Sweet Nightmares: A Monstrous Beginning

I keep hearing it all over the news. A cure for spinal injuries. One that replaces your entire spine with a metallic one.

It's the first transplant of its kind. Now possible to remove someone's entire spine without killing the patient.

And I would be one of the first to test it.

I was scared, of course, I was scared.

But not like I had a choice. I was compatible for the first testing, and being paralyzed from the waist down, I wanted to try it.

I want to walk again.

And if there's a chance of me dying to do that, I'll take it. What did I have to lose anymore?

I still remember it clearly, the day I lost everything.

I was traveling to a soccer game with my mother and father. Sitting beside my baby brother in the back seat, we had been playing childish games, the kind of games you would normally play with a baby his age. Peek-A-Boo, and teaching him words.

It was only a moment I looked up when my mother asked me to look at the scenery. Having gone through the mountains, no doubt it would have been stunning.

But then... I wasn't sure what I had seen.

A shadow, demon perhaps.

It jumped in front of our car and my father slammed on the breaks.

I don't remember much after that, it all happened so fast, but I do know the car spun out and we fell over the side.

How terrifying it had been, every crash, every tumble, every little feeling until the car hit the ground. And me... I don't know how I had survived, but I couldn't feel anything anymore.

I couldn't feel... Anything.

The car in shambles, the door crushed into itself. I pushed on it, but it didn't budge. Then I tried hitting it, and punching it. Finally, a blow to the glass shattered the window open. I tried to move, but I couldn't. I couldn't move my legs at all. I didn't have a choice...

I felt the broken glass dig into my fingers and arms as I pulled myself out. Oh, how I wanted to scream, how badly I desired to cry out as I dragged my body out of the broken window. I was in so much pain once I fell to the ground, I couldn't even muster the energy to scream though. I could only lie on the ground, legs lifeless, bleeding scars across my body from the glass, and probably so many broken bones that I lost any feeling. I shouldn't... I shouldn't be alive.

And in this case, as the silence dragged from minutes to hours, on to the middle of the night, I could tell. I just knew they were dead.

In that moment, I could feel the tears roll down my cheeks. I didn't realize I was actually crying though until the taste of salt touched my lips.

Why was I allowed to live when they had to die? Why did I have to lose everything?

I may as well wait here until I'm taken too.

Then I felt something. Something soft, something comforting. It touched my shoulder, as a mother would.

I heard a voice but... I couldn't focus on it. I was hurting too much, to focus my attention on a voice was near impossible.

But I felt myself being lifted from the ground and a blinding light flashing in my eyes.

This is... No, no, I don't want this.

I don't want to be saved, I wanted to die with them!

I tried to struggle but I could barely move. The most I could muster was turning my head to the accident. Men in dark suits were tearing our car apart.

The last thing I saw before the ambulance doors shut was my parents' bodies being dragged from the crash.

I couldn't even see my baby brother before I was taken away... Perhaps it was for the best though, I didn't think I could stand the sight of his body being pulled from the wreckage.

How long did I sit though? No matter what they did, despite every injury they stitched up, how long I was lying in that hospital as they forced me back to health, they couldn't do anything about my legs.

Because my legs weren't the issue.

My spine, it was cracked in so many places, and... Something called spinal stenosis the doctor said. I... Didn't really know what that was but all I know for sure is that I would never move my legs again. I was too damaged for any sort of treatment for it, so that's how it had to be. I should be dead too.

I distinctly recall a team of doctors entering my room and circling around my bed. My confusion and worry melted into hope when one of them smiled. He set a hand on my leg and told me the news; that science had finally achieved total spine replacement surgery, and it would work exactly like my original one. Then he asked me to be their first test subject.

What else could I say but yes?

So here I was, locked down to a cold table with surgeons all around me.

"Alice." One asked. I merely replied in a hum. It wasn't worth talking, and not like it was easy to when my face was pressed against a metal surface. My back was exposed to them and I laid on my stomach, that didn't make being pinned down any less uncomfortable though.

"Can you tell me about yourself?" He picked up a needle to the table next to me.

What do I say?

"I... I like soccer and going shopping."

"That's very nice." He didn't really seem to care as he turned around and injected my arm. I couldn't help a flinch but it didn't hurt very much.

"And what do you like to go shopping for?" I thought I saw his eyes flash but... Maybe I was imagining it.

"For clothes and-" I was suddenly feeling dizzy with exhaustion. "And..." What was I saying again?

It was going black.

.....

......

........

I hurt.

What was wrong with me?

What happened to me?

My body-

I quickly sat up and was immediately hit with the scent of blood. I nearly gagged at the overwhelming stench.

My eyes snapped around the room, but I couldn't believe what I was actually seeing.

Red, red, red blood, red everywhere.

Bodies of men in white, they were torn open, shredded like livestock.

I wanted to vomit seeing their organs pouring out of their bodies. What happened here?

A pain brought my attention to my own body where I could see a long scar across my stomach. As carefully as I could, I traced a finger over it and then... I twitched my toes.

Was it a success? I could move, I could actually move my legs, but I couldn't think about that now with all this death around me. I swung my legs over the table and hopped down to the floor. My bare feet quickly hit the puddles of blood and I couldn't help but cringe.

I took a step, then another, careful to avoid stepping on anyone's... Innards.

I felt like I should be afraid but it was all so... Surreal. It didn't feel like any of this was possible. Their dead eyes and gaping mouths, like they were screaming for help when this happened.

