The Beast in the Shadows

The Beast in the Shadows

Kyle had to get home. He had just spent an hour longer at his friends house than he was supposed to. Mum would be cross. It was November. The Night had already closed in. It was just 6PM. He had to get home quickly to avoid having too much of a scolding. There were two ways home, one direct, the other, not so much. But the direct route, like in horror movies, was not the safest. Well, that's what the creepy old people at the retirement home always said.
"Never go down that alleyway Kyle," Jeremiah had said, "A Beast of pure evil resides down there. Why do you think cats, dogs and even rats and birds never go down there?"
It had to be a story to scare him. Kyle was old enough now to know that there were a lot of rowdy teenagers about. It was likely not some beast, but Chavs. Chavs making the alley so disgusting, that not even rats wanted to live in it. But Kyle wasn't scared. He was ten years old. He would just ignore them.

He didn't want to take half an hour get home. He wanted to take just five minutes. Taking a deep breath, he set foot in the alleyway and kept on walking. Nothing would deter him.

***

It wasn't long before he hit an obstacle. An upturned dustbin. With a fox rooting it out, looking for food. Kyle didn't want to disturb the fox. If anything, he had a slight phobia of them. If it did notice him and if it did try to attack, well he had a little Nerf gun to protect himself. Not that it would do much good, but it might at least distract it. He started around it, shuffling past the bin in an attempt to be silent. However, his foot just so happened to thud into the bin, alerting the animal to his presence. It peered out of the bin. Upon seeing him, it turned and scampered away. Phew! Nothing would be attacking anything today!

There was a yelp. Kyle jumped and immediately scanned the alleyway for the fox. His eyes widened in horror as he saw it being dragged over the fence into one of the abandoned terraces, by something thick and dark. Fear welled up inside him. He had to go that way to get home! These rumours were true! There was a monster of some sort living here, in an old house. Perhaps he could sneak by and run home. He wouldn't be so lucky.
Tiptoeing past the fence, drenched in the fox's blood, a flash of movement caught Kyle's eye. Cranking his head up slowly, he stared in consternation at a thick, tapered object lunging towards him. He screamed in terror as it wrapped tightly around him, covering his face so he could scream no more, before it took him away.

*****

Kyle awoke in a dank room. He quickly became aware of the situation. He looked around uneasily. It was very dark, with only a patch of moonlight across his face. Understandably, this old place would have no power, so there were no lights. He pushed himself up from the dusty floor, so he was lying on his elbows. Another quick glance. Nothing. He couldn't see a thing. Might whatever had captured him have gone hunting for more food? He hoped so. He had to get out of here. Get home. He was already late as it was. What was the time now? He reached into his pocket and dug out his phone. He switched it on and growled at the time it showed. 7:10pm, 5 missed calls from Mum.
'Damn it!' he thought, 'Stupid Monster. I've got to get home!' He got to his feet groaning, his bones aching from lack of movement. He shone the phone across the room, using its light to show the way. Left, right, centre. Suddenly, there was a flash of yellow from the other side of the room. Tensing up, Kyle shone the phone light back in that direction. What it lit up, made him stagger back in shock.

From what little light the phone gave, it was still a fairly good image to see. A large, orange creature was in the doorway to the isolated room. Black stripes adorned its back, it's belly being white. It seemed to be a huge snake, but the head end was definitely not a head! It was more human at that end. But it was still orange all the way up to its head. He gasped at the beast in sheer surprise. Four arms adorned it's sides with a serpentine head surrounded by a cobra-like hood and breasts held back in a black piece of cloth. Auburn hair flowed down its back, giving it a human quality, with cat-like ears poking out of the curls. Golden Yellow eyes glared at him, reflecting the phone light, until the phone turned off the light to conserve its energy. Fear broke out through Kyle's mind. He stumbled back against the wall and he could just about see the creature coming towards him. A whimper escaped his throat as the beast came face to face.

"Calm Down little one," it said, with an almost seductive, accented voice, "I never eat chhildren. Not while they're alive anywaysssss." she hissed, chuckling.
"Please," Kyle pleaded, "Don't eat me! I have a life to live! I have a family and friends who will miss me, I-"
"SSssilenccce! It'ss alwaysss 'I have a family', or 'I have friendss'!" the creature lisped mockingly, "You don't know what it feeelsss like not to have that!" Kyle's expression changed. The fear dropped down a level and became curiosity.

