Giovanna’s origin

*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=1305. This is based off a character from my 2021 Halloween tales, which is from a story of mine called “31 horrific Halloween tales”. I believe that it is from the 29th tale. You can find that story under my folder “31 Halloween tales”. Enjoy!*

Introduction

All her life, Giovanna wanted to put her love out into the world. She had always believed that most people were deserving of love and that even the angriest of people had a soft, sweet side to them.

With Dylan, she saw someone who would try his hardest to be good, despite his temperaments and that was enough for her. The fact that he was trying showed that he cared.

The two of them had fallen in love, gotten married, and they both wanted kids. They both agreed that they would love their children no matter what.

In theory, both parents would love their kids no matter anything that happened. But that’s totally different when the child is actually born.

Which brings the question…can a parent truly love their child more than their young and pure years, when they grow more into a twisted, convoluted, and frightened creature?

Will their parents still see the sweetness in their kid’s eyes?

Chapter One

“Why are so many people looking at me, Mommy?” Samantha asked, her eyebrows furrowing over her pink eyes.

Giovanna was taking her four year old daughter out for a walk in their neighborhood. She was hoping that it’d be good for the both of them to go out and get fresh air, but of course, people always turned their heads towards Samantha, the kid who was “always dressed like a clown”.

The thing was, Samantha wasn’t in a costume. Everybody thought that her white face with rainbow colors splashed here and there was just greasepaint, that her chaotic-swirled purple-pink hair was merely a wig, and that her off-putting clothes was her costume.

But Samantha was born that way. As for her clothes, she always gravitated towards the most outlandishly colorful stuff and Giovanna couldn’t care less. It was a strange thing for her child to be born as a clown and she still didn’t know why her child was born as one, but she didn’t dwell too much on it. So long as she had an alive child, that was fine with her.

“It’s because you’re a very pretty girl. They’re all just surprised because they’ve never seen anyone as pretty as you.” Giovanna beamed, trying to bring up her spirits.

“Are you sure? They look kind of mean.” Samantha said, wrinkling her round red nose as though she had drank acid.

So Samantha could see the bit of hate in their eyes? Giovanna didn’t think that such a thing was possible for so young a child to notice, but maybe she was wrong about that.

“Want to go to the thrift store?” Giovanna asked.

At that prospect, Samantha bounced up and down on her feet, proclaiming with glee:

“Yes! Yes! Yes!”

Giovanna smiled, her heart warmed at seeing how quickly Samantha had found joy.

A nice trip to the thrift store would lighten the mood. Maybe they’d find new clothes for Samantha.

Maybe they’d find nice porcelain dolls for the upcoming baby. Anything was bound to be at the local thrift store!

Chapter Two

Once they were both at the thrift store, Samantha immediately went to the fabrics section in search of sequined cloth. When she picked the ones that she liked, she would show Giovanna, and then Giovanna would use the fabric later to make clothes for Samantha. It was one of the many things that brought joy to her life.

Giovanna herself was in the dolls section, looking for the perfect doll for the upcoming baby girl on the way. Dylan was holding out on hope that the new baby would be born “normal”, which was something that she wished he wouldn’t do, but maybe he meant well at heart. Maybe he was taking time to adjust, she wouldn’t go so far as to think that he would actually hate his child for being born “different”. He wasn’t that type of person. He was many things, but a miserable father wasn’t one of them.

No matter. She’d just focus on getting the perfect doll, there was no need to worry and-

“You can’t possibly be having more kids, can you? I mean, look at the first one. Do you seriously want to give birth to another monster?” A man’s voice whispered in her ear.

Giovanna turned around but saw no one standing behind her, only the few patrons who bothered to come to the store at all. A chill crawled up her spine as she remembered how much like liquid music the man’s voice sounded. His voice was like the strum of violins melted down to poisonous yet enchanting goo. It sounded vaguely familiar, but she couldn’t quite put a face to it…

Somebody tugged at her skirt. Giovanna looked down and smiled at Samantha, who proudly showed off the fabrics that she picked out.

No time to worry about a voice she may or may not have heard. It was DIY time with her daughter!

Chapter Three

AT HOME

Giovanna had just gotten back home with Samantha and was sewing clothes together with her blue sewing machine. Samantha would pick out the fabrics, then Giovanna would put them together. No, none of them matched, but that added to the fun!

