The Wildershifter perched on a tree branch, shifting its void of a face to create a snout, and then sniffed the air. It could smell that an intruder was entering its forest. It didn’t have the aura of the townspeople, but it did have a similar scent to the sacrifice he took. It looked back towards its cave. It had left her in there, and now something was looking for her. The woman was its sacrificial meal, and it didn’t need another. The intruder would be expelled.

  The dark creature hunched over, allowing the fur on its back to swirl and shift around as bones in its back began to pop and expand. A set of leathery black wings unfolded from its back. Having done this many times, it immediately took off flying. It suck to the treetops, following the scent. As the scent grew stronger, the creature could use its supernatural prowess to probe the finer details of what this intruder was. It could sense this intruder was kin to the woman, yet their auras were completely different. The woman carried a tortured scent, a feeling of something broken, yet her offspring had the mark of something carefree, without worry, without fear. The creature snarled; it would teach him fear. Landing on another branch, it had spotted its target.

  The Intruder was a man carrying an axe; he took no heed to the forest or any of the dangers it might bring. He just simply walked, swaying his arms and axe without a care. Watching closely, the creature decided to begin with intimidation to easily rid itself of the intruder without expending much effort.

  It picked up another scent as it looked below to find a trio of wolves also eagerly eyeing the intruder. And if the creature had a face, it would have smirked. Tentacles shifted from its stomach as they leaned towards the wolves, pricking through their fur. They barked and squealed as it took over their will. They would be its to command. The wolves’ fur turned a very dark black, devoid of details, like shadows, and their eyes became a pure white. The Widershifted retracted its tentacles and hissed. The wolves growled as they ran towards the intruder In a minute, they surrounded him and barked. The intruder clutched onto his axe, swinging it towards the wolves.

  “Little doggies!” he said, “Back away now.. Axes aren’t great chew toys. Especially if you lose your jawwwww.”

  The wolves inched closer, showing their sharp teeth. The intruder’s expression turned sour as he stomped his foot onto the ground and let out a fearsome growl. The wolves backed away against the Wildershifter’s orders, and they immediately turned tail and ran. The transformation burned off of them like smoke, and they returned to their smaller grey selves. Confused about what had just happened, the group ran away deeper into the wilderness. The human decided to keep walking.

  “I always knew I was tougher than a wolf,” he said.

  The Wildershifter began panting in frustration as it screeched towards the sky.

  ———————————————————————————————-

  Alise was cold, damp, and trapped in some sort of dark cave. She wiggled and struggled as if something similar to ropes, but they were slimy and cold like tentacles. She kept struggling, but all she managed to do was fall over.

  I don’t know why that thing left me alive, but this may be my only chance to survive. She thought.

  She had been trying for thirty minutes now, but nothing would budge. The Creature could come back any moment, and she dreaded the thought, but nothing was working.

  Then in the darkness, she heard footsteps.

  It’s coming! She thought.

  She attempted to wrestle herself free once more, using her adrenaline to make a difference. But she couldn’t shake the feeling she was about to die as memories flooded her mind. Such as giving birth to Daniel, her abusive husband, and despite all of that, trying to raise Daniel to be a good little boy. The happier memories quickly became tainted as she remembered a knock. A knock from a pair of police officers and FBI agents investigating Daniel for a series of murders. That day, she learned of her complete failure as a mother. Daniel was such a cowardly child; he constantly wanted protection from “monsters.”

  If only we had never taken him to that old woman.. She thought before refocusing her efforts on escaping.

  The footsteps came closer. Her bonds still weren’t loosening, and she was panicking. More memories came to her: how she had learned that Daniel was searching for her, how much of a monster she had become, and her decision to run, traveling cross-country to escape him.

  “Get back!” she shouted.

  Instead, the footsteps seemed to increase; something was running towards her in the dark. Had she just given away her location? Were the final seconds of her life upon her? Suddenly, a match lit in front of her, revealing whoever had appeared.

  “Mother!” A voice said.

  Alise looked up and saw her son, and she had a flash of hope. She saw him not as he was, but as he used to be.

