Monster March: The Black Cat & The Owl

Female Reader x Female Monster

When I fell in love, I thought  it would be forever. I thought she would be mine to hold and protect and  never let go. It was so very long ago, yet it still feels as if I only  turned around, I would be with her again. I understand why she had to  leave, but it does nothing to soothe the pain I felt. Even now, the  scars remain, haunting me with stirrings of misery when the memory  returns. I was her first, and she was new and scared then.

Her  family was very set in their ways as well, unable to see beyond the  familiar. They kept to themselves for the most part, and they had plans  for their child, ones I would be interrupting. Her clan of Owls kept her  in the nest, waiting for the day she would be needed.

My family  and I remained in the shadows. We didn’t much care for anyone but  ourselves either, but at least we knew tradition didn’t mean much. We  did as we pleased, when we wanted, and no one could tell us differently.  The shadows gave us comfort and protected us, warning us of oncoming  danger. All we needed to do was listen to them.

My love was a  pretty thing, all white with wide eyes that took in the world with  caution. It was her long legs that betrayed her, causing her to fall in  the woods as she was returning home. I remember how she lay there for a  moment, white hair spilled across the ground. She almost looked dead.  But she rose, slowly and surely, as tears poured down from her eyes. It  had only been a short fall. Why she was crying was a mystery to me.

I  could see her loveliness even as the tears streamed down her face. I  was intrigued, as I had been told all my life her family were nothing  but bug-eyed loons. This one had soft features, wide black eyes, and a  dainty mouth. She whimpered, pulling her legs up so she could see the  damage that had been done.

I slunk out of the woods, approaching  her quietly so as not to startle her, and knelt beside her, checking the  scrape on her knee that was causing her such distress. There was nary a  drop of blood spilt. She seemed more afraid of me than her fall. Those  fathomless black eyes peered up at me, and I could see myself in them. I  could see visions of the future in her gaze, so I forced myself to look  away. I wanted nothing of that.

“Don’t stare at me,” I snapped at her. “Your eyes will dry out and then they will fall from your head.”

“You frightened me. Who are you?”

I  ran my hand up her leg, enjoying the feeling of her calf in my palm.  She was much more shapely than me, her figure more feminine, more soft. I  had long legs too, but I was all bone compared to her.

“I’m the  spirit of the forest who tends to beautiful young women who fall.” I  smiled at her, watching her cheeks turn pink. “I tend to them, stop  their tears, and then I gobble them up.” I licked my tongue over my  lips.

Her cheeks grew a shade darker. She rubbed her eyes, ridding them of tears. “No, you’re not.”

“Yes, I am.” I wanted to tease her, to see her face contort. “Now be still so I can eat you.”

Her  smile was small, but it was there. She looked at me, her long white  lashes fluttering as her eyes trailed down my body. I had a long neck  and angular shoulders, and my long, thin fingers were still on her leg.

Her  gaze haunts my dreams to this day. The way her lashes raised, her eyes  gleamed, all melted together into a precious image I wanted to kiss  forever.

“Who are you, really?” she asked.

“I told you, I’m a  spirit who eats pretty girls.” My hand stroked further up her leg. “No  matter how much they scream, I continue to feast on their soft, pink  flesh.”

“You don’t look like a spirit.” She looked over me again,  her eyes lingering on my throat and lips. “You look like one of the  Shadows.”

I tilted my head so my neck bent at an odd angle. “How do you know what shadows look like?”

“My  parents taught me about them. How they stay hidden, how they prefer  darkness.” She reached up to touch me, but I pulled away. “I thought  you’d be much more scary.”

“I don’t know how me eating you couldn’t be scary.” I dropped my eyes.

“You’re much too small to eat me,” she giggled.

“All  the more reason!” I feigned a shocked gasp. “I’m unassuming. It’s all  part of the trap.” My hand hadn’t left her leg. “You’re letting your  guard down as we speak. You’re becoming more vulnerable to me.”

She glanced behind her. “I have to go.” Her voice warbled as she moved to stand. She seemed nervous. “Thank you for helping me.”

