Monsters Within

"Run Serenity. If anyone harms you; run. I will find them. I will melt the skin from their body. I will incinerate their bones and use it as kohl to line my eyes. I will become a monster to avenge you and my Vengeance is limitless."








“Can you stoke the fire? I'm almost finished with the stew.” My fingers curve around the knife's hilt with practiced ease.

I hear the rustle of Abraxas moving to comply, stick scraping wood. Smoke wafts into the air and I sneeze.

“Bless you; we wouldn't want another spirit possessing your body now would we?” Abraxas laughs to himself while I roll my eyes and smile.

“Ha. Ha.” Truthfully, I desperately enjoy his jokes. "Did Serenity say she would be late?"

Pain erupts in my chest. It's so sudden and catching that I slip and the knife embeds itself into my finger, sliding easily through bone. The heart pendant cradled safely between my breasts explodes. Pieces rip through my skin and tear the fabric of my dress; they wedge into my chest and fall with soft clicks onto the counter.

I barely notice the pain in my finger- blood shoots from the end, bone glinting in the sunlight. I'm too focused on the shards of crystal embedded deeply in my chest; I'm focused on what they mean. I claw at my chest and panic erupts in tremors through my limbs. They shake and my insides tremble. Avenge.

My eyes unfocus; blue and black bleeds into the whites of my eyes. It seeps over my vision like a storm wiping out all visibility until everything is gone; I can only sense. Tears roll down my cheeks but it burns to smoke from the heat of my skin, evaporating into the air.

My joints shake; they pop and click inside my skin, bending farther than humanly possible. My skin turns to smoke as bones rip through. Smoke rolls in large black puffs until only bone and muscle are left. It glistens in the firelight as my bones melt, turning to ash that floats in circles around me.

The shards of a pendant that have bitten deeply into my skin fall harmlessly to the dirt, stained in blood and muscle.

A scream is ripped from what should be my throat only I'm ethereal and nonexistent now. It tears through the smoke of my body and rents the air, screeching in echo. Abraxas drops to his knees and covers his ears; they crack painfully as he lands on the dirt floor catching the brunt of my screams. Kill. Avenge. Destroy.

Words get trapped in my mouth like marbles- heavy and unmoving. They roll and tumble against my teeth desperate to break free. Instead, I open my mouth and smoke pours from my lips like dragons' breath; I scream again. It tears from me in waves as I vault from the ground straight into the ceiling. I pass through easily- nothing but smoke.

I try to curl my fingers but only smoke and outlines frame my body. Fury erupts and I scream again. The screech drives birds from hiding, they plummet into the sky so quickly I pass them before they realize the threat is gone.

I charge through the sky seeking vengeance and death. I smell it in my nose and taste it on my tongue so I screech again, echoing my rage. Trees line a road with cattle tended by farmers but at the end is a forest. At least 30 lengths beyond that is a Castle.

Destroy. My heart bangs, beating against my chest as anxiety rips through my veins. Kill. Rage pours from me in waves that match the shrieks spewing from my lips. I twist between trees scattering small animals as I pass. Finally, I reach the castle door. It's huge, solid, and completely useless- I pass through it as easily as I had my own roof.

Instead of just entering the Castle, I float directly through a man attempting to pass by. We intermingle and his mind phases into mine. I'm privy to his darkest secrets and actions; they play across my neurons and embed themselves into my psyche.

He knows everything. I stop suddenly and he's frozen in terror behind me. I turn and without warning latch onto his throat with my hand. “You have enjoyed this, haven't you Tyrone, Earl of this keep?”

He sputters into my face but it passes through my gossamer body. I tighten fingers around his throat, digging talons into skin until it pierces with an audible pop. He panics when my hand catches fire and blue flames spread over his body. I drop him, stepping away as he burns to ash- the only bit of grime marking this impeccable room.

I pulse and throb, continuing my search of the castle. Every person I feel deep in my center resonates. They throb and pound against me. I can feel their sickness and poison desperate to invade my very cells- everything here is infected.

Anger rushes through me as I stalk the hall, passing room after room, searching. One essence tastes particularly vile- that's my prey. Scenting death in the air, I smile, it's more a bearing of teeth, macabre pleasure igniting me. Death, kill; It's hard to think beyond the desires. They urge and push- sway me in a destructive pattern and I reach a finger out, setting fire to a nearby chair.

