Prologue
“It’s tingling.”
The creature’s too-wide smile glints in the fighting red and blue glow. Her sisters watch her with gleeful and jealous eyes as they wait in Limbo, waiting to be called to the natural realm.
“Have you locked on to the child, sister?”
The first creature laughs, fire in her eyes as her body begins to crumble, the pieces being transported ahead of her consciousness.
“I have locked on,” she confirms exuberantly. “I have locked on!”
She closes her squinty eyes and slips into a state of bliss as the journey she has so longed for will soon come to pass. It took years of studying, of learning to reach this point. She is far more intelligent than her sisters, save the spider, and knows more about the natural world than her brothers. She deserves this moment of everyone basking in her glory!
But to live… to feel… those are senses she never imagined she’d possess. The beating of a heart. The agony from a blade as it rips through her. Yes… yes, she can almost taste it.
The taste of blood.
Pain!
Oh, the agony. The blissful, wonderful, terrific pain that rips through her body.
But it is only for a moment. Only for a blip in time as her body fragments, the world around her staticky and off-balance.
There’s a new sense that weighs her down, her wings drooping as it chills her toes.
She jerks in surprise to this coolness, this tickling sensation beneath her hardened skin.
Her elongated arm knocks something over, making it clatter to the floor. It has a tall back and a flat square parallel to the ground, four legs sticking out from beneath. The creature doesn’t know what to call it, but she does notice the slight pain that had shimmered through her elbow at its collision with the strange thing.
There’s movement in the room.
The creature’s mind drifts away from the four-legged object and over to another rectangle. There are several in this room, but this specific one is something the creature knows well. It’s what children sleep in. What children dream in.
Where children cower.
Her eyes lock with a tiny beast, its face bulging in areas the creature’s does not. Its mouth is narrower, shorter, and its eyes are smaller and more round. Everything about this being is tiny in comparison, although the fingers gripping the blanket seem to be the same size as hers, minus the claws.
The little beast stares at the red-glowing monster, frozen.
The creature smiles. The movement seems to nearly break its face in two as it reveals its needle teeth. Although this monster hasn’t seen many humans, she keeps the terrified expressions in the forefront of her mind.
“You…” the creature breathes as its body distorts, glitching, “must be the child.”
The child stiffens and ducks under the covers, shaking and shivering. The fear that rolls out from under the blanket wafts over the creature, her body tingling as it returns to its full density.
“Yes,” the creature hisses, the chill of the room seeping into her bones.
“It’s just a dream,” a voice whispers, making the creature’s overloaded mind peak with curiosity. The beast speaks! It’s used its mouth! And it’s talking… is it talking to her?
“Fear… Stronger… Stronger!”
The creature’s red glow fills the room, causing the watching shadows to deepen, forcing everything to become the color of blood. Blood… how the creature wonders what the child’s would taste like… But no! There is a plan and the creature must stick to it. She’s waited too long to remove this portal she’s found.
“You aren’t real, you aren’t real, you aren’t real,” the child chants, its voice small and feminine. Perhaps this beast is a girl. The creature wonders if the similarity in their genders could have had any effect on the creature’s travel over into the natural realm. If, perhaps, it would be harder to pull a male over from a female’s mind, and easier with a male.
Darcel would know, the creature thinks with a grimace, imagining her sister’s lecture. But she made it here first. She beat her to the punch and is almost real.
“Real…” the creature repeats slowly, the words new on their tongue. In her realm, she’d speak the language of her ancestors and they would translate in the minds of other species. That’s how it is in that world… has she carried that trait over into this one?
The creature steps forward, nearly tipping over. She’d read about gravity, heard about it. In her world there is only the push from the ground as it lifts those into the air who are meant to fly, and pulls those to the dirt for those who are supposed to walk. In the air, she knows which direction is down, but she’d never felt that force this heavily before.
Perhaps there is gravity in her world. Perhaps it is stronger here. Her kin are just too stupid to know what it is. Except Darcel.
She stumbles to the side as she takes another step, bumping into a large rectangle known as a bed. Her stubby hands land on the blanket, her claws jutting toward the ceiling as her molten flesh warms.
It’s like a fire on her skin as she leaves her hand on the blanket, the rush from the pain turning her body into frazzled energy. She giggles with glee, lifting her fingers and studying at them with widened eyes, her wax-like skin blackened and peeling away.
“You’re not real, you’re not real, you’re not real…”
The little girl continues with her chant as the creature moves forward, brushing aside trinkets littering the ground. Could these be placed in nonsensical areas to deter creatures like her? Is this to protect the child?
“Real…” the creature says again, giddy as the skin on her hands tighten, a strange itch following the pain of the burn.
The child’s words grow louder as the creature leans over, trying to find the spot the voice is coming from. Slowly, she reaches forward, her heart bruising her insides as excitement and anticipation makes her body tingle.
Her greedy hands close around the corner of the blanket, her breath—her breath!—shallow and her tongue lingering against the front of her teeth, reminding herself to keep calm.
There’s something she must do before she devours.
Her full manifestation is so close. All she has to do is choose who she wants to replace.
Simple.
Simple, simple.
“It’s not real, it’s not real, it’s not real.”
The creature rips the blanket back, euphoria bursting through her as the blanket sears her palm.
The child stares up at her in fear, verging on a scream.
The creature beams.
“Beastie… I’m as real as you are.”
The creature’s too-wide smile glints in the fighting red and blue glow. Her sisters watch her with gleeful and jealous eyes as they wait in Limbo, waiting to be called to the natural realm.
“Have you locked on to the child, sister?”