I scoffed as she began to walk away. “Be careful the next time you pass through here. I will eat you then.”

The  next time I saw her, she was gathering moss from the riverbank. I came  down from the trees to see her and I bit her finger as proof I could eat  her. She pressed her fingertip against my rough tongue, her eyes  widening as my tongue coiled around it and my teeth bore down on her  knuckle. She came in closer, breathing on me while I sucked her finger. I  still remember the way she tasted then, with slight hints of earth and  raspberry, and the salt that shone through it all.

“Your teeth are  so sharp.” She used her fingers to spread my mouth open, peering  inside. Her fingertip pressed against my fang, pricking herself enough  to bleed. I licked it, tasting more of her. I should have been wary  then. I was easily trapped by pretty things. My favorite childhood toy  was a shiny spoon of my grandmother’s.

“You really are eating me.” She was trying to make a joke of it, but her face was far too flushed.

I looked up at her, my yellow eyes gleaming in the shade of the trees. “Not yet, pretty one.”

Her  name was Faye, soft and light as air. Her beauty was only matched by  her tenderness. She was guarded jealously by her family, barely let out  of their sight. She was starving for affection, even from a creature  like me. She would come and find me, unaware I was always waiting for  her. She reached for me with hands soft as moonlight and twice as  beautiful. Like feathered wings her embrace wrapped around me, and I  would become powerless to her. I was strong, but she made me weak, like a  kitten in a warm lap.

I would touch her, giving her the contact  and affection she craved. The poor thing would shiver at first, but as  time went on, she melted into my grasp. Our first kiss was shared over a  blackberry bush, our lips stained by juice. I could barely contain  myself as that sweet little mouth pressed against mine. I returned her  kisses, holding her close to me. She licked over my teeth, and a  frightened sigh escaped her lips.

We kissed more and more, hiding  away so no one would see us. She exposed herself to me, her pale body  glowing amongst the shadows of the forest. The shadows would not touch  her brightness, but moved away from her skin so I could see all of her.  She was like cream spilled from the saucer, a delectable treat I had to  lick up. Her breasts were heavy and filled my palms as my rough tongue  circled her nipples. I was happy when she begged me to touch her. I gave  her everything she wanted, and felt lucky just to be around her.

She  smuggled me into her family’s barn, taking me to the loft. She stripped  away my clothes to see my small chest, my narrow waist, and marvel at  my dark skin. She kissed me, her lips moving down until I could take no  more. I pushed her down into the hay, spreading her thighs open until  she was completely exposed to me. Her labia were bright pink, poking out  like plump berries from her mound of white fluff.

“What are you doing?” She could barely breathe, but I knew she wanted to hear my voice.

“I  told you when we first met, lovely Faye, that I was going to eat you.  Now I am.” I feasted on her then, never stopping even while she  screamed. She was warm and wet against my tongue, her thighs pillowy as  they squeezed around my head. I knew I was in love then, and I never  wanted anyone else besides Faye.

I gave Faye my love whenever she  asked, making her moan and come for me. I loved to taste her as her  nectar flowed out. Being buried between her thighs was the greatest  pleasure I knew. We stayed hidden in the barn, where we would not be  spotted and the shadows could not reach. I did not want the shadows  within the trees to see what power Faye had over me. She had too much,  and yet I didn’t care.

One evening I waited for her in the usual  place, but she never arrived. Days went by and I saw and heard nothing  from her. Perhaps her family was holding her away, locking her in the  house. I decided to find out for myself where she was and what had  happened. I crept onto her family’s property and peered into the windows  of their home.

Inside, I saw Faye sitting with a rugged, handsome  man. She looked at him dotingly, and my heart splintered like glass,  tiny cracks forming that spread from my chest and down into my limbs.  The more she touched him, the more I broke. I could feel the wind  whispering through me as shards fell and crashed into the ground. She  kissed him, she held him, and she wore his ring on her pretty finger,  the same finger I licked the black blood from.

The shadows reached  out to me and called me home, begging me to return into their embrace,  but I could not bear it. I turned my back on them and stole into her  room that evening, waiting for her in the darkness. When she came in,  she looked directly at me but said nothing. She climbed into bed with  me, and despite the pain I felt, and the shards of me that were missing,  we made love. She touched me tenderly, coaxing from me that deep  euphoria only she could produce.