  “Daniel! My sweet boy..” she said, “I can’t believe you found me.”

  Daniel lifted her up effortlessly and used his axe to set her free before gently putting her down. Alise allowed herself to believe in lies.

  Maybe it was all a mistake. Daniel would never hurt anyone.. Besides.. Besides.. She stopped the thought.

  “Yes, yes.. I’m glad to be reunited after all this finding and searching, but I need.. It.”

  She looked at him, almost ready to touch his face, and asked, “It?”

  He suddenly grabbed her shirt and yanked her forward, “The pendant! Where is it?!”

  The lighter memories became crushed, and the harsher reality came rushing in as tears came to her eyes. He was still deranged, still broken.

  “Forget about the pendant! We need to escape; something brought me here. Something evil.”

  This novel's true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there.

  “No! Where is it?” his voice became louder, more commanding, “You will give me what is rightfully mine!”

  She tried to kick him, but he wouldn’t budge. Knowing time was short, she reached into her shirt and pulled out a necklace pendant with a purple gem at its center. The necklace seemed to slightly sparkle even in the darkness. She dangled it in front of him as Daniel dropped her and snatched it from her hands.

  “Finally!” he said, “Now we can be a happy family again.”

  His words stung; the pendant was just a necklace, a symbol of Daniel’s childhood. It was just a normal necklace, but he believed it held some sort of great power.

  He then turned back over to her in the darkness and said, “All this darkness reminds me of old times. Tell me another story, mother. Now!”

  As a boy, Daniel was afraid of everything; the child seemed to see shadows and monsters everywhere. So Alise told him stories to soothe him, stories of knights slaying dragons, priests banishing vampires, cowboys blasting aliens, but in each and every story she weaved in the “magical pendant.” She hated herself for filling up her son’s head with such fairy tales, as it seemed to have rotted his mind into not understanding reality. But there was some doubt as she learned this week that monsters were very real.

  “You’re not speaking.. Mother..” Daniel said, “You know how annoyed I get when I don’t get what I want..”

  But she wasn’t concentrated on that, she had felt something enter the cave. No footsteps, no sounds, or anything natural could confirm this, but she just felt it. A heavy foreboding presence was with them, and this was eating up her insides.

  “We need to leave!” She said in a panic.

  “Leave? We just got here!” Daniel said.

  “Daniel?” A male voice called out, Alise recognized it instantly, “Daniel! Is that son? It’s me, Father!”

  Daniel turned around, trying to find the source of the voice, but the sound echoed throughout the entire cave.

  “Dad?” Daniel asked gleefully.

  He’s dead. He can’t be here, that’s not possible.

  “Yes.. Son! I here..Come closer.” The voice said.

  Daniel motioned towards the darkness as Alise tried to pull him back.

  “Daniel.. Stop! It can’t be your father.. He’s.. you.. Remember?” She couldn’t finish the words, “It’s a trick!”

  Daniel shoved her aside as he went closer to the voice. The impersonation of Phil was near perfect, but still off. Ignoring the obvious grammatical errors, the voice didn’t have Phil’s accent; instead, it had a heavy weight to it. A weight that hurt your ears when you heard it. But Daniel wasn’t listening.

  ———————————————————————————————————–

  “Dad? I’m here!” Daniel walked out of the shadows carrying the ax and lighter.

  The Wildershifter held back the urge to laugh, “Here.! Boy..here!”

  Daniel crept forward, holding the light towards his face.

  “Dad.. What’s wrong with your face?” he asked.

  The woman came forward as well, “That’s not your father!”

  “Listen, Mom.. Just because his jaw seems to be at the wrong angle and his skin tone is three different colors doesn’t mean it’s not dear ol dad!” Daniel said.

  The Wildershifted knew that its human mimicry was imperfect, but this.. Daniel was clearly woefully stupid, and he was enjoying scaring the woman, crushing the only hope she had left.

  “Me..son! Wrap my arms around you?” the Wildershifter said, spreading out its arms for a hug.

  “See? He just wants a hug!” Daniel said.

