Monsters in the Dark

I hate the dark. Evil lurks amongst the shadows. As a child I thought the evil in the shadows were monsters. Now as an adult I still believe it’s monsters, but they don’t have fangs or sharp claws. They don’t have a smiling mouth of razor-like teeth. These monsters are nothing more than mere men, waiting for an opportunity to strike an otherwise oblivious victim.

Water from this afternoon's rainstorm seeped into the canvas of my hightops. A slight chill howled through my thin jean jacket. I shouldn’t be out here. A familiar unease crawled up my neck as I rounded the corner of Hill St. The light post at the edge was broken. It had been for weeks now and as the evening fog rolled in, it made for a scene out of a nightmare. 

I didn’t want to go down that road. The darkness thickened in every corner. They were lurking. I gripped my hands in my pockets and pushed forward. I wasn’t a child anymore. I could face my fear. But as the breeze sounded like a nefarious whisper, my heart jolted, electrified by the what ifs. 

There was nothing there.

Nothing that I could see.

Until I could.

A shadow in the form of a man sauntered my way. I couldn’t see his eyes. I couldn’t make out an expression. But a voice came from it, low and gnarled. 

“Hello,” was all it said. I should have run. I should have said something. All I could do was freeze. Every limb was disjointed from the command in my brain screaming to get away. And the longer I stood there, the closer he came. 

His hands grabbed me like a vise. As if I might get away. As if my body would work at all. I was too easy. He picked me up as if I was nothing more than a stack of paper waiting to be swept away in the wind. Even my voice caught in my throat like I was trapped in a bad dream. But this was no dream. And there was no rescue from the darkness coming my way. 

Two hands turned into four, and four into six. I couldn’t hear their words, jumbled up in laughter. My heart went into panic as my skin met the cold night air.

“Don’t do this,” I begged.

They didn't listen and didn't return an answer. They moved in unison against my now thrashing body as if they'd done it a million times before. How many had suffered at their hands? How many had they tortured before me? 

I whipped my elbow into one of their sides, forcing him to lurch forward. The other two pinned my arm to the cold asphalt. Their breath soured of mustard. I tried to crank my head away as my stomach swirled, nausea threatening to spill over. I doubt they’d care if I hurled and covered myself - or them in vomit. For that is what they were.  

Pressed on my back, barely able to breathe, I gazed up at the sky. It didn’t allow for anyone to see tonight. The clouds covered the moon like a thick blanket. Even if I screamed, no one would hear me over the roar of traffic on Main St. just a block away. And that is exactly how I wanted it. Because if no one could hear me, no one could hear them.

I closed my eyes as a slip of the moon peeked its head in between the waves of darkness. For a moment, its light cast elongated shadows over the four of us. And I saw their faces, horrified as my skin stretched, bones cracked, hair spurted like pimples being popped. 

The adrenalin in my body revved into hyperdrive, masking most of the pain the transformation caused. My rage masked the rest. 

“What the…” their voices garbled incoherent utterances laced in fear. I laughed and the sound mixed with a low rumble as my vocal cords changed into something more ominous than a girl's voice.

The three of them stood, frozen in fear, as I rose above them on all fours. They should have run. But they couldn’t peel their eyes away. I stalked a giant pad forward, claws clicking against the asphalt. Saliva dripped from my teeth. 

“Its…its…its..” one of them mumbled in a whisper as I made another step.

“A bear,” the other finished his baffled statement.

I reared up, nearly ten feet tall, with the moon at my back. The alley was blocked. They had nowhere to run. The roar in me rumbled from deep below. From a place of fury for every other victim. For every woman forced onto her back. For what was stolen. For life lost too early. 

I rushed for the one on the right, gashing him through with one swipe. The one in the middle tried to run, but I grabbed him with my mouth, sinking my fangs into his spine as a splintering crack echoed through him. He went limp and I tossed him away. The last one held up his fists and some kind of metal stick. Mighty brave, I thought. But it wouldn’t do any good. I hitched forward and he flinched. 

“You let me go, or I’ll kill you!” he warned. 

“Maybe you should have let me go when you had the chance. Maybe if you had let the others go, I wouldn’t be here…hunting you.” I forced my thoughts into his head and he swallowed back the fear that was so evident all over him. 

I chucked my feet forward and crashed into his body. It flew against the brick wall, slamming with a sickening thud. He gargled a moan that satisfied my hunger. I stepped on his chest, carefully cracking just enough of his ribcage to not kill him. 

I took a deep breath and focused on my human form. The bear cracked back into me, sliding away like skeletons in a closet. The two men that were still conscious stared at the repulsive sight as I paused the transformation; half human, half bear - full monster. I wanted to burn it into their memory. I didn’t aim to kill tonight.

Only to send a message. 

Loud and clear. 

Mess with women, and you’ll meet the bear.