A childhood friend of mine had a terrible start in life. He lived a block away. It wasn’t the best area in the city. Somehow my parents made it work and kept me away from trouble, but his didn’t have the same consideration. When he went to school; his clothing were always a bit dirty and he had such a bad attitude none of the teachers wanted to deal with it. Instead, they just sent him out in the hallway or detention.
Markus, but everyone called him Mark, started to become avoided by everyone but myself and his little sister. We bonded over something stupid back in first grade and no matter what happened never strayed too far from each other. I knew about his home life which was something most people either wasn’t aware of, or didn’t care to learn. His mother a kind person when she stayed awake and not on whatever she was currently addicted too. His father wasn’t home very often. When he did come home, there was hell to pay. Mark would take his sister over to my place whenever his father stayed around.
My parents knew about everything that was going on and never questioned why Mark sneaked into our place past midnight sometimes with his sister. At first, we tried to hide it, but soon we found out my parents wouldn’t question it and just make breakfast for three kids.
The problem with his father mostly being he got involved in a gang in some way. I found out when I got older that a concerned older women called social services on his family. She turned up dead and the case never went anywhere. Everyone too scared of his father taking revenge if anyone dared to get his children taken away. He didn’t love them, rather saw them as a way to get money government assistance wise. If Mark’s mother could have more kids, she would be forced to do so.
One afternoon, I got a phone call. My parents weren’t home so I answered it. Mark on the other end, his parents fighting somewhere inside the house.
“Can you come over and help?” He said in a low whisper fearing he would be caught.
Mark rarely ever out right asked for help with anything. Even at eleven I knew he was in trouble and needed to get over there right that moment. Him and his sister couldn’t stay in a house like that any longer.
“I’ll be two minutes.” I replied.
I took my bike to get there faster. Ditching it in the tall grass between the two houses, I crept up to his bedroom window he normally sneaked out of. I couldn’t hear the fighting any longer and that wasn’t a good sign. Before I could knock on the window, it opened and a bag was tossed out nearly hitting me.
Mark leaned out a bit surprised to see how fast I arrived.
“We’re leaving. I don’t know what we’ll do but we’ll manage.” He said explaining the bag.
In the very least I could talk him into staying at my place again. I wanted to suggest my aunt and uncle could take them both in without telling his parents fully unaware that could be considered kidnapping.
“Listen, Kandi won’t leave without her bunny. If she has a meltdown, it’s all over but she’s always well behaved with you.”
That explained why he called me over. Reaching down, he helped me climb into his window. We listened for his father knowing if we were caught, we both would be beaten. Kandi, his little sister a little over five, already had a tear stained face. She hurried over and hugged my arm feeling safer with another person there.
“Where is her bunny?” I asked.
I could already tell if we forced her out of that house without it, she would freak. It wasn’t often she had out bursts but when they did happen it lasted for hours. Her big eyes got wet thinking about her missing bunny.
“Bun-Bun is with mommy.” She told us in a small voice already about to cry.
That was bad. Their mother always on the couch. And from what I heard over the phone; his father would be in the same room. Unless we got lucky and he left, we would need to leave without the bunny plush. If he hadn’t left, we risked getting caught from Kandi screaming.
“Let’s just check. Maybe we’ll get lucky.” I suggested.
Mark wavered on the thought. No yelling came since I arrived so maybe, just maybe, we could grab the bunny and leave without looking back. At least we could peek into the room and make a run for it if his father was still home. He nodded as he got on Kandi’s level telling her we needed to stay quiet. If we didn’t, we might wake up their mother. She understood that and made a promise not to make a sound. With her in the middle, and each of us holding a hand we started down the dirty hallway towards the living room.
We needed to go through the kitchen first and my eyes watered from the rancid smell of the place. I knew Mark tried to keep the place clean, bit it was too much for an eleven-year-old to handle. Voices made us freeze. Mark caught my eye. In the moment we made the decision to press on to look inside the room to see who else might be inside the house.
From where we peeked from, we could see Mark’s mother passed out on the couch. I got shocked to see needles and other things those lame drug talks in school warned us about scattered on the coffee table in front of her. I knew she got into things like that, but being so young and it was really the first time I’d ever actually seen it. I always respected her for doing her best for Mark and Kandi. And yet this addiction and being beaten down by her abusive husband made it impossible for those efforts to count.
