Dylan’s got some demons

*This story is underneath my folder titled “The Anstead family”. Gacha Club character designs are under this forum: https://www.youngwriterssociety.com/viewtopic.php?f=27&t=116005&start=1425. Enjoy!*

Introduction

Dylan had one friend in his life: Hernan. Sure, Hernan didn’t talk to anyone and always looked like he was glaring at people, but deep down, he was so sweet and fun! People just judged him unfairly.

Just like how they unfairly judged that girl, Giovanna, who worked at the aviary during summer and oftentimes crushed the birds in her hands. She killed them, yes, but she didn’t mean to! He could see it in her eyes and hear it in her voice!

So, if Dylan could trust Hernan, then he could also trust Giovanna. After all, it would be terribly rude if he wasn’t nice to her.

Because as far as he was concerned, all hated people had a story and deserved a chance of love, a chance of trust. Judging someone off their surface level was not wise nor mature!

Chapter One

“Samantha is finally asleep. Do you want to watch a Halloween movie together?” Giovanna asked. She stood at the doorway of their bed, dressed in a white nightgown with pink bows. With how her long, black hair spilled around her coffee-toned face and how her nightgown looked too detailed to come from the present, she looked like a ghost.

But then, there was always something creepy about his wife. She wanted to watch Halloween movies no matter what the month was, wear old, outdated clothing and collect porcelain dolls with eyes that seemed to follow. She wasn’t even fazed that their daughter was a clown monster.

“Not tonight. I’m tired.” Dylan said, sinking deeper into bed. It was so late that he didn’t even hear the crickets chirping anymore. Didn’t Giovanna want to rest too? After all, she just spent a whole day at the thrift store with Samantha.

“Come on, please? I hardly get to have any time with you.” Giovanna said with a pout.

Goodness, couldn’t she be more mature? Couldn’t she just go to sleep? Couldn’t she lay off the Halloween movies for once? Couldn’t-

“No thanks.” Dylan said, trying to sound as calm as possible. He couldn’t yell at his wife. He always knew that she would be different, so maybe that meant she’d always be obsessed with Halloween, even as an adult. That was no reason to get mad at her, right? Right?

“Yeah, alright. You can come downstairs and join me later if you want.” Giovanna smiled. Her large brown eyes, fanned by delicate lacey eyelashes, seemed to tell a different story.

Dylan watched as she walked away, breathing out a sigh of relief. She was always like that. Her weirdness was apart of her charm. He loved her for it.

Or at least, he DID. It felt so good to just rest, to not have to always be ready for adventure, to-

No. His feelings towards her didn’t change. There was no need for him to be so dramatic. Dylan would always love Giovanna, for their love was something completely unbreakable.

He couldn’t deny that it was a bit TOO weird that she wasn’t even the slightest bit afraid of Samantha, though. The only reason it took so long for Samantha to fall asleep was because she kept biting Giovanna. She had knife-sharp teeth at four years old. It wasn’t natural, it wasn’t right.

Why would Samantha want to bite her own Mom, anyway?

Chapter Two

Dylan wasn’t asleep at first. It was the kind of sleep that tug at your eyes and begged you to just rest, but wouldn’t happen unless the person couldn’t even think.

It had been a few minutes, but slowly, the room went fuzzy around Dylan and thus, his eyelids got heavy…

A girl stood on a ladder up in the aviary, trying her best to keep the bird from flying away. Her eyes were wide, full of fear, while her lips curled in anxious frustration. The yellow bird kept trying to escape from her hands, but she held on as best as she could.

“You know, that’s not the correct way to hold a bird. The correct way would be to gently hold it by the bottom and then gently hold its wings, so that it doesn’t fly away, but also, so that it doesn’t feel suffocated. She’s too scared and they know it.” Hernan commented, a hint of…anger? in his voice.

“Oh, give her a break. She’s trying her best.” Dylan said. Hernan always talked like he knew anything and everything about animals, like he knew better than anybody else. But why couldn’t he just shut up for once? Why couldn’t he let Dylan admire the girl with the coffee-brown eyes laced by black eyelashes, the girl with the black, flowing river of hair, the girl whose voice sounded sweeter than any bird, the girl who…

“Her best isn’t enough. Look at what she’s doing to that poor bird.” Hernan said in a low voice, his blue-green gem eyes holding hints of harsh judgement in them.

Dylan’s jaw dropped as he watched the blood pour from the girl’s hand. The bird had stopped moving, its eyes were wide and glassy. The girl appeared to be shaken too, from the pure surprise in her eyes. It wouldn’t be long before somebody noticed, before somebody shouted something.

