El Monstruo: Life Without the Mask (Part Eight)

“Ugh! Yuck!” exclaimed Carol as she rolled off of the furry cushion she had been lying upon. Sam chortled, his belly rippling with waves of laughter.

“I’m sorry. I wanted you to be comfortable, and it was the only way I could think of. I didn’t want to lay you on the cold ground, so I used what skills I had at my disposal.” No matter how hard he tried, the tanuki couldn’t keep himself from smirking. Carol, blushing, had remembered that tanuki were renowned for their shape shifting, and then she remembered that the males were also able to shape their specific anatomy.

“Thank you, really, for your help, but I have somewhere I need to go.” Carol hadn’t forgotten that she was supposed to be in Dunwich by now, securing the kanabo. She felt disappointed with herself; she had lost control on the highway, lost Adam’s body, and now wasn’t where she was supposed to be.

“Where do you need to be?” asked Sam

“I don’t know any more.” confessed Carol. Under the bright light of the full moon, she told Sam about everything that had happened over the past few weeks. She told him about Adam, the oni, and the murders. She also told him that she was scared. “I don’t know what to do anymore. I thought that returning to the other world would be a good thing, but I’ve started to have my doubts. I’m worried.”

Sam put his paw on her shoulder casually and fixed his gaze on her eyes. “If you really want to go back to the other world, I can take you.”

Carol was confused; she thought that only Adam could open the way into the other world. She thought that Iwao guarded the way through. She said as much to Sam.

“Adam has fed you lies, and now you need to spit them on the ground. Iwao won’t let Adam pass, for if Adam awakes his wife, it will be the doom of all worlds.” said Sam softly. “She is a creator and destroyer, but all she will do is destroy.”

“We need to stop him then.” decided Carol, slapping her palm with a clenched fist. Taking control of her destiny made her feel exhilarated. Pulling at Sam’s wrist, she charged towards the East, towards Dunwich.

“We don’t need to walk there. I have a car, and that van you were driving is still running, just lightly charred from the fire.”

“We’ll take your car. I don’t think I want to have anything to do with Adam anymore.”

***

Don held the mask in his hands. It glittered in the faint light, seemingly begging to be put on. He ran his fingers across the laces of the mask and felt a strange magnetism, as though the mask was drawing him to it. He tried to stand, but tumbled to the ground. He had forgotten that he was missing a leg now. The mask flew from his hands when he fell, and it landed next to him. Don stared into the mask’s hollow eyes, taking brief note of its savage, toothy smile.

“I’m not going to fall for it.” he said, feeling like a mad man as soon as the words fell from his mouth. He continued the staring contest with the mask, unwilling to look away and half expecting it to try to bite him. Why isn’t it alive like those other ‘things’? What’s making me thing that it isn’t alive? I bet that it is trying to bait me into trusting it. I won’t fall for it. The thoughts stayed safely contained inside of Don’s skull. The last thing he needed was to end up in an asylum. I wonder if Mom and Dad are worried about me? I’ve got to be six hours late for supper by now. I wonder if they will come to try and find me.As he thought, he noticed a flickering light. The floating lantern had returned, along with the umbrella. The umbrella bounced along on its one muscular leg, carefully balanced on a wooden sandal. Its red tongue lolled ghoulishly from its mouth. Don cringed as it came close, nearly licking him.

“Please! Don’t! I’ve had enough today.” Don wasn’t crying, as he had expected. He was simply angry at the creature. He studied its blue paper body and asked, “What’s your name?” The umbrella, though supplied with a mouth, could not speak. It simply shrugged with its thin arms, rolling its immense, single eye in a gesture that seemed to convey bewilderment. “You don’t have a name, do you?”

The umbrella shook its whole body, trying to say no. The lantern belched fire, unhappy that it was being ignored. Don chastised the lantern, telling it to wait its turn. He considered the two creatures and felt bad for them. They were lost and had come back to him, either for help or to assist him. He decided that the living objects should have names.

“I’ll call you Dale,” he said to the umbrella, which bounced happily. The lantern glowed gloomily until Don said “and I’ll call you Johnny.” The lantern hissed angrily. “What? I think Johnny is a fine name.” Don reached his hand out and the umbrella helped him stand. In the dim moonlight, Dale and Johnny helped Don get home.

