knew that Sofia would ream him out if he just kept cramming books onto it. “Can you take this to the platform?” he asked Death. “Yes I can, Mike Radley.” The grim reaper grabbed the cart with bony hands and pushed it down the corridor, the wheels squeaking softly. Mike rubbed his eyes and yawned again, then checked his phone. He had no signal in the Library, but all he wanted was to see the...
Dana was upstairs when she heard the front door explode. Quetzalli emerged from her bedroom with a concerned look on her face, and the two of them rushed to the top of the stairs to look below. There was a flash of light, followed by a scream from Beth. Quetzalli was already heading for the stairs when a man in a hoodie pointed his wand up at her and hissed something under his breath. Dana shoved Quetzalli out of the way in time to catch the brunt of the magic, and the shockwave carried both...
Kali’s fists clenched and unclenched in the back of the town car. Daryl was kneeling on the floor in front of her, contemplating the large patch of skin that had been blasted off the side of her ribs. He gave it a gentle tug, making Kali wince. “You always impress me,” Daryl said, pulling a scalpel from the small kit on the floor. “Anyone else would have passed out from the pain.” “I don’t feel pain.” Her eyes bulged from her head, many of the veins burst from the lightning blast. Daryl...
“Ow, fuck!” Mike winced as Naia inspected the large bruise forming above his hip bone where Abella had squeezed him with her stony thighs. The Mandragora plant had actually injured him less than the gargoyle had, surprisingly enough. Save for some scrapes on his hands (well, and not being eaten), he was fine. “Yeah, that will sting for a while.” Naia placed a kiss on it. “You had me so worried! I’ve never seen the Mandragora do that before. You’re going to need to feed it pretty...
Mike sat with Naia on the edge of the fountain, their arms wrapped around each other. He took in her scent, which was reminiscent of rain and the forest floor. When she finally released him, she had a scowl fixed on her face. “You had better come back alive,” she told him. “Or I will be very cross with you.” “Don’t worry. I’m going to be very careful. If things start to go south before I get there, I’ll come back and try again next year.” Truthfully, he hoped that wasn’t the case. How many...
Beth stepped out of the secret tunnel into the center of the Labyrinth, her shoe catching a rock and sending it skittering across the cold stone. Up above, a large gemstone shone like a tiny star, warming the entire room to a comfortable temperature. Large tables were covered in different magical items in various states of disrepair, and rats moved around in the shadows, carrying what looked like rocks of different sizes. Ratu was leaning over a stack of books, her kimono hanging open and...
The technicolor clouds of the Dreamscape parted as Mike fell through them, and he flipped himself over in an attempt to finally stick the landing on the beach. For a moment, he thought he had it, but at the last second his feet swung out from under him and he slammed into the ground hard enough that the beach crumbled beneath him. He fought to stay above the flowing sand that rushed in to fill the gap, and was busy pinwheeling his arms when a golden ray of light broke through the sky above to...
Beth scowled at the water. She was sitting on the shore of the Labyrinth’s circular river, watching it rush past. Her knees were pulled against her chest beneath a powder blue skirt, and she tossed another rock into the cold water. It disappeared with a small splash, and Asterion lifted his head from his position next to her to see what had happened. “Is everything okay?” he asked. She rolled her eyes, but didn’t look at the minotaur. “Yeah, it’s fine.” In truth, it wasn’t. Ever since her...
“ ... and that brings me to here.” Dana sat on the edge of the fountain, her chin in her hands. She wondered if she should feel more upset, regaling the others with her tale. Tears were beyond her ability. The strange numbness of her body applied even more so to her eyes. She could no longer feel them, and it was taking effort to remember to blink. “So if I don’t deliver Mike or whatever special treasure the house hides, he will leave me like this.” Naia, Cecilia, and Zel looked at each...