When we were done and lying naked  on the sheets, I gathered my pain again. I lay on my side, watching her  breathe, as moonlight filtered between the cracks of the curtains. She  looked so lovely, so perfect, but then I caught sight of the ring on her  finger. She had never taken it off. I wondered where she would leave it  when she met with me.

My throat was dry as I attempted to speak. “Who is he?”

She remained silent, nuzzling my breast so her lips brushed against the nipple. “He is my fiancé.”

I  closed my eyes as they began to sting. “You’re marrying him?” It felt  as though the air was being squeezed from me like a rag being wrung out.  “Why have you not told me?” I wanted to scream, but all I could muster  was a pitiful mewl.

“I didn’t know how. I wanted to, but I  couldn’t bring myself to hurt you.” She rose from the bed, looking down  at me with those haunting eyes. “I’m so sorry, Layla.”

“Sorry?” I  sat up and looked into her eyes, and there I saw a flash of my future  play out before me. I looked away. It was bad enough to see what I had,  and I couldn’t bear to see the end. I kissed her lips one last time,  taking her breath away. “I will not stand in your way, then, nor hold  any more sway over your heart.”

She grabbed me and held me fiercely. “No. Don’t go!”

I glared at her hand around my wrist, seeing his ring there. “Did you take off his ring when you met with me? Or is it new?”

Her fingers dug into my wrist and palm.

“Would  you put it back on after those fingers touched me? After they had  dipped into my well?” I forced her hands off me and pushed them down  into the bed. “You let him put that ring on. You made your choice,  Faye.”

“No. I didn’t! Let me explain. Let me kiss you again and  you will see that.” She watched me from her perch as I took my clothes  and dressed. “Please, Layla, do not leave me! If you could only  understand how much I need you.”

I pulled back the curtains, and  the forest felt so inviting. I could see the shadows reach out for me,  promising me home and comfort where I had none with Faye. I opened the  window to sit on the sill. Already, it felt warmer outside than in  Faye’s bed.

“Our kisses are over, for now, lovely Faye. Should you  ever be alone again, I shall find you and eat you for real.” I left the  window, vanishing into the night.

I threw myself into my pain. I  sobbed for hours, perhaps even days. Time had no more meaning to me, and  it couldn’t hold me to its whims. I was lost outside of time, wandering  at the mercy of my own heart. I had no desire to remain, so I left the  forest that had been my home. The shadows led me away, deeper into the  woods and into the world beyond the trees, and I placed myself in the  hands of the unknown.

The village I made my home in was small and  quiet, and operated like clockwork. It was boring, but I was able to  make my life there. I was quite disliked, even though I was helping  these poor souls more than anything. I cast my spells for coins, and  used what the shadows would tell me. And I pleasured sad, lonely  housewives because their husbands wouldn’t. None of them were Faye,  which I both adored and hated. I enjoyed keeping these women company,  giving them the affection they were starved for. Quite a few came to me  regularly.

I was forced from the village under threats of death,  which was fine. I was growing bored anyway. Years passed - how many, I  am uncertain - but eventually I came to realize I was on the path  heading home. Soon I was back in the forest I had grown. I took up my  old haunts again, hiding in the shadows and doing as I pleased.

It  wasn’t long before I found myself on Faye’s property. I came out of a  desire to see if the house still stood there. In my mind it had blown  away to dust, never really there to begin with. The shadows beckoned me  away, begging me to return to where I was safe. I insisted that all I  wanted to do was see. I would go no further.

The house looked  older, and the grounds felt much emptier. I found myself gazing into the  windows, and there she was. Still soft, still so lovely. Her long white  hair was in a braided crown around her head. She was alone - perhaps  her husband had passed away. I had made her a promise to come back when  she was alone. Maybe the time had come after all these years. Perhaps  she had been waiting for me.

When she answered the door, I could  see the years on her face. She was still beautiful, but I could finally  understand the time that had passed. She gazed at me, those eyes never  blinking as she drank me in.