His father stood beside the couch; red faced trying to intimated another man in the room. None of us knew who he could be. I didn’t see it at first, but Kandi’s pink bunny plush sat on the floor in front of her mother making it impossible to get without someone noticing. When the other man spoke, we all tensed up.
“Are you telling me you don’t have my product, or any money to replace it?” He asked in a voice just about to break into a rage.
“I told you! This bitch took it all! I left her alone with it for an hour and look at this!” Mark’s father shouted back gesturing at the ruined living room.
The other man didn’t appear impressed in the slightest. He looked disgusted even being inside the room. He kicked at an empty, molding drink can with a scowl on his face.
“Now, how are you going to repay me this time?” He asked, arms crossed.
“Take her. She can work it off. She’s done it before. And it might teach her a lesson.”
My skin crawled at the words. Only after I got older I knew what Mark’s father implied then. Kanid let out a small cry hearing someone wanted to take her mother. Thankfully neither of the men heard and we held her to keep her silent. This our chance to leave, but all three of us were too scared to move.
“You know, I really doubt she took all of it. The amount I gave you would kill a few people. So, where’s the rest? I’ll have her work off what she stole, but unless you cough up what she didn’t take, I’ll have you work it off as well.”
Mark’s father stuttered trying to argue when something made him stop. His face grew pale as he stumbled back. A newcomer literally appeared behind the other man. Something so unnatural it stunned him, a man who normally fought everyone as a first response.
“The women died shortly after we arrived. I doubt she’s worth anything unless you have clients I am not aware of.” The new figure spoke in a calm clear voice.
They were fairly tall and slim. A black hoof took a step forward, crushing trash underneath the terrifying and beautiful thin leg. It had a human male body, even though it clearly wasn’t human in the slightest. He was dressed in a tucked in white dress shirt, halfway open and with small frills along where the buttons should be. A long black mane of hair flowed halfway down his back. Long bangs obscured his face. Eyes hidden, but a long snout of pitch black smiled showing off countless teeth. A long thin tail tipped of fur lazily moved behind him. This creature looked far too elegant to be in a filthy room it stood.
The man wasn’t startled by the creature’s arrival, but instead angry over the fact Mark’s mother passed away so quickly without anyone noticing. Mark and Kandi just lost their mother, even though Kandi too young to really understand what was going on. I held her tight, eyes watering. Somehow, hearing that their mother sat dead on the couch felt harder to accept than a monster standing in the living room.
“Just take care of him and search this house for any cash or my god damn product!” The other man shouted at the monster.
He lit up a cigarette and Mark’s father started to back away, hands raised. His eyes never leaving the dark creature taking measured steps towards him.
“No wait, my kids! You can-”
His voice cut off by the creature moving so fast none of us could see it. One second his father stood there, then the next he was being dragged behind the couch and out of sight. A horrible scream came that soon turned in a garbling noise. Kandi no longer could hold in her tears. She started crying getting the smoking man’s attention. His eyes widened when he finally saw us. He crushed the cigarette into the carpet.
Mark snapped to attention first. He started to drag Kandi down the hallway with me. We needed to get the hell out of there. When we all turned, we thought we could make it before the man caught up. Then, just as quickly as the monster appeared before, it stood in front of us. Long arms reaching towards the three screaming and frightened children. We struggled and thrashed trying to get free as he scooped us up to bring into the living room.
Instead of killing us, he placed us all in front of his employer. Kandi almost in a screaming fit, but too scared to go all out. I shook, unable to calm myself down let alone another person. Mark however, bravely stood between the man and his sister.
It felt like ages ago, but I heard him promise his mother he would take care of his sister no matter what. He never once went back on that promise. Not at all caring what happened to himself, he would do anything to protect her. The issue being he was just a child with no power what so ever.
“At least this trip wasn’t a waste. We can sell these three easy and make back what I would have gotten from that bastard. I should have just taken them a year ago with their mother. Christ, I missed out on a big payment letting her die.” The older man was grumbling as he looked down at us as if we were a product instead of people.