His soul floated, hiding just beneath his skin, dreading the moment that his eyes would open, streaming reality in High Definition through his very being. It wasn’t that he was afraid to face the morning, but rather that he was afraid of how much pain he would be in upon awakening. The morning before, his whole being had been in agony. Between fucking Jenny out of Beth and then carrying Beth home, he wondered if his body would decide to be tired or sore instead. How does a body decide how...
Stirring Memories The group was huddled on the floor, staring at the mock map Mike had made of the hallway. He had used his knife to carve wooden blocks from the still flopping dresser, lying the pieces end to end. The smaller ones had already stopped shaking, and the larger ones were weakening. Cecilia hovered overhead, and Carmina stood amongst the blocks. Carmina had gone first, flying along the ceiling and then back again. Cecilia had become invisible, traversing the same distance. The...
Kali stood in the front yard, her dark eyes focused on the Radley house. She could see tell-tale signs of the Geas all around her like a giant, magical bubble that shifted away from her when she tried to pop it. She had been fascinated by the spell ever since she had heard about it, but had been warned away from trying to mess with it. While Emily was alive, any attempt to come near the house had ended in death for Society members after the fiasco with Garrett. After Emily had died, she and...
Yuki sat on the porch swing, staring out at the front yard with a cup of tea in her hands. The debris from the magic storm was strewn across the grounds, making the land look like a small junkyard. Somehow, it served as a perfect metaphor for her life right now, a giant mess with nobody to help clean it up. She took a sip of tea, letting out a sigh as the hot liquid streamed down her throat. The front door opened behind her and Mike walked out, then sat down next to her on the swing. She...
“Actually, there is something.” Mike carefully walked around the furniture in the room, pulling the doll from the mantle of the fireplace. He came back, handing it to her. The docile porcelain features of the doll gazed imploringly into Beth’s eyes, as if it was sad to be leaving. “I don’t care how, just get rid of it.” Beth realized that even she thought the doll was spooky. Staring into its painted eyes, she couldn’t help but laugh. “I’m on it. Have a good night, Mike.” She left him, a...
Big Hands, Big Feet The walk back through the tunnels was uneventful. Back in the throne room, Mike had Beth broker a new agreement with the rats. If they wanted to stay, they could, but they needed to close off any tunnels to the outside world that could be used to get in. The rats were hesitant to deny their request, particularly because Tink kept throwing everyone stink eye while holding her club and Mike held Jenny in his arms like a pet. The doll didn’t reanimate on the way back, but...
She sat in the black sedan, watching the old, victorian era home across the street. Through the gate and the hedges, she could only make out the upper levels, replete with turrets and large, ornate windows. Inside that home, she knew would find her prey, but one problem remained. Of the many magical enchantments the house had, the most annoying of them all was that you had to be invited. They had bypassed this little detail with the succubus —using Mike’s blood had let them bypass the...
The drive to the storage unit took over an hour. Staring at the fields on the edge of town, Beth couldn’t fathom why Emily would insist on a storage unit so far away from civilization, especially when there were several good ones within fifteen minutes of her home. “Fries,” she said, and Lily, acting as her copilot, held up the small red fry cup like an offering to the gods. Beth grabbed a few, stuffing them in her mouth carefully to avoid smudging her lipstick. They had grabbed a bite to...
Water flowed through a crack in the wall. On the other side, Mike could hear the river. Placing his hands against the hard stone, he could feel the vibrations through it. Cupping his hands, he collected a mouthful of water and drank it. It was cold with a slight metallic taste, but Blue had informed him that it was safe enough to drink. “Is it good?” Blue asked from her perch on his shoulder. “It tastes like water,” Mike responded, sucking down huge mouthfuls. Wiping his mouth, he turned...
Mike yawned, the morning light through the white curtains casting a blissful glow on the room. He scratched the back of his neck, his foot kicking the lump near the bottom of his bed. He sat up, leaning forward to give the lump a playful pat. “It’s time to get up, Tink.” Mike watched the lump slide to the edge of the bed, disappearing over the edge with a thud. “Owie,” Tink muttered, standing up holding her bottom. She was wearing a tank top night shirt, one of the things Mike had ordered...
