Home for Horny Monsters Ch. 007

"What the actual fuck is going on?" Mike asked.

"This place isn't built only to keep the outside world out," Cecilia told him. "It's also built to keep some of us in."

"Wait, there are bad monsters here?"

"It would seem. Jenny's presence is most disturbing, but she always had an aptitude for escaping. It has been decades since she last inhabited a human body, so she is very sensitive to the five senses." Cecilia frowned. "And now she's loose inside."

"Wait, if she wanted to escape, why come back at all?" Mike asked.

"Because she is tied to this place. She will always come back." Mike heard a heavy thud behind him. He looked over his shoulder to see that Abella had arrived.

"What's going on?" she asked.

"Jenny," Tink and Cecilia said at the same time.

"Fuck." Abella replied. "Is she wearing a skin suit?"

Tink and Cecilia nodded.

"Okay, well first things first. Get her outside, and I can take care of her body."

"Wait, please, stop!" Mike put up his hands. "What is Jenny, exactly? What kind of monster?"

The others looked at each other, than at him.

"She's a ghost," Abella replied. "A very angry, nasty ghost. She was put in the doll a long time ago by..." Abella blanked, staring into the distance for several seconds. "Anyway, the hope was that someday she would fit in, but it never happened. As time marched on, she got meaner and meaner. One of the previous caretakers locked her in the Vault, after she escaped last time."

"The Vault? What the fuck is the Vault?" Mike asked.

"Vault for bad things. No go in Vault," Tink informed him.

"That... fine, we'll discuss later. She's inside of Beth right now, and she said something about Beth being inside the doll instead."

"That's the gist of it," Abella informed him. "It isn't easy, but if the conditions are right, Jenny can possess a body. The only way to get her to go back is to kill the host. She doesn't want to move on, so she will swap back at the last second."

"Absolutely not!" Mike yelled, horrified. "We don't just kill people! Especially not people we know!"

Abella shrugged. "It's what we did last time."

Mike looked at Cecilia. "You can't just pull her out?"

Cecilia shook her head. "No more than I could pull you out of your body. Once Jenny is knocked loose from her host body, she will go back into the doll. I can't remove her from there either, I've tried. Our best option is to trap her back in the doll and then put her in back in the Vault."

Furniture crashed inside, and all four of them turned to look.

"If we can get her out back in the garden, Naia may be able to help," Abella offered. "She has magic, right?"

"Sounds like we have a job to do," Mike muttered. "How do we get her outside?"

"She's overtly sensitive. She isn't used to a human body anymore. You saw what happened when she heard me scream. Bright lights, loud noises, anything that can get her out." Cecilia looked at Abella. "If you watch from up above, you can tackle her when she comes out."

"I'm on it." Wings spread wide, Abella leapt upward, disappearing onto the roof.

"I can help with sound, but you're going to need to find some way to make noise on your own, or blind her with a light."

"Ok, let's do this." Mike opened the door again, stepping into the front room. Tink and Cecilia followed behind him. Already, they could see that the furniture in the front and side rooms had been toppled everywhere.

"Do you think we should split up?" Mike asked.

"Absolutely not," Cecilia declared. "Unless you want to end up dead."

"Why would she want to kill me?" Mike asked.

"You obviously did something to hurt her feelings. Emily tried to let her out of the Vault once, but she trashed the room she was in because the curtains got left closed." Cecilia said. "She also likes to try and possess you if you sleep. If she can knock you out, she may take off in your body."

"Too bad I left my helmet in my other house with my other monsters," Mike muttered. The front room had been torn apart, all except for the doll on the shelf. Its sad eyes looked into Mike's when he picked it up. Staring at the creepy little doll in its dress, Mike wondered if it was wearing any underwear.

"Bring that with us," Cecilia said, her body hovering over the mess. "The last thing we want is for her to hide it away in case she does go back."

"So where exactly is this Vault?" Mike asked. He moved carefully into the kitchen. Seeing that it was empty, he grabbed his cellphone and pulled a flashlight out of the junk drawer.

"Basement," Tink said, taking the flashlight. "Tink go there all time. Make sure stay locked."

"What else-never mind. I'll ask later." Mike wondered what else would be stored away in the Vault. Was Jenny just one of many dolls? Were there giant cages, lining the walls of the Vault, filled with every manner of bad monster?

A loud bang from upstairs pulled their attention. Tink ran ahead of Mike, hopping up the stairs as best she could. Mike actually picked her up for the last few steps-she was short enough that it was faster for them both if he did. Cecilia hovered up the main entryway, her feet not quite touching the ground. All of the bedroom doors were still closed, but an icy draft made Mike turn his head.