***

Grant crashed through the doors of the Dunwich Museum of Oriental Antiquities. A dozen alarms wailed loudly as he charged past electronic eyes and their invisible beams. He knew where he needed to go, and it was my job to make sure that Adam didn’t escape.

“Kyoko, let me out of this thing!” Adam begged, his words muffled by the thick walls of the safe that Grant had torn out of the motel room. Kappa, in a shallow slumber, mumbled not to let Adam out.

“I won’t let you out. These are good people.” I said, meaning to say that these were good yokai. Not that there was a world of difference. I always thought that people and yokai were the same thing; yokai were just had more intense emotions that shaped them. Since I was human once, I felt that I could attest to the similarities and differences. Pulling off my white gloves, I looked intently at my fingers. My nails were long and sharp; they were caked with blood. The tip of each digit was permanently stained a rusty color. It was part of my punishment for my murders.

“And you are not good. Why should you go against the grain? The gods made you to hate and kill, just as they made me to do the same.” Adam’s voice seemed to be getting louder. “Would you expect a wolf to feel bad for eating a lamb? Would you expect him to go to a dentist and have his teeth pulled?”

“I’m better than a wolf.” I responded weakly. His words were true; forever would I be compelled to ask strangers if they thought I was pretty. If they said yes, then I would take off my mask and show them my face. I’d ask again, and if they lied, they died. I could never make a friend, unless it was someone who always told me the truth about my looks. Of course, they’d also have the ability not to hurl at the mere sight of my mouth.

“No one’s better than an animal, Kyoko. We are all animals. Humans and yokai; we’re no better than the beasts that spawned us. Look at you now. You are waiting in a stolen car while Grant rummages through antiquities, searching for the right one to steal. Why is all this stealing going on? So he can bash in the head of someone that stands in our way. Is it for a good enough cause? Something higher than survival? In the end, I don’t think so. Just let me out of the box. I need to get to my body before sunrise, and if I don’t, I die. At the rate we’re going, I’ll be dead and the gate to the other world will be sealed forever.” Adam’s voice seemed to be in my head now. I thought of why I wanted to be human again.

I remembered being picked on as a girl. I remembered trying to be a sexy young woman. I remembered the blood; long, sharp scissors shoved deep into a man’s stomach. Throats opened wide, blood flowing as if from an over-full tub. The beautiful eyes I always wanted lined up on a shelf, watching me as I bathed. I was a monster then, as much as I was a monster now. Yet, Grant didn’t make me feel like a monster. I tried to hold onto his crooked, reassuring smile. It was my anchor. It made me want to be something more than monster or animal.

I struggled to turn the safe so that its door faced downward. I let it lay there, unable to open. I wanted more for myself, and I would have it. However, I worried that Adam would find a way to screw us in the end.

***

Rita was surprised to see Arouna closing the bar. He poked and prodded, sending the regulars out to find other bars. He smiled as he told them that he was going back to Africa, and that he didn’t want to lock anyone inside. She chased after him, asking why he was closing up shop.

“I’m tired of being something I‘m not.” replied Arouna as the last patron left. “Grant left, and I let him go without too much fuss. I should have helped him more. All this talking about him has got me thinking. I need to help him, and I need to help myself.”

“So, what are you going to do?” asked Rita.

“I’m going to take my mask off.” replied Arouna, “and I’m going to keep it off.”

El Monstruo: Life Without the Mask (Part Four)

Don pleaded with Adam as the bear trap growled and tightened its maw. His words were incomprehensible; warped by sobbing, every sentence was punctuated by gasping and wailing. Adam simply watched, enjoying the sight.

“It hurts, doesn’t it? That is no ordinary bear trap, as you might guess.” said Adam, whose words seemed to calm Don slightly. “That is what we call tsukumogami. On its one hundredth anniversary of its creation, an object may become invested with a spirit. They are the lowest of our kind, and I am a collector of them.”

“Can you get it off of me?” begged Don, his face contorted with agony.