As always, Dylan was avoiding them. It was the weekend, so there was no work for him to do. The least he could do was at least smile at Samantha, but no, he was in the basement, watching TV. Giovanna could hear the blare of the TV noise from upstairs and felt a twitch of pain at her heart.

Though she tried her hardest to look at things on the bright side, but it wasn’t particularly easy for her to do.

She’d have to talk to Dylan about it later.

Chapter Four

The hours had passed onto night, Giovanna and Dylan were in their bedroom. Dylan was lying in bed with his eyes wide open, Giovanna was sifting through her jewelry box, trying to calm her mind, but then, the words just spilled out of her mouth:

“Why are you so concerned about how Samantha looks? How she looks shouldn’t matter to you.”

Giovanna wasn’t facing Dylan, she was merely facing her jewelry box, but she could feel Dylan’s face furrow into a scowl. She didn’t know how to explain it, just that she could feel the fury from him morphing his face to be something quite unsavory, just as real as how she could hear him sit up on the bed, and then-

“You’re not? She’s a clown, Giovanna. That’s not normal. Are you sure there’s nothing wrong with you? Are you sure there’s nothing wrong with her? What if she has some kind of a sickness that makes her look like a clown but is actually incredibly fatal and-“

“You’re thinking of the worst. Why would it be a disease? She’s just born different.”

“This is a whole lot bigger than being born different.”

Giovanna joined Dylan at the bed. The both of them would just go back and forth and in the end, she just wanted to go to sleep.

She pulled down the switch on the lampshade and pulled the covers over her head, hoping that the next day wouldn’t be filled with dread.

Chapter Five

THE NEXT DAY

The night had been bursts of waking up, then falling back asleep again. With her eyes ringed by deep lines of no sleep that seemed to seep past her skin and into her bones, she focused on rearranging the dolls in the new baby’s room. Doing so let Giovanna feel as though she were grounded to one place, that everything was as right as rain. It let her forget momentarily that Dylan spent his days in the basement, watching senseless TV, so different from the man who had showered her with roses and sweet words…or maybe that was how he really was and it just showed more after Samantha’s birth.

It let her forget that Samantha was in her room with her plastic dolls that had pen ink scrawled all over their faces and boxes upon boxes of crafts that she made every second because she didn’t know what else to do with her time, as though making crafts was the only thing that kept her alive.

All in all, it let Giovanna hope that her family could be a strong, connected one with the new baby, with another life, with-

High school, her arm wrapped around Dylan’s waist. Eyes sparkling, blissfully unaware. So full of hope at what was to come, what could have been. Dylan looking down at her with soft blue eyes, a knowing smirk on his lips that sent butterflies in her stomach.

And then, his friend, staring at Giovanna disdainfully in the halls. She tried to let Dylan know about it, but he only told her not to worry, that his friend was just trying to process their relationship. “He’ll come around.” Dylan would say.

Giovanna shook away the memory from her mind. That was many years ago, when they were much younger and when feelings were more prickly and unsettling. She forgot the friend’s name and what the friend looked like, so why should she worry about something in the past? Something that wasn’t relevant to her?

Giovanna got back to setting up the room. No time to dwell on the past.

Chapter Six

AT THE HOSPITAL

Nine months had passed, the doctor was holding a ghost-white baby with obsidian-black hair curled around its face. It was covered in blood just as all newborn babies were, but it didn’t cry. No, it was dead silent.

The doctor’s eyes were tinged with sorrow, but Giovanna didn’t want to despair. Not yet. Maybe the baby was different, like Samantha.

“I’m very sorry to inform you on this, Giovanna, but your baby girl is-YEOUCH!” The doctor cried out, nearly dropping the baby.

Giovanna caught the baby in her arms just in time, watching with bewilderment as the doctor stormed away, holding his right hand tenderly. The other doctors followed him and soon, it was just Giovanna, Dylan, Samantha, and the new baby in the room.

What had bothered the doctor? What had hurt him so? What-A needle-point pain stabbed at her chest, sucking away at her blood. Understanding dawned in Giovanna’s mind when she noticed the trail of blood the doctor left behind and felt the bite on her chest.