  Once Daniel was close enough, it would use its tentacles to absolutely squeeze the life out of him. Every bit of soul and blood would be gushed onto the floor. Before, the creature was merely content to scare Daniel, but such an ignorant specimen deserved a harsher punishment for invading its cave.

  Daniel walked forward, smiling, still holding his axe as he held out his arms. Inching slowly, almost agonizingly so, the Wildershifter was then caught off guard when Daniel suddenly spun around and threw his axe forward. The weapon crashed into its bald forehead, sending the Wildershifter flying backward and into a cave wall.

  “I can’t believe I get to kill him twice!” Daniel said.

  Anger filled the Wildershifter as it screeched and ripped the axe from its head. The red wound stayed as it shedded the human form and grew in size. The woman began to run away as Daniel stayed and reached for his axe. It began shifting into a large black mass resembling a beetle, and tentacles sprang from all sides. Raising one tentacle up, it sprang forward like a cobra. Its strike so fast that nothing could escape its grip, except Daniel instantly and gracefully jumped out of the way. The Wildershifter growled as it became increasingly annoyed, raising up its three other tentacles, and flew them forward.

  SHING.. SHING.. SHINNGGG!

  Daniel had managed to match its own lightning speeds by cutting each of the tentacles. Even in the dark, he had an arrogant and disrespectful grin. Daniel then dashed forward, launching himself with a jump, holding his axe above his head. Daniel and his axe were falling towards his neck, and the creature shifted again. Retreating his entire torso into its black body mass and reappearing on the other side. Daniel then awkwardly landed in a face full of a sea of black. Its squishy feeling almost like fat as the Wildershifter used it to try to suck the human in, attempting suffocation. It could feel Daniel thrashing and struggling as he was thrusted deeper and deeper into its fat. The sensation was becoming increasingly uncomfortable as Daniel continued refusing to die. It then felt cuts on its skin, and it then heard a hissing sound. But not from its own mouth, from its body. It was also shrinking; there was a hole! Daniel had cut a hole, causing deflation. Quickly, the Wildershifter was whittled down to a flat tarp, and Daniel uncovered himself as if only a mere blanket had covered him. Retracting the failed form back into its torso, the Wildershifter now takes a much smaller form with a slender tail, akin to the size of a monkey. Daniel seemed to be staring at it.

  “Look how cute and ugly you can be at the same time!” He said.

  Without even wasting time for a hiss, the Wildershifter leapt onto Daniel’s face, digging its primate-style claws into his cheeks. Daniel stumbled backward, then left, then right, and forward again, refusing to give in to a lack of balance. With surprising strength, he yanked the Wildershifter off of his face, and wounds were inflicted. The Wildershifter was then slammed onto the ground and then kicked like a football into the ceiling.

  CRASH!

  This single “touchdown” caused the entire ceiling to rumble. Tiny pieces of rock began falling from the ceiling, quickly followed by increasing sizes one after the other. The Wildershifter fell to the ground and rubbed its head. It looked up to see Daniel running to it; it noticed that Daniel had some sturdy brown boots before being trampled. The embarrassment was not over yet, as it began being pelted with rocks. The Wildershifter was a tough beast, but it was fighting back its own darkness of losing consciousness. It would remember this, and once it got out, it was soooo going to make Daniel pay. Then a comically large rock fell on top, crushing it, and this time, everything finally went black.

  ———————————————————————————————————————

  Alise watched from behind a series of bushes as Daniel came running out of the collapsing cave.

  With a bright smile and proudly holding his pendant to the sunlight, he said, “It protected me, mother! Just like I always knew!”

  Alise sank further back into the bushes. Did he see her? Then Daniel stopped and fell silent, his face turning into anger as he realized his mother wasn’t there.

  “Fine!” He shouted, “Keep running! I’ll always find you!”

  She then turned away and moved back before taking off in a run. Trapped between two monsters, she was glad to be free of whatever that other creature was, but now she was back to square 1, running from Daniel. Still the event had taught her something.

  If Daniel shows that monsters can be slayed, I can slay my own monsters as well. She thought.

  She needed time. And a weapon, anything to defend herself, there would come a time when she no longer needed to run.