"This one," he said, grabbing the doorknob. It was icy to the touch. Pushing gently inward, he found himself looking at the blue room, the one that Beth had said his dad probably stayed in. It was an odd thought, so suddenly, but had his dad stayed here? If so, had the monsters remained hidden, or did he simply forget?

The room looked untouched, but the closet door was open, an icy wind emanating from it. Moving close, he opened up a strobe light app on his phone. Stepping wide to avoid a sudden assault, his jaw dropped.

"What the fuck is this?!?" Instead of an empty shelf with a bar for clothing, Mike was staring into a cave. "There is no fucking way that there's a cave here! This is an outside wall!"

"It make head hurt," Tink agreed. "But hurt head change nothing. We go. Me see just fine."

"I'll wait out here," Cecilia told him. "In case she tries to come back out. Be careful."

"But...I..." Tink grabbed a handful of Mike's pants and pulled him into the closet. He ducked his head to avoid the hard rock up above, marveling at how cold the cave was.

"Did you know about this Tink?"

"Tink know. House have secrets. Make no sense, but Tink accept." She slid her goggles over her eyes. "Tink see prints."

"I'm glad one of use sees something." Mike was busy looking at the random doodles on the cave walls. Some of them looked ancient, animals being hunted by men with spears, drawn with charcoal. Others were the doodle of children, done in crayon and chalk.

"Where the fuck are we?"

Tink shook her head. "Less think, more walk. Secret tunnels, go through house. This one go..." Tink's eyes went wide. "Hurry, quick!"

"Wait, why?" Mike ran after the goblin, his head bent at an angle. It was hard seeing up ahead, Tink now using her goggles to see, her flashlight waving everywhere. He chased her down the tunnel, the dark shadows dancing away from them as they stepped out into an opening.

Mike stared in awe. The ceiling was now hundreds of feet high, giant, glowing crystals embedded in its surface. In the distance, a large water fall fed into a river that disappeared into a large stone structure composed of tall, stony walls and large hedges. They stood on a ledge, the trail winding back and forth beneath them. Several levels down, Beth was stumbling across the rocks, struggling to keep her balance.

"Is that..." Mike was afraid to say it.

"Yes," Tink said, adjusting her goggles. "That's the Labyrinth." Mike's eyes traced the bottom of the trail. Beth was most of the way down, the loose gravel becoming a paved path that lead toward a large pair of iron gates. Between the rocky trail and the Labyrinth was a giant viewing pool. Tink pointed at the pool. "Shortcut for get out. We stop Jenny before Labyrinth, or lost forever."

"Where does the pool go?" Mike said, looking over the ledge. How could a pool be a shortcut? How could a cave be in his house?

Tink was right. Thinking about it hurt his head.

"Outside," Tink replied, already running down the slope. "But not sure where!" She was picking up speed, her tail swishing behind her as she ran. Mike was close behind, then passing the goblin. The ledges were steep, and it took Mike quite a bit of effort to keep from slipping and falling. Looking down the slope, he saw that Beth was still much too far ahead to catch up to.

"Fuck it," he swore, stepping off the beaten path onto a worn patch of stone. The switchbacks were close enough together that the fall was just over five feet, but he was able to land safely, his knees creaking in protest. He ran to the next spot where he could drop down safely, cutting the distance between them dramatically.

Beth never bothered looking back. She appeared disoriented, stumbling constantly. Mike was close enough now that she could hear him. She scowled, and broke into a limping run down the final ramp and toward the path that led into the Labyrinth.

Mike howled, his adrenaline peaking, throwing himself off the next ledge. The fall was farther this time, but he landed and rolled forward, quickly finding his feet. The idea of Beth dying was simply too much for him. It was his fault if it happened, his fault...

It was all your fault! His mother's voice screamed in his ear. Sprinting now, Mike closed the distance between them, the large iron gates of the Labyrinth opening with a loud creak, an ominous figure standing just inside, holding a large ax. His outstretched fingers closed on the hem of Beth's dress, and he pulled her backward, tightly against him, pulling her into the pool of water.

"No!" Beth screamed, her voice harmonizing with Jenny's. The cool water embraced them, the world spinning as gravity changed directions. Mike felt his ears pop, his body filling with unexpected pressure. Beth fought him, trying to shove him off, and they burst out of the downstairs closet, water spilling across the wooden floor. Mike stumbled to his feet, his inner ear throwing a tantrum. Beth was sprawled out, barely able to get on her hands and knees.

"Look, I'm sorry I gave you away. If I had known I would have-"

"What, let me stay? Let me sit on the shelf? Talked to me when I'm lonely, played with me when I'm bored, made me feel like I matter?" Beth dry-heaved, slipping and falling. Mike shook his head.