I kissed her, holding her soft face  in my hands. After all that time, I had not stopped desiring her no  matter how hard I tried to force her out. Her tongue found its way into  my mouth, pressing against my teeth. She pulled me inside, and  reluctantly drew away from me. “It’s been so long,” she whimpered. “I  had no idea where you had gone! I have missed you.”

I kissed her again. “I said I would return when you were alone.”

“Layla,”  she moaned. “Yes, I have been waiting for this moment.” She wrapped her  arms around me, pulling me into her again. It felt like there had been  no space between us, no time that had passed. I just wanted to hold her  and kiss her like everything was the same.

Her thighs had grown  softer and thicker, and her belly was plump too. Her berry-like labia  still poked out from her mound, and I tasted them. I had been pleasuring  sad housewives for years, but none of them were my lovely Faye. Being  buried between her thighs again was more joy than I could ever describe.

We lay naked above the sheets, breathing deeply from our  passion. Faye nuzzled against my breast as her hand moved slowly across  my belly. “You’re still so thin.” She looked at me like she did in our  youth. Her hands stilled on my hips as she gazed into my eyes.

I kissed the top of her head. “Have you had children with him?”

She  nodded her head. “He’s grown now, he moved far away from here. I’ve not  seen him in so long, it’s hard to remember what he looks like.”

I gathered up my pain again. “And where is the husband?”

“Gone,” she said simply.

I  accepted her answer, simply happy to have my Faye again. We made love  endlessly those first few days, joyous in sharing each other once again.  We shared her home too, and cared for each other. She showed me her new  spell book, and the histories of the Owls. She had grown strong in her  magic, just as her family had hoped, but they were gone now.

I  kept the curtains shut, because when I gazed outside the shadows in the  trees whispered to me. They begged me to come back into their arms. I  could not take it, so I made sure I saw nothing of them when I was with  Faye. I kept my attention on her and only her, giving her my love like I  was a young girl again.

We were greedy at first, as I said, and  it was hard to leave the bed those first few days. She kept me trapped  in the warmth of her body, the plumpness of her thighs. I was  enthralled, so happy to be giving this pleasure to the one I felt  deserved it most.

“Where have you been? What have you been doing?”  She played with my fingers, kissing each tip before flexing them. “I  feel as though these hands have touched many others by now.”

I  chuckled softly, watching her with a loving grin on my lips. “Never with  the intent I put into you, my love. But yes, while I was away, I grew  lonesome, and there were others who were pleased to have me around.”

I  saw the wedding band still on her finger. She must have worn it now  just out of habit. I kissed her palm while she kissed my neck and face.

“That  is over now,” she whispered to me. “From now on, I am the only one you  will touch, the only one. You will be with me forever, won’t you?”

I  kissed her cheek. Seeing her smile the smile she gave me was all I  wanted. “I will. From now on, I will stay by your side, Faye. I will  love you.”

One afternoon, the two of us were in the garden  together when a buggy came up. At first I assumed it was someone lost in  the woods, so I was prepared to go out and help them, but Faye stopped  me. She grabbed my arm and held me back, shaking her head at me.

“No,  no. Just stay here, please? Stay here.” She looked back towards the  buggy which had parked inside the old barn. Faye looked worried, almost  terrified. She rushed to the barn, met the man who came out of it and  gave him a kiss.

My heart splintered all over again. Gone, she  said. She told me he was gone, and I took it how I wanted. Gone meant  dead, gone meant I would never see him again. Gone was actually away and  traveling. Gone was for a few days.

“This is a dear friend of  mine,” Faye introduced us. His name was Matthew. He was graying, and had  wrinkles around his eyes. He was happy and loved his wife. “She’s going  to be staying with us for the time being, if that’s alright with you.”

Matthew’s hand was warm and callused, and his smile was genuine. “Of course it is! Any friend of my Faye’s is a friend of mine.”

He  did not question who I was or why we had never met, even though they  had been married for such a long time. I was given a room in their home,  and Faye would visit when he was asleep. She would crawl into bed with  me, kiss me, touch me, and make me feel as though we were alone in that  big house.