Another step to the door led to a slip and a painful fall into gore. It felt sticky, smelled ghastly, and in the dark, it pooled like ink. I couldn't help but groan out in that instant but my insides felt... Off. I didn't know how to describe it. Raw, perhaps.

Not quite right like that feeling you get when you're sick, or how you feel when you get off an intense rollercoaster.

Neither of those perfectly described it though. Perhaps I felt empty, but that couldn't be the case though, could it?

I started to pull myself up when I felt something even stranger. My body...

I looked down to the scar once more, but...

I wanted to scream as well.

It had split open, and despite no blood seeping out of me, I could see everything. I pulled back more, and my body stretched with me. What... What is this!?

I heard something metal pop inside me and as I dragged myself back, it seemed like it would never end. Right down the center of my body, I was cut in two, and a thick metal pole was holding me together. Was this... Was this my new spine?

I had to take a closer look. It didn't... It didn't hurt, I don't think it did at least. Odd spikes stuck out of the pole, but perhaps the most noticeable thing was my lack of organs. Did they take them? My stomach, my intestines, kidneys, nothing was there!

I was truly empty, but how was I alive? This wasn't possible, there was no way this could be possible.

What... Am I?

I tried to back up more only to be halted when I touched a stagnant body. By mere reflex, I recoiled.

Did... Did I do this? Did I kill them? Maybe I was some kind of monster that lost control! But... No, that wouldn't make any sense. I was still sprawling in the same place until I woke up, and I had been clean of blood.

If it wasn't me, who killed them? Who did this to me?

Was it the same person? Was it even a person?

I pulled myself up once more, finding it to be a little more than merely awkward when my body was so tall.

Once I made it to my feet, I made my way to the door. I would find someone, explain everything, beg for help. It was... Somewhat painful to walk like this, and I was too tall for the door. God... What did this to me?

I still didn't understand at all. I felt sticky with blood and finally dropped myself to tread on all fours. This was a little less painful if probably embarrassing had someone been walking behind me.

Well... I shouldn't think about that.

I needed to find help.

The hospital corridor didn't look at all how I remembered it though.

The dark ambiance reminded me of a horror movie. All the lights were out, it was dead silent. At first glance, you would think they were just closed but did hospitals even close? And if it was anything like the room I woke up in... No, I didn't want to think about that. There had to be someone living!

I trudged on, the darkness eloping me further like the hallways were endless.

The only sound was the clanking of metal within me and the pattering of my own hands and feet.

What am I supposed to do? Do I even look human? I didn't have the time to think about that.

Just when I had decided to give up and return to the first room, I saw something odd.

Something that just didn't quite fit in, no matter how you looked at it.

A figure of a person, that much as sure, but just a figure, still as a statue.

"H-Hello?" I tried to peer closer but I couldn't see any more details but the shape of their body. The figure suddenly moved, turned ever so slowly and entered the room it stood next to.

I broke into a run, hoping to catch them. A real person? A doctor, a patient, or-

When I entered the room, the figure stood in the center, eyes gleaming, staring right through me. Then they just vanished like a ghost...

-Something else.

And so I was alone in the hospital room, but this one was slightly different than before. Not a surgical room, but a tall mirror splayed against the wall.

As I etched closer, I began to have doubts. Do I even want to see what I look like?

It would probably scare myself...

But I had to know, I had to see for myself what I had become.

And so I did, I moved to the mirror and right at that moment, a ceiling light flickered on and I could see my own body.

How grotesque I looked, twisted like some kind of monster. My skin sickly pale and tainted grey... Probably from my lack of blood.

I could see right through my body, there was truly nothing there between my legs and stomach.

My hospital gown was covered in scarlet red, my short brown hair looked ragged, as though I hadn't brushed it in days.

I looked, and felt, disgusting.

What am I? What am I supposed to be?

A monster, a demon, a nightmare?

Hell, I could be all three, and being covered in blood... It was hard to convince even myself that I wasn't evil.

Then something appeared in the mirror that made me jump back, but that didn't do anything to it. The figure, leering over me with a twisted grin, and shining eyes.

I couldn't... I couldn't move.

"What is that you see?" An echo of a voice asked, like the wind carried it past me.

"I...I..." No... I shouldn't answer. I shouldn't tell this creature what I see. Don't look at myself, only look at the creature's reflection, his shadow with tiny black flecks popping off his body like he was made of bubbles.

'Who are you. What is it you want?" I tried to keep my voice clear but it was probably obvious I was shaking. Was this thing responsible for all of this?

Then something flashed in my mind.

The surgeon's eyes before I fell asleep, I thought I had been imagining it but they're... Exactly like this shadow's.

Shining red like two evil little stars.

I turned around quickly to face him but he was already gone.

"Look at yourself." Despite not seeing him, I could hear his voice clear as day.

For half a second, I thought I saw something move across the ceiling but it was already gone when I turned my head.

"You're a monster. How are you still alive? Humans would bleed out dead, and yet here you are-"

I could feel my heart racing and backed away. Where was he? What is he? What do I do?

"-Thriving! And all without blood pumping through your body or even half your organs. You're a filthy monster. You're a monster now, and you were a monster the day your little family crashed. You should have been long dead. Yet you keep coming back."

I looked around the room for something to defend myself with when something dawned on me. "How... How do you know about the accident?"

Without warning, the creature manifested right in front of me, almost making me fall back. It giggled, like a little child.

"How wouldn't I?" It set its hands on my shoulders then suddenly pushed down. I winced but then realized I was lowering to the ground. It was... Pushing me back together. But why?

When my two halves reconnected, it grinned.