"You... you don't have a family?" he asked. The creature was taken aback. It pulled away out of the moonlight. Kyle was shocked to hear it sob.
"Yesss. My family is dead... long ago. My friendsss are dead asswell. My only comfort is, iss they probably thought I too had died before them. But..." it sniffed and choked back another sob, "I am sstuck like thiss... forever. I can never die. I hunt anything I can come acrosssss, even humansss..." She looked back at Kyle re-approached him, into the moonlight. Kyle gasped sadly to see her face glistening with tears.
"I wass a human oncce. Not anymore now. I am lonely. I am a freak. It iss why I do not bother to keep anyone alive if they meet me. Sso they do not sspread the word about me, the freak I am." She pulled back and wailed, coiling up and burying her head into the coils. Kyle couldn't believe it. He had never considered 'monsters' might be lonely. He couldn't help feeling sorry for this... this girl? He looked her over, using the light of his phone to enhance his perspective.

He roused her from her crying. She looked at him out of the coils. Her eyes were filled with pain and desolation. He sat down next to her, putting a hand on her hood and caressing it.

"I'll make you a deal. Don't eat me and I won't tell anyone else about you. In return, I'll see you everyday that I can." She looked up at him, bewildered.
"Are you... not ssscared?" she asked cautiously, "You think I am not a freak?" He smiled.
"I think you are the most beautiful creature I have ever seen. I'll be your friend. Some company is better tan no company." he winked at her, but she was still cautious.
"How do I know you won't bring ssomeone to kill me?" she hissed. The boy took her body in his arms and held her. Surprised, the tiger-like serpent girl returned the embrace.
"Alright. I isss trussting you... for now."

***

The years passed by. Kyle kept his promise and met up with the unfortunate girl every night. He brought along whatever food he could, using his pocket money to buy steaks and other meats for her to consume, so she wouldn't have to hunt as often, reducing the risk of being seen. Just weeks after meeting him, she finally trusted him enough to tell him her name... at least, the only name she could remember: Xanthia.

When he turned twelve, he asked her to tell him her story. He told his first, so she would return the favour. Halfway through, he began to regret his decision.

Xanthia had been born in France in the year 998AD. When she was 15, her parents joined a little known expedition to foreign lands to trade and explore. Five years of gruelling travelling had brought them to Kushan India, a place of wonders to the French explorers. But, just days after reaching Amritsar, she fell ill with a seemingly fatal affliction. Convinced she was going to die in an exotic land, she ushered the expedition to leave her to die in a Temple, with the permission of the Priests. They honoured her request and left her in India, never to be seen or heard from again.

But the affliction didn't kill her. It transformed her. Tears came to her eyes as she described the painful transition from human to beast. The transformation caused her legs to be ripped off of her hips, causing blood to splash onto the floor. Within minutes, she was unrecognisable. The moment she came to her senses and saw what she had become, she hid away for centuries, hoping she would die.
But she never did. Self-preservation took over, and she began actively hunting for food, be it wild animals or unsuspecting humans. She hated having to eat people, seeing as she had once been one, but she had no choice a lot of the time. As the years went by, empires rose and fell, wars started and ended and in time, the area she resided in became French Punjab. Using methods she had lost account of, she managed to buy a small house, scaring away anyone who came near.

However, she eventually became homesick. Using discreet contacts, she requested an immigrant smuggling ring to transport her by air, back to France, with very strict terms. The ring agreed, but in spite of her 'outrageous' conditions, only sent her as far as England. When Xanthia found out, she ran and hid in the abandoned Terraced house she was in now. That last event was forty years ago. Since then, she had become something of a local legend. The constant disappearances of pets and people was put down to wild animals and kidnappers, something that could never be proved. Not even the police chief wanted to go down that alley.

After telling her story, Xanthia had been in tears. Kyle had forced this upon her and now he really felt bad about making her relive her terrible experiences. She was alone, homesick and had no self-esteem, seeing herself as a freak. She hid away and asked to be left alone.
The following day, he came back as planned and apologized for forcing her to relive the experiences.
"Do not worry my friend. I alwaysss planned to tell sssomeone my life."