“I’m sorry, but I can’t control the tsukumogami any more than you can control the sun. They are nearly animals, and I have never done well with animals.” Adam’s voice bore a thick coat of sarcasm. While he could never get a dog to fetch a stick, he could likely get a tsukumogami to write a novel while swimming the English Channel. Don couldn’t recognize the weakly veiled lie. His focus was entirely on the scraping sound that a sharp metal tooth was making against his shin bone.

Carol, wearing a form fitting shirt dress, stood far away. She usually delighted in the way Adam treated humans, but she never witnessed him torture someone for so long. For a moment, she wondered what it would have been like to be born human. Unlike many yokai, she was born as a yokai. She never knew what it was like to be a normal person, but thought that it would be terrible beyond imagining.

With a final snap, Don’s cries subsided. The tsukumogami seemed happy with its day’s work. Adam stroked it lovingly, pouring praise onto it like a gardener tending his plants. Carol thought that he seemed very kind and loving, and found herself hoping that there would still be room for her in Adam’s life after he returned to his wife.

***

 

Kappa sat on the bed, leaning back on the headboard. He looked at Grant and Kyoko and thought that they looked like fish waiting for a hook. He cleared his voice and let himself float backwards through his memories. He found himself remembering a day long ago, when he was a teenager.

“I was young and dumb, really,” he said to his audience. “I had deluded myself into thinking that I was one of the most handsome guys in school. Girls would ask me out on a date, and I thought it was because I was really something. They’d ask me to go to the movies, or shopping, or out to eat. I worked part time at a Chinese restaurant; the owner paid me under the table, allowing me to make the most of my minimal wage. I’d lavish gifts on almost any girl that liked me. I thought that I was young and successful. I had almost anything a young guy could want.

“Then, I started wondering why I never kissed any of the girls. All these dates, but never a kiss. I never even held hands. I found out the truth in the usual way; someone took pity on me and told me what had been happening, and what the girls called me behind my back. The friend who told me was a girl, Renee. She was bookish and quiet, but nice also. We had a few classes together, and talked a lot.

“’They call you free ride,’ she said, ‘because you take girls out and never try anything. It’s like a game to them. They want to see how much they can get out of you before you try anything.’ I was baffled about what she said. I didn’t want to believe it, so I just dismissed it as jealousy. However, it ate at me all day long and deep into the night. The next time I went on a date, I tried holding hands with the girl I was with and she shrank away. We broke up soon after. It started becoming a pattern, and eventually, I found that the truth I was told was indeed true.

“I wound up dating with Renee, and it was the greatest thing to ever happen to me. We dated through the rest of our first year in high school and spent the summer going on outings. I tried so hard to convince her to go to the beach. When we did,” Kappa paused, his eyes filling with tears. “When we did, we swam in the ocean. And…”

“What happened?” asked Kyoko, unwilling to let Kappa keep his secret. He had started this game, and she wanted to see its conclusion.

“A riptide pulled her out to sea. I tried to save her; I was a much stronger swimmer than she was. When she sank into the sea, I went under the water to find her. I must have swam too deep, because I started losing my breath. I don’t remember how the change happened, but I remember waking up on the beach early the next morning. I had a shell on my back and a bowl of water on my head.” Kappa let the sentence hang in the air, rolling off of the bed and onto his webbed feet. His brow furrowed with concentration, Kappa’s shape slowly changed to that of a man, fully clothed, wearing the same Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles shirt he always wore.

“That’s my story, and that is my shame.” he said with weighty drama. He left the room, leaving Kyoko and Grant in a stupor. They sat, gape mouthed, until the door slammed shut and Kappa disappeared into the night.

“Do you think we should go after him?” asked Grant.

“He’ll be back soon enough. Probably just needs some space. Guys can be like that sometimes. You should know that.” answered Kyoko. “So, do you really think I’m beautiful?” she asked, smiling grotesquely. Grant returned her smile with his own tusk-framed grin.

“I do.” he said, meekly. Looking into Kyoko’s dark, almond shaped eyes, Grant felt a peaceful sensation well up inside him. He felt at home, which was not something he was accustomed to anymore. Kyoko extended a hand clad in soft white leather and wrapped her fingers around Grant’s massive ring finger, and noticed a deformed silver band.

“Why do you still wear that ring?” she asked.

“Because it represents a promise I made.”

