“Nat, I need you to speak clearly to me. I know you’re afraid, but I promise that if you don’t do anything stupid, I won’t hurt you. I mean that. Now, what did you see? Take a breath and talk to me.”
Natalie took a deep breath. He looked so normal, like an everyday guy just sitting in her living room. He called her Nat, like they were old college buddies. There was nothing about him that would even help her cause if the police arrived at that point. He looked so normal.
She tried to speak, but instantly felt nauseous. She took another breath and steadied herself against the wall. He had promised not to hurt her, she just had to answer.
“There was fire…he was breathing…he was breathing fire, and the other guy had wings. I saw the monsters. You were all monsters.”
“Okay,” the man began, “I won’t deny that. Something did happen, and you did see what you saw. Now, what I want is simple. If you can keep quiet about what you saw, there won’t be any trouble. I know you called the police, right?”
Natalie nodded again, wondering what would happen if the officer arrived. At the moment, there was no one who could save her. But if the police came she would have a chance to escape. She just had to stall long enough. “I didn’t mean to, I didn’t know what to do.”
He got to his feet, stretching out his arm. “Look, Nat, I have no reason to hurt you. What I want is simple. If you keep quiet about all of this, we won’t hurt you. I won’t be the one who hurts you, but the guy with the fire? Yeah, he’ll make sure there’s nothing left of you. So, let’s not do that, alright?”
“How?” Natalie asked, and instantly regretted it. But she knew she had no idea how to keep this a secret. How could she go about living her life, knowing about the existence of monsters that walked among everyday people, and not tell anyone else?
“How what?” the man asked, as he turned to the door. He paused and listened for a moment.
Nat listened as well and picked up the sound of a police vehicle getting closer. Her heartbeat picked up and she realized she was about to be saved.
She locked eyes with him for a moment, wondering if he could tell what she wanted to do. He smiled, shaking his head at her. If the officer had a gun, and he landed a shot, he might be able to hurt the monster enough for her to get away. She just had to time it right.
“You don’t want to do that,” the man said, smirking at her. He could tell she was planning to scream, and Natalie took a step backward.
“Don’t hurt me,” She whimpered, her body shaking uncontrollably.
“If you play along, I won’t. Now tell the officer that nothing is wrong and everything is fine, okay?” The man gestured, pointing at the door.
Natalie walked calmly to the door, waiting as the officer walked up to the front door and knocked. She opened the door and stared at the officer, her lips trembling, unable to speak. He stared at her for a moment, raising an eyebrow at her in confusion.
“Ma’am? We got a call, is everything alright?” the officer asked.
Natalie wanted to say what the man had asked her to say, but she betrayed herself, unable to just shut it out. She began shaking her head. “No,” she whispered, hoping he wouldn’t hear her. “He’s in my house, please help.”
The officer took a look at her and quickly rushed past her into the building. Natalie watched as he reached for his gun at his hip, turning it around as he searched for the man in her house. Just as he got to the stairs, Nat jumped back as she saw the man walking down the stairs, drying his hair with a towel.
“Hands where I can see them!”
The man spotted the officer and tossed the towel to the side. “Whoa, whoa officer wait. Wait, I can explain. Did she call?” He dropped to his knees and put his hands behind his head. “Just listen to me first, okay? She’s off her meds, and she needs to take them to remain calm. We ran out, and I was about to head out to get her new prescription. It’s over there on the table. Please, just take a look at it, Nat’s schizophrenic!”
Natalie looked at the man with his hands behind his head, almost stunned by the quality of his acting. She almost believed it herself. She watched as the officer walked over to the table, took one look at the note on the table, and then turned back to Nat for a moment.
“Wait, no, he’s lying. That’s not true, that’s not true, I’m not—” Natalie began.
“Did she call talking about monsters?” the man asked, taking his hands from behind his head. “Look, officer, this isn’t the first time this has happened, okay? I know how this works. I’ve been tased because of this, so it’s not my first rodeo. Believe me, I do what I can to take care of my sister.”
The officer pulled his gun down and turned to her. “Ma’am, I’m going to need you to calm down.”
“No, no this is all wrong! He isn’t my brother! He pulled me out of the cave, the other one was breathing fire and had wings! They were fighting the monsters, I saw all of them. I swear, I’m not lying!” Natalie’s voice got louder and louder as both men began walking toward her. “Please, you have to believe me.”
“Nat, I believe you, I know you saw those monsters, and we can make them go away. I promise, I won’t hurt you. I just need you to calm down for a bit, okay?” the man replied, nodding to the officer.
Natalie watched in horror as the officer moved to the side, and the man held on to her arms, taking her to the chair as though she was a crazy person. She walked over, knowing there was no point in fighting. She would get hurt if she tried to fight, and would only make her case look worse than it already did.
Once she sat, the man took a blanket and wrapped it around her shoulders. She listened in as he escorted the officer to the door, explaining her case. For a moment, it felt like her world had been turned upside down, and this monster had full control of her. But Natalie wasn’t just going to sit and let herself be hurt or killed. She was going to fight back, no matter the consequences. She would die fighting.
Chapter 4 - Axle
“So how do you guys deal with her?” the officer asked as he stopped by the car.