“Why are you lying?” I whispered. “Why did you not tell me the truth?”

“I  told you he was gone.” She looked at me, her eyes wide and sorrowful.  “I don’t want to hurt either one of you, but after all this time, I know  I need both of you.”

I had been completely crushed by her before,  and though I thought I had healed, it felt as though I would not  survive it again. I should have said no and stuck to it firmly. But I  suppose time made me weak, because I couldn’t bear to be away from her  any longer.

I stayed on the farm, becoming one of the family.  Matthew traveled often, leaving us alone together. I wouldn’t feel so  bad about it if Matthew were not a genuinely good man. He loved Faye. He  had no clue what Faye and I were doing, so he was trusting as well.

“I  think I should go,” I told Faye one afternoon. She was chopping onions  for supper, and her knife stilled on the block. “I’ve been selfish and  stayed too long. I do not want to hurt anybody, nor do I want to be hurt  myself.”

“Is that what you want?” Her voice sounded as if it were coming from a distance. “Are you sure about that, Layla?”

“I  can’t keep staying here. It isn’t right. I’m a shadow, I don’t belong  here.” I turned and looked at her, seeing those black eyes staring up at  me. Her knuckles grew white on the knife and her hand began to tremble.

“You belong here. You always did.”

I turned my eyes from  her, glancing into the woods just beyond the window. I saw the shadows  within, the ones I used to play amongst. I felt as though I should run  to them, but as the curtains blew back over the windows, I felt my love  for Faye creeping up the back of my throat. I couldn’t leave her.

Her  hand touched mine, grabbing hold of it. She pulled it to her body,  resting it between her soft breasts. “Stay with me, Layla. Don’t you  love me?”

I should have known better. I should have gone back into  the shadows that were calling for me. Instead, I kept my hand held in  Faye’s grasp, because that was all I had ever wanted. I stayed by her  side, in her home, all while Matthew was there.

There was a  graveyard behind the house, where her family was buried. I remember that  the house had been full when we were young. Now, it was only Faye and  Matthew, and me as well. The graveyard was marked with stones that  circled the graves, but there was no marker to indicate who was buried  in each plot. I noticed that towards the rear, closest to the woods,  there was a cluster of very tiny graves. It made me wonder if Faye and  Matthew had trouble keeping children.

One day, I noticed Matthew  among the graves. I left the house and approached him as he looked over  the cluster of stones. He saw me and a sad smile spread across his face.

“Good afternoon, Ms. Layla.”

I bowed my head to him.  “Good afternoon.” I looked over the graves as his eyes returned to them.  “Were you close to Faye’s family?”

“Not really,” he admitted.  “Didn’t have a chance to be. They all died not long after Faye and I got  married. It seemed like it always happened after Faye got into a fight  with them.” he sighed heavily. “She took that pretty hard, so I come out  here and talk to them from time to time. I think it makes her feel  better. It’s also nice to have someone to talk to.” He looked longingly  at the graves.

I watched him more than anything. There seemed to  be a sense of yearning to him as he gazed at the headstones. His eyes  watered up and he quickly covered it up by clearing his throat. Did he  want to die? Did he want to join them?

“Things were hard for  Faye,” he murmured. “Which is why I’m glad you’re here now. She seems  happier these days. I did the best I could. I think I did, at least.  She’s still with me. I just wish you had come sooner.  But I suppose  people come when they are needed.”

I couldn’t breathe as he  looked at me. I felt wrung out. I plastered on a smile to hide the fact  that I felt I was being crushed. What had once splintered was now being  ground into dust. I just wanted to make Faye happy.

Matthew looked away from me, back to the graves again.

“Did you…” I stopped myself, a little afraid to ask the question. “How is your son? Faye said he was away.”

Matthew  sighed heavily. “I’m not so sure. He stopped talking to us a few years  ago. Got into a fight with Faye, you see. I send him letters all the  time, but I never hear back. I just want him to know we are here should  he ever need us.”

“I’m so sorry to hear that,” I murmured. “Maybe he just needs time.”