“The promises a man makes die when the man dies. You are an oni now, Grant. You really should let go of your old life.”

“I all ready gave up too much.” said Grant with a voice like a thunderbolt shattering a tree. Kyoko reeled backwards, afraid of the rage that could overtake Grant at any moment. She stopped her retreat when she saw that Grant wasn’t lashing out at her. She decided that she needed to be less direct if she wanted to earn the red giant’s trust, and she needed that trust badly.

 

 

El Monstruo: Life Without the Mask (Part Three)

Don was the kind of boy that liked to set fires. He was walking deep in the woods when he came across something which must have been an astonishing fire. It was the burned out form of a car, turned black as grease from extraordinary heat. He looked up the cliff and guessed that the car must have plummeted down from the highway. He saw the bent, broken, and burned trees that marked the vehicle’s descent. Peering inside, he hoped that he would see a body or something cool like that. Instead, there was just the burned interior of a sedan. He kicked open the trunk and found nothing but ashes. Ashes, and a mask.

“What do you have there, boy?” asked the deep voice of a man dressed in a well tailored black suit. Adam adjusted the flamboyant purple paisley cravat around his neck as he studied Don, who tried fruitlessly to hide the mask behind his back. Don lied poorly, his ears turning a deep red as he told Adam that he had nothing. Don’s eyes followed Adam’s hand as it slid to a patent leather holster that draped across his hip. Adam rested his hand threateningly on an antique pearl handled revolver. “Do you know what I love?” he asked.

Don tried to answer, thinking that an answer would save him. He hoped that guessing correctly would keep the expensive looking gun holstered. “Guns?” answered Don hopefully.

“No, but I am fond of them. What I love is the tongue of a liar. A liar’s tongue is sweeter than the tongue of someone that always tells the truth. It is a strange sweet, yet savory flavor.”

“Here! It’s a mask! Don’t hurt me mister, please! Don’t eat my tongue!” screamed Don as he tossed the unburned mask at Adam’s feet. Still screaming and pleading, Don ran away. Adam chuckled, considering shooting the unfortunate youth.

“You’re just going to let him go? That’s surprisingly beneficent of you.” said Carol, who was hidden from sight behind a tree.

“I’m not heartless. I don’t kill every human that crosses my path.” responded Adam. “Besides, a well told tale will make me just as powerful as eating him alive.”

“This is a side of you I have never seen.” responded Carol. She looked at the mask on the ground. “Hm. It doesn’t seem magical. I guess this just pushed him to realize his destiny sooner.” Adam studied the mask, then crumpled it into his pocket. As he and Carol walked away, a howl of pain echoed through the woods. Far away, Don found that bear traps can trap more than just bears.

 

****

 

“So, what’s your name?” asked Kappa, wishing he had a more poignant inquiry.

“I’m Kyoko.” replied the woman, still standing in the doorway.

“Are you from Japan?” asked Grant.

“I’m from Des Moines, but my parents came from Hokkaido.” replied Kyoko, feeling as though she was being grilled without any pressure. She was waiting for one of them to ask ‘who sent you?’, but they only seemed interested in getting to know her better. She always thought that there were two kinds of men: those that would underestimate her, and those that would want to get close to her. She concluded that Grant and Kappa were the kind that wanted to get closer to her.

“How did you become yokai?” the question flew from Kappa’s mouth and caught Kyoko in the gut. For a moment, she forgot that she was talking to other yokai, and the question caught her off guard. It was like asking a woman what she looked like naked. It wasn’t something you ask, it was something that you’d find out as nature intended. Flushed, Kyoko struggled to answer.

“You still haven’t answered me.” said Grant to Kappa, “I asked you the same thing before this trip. Why don’t you tell your story, then Kyoko can tell hers.” Kappa looked disgusted as he shook his head.

“You really aren’t being helpful, Grant.” retaliated Kappa, “She’s the one we can’t trust.”