"I'm a demon, chaos among humans is my job." His voice grew quiet. "Yes, I caused the crash that killed your family, and I also killed all those doctors and dragged you down here. And where is here, you may be wondering-?"

I couldn't believe what I was hearing...

"You killed them, you killed my parents, you killed my baby brother!" I tried to swing a punch but it merely faded right through him like I was punching the air. With another grin, the shadow vanished only for his voice to echo once more.

"Only magic can kill a monster, especially one like me... Or you. I've dragged you down to hell with me. Or more specifically, the monster world. Right where you belong. With killers. That's what you are, aren't you?"

"No-!"

"Oh, but how can that possibly be true? You're soaking in blood without a second thought. And who would want to be friends with that terrible body of yours? Don't you want to hurt others?"

I can't stand this, fighting with someone I can't even see while he says all these terrible things!

I just wanted to be normal, to be happy, and this... Thing destroyed everything!

An awful demon, a putrid creature, a maniacal masochist of a monster.

Without warning, it was sudden, like the feeling you get when you're suddenly jolted out of sleep, but in this case, I was awoken into another nightmare. A neverending nightmare.

A shrill scream, almost like a whistle was blown. A woman, most likely.

Another human! And maybe they needed help. I could save them, I can prove to this demon I'm not the monster he says I am!

I hurried out the room as fast as I could, still a little unsteady with walking. It had been so long, I nearly forgot what having legs felt like... If this even counts. How it is possible to use them at all?

But then I realized... I had no idea where that scream came from. Where do I go?

It didn't take long to find out once the scent of blood hit my nose though.

That irony scent led me down the halls, and as it did, the stronger it became. Oh no... Was I too late?

It seemed the strongest as I passed one of the many patient rooms. The door was shut tight with no hints of opening, but someone was here, whether alive or dead, someone was here.

"Plans?" The whispering voice suddenly appeared once more. "I'm sure you don't know the extent of your own power. Go ahead and stretch out again."

It sounded crazy, absolutely crazy. But... Maybe I should listen just this one time. I pushed my upper half up until I could do it no more, revealing the metallic pipe and spikes from inside.

"Control it. Use your body." The demon touched my shoulder with icy fingers. "This is yours. You have total power."

What does he want me to do? Control it? Control what? I don't understand at all.

I reached down and felt the spikes sticking out. And when I touched them... I could feel them. Like they were really a part of my body. "Did you... Do this to me?" I looked to the demon who merely grinned.

No response, not unexpected.

My hand wrapped around one of the spikes and I pulled. As easy as opening a water bottle, the spike was ripped from the pipe, attached with a long cord.

I felt something in the spike, something...

Can I really control this?

And so I tried, as though I was trying to move my hands, and the spike did move, cord along with it.

It was almost like I was controlling it with my mind, and I was, technically, moving it like a limb.

I pulled out the other spikes and without wasting time, stabbed them all into the door. They slid through easily, sending pieces of wood in all directions. The spikes were like arrowheads, and when I pulled back, the door ripped off the hinges before I tossed it aside.

"I did it..." I looked to the demon once more but he had vanished.

Well, I could forget about him. I wasn't really sure how to retract my spikes back into my body, so I dropped them, letting them merely drag behind me as I entered the room. "Hello? Is anyone here?"

"Help..." A weak voice whined from behind one of the dividing curtains.

"I'm... I'm here. Don't be scared, okay?"

The woman didn't reply after that; I hope everything will be alright. As I passed the curtain, I could see the small woman lying on the hospital bed. The white sheets dripped with red that seeped out of her stomach. Her eyes were closed but I could tell she was still alive by the slow rise and fall of her chest.

"She's... She's human. Why is a human in the monster world?" I looked around for the demon but he too, was silent.

I reached close and tried to peer closer to see exactly what was wrong. It was difficult to pinpoint with so much blood but it looks like whatever did this to her cut deep enough for her intestines to be pushing through the wound. How terrible...

"What do I do?" I tried looking around for stitches or something but I wasn't a doctor. What would a doctor do in this situation? What was I supposed to do!?

"Kill her." The demon, without warning, manifested on the other side of the bed. "Take the life of this meek little human. She's not worth anything."

No, I wasn't going to do that, I wasn't going to just end her life!

The more I stared down at her, the more I saw the weakness across her face.

The wincing pain, too weak to even cry.

Oh... How I knew what that felt like...

I reached close, I wanted to touch her.

But then she opened her eyes, glazed and tired, and she saw me.

The woman saw me and she screamed once more. A piercing, blood-curdling scream for my body, and I reacted without thinking. I drove the spikes through her body, I felt them squish inside her, ripping her organs apart, crushing her.

How could she scream at me... When I was trying to help her!? Why did she want to hurt me? Why did she scream and fear me? Why did it feel so... So good to end her cries?

I could see her eyes roll back and the red liquid drip out of her mouth.

Her fingers twitched but she couldn't fight back against me...

When I pulled my spikes back out, a rain of blood circled around me, and left gaping holes inside her. The woman stopped moving but... I was mad.

I wanted her body to keep hurting.

"Go ahead." That demonic voice was in my head, only in my head, I couldn't see the creature any longer. "You're hungry, aren't you? Rip her to shreds. Devour her very soul. You are a monster, a powerful, bloodthirsty monster now."

Yeah...

Okay, how could I refuse?

How colorful, how sweet, how absolutely fantastic!

Everything smelled so nice, wonderful sweets, cakes, and cookies, oh I couldn't possibly decide.