***

When he turned thirteen, he came rushing back to the old terrace. He unknowingly stumbled across Xanthia attempting to subdue prey, a huge stray mastiff dog. It managed to get free and barrelled into Kyle, throwing him to the floor and stunning the dog enough for Xanthia to kill and eat the unfortunate canine. Kyle wasn't exactly scot-free either: he had a large cut on his head from hitting the wall of the house and he had a mild concussion. Gently, Xanthia took him in her arms and carried him inside, where, like a cat, she began licking his wound, allowing him access to her advanced antibodies and killing off any infections. Despite having a thumping headache, Kyle marvelled at the fact this was the first time she had touched him. She was understandably reptilian in nature. But there was a slight sheen of fur erupting from the gaps between the scales that made up her snake-like body. After a quick glance, he also caught sight of a plume of black hair covering the tip of her tail. It seemed to make sense. The colour scheme, the fur, the cat-like behaviour... she was a mix between a human, a serpent and unbelievably, a tiger! A Tigrent.
"I never thought about what ssspecciesss I might be," She mused when he relayed his findings, "Yessss. It will make me feel ssslightly better about mysself." Xanthia purred, before she continued licking his wound, "There! It will not bother you any more."

"Oh god look at the time! I've gotta go! Mum'll be mad!" Kyle scrambled off of Xanthia's body, but before he left, he turned and gave her kiss on the cheek, "Thank You."
She watched as he ran off, closing the rusty old garden gate behind him. Absentmindedly touching the area he had kissed, she smiled, coiled up and purred herself to sleep, dreaming about her one true friend.

***

When he turned fifteen, Kyle began acting very differently. His mother noticed he spending a lot of his free time away from home. A very good friend he always said.
"Why don't you invite them over for a change darling?" she asked one day.
"Errrr, they... they can't come over." he stuttered in response.
"Why-ever not?"
"Because... beeeecause they arrrre... they have no legs! Soooo, yeah, I'm going to see them now! Bye!"
Even his friends started noticing his strange behaviour.
"Kyle," Frankie pondered, "Why don't you come over to my house tonight, yeah? Play on the Playstation. Battlefield, yeah? You like that game right?" Kyle just smiled sadly.
"I'd love to, but my mum has is sick."
"Is she always sick?"
"Yes! It's terminal." Frankie gasped in embarrassment.
"I'm so sorry! I didn't know!" Kyle held his friends shoulder and shook it.
"Nah, it's my fault for not telling you. Listen, I've gotta be there in 10. I'll cya tomorrow alright?"
"Yeah. Tomorrow. Sorry about your mum by the way."

"You tell them thissss?" Xanthia asked.
"Yeah. Just so I can keep my promise."
"But thiss iss not good for your ssoccial life! DOn't ruin what you have becausse of me! I'm just a freak. A freak who will one day losse their only friend."
"Don't say that Xanthia. I don't think you're a freak."
"But what about everyone elsse? Can you sspeak for them?" Kyle had hit a dead end.
"No... no I can't. But I'm sure there's people out there who would love to meet you... perhaps other Tigrents!"
"If there are any other Tigrentsss." she argued. 'That's true,' Kyle thought to himself as he walked back home that night, 'If there are any others.'

<Ten Years After Contact>

"Xanthia? Xanthia, you there?" Kyle whispered harshly into the abandoned house, "Xanthia! Oh, where is that Tigrent now?" A creaking alerted him to the doorway of the room. She slithered into the room, holding something shiny in her top pair of hands.
"Look! Look I have found it!" she squealed happily, "I have found my ssshiny amulet." Kyle stared at the blue jewel, encased in a white crown, in her hands and watched as she fitted it to her hood.
"Ohhh! It isss sstill sssoo beautiful! Yet I sstill cannot remember how I got it! It gave me hope... hope that I would turn back." her tone fell as the painful disappointment of the amulet's capabilities returned to her, "It failed me. Perhaps I sshould not wear it anymore."
"No wait!" Kyle cried as the girl went to take it off.
"What is it?" she asked worriedly.
"Don't take it off. You look like a queen. Queens are always beautiful... well most queens anyway." he shuddered at the thought of the current Danish Queen. Ughgh!
"Am I... one of the few? I am, am I not?" she frowned at his remark, but smiled at his response.
"No! You would be a beautiful queen! No wait." her smile faded, "Calling you beautiful would be an insult. You are just... just..." he stammered, unable to think of the words.
"Hypnotic?"
"Yes! Heart-stopping! Breath-taking! Dazzling!" he took a step towards her with every word he fired at her, "You are..." he was inches from her confused face, her eyes glinting in the dim light, "Magnifique!"

Xanthia's heart stopped in its tracks. She could feel the warmth radiating from him. It was almost as if he was...
"Xanthia... I've become distant from my family... Separated from my friends... Because I can't get enough of you!" Xanthia wasn't sure what to say. She knew what he was going to say to her, but she had to be sure.
"What are you trying to tell me?" Kyle licked his lips, blushing and looking at his feet.
"Xanthia..." he said finally, "I'm... in love with you." he whispered softly.