No words came out of Dylan’s mouth, for amidst his shock, he still didn’t want the girl to get in trouble. What if she got fired and he never saw her again? It was clearly an accident! What if they bullied her? What if-

Dylan woke up to a flesh-tearing, blood spilling pain in his left hand, filled with blazing, firecracker white-hot terror.

Chapter Three

He tried to pull his left hand up, but he couldn’t move it. Something was holding it in place…biting down on it?

Dylan looked at his left hand and screamed when he found Samantha biting down on his hand, the ends of her purple-pink hair clumped with blood, matching the blood splatters on her green leopard print nightgown.

He tried to wriggle his hand away from Samantha’s mouth, but she held on, seeming not to care. Blood spilled onto the sheets…he was pretty a chunk of his flesh would be gone…

This is my child? This THING, biting me? Biting me to the point where I’m bleeding? Yes, children can bite, I know that, but…this is just too much. She’s trying to kill me. Why isn’t she letting go? Isn’t she old enough to know NOT to do this? I should push her off of me. I-

“Samantha, we do not bite people. That’s your Dad. Don’t bite him.” Giovanna said, her eyes ringed by deep ash-black circles.

She had pulled Samantha away from Dylan and was holding onto her tightly, for Samantha was trying to escape from her hold.

Samantha’s pink eyes had narrowed into snake slits and her sclera had turned black. Her eyes were always uncanny, but when Dylan caught the sight of them in that split second as he held his bleeding, throbbing hand, he thought:

What…was…THAT?!

Chapter Four

“She didn’t mean to hurt you, Dylan. She just loves you.” Giovanna said as she sat next to him in bed. She had just tucked Samantha in and was proceeding to go to sleep. Dylan took it that she had already finished her movie by the time she got upstairs. Did she really only care about that? Her monsters and her movies?

“That’s no way for a child to behave, human or not. She needs to know better.” Dylan said, hoping that maybe then, Giovanna would get the message.

“I pulled her off of you easily. She’s a sweet girl and your daughter. Don’t talk about her like she’s a freak.” Giovanna had seethed out the last word like it had a bitter, unpleasant taste to it.

He wanted to love her, he really did. He wanted to look at Samantha the way his parents looked at him, he wanted to see her as someone to protect, someone to nurture.

But she wasn’t like other kids. She was a monster clown. She not only colored on the walls and wore tutus with her rain boots, but she also ate live animals and tried to bite his hand off. She had claws that could tear through layers of flesh and didn’t seem to regret biting Dylan.

He could already hear Giovanna’s low, snorting, unattractive snoring next to him, a sure sign that she was out cold.

Dylan got up to go to the bathroom for a first aid kit to bandage up the wound. Giovanna hadn’t done that. She had only defended Samantha.

Samantha, who was asleep in her room, sent off with nothing but a light scolding.

Chapter Five

FLASHBACK

There was a boy in Dylan’s second grade class with shaggy black hair that nearly covered his dark brown eyes that held flickers of amber in them. His skin was taupe brown, he wore rubber band bracelets on both wrists. The boy’s name was Hernan and though he didn’t speak in class, Dylan still wanted to know his name, his story.

Why was he so quiet? Why did he sit in the back of class? Was he nervous or was it something more? Dylan had caught him drawing pictures of animals in his notebook, detailed drawings of birds and cats and bugs, drawings that were so detailed he wouldn’t have believed it was drawn by someone his age if he didn’t see Hernan drawing first hand.

Dylan sat a few seats ahead of him and sometimes, when he went to grab a pencil from his backpack, he’d catch Hernan drawing feverishly into his notebook. Teachers yelled at him, they thought that he was “behaving badly”, but he was just drawing! He wasn’t being loud or annoying or anything like that!

Sometimes, Dylan wondered if he should go talk to him, get to know him more. Hernan seemed fun, but would he like Dylan? Would Dylan bother him? Did he like people?

Dylan wanted so, so, SO badly for the boy to be his friend, but was it worth it? Would it work?

Maybe he’d try one day. It wouldn’t hurt, right?

Chapter Six

Dylan sat in the basement, watching the local news channel. He wasn’t actually paying attention, he just wanted to watch something that wasn’t the fantasy and horror movies he had.

Giovanna and Samantha were upstairs, playing dolls with one another. Samantha was five years old, but Giovanna wanted another baby. Another child.

He just hoped the next child wouldn’t have a craving for live animals or pointed, jagged teeth.

So, like all of his times of crisis, he called Hernan for guidance. Hernan was a witch, he had an idea of the supernatural. He’d know what to do.

“I can’t give you a reason as to why she’s giving birth to monsters. It’s something I’ve never heard of.” Hernan’s voice said over the phone. His tongue clicked like it always did when he was deep in thought.

