Page 26 of Monster's Obsession

Unable to take it a second longer, I stepped out of my room, deciding I had to find one of my monsters and get answers.

The hallway stood empty and eerily silent. I entered the elevator and confidently said, “Balcony.” The location might give me a vantage point to spot their whereabouts.

A raspy voice from within the walls stated, “Bakehouse.”

I was startled. “Wait, no. Balcony.” I emphasized the last word carefully. But I was suddenly lurching sideways, and we were moving. This elevator never listened to me, and I suspected if a monster was living in the wall, running on a hamster wheel to move this tin box, he hated me.

We were moving too fast, and my insides lurched.

I pressed my back to the wall to stop myself from falling over, my heart racing because it felt like I was suddenly on one of those spinning rides at a fair.

I cried out, “Stop!”

When we finally came to an abrupt pause, the contents of my gut were in my throat. I rapidly stumbled out, trying to escape the sensation of the world turning around me.

The sliding sound of the doors shutting left me standing alone in a hallway that I could only imagine was the basement, considering the lack of windows and its dingy feel.

The dark stone walls in front of me were chipped, fiery torches hung from the ceiling, and there was a really musty smell in the air. When I stepped forward, the soles of my shoes made a sucking sound from the stickiness. I didn’t want to look too closely at what covered the stone floor.

I didn’t want to be here at all actually, so I hit the elevator button on the wall.

Then I waited and waited.

And I waited some more.

Groaning under my breath, I was convinced the elevator monster was fucking with me. “Fine, I’m sure there are other ways to get to the balcony.”

Turning, I wandered down the eerie hallway, picking up speed, and checking out every corridor I passed. Most led into darkness, and with no signs, I didn’t want to get lost.

Finally, I paused in front of arched, double doors. Curiosity getting the better of me, I knocked, and when someone grumbledenter, I pushed on the handle.

The door swung open to a long, narrow room with a counter running along the one side, with an oversized deep sink. All kinds of kitchen knives peppered the wall. Shelves covered the other side, filled with bowls. They appeared to be flowing with slime in various colors. Gross.

Movement at the end of the long room called my attention to a shadow shifting, and someone emerging.

A sliver of fear rippled over my skin, and I held onto the door handle with a death grip.

What in the world was that? I couldn’t take my eyes off the skeletal monster that stepped forward. Long arms with gnarled fingers dragged on the floor, its head round with orb-like eyes and two horns sticking out of the side of its head. They bowed outward with the tips touching higher over his head.

“I was wondering when I’d get the honor of meeting you, Blake,” he said with a gritty voice like he was chewing on rocks.

“You know my name?” I gasped.

He threw his head back and made a terrifying sound of teeth chattering. “It’s all everyone’s been talking about. The little human who has enough power to feed monsters. It must be quite unusual for you to be in Wyld.”

“Unusualis a good way to describe it,” I murmured, still standing in the doorway, which made me comfortable as it gave me an easy escape. Well, as far as the elevator since the knobhead hated me.

“Your essence has been extraordinary to feed on, so fresh and slightly peppery.” He reached for something on the shelves and came back with a bowl overspilling with tentacles. I might have assumed it was an octopus, until he dumped the contents on the counter, revealing a snail-like creature with tentacles running along its sides.

Slime stretched from the bowl to the mammoth snail, and I gagged.

“Well, that is until the last couple of days or so,” the horned monster said casually, pulling a butcher knife from the wall, sounding slightly disgruntled. “There are all kinds of rumors flying around about it, of course.”

“Like what?” I found myself entering the kitchen out of pure curiosity.

Despite his terrifying appearance, he studied me with soft eyes when he twisted in my direction. “Many are saying that perhaps as a human, you are not strong enough to keep up with the king and his men to feed us all.”

He spoke so casually, while panic and a sliver of anger laced my blood. What if that was true? Did I want to face the reality of that? But…it had worked so far, so why had it changed now? With the thought came a scorching determination to show them I was every bit as good in the role.

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