I couldn’t believe what was happening. Monsters weren’t real. These kinds of things just didn’t happen. The dark creature behind us to keep us from escaping proved that thought process wrong. I knew he just ate Mark’s father, and yet I saw the man in front of us more frightening. The creature would just kill us. This man would do such horrible things our young minds didn’t fully understand yet.
“Oh? Selling children, are we? I didn’t think you would sink so low.” The creature commented with a slight laugh.
His voice light and yet, it almost sounded offended. I looked up at it trying to see the hidden eyes wondering if I read too much into the tone of voice.
“Don’t insult me and do your job!” The man shot back, his composure slipping.
“And what is my job? How about you remind little old me about our verbal contract we made years ago.”
I wasn’t hearing things. This creature really hated the man in front of us. A flicker of hope came to my chest as I kept a grip on Kandi’s hand wanting to run if what I suspected was true.
“You very well know what we agreed on! You worked for me in exchange for being able to eat anyone I tell you! You can’t kill someone without a human’s permission, right?” He huffed turning away.
In his anger, the man realized what I already knew far too late. His face pale, and eyes wide in fear by the time he turned back around to see the monster whispering something in Mark’s ear. My friend didn’t say anything. He just nodded. It an approval the creature needed. He moved fast, his hand on the other man’s throat lifting him off the ground. His former boss unable to speak to save himself.
“We never did agree on a timeline, did we? So, I am canceling our contract. I believe I’ve gotten permission to do this the proper way.” The creature spoke, easily able to hold up a full-grown man with one arm.
I shielded Kandi from the sight, but we all heard the sickening crack of the man’s neck. His body tossed aside in the piles of trash near the door. All three of us shaking, and Kandi wailing over everything that just happened. Mark moved first again. I found my body going in slow motion as I fought through the shock. When we all were picked up again, I couldn’t even fight it.
The creature had all three tucked under one arm. He walked into the kitchen and used his free arm to swipe off all the trash on the table. He dumped us on the creaking surface. My body shook as I looked up at that terrible face. He just put us all on the table. What else was he going to do but eat us?
Reaching down, he tore off the sleeve of his white shirt. Going over to the sink he turned on the water until it ran warm to soak the torn fabric. We could have run then, but were all fascinated by the sight. With the sleeve soaked, he shut off the water to come back over. Mark protested when the monster took Kandi’s face on one hand. With the other hand, he started to clean off her tear soaked dirty face.
“Humans are so distasteful. I swear. Letting children rot away in such a place, then trying to sell them for such disgraceful purposes? How has your race gotten this far. Now, there is a face under all that dirt. Come here little one.”
Mark and I watched the exchange, mouths slightly open. Neither of us stopped the creature from picking up Kandi in his arms to bounce her slightly trying to calm her down one would with a toddler. We’d seen him kill Mark’s father. Well, sort have seen him do so. Our view was blocked but we knew what happened. And yet this creature was being so kind. It made our brains shut down.
“What are your names?” The creature asked, still holding Kandi.
We introduced ourselves, minds swimming in confusion. He nodded as if our names were acceptable. Somehow, Kandi calmed down as he let her grab a hold of his long wavy hair. His next question made us look at each other wondering if this could be all a trick.
“How long do humans normally live for?” He asked.
“A hundred… Maybe…” Mark offered.
The creature paused, trying to calculate things we weren’t aware off. He finally arrived on an answer and from the long sigh we didn’t know if it was a good one at first. As he spoke, it a bit strange seeing an animal like mouth form proper words.
“I can last a hundred years without eating. It’ll be tough but I suppose it can be done. Now, do you have anywhere to stay for at least three days? I’ll need to arrange a human identity and-”
“What are you talking about?” Mark butted in.
“I’m clearly talking about adopting you three. I’ll need a human name as well. Elluis doesn’t really fit in with your language I suppose.”
“I’m uh… not their brother.” I corrected when I realized this creature wasn’t aware of that fact.
“Oh? Only two of you then.” Elluis, the creature said with a shake of his head.