I looked to the cashier, his fluffy rainbow colored hair covered a majority of his face. "Hey, how much for the cupcakes?" I picked up a box of the mini chocolate cupcakes from the shelf and bounded over. He looked a little confused a moment before quickly jumping, like he just realized where he was. "O-Oh, sorry, I'll ring them up for you."

He took the box and I couldn't help a smile. I could just barely see his horns peeking out of his hair, he was so cute.

The machine rang when he put the box under and after a moment to look, he handed the box back. "That's seven coins." He smiled in return.

I opened my wallet, which I always carried with me, and dumped it on the counter. "That's one, two, three, uhh... Darn, I only have six!" I frowned, biting my lip.

My friend would really love these, but I guess I had to find something else! As I was getting ready to pick my money back up, the cashier, suddenly grabbed my wrist. "Wait! I c-can do six. It's no problem." He pulled the money to him and put it in the register before wiping his hand on his shirt.

"All yours." He gave one final smile and tilt his head like a cute little puppy.

"Wow, really!?" My eyes probably sparkled just then and I jumped forward to give him a hug. I felt him tense up then quickly backed away. "Oh, i'm so sorry!" I looked up and down his clothes, now covered in my slime.

He looked down as well, looking a little uncomfortable but quietly laughed. "It's okay. At least now I can say I was hugged by a slime." The boy joked, and I giggled back before picking up the box. "Thanks again!" I made sure to call back as I exit the store. Everything was so vibrant and colorful today, just like every day!

The streets were busy with monsters of all kinds. I love how we can all live together, even though we're all super different.

My kind was called a slime, or oozekin to the doctors and stuff.

All slimes were born in the water so a lot of slimes live in the sea, but I like walking on land and seeing all the different types of monsters. Since I was only made of sea slime though, it's pretty hard to touch someone, my slime gets everywhere!

Well, my friend doesn't really mind, his name is Mint, and he's an octo, or polypuskin. Most octo are kinda mean but not Mint!

I started hurrying into a quick jog to get to our meeting spot even quicker. I passed a few cool looking monsters along the way. The fuzzy, the scaly, the scariest were the hornkin though. Hornkin sort of look like demons in stories, they appear like humans, but with huge, pointed horns. Sometimes they have tails but not very often.

Usually, when I see hornkin, I cross the street. They're usually pretty nice, they only look intimidating and just imagine what those horns can do in a fight!

That was the case when I saw a group of them walking toward me on the sidewalk. They didn't seem to notice me so I quickly crossed the street while they were talking to each other.

The park was just up this road so I started looking out for Mint.

It was a good day to play, so a lot of monsters were at the park with their kids. It made it kind of hard to look for him among everyone else but who could forget his appendages? I spotted his waving above everyone, seeing as his arms were super long and ran over. Before he could even speak, I thrust the box towards him.

"What's this?" He questioned, slowly accepting the box.

"A gift. Have you ever seen one?" I chuckled and held my hands behind his back. Today he looked... No different than usual. The regular curly brown hair, the vanilla colored turtle neck, and simple jeans, yup, Mint is still Mint.

He could almost look like a human if it wasn't for his super long tentacles for arms, purple skin, weird octopus feet, and that third eye on his forehead of course.

"Of course I've seen one!" He pout like a little kid. "I mean why?"

"Well, why not? Getting your friends gifts for no reason feels nice."

He paused for a second before chuckling playfully. "You slimes are all super cute, you know?"

"Where would you get your desserts without me?" Setting my hand on his arm, I decided to lead Mint to come with me.

There were always so many events in town, and so many we haven't seen yet, and a whole day to see them all.

The sun was warm, the town was full of life, what else could we do?

"Caramel, wa-wait!" Mint quickly stopped and I released his arm to look back. "What is it?" I tilt my head, but he frowned, looking down to the box.

"The day is nice, let's just enjoy it. We don't always have to run around, it's just as fun to sit in the grass with your best friend and eat some cupcakes." He held up the box for me to see, but I could only exhale a sigh. How could he not want to go have fun?

"Come on Mint, I can't sit still. We just graduated! We should celebrate, and laugh, and run, and-"

I was interrupted by the boy shaking his head. "But that's all childish. We're adults now, so we should do something adults do."

That caused us both to fall quiet. What does an adult do for fun? I'm pretty sure Mint didn't even know.

Like a lightbulb popped up above my head, I clapped my hands. "Hey!"

He jumped in shock at my yelling, I almost wanted to laugh. He was such a timid guy.

"I have an idea." I began. "You still have that job at the arcade, right?"

The polupuskin replied with a nod. I could tell he was a bit confused on what he was asked by the way his eyebrows furrowed.

I cleared my throat like my idea was absolutely perfect. "Soooooo~"

Broadening my shoulders and standing up straight, I puffed out my chest. "You should supply the money for a shopping spree. I need some new clothes."

He was quiet for a long minute before choking back. "W-What!? Why do I have to pay for you? You don't even wear clothes!"

"That's mean, I can wear clothes if I want." I was teasing, but it was a little cute that he couldn't tell. Might as well keep it going. "Besides, any clothes I wear would be totally better than your turtleneck."

He wrapped his left tentacle around the box and held it under his arm as he turned away with a groan. "Caramel, if you wore clothes, your body would absorb them, then they'd get all... Slimy."

"I'm a slime." I puffed my cheeks as a child would and turned my back to him. "If you don't wanna play, I can go on my own. I can't believe you'd let your best friend play in the dangerous city all by herself!"

Not wasting a second, there was a tentacle on my head and Mint stepped up next to me. "Please, the most dangerous thing in this city is getting poked by a goliath dog crossing the street. But you got me. Let's go."