I  glanced up into the trees. I could see the shadows watching me, almost  bearing down on me. I swallowed my breath and walked away from the  graves and Matthew. I went back into the house, then closed the curtains  around the windows. I didn’t want to see the forest. I didn’t want to  feel the shadows looking at me. They had something to say, and I didn’t  want to listen to them.

I woke one evening, staring up into the  rafters as moonlight filtered through them. I heard sounds from the  other room, soft and barely there, but the more I focused, the clearer  they became. I heard sighs, a low moan, and the squeaking of a bed. I  listened to Faye and Matthew as they shared their marital bed. I heard  Matthew’s voice praising Faye as he entered that euphoria she always  brought me to. Faye was quiet, aside from her breathing. The bed tapped  against the wall rhythmically. The rhythm slowed until it finally  stopped, and Matthew sighed happily.

I sat up in bed as I heard  footsteps come down the hall. I lay back down quickly as my door opened,  and Faye walked into the room. I feigned being asleep as she stood in  the doorway. She didn’t come in. I was not sure what she was doing. I  could smell sweat in the air, left over from her lovemaking with  Matthew.

After a while, I thought she had left to go join Matthew  again, but as I sat up I saw her still standing in the doorway. I  froze, watching her as she watched me. Her expression was blank, which  suited the endless blackness of her eyes. My breath caught in the back  of my throat and was suspended there as her eyes bore into me. As my  lips parted, her face broke into a smile. “I came to check on you. I  thought I heard something.”

I shook my head slowly. “No. I didn’t make any noise.”

“That’s good.” She remained standing there in the doorway.

I managed to take a breath, which shuddered in my chest. I stood up from the bed. “I think I need something to drink.”

“I’ll  join you, then.” She waited for me, then led me into the kitchen, where  she poured me water from a pitcher and set it down on the table for me.

Moonlight  filtered through the curtains as I sat down at the table. Taking a  drink, I noticed that one of the curtains had blown open and I could see  outside into the woods. I felt a jerk at my throat, and I choked. I  coughed up the water, sputtering it over the table and my fingers.

“Oh,  goodness.” Faye approached me, putting her arm around me as I gagged  and heaved. “There, now. You must have drunk it too fast, silly.”  She  patted my back as I coughed, then took the cup from my hands and filled  again.

I wheezed, trying to catch my breath again. I looked back  to the window, seeing the curtain closed tight over the glass. Faye  pushed the water close to me.

“No.” I pushed it away. “I’m fine. I’ve had enough for tonight.”

Faye  looked up at me. Those eyes of hers gave me no comfort then. “It will  make you feel better. Just have a drink, and it will make all that bad  you coughed up go back down.” She gave me a smile. “For me?”

I  took the glass into my hand. “One sip. For you.” I tipped the cup back  to my lips, and the water felt cold against my tongue. Then I set the  cup aside, glancing back at Faye as she smiled at me. She reached over  the table, taking my hand into hers.

“I was glad you were awake, I  couldn’t sleep.” Her fingers traced the lines in my palm. Then her  nails slipped along my arm, going straight down the underside. “I  sometimes fear you’ll leave me again. So I go to your room and make sure  you’re sleeping there. Sometimes I don’t feel comfortable until I see  you in bed, breathing.” Her eyes flicked up to me and the long lashes  fluttered like a moth’s wing. “Promise me you have no plans of leaving.”

“Where would I go?”

Faye’s  smile brightened. “I’m glad. Soon it will be just us. We’ll have all  the time in the world. Won’t we, Layla?” Her hands squeezed tighter  around my arm. “Don’t you want that for us, Layla?”

I felt short  of breath again and as her hands constricted. I wanted to pull away, but  I was locked in place. “Yes, of course,” I answered quickly. “That’s  all I have ever wanted for the two of us.”

“Don’t you wish it  could be now?” Her voice sounded different then, strange. Once again it  seemed to be coming from a great distance, and yet in my ear at the  exact same time.

“Of course, but… Matthew.” I felt so tired then, so utterly exhausted. “I want to go back to bed, Faye.”

“I’ll  take you, then.” She took my arm, holding me as she walked me back down  the hallway. I stumbled once or twice, but eventually I fell into bed.