Mike realized his mistake as soon as it happened. Upon walking out the main entrance, they had stopped long enough for Beth to bid farewell to Asterion. The group all stood at the edge of the reflecting pool, their shortcut back to the house. When Beth rejoined them, Tink counted down from three and they all jumped in at the same time. That’s when Mike remembered that the magical shortcut would take them all to the downstairs closet. Not until the water soaked through his shoes did it occur...
They came again in the early hours of the morning, moving silently behind the outer wall. They triggered the wards Yuki had set, causing the kitsune to watch their approach through the window with bated breath. She could see them now, ominous shadows that peered over the wall and then vanished, gathering near the entrance for their next attack. Yuki had spent hours building her defenses back up, her mind and body tired from the effort, hoping to catch some sleep. Now, she watched with eager...
Mike’s heart pounded in his chest at the sight of the thing. The Jabberwock regarded the small group of people in its master’s home, then opened its mouth to let out a cry that made him think of a pterodactyl on steroids. Jabberwock saliva misted the entire room, and everyone covered their ears to shut out the cry. Daisy bolted, vanishing down the stairs and leaving a glittering trail behind her. Zel made a break for it, and the Jabberwock lunged for her, leaving a bloody gash in her...
“Are we ready?” Mike asked. The others nodded, each one at their stations. Tink had tied Beth to a chair which had been placed in the fountain, standing behind her with a knife at the ready. Abella was out of sight, watching from up above in case everything went wrong. She had explicit instructions to do whatever it took to protect the members of the house. Naia stood behind Beth, her lips a crooked smirk. “We are ready.” Cecilia said, standing next to him. Mike took a deep breath, taking...
Breakdown in Negotiations Mike pulled his shirt on in front of the bathroom mirror, Naia watching him from the tub. He could see the look of concern on her face, knew that the question was coming, and he had no idea how to dodge it. “Are you okay?” He let out a sigh. “No.” “Tell me.” He didn’t want to. He never wanted to talk about it with anybody. Yet, when he turned to face her directly, he remembered that she was the other part of his soul. She completed him in a way he couldn’t quite...
The Fool The railing was smooth to the touch, as if it had been recently polished. She touched a knot in the wood, her fingers caressing the fractured ridges. Closing her eyes, she took in the smell of the place. The rich scent of oil, sawdust, and water from the fountain out back filled her with a swirl of nostalgia, causing her to inhale again, only deeper this time. So many old scents and a few that were new. Behind them all was the faint, faded scent of sunflowers and...
Sleep came for Mike, but it was far from restful. Unable to properly enter the Dreamscape again, he tossed and turned in his bed, his brain unwilling to let things rest. His first thoughts were on Cecilia. He could see her now, trapped inside a silver cage in the middle of a glen surrounded by waterfalls. Breaking the lock on the cage, he stepped inside—only to have her melt like wax in his arms and slide through holes in the floor. “Cecilia,” he cried out, her name slurring as if spoken in...
Five Minutes Ago “You take me to the nicest places,” Beth said, stepping over a small, mossy rock. The world around them was dark, and the light from their cellphones poorly illuminated the forest floor. A breeze had formed as the cool, night air of Ireland blew through the portal into Mike’s front yard. The portal had been chewed into the inner wall of a crumbling home out in the woods, obviously long forgotten. “I do my best.” He stepped over a large rock and offered his hand when she...
Roommate Trouble Beth sat at the large dining room table with a small plate of bacon, some coffee and a large plate with the remnants of a strawberry crepe. She scribbled a few more words on a notepad by her laptop, frowning at the list. “Any luck?” Sofia asked, walking in with her own breakfast. The cyclops took the seat across from Beth. A few of the seats in the formal dining room had been designed for larger people, allowing the cyclops to sit comfortably at the table. As far as Beth...