He wore an innocent smile and when I returned it, the appendage left my head where he shook off some of my slime and walked beside me.

"Anyway, I heard there was going to be a town meeting later. You planning to go?"

"No way," I answered quickly. As rare as they were, I never wanted to go to one of those mean things! "They're always so serious and boring!"

I turned to Mint but he seemed to be thinking about something before a small frown pricked his lips. "There was a darkness sweep earlier. Maybe they're calling the meeting to banish any... Turned."

Turned?

That wasn't a term I heard in a little while.

Darkness is some sort of hidden evil. I don't totally know what it is, I don't think anyone really does, but if someone catches it, they start to get evil, like the monsters in human stories. Our city definitely wasn't that, so sometimes the police do a thing called a darkness sweep and take away monsters that start turning evil and banish them to the dark world.

It's scary to think about, but I have seen it a few times. I don't like to think about it though.

Mint likes to watch the news, so I sometimes see the stories when I'm at his house.

I almost started to cry the last time I saw a turned on TV. It's like they didn't have any humanity left!

They tried to attack the officers detaining them, like some kind of raging bull.

No way, if there were going to be any turned at the town meeting, I'll be avoiding it with my very life.

"Do you really think anyone in our city caught the darkness? That would be so sad!"

Mint didn't answer me and after a couple seconds, he opened the cupcake box and offered one out. "Here." He softly smiled. "Sweets always make you happy, right?"

He knew me so well. I accepted the cupcake and bit into it, letting the sugar fill my mouth.

"Anyway, how's your family?" He inquired again after I swallowed. "Didn't you go to visit them recently?"

Oh wow, I totally forgot about that.

"Yup!" I took another bite. "Everyone is doing alright, mom just remarried to a cacikin. He's pretty nice, but all pokey and stuff."

"That is what a cacikin does." My friend answered in a matter of factual voice, like the know-it-all he was.

He picked up a cupcake of his own and bit into it before licking his lips of some chocolate frosting.

Suddenly, something caught my eye and I couldn't help but stop and quickly run up to a cute little store on the side of the road. "Mint, look at all the cute dolls!" I could see my own eyes sparkle in the display window for a moment.

"They look just like little humans!"

Mint set his tentacle on the glass before sighing. "So expensive too. They must be a new model. Let's look somewhere else." He quickly tapped my shoulder, just to lead me away. I didn't want to go but he was right, not even a year's worth of monthly allowance could afford those.

What a shame, and they're so absolutely cute too!

At that moment, someone pushed past us. I was nearly knocked down if Mint hadn't grabbed my arm and helped me back up.

What was that about? Only moments after, a group of officers ran past as well, though they were nice enough not to hit us. Right in front of my eyes, a monster was tackled to the ground. He bared his teeth directly at me and snapped his jaws. How scary...

A hornkin... But not?

An officer held him by his long and pointed red horns, keeping his head pressed to the ground.

"Step back!" One of the officers shouted towards us.

Didn't have to tell me twice. I took two steps back, just in case.

I tried to look into the hornkin's eyes but they didn't have any color at all.

Seeing a turned up close like this... How terrible!

One officer tied a cloth around his mouth while the other cuffed his wrists. When they finished, one of them shocked him with some kind of pen that put the monster to sleep.

They seemed to handle it like it was a common thing and pulled him up to drag him.

I couldn't move until they were out of sight, even with Mint tapping my shoulder.

He was so close, he could have attacked me right then!

I don't know why, but I was just... Really, really scared.

I didn't think about it before turning and hugging Mint as tight as I could.

He made a kinda bothered noise but I couldn't care at the moment. I just needed a hug after seeing that and Mint was here.

He let me hug him a minute before slowly pushing me off. It was only then I realized all the yummy cupcakes were lying on the ground.

I wiped my face quickly and gave him a frown. "Was it that mean turned? Did he knock them down?"

The octo paused before chuckling and rubbing the back of his head.

"Uh, yeah. Of course. They just flew right out of my hand."

I could tell he was lying but I was glad. I didn't mean to make him drop the cupcakes, but Mint is the best friend ever to try to make me happy.

A silence fell between us before he sighed. "Anyway, how about going back to my house? I can make you lunch if you want. That probably ruined your mood to go out and play, right?"

Of course, I had to agree, and so we turned back to go back to Mint's house. It wasn't really a big house, more like a tiny apartment, but it was that cozy kind of small, like a blanket in the winter!

I plopped down on the ground in front of the TV while Mint split to go to the kitchen. As usual, he had the news on so I decided to just boredly watch.

Unlike all the cartoons, the news was the only show that wasn't animated, but it still looked a little cartoonish.

The words at the bottom were drawn with peppermint colors and looked enlarged.

The newscaster today was an aquakin. They looked like a human fish sort of.

He had scales and fins and gills, but all with a human body shape.

"Mayor Coughdrop called for an emergency meeting later this afternoon to call for a banishing of all turned monsters and to reinstate new policies and rules for the upcoming year. It is advised everyone to attend. In other news, five new books have been banned from-"

Mint suddenly sat down next to me and handed out a turkey sandwich. "Here. I know how much you hate eating jelly."

I could only force a smile as I accepted it.

Mint took a bite of his own sandwich before heaving a heavy sigh and flopping onto his back. "This is so messed up, right? Don't you see it?"

I took a bite and turned to him, a little confused. What was he talking about? The boy set his sandwich on his shirt, still a little slime-stained from my hug.

