B R Grove [Grove - A Collection of Creatures

A Collection of

Creatures

Short Stories by

B.R. Grove

A Collection of Creatures

2019 Becca Grove

All rights reserved in all media. No portion of this book may be reproduced in any form, except as permitted by Canadian Copyright law.

Published in 2019 by Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing (KDP).

ISBN for this edition: 978-1-0924-9555-4

Cover Design & Illustration by Becca Grove

To Nini & Papa

Thanks for all your love and support.

I love you.

After Dark

The girl raced down the sidewalk, her red sneakers pounding against the concrete. Her foot caught on a raised block and she fell forward with a thud, skinning her elbows. She quickly scrambled up and started to run again, but a hand grabbed her by the neck and dragged her back. She gasped for air as the mans fingers dug into her throat, and her head ricocheted off of the brick wall as he slammed her against the brick building.

The man slammed the girl against the wall once more before letting go. She crumpled to the floor, unconscious. Rasping, the man knelt next to the girls lifeless body and produced a syringe from his pocket. He inserted the needle into her jugular vein and took some blood. Then he removed the needle, brought it up to his face and jabbed it into his temple. He let out a rumbling sigh as the dead girls blood flowed into his veins and eased his pain. A moment passed and the relief was washed away by more agony. The man rasped and stood. Needmore he muttered as he hobbled down the sidewalk, away from the body. Needmore

In the shadows of the alleyway, a figure emerged. It was a young woman wearing a hooded black cloak that covered her face so that all but her ethereal green eyes were enveloped in shadow. Damn, Eden thought, gazing down the slumped cadaver of the girl. She was so young.

She regretted doing nothing to stop that man- that creature- from taking another innocent life, but she couldnt have made herself known to him in case her hunch had been wrong.

Now that she knew for certain that her target was not among the living, she would make sure to intervene.

~

Lily tripped out the door of the bar and landed flat on her face in the alley. You better not know your face round here no more, punk! The fat bartender shouted at her and slammed the door.

She flipped her black ringlets out of her eyes and glared up at the closed door. Then she stood up, dusted off her jean jacket & pink dress ensemble, only to run into a man in a leather jacket standing in the middle of the alley. He stared at her with glassy eyes, his face sickly pale and his lips blue and crusty. His short blond hair was the same colour and texture as straw. She thought he looked like a reanimated corpse.

Excuse me, she said, moving past him and walking onto the street. The man grunted and followed after her, determined to get the fresh lifeblood that flowed through the young mortals veins.

Once the two had left the alley, Eden appeared in the shadows again. She detached herself from their grasp and stepped out into the street, gazing in the direction her target went. It wasnt long before she heard a shriek coming from the vacant parking lot at the end of the road. She sped over and saw the dark-skinned girl being menaced by the creature.

No! Let me go! she cried.

The man snarled like a beast and picked her up by the neck. Needmore! he bellowed.

Before he could do anything else, Eden stepped in. Hey!

The man looked over, startled. In an instant, Eden moved through the shadows to the other side of the parking lot and shoved the girl away from him. The girl fell to the ground, gasping for air. Eden grabbed the man by his worn leather jacket and lifted him up in the air. He rasped and clutched at her gloved hands with his own withered ones.

Needmortal

Eden snorted. Thats not going to happen. With that, she focused all her energy in him and the creature soon dissipated into thin air and was gone. She sighed and dropped her arms to her sides. Then she turned to the dark-skinned girl, who was still gasping, now staring into the space where the man had been with wide eyes.

Eden offered her a hand. Need help?

~

Lily was still certain she was having a nightmare. She had just seen a man vanish into thin air right before her eyes! There was no way that could have been real right? Well, this Goth girl that killed him was certainly real, and she was reaching her hand out to her. Need help? The girl asked.

Reluctantly, Lily took her hand and the girl helped her up. Thanks, Lily said, rubbing her throat where the man had grabbed her. She was certain it would leave bruises.

The girls black-painted lips grew into a friendly smile, her eyes glowing a neon green under the shadow of her hood. How about I walk you home? Its not safe to be out here after dark.

Lily bit her lip. Go home with a stranger? She had just experienced what talking to people she didnt know at nighttime would do. The girl in front of her seemed fairly nice, however, and she did save Lily from dying.

Sure, she answered. I only live a couple of streets over.

The girl nodded and they started walking. Whats your name? she asked.

Lily. Whats yours?

Eden.

The two girls walked in silence for a while. In her mind, Lily had so many questions for Eden. Who was that guy? What did you do to him? How did you do it? She took a deep breath.

Who-

Youre wondering who that man was that attacked you, Eden stated. Lily nodded silently.

He is not a creature of this realm, she explained further. He was once human, but his soul had been warped beyond repair.
His soul? Lily thought. What do you mean by this realm ?

Eden sighed. She knew that it was not wise to tell mortals too much about the state of existence, but she felt that Lily had a right to know the true nature of what she had just been through. This realm, as in this plane of existence. There are three: the mortal- or living - realm, the in-between, and the afterlife.

Lily was dumbfounded. She just stared with wide eyes, unsure of whether to believe what Eden was saying or not.

Eden continued. As for the man that attacked you, he was a mortal whose soul refused to pass on. Like all souls that remain trapped in the in-between, he became a hollow shell of a person. Those creatures seek the lifeblood of living humans because they think it will ease the pain they feel from not being truly connected to the body they inhabit. It wont do anything, though.

That sounds horrible, Lily murmured.

It is.

She hesitated before blurting, Are you human?

Eden stopped, her face expressionless. She answered, her voice little more than a whisper: I dont know what I am.

At last, they stopped in front of the boarding house. Were here, Lily said, gesturing up at the rectangular grey building. Eden glanced up at it once nonchalantly, then held out her hands. Give me your hand.

Why? Lily asked.

Please.

She sighed and rested her hand in Edens palms. Suddenly she felt a wave of sensation go through her. She looked up at the girl in front of her, whom she noticed had eerie green eyes. Who are you? She asked, jerking her hand away.

The girl smiled sadly. Be careful. Its not safe to be out after dark. With that, she walked down the dimly lit street and disappeared into the night.

Monster

Caitlyn avoided her mothers stern gaze, unsure of what to say that could explain her absence the past few nights. She could have said that she had been at softball practice, but her mother wouldnt have believed that. Besides, what could possibly explain the bloodstains on her clothes and her newly sharpened teeth? She couldnt say Im becoming a monster to her. Her mother would never understand.

Its three in the morning, her mother said. Where have you been? Her voice was soft, which meant one thing: she was beyond angry at her daughter.