Kisa stood in the kitchen and scowled at the pantry door. How many times had she wandered in here and absent-mindedly opened it? At least three times a day, and now that she was here again, she had decided to look through the whole pantry and discover just what it was that she was looking for. Her missing memories really bothered her. She had just assumed that something would come back to her in the last few days, but all she got was static. Vivid images of the old man stirred something up...
Seven of Swords Beth said very little to the minotaur as they climbed the trail to the top of the cliffs. She could tell he wanted to comfort her, but there weren’t words or deeds to make the situation right. Her plan was to speak with Naia and Sofia right away, to see if either of them could offer her any help. There were only a few days to make her decision, and she wouldn’t be able to live with any of her options. She remembered when she was little, her parents started arguing...
Beth tumbled gently to the floor beneath, flipping her body at the last second to land on her feet. Staring up, all she could see were the clouds she had passed through on the way down. She had several red marks on her left arm, each one from a nasty pinch that she gave herself to try and wake up from this strangest of dreams. Now that she was on the ground, she saw that she stood in a beautiful garden with a large marble gazebo in the middle. “How peculiar,” she said, expecting her voice to...
Mike opened his eyes, staring at the waning sunlight through the canopy overhead. Scattered rays were dying, a sign that the sun was sinking toward the skyline, ready to slumber until the break of dawn. The forest was quiet – a complete lack of animals meant that the only sound Mike could hear was the occasional rippling of the leaves as the wind brushed them against one another. Lifting his head, he knew that he needed to get back. Though his slumber had been restless, he had clearly slept...
“Whoa!” Mike splashed water everywhere in his haste to get out of the tub. This time, Naia didn’t fight him as he scrambled out into the bathroom, covering up with a towel. She pouted as he slid across the floor, looking for his pants. Seeing that she hadn’t moved from her spot in the tub, Mike felt his heart rate level out, the burst of adrenaline gone. “Who ... what are you?” He asked, trying to keep his eyes off of her breasts. Other than the strange markings on her ribs, her skin was...
“Easy, kisa.” The familiar voice was thick with a Russian accent and elicited both feelings of warmth and sadness. It spoke to her from the void, guiding her back to the world of the living. The darkness peeled away to reveal a small dance studio with wooden floors and large windows overlooking a city. One of the interior walls was a mirror, and in the reflection was a young, black teen who sat on the floor, her face wracked with pain as an older man held her left leg in place while...
The Naga, the Fox and the Wardrobe The door of the wardrobe didn’t move. Puzzled, Mike grabbed the handle even tighter and pulled again, but it still wouldn’t budge. The wardrobe felt like it had been anchored into the wall, the door completely immobile. Frustrated, he tried rattling the door when he realized that he had missed one very important detail. Right below the handle was a small keyhole. “Ugh.” He got ready to kick the wardrobe out of frustration when he remembered that he had a...
The Hanged Man His chest was on fire and he couldn’t move. His limbs were super heavy and he couldn’t feel his legs anymore. Am I dying? Loud thuds like distant thunder beat in his chest and he thought he heard someone saying his name. His head cleared, and it occurred to him that he had looked onto the shores of the afterlife and they had looked nothing like this. A loud scraping sound filled his senses and he was suddenly blinded by a bright light and someone called his name. Oh shit....
The sudden shift in time and position was immediately disorienting. One second, she was on the first floor of the Radley house, the world spinning around her. The next, she was running along a busted bridge, her legs not quite right beneath her. She tripped, colliding with someone else on the bridge, and they tumbled off together. Once she hit the cold water, her synapses fired all at once, restarting her brain and giving her full control. “Beth!” A hand swung out, grabbing her wrist, but...
Up on the third floor, Mike contemplated the large set of double doors in front of him. The wall where the wardrobe used to be had been replaced with a slightly wider hallway that terminated after a few yards at a large pair of metal doors with a series of gears built into them. He tested the handle, but the door didn’t budge. Symbols were emblazoned across both doors with shapes that seemed astronomical in nature—he recognized the symbol for the moon and the sun, and the planet Mars, but...