“I understand if you don’t trust me. My sudden appearance must seem suspicious. I think that if we each shared our story that some of the mistrust will disappear. I will start; my story is brief, really. I wasn’t one of the pretty girls, and I wasn’t one of the slutty girls. I just existed; I warranted very little attention from the teachers. I was an adequate student and I stayed out of trouble. One day, a couple of boys were harassing me.” A smile formed inside of Kyoko’s heart. She looked at Kappa and Grant and was amazed at their rapt attention as she recounted the story she made up long ago. There were kernels of truth hidden in the story she was telling, but there were also lies which Kyoko was starting to believe from having told them so often.

“They wanted to have their way with me, and I refused. The little fat one pulled a knife on me and threatened to cut me if I didn’t do what he said.” Kyoko felt tears welling up in her eyes on cue.

“You don’t have to continue. I think we understand.” said Grant, moved by the artificial display of emotions. Kappa sat in stolid silence. He wanted to be moved by her story, but he couldn’t help but feel like there was something wrong. She is far too forth coming with this story and those tears. He considered her facial expressions, distorted by her slit mouth. He couldn’t tell if she was smiling or frowning, nor could he read any emotion in her eyes. Maybe she has distanced herself so much from the assault that she no longer has emotions about it. Is that even possible? Kappa found himself willing to trust Kyoko, at least a little.

“My story is hard for me to tell,” started Grant, “because I’ve only just begun to understand it. It is a puzzle inside of my head, and every time I come near completing it, someone throws more pieces in front of me. I know that I become destructive when the mood takes me. Sometimes it is anger, other times it is when I feel ashamed. I think I started down this path when I wasn’t able to show my fiancée my emotions. We had been together for years, and all of those years, I hid so much from her. I couldn’t bear telling her how I felt. I pushed all of the emotions away, until the day that I started wearing that damned mask. I made the lock, and the mask was the key. It started a transformation that is still happening.”

“Are you hoping to stop it?” asked Kyoko.

“I’m just following where I’m being led. I’ve felt myself being pulled North. I think there is something I need.”

“It is your club.” said Kyoko. Kappa looked like he had been slapped in the face; he hadn’t even thought that Grant was looking for his club. Every Oni had one; a thick club whose head was coated in metal and adorned with spikes. He found himself remembering the Oni that guarded the way into the Other World, the world of spirits. His club was taller than a man and thicker than a cow.

“The club will make you stronger. It is a natural extension of your spirit. They say that an oni with his club is indestructible. I’ve never seen anyone mad enough to test that folklore.” said Kappa, trying to redeem himself. “I never considered it before, but it makes sense.” Grant listened to Kappa, and felt some comfort knowing that there was a reason he was traveling aside from being a fugitive. An unpleasant thought flashed through his mind. If the club truly makes me indestructible, what will happen when the cops find me?“I guess that means it’s my turn.” said Kappa woefully.

El Monstruo: Life Without the Mask (Part Two)

“It would be nice to go home again, Adam.” said Carol as her head bobbed at the end of her long, serpentine neck. A thin, red-lipped smile crossed her pale face. “Will Kappa help us?”

“I don’t know. He’s never been a friend to our cause.” replied Adam. His body remained seated across the room, leaning against the door. His head bounced and rolled along, finally resting on the window sill. “But we need that Oni, and we need him soon.”

“But he doesn’t even have his metal staff yet. What use will he be?”

“He will find it soon enough, and when he does, he will be able to lead us back into our domain.” responded Adam.

“I’ve been wondering; what will you do when we get beyond the door?” asked Carol as her neck continued to stretch.

“I will bring my wife back here.” Adam said, smirking. Carol’s smile widened; she had met Adam’s wife only once, and it was at her trial. She didn’t see much of her, as she was wrapped inside of a sack; however, she seemed nice enough. Carol wondered if it was even possible for Adam’s wife to still be alive, as she was tossed into a river of glass shards and left for dead. Yet, many yokai could survive much worse; each one had some way of surviving even the most drastic of circumstances. The ring of a cellular phone broke the silence. Adam’s head rolled towards his body as his hand flipped the phone open.

“I can see them.” said the sultry, feminine voice on the phone.

“Good. Stick with the plan I outlined earlier. Remember! We need the Oni.”

“Yes Adam.”