Faye  took my blankets and pulled them over me, tucking me in snugly. As I  drifted, I thought I heard her whispering. “It should be just us,  shouldn’t it? Why should we have to wait? Why would you want to wait?  You agree with me, right? We should be together from now on! Just us.  Just us. Don’t you want that?”

I woke in the morning, gazing up at  the rafters as sunlight poured through them. I took in a deep breath,  still feeling that lump in my throat. As I stood, my limbs felt strange.  They felt heavy for some reason, and I could only move slowly. My  vision was blurred, and sometimes it doubled. I stumbled out of my room  and into the hallway. It looked dark for morning, considering how bright  my room had been.

I pressed my shoulder to the wall as I tried  to make my way into the kitchen. There was a pit in my stomach, as if I  hadn’t eaten for days, but all I wanted was a cold glass of water to  make it all feel better. I walked into the kitchen, seeing Matthew  standing there over the stove. His shoulders were slouched, and he had  an ax in his hand.

He looked up, and I swore I saw blood all over  his face. I stumbled again, falling against the table. I could smell  blood in the air, and it was coming from Matthew. I looked up again, and  my vision doubled as he came towards me. His ax was raised, and I could  see blood dripping from the ceiling. My eyes widened and I fell  backwards, and the ax came crashing down upon the table.

I  scrambled across the floor, feeling sick from the movement as I tried to  stand up. Matthew wrenched the ax from the table, coming towards me  again as I screamed. I ran for the door, but it had been bolted shut  from the outside. I pounded on it, hoping someone would hear. I forgot  that the shadows could not reach me inside. I ran, falling several times  while Matthew gave close chase behind me. The nausea was bubbling up in  my stomach threatening to spill out with the bile.

I closed the  door behind me as the ax came through the wood. I screamed, falling back  onto the floor. The door shook and slammed as Matthew banged against  it. I cowered there, my vision worse than ever as it splintered and  shattered like a mirror. I looked up, shivering horribly as the door  knob rattled.

The door began to open and, fearing for my life, I  began to change. My body shifted, bones cracking as I took the shape of  my foremothers. My skin became as black as a void, and shone in the  morning light.

As Matthew opened the door, I caught him in my  claws and my fangs. I dug into his skin and ripped it from his bones,  making sure that he wouldn’t be able to raise that axe against anyone  ever again. I gnawed at his throat, hearing the bones pop and the air  hiss and gargle as blood began to pool in his mouth. I mangled his  limbs, rending his arm from his shoulder and chewing on the wrist until  it felt like pulp in my mouth.

Blood dripped from my jowls as my  vision returned to me. I looked down at Matthew’s body, or at least what  was left of it. I moved away from it, looking for the axe he tried to  kill me with. I had been so certain that he was trying to kill me, that  something in him had snapped and he could no longer take it. I found  nothing.

I went into the hallway, leaving bloody paw prints in my  wake. I looked at the table - yes! He had swung at me and drove the  blade into the table. It would certainly have left a mark. But as I  looked over the smooth, pristine wood, there was no sign of any such  attack.

I was trembling, shaking from head to tail as I looked.  Blood had dripped from the ceiling! I knew what I saw, but the only  blood in the kitchen was mine. I went to the door, but remembered it had  been locked from the outside. I had banged on it, thrown my body  against it, and it never opened.

I went down the hallway and saw  Matthew’s blood pooling outside the door, bits of him strewn across the  hall. I lay there in the hallway, head down and eyes wide open as the  pool spread, eventually drying into the wood. I could barely breathe. I  couldn’t even think. If I could find the ax, I would be sure. But I  wasn’t sure. I didn’t know what came over me.

“Look what you’ve  done, Layla.” Faye’s voice whispered behind me. “You killed my husband.”  She knelt on the floor beside me, wrapping her arms around my bloody  neck. “That’s alright. I still love you.”

I couldn’t take my eyes  off the bloody mess at the end of the hallway. As Faye cradled me in her  arms, I could feel the bile and panic bubble up into the back of my  throat.

“What did you do?” Faye cooed to me.