Dylan hadn’t seen Hernan since they were adolescents, Hernan didn’t even tell him where he lived, but that didn’t matter, because at least he called.

“However, I think it may have to due with her energy. Her love of all things macabre and morbid might make her children monsters. Her energy might be strong enough for that. I’d say keep an eye out for now, but always, always protect yourself. Your life is important.” Hernan said.

Her…her energy? Like, something that was her essence? It was strong enough for her to give birth to monsters? Dylan never heard of anything like that, but Hernan was the witch, not him, so he knew better.

The phone beeped with a sharp click sound, indicating that Hernan had hung up. What he gave wasn’t exactly an answer, but it was still something.

Dylan would do what Hernan said. He’d keep an eye on his kids. He’d watch out for anything bad.

He’d protect himself.

Chapter Seven

AT THE HOSPITAL

It had happened. Giovanna had given birth to another child. They were in the hospital, Giovanna was holding her baby. The baby looked normal enough, except she had ghostly pale skin and bright red eyes. Maybe she wasn’t a monster, but Dylan knew better.

Giovanna wanted to call the child “Adelaide”. Both she and Samantha were smiling about the baby, as was Dylan, except his smile hurt his face.

But he had to stay calm. Samantha hadn’t attacked him in a while. He couldn’t lose his cool. It was just one more child.

Just one more child.

Chapter Eight

Dylan was only making his sandwich lunch in the kitchen. It had been a few months since Adelaide was born and she and Samantha were in the living room, eating away at a pile of dead animals that Giovanna had brought inside. The living room was across from the kitchen, so Dylan could hear everything. From the chewing of their teeth to the squelching of flesh, he could hear it all.

He swallowed hard, pushing back any scream that would come out of his throat. To hear those chortling, churning noises and know that it was coming from his children, from what he was supposed to feel love towards…it was just…it was just surreal and…and wrong. It shouldn’t have been something that was happening to him, but for whatever reason, it was.

Maybe after he ate his sandwich and went over to visit Hernan at the local park, he’d feel better. Hernan had called him and said he wanted to see Dylan, so that was at least something to look forward to.

Especially since he hadn’t seen Hernan in a while.

Chapter Nine

“I-I like your drawings.” Dylan said, cringing internally at how he stuttered. It took a whole lot of courage for him to come up to the boy and even say that after class, so he really, REALLY didn’t want to stutter.

The boy turned around and looked up at him for what seemed like such a long time, his green eyes felt like they were pulling Dylan deep into them, into an endless, twisting cavern, until finally, the boy said:

“Really?”

“Yes, I do. They’re really cool and I just wanted to say that.” Dylan said, hoping that he wasn’t being too annoying, hoping that he wasn’t making the boy upset in any way.

But the boy only smiled at him, his green eyes glittering. Dylan’s heart lifted from the smile the boy gave him and then:

“Thank you. What’s your name? I want to be friends.”

What?! The boy REALLY wanted to be his friend? Was Dylan imagining it or was it really happening? Did the boy absolutely want to be his friend? Did-

“I’m Dylan. What’s your name?”

“Hernan. Here, take this. You can keep it.” Hernan said, ripping out a piece of his paper and handing it to Dylan.

It was a drawing of a beetle, its small legs spilling out of its large body like flower petals. Even though it was only in pencil drawing, Dylan could already imagine the color on it from the sheer details of the art.

“Thank you!” Dylan beamed.

“No problem.” Hernan said with a shrug.

But it was the most beautiful drawing in the world, so of course he would take good care of it and make sure that nothing bad would happen to it? It was the best thing in the world and a symbol of their brand new friendship!

Dylan smiled as he drove the car, the memory sealed deep into his mind. Hernan had just said it. He didn’t care, he just decided right then and there that he and Dylan would be friends, just from a compliment. Ever since then, they had spent days connecting and growing along with each other, sharing things as only friends would.

Once he made it to the park, he’d find Hernan. He’d recognize Hernan’s shining eyes anywhere, he was certain of it. They’d have so much to catch up on and just for a moment, he could forget about his haphazard life.

At least, that was what he hoped would happen.

Chapter Ten

Dylan had just arrived at the park and had parked his car in the parking lot. He was walking down the path, searching for a guy with striking black eyes…or were they brown eyes? He couldn’t quite remember, it had been some time.

But maybe Hernan’s eyes were vibrant enough to be fully identified with him. Maybe, if he focused hard enough, he’d be able to find Hernan. He had to find his friend, he had to find the one person that he wanted to talk to, but where to look? Was he even searching for Hernan correctly? Was-

“Over here!”

