I stumbled into the bedroom, my eyes already adjusted to the darkness, and the smell of it hit me like a brick. Must, mold, filthy, and rotten—that was what this place smelled like. The first thing I noticed were the stains on the walls. They used to be white once upon a time, but now they were decorated in massive black splatters, streaks, handprints, and holes, as if there was a struggle as well as a slaughter.
This wasn’t the result of a gunshot wound to the head. I wasn’t a police officer, but it didn’t take a genius to conclude that something horrific had happened in his room. Maybe that was why they’d kept the truth out of the media. I couldn't imagine what kind of crazy story they would have had to spin in order to explain how Peter had died so messily. Hell, I was pretty sure even the police hadn’t known the real truth. How could they?
The same bed Peter had trapped me on the night of prom was in shreds, lying against the far wall, the covers ripped up and the pillows nowhere to be found. The closet door was hanging in pieces off its hinges, and every trinket, poster, or small item placed onto the shelves above where the bed used to be were scattered all over the place, utterly torn apart.
It was an effort to lift my jaw up off the floor. I didn’t know what I’d been imagining exactly when Kaz confessed to what he’d done, but this… Something about this seemed personal. I could only imagine the carnage that the police had walked in on. Still, it was nothing compared to the destruction Peter had left behind in my house. He deserved every scream of torture that was brought his way.
The question remained though… Why? Why did Kaz do this?
As I stared around the ruined bedroom, I was slowly overcome by fury. It built and built as I turned in place, trying to imaging the scene in my mind. A part of me wished I had been there to watch him get torn limb from limb…
My vision went dark. Not wholly dark, but the colors were gone, leaving me with black, white, and gray images chopped together in pieces to make a picture. I could still feel my body as I stood immobile, afraid to move, but the vision blinded me.
I knew instantly that it was Creature. He was somewhere nearby, probably stalking me. I wasn’t sure how I felt about that, but the feeling wasn’t unpleasant. I was still pissed at him for tricking me by using Magnolia’s voice, but he’d made up for it by not eating me on the spot.
I watched the scene he was sending me play out.
* * *
It was a dark night,and I was peering through dense branches. There was no sound in these visions, but I could already tell what was happening. It was the night of the murders, and Creature was watching Kaz leave the swamp, his tentacles guiding him along as he stepped onto the banks with his humanlike legs.
Seeing Kazimir like this was breathtaking. So utterly inhuman and otherworldly, he was beautiful in such a grotesque way, and the sight of those tentacles made my whole body tingle, now that I knew what they could do.
The scene glitched, and now Kaz was standing to the left of the gazebo, shrouded in darkness as a man ran from the front porch of my house. The lights were all on in the windows, and he’d left the front door hanging wide open. Kaz stood utterly still as Peter ran along the pathway, holding an axe. He stopped at the edge of the swamp and hurtled the axe out into the water, where it immediately sank to the bottom.
Peter was saturated from head to toe in blood and gore. I couldn’t even make out the features of his familiar face. I wanted to vomit, knowing exactly whose blood he was covered in. The vision moved along as Peter ran back to the cottage, throwing open the front door and making it slam against the wall of the porch. Kaz moved once Peter was out of sight, and there was a sinister kind of smile stretching his lips.
Through Creature’s eyes, I followed Kaz, watching as the claws that tipped his fingers lengthened, something I didn’t even know he could do on command. The scales that decorated his body, snaking down his back on either side of the sharp fins down his spine, sparkled in the moonlight. As monstrous as he was, there was a sort of ethereal quality to the way he moved, as if every part of him was calculated, as if he belonged in this place more than I ever had.
Kaz disappeared into the cottage, ducking his massive form under the doorway. Creature sped up, the vision flickering again until we were standing on the other side of the cottage, peering through the window of Peter’s bedroom. What I saw through the dusty panes of glass would be seared into my memory forever.
Peter was screaming, but there was no sound. All I could do was watch as Kazimir ripped him limb from limb. It was like something out of a movie, the way Kaz’s tentacles held Peter up in the air, spread out wide like a starfish, and slowly peeled his limbs off of his body. It took no effort on Kaz’s part, and his expression was utterly bored as he did it.
I wanted to press my face up against the glass, but I couldn’t move, because I was looking through Creature’s memory. It didn’t take long for Peter to die, but I knew it had been agonizing. His blood saturated the walls, and his bedroom was nothing but a mess of broken furniture and gore.
By now, little bits of Peter were scattered around the room. Kaz still had a hold on his torso, but from the bottom of him, where his legs used to be, there was only a gaping hole, and from it, dripped out all of his organs. They fell into a pile on the ground, still steaming hot in the cold night.
Then the shadows descended. They came from everywhere and nowhere, hundreds of grabbing hands made of shadow and smoke. There were little red eyes in that smoke, and sharp flashing teeth that I only caught glimpses of. Kazimir stood in the middle of it all like some kind of dark prince, watching with a grin on his beautiful face while the shadows began to consume Peter's remains with ravenous fury.
* * *
I snappedback into my own body and had to catch myself on the wall to keep from falling. The colors of the world rushed back in, making my head spin. When I got my bearings, I remembered that I was still in Peter’s room, but now I was looking at everything with brand-new eyes.
I felt something bubbling up in my chest as I stared at the white walls covered in black bloodstains, remembering how they’d dripped when they were fresh. Then I was laughing. It burst out of me hysterically until tears were springing to my eyes. I spun around slowly, doubling over as I was utterly overcome with giggles that wouldn’t let up.
I must have finally hit my true breaking point. I couldn’t stop laughing, even if I tried. And I did try, but it only made it worse. All I could picture was Peter’s pile of guts on the ground as the monsters descended into a frenzy. Gunshot to the head, my fucking ass.
For the first time in ten years, I felt a warmth in my belly, and it quickly spread to my chest. It took me a minute to realize what it was, because it was so foreign these days—joy. I was feeling…happiness, unbridled elation. I was smiling uncontrollably, and I never wanted it to go away.
Iris
An idea occurred to me, and my laughter tapered off, though it didn’t stop the broad grin that stretched my lips. My eyes were wide, and excitement made my breathing speed up, my heart racing. I probably looked the same as my reflection had back in Peter’s bathroom, but I was okay with that.
Without hesitation, I rushed through the cottage, flinging myself out the door. I ran through the trees and up the winding mossy pathway that would lead me towards my house. A shape was rising out of the water as I passed the edge of the swamp, and briefly, I spotted a pair of glowing green eyes.
Ignoring Kaz, knowing he was probably going to follow me, I practically flew towards the house, but instead of heading through the front door, I stopped at my shitty car parked just out front. The doors were still unlocked because I couldn’t be bothered to lock them, so I dipped inside the passenger seat and began pulling out the canisters of gasoline one by one.
“What on earth is she up to, brother?” I looked up, still smiling wickedly as I spotted Cyn and Cilas in the doorway. They watched me with their arms crossed over their chests, shadowy tendrils leaking off of them.