"It could still happen that way." He pulled the doll out of his pocket. "But I'm going to need you to leave Beth alone."

"Fat fucking chance," she hissed, dark eyes squinting. The coat rack by the door flung itself at his legs, tripping Mike up and knocking him to the ground. Beth crawled on top of him, wrapping her fingers tightly around his neck. "I'll make you pay. I'll make everybody pay."

Gurgling water noises filled the room, like a washer machine draining. Beth and Mike looked over at the closet, which opened up, dumping a hundred gallons of water in the front room. Spilling through the doorway, green limbs flying everywhere, Tink collided with Beth, knocking her off of Mike. Fighting to rise, Beth clawed at Tink's face, but Tink was having none of it. She lifted Beth's head off the ground and head-butted her, knocking her out.

"Fucking ghost girl ruins everything," she snarled, climbing off of Beth. Her hair was a wet mess, her dress torn in several places. Mike realized that her goggles were missing.

"Tink, what happened to your goggles?"

"STUPID COW FUCK TOOK TINK'S GOGGLES!" Roaring at the top of her lungs, green skin flush with anger, Tink stormed to the closet door, slamming it shut. "When Mike done with Jenny, we go get goggles back!"

Mike shook his head, rubbing his eyes. The shadowy figure just beyond the gates sprang into his mind, weapon drawn, a shadow that had filled him with dread. In his mind's eye, he could see the dangerous horns tucked just to the side of the brow-line, see the tail, the thickset legs...

"Wait, a fucking minotaur took your goggles?" Mike asked. Tink nodded, large tears welling up in the corners of her eyes. "Tink, a fucking minotaur lives in the walls?"

"Cow fuck live in Labyrinth with other fucks!" Tink sniffed once, twice, then let out a wail. "Tink wants goggles back!"

"Tink, I..." Mike didn't know what to say. She was melting down, her rough exterior suddenly cracked. How could he tell her that he didn't think messing with a minotaur was worth it? What did that even entail? Beth groaned, putting a hand to her head. "We need to take care of this situation first. We will figure out the goggles later." Kneeling, he pulled Tink toward him, placing a kiss on her forehead.

"Goblin husband promise?" she asked, sniffling. When Mike nodded, Tink wiped the tears from her eyes, her composure back again. "Then Tink help."

Between the two of them, it was easy to drag Beth out back to Naia's fountain. Cecilia, having heard the noise downstairs, floated through the ceiling to open the back door. Abella picked up Beth, holding her like a child until she began to stir. Standing next to the fountain, Abella wrapped her arms tightly around Beth's waist, ensuring that she couldn't escape. Naia sat on the fountain's edge, her chin on her hand in contemplation.

"Abella explained everything to me," she informed Mike. "And we need to come up with a plan before she wakes up. From what I remember, last time Jenny took a human host, the host was killed to keep her from causing more problems. The time before that, it took an exorcism with a priest, who then came back later to try and wipe us out."

"Shit," Mike muttered. Jenny really had caused problems. "Who is she?"

"A ghost. An old ghost." Naia stood on the water's surface. "Once upon a time, she was a young woman who caught the eye of a widower in town who was quite wealthy and handsome. Jealous of the attention she received from him, some of the women accused her of witchcraft, of killing the man's wife and seducing him with the dark arts. They burned her at the stake, and her soul got caught in the doll that a little girl was holding. Her vessel has changed a few times since then, but she refuses to move on." Naia shook her head. "And all she ever does is cause us trouble."

"So we can't get a priest," Mike said. "And we are not going to kill her. So what can we do?"

"Hmm." Cecilia stared at Beth's body. "Upon termination, her soul should immediately flee her body, yet it ended up in the doll and the host died. Yet I get the impression that Beth's soul sleeps in the doll."

"And?" Naia asked.

"It's on the tip of my tongue." Cecilia shrugged.

"Wait!" Mike held out his hands. "Jenny died in a fire, but her soul jumped out of her body before it died, right?"

"Probably," Cecilia told him.

"Which means she jumps out before death. So we just need Jenny to think that her body is going to die."

"And how do we do that?" Abella asked.

"Strangle her." Tink's hands clenched. "Squeeze for almost too long."

"No, not that either." Mike grinned, staring at Naia. "I think I have an idea."

*****

I really, super hope you loved this chapter! If you loved this as much as I loved writing it, remember to rate, comment, tell all your friends, whatever. I love your feedback, it really keeps me going when I get discouraged. Thanks again to the Lit community, because you people are simply awesome! For those of you who keep asking about the next chapter, I always update my Bio to reflect when I plan to upload it. Until next time!