"Xanthia felt like she had been hit by a steamroller. All of her self-doubt washed away. Here she was, a freak of nature and someone was in love with her. Despite everything...
"I love you too. You have been sssooo good to me." she whimpered. She stared into his blue eyes, heart soaring as they showed recognition.
"But," the heartbreaker line, "We cannot be together..." Kyle flushed in shock.
"Wh-why?" the girl sighed sadly, and held his hands in her own, leaning her forehead on his.
"Becausse, we are incompatible... and I know, one day you will grow old and die, whilsst I will sssstill be asss young as the day I changed."
"It doesn't have to be this way Xanthia... we can still be together!"
"How?" she hissy-growled, her dual backgrounds coming to the forefront, "How are we supposed to be together, knowing full-well you will die?" her lisp had faded away, her frustration getting the better of her, "I knew I should not have befriended you! It was always going to end badly!" She pulled away and skulked over to the corner, tears dripping off her snout.

"Baby," Kyle pleaded, "Please, hear me out on this one. There is a way, I'm sure of it!" he walked over and turned her around, stepping over her length. He stared lovingly into her golden eyes, caressing her cheek.
"You said you fell ill all those years ago and it changed you. Maybe, just maybe, you were bitten by another Tigrent." her pupils widened in alarm, "You just can't remember because it was a bad experience for you. You don't want to remember it." She looked away, not knowing if what he said could be true.
"I do not want to try it. My venom could kill you! I do not want to live for the resst of eternity, knowing I killed my only friend." she whimpered.
"At least try! Please! Forget about the negatives and think about all the possibilities! You won't be alone anymore, as a Tigrent and with our friendship, not ever. Do it for me... do it for yourself!" Kyle gazed on as Xanthia sniffed and wiped her eyes. They met eye-to-eye, hearts skipping beats.
"Forgive me if it goessss wrong." she whispered.
"Forever." he smiled.
He wrapped his arms around her and pressed his lips against her mouth. Caught off-guard, Xanthia slowly melted into the kiss, returning the embrace with her four arms. Her long serpentine tongue flickered into his jaws, waltzing with his own. Then, suddenly, she withdrew and bit him in the jugular vein.
Kyle gasped and collapsed as a burning sensation filled his entire body. Xanthia's fangs continued pouring venom into his bloodstream before her venom sac emptied. She withdrew and held him tight, closing her eyes, listening to his screams, the snapping of bones and ripping of clothes and skin, remembering her own violent transformation vividly.
"I'm ssorry," she whimpered, "I'm ssoo sssorry." The tears returned as Kyle's fragile body convulsed and wrenched itself. But his grip on her was getting tighter, not weaker. He wasn't dying... he was becoming one of her kind.

Half an hour passed. Kyle's convulsing didn't stop until the very last second. She had begun to give up hope again, fearing something had gone terribly wrong. But it stopped. She snapped open her eyes as the sensation of another pair of hands brushed over her. Pulling away in excitement, she gasped and cried with joy. Kyle held her around the waist with all four of his arms. His blue eyes were no more, but rather golden-yellow and snake-like. His head had changed shape to fit a serpentine cat, his black hair, lengthened and draped over his shoulders. A cobra-like hood stretched out for the back of his head down to just under his neck and a furry sheen covered his entire body. Speaking of his body, it was now in excess of 30 feet in length and coloured exactly like Xanthia's. His tongue flickered out as the two marvelled his new form.
"Wow... I'm a Tigrent. Now we can alwayss be together." he beamed at his girlfriend and they kissed once again, before turning to licking each others faces.

"Wait! Your family!" exclaimed Xanthia, "They will be worried!"
"They won't be for long. Someone will eventually find these," he pointed at his discarded legs, lying in a pool of blood on the floor, "They will losse hope after that. It'ss the puuurfect opportunity for me... us to sslip away." Xanthia gazed into her lovers eyes. and smiled lightly.
"Come. We sshall leave for the foresst. There we will sstay forever." Xanthia took his right hands and started leading him out the back.
"Wait. There'ss one more thing I want to tell you." she turned back and awaited his words.
"It's my birthday today," she gasped in surprise, "Being with you iss all I ever wanted these passt few yearss. Thank You... for the gift of love." taking her withered hands, the two star-crossed lovers glided away in the dead of night and they never looked back.