A man standing at the end of a long hallway sees my approach and freezes. He watches, fascinated and wide-eyed as I walk, leaving smoldering footprints behind. Vengeance has tightened every thought in my head to one single setting: death. I reach out and touch a painting smiling lightly as blue flames devour it.

I remember his face from my vision earlier; complacent. Kill. Destroy. Avenge. My muscles tighten, bunching to lunge but the man disappears from view.

A snarl destroys my lips and I screech again; it rips from my angered mouth so loudly I feel the very foundation of this castle shake. He will not escape. I push from the ground with every bit of strength in my toes and leap, crossing the hall in a single stride. Everything behind me is engulfed in flames, framing me like death and destruction.

A noise to the left draws my attention so I follow it- trailing my fingers idly on the walls as I walk, talons ripping into the wood and setting it on fire. Anger rocks me again, causing my footsteps to falter. I stumble over the perversion that sticks to my skin like necrotic tissue, unable to untangle myself from the memories in his head.

He's the one I want. He comes closer; bile on my tongue that I want to scrub it out of my mouth but can't. Destroy. Avenge. He steps into view holding a sword longer than his arms. Sweat drips in steady beads from his forehead to stain the white shirt spread tightly across his heaving chest.

I cock my head and smile again. Vengeance coats me like a fur pelt, fury pounding against my skin. It breaks free, erupting in waves and my body is swallowed in flame that licks my skin. They caress me as I stalk towards him. The heat emanating from me causes the painted walls to bubble and spill like boils, dripping to the floor.

He's skittish now. Destroy. Kill. Pounce. I leap across the hall to land on the balls of my feet in front of him, slowly rising to meet his frightened gaze, “I have been looking for you Abigor.”

He attacks quicker than I expect. I catch his blade with my hand and flames shoot across it, melting iron. Heat radiates through the hilt, burning the skin from his palms. He drops the sword and screams as it clangs uselessly to the ground.

Suddenly weaponless he turns to run but I grab his throat instead, slowly wrapping each flame licked finger around his neck until they're burning through the skin. Avenge. Destroy.

“Die.”

I murmur the word and our world explodes. Vengeance finally spills, detonating through my frame. His body rips unceremoniously from my hand, splattering along the wall before it too incinerates

The walls catch fire while stone windows and support blocks tumble around me. Slowly the flames on my skin suck back inside, the heat receding with my vengeance until I'm black mist, floating through the carnage.

It is done. I breathe heavily as the fury invading my senses dies off. Tingling in my limbs turns to burning; I want to scream but my throat is raw. Around me is chaos. I can't see past the smoke and debris falling to my feet like rain.

My senses return one by one as my body solidifies. Fingers crack and pop, skin rolling over bones- every nerve is hot. My synapses fire until I'm bent at the waist in pain, skin too sensitive to touch. The bone in my pointer finger regrows; the skin stretching and knitting to cover brand new muscle.

Finally, the pain eases enough that I'm not shaking and my teeth stop clattering against each other in my mouth. There's a mask between my thoughts- a disconnect in my feelings. I'm apathy incarnate until I'm not.

“Serenity?” Panic slams into me so hard I can't breathe. “Serenity!” I scream past the raw meat of my throat as clarity hits and nausea has me dry heaving me into the ash.

Tears drip from my eyes; they're acid ripping holes in my face and I anxiously wipe them with the back of my hand. The entire keep is obliterated. My eyes widen as I turn in circles trying desperately to take everything in but there's no way to catch it all. Where is she?

“Serenity?!” It screeches from my throat. Panic shifts through my body until I'm nothing but a live nerve, too sensitive to touch. Anguish rips me apart as I use my bare hands to lift stone and ash; searching for any sign. It's still hot enough to blister but I ignore it and dig until my fingertips peel cleanly away.

“Addy?” His voice stills my movements and overcome with exhaustion I collapse to my knees in the ash.

Abraxas deftly crosses the rubble but tears and dread clog my throat. “I can't find her; she didn't get away," the words are mush against his chest. "The locket broke." Their memories flay me from the inside out and I gag, "they hurt her. And then I killed her." The words break in my mouth.

"No." He says it roughly, holding my face between his hands, forcing me to meet his unwavering gaze. His confidence sears me. "No. We taught her to run."

Abraxas thumbs the tears from my cheeks, smoke and ash settling on our skin. "She's smart and we taught her to run. We will find our daughter, Addy."