Room Monster: Osvau (special preview)

Peri chuckles. “They were drunk and fell over a ravine. I highly doubt that would warrant someone coming back as a ghost or monster.”

The next day I decide to travel along the path to see if I saw anything. I’m not sure why I felt the need to do this, perhaps curiosity, maybe just for answers. I packed a small bag with food and water and headed out. The path really did remain, cutting through the woods and winding down, smoothed by time and kept revealed by something else.

I found myself in a small clearing that was covered by thick moss and heavy vines. The trees were far apart, allowing for a big beam of sunlight to cover the area. The deer were all gathered there and immediately they turned and looked back at me.

I held my breath, wondering if they were going to charge at me. I stepped side, and find the path turns to cobblestones. I follow the stones, coming upon the remains of an old cabin. It’s slouched off to the side where the wall has fallen away and it opens up like a doll house. Nature has indeed taken over with vines and small plants, but I can still make out the remains of an old bed and wardrobe. 

I glanced aside and saw that the deer had all gathered to the left of me. They were watching me with an intensity that felt like a warning. 

“Leave her be,” a dark voice whispers. “If she had come here to harm I would have known it by now.”

I turn back towards the cabin, watching as the vines around the old bed went taut and pulled it off the ground. I saw antler first coming out of the shadows, followed by long, gangly arms that pressed against the floor and rose up. The creature rises from the darkness and stands there, staring down at me.

The creature’s body is long and wispy like ink in water. It has several long arms with long fingers and thin palms. Their neck was long like a swan’s, and the head was covered by a jagged skull and decorated with bones. 

“I smell something sweet on you,” they murmur. “What do you carry in your pack?”

My jaw is still on the ground, I’m not sure what to make of this creature before me. “I uhm-” my throat feels so dry and parched. “It’s uhm...you are…”

“I am Osvau,” he replies. “A guardian.” He lowers down until he comes face to face with me. “Do you have snacks?”

I shakily take off my back pack and take from inside one of the brownies I had packed with me. “Like this?” I’m fairly certain I was on autopilot.

Osvau takes the brownie, removing the plastic wrap which he places back into my palms. “I love chocolate,” he sighs. “I used to get it all the time back when the cabin was new.” He places the brownie under the skull and I see a mouth open up full of sharp teeth that looks like rubies. He chuckles softly as he nibbles the treat.

“So I wasn’t seeing things..” I murmur. “You really were real.”

Osvau tilts his head. “Why not?” He asks. 

“I’ve never seen anything like you before,” I murmur. “It’s a bit shocking.”

“I’ve lived here a long time, before you, before anyone,” Osvau murmurs. “Before I guarded the little boy who slept on that bed.” He points back towards the bed, which the vines have lowered back down. “And now, I guard my deer.”

I glance back to the deer who are all still staring at me. “You protect the deer.”