Monsters & Fairytales by Rebecca Suzanne

had been the reason I had woken up in my spare bedroom. Those boxes that had fallen, it had been him! My stomach felt ill.
    “Please don’t cut me up and eat me.” I whispered to myself.
    “What makes you think I’m going to eat you?”
    He was insulted again. I jumped. I wasn’t expecting him to respond.
    “Whatever it is you want from me, seriously, can you just get it done and over with already.”
    I tightly closed my eyes and braced for impact. When nothing happened, I peeked one of them open.
    “Hello?” I called out.
    “If you really want me to come out that bad, then you have to not scream again.”
    “Fine, I can do that.”
    I stiffened my arms at my sides. I can do this. I can control myself. You have to, Mira. Spike is here. He’ll protect you. I reached for his collar and pulled him back next to me. We waited for the man to expose himself.              
    The clothes rattled and some boxes fell over. A four clawed animal foot exposed itself from beyond the clothes and junk. I had already seen this furry dog leg before. The leg led up to a torso that wasn’t covered in such thick fur, or any from what I could tell, but rather thick skin that was the same black. My breathing stopped as the rest of the creature emerged. He was massive, at least seven feet tall. In the light from the room, I noticed his skin looked like it was covered in a layer of black velvet.              
    His arms were huge and his veins were popping out so badly they looked like scars. His wings expanded a bit and his tail twirled nervously behind his Arnold Schwarzenegger body. His hands were twitching too, and one ran up through his slicked back hair. He smiled a very odd smile. I kind of liked it. But then my eyes met his piercing violet eyes. Reality caught up right quick. I was staring at a creature from another world. I screamed and chucked the snow globe against his head. In seconds his lifeless body fell to the ground. I was still screaming.              
    The snow globe rolled over to my feet. Seeing the shards of glass sticking out, I was worried if I had gotten him with any. I knew that was my point prior to seeing him, but now I wasn’t sure I actually wanted to inflict pain on him.
    Kneeling down, I got close to his face. It was dark and hard to see anything. Something was familiar about him. I wasn’t sure what it was. I moved my hand to reposition myself and hit his shoulder. Instantly, images of him on that ledge outside of my window at my apartment flashed through my eyes. I saw him stalk me like he was going to attack me and then had I woken up in my room like nothing had happened. He had followed me here, though. I had seen him standing behind me by the glass door, I could remember the argument we'd had. He had left from this room, this closet. That’s when I had woken up in this room. Each time I seemed to have forgotten him, but now it was flooding back. I felt all my emotions again. I couldn’t understand anything. Why did this keep happening? Why did it happen at all?              
    When the breath ran out from my lungs, my ears could hear Spike barking. I closed my eyes and squeezed my head. Spike finally stopped. I opened my eyes; Sebastian was still lying there. I walked around his body to see if he was breathing. I couldn’t see any part of him moving with breath. Had I killed him? I didn’t want to feel for a heartbeat because frankly, I wasn’t sure where or if he had a heart at all. I nudged his side. Nothing happened.
    “You’ve got to be kidding me.” I sighed.
    I picked up his arrow tipped tail and took a good tug on it. Nothing happened. I tugged harder and he rolled on his side. A breath escaped his lungs. I wasn’t sure if it was just because his body had moved. Maybe it was a breath of pain? People can moan in their subconscious if they were in pain. I looked even harder for a sign of something that he was hurt. Then I noticed that he