What did I do?  I looked towards the end of the hallway, where the curtain across the  window had blown open. There was nothing but darkness outside, and the  shadows were pounding against the glass. They wanted me. They needed me  to come home, but I was trapped, held hostage by the woman I loved so  deeply.

I struggled, but Faye’s grip on me was too strong.

“It’s  just us now,” Faye continued to murmur lovingly. “We have all the time  in the world, my love.” She stroked my fur and nuzzled my cheek. Her  affection was forced upon me, though. I did not want it, and it felt  like spikes digging into my flesh.

I wanted to fight her, but I  couldn’t. I was as helpless as a kitten. She made me this way, whatever  it was she did it to me. I’m sure she did it to others before me as well  - to her family, her children, and yes, to Matthew. I’m certain of it  now. All of us were just objects for her own whims. She was just like  her family, I should have known. The shadows tried to tell me that from  the beginning, but I was too stubborn to listen. I ignored it all. I  sealed my own fate.

“Come now, let’s clean this mess.” Faye rose  from the floor and her black eyes bore into me. They felt hot,  frightening. I had seen these eyes before - no, I had seen what was in  them before. I saw blood dripping from her; my blood, his blood.

“Layla,” she commanded. “Get up. All I have now is you.”

My  vision blurred, doubling again as I rose to all four paws. I helped her  drag the body away, but she wouldn’t let me outside. She left the house  to bury him in the graveyard with the others. While she was gone, the  house grew dark. All the windows became filled with the shadows from the  trees. They could no longer stay away. They were demanding my  attention. If I stayed in this house, I would die. Faye would ruin me  forever. Already, her influence had taken my magic away from me. The  shadows screamed at me, begging me to come hide amongst them again.

The  door opened and Faye stood there, dirty and with dried blood on her. I  could see behind her to the forest, to my home. The shadows reached out,  but they could not touch Faye, for she was all moonlight. Her giant  eyes gazed down at me, and her sharp, razorlike mouth split open.

“It’s finally just the two of us, Layla. We can be together forever now.”

I  was pulled by the throat as the shadows screamed at me, as Faye  attempted to hold me. I ripped the skin away from her fingers, and she  screamed at me. Feathers spilled from her, filling the room and my  mouth. I clawed at her wrist, and wings billowed forth as the skin was  torn away.

Her voice was a storm, filling the house with wind and  moonlight that whipped around me and cut me. The feathers frothed and  danced, almost blinding me as I tried to fight my way out of her grasp. I  clawed the air, ripping her flesh with each strike. Every scream from  her throat changed as her feathers flooded my mouth. I pushed her onto  the ground, biting her face. I kissed it once, then stripped away the  remaining skin. Her sharp beak opened wide and pecked at my eyes. I  struck her face, drawing black blood rather than feathers. Her sharp  claws ripped into my sides as she struggled.

Her wings slapped me,  knocking me off-balance while her talons dug into my back. I threw her  off, tossing her into the blizzard of feathers. Once I was upon her, I  did not let go. I sunk my claws into her for the last time. I ripped at  the feathers until they gave way to soft, wet pink. I gnashed my teeth  into her neck, ripping out her throat before swallowing its flesh. There  were berry-like chunks between my claws, all over the floor. They mixed  with the white fluff of the feathers, eventually becoming a red stain  that seeped out under the closed door.

My teeth were clogged with  feathers and sinew. Faye’s large, gaping eyes remained open, gazing up  at me, more fathomless than before. They did not blink. They did not  flutter long white lashes. I backed away from her, leaving her there as  the feathers continued to dance in the air.

I raced outside, where  the shadows were waiting. Running on all fours, I returned to their  embrace. I would hide there forever if I had to. I would never come out  of them again, and I would never leave this form again. From now on, I  was the shadows, safe inside the trees, untouched by anyone.

It  was so long ago, and yet I feel that if I turn around, it will all still  be there behind me. The pool of blood that seeps out from under the  door, Faye’s unending eyes, my love for her. She did not heed my warning  on the day we first met - a mistake on both our parts. I told her I  would eat her. I promised I would.