"The way they run things." He began. "The city bars everyone from knowledge and keeps them away from sad things like we're kids. Hiding everything in candy and cartoons, but you see, right? People are still going evil and they're just banishing them."

It wasn't something I thought about too much but I knew Mint felt strongly about it.

"Well...." I thought for a second and took another bite. "What do you swugesst whe gwo?" I said between bites and swallowed.

Mint chuckled and pulled himself back up to a sit, grabbing his sandwich before it fell. "I'd want to study the turned, if I can, and find a way to help them. These aren't just bad monsters, you know. They have families and lives but are being taken to the dark zone. What if it was you, or me?"

"If it was you-" I began carefully. "I'd save you of course! Then we'd come back here and you could buy me that doll."

It looked like he tried to smile before it fell into a frown. "You're not the easiest person to talk to about this. Can I ask something?"

I nodded and bit into my food again.

"Why are you so happy? Doesn't anything bother you?"

Hmm... That was something I had to think about. I tapped my chin as I decided on an answer before looking at him.

"If I spent all my time being mopey and only seeing everything bad, I would never be happy, and being happy feels really good. So how come you're not so happy?"

"Easy." He set his sandwich on his lap, looking like he didn't want it anymore. Mint's voice suddenly became more firm as he responded in a somewhat serious answer. "There's so much wrong in our world, and too much to ignore. I can't just act like it's not going on and go along singing a happy little song while others suffer."

I didn't have a chance to respond when a loud ringing directed out attention outside. I set my food on the window seal and looked to see a crowd of people heading down the sidewalk. I looked to Mint, who narrowed his eyes.

"I guess it's time for the meeting. I have to go. You can stay here if you want." He turned away from me and began away but I reached out to grab his arm, stopping him quickly.

"Caramel?" He looked back, and I matched his eyes. I wasn't super good at acting serious but this time, I definitely wanted to!

"I'm coming with you. I want to help them like you said! We should stop the monsters from being banished to the dark zone."

The boy looked taken aback as his eyes widened at my words. A small pink crossed his cheeks before he beamed a happy grin. Now that's the Mint I love seeing.

"Alright, let's go then!"

A mob would be the best word to describe what I was following. This crowd of clueless monsters all marching to the center of the city, smiling away as if nothing was wrong.

In their minds, perhaps that was the case. They've been so closed off, they couldn't see the darkness that's really all around them.

The street lamps began to flicker, I could tell it was some sort of Morse Code to lead the monsters to the center of the town, though I couldn't read it very well.

Something about the turned and the darkness, but... I couldn't catch all of it. I wasn't even aware I was staring until Caramel took the end of my appendage to lead me onward. I gave her a smile but turned away from the slime to focus where I was going.

It was oddly silent, like I was walking with robots instead of fellow monsters.

Actually, it wasn't normally this quiet, especially for this number of people.

I couldn't see over their heads either, being as short as I was. Well, at least I was taller than Caramel, who looked a bit annoyed at being blocked.

They all had smiles but the mood felt so bleak.

We passed my old college, and the hospital, even the elementary school; and everywhere we passed, more monsters flooded out to join the crowd until my friend and I was right in the center of it all.

Caramel suddenly squeaked and clung to my arm tightly. When I looked to her, I could see her eyes locked onto something and following it, it was a very tall hornkin. Four red horns, a black coat dragging out behind him.

I forgot Caramel felt intimidated by them. Well, he wouldn't hurt her, if he didn't turn that is...

I got Caramel was like everyone else, a happy-go-lucky innocent monster, blinded by candy and rainbows. Normally, that kind of thing would bother me, but I can't blame Caramel. Maybe everyone else, but not her.

She's that friend that you probably wouldn't be friends with if you hadn't played together as kids.

Octokin were known for being pretty asocial and mean, even my own father was like that, and my mother.

I was like that too once, and then Caramel appeared, being her happy self towards child me.

As much as I tried to push her away and spat in her direction, she kept coming back.

I finally just gave in, and she changed me.

I can't say I regret it at all. It was as she said, being happy felt good. I didn't like being mean, it was just something I perhaps... Did because I didn't know how else to act.

I don't think she realized at the time though that my kind was instinctively mean, which had made her so persistent.

I can't really say my parents were all that happy about my personality change back home though, so I ended up moving out early for college. Caramel just dragged herself along with me and barely managed to pass her classes.

Looking at her now though, she still only looked like a child to me.

I released a heavy sigh and looked ahead. It shouldn't be long now before we reached the town center. There were probably hundreds of monsters at this point and more that would be coming from the other side of town.

Meetings like this were fairly rare at least. They were usually something small to put on a show as the mayor banished the turned.

New rules were uncommon enough though, and if they weren't followed, there would be a lot of consequences. So that's most likely why so many people decided to come around today.

In the center of town sat a giant house circled around a garden; the mayor's home itself, the oldest building in the city.

The crowd came to a slow and steady stop, everyone staring towards the door. I gave Caramel a glance and squeezed her hand, catching her attention.

It was impolite to speak during a meeting, so I gestured forward with my eyes in hope's she would catch onto what I wanted. To my relief, the slime nodded and tapped the guy in front of her, giving him a sweet smile.

He stepped aside and allowed us to pass, giving us the chance to move closer in order to see. Most monsters were fairly short, it was actually pretty odd if there happened to be a tall monster, but it could happen, and with this many in one area, quite a few tall monsters blocked our view.

Just as we managed to squeeze our way to the front, the door opened and a man stepped out. He looked around the crowd with peppermint colored eyes, red coat dragging onto the ground.

Well, he certainly lived up to his name; 'Mayor Coughdrop'.