“So our new baby is a vampire?” Dylan asked, his voice laced with panic. Samantha, however, was ecstatic, bouncing up and down on the balls of her feet as she looked over at Giovanna and the new baby in the hospital bed.

“Yes and her name is Adelaide.” Giovanna said with a smile.

Yet another monster born from her! How intriguing! How fascinating! Birthing Samantha and Adelaide was a painful and grueling task that she did not particularly enjoy, but she didn’t think it would have made much of a difference if she had given birth to humans.

Besides, when she looked at their small, smooth faces, she was overcome with all the love that she had always carried within her.

Things would be much better with the family. Dylan would come to understand, wouldn’t he? Right? Right. So, Giovanna didn’t need to worry at all.

Things were going to be okay.

Chapter Seven

It had been a year since Giovanna had given birth to Adelaide. Samantha was five years old, Adelaide was one year old. Giovanna was braiding her hair with silver and pink glitter extensions Samantha had given her, Dylan sitting next to her on the living room couch. Adelaide was asleep in her room, Samantha was playing with toys in her room. The house was peaceful as could be, but goodness, why did Dylan still worry?

“Do you ever wonder why you’re giving birth to monsters?” Dylan asked.

Giovanna sighed. There he was about the monster thing again. Seriously, it was nothing to worry about. Her parents taught her that children would always be worth love no matter what, so why would she fear her own kids?

“Sometimes. But it’s not a big deal. Dylan, how about we have another child? I think Samantha and Adelaide could do with another sibling.” Giovanna said, for really, there was never too many kids she could have around!

Dylan’s eyes went wide at that prospect, his light brown face went pale, and he asked:

“Another child? After the two you gave birth to? You’re…you’re not even the least bit frightened?”

Giovanna shook her head, grinning at him. How silly that he should be worried! He wasn’t even the one carrying a baby for nine months! He had nothing to be upset about in the slightest.

“What if it happens again? What if-“

“Then we’ll love the child like we should.”

“But what if-“

“Please, Dylan. I love our kids. I think we could be one big, happy family with more.” Giovanna said.

Dylan sighed, seeming to try and find a way to argue with her, but Giovanna wouldn’t have it. She had extensions to put on her hair. Live animals to feed her children.

Much work to be done.

Chapter Eight

Giovanna was outside like she was supposed to be, searching wild squirrels and chipmunks to catch. Her hands may have looked long and delicate, but she worked at an aviary when she was a teenager, so she was prepared for anything.

She used to squeeze the birds tightly in her fists because she was afraid of them flying away like the balloons she held when she was little. She wasn’t supposed to do that, she was supposed to hold them gently at the bottom with one hand and then ever so gently cover the bird’s wings with the other hand, but no, Giovanna didn’t do that. Her fear spiraled inside of her and so she would squeeze the birds until warm red liquid flowed into her hands and then she would get scolded and then-

No more of that. That was the unsavory past. She was better. Everything was better. She had love by her side, nothing to worry about. Love would make her a more calm, healed person.

Chipmunks and squirrels scurried through the leaves, Giovanna had to get them and quickly!

For her children!

Chapter Nine

Giovanna got on her knees so that she would get the animals faster. There were three chipmunks and three squirrels out, so that would be a total of six animals. She could imagine the whispers of her neighbors who may have seen her over the fence and the thoughts of Dylan if he were watching her, but she didn’t pay them any mind. All she had to do was get food for her children and-

She snatched three squirrels in one hand and three chipmunks in another. They squirmed in her hands, wrestling against her skin, but Giovanna squeezed as tightly as she could…letting her nails dig into their fur…not stopping for one second…

She could feel blood pouring from their bodies, which meant that she could stop.

Chapter Ten

Giovanna smiled as she watched Samantha and Adelaide eagerly chew the dead animals she brought in, blood pooling down their pale lips. She had just brought them inside and told the girls to come to the nursery, to which they had complied, Samantha holding Adelaide’s hand to help her walk.

She didn’t feel like talking to Dylan just yet, for she already knew what he was thinking, but when Samantha would grin up at her in between eating and Adelaide would giggle, Giovanna felt her heart lift high in her chest, glad that they could feel safe and whole with her.

Really, that was all Giovanna wanted.

