Page 17 of A Very Monstrous Desire

“That have yet to make it to your dimension,” he said darkly. “Be grateful for that.” As if that had jolted something in him the monster held out Theo’s knife. “Take this back,” he said. “You must be able to defend yourself. Do not attempt to use it on me though,” he added. “I am your only way back to your own world. If you were somehow able to best me and make it back to the forest, you leave yourself only at the mercy of the rages. To be clear, they have none.”

Theo took the knife and placed it back against his thigh, securing it tight. He took a quick look behind him to where the forest was. Were the rages responsible for those bright lights? How awful were they that even this monster feared them?

“We’re not going to hurt each other,” Theo said, and he wanted it to sound like a statement, but it sounded more like a question.

“You are safe with me,” the monster said and then he shook his head. Shook his head. “Safe from me,” he added. “I cannot protect you if enough of the rages find us…”

Theo gave the monster a nod because frankly these rages were starting to worry him. Taking that as a signal they began to run in the opposite direction of the forest. Theo was careful to take note though of the exact position he had come through to this world in case there was a chance to return and get home to his dimension…

There were no lights here and it was dark indeed, so Theo’s attention was soon pulled from a route home and then held entirely by the run. He adjusted position and followed directly behind the monster. The monster didn’t seem to like that though and kept moving so that Theo was right next to him, in his sight, close enough that he could grab him again should he want to. And he did seem to want to. Several times he reached out and patted Theo’s arm, as if reassuring himself that Theo was there. Theo tried to ignore him, focusing instead on avoiding any holes in the mud, because the last thing he needed was a sprained ankle!

He was hugely thankful that he’d eaten the three Mars bars and drank some isotonic. Though he recalled now that he had very much needed to use the toilet. He tried to ignore that and concentrate on his running instead. Perhaps if it had been daylight, he could have looked around this dimension, this world that was pressed so closely to his own and seen things that no other human ever had. He could have marvelled at it all and felt privileged beyond words. But Theo was tired, it had been a very long day and one that had started far too early at that. He was hot and sticky and there were still bits of purple goo over his clothes now combined with blood and alien mud and who knew what else!

He found himself worrying about Dimitri and Gill. How long before they’d checked the toilet to see what was taking him so long and then found him just…gone? His chest tightened as he considered that they might think he had abandoned them. Perhaps slipped out the back whilst they were recovering themselves? And what about the others? Were they still being chased by the dozen or so munching monsters? Or had that been their queen back there, and her death had ensured theirs?

Theo played those thoughts over and over in his mind and before he knew it a half hour elapsed and then another half hour more. Without knowing it Theo had run a half marathon in the best time of his running career. But then, did personal bests count if they were on an alien planet with lower gravity and motivated by the possibility of being eaten? It was something he would consider in the years to come.

The monster slowed slightly as they came to a huge field pressed up against a cliff face. The rolling field would eventually lead down to the coast. They were too far away to see it now, but about sixteen miles from their location was the rip which had led to the infestation that Theo had been sent to contain.

“Follow me,” the monster said as he led them towards the cliff face, though once again he did not wait for Theo to follow, reaching out instead to encourage him to do so.

Theo sucked in some deep breaths as they approached. He was starting to tire, and he was unbelievably thirsty. It was a combination of all the adrenaline and all the running. The Mars bars had long since been exhausted.

The monster pressed something on the cliff face and a door appeared. It flooded them both with light, and Theo had to take a moment to let his eyes adjust.

“Come,” the monster said, and he gestured to the inside of the cave. There was a room inside of it, a hidden room, and it was clearly where the monster intended for them to rest.

Theo paused for just a moment as he considered the cave. He realised that once he was inside there would be no escaping the monster. He turned slightly and looked back to where the forest lay in darkness but even here, at such a distance away, Theo was sure he could see dim lights…there were monsters in there…monsters that this massive one was frightened of…

Theo let out a shaky breath, this whole thing was just so surreal. He wasn’t quite sure that he really believed it was happening and wouldn’t be at all surprised if he woke up at any moment now back in the village shop. One thing he did know though, there was no way back to his world alone. It was the cave with the monster, and a promise from there to return him back, or the darkness of this dimension alone.

Theo sighed and he entered the cave.

Chapter

Ten

The cave was slightly luminous, like the monster’s skin, a result Theo soon realised of some sort of coating on the walls. Theo reached out to touch it, but it didn’t feel like he imagined it would. But then, nothing in this dimension was shaping up to be how Theo had imagined it. Which of course he had. They all did back on the real Earth.

It was absolutely against the law to cross over into the other world, a law that had been quickly established more than two years ago and had been ratified by all the governments across Europe. Theo didn’t think he had broken that law given that he hadn’t crossed willingly, but there were plenty of people who had. The internet was full of theories about what the other dimension was like, and there were dozens of anonymous posters who insisted they had slipped through rips and came back with fantastic tales.

None had ever mentioned a purple monster.

A purple monster who looked like a human.

“What is this place?” Theo eventually asked as he looked around.

“A shelter,” the monster said. “We have dozens of them spread across this island and dozens more on the continent.”

“This island…you mean Britain and then Europe, don’t you?”

“That is what you call them.”

The monster gestured to a door on one side. Theo opened it. It was a bathroom. He didn’t even pause. He went inside, shutting the door behind him, and quickly took care of his business. That the toilet was pretty close in design to an earthen one did not surprise him. How many variations could there be? There was also something like a sink, and Theo took the opportunity to pause there for a little while, considering his situation, the abruptness, the strangeness of it. He soon found himself wondering what the hell was going to happen next.

Eventually, with no answer to that, he splashed some water on his face and straightened up. Was he worried that it might make him unwell? No. The rips had been open for three years now, some of them were large enough that rain storms there came into their Earth side, and whilst it was true that some new viruses and bacteria had been found across some parts of the world, the general consensus was that the monster dimension was closely related to the biology of Earth, or closely enough that the species could mix without risk of death…in the main…and unless it involved being eaten. Theo knew that to be true beyond a doubt now. He’d been abducted by a human-like monster after all.

“Thank you,” he said once he emerged from the bathroom because abduction or not there was no good reason to not be polite.

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