Verisimilitude

1: Normality

All my life I’d been told that monsters weren’t real. My mother, my father, my friends…they all said it. But here’s the thing: 

They were wrong. 

Something skittered in the dark.

Six legs attached to a bulbous body the size of a large dog with a row of wide, wild eyes down the spine. No visible mouth or any other kind of features. The whole thing was saturated in an oozing, dripping coat of something thick and black like tar. This thing – this monster – was moving fast, clearly in a hurry.

And it was afraid.

It darted into an alleyway stretching between two apartment buildings, frantically seeking to escape, only to find itself coming up against a tall brick wall. In a fit of desperation it rammed itself against the wall over and over again, leaving dark black splotches on the brickwork with every attempt.

Somebody laughed.

“Oh dear”, they said in a sing-song voice. “Looks like you’ve hit a dead end~”

A figure was standing behind the monster. A young woman clad in a tight leather bodysuit with a mask across her mouth that dripped blood through several tiny holes. One of her arms was normal but the other ended at the elbow and instead morphed into a horrific giant maw, gleaming black and full of razor-sharp teeth. A curved line of stitches ran across the left side of her forehead and while one eye was a vibrant magenta, the other was a pool of bright blue nestled within a sclera as dark as the night.

She took a step closer to the monster and the arm-mouth dragged across the ground as she moved, heavy and cumbersome. The monster, terrified out of it’s wits, flung itself at the wall even harder.

“Let me tell you something about natural order”, said the woman.

Though her mouth was hidden the smile was clear in her voice. She was enjoying this.

“In this world it’s eat or be eaten”, she continued.

Her eyes shone. She raised the arm-maw and a low, threatening rumble sounded from the throat it did not – should not – possess. The teeth gleamed with saliva that fell in disgusting globs to pool at her feet.

“And you know what? I’m starving”.

The arm-maw shot forward like a bullet, jaws open wide, and a piercing shriek filled the night.

*** 

“…and I just kind of looked at him because that really wasn’t what this was about, you know? I mean he clearly hadn’t been listening to me at all!”

Lilith O’Hare stirred her coffee and took a long sip. She was wearing a blue and white striped t-shirt beneath a pair of black denim dungarees and her bushy mop of amber curls was tied back in a neat bun adorned with a black ribbon. Her nails were painted in alternating shades of blue, purple and silver and a pair of circular glasses were perched on her button nose, covering soft green eyes.

She was a pretty girl. Zeta had always believed that.

“Hey”.

Lilith set her mug back down on the table and frowned at her friend.

“You’re not listening to me either, are you?”

She clicked her fingers in Zeta’s face and huffed when the other woman blinked as though being roused from a trance. The sounds of murmured conversation and clattering mugs and plates filtered back into her ears. She shot Lilith an apologetic look.

“Sorry, Lee”, she said.

Lilith sighed and shook her head.

“Have you been having trouble sleeping again?” She asked, her own expression shifting to mild concern. “You look tired”.

Zeta shrugged.

Slightly taller than Lilith, she was pale skinned with long dark blue hair that spilled down her back like a curtain. Large magenta eyes sat beneath black brows whose natural curve made it look like she was always frowning. She was wearing a yellow hooded jacket striped with white down the sleeves, a white t-shirt with a graffiti style face pictured on it in black, black shorts and torn tights that disappeared into chunky black boots.

“Zee”, Lilith said, her tone firmer now, “you really should see a doctor about that”.

“I’m fine”, Zeta replied, stifling a yawn.

“Have you looked in a mirror lately?” Lilith asked dubiously.

Zeta groaned and rolled her eyes.

“You’re supposed to be my bestie, not my mother”, she pointed out, leaning back in her seat and crossing her arms. She hadn’t even touched her own coffee.

“Besties can worry about besties”, Lilith replied with a snort.

For a moment Zeta was quiet, then she grumbled incoherently and turned her head away.

“….Whatever”.

They finished their coffee (or at least, Lilith did) and exited the little café, stepping back out into the early autumn sunshine. The town was bustling as usual, streets filled with shoppers and the cheerful tune of a guitar being played by a busker nearby.

The two of them started walking, heading nowhere in particular, Zeta zoning out as Lilith began to babble again. It was nice. It was normal. And normal moments were what Zeta craved more than anything in the world.