Nobody was actually very sure what kind of monster he was, he had traits of many.

Long feathered wings, a sharp pink horn, and a strange little snout.

It's just a theory but I'm pretty sure he had goat legs under that robe as well.

Who wears a robe with a coat anyway?

This guy... Was really weird.

"Good morning citizens!" He grinned, waving without care.

A few claps could be heard but not many voices.

A couple seconds passed before he cleared his throat.

The mayor was a tall, skinny man, but I feel like he would look less weird if he was a chubby ball too, like the bad guys in movies I smuggle... Seeing as he banned any movies with a bad guy.

God... I don't see how everyone could love this guy.

Caramel's eyes were sparkling though. I don't think she's ever seen the mayor up close before. Well, I don't want to ruin her fun, even if I'm not having any.

I only came to hear the politic piece of it all. I'm the only one I know that bothers to even keep up with the news, one day I'll crack him though, and everyone would see what he's really doing to them.

"So we have a lot of fun planned today, does anyone want some candy?" He looked around like he was talking to children.

At this though, more clapping and he reached into his jacket's pockets before pulling out handfuls of candy canes. The mayor tossed them into the crowd and quite a few monsters made a grab for them.

With a smile, the mayor watched until every piece was picked up before continuing.

"So let's get down to business, shall we? I've compiled a new list of things that are no longer permitted in this cute little town. Does everyone want me to read it?"

Nobody answered, so the mayor cleared his throat and pulled out a list.

His eyes moved up to look at everyone before he turned back to the paper.

"From now on, chocolate is no longer permitted. The dark color could be a trigger to the darkness. Nobody may own a book longer than a hundred pages, for worry that one may lose patience and get angry, thus becoming infected-"

"The mayor really cares so much." I heard Caramel mutter beside me. I quickly shushed her, in case anyone may have heard her speak.

"Jelly is no longer allowed, due to reports of oozekin being offended. Monster children may not be allowed to skip grades, even if they're smarter than the grade they are currently in. This is so other children do not become jealous."

He flipped the paper over to read the other side.

"Dentists and doctors will no longer be present in the town. This is caused by monsters injuring doctors on accident. And finally, no monster may be allowed to speak out against me or any government official. We will not tolerate any sort of rebellion."

He finished with a happy gleam and folded the paper back up to put away. "Great that we got that out of the way! Now on to the main event! Everyone ready to see the banishment ceremony?"

And at that moment, the clapping became roaring.

Why was everyone so excited?!

The mayor beckoned behind him where two agent monsters pulled something out of his house.

Cages on wheels, with what seemed like psychotic monsters inside.

Multiple cages with different types of them.

One cage with the hornkin we saw in the street. He sat down, banging his head against the bars followed by snarling.

A smaller looking wolf mix paced his cage, eyeing the crowd with bloodlust.

Most would be afraid but I just felt... Sorry for them.

I took a glance to Caramel, who shivered some, head down.

She suddenly flinched and I turned back as they rolled out a third and final cage.

He didn't look familiar to me, but the monster seemed to have an effect on the slime.

The young looking boy with fluffy rainbow hair, thrusting his claws out between the bars in hopes it would connect with something. He flicked his long tail and let out an angry, spitting hiss.

As I looked closer, I realized I could see a green discoloring on his shirt, much like... Caramel's.

Oh man, what happened to this guy?

"This!" The Mayor shout with sudden anger in his voice. "This is what the darkness does to us! This is why we have our rules, this is what happens when you break them."

I wanted to yell out how untrue that was, how many books and movies with bad guys I smuggled into the city and how fine I was, but I forced my mouth to stay closed. I can't just announce that I was breaking the law.

The mayor approached one of the cages and slammed his fist against the bars, causing the wolf mix to yip and suddenly look frightened.

"This one stole some candy from the store, and now the darkness is in his heart. He will become a killer!"

A collective 'booo' rose up.

He moved next to the cage with the hornkin inside it. "And this one got into a fist fight, giving the darkness an opportunity to sneak into his heart."

Finally, the mayor approached the rainbow-colored boy. He paused to stare before stepping away from his claws and looking back to the crowd. "And this one was sneaking some illegal candies into bags for children. Sour candy, spicy candy, he knew the law against them, and he gave these tongue attacking candies to children. He could have gotten away with it, gotten away with hurting your young ones until the darkness stole him! Do you really want these monsters walking the streets, being a threat to your little ones!?"

More, louder booing answered and the mayor erupted into a fit of laughter.

As he did, he pulled a large orb out of his pocket and slammed it to the ground not far off. The orb exploded, opening a glowing portal where it landed. "Let the banishment begin!"

Suddenly, Caramel ripped away from my hold. I tried to reach out but she was too quick as she ran up to the mayor. "Wait!" She looked to the crowd, then back to the mayor. "We don't have to do this. We don't have to send them to that world!"

"They're beasts." He narrowed his eyes at the girl.

Quickly, she snapped back, "They're living beings with homes and families! They just need help, we can help them instead of just throwing them away, right?"

Oh, Caramel... What are you doing? What could I even do?

The Mayor frowned before suddenly grabbing her arm. The slime yelped in pain but he didn't relieve his grip before looking to the crowd. "We have someone trying to defend the turned here. But the turned will kill us, won't they? So it's only logical anyone wanting to defend them is a turned themselves. She wants them to kill us, she may even want the turned to take over this world as they did to the dark one!"

No longer caring about the no talking rule, the town rose into a rather loud buzz of conversation. The mayor didn't seem too bothered though. In fact, he grinned when it began.