Chapter Eleven

FIVE YEARS LATER

Five years had passed for Giovanna and her family. Dylan and the neighbors still were skeptical of the kids, but ten year old Samantha and six year old Adelaide were just fine! Sure, they were responsible for beloved pets going missing but no human had been killed…yet. If that were to happen, then, well, Giovanna would find a way to fix it. She always did!

Samantha was outside, screaming and shouting with joy as she did cartwheels on the front yard, her glitter boots gleaming from the sunlight. Adelaide cheered her on under the safety of a shaded tree, so she wouldn’t develop an unsightly rash. Giovanna watched from the porch, carrying yet another child, for she had been able to convince Dylan that having another kid was just what they needed!

Giovanna stood up on the top step, making sure that the bird didn’t escape her grasp. The bird’s blood spilled down her wrist, but at least the red was pretty under the filtered sunlight from the domed roof of the aviary that was covered with thin white film. It was a better thing to think about than how she had killed a bird, how she didn’t know any other way to keep it with her…

Dylan watched with wide eyes, but he didn’t look frightened of her like most people did when they saw. He looked a little startled and sad, yes, but scared? No.

The boy next to him, though…there was such burning hatred in his eyes…such vibrant anger…

Why? All she wanted was to keep the bird by her side.

Giovanna shook the memory away from her mind. She was young then, and desperate to do things the right way. As an adult, she didn’t need to be desperate, because she already knew what was right. She was of a completely sound mind.

“Come here, Mom! Come and get a better look of me!” Samantha called out gaily with a smile as she lazily swung her arms back and forth, unable to be completely still.

With a smile, Giovanna joined the girls at the front yard.

It wouldn’t kill for some quality time, would it?

Chapter Twelve

FLASHBACK

It was the middle of the school year. Rain had begun pouring down furiously outside, so instead of afternoon recess, the kids were rounded up to the auditorium, made to watch a movie.

Giovanna waited anxiously in one of the auditorium seats for the movie to start, hoping that they’d pick an extremely wonderful movie! Because if it was boring, then she wouldn’t want to sit through it and…

Spooky whimsical music? Green smoke on the TV screen? Could it be that they were watching…a monster movie? Of course, that’d make sense! It was the middle of October, why WOULDN’T they watch a monster movie? But then, Giovanna didn’t know that her school was THAT cool…

“Dylan, look! We’re gonna watch a monster movie with a bunch of funky characters! Isn’t that awesome? A MONSTER movie! A HALLOWEEN movie! Do you like Halloween movies?” Giovanna asked, for her excitement was boiling over like the liquid in a cauldron and she couldn’t hold it in for much longer. She HAD to tell Dylan, the cute boy sitting next to her, the boy she met over summer, the boy who was just her friend but would very soon become someone more, she’d see to that!

“Not really, but I’m glad you’re happy about it.” Dylan said with a shrug.

Oh. Well, that was disappointing. Why wouldn’t he like them? Did he not think that they were cool? Did he find them “cringey”? She’d have to talk about some glorious spooky movies that she liked with him later, so she’d get Dylan to understand. At the moment, she-

Was that the boy who glared at her last summer for crushing the birds? Was he sitting next to Dylan? Yes, yes he was, and he was STILL glaring at her! Dang, why couldn’t he just get over it? It was an accident! Not even a big deal. Taking care of animals was hard work, he shouldn’t judge her harshly just because of one little thing!

He wasn’t worth the energy. Giovanna just had to focus on the movie. The movie would make her feel better.

Those kinds of movies always did.

Chapter Thirteen

Giovanna held the baby in her arms, close to her chest. A few months had passed and she had given birth to her new child, her first ever son, Alastair. Dylan stood next to her, his eyes wide with shock, while Samantha and Adelaide looked at Alastair with a smile.

Giovanna kissed the top of Alastair’s head, her heart growing at the sight of his pointed wolf ears, of his jagged-tooth smile. Her son was none other than a werewolf and just like with her daughters, she would always love him.

The months had gone by like a dream, the children she had were as though they came from a dream.

But her love would always be real.

Chapter Fourteen

FLASHBACK

Giovanna pushed down all of her excitement, for she couldn’t appear too happy in front of her brand new friends.