Chapter Eleven

Dylan turned around. There he was! Hernan, sitting on the bench, waiting for him with his sparkling dark brown eyes!

“Come on, tell me everything!” Hernan said, waving Dylan over. Hernan was sitting on a bench, underneath a willow tree, his voice full of ease and carefreeness, just like how he spoke when they were younger.

He didn’t seem happy when he was younger, but not sad, either. Just content with how his life was.

If only Dylan could be that way.

Chapter Twelve

“Well, Giovanna seems alright right now with our two kids, Samantha and Adelaide. Samantha tried to bite me one time, when she was about four or five, but she hasn’t done that since. Giovanna hasn’t asked for more kids, but I don’t know if she’ll change her mind or not…” Dylan trailed off.

He was sitting on the bench across from Hernan, telling him the latest news about Giovanna and the kids, all the while trying not to let the fear of what Samantha and Adelaide may do to him if they wanted to cloud his mind. It was only one time, surely, nobody would hurt him again. At least, not for a while. Hernan told him not to worry, but to keep an eye out for any trouble that may occur. So, he’d just be on the lookout for anything odd. It wasn’t like worrying would fix anything, anyhow, but it still happened.

“I’ve always thought that Giovanna wasn’t right in the head. But you shouldn’t let her be the one thing on your mind. Here, I brought you a drawing and a little special something.” Hernan said, reaching for something in a brown duffel bag that Dylan hadn’t noticed earlier, probably because he was too busy looking at Hernan’s eyes and overthinking.

From out of his bag, Hernan produced a loose leaf drawing of a beetle, except it was in shades of green and purple, and a see-through white pouch of what looked to be dirt among a few dried-up flowers inside.

Dylan stared at the bag, a little puzzled, but then Hernan scooted closer to him and whispered:

“It’s a protection spell. Sprinkle it wherever you want to keep the monsters out.”

Chapter Thirteen

“Just sprinkle it wherever and it’ll keep them out…how?” Dylan asked, because he wasn’t quite sure how the protective spell would work its “protective magic”, as Hernan had said.

“It’ll just keep them out.” Hernan whispered right back with a knowing smile.

Just keep them out? Just like that? But how? Would it hurt the monsters in any way? Dylan wouldn’t mind that, but he knew that Giovanna would. She’d get all upset and worried for the kids and then Dylan would get yelled at. He’d yell right back, of course, but she wouldn’t listen. She didn’t care to hear what he had to say. She-

“Let’s go for a walk around the park, shall we?” Hernan asked, clapping a hand on Dylan’s back.

With that hand, Dylan smiled, pushing aside all the negative, nagging thoughts that threatened to ruin his day. He’d never know what Hernan’s house looked like or what Hernan was doing, but they didn’t need to tell each other everything, because they already knew one another’s souls more.

Dylan came to the park to have fun and gosh darn it, he was going to have fun!

Chapter Fourteen

Hernan didn’t tell him much of what was going on at home, but that was fine, because he was obligated to tell Dylan whatever he wanted. Most of their time walking around the park was spent talking about the past, the both of them only speaking of Giovanna in wisps of conversation.

When they both decided it’d be time to leave, Dylan hugged Hernan so hard until he felt his love seep deep into Dylan’s veins and when they parted their ways, Dylan felt tears stinging his eyes.

Huh? He didn’t expect to cry, but he’d save it for the car. The park wasn’t an appropriate place to cry.

He respected Hernan but…whatever did he do at home? What did he do that he didn’t tell Dylan about?

If they had been friends for so long, then why didn’t Hernan trust Dylan enough to tell him more about his witch life?

He wondered sometimes.

Chapter Fifteen

Once Dylan had made it home, he sprinkled the powder at the basement entrance and was pleasantly surprised to see that Samantha and Adelaide seemed to have an aversion towards it. The color of the powder allowed it to blend in with the floor perfectly, so nobody noticed it.

At the moment, Dylan was in the basement, searching through the boxes of movies to decide on what movie to watch. It seemed that all he did besides work at that same aviary where he first met Giovanna was try to escape his life by doing other things, like watching movies and fussing over things in the basement. Anything, really, to avoid the children.

As he searched through movies, he came across the movie he and Giovanna watched together on their first date:

Spooky Sillies.

Chapter Sixteen

“I turned this movie on one time for these girls who said they wanted to be my friends, but they left because it was “supposed to be for Halloween”. Can you believe that? Honestly, that’s one of the stupidest reasons for them to leave, in my opinion.” Giovanna said, her voice drooping in a way that sounded partially like yelling, but not quite.