The first creature laughs, fire in her eyes as her body begins to crumble, the pieces being transported ahead of her consciousness.
“I have locked on,” she confirms exuberantly. “I have locked on!”
She closes her squinty eyes and slips into a state of bliss as the journey she has so longed for will soon come to pass. It took years of studying, of learning to reach this point. She is far more intelligent than her sisters, save the spider, and knows more about the natural world than her brothers. She deserves this moment of everyone basking in her glory!
But to live… to feel… those are senses she never imagined she’d possess. The beating of a heart. The agony from a blade as it rips through her. Yes… yes, she can almost taste it.
The taste of blood.
Pain!
Oh, the agony. The blissful, wonderful, terrific pain that rips through her body.
But it is only for a moment. Only for a blip in time as her body fragments, the world around her staticky and off-balance.
There’s a new sense that weighs her down, her wings drooping as it chills her toes.
She jerks in surprise to this coolness, this tickling sensation beneath her hardened skin.
Her elongated arm knocks something over, making it clatter to the floor. It has a tall back and a flat square parallel to the ground, four legs sticking out from beneath. The creature doesn’t know what to call it, but she does notice the slight pain that had shimmered through her elbow at its collision with the strange thing.
There’s movement in the room.
The creature’s mind drifts away from the four-legged object and over to another rectangle. There are several in this room, but this specific one is something the creature knows well. It’s what children sleep in. What children dream in.
Where children cower.
Her eyes lock with a tiny beast, its face bulging in areas the creature’s does not. Its mouth is narrower, shorter, and its eyes are smaller and more round. Everything about this being is tiny in comparison, although the fingers gripping the blanket seem to be the same size as hers, minus the claws.
The little beast stares at the red-glowing monster, frozen.
The creature smiles. The movement seems to nearly break its face in two as it reveals its needle teeth. Although this monster hasn’t seen many humans, she keeps the terrified expressions in the forefront of her mind.
“You…” the creature breathes as its body distorts, glitching, “must be the child.”
The child stiffens and ducks under the covers, shaking and shivering. The fear that rolls out from under the blanket wafts over the creature, her body tingling as it returns to its full density.
“Yes,” the creature hisses, the chill of the room seeping into her bones.
“It’s just a dream,” a voice whispers, making the creature’s overloaded mind peak with curiosity. The beast speaks! It’s used its mouth! And it’s talking… is it talking to her?
“Fear… Stronger… Stronger!”
The creature’s red glow fills the room, causing the watching shadows to deepen, forcing everything to become the color of blood. Blood… how the creature wonders what the child’s would taste like… But no! There is a plan and the creature must stick to it. She’s waited too long to remove this portal she’s found.
“You aren’t real, you aren’t real, you aren’t real,” the child chants, its voice small and feminine. Perhaps this beast is a girl. The creature wonders if the similarity in their genders could have had any effect on the creature’s travel over into the natural realm. If, perhaps, it would be harder to pull a male over from a female’s mind, and easier with a male.
Darcel would know, the creature thinks with a grimace, imagining her sister’s lecture. But she made it here first. She beat her to the punch and is almost real.
“Real…” the creature repeats slowly, the words new on their tongue. In her realm, she’d speak the language of her ancestors and they would translate in the minds of other species. That’s how it is in that world… has she carried that trait over into this one?
The creature steps forward, nearly tipping over. She’d read about gravity, heard about it. In her world there is only the push from the ground as it lifts those into the air who are meant to fly, and pulls those to the dirt for those who are supposed to walk. In the air, she knows which direction is down, but she’d never felt that force this heavily before.
Perhaps there is gravity in her world. Perhaps it is stronger here. Her kin are just too stupid to know what it is. Except Darcel.
She stumbles to the side as she takes another step, bumping into a large rectangle known as a bed. Her stubby hands land on the blanket, her claws jutting toward the ceiling as her molten flesh warms.
It’s like a fire on her skin as she leaves her hand on the blanket, the rush from the pain turning her body into frazzled energy. She giggles with glee, lifting her fingers and studying at them with widened eyes, her wax-like skin blackened and peeling away.
“You’re not real, you’re not real, you’re not real…”
The little girl continues with her chant as the creature moves forward, brushing aside trinkets littering the ground. Could these be placed in nonsensical areas to deter creatures like her? Is this to protect the child?
“Real…” the creature says again, giddy as the skin on her hands tighten, a strange itch following the pain of the burn.
The child’s words grow louder as the creature leans over, trying to find the spot the voice is coming from. Slowly, she reaches forward, her heart bruising her insides as excitement and anticipation makes her body tingle.
Her greedy hands close around the corner of the blanket, her breath—her breath!—shallow and her tongue lingering against the front of her teeth, reminding herself to keep calm.
There’s something she must do before she devours.
Her full manifestation is so close. All she has to do is choose who she wants to replace.
Simple.
Simple, simple.
“It’s not real, it’s not real, it’s not real.”
The creature rips the blanket back, euphoria bursting through her as the blanket sears her palm.
The child stares up at her in fear, verging on a scream.
The creature beams.
“Beastie… I’m as real as you are.”
Thanks for reading!
If you're enjoying the book, please consider checking it out on your favorite bookish site! It's only $1.99! Thanks again :)
GET THE EBOOK
AMAZON | SMASHWORDS | IBOOKS | BARNES & NOBLE
GET THE PAPERBACK
COLOR EDITION:
AMAZON
B&W EDITION:
AMAZON
AMAZON | SMASHWORDS | IBOOKS | BARNES & NOBLE
GET THE PAPERBACK
COLOR EDITION:
AMAZON
B&W EDITION:
AMAZON
