I Don't Know If My Neighbor Owns a Monster or Is The Monster

## **I Don't Know If My Neighbor Owns a Monster or Is The Monster** *by Bloodyspaghetti*

So, I have a new neighbor who moved here from Ethiopia. His name is Ayacho. He’s a pretty chill dude, speaks perfect English, albeit accented. We’re on great terms and in the few short months he’s been living here I can say we’ve become friends. I really like the guy. Definitely better than my previous neighbors. They freaked out every time I threw out chunks of meat away. I mean, I have nothing to do with that… I can’t eat that so.

It should be understandable, no?

Ayacho doesn’t care; I think he‘s even interested in the meat I‘m throwing away; the other night he asked me if he could have some of what I was bound to throw away. Until recently I had no idea what he wanted to do with these bones but now I know.

And, honestly, I think it’s kind of cool.

I‘ll let you in on a little secret; I dabble in some “dark magic” as the kids would call it. I‘m mostly trying to communicate with higher life forces. I guess you could say something along the line of the lesser beings of the Cthulhu mythos. I know I‘m coming off as completely out of my mind right now, but I swear, I‘ve seen these things. Some sort of an anthropomorphic sort of insects or birds or I don’t even know. They’ve cured me and the rest of my family from some sort of insane flu strain that would’ve put the Black Death to shame had they didn’t interfere. Ever since then, I‘m trying to reach them. Turns out blood is really great fuel for interdimensional travel. One time I‘ve managed to reach the dimension of my saviors but the portal collapsed because the fucker whose blood I used died on me way too early.

Now, before I get branded as some insane maniac, I‘d like to point out that I‘ve never touched anyone innocent, other than the typical school fights way back when. All of my blood donors are criminals lawfully convicted or those whom I catch myself, usually in the act. Luckily the city I live in is riddled with crime.

Anyway, back to Ayacho. So, the other night, I was sleeping when suddenly I heard someone screaming out in fear like an adult man was screeching in a very high-pitched tone. Pure terror in his voice. I know how that sounds. Trust me. So, I go outside to check out what’s going on. Boy, oh boy, I didn’t expect what I‘ve seen; I see this poor bald chap dressed in fancy clothes being dragged into my neighbor‘s house by some sort of hyena-looking thing. I’m saying "hyena-looking thing" because this thing was definitely bigger than your average hyena and also because there was something kind of off about its face. The beast noticed me looking at it as it bit again and again into the screaming man and looked at me, I think it smiled at me before letting out a chuckle. I know hyenas don’t laugh unless they are threatened or stressed or something like that. That thing, it was completely in control of its prey which I might add was all bloodied and bruised.
One of his legs was partially bitten off, and an arm was definitely missing… poor Ayacho had to scrub all that blood from the paved path to his door the morning after but I digress.

It was almost an honor to get to see a wild beast hunting live, I‘ve always dreamed of seeing some top predator hunting in the flash. Call me weird for that, but I think that other animals are just far more fascinating than humans.

So yeah, as I stood there and admired the beast’s work, it managed to drag its prey into my neighbor’s house. The screaming didn’t die down for a while. Lucky for us, nobody lives close by so Ayacho won’t have too many problems with his… umm… pet...

Now here‘s the reason I’m posting this here, I’m not really sure that this megahyena was your typical animal, or like cryptid. Nah, I don’t think it was just like a beast of Gevaudan. I think this thing is human, or at least partially human.

See, I couldn’t really go back to sleep with all that screaming around me, so I grabbed a smoke and enjoyed the cool night air while an animalistic slaughter was taking place in my neighbor‘s house. Just as the cries of death died down something caught my attention; Ayacho’s house was dimly lit the whole time, and I just happened to catch a glimpse of the beast’s shadow rising up to stand on its hind legs before, I think, and I can’t stress this enough, I only think so, but the beastly shadow turned into what seemed to be a shadow of a man.

Now, I don’t know if this was, in fact, some sort of werehyena or something, or it‘s just some creature Ayacho brought with him from Ethiopia. I‘m just intrigued, but not sure if I sure ask him about it or not. Either way, I don’t mind, to be honest, I think it‘s kind of cool. Not to mention how I could just let him have the meat husks I throw away; that would definitely serve us well both.

All in all, Ayacho can sleep quietly at night knowing his secret is safe with me, just like mine is safe with him.