He really didn’t care if it would be two or three kids. We were simply dumbfounded. Why would this creature want to take in the children of the man he just ate? I wanted to say to Mark for him to tell this thing to go to hell and that they could stay with me when the condition of the kitchen made me stop. After what they lived through would staying with a monster be all that worst? Sensing our hesitation, Elluis spoke up.
“You may go to a different family member or that foster care I’ve heard about.” He offered.
“No! Not that!” Mark said suddenly.
I knew the reason for his outburst. We both heard so many horror stories about the foster system in our city. Deep down we knew there were good people out there. The issue being there had been three reports of separate foster families being arrested due to abuse in the past few years and it tainted our young minds about the system. Not only that, Mark’s father constantly blamed the foster family that raised him for being in the place he was in life instead of his own short comings. Over all, being fostered sounded worse than prison and it was the reason why Mark never sought out help for him and his sister.
Without any other options, he gave in and took Elluis up on the offer.
“If we stay with you, can you show me how to be strong enough to protect my sister?” Mark asked while staring down the creature with hard eyes.
“We’ll protect her together. However, I must get things sorted. If you are a friend and not part of this family then please see if you can take these two in for a few days. I’ll be back to get them.”
“You promise?” Kandi spoke in a small voice that shocked us both.
She also approved of her new scary looking guardian. Smiling with a mouth that did not do him any favors, Elluis nodded.
“I promise. Now scoot you three as I clean up this mess.”
Kandi set down and Mark took over holding her. She brought up the reason why I came over in the first place. Her bunny was still with their mother. My body felt cold as I thought about who needed to go and get in. Getting on her level, Elluis asked her if they could leave it with her mother and make her happy. After all, Kandi was going over on a sleep over and it help her mother not miss them. His sweet talking got her to agree and for the first time, Kandi left the house without her plushie.
I took them home all of us still dazed over what we went through. We expected my parents to come in asking about what happened to Mark’s and Kandi’s parents but they didn’t. The weekend passed by normally aside from us not really feeling much like playing all that much. It worried my parents but they didn’t say anything. They wanted to give us time to be ready to talk about if something bothered us. That conversation never came.
On the Monday after school, we all were in my room when a knock came to the door. We snuck down the hallway to peek over the stairs as we saw two police officers and a dark hair man be invited in. My parents led them into the living room. We waited a few minutes until feeling ready to go down and interrupt the conversation.
Mark and I already knew what they were going to say. Their mother gone from an overdose, and his father missing bus suspected dead as well. Kandi didn’t really understand what was going on and the tears started when she demanded to see her mother and the adults were saying she couldn’t.
The dark hair man swooped in to comfort her. He looked extremely handsome. He as tall and slim as he was in his monstrous form. Kandi calmed down enough after he spoke with her and let her hold his hand.
“You two might not remember me but I’m your uncle Elijah. We met once before. With your father missing you’ll be living with me if that’s alright.”
Without any doubt, this man really the creature from before. Somehow, he changed things so legally he was an uncle that didn’t exist before. Whatever magic when into it I wasn’t able to ask about. For the past three days I worried about my two friends being adopted by a stranger. After seeing a kind smile on Elijah’s human face, my worries faded.
He gave them time to pack and get ready to leave. My parents appeared relived that the two children they couldn’t help without risking our family’s safety finally found a good hone. A new worry started to from when I said good bye thinking it could be the final time I would see those two.
The next few weeks were a blur. The funeral for their mother went by quietly and I don’t remember it that well. It took them a while to get the dust settled. But finally, Mark, Kandi and Elijah found a house to move into.
Which only a ten-minute ended up to be walk away. I didn’t lose my best friend as I feared. When Mark came back to school our teachers treated him better. His new guardian got him the help he needed for his behavior issues at school so he could improve his grades. Mark went to one of the worst students, to one of the best in the next few years.
You would think having a monster for an adopted father would cause some issues. After watching him and Kandi grow, I realized the real monster had been their biological father. The one who adopted them a bit aloof at times. Still, it was clear to everyone how much he loved his two human children. So much so, I feared he may eat them up one day. When it came to monsters, that always a risk…
Knowing Elijah might not be able to hold himself back, Mark got hard pressed on becoming a doctor to help others before his time ran out. With support from a real parent, I fully believe he’s able to accomplish that goal.