The Playground After Midnight

I didn’t expect to see Aubrey Blake walking through an elementary school playground at midnight. Honestly, I didn’t think I’d ever see her again at all. It had been years since I’d heard anything about her. I wanted to say something to her, but she moved fast and direct like she was on a mission. Also, I didn’t want to freak her out with it being so late at night and all. Being a man she may or may not recognize, sitting in the dark and wearing dark clothes, could understandably scare someone. I didn’t look great either. Just a couple of hours ago I had been in a fight at the bar, and I’d like to claim the other guy looked worse, but that’d be a lie. He’d beaten me up pretty good and who knew what my face looked like. If the pain and barely being able to keep my left eye open were any clue, probably not good.

It’d be nice to catch up with Aubrey, but not tonight. Not like this. The last time I saw her, a couple guys were beating me up. Kind of a reoccurring theme. She stepped in the middle and told them to “fuck off.” One of them tried standing his ground, and she punched him hard right in the nose. Almost knocked the guy out. Then she helped me up and walked me home. She was older than me by a few years, so I didn’t know much about her in school or anything. After that day, she was my hero. I could try to put on some front about not needing to be saved, but either way, definitely badass of her to throw a punch like that. To stick up for some random guy she owed nothing to. She was the most beautiful person I ever met.

After that day she disappeared. Surprisingly, no one seemed to care. No one was looking for her. I assumed her family must’ve known where she went. I talked to her mom sometimes at the nursing home, but she never mentioned anything. Maybe it was reminding myself how easily she could vanish again, but I suddenly felt a need to follow her. She dipped between some trees into the woods, and as far as I knew, there wasn’t anything in those woods to be heading to.

I searched for an opening or path, assuming she followed a trail, but there wasn’t one. Pricker bushes, poison ivy, and long grass fenced the woods. Peering between the trees, I only saw total darkness. As I stepped through, the thorns pierced my jeans and the bushes pulled me back. I pushed through. Finally, the ground opened up a bit. Leaves and twigs snapped and crunched beneath my sneakers. She’d definitely hear me. This was a terrible idea.

Then I saw the white glow of a flashlight bobbing ahead, and walked towards it. A sticky string of spider webbing clung to my face. I wiped at my face with my sleeve and continued on as quietly as I could.

The sound of voices stopped me. Aubrey and a familiar sounding male voice. I stepped closer. I could see Aubrey’s outline and the man in her flashlight. Mr. Barnes owned the hardware store in town. He was married with three kids and like twice Aubrey’s age. What would he be doing out here with her at midnight?

“Turn off the light,” he said.

“I want it on.”

While they argued about the light, I detected a nervousness in her voice. I wanted to jump out and tell her not to do this. Whatever this was.

He gave up the argument about the light and pushed her against a tree. I saw his hand go to her throat and stepped closer. My fists clenched. He leaned in, kissed her, and she kissed back. I stepped behind a tree, feeling like I should really get out of there. I didn’t want to see this. Didn’t want to know about this. Perhaps she wasn’t who I thought she was, but maybe that wasn’t fair. I didn’t really know her at all.

I could hear him whispering cringy things about how much he needed her and how he wanted to tear her apart. She moaned and my stomach tossed. My blood boiled. Right as I was about to look away, run away, something caught my eye. It looked kind of like he had gotten taller. Was he stepping up on something? Then his face started to fall back over his head like someone lowering a flesh made hoodie. A black, scaly head that sort of reminded me of a dinosaur grew where the human face once was. His mouth opened wide. So wide and large, It wasn’t hard to imagine him being able to chomp her head right off in one bite. His mouth was filled with sharp, long teeth. So many of them. Strings of saliva glistened in the light of the flashlight. Then tongues stuck out. Yes, multiple. Or perhaps one that was split into several. It looked like an octopus wriggling out of his mouth. The slimy tongues surrounded Aubrey’s beautiful face on all sides. Could they suction her face off? My heart pounded so hard, it hurt. My thoughts spun so rapidly I couldn’t make sense of them. I couldn’t move, but I managed to scream.

