Caretaker's Pride

My eyes tear
through the forest. Horrified screams are crying out in here, not caused by
anything I know of. There seems to be a predator on the prowl.

I climb on
trees, then climb along the tops to survey the scene

A large
patch of the forest has been cleared out, and judging by where the screams were
coming from, the piles of bodies match my suspicions.

I jump down
to the ground, quietly sneaking closer to the field. The closer I get, the more
I hear the low rumbles of some other beast. Groans of contentment or of
excitement sound the louder as I finally approach the entrance to the clearing.

In the
glistening moonlight, a dark humanoid silhouette basks among the dead cadavers.
From what I can see, bright white teeth decorate its wide toothy, pointy grin.

Quietly, I
step inside the area, holding close to the trees. It seems like the monster is
serene for now, leaning against a tree.

My morbid
curiosity pushes me further. I come into the middle of the clearing. My hand
digs in my purse for a knife. My locket pulses an alarming red. “He…Hello?”

It looks up.
“Who are you?” The voice is familiar, but rough and deep.

“My name is
Sassilia Abernthy.”

It blinks a
few times, then suddenly shrinks back.

I squint a
little, following it back.

“Stop, no.”

Scared of
me…? I just caught it mauling an entire village!

“It's
al-"

“No. Stop,
please.”

I pause. It
sighs out, its claws only drawing back in its hands just a little.

My locket
pulses brighter. A black vein hand erupts from it, grabbing the creatures
shoulder, and pulling it into the light.

I see a
flash of candlelight and glowing purple. A blackish suit.

I gasp.
“D-!”

It slaps its
hand over my mouth. “No, no, no!”

The spike
drives into my heart, and very quickly, I fling into Denomilia form. “Get off
me, brute!” I push it down and away.

It stands up
and starts to run.

I wipe my
mouth. Blood from its claws.

I start to
chase after it, racing through with my wings. I know Caretaker is around
somewhere, he always is when I’m Denomilia.

The forest
goes back to being thicker, but I know my way around. Right before I can throw
my chains around the creature, the spike retracts back into the locket. I
careen off-course, temporarily blinded by the transformation. I fall on top of someone.
I breathe heavily.

“Sass, are
you alright?”

I groan a
little, blood coming from my chest and bleeding through my torn clothes.

“It’s
alright.” Demvare helps me up.

I hold onto
his shoulder. “S-sorry, I-"

“Your
locket.” He glances down curious at it. “It started flashing and you went
haywire.”

“Well, well,
well!”

I hold onto
Dem. Caretaker is here.

He comes
from behind a tree, clapping and grinning. “How quaint.”

“Shut up..”
I mumble painfully.

“Mr. Erar. I
recognize you from around town.”

“And you
must be Demvare. My little darling has told me so much about you.”

He glances
at me, then to him.

“Yes, her.
She’s very informative.”

My head hits
Dem's shoulder as my mind starts to get fuzzy. “Bastard…ass…”

“She’s
saying she doesn’t entirely agree with you.”

“Not like
this, no. Anyways, I have places to be. Make sure she doesn’t loose that
locket, will you?”

“What’s it
to you?”

He chuckles.
“Everything.” He snaps, and he disappears.

My eyes
start to close and I start to fall.

“Sass!” His
hands grab my shoulders.

My head bobs
back. Everything goes dark. I start to sleep.