She and Dylan were at Giovanna’s house for a date, watching the monster movie “Spooky Sillies” at the request of Giovanna. Hernan didn’t seem at all upset when Dylan told him that they couldn’t go out to draw the birds at the local playground like they usually did and if he was, then he did a good job of hiding it.

Anyway, Giovanna wasn’t feeling too great, so as her boyfriend, Dylan would try his best to comfort her.

“Maybe they were hoping to go out? Did you try talking to them afterwards?” Dylan asked, unsure if that was the right thing to say, but thinking that it sounded right enough.

Giovanna sighed and lay her head against Dylan’s shoulder, saying in a tired, defeated voice:

“I didn’t feel like talking to them after how they reacted and they didn’t want to talk to me, because they kept avoiding me at school. You know, I appreciate how you’re not complaining, it’s nice to know that you like me, that you think I’m attractive enough for you.”

“Of course I do! You’re so amazing and wonderful, so beautifully you! Don’t let anybody else tell you otherwise!” Dylan said, glad that she felt good with him, but also a little caught off guard at how she suddenly mentioned being “attractive enough” for him. What was she thinking about when he wasn’t around? Were there any hidden meanings to her words? Was he the ONLY person in her life who brought her happiness?

Giovanna leaned closer to him, so Dylan wrapped his arm around her to keep her warm, to let her that she would always be cared for, that with just him and the warm, inviting glow of the eccentrically beautiful Halloween movie, she had nothing to worry about.

Dylan felt the phantom desire to hold Giovanna’s hand at the hospital just like he did in the past when they were teenagers watching Spooky Sillies in the basement of her house, when Giovanna was odd, but still relatively normal.

Yet as she held her new baby in her arms, the baby she demanded Dylan to have, with his wolf ears and tail, a baby whom she named “Alastair”, he couldn’t help but feel a sense of revulsion as he saw the gaunt figure in the white hospital bed with red, veiny eyes, and black, greasy hair that stuck to her face, holding onto a demon she would worship just like the other two that were watching with wide eyes and smiles, a demon that she’d most likely care for more than Dylan, more than anybody in the world, he’d imagine.

He felt sick to his stomach that he couldn’t seem to feel the same kind of love towards Giovanna that he used to and he only hoped that Alastair would be the last child, that things would go back to normal, and that the children wouldn’t go anywhere near him.

Chapter Seventeen

Dylan cringed as he heard Giovanna scouring through the grass and dirt outside, searching for animals to give to the kids for breakfast. It was 5:06 in the morning after the night she had given birth to Alastair. She was quickly sent back home with the baby, as the doctors didn’t want to deal with her and her monster child, so she should have been too tired to get up, yet still, she was outside, searching for food to give to the kids.

She’s gonna kill all those birds in her hands, just like she did at the summer camp. She said that it was an accident, but do you really believe that? Do you really believe that she would accidentally kill all those innocent birds by holding them too tightly? Can you imagine how upset Hernan would be if he saw that your wife was STILL crushing birds in the palm of her hand? Hey, it’s generous of him to not even hate YOU for marrying her, Dylan.

Maybe Dylan didn’t have to lie down in bed and listen to his thoughts while his wife was ending lives in only a matter of seconds. Maybe he could get up and put a stop to all of it.

As he rose up from bed, newfound determination boiling deep in his veins, he regretted not doing enough to stop the madness early on.

Chapter Eighteen

“Stop it! Stop! Let it go, Giovanna! Just feed the kids regular food, for crying out loud! They can learn to like human food!” Dylan cried out as he tried to pry a bird away from Giovanna’s fingers to no avail.

The cool night air was starting to feel a lot colder and perhaps even harsh from how he was fighting so hard with his wife to try and pry the bird free, but-

“They can’t eat regular food! They’re not like other kids! This is what they like! What, would you rather have them eat humans? They’re monsters, they have to eat this stuff! Go back to bed, don’t ruin their breakfast!” Giovanna screeched through her tears, her nails digging deep into the bird’s flesh.

No, he wouldn’t want them to eat humans, but he wouldn’t want them to eat animals, either. He didn’t care if they didn’t like human food, they’d have to start liking it, because Dylan wasn’t going to put up with them ending lives any longer, it was just simply unnatural.

Dylan didn’t hear the bird scream anymore, didn’t feel it move anymore, and his heart sank in his chest as he realized that with all the tugging between him and Giovanna, it only made the pain of death for the bird feel worse.

No matter. He’d do his best to feed the kids human food, he’d try his best to cook it and he would make sure that they would eat it.

He couldn’t just hide away in fear, no matter how easy or tempting it’d seem. He had to do something and fast.