***

Sitting on the side of my twin bed in the bland motel room I shared with Kappa, I looked at my changing body. My nails had become claws and my tusks had grown longer and sharper. After attempting to shave my head or my beard, I found that the hair just grew back more swiftly and more wiry. Afraid that if I cut my hair too many times that it would eventually break the scissors, I decided to leave it alone. My stomach had grown to giant proportions; when I sat down, it would rest on my thighs.

Laying down, I looked across at Kappa. He told me that he learned to control his shape, but when he slept, he would revert to his true form; a giant man-turtle with a bowl of water on his head. Because of his bowl, Kappa always slept sitting up. I still hadn’t gotten used to it. There are a lot of things I had to get used to. Sometimes, I would miss the mask. It hid my face well. Instead of looking like a monster, I looked like a weirdo.

Unable to get comfortable, I rolled out of bed and went into the shower, which was barely big enough for my expanding frame. I stripped off the tiger-striped shorts I wore to bed and let the cold water spray against my skin. It was cool and refreshing; I could imagine the water washing everything away. No more red skin, no more horns, and no more guilt. Why did I still feel bad for killing that thug? He was going to try to kill me. I should have stayed in Little Arkham and talked with the police. Instead, I ran.

I switched off the shower and dried myself. I wrapped the towel around myself and walked out onto the small porch that jutted out from the motel room. The night air was cool, but not as fresh as it was back in Little Arkham. I longed for the air of the ocean; it would always make me feel fresh and alive. The city air was stagnant and stifling. I looked at the towering buildings and found myself wanting to knock them down. I wanted to break the street lights that were out shining the stars. In my anger, I almost didn’t notice a person watching me from the parking lot. It was a woman standing next to a pale pink Vespa. She took off her matching helmet, loosing a torrent of shining black hair. A white scarf was wrapped around her neck and mouth and I wondered how well the person she was talking to on her cell phone could hear her.

Sliding her phone into her white leather jacket’s pocket, she began to walk closer to the building. Our eyes met for a brief moment, and I felt entranced. Her dark brown eyes were like an abyss waiting to swallow me.

“Do you think I’m beautiful?” she yelled in my direction. I began to stammer and mumble. I croaked out a yes, partially because it was true and partially because I didn’t know what to say. Her knee high white boots flashed in the night as she sprinted into the building. I dismissed the interaction until I remembered what I looked like. By the time I made it to the door, it was swinging open. The woman was peeling off her scarf, revealing a gaping mouth filled with needle-like teeth.

“Do you still think I’m beautiful?” she said with a high pitched laugh.

“There’s no answer he can give that is right.” said Kappa, who I was sure had been asleep. His voice was watery and thin; it was the voice of his true form. He leapt to his webbed feet and crouched low to the ground, ready to pounce.

“I haven’t come for a fight.” said the woman, backing away slowly. “I was just having some fun. I saw your pal outside and figured I’d come and say hello. It isn’t everyday you see an Oni in America.” The tension in the air lifted and Kappa relaxed, sitting on the floor. I wanted to trust her; she was a yokai, that much I thought I knew. I wondered if she knew what I had done. I also wondered if she had come to help me like Kappa did.

To Part 3

El Monstruo: Life Without the Mask (Part One)

“Damn it!” exclaimed Grant as he watched the beat-up Chevy roll down the hill and off the curve of the winding mountain road. He took a couple steps, lurching forward as if to save it, but the car was all ready tumbling down the steep and rocky mountain. He looked at the ground to see Kappa still laying on his back, wrenches suspended in the air. A small stream of oil was running down his arm, forming a puddle by his elbow.

“I’m really sorry, man” said Grant, his deep red skin blushing purple. “I had it! I sweat, and then it just slipped out of my hands. Kappa looked up at his friend and tried to smile. He really wanted to just let the incident wash over him; I will be the cliffs that stand unmoving as the waves crash against them. I will not let this get to me, and I will not lose my temper. “Don’t worry, Grant. We’ll just have to make the walk to Dunwich.” Kappa said, worrying that his feigned smile was too wide. He remembered the first and final time he had enraged an Oni, and he had no desire to test his limits with Grant. He had been fishing on the sea side when he first met Grant, who was in trouble up to his nipples. Grant had not always been an Oni, but the right combination of events fell in place to turn him into one. Grant had wanted to be a hero, but instead became a murderer. Since then, he and Grant had traveled many weary miles. It seemed like something was trying to keep them from escaping the law. The loss of the Chevy, and all their clothes and supplies was proof of that, or at least enough proof for Kappa.