And then the illusion was shattered, as it all too often was.

Zeta came to a halt in front of an electronics store with several large flat screen TVs in the display window. They were showing a local news programme and though she couldn’t hear what was being said she could read the subtitles well enough:

“Police are still searching for missing teenager Blake Humphries. The fourteen-year-old was last seen on Thursday night at the Vega Flowers Shopping Centre but failed to return home after meeting with friends…”

CCTV footage was played, showing the boy walking through the forecourt of the shopping centre with a group of other boys. Blake had been highlighted by a bright circle so everyone watching knew exactly who to look at.

Lilith pouted.

“Do we have to watch this?” She asked. “It’s so depressing”.

She reached for Zeta’s sleeve and the blue haired girl’s hand twitched. Her gaze was fixated on the television screen, her mind racing. Whenever she was home she consumed the news with an almost religious fervour and had already heard about the boy’s disappearance. With each passing day that we went unfound her hopes that this was just a regular accident, kidnapping or murder slipped further and further away.

Heh. A regular ol’ murder, huh? What a thing to wish for.

But compared to the alternative…

“Come on, Zee! Seriously!”

Lilith grasped Zeta’s shaking hand and pulled her away from the store. Zeta forced herself to turn away from the window and focus on the street. They moved on and it occurred to Zeta that Lilith was still holding her hand.

“Uh, Lee?”

She raised their hands. Lilith’s face flushed bright red and she whipped her hand away as though she’d been stung.

“If you would just listen to me…!” She muttered.

Zeta couldn’t hold back the amused smirk that spread across her face. Lilith spluttered indignantly for a few moments more. She’d always been like this, as far as Zeta could remember. Ever since they were kids. She’d get flustered and seemingly lose the ability to form coherent sentences. Zachory Hicks had used to bully Lilith about it until Zeta punched him in the face and broke his nose. The suspension from school had been worth it.

Lilith shoved her hands into the pouch on the front of her dungarees. Zeta laughed.

And things were normal.

*** 

They lingered by the apartment door.

Zeta had her keys in hand, a large fluffy shrimp toy hanging from the ring. Shrimps were far from her favourite animal and it had grown a little tatty with age but it had been a gift and Zeta treasured it. And she knew Lilith smiled whenever she saw it.

“You want to come in?” She asked, gesturing to the door.

Lilith offered her an apologetic smile.

“Can’t”, she said. “I promised Iris I’d look after Benji this evening”.

“Why doesn’t she hire a proper babysitter?”

“Zee, she’s my sister”, Lilith replied firmly. “I’m happy to help out when I can”.

“Right, right”.

“You could always drop by you know?”

Zeta’s grip tightened on her keys but she forced a smile and shook her head.

“Nah, you know I’m no good with kids”.

They looked at each other for a moment in silence. Lilith looked like she wanted to say something but opted not to, keeping her thoughts to herself. Zeta hated lying to her.

“Alright”, Lilith said at length. “I’ll see you later then?”

“Yeah”, Zeta replied, nodding. “For sure”.

A quick hug and then Lilith was walking away. Zeta unlocked the door and closed it firmly behind her as she stepped into her tiny apartment, pushing her back against it and sliding down it until she was on the floor.

I’m so sorry, Lee.

She remained there for a while, her knees drawn up to her chest, until her stomach rumbled loudly. And suddenly she was rather glad Lilith hadn’t come in after all.

“Shit…” 

Back on her feet. Flinging open the refrigerator.

The shelves were stacked full of meat.

Pork loin, chicken breasts, lamb chops, steaks and ribs. Beef and venison and turkey and anything else she’d been able to fit inside. Her stomach practically growled as she looked it over. She should have eaten sooner. She should have been better than this.

She grabbed the pork, already salivating.

Some other part of her was taking control. A feral instinct she tried so hard to ignore and suppress. Because this wasn’t her. 

It wasn’t her.

And yet her hands were scrabbling at the packaging, pulling it off and throwing it to the floor with careless abandon. Her breathing was heavy, her pupils little more than pinpricks as she sank her teeth into the raw meat, tearing at it like a lion ripping apart its prey. And when that was gone she grabbed some ribs and devoured them too. She didn’t think about Lilith or the missing boy or being normal. Such thoughts were for later.

For now it was time to feed.