“Ugh.” Mike held up a hand to shut out the sun’s light. It had been a late night trying to lay down all the new sod in the front yard. The lightning blasts and storm had killed off most of it, and only a few of the shrubs had survived. The delivery had showed up six hours late, and Mike and the others had to hastily unroll the sod beneath a scorching afternoon sun. Tink had crawled into bed with dirt on her hands and feet, her goggles pulled down over her neck. Mike had fallen asleep in his...
"Quick," he said, "grab the forty miles per hour sign." She bent down and felt around under her seat for the A3-sized placards that he had made up. She pulled them out and flipped through them, looking for the one he wanted. "Good grief, would you look at this idiot?" growled Michael. "Doesn't he know what a de-restricted sign means, for heaven's sake?" He changed down into third gear and cruised up to a few yards behind the bumper of the car in front, edging out towards the...
Four figures were seen with each other, locked together by their hips and holding each other's thighs. They were clearly very voluptuous women with extra body parts below. In front was an orange haired werewolf getting anally reamed and jerked off by a vampire behind her while the vampire was being pounded by a dark skinned mummy. And said mummy was being pounded by a green skinned zombie woman of some sort. To the side of the orgy lied a human woman oozing and caked in cum. The monster women...
FantasyThat evening, Sarah stopped by and asked if we wouldn't mind coming over to meet her parents. Mom and I followed her across the way to her house. Her mom greeted us at the door and welcomed us inside. The smell of freshly baked cookies filled the house, and I spotted a plate of them on the coffee table in the living room. Her dad sat in one of the chairs. Mom and I sat down on the couch, and Mrs. Laurent took one of the other empty seats. Sarah passed around the cookies, then disappeared...
This story introduces two characters to the readers. I will bring them back every once in a while but this was the first time I used them they came to me as a result of a story written called Yukon by – well it does not matter. It is a continuation to a story "Yukon." A couple go to Yukon, wife is fucked silly by a scum bag monster of a man who has done it before to others; husband is forced to put up with it until he finally figures out a way to kill the monster. Wife tells him monster is...
My name is Dr. Reginald Alexander Ghurtholtz. I am a monsterologist, teaching monsterology at the world-famous Graveyard University. For those of you who don't know, monsterology is the study of monsters. Yes, they do exist. Of course, my so-called scientific colleagues disagree with me, but what do they know? They're just a bunch of chemists, biologists, zoologists and so forth. You know... voodoo scientists. They actually had the nerve to tell me that monsterology wasn't even a real word and...
OccupationsMonsters of Cock describes itself as “The biggest throat-clogging cock site in the world!” That’s quite a brag, either sexy as fuck or maybe a little bit intimidating, depending on who you ask. However, knowing the kind of absolute deviate you are, I’m sure you fall into the former category, and you’re probably already getting a hard-on as you think about little white chicks getting all full up on BBC. “Watch these girls cum from big cock!”MonstersOfCock.com is a long-running paysite from the...
Premium Interracial Porn SitesTHE MONSTER Hello I'm Lisa and I'm going to tell you an story that is horrible that happened for 4 years ago when i was 24. in a little town i cant say name of but at that place something happened. All started when i was outside walking whit my friend kyle that is 2´7 years old one day. We were going to the shop in our little town it toke 5 minutes to walk. We were walking to the shop to meet Casandra She is 21 youngest of us 3.She were waiting there on...
Thanks to Weirdo (John) for writing my Catgirl change. Halloween Tale: Monsters Are Real By Troy Monsters are real and I know it. How do I know it? Well that's easy. My friends and I are monsters. How did we get this way? It's a long story, but I'll tell you how it happened. There were six of us that night. Angel, Bill, Alec, John, Rena (who I always liked teasing about what I considered a girlish name), and myself had been told by our parents to go trick-or-treating for our...