Chapter Nineteen

WATCHING THE KIDS EAT

The morning sun had come up, the children were scavenging away at the birds Giovanna brought inside, blood splattering on the walls. Both of them stood out in the hallway, watching the children eat their breakfast in the living room. Where Giovanna had smiled, Dylan cringed at the sight, his stomach turning around in disgust.

“Isn’t it so beautiful, watching the children eat? Wouldn’t you want another child?” Giovanna gushed.

“No, Giovanna. Why would I want that? You keep giving birth to monsters, why would I risk having another child that would just ruthlessly eat away at the life of an innocent animal?” Dylan asked, not even trying to hide the bitterness in his voice. The fact that she was blatantly ignoring his fears told him that she didn’t care anymore, that she didn’t care to pay attention. How could she not see the very obvious danger that was right in front of her, every day? Why did he still love her? Why did he still give her a chance? Why-

“I don’t know why you’re so upset about what I feed them, it makes no difference if I give them cooked animals. The animals would still be dead. You just don’t like the sight of blood.” Giovanna said, breaking Dylan away from his thoughts.

She then placed a hand softly on his arm, as though she were trying to calm him down, and so, a bit of his terror and mild annoyance began to subside, but only a little.

“You weren’t afraid of me when you first saw me kill those birds accidentally. Why can’t you show the same love to the kids, who need them to eat?”

“Because they’re monsters and you’re not.”

“Maybe they wouldn’t be if you actually talked to them.”

Giovanna’s hand traveled down from his arm to his hand, squeezing it gently. It felt innocent and carefree, just like when they held hands on their many dates together, before the kids, before people to stare, before Hernan was more distant from Dylan than before, when the world seemed rich and vibrant with many choices, with many possibilities, with infinite endings.

But seriously, in what world was Giovanna living in that talking to monster children would make him like them more? Was he inclined to like them just because they were his kids and he was supposed to see the “beauty” in them?

If anything, they could try being less violent with how they ate.

Chapter Twenty

AT THE HOSPITAL

Dylan grimaced as he stared at the green-blue baby boy with scraggly orange-red hair and yellow pupil eyes in Giovanna’s arms. The doctors were not sure with what he was, exactly, but that didn’t matter to him. The baby was clearly a monster, just like the other kids.

Samantha grinned, Adelaide kept gushing over how “adorable” the baby was, Alastair actually asked to hold the baby, and Giovanna declared that the baby would be named “Aiden”.

Alastair held Aiden for a little bit, but Dylan couldn’t bring himself to. When would it be enough for her? When would she stop asking for kids?

Why did he still trust her?

Chapter Twenty-One

“You came out quietly, right?” Hernan asked.

“Of course! I opened my window carefully and then I got outside. I didn’t make any noise at all! Why would you think that?” Dylan asked, a little insulted that Hernan would think that Dylan wasn’t careful to be quiet.

Hernan told Dylan earlier at school to meet him at the playground at night and to not tell anybody else about it or make a noise when he was going out.

Dylan was at the playground with Hernan at the moment, because if Hernan wanted him to do something, then it must have been important. Also, he couldn’t just say no to his only friend. That would be rude.

“Why are we out here?” Dylan asked. Nobody else was in the playground so late except for the birds. The playground was surrounded by a chain link fence, the dim, husky lights of cars that zoomed past the only source of light save for the moon hanging up in the sky.

“I like to come out here and draw the birds at night, because when no one else is at the playground, it’s peaceful.” Hernan said.

Dylan noticed that in one of his hands, Hernan was holding his notebook and pencil.

“Why can’t you draw at home or in the park or-“

“I do all of those things, I just like doing this because it feels more fun! I wanted you to come and watch because I thought it would be nice. You know what, here, take this paper. I’ll give you the notebook and pencil when I’m done so that you can draw the birds too.” Hernan said, ripping out a sheet of paper and handing it to Dylan.

“Isn’t this going to get us in trouble or something?” Dylan asked, for while he didn’t actually think that what they were doing was terrible, he still felt worried about how the adults would react if they found him and Hernan, if they saw the boys outside in the playground at night.

“Nobody else is here. They won’t see us. It’s fine.” Hernan said, already beginning to draw the bird in front of them, standing on the pavement, watching the world mutely.

Nobody else was there and it certainly was nice to watch Hernan scribble as the cars zoomed by, dim lighting making the world seem to hold more magic, more secrets, the cool summer breeze somehow stealing away Dylan’s worries and bringing only ease…

Dylan woke up to a sharp, stabbing, aching pain in his hand, his bed feeling stiffer than a board.

Chapter Twenty-Two

He sat up in bed and found that Aiden was biting into Dylan’s hand, just like Samantha did when she was little, letting the blood spill, eating his flesh as though it was nothing.