"Men, go ahead and throw them in." With a wave, the agents pushed the cages into the portal where they vanished on sight.

Caramel cried out but nobody seemed to listen to her as the mayor roughhoused the girl and pushed her to the ground.

She lowered her head, not daring to look up to the monsters now shunning her.

The mayor set his boot on her back, holding her down. "What do you think? Throw her in?"

No, no this can't be happening!

The town began to cheer but it all just seemed drowned out at the moment. I began to move closer, but nobody seemed to notice. They were too busy looking at the oozekin girl.

The mayor grabbed her once more, by her hair this time, making her spit with pain and anger. Caramel didn't deserve this!

I broke into a run and that's when I was finally noticed. My aim was to the mayor but when he saw me, he pulled Caramel off her feet before pushing her to the portal.

Time slowed down just then before my best friend stumbled into the dark world's portal and vanished behind it.

I don't care about the Mayor anymore, I just... I just had to save Caramel!

I changed my aim and ran for the portal. What am I doing?

I'm an octokin, I shouldn't be caring for someone else like this. It's not in my DNA to do so, but Caramel... I won't just leave her to those murderers!

I felt my skin burn as I entered the portal, then it was all black.

I looked around, blinking my third eye, which is normally supposed to be more clear than the other two, but it was still too dark to even see my own tentacles.

I turned around, but the portal was gone.

Suddenly I heard a sound like wind whooshing in my ears before, without warning, I hit the ground.

Unable to hold back, I let out a pained grunt and pushed myself back to my feet.

That... Could have been worse at least.

There was an odd, misty scent in the air. It must have rained recently wherever I was.

It wasn't much of a struggle to pull myself to my feet but I did feel a little heavier. It suddenly hit me and I quickly looked around. "Caramel?"

The now broken cages laid around me, they must have been cracked upon that fall and the monsters escaped.

There was no sight of them now though, meaning they obviously ran off first chance they had.

There among the cages lay Caramel's small body. I called her name again and moved closer. The girl twitched her nose and opened her eyes, seeming to be in a daze before reality hit her and she quickly sat up. "Mint-! Why did you come in here with me?"

What sort of question- I had to process it a moment before slapping her arm.

"What do you mean why!? I should be asking you why you did such a stupid thing! We'd still be fine if you didn't announce yourself like that!"

Caramel had an undefined look on her face before she sniffed and tears began to roll down her face.

"I... I just wanted to help them, like you were talking about." She dropped her head to the ground and wiped her face, but being a slime, it didn't do much.

I could only heave a sigh. Even if this happened, she meant well, how could I be mad?

I offered my tentacle out, taking the girl by surprise before she accepted my help and I assisted her to her feet.

"It doesn't matter, we're here now so we should find a way out." I forced a smile, despite being scared out of my mind.

Nobody has ever come out of the dark world, but at least Caramel didn't know that. First, we should look around and examine our surroundings.

It looked the same in every direction though. Dead tree, dry grass, empty night sky, and the occasional stone.

It was... Very quiet though. Too quiet, actually.

The noise of the cages breaking would have been very loud, right? So who's to say it didn't attract attention?

But there was nothing.

Wasn't this a land of murderous monsters?

I couldn't see very far out due to a setting fog but I didn't feel safe out in the open like this.

I set my arm on Caramel's shoulder and nudged her to follow, which she did without hesitation.

"What sort of things do you think are out here?" Her voice came out in a whisper. A question I couldn't answer. I only closed my eyes a moment and continued walking.

"What do we have here?"

A female voice echoed around us, causing us both to stop in our tracks.

I immediately tensed up. "Who's there?"

No answer.

We both kept still a long moment before chuckling rang in our ears. "You're a long way from home. Aren't you just little cuties?"

The crack of a stick behind me made me whip my head back where I could see a figure coming close.

Giant wings, yet the form of a human.

An angel? No, not here.

Then it hit me. I read about these monsters before.

"You're... A harpy."

Caramel tugged my sleeve in fear. "What's a harpy?"

"A mythological creature." I began. "A half human, half bird. Humans only think of them as stories, but they're thieves and kidnappers."

The harpy chuckled before coming close enough to see her. She seemed to have the head of a woman but was grotesque in every way possible.

Slowly, the harpy spread her wings and I quickly took Caramel's hand. "Run!"

As we took off running, the monster screeched and took flight.

I didn't have to look back to know we were being chased. My heart was racing, my mind going even faster.

I could only yell out curse words before finally turning back to see our distance. Her talons were spread out, ready to take one of us.

No... No way!

Through the fog, I could see a ditch coming close.

Maybe we can have a chance there, it's all we have. No way we would be able to outrun a harpy for long.

I hopped over the ditch and quickly dart out to pull Caramel beneath it with me. She almost screamed until I covered her mouth, giving us both a chance to calm our breathing. The harpy flew right over us, eyes looking around, scanning the ground with fury.

Good thing it was in the air and didn't spot the small opening beneath the ditch. After a few minutes, the monster vanished and I let out the most relieved sigh in my life.

Only been here a few minutes and already attacked... We need to get out of here.

I went to move but Caramel held me back.

"Can we just... Sit here for a little bit while we still have somewhere safe?" Her voice begged, yet her eyes were even louder.

I wouldn't argue with that, I sort of wanted to stay here a bit too, even if we were sitting in the mud.

"Alright." I leaned back into the dirt. "Just a short nap though. We have to get out as soon as possible."

The slime didn't argue with that and used my arm as a pillow before falling asleep.

We...

We had to get out of here.