Grant stared down to where the car landed and watched as a mushroom of flame exploded from the car. Kappa, adjusting the bowl of water he always wore on his head, simply rolled his eyes.

“I thought that only happened in the movies. How the heck did it explode?”

“Divine intervention. Someone is trying to hinder our escape.”

“What makes you certain?”

“My sandals ran away, then I couldn’t find my license when we were trying to get through the road block outside of Greenville. Now this.” Kappa brushed the dust off of his weathered green T-shirt and started to walk down the road. “Might as well get walking. Dunwich isn’t going to come to us.

Grant glanced down at the flaming wreck that had been his home for the last two months and chuckled. At least that took care of the mask. El Monstruo is dead and burned away. All that’s left is me, and a new life. He turned from the sight of the smoldering heap and followed Kappa, striding jauntily.

****

Adam smiled as he passed his hand over the shimmering orb. The image of Grant and Kappa rippled into darkness as Adam tossed a velvet bag over the crystal ball. Rita sat, arms crossed, glaring at the mystic, hating that she decided to go to him.

“Is he safe?” she asked, her patience wearing thin.

“In due time, dear.” Adam’s voice dripped with delight. “You never told me your friend was so extraordinary. One of the Yokai, traveling with another of their foul breed. This information is much too important to let go of without an elevation of price.” The mystic leaned back in his creaky chair, folding his arms over a cheap plastic medallion he bought at a Halloween store. It was enough to give him an air of authority, at least over the old ladies that were his usual customers.

“Buddy, you say ten dollars, it is ten dollars.” said Arouna with his thick African accent. Adam had nearly forgotten about the big man. However, he wasn’t going to be intimidated out of a few extra dollars.

“It is ten dollars for a question, but it is fifty dollars for my silence.”

“You are insane!” exclaimed Rita, shoving herself away from the table. “Either answer my question, or…”

“Or you’ll have someone beat me up? Report me to the police? Listen, I haven‘t charged you a dime yet. You want to leave? Leave. If you want me to keep quiet, it‘s gonna cost you.”

“And if we don’t pay?” asked Arouna, trying to look as threatening as he could; a smile came to his face much more easily than the sneer he forced on himself.

“Then I will talk about this. Maybe even blog about. I might even call the police.”

“Quit your bluffing. No one’s going to believe you anyway. Besides, you gave me my answer.” Rita stood up and saw worry cross the mystic’s face.

“But I can tell you where they are.” he pleaded, his greed getting the best of him. “We’ll just say twenty dollars, and we’ll be right as rain, how’s that?” His sudden pleasant tone grated on Rita’s nerves, but she wanted to know where Grant went.

“Twenty and we’re through.” said Rita, trying to sound like a shrewd business woman.

“He’s on the highway, headed North. He’s in the mountains, going towards Dunwich.” confessed Adam once he saw the wrinkled twenty dollar bill on the table. “Alas, there is someone that works against him, putting disaster after disaster in his path.”

“Who is it?” asked Rita eagerly.

“That is something I cannot see, I’m sorry.” said Adam, forlorn.

“All right. Thanks then.” Rita left the small room, followed closely by Arouna.

Adam watched as they left, a devious grin spreading on his face. He locked the door and turned his shop sign to the side that read “closed.” He went into his apartment above the shop; it was tiny and had a spicy smell about it. In one corner, a pile of cages writhed and shook.

“Don’t worry children. You’ll be going home soon. I found our erstwhile friends, and soon, we’ll be able to return home.” Adam watched with delight as an old paper umbrella in one of the cages opened a huge eye. A deep red tongue lolled out of its mouth as it let out a cackle of delight. Adam smiled a thin grin as his head rolled off of his shoulders and bounced into the kitchen. His body followed slowly behind, opening the refrigerator.

“What to eat tonight?” asked Adam of no one in particular. He looked at the shelves of the fridge and considered his choices. “Hands. I think I will have some hands tonight. Braised in coconut milk; yes, that would be fine.”

To Part 2