Dylan screamed, trying to yank Aiden off, but his teeth stayed firmly rooted into Dylan’s skin, seeming to sink so deep that he could feel his bones being pierced by Aiden’s teeth. Before they both went to bed, Giovanna had said she was going downstairs to watch one of her Halloween movies. She was watching a Halloween movie last time Dylan got bitten, but she came upstairs just in time.

Why wasn’t she coming upstairs? Did she fall asleep to her movie? No, she wasn’t one to take naps. But then again, she did sometimes go outside in the early morning to get breakfast for the kids, so maybe those dusky sleep-ringed hours were catching up to her.

Yes, it had to be that, because there was no way that Giovanna was actively ignoring him, that she didn’t care, that-

With all of the strength he could muster, Dylan pulled his hand away from Aiden’s mouth, cringing as some of his skin stuck to Aiden’s teeth and then, while clutching his bleeding hand, he ran.

Chapter Twenty-Three

Aiden didn’t chase after him. At least, Dylan didn’t think that Aiden chased after him. Maybe he just didn’t hear it or ran away too fast for Aiden to catch up.

Either way, he was grateful that Aiden didn’t get to him and even more grateful that Giovanna was merely asleep on the couch with the TV on, not ignoring him.

He was mostly content with Hernan never telling Dylan anything about his personal life, but right after Aiden bit him, Dylan felt that he had to find Hernan, because he didn’t get enough power to put in front of his bedroom door and even if he did have enough powder, wouldn’t his family notice? It was a miracle they didn’t notice that it was in front of the basement door, but they would notice it someday.

That was why Dylan was driving throughout the neighborhood, trying to decide which house to stop in front of. He didn’t know which one belonged to Hernan, but he needed to find it the quickest way he could, because Hernan wouldn’t just tell him in a call.

His hand was bleeding, his heart was beating, his head was ringing, and his anxiety and frustration. There was no use with bandaging up the wound and calling it a day, resigning himself to such a life.

He had to find Hernan.

Chapter Twenty-Four

After much driving, Dylan stopped in front of a house that had a whole property of green grass expanding all around it, something that looked completely out of place in the suburban houses that were tightly packed against one another.

It was a house that he would assume Hernan would live in, judging from how much and how little he knew of his only friend. He was going off of assumptions, but the blood wasn’t going to stop and neither were the children.

Dylan slammed open the car door and ran towards the house, running off of raw, blind hope, praying to whatever ruled the universe that his assumption would be right, that the agony would stop, that something, anything good would be done.

Chapter Twenty-Five

He tried opening the door, but found that it was locked. Dylan thought about throwing a rock at Hernan, but remembered that there were still people sleeping in the other houses and wondered if such a sound would alert them. It was also just rude of him to break his friend’s window, so he settled on calling out Hernan’s name and knocking furiously at the door, knowing that it was still loud, but at least none of Hernan’s windows would be broken.

How could lights weren’t turning on in the other houses? How come no one else was waking up? Did they just not care, like Giovanna? No, that wasn’t true. They did care, because they knew about the monster children and hated them, but nobody knew Hernan like Dylan did. Were they all sleeping or were they avoiding Dylan because they were afraid that Hernan would hurt them, that Hernan would “attack” or something ridiculous like that, that-

“My god, what’s happened to you?!”

Chapter Twenty-Six

Dylan sighed in relief when he saw that Hernan had answered the door, his face lined with concern, looking up at him, the bloody hand, then back at him again.

“It happened again, but with Aiden this time. Giovanna wasn’t awake, she had fallen asleep to another one of her Halloween movies. I didn’t know that till after I pushed him off me, when I ran out of our room and saw her on the couch…Hernan, a piece of my flesh has been chewed off. How long is it going to be before these kids kill me? I’m just glad that I found you here, because I had no idea that you lived here and-I just need something more, because powder isn’t going to be enough and I can’t possibly win a fight against them. Do you have anything? Do…do…”

Dylan felt the wave of exhaustion and stress plummeting into him, the weight of his hand feeling too heavy to move. Why, he didn’t even want to stand anymore, he just wanted to find some place to rest and never wake up again, never worry again, never have to deal with the terrors that was his life again.

Hernan looked down, looked back up, sucked in a breath and said:

“Dylan, come inside. I haven’t been completely honest with you.”

Dylan did as Hernan asked, wondering what he could possibly mean, thinking that whatever Hernan wasn’t telling him wouldn’t be as bad as his monster children, as Giovanna not seeming to care, as everything going on with him lately.

Hernan answered the door. Hernan was going to help him. That was the most important thing, to know that he wouldn’t suffer alone, that he had a friend to support him, a friend who still cared, despite how old they grew, the things that changed.