The creature’s head snapped towards me. A tingling electricity zapped through my veins, awakening every nerve. The corners of my lips twitched upward into a grin I fought away. The creature looked strange still being in Mr. Barnes’ suit and all. He stomped towards me with such force the ground shook. His many tongues waved and stretched in my direction, and he let out a loud cry that sounded similar to an elephant roar. I stumbled back, putting my hands to my ears. The creature moved quickly and I knew I didn’t have much time. I searched around me frantically until I found a large stick. It’d have to do. I grabbed it, gripped it like a baseball bat, and pulled back. Full force I whacked the stick at the creature, but he caught it in his tongues and snapped it with his fangs. How could a tongue be that strong? I kicked hard at his groin area hoping maybe some of his man parts remained. Not the most dignified approach, but it’s better than dying. The creature stood completely still and made a series of clicking noises.

“Man, you sure are one ugly bastard.” I whispered, but I knew he could hear me. When his clawed hand lashed out at me, I jumped back. My heart raced so rapidly, I feared it might burst. A grin stretched across my face.

Then a sharp point protruded from his chest. He wailed. Aubrey’s arm reached around his neck and sliced across it with a knife. A glowing blue line cut across his neck. Did his blood glow? When it quickly faded, I wondered if it was the knife instead.

“I got this from a witch,” Aubrey said, like reading my thoughts. “Magic knife for a magic monster.”

The monster dropped to the ground.

“Is he dead?” I asked. Breathing felt hard, like I had just run a super fast mile.

“Not quite yet.” She put her arm up and pushed me back. “I think the knife kills the human body. Then a little monster pops out and if you don’t kill it fast, it’ll take over your body. Get ready!”

What looked like a baseball sized tadpole leapt from Mr. Barnes’ body. I grabbed it in my hands, careful to avoid the mouth of snapping sharp teeth. Aubrey jabbed the knife into it. With a loud squeal, the creature burst into an explosion of slimy goo.

“Now he’s dead.”

I took a moment to catch my breath. “Wait, did you know this would happen?”

Aubrey nodded. “Well, kind of. I had a hunch he was a monster, but I need to wait until they reveal themselves first. I don’t want to kill an innocent. He took so much longer than most. Normally, the moment they get me alone, they can’t wait to morph into true form and eat me. I have to say I kind of prefer that now that I’ve experienced this.”

“So, you’re what? Some kind of monster hunter?”

“Something like that. What’re you doing out here anyway? Were you watching us? That’s a little pervy.”

I should have defended myself, but I just laughed instead.

“Wait, you’re Ashton right? I remember you! My mom talked about you all the time. The nice boy who visited the home and kept them all company. It’s sweet you volunteered so much.”

It was community service for juvenile delinquency, actually, but semantics. Her calm was contagious, but it was still a bit strange to be laughing and shooting the shit next to a dead monster body.

Aubrey winced. “She mentioned you stopped coming around after accidentally killing Mr. Mooney with a peanut cookie.”

Not really an accident, but definitely better if everyone thought that. I stayed quiet. She seemed to think that implied grief or something.

“It’s okay.” She put a hand on my shoulder. “None of them blame you. They all miss you actually.”

The warmth where her hand touched me felt soothing. “Maybe I’ll go back sometime.”

“What happened to your face?” She asked.

“Oh, some guy beat me up.”

“People suck. I remember that happened to you a lot as a kid too. It always made me so angry. You’re such a sweet kid. Don’t deserve that.”

I smiled. She clearly didn’t know of my reputation, but I liked that. The truth was I’ve never been in a fight I didn’t start. It’s easy to rile some people up. Insult their girlfriend, figure out their insecurity, tear down their looks. There was a certain thrill to seeing all that anger in their eyes. A certain kind of power. “I’m not really a kid anymore.”

“I guess that’s true.” She was quiet for a moment. “We should go.”

“Don’t you need to hide the body or whatever?”

“No. Monsters have a way of just sort of disappearing, but I don’t recommend watching it happen.”

We walked through the woods and back out to the playground. For a moment, I wondered what this would all mean for Mr. Barnes' kids. Perhaps having a dad as a monster would never end well. Even though we didn’t say much, it felt nice being around her. Surprisingly, it felt good to be with someone who had no idea what kind of person I really was. Maybe I could try being this. For a while at least.