With Hernan, things would hopefully be better than before.

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Dylan’s eyes went wide as he noticed the shelves of dust-covered books, the floor littered paper and miscellaneous items, the scent of old, yellowing pages. Hernan’s house was musty and mildew-ridden, like maggots were hiding in the corners. Though there was only one window letting in pale moonlight, Dylan could still see that the wooden walls looked as though they were rotting away, thick black spots blistering on the walls.

How could Hernan live in such conditions?

“Come, sit on the couch.” Hernan said, nudging Dylan over to a yellowing couch that might have once been white, a long time ago.

He didn’t mind, though. His hand was still bleeding and though the couch smelled sour and rancid, making his eyes water, Dylan still plopped down, letting out a relieved sigh that he could finally rest, that he could finally get some help.

Besides, it would be rude of him to not lie down, after Hernan had so graciously let Dylan into his house and offered to help him out. It just wasn’t nice manners.

Chapter Twenty-Eight

As Dylan lay on the couch, Hernan took a seat on a yellowing armchair next to the couch and took a deep breath, saying:

“I never liked Giovanna’s obsession of Halloween and monsters, you know that. The whole thing was just wrong and off-putting, but…”

Hernan looked off to the side, put a hand to his mouth, fingers curled over his lips as though he would bite them until all the skin came off, and then he abruptly turned towards Dylan, moving his hand away from his lips and said:

“I wanted to teach her a lesson. I wanted her to learn that monsters were to be feared and that loving them would only make her a monster, so I put a curse on all children that she’d give birth to. A curse that would make them all monsters. I was hoping that having those children would make her terrified and have her know better, but I didn’t expect them to attack you, I didn’t want them to attack you, I-“

“You made the children monsters?!” Dylan asked, sitting up from the couch, forgetting about the pain for a few seconds before he slumped down, his vision going dark…

It was Hernan?

Chapter Twenty-Nine

In Dylan’s mind, there were dreams of all the past moments he and Hernan had, all the time Hernan spent giving Giovanna dirty looks and warning Dylan that she was “messed in the head”, “her dreams were Dylan’s nightmares”, and that she “wasn’t someone who loved”. Dylan had defended her, but he knew why Hernan was saying what he said, and he didn’t hold it against him, because Hernan was his friend, Hernan cared about him…

Yet he was the one who cursed the children? Who made them all monsters? Why didn’t he tell Dylan before? Because he was afraid of hurting Dylan’s feelings? No, he only did it to teach Giovanna a lesson. It frightened Dylan a little, but it wasn’t Hernan’s fault. It was an accident. Giovanna was the one who wanted more kids, the one who wanted the house to be overrun by monsters and chaos.

So, when Dylan opened his eyes and found his hand all healed with Hernan’s magic, he smiled and told Hernan that it wasn’t his fault, that he still cared about Hernan.

It was Giovanna he had to deal with.

Chapter Thirty

He had come back home that night, intent on ending her, but when he saw her sleeping so peacefully in bed, her eyelids closed gently, delicately, he…he couldn’t do it.

How could anyone just go and murder the people they loved, the people they wanted to care for and protect, the people they had spent so much time building a deep, profound connection with?

Dylan wasn’t like his children. He wasn’t evil. He wouldn’t hurt the people he loved.

That being said, Giovanna still wanted another kid and so, he gave it to her. A boy, a demon whom she named “David”.

If David proved to be just like the others, then he and Giovanna would have to have a talk. If she didn’t listen, then he might just have to kill her.

Hopefully it wouldn’t come to that.

Epilogue

But it did, though. It did. Dylan had gotten into an argument with Giovanna about the monster children and things had taken a turn for the worst. A torrent of madness and hurt washed over him and somewhere along the lines, he had stabbed her in the eye with a shard of glass. Blood pooled out of his hands and even more spilled out of her body. Other things must have happened, but he didn’t remember all of them.

He had killed her and cleaned up the mess, buried her body in the backyard. Dylan wouldn’t go out and get live animals for his kids, he didn’t want to see blood spilled yet again…

But they knew. Somehow, they knew what he had done, and they all tore through his skin, ate his flesh, eyes ravenous and full of vengeance, seeming to call him a heartless monster from how mercilessly and relentlessly they broke him apart until he was nothing.

The flames of Hell may have hurt, but they were nothing like his children’s teeth and claws. Nothing like his cursed, frightful children that Hernan made monsters.

Despite everything, Dylan still smiled at the fact that Hernan was okay, that he didn’t see his dearest, sweetest friend in Hell.

Well, that was what he was to Dylan.