A few hours ago, Giovanna made friends with three girls: Oriana, Qiana, and Zadie. She had made friends with them all just from talking about her shared love of glitter makeup and all things pink. While she DID love those things, she loved monster movies more, and so she wanted to show them all the wonderful spooky movies that brought her such joy, so of course, Giovanna asked if they wanted to come over to her house after school.

The girls said yes, and so all she had to do was put one of her favorite movies in the DVD player and let it play on!

So, Giovanna had slipped the DVD into the DVD player and waited…waited…

“We’re SERIOUSLY watching a monster movie? Is it one of those gross ones with the slime and the exploding people? Because if it’s one of those, then-“

“That’s the whole point of “Spooky sillies”, Qiana.” Giovanna said, hoping that maybe, if she gave it a chance, then she’d love “Spooky Sillies” just as much as Giovanna did.

“That’s what it’s called? Can we watch something more fun, like with magical fairies and ballerinas? Don’t you like that stuff?” Oriana asked.

Giovanna sighed. Yes, she did like that stuff, but she liked the monster movies MORE, and the girls talking over the beginning dialogue made it hard to watch.

“Are we changing the movie?” Zadie asked.

“No, we’re watching this. You guys just have to wait. I promise, you’ll like it. I know that it’s not Halloween yet, but it’s such a cool and fun movie, just wait and see!” Giovanna cried out, trying not to let panic crawl out of her voice. Her friends were getting up and leaving, she couldn’t let them leave before they got deeper into the movie, before-

They walked out the door.

Giovanna was all alone with her monster movie, with the kids in the movie more connected than the girls she just met.

Chapter Fifteen

“You love me, right? You don’t think that I’m too strange to be loved, do you?” Giovanna asked.

She was standing on the porch, watching her three children play. Samantha was twelve years old, Adelaide was eight years old, and Alastair was two years old. The girls both made sure that Alastair was included in all of their games and was always connected to them, and while seeing them together made Giovanna feel whole, it didn’t make her feel whole enough. She still felt like she was all alone, like nobody really cared for her and so, she just had to ask Dylan those questions.

“I love you, but you concern me. You keep wanting to have kids despite them being monsters. Why? Are you happy now? Will you stop asking now?” Dylan asked.

Giovanna sighed. He meant well, she could tell, but he didn’t know her as well as she knew herself. He spoke as though her wanting to have more children was a bad thing even though it wasn’t. Her kids were her pride and joy, they’d love her no matter what.

Who was he to question that?

“I want another kid.” Giovanna said. She didn’t turn around to look at him, she kept her eyes on the children. It was a cloudy day outside, so Adelaide could be out more.

“More kids? Really? You can’t be ser-“

“I am. Now, I don’t want to talk about this anymore.”

“But-“

“Dylan, please.”

He must have glared at her or given her some kind of dirty expression. She didn’t turn around to check. All she heard was him storming off and so, she predicted that he’d retreat to the basement to watch his TV.

He said no before, but he wouldn’t keep his word. He wanted her to be happy and so ultimately, he’d agree.

It still hurt that he didn’t love the kids like she wanted him to, though.

Chapter Sixteen

Giovanna was back in the hospital, holding a new baby. From his reptilian teal skin, snake-like yellow eyes, and fiery orange hair, she deduced that he was an alien and his name would be Aiden.

Her husband and her other children had just left, she was alone for the night with Aiden. Just like the other children she gave birth to, he didn’t cry. Not once. He lay peacefully in her arms, as though they were meant to be.

Why, she could stare at his yellow snake eyes for hours and not one bit of her love would diminish! He was everything to her! He-

“It’s amazing, how you love those kids and yet you couldn’t love the birds.” A distant, echoing man’s voice remarked.

Giovanna looked up. At the corner of the hospital room was a white figure in the silhouette of a man, just a regular man, talking to her.

But still, a cold shiver ran down her spine.

What did he want?

Chapter Seventeen

“You didn’t treat it like it was a big deal. You’d just smile as though it were oh so quirky of you. But it hurts me to see how you care more about monster than you-“

“You don’t know anything about me.” Giovanna seethed.

What was a white silhouette of a man doing with talking to her about her past? Smiling made her feel better about it! It made her feel better about herself! It wasn’t as though she was a bad person or anything…

The whiteness on the man slowly began to fade away, to the point where she could see a sad, pale face with large blue eyes that shone in a way that looked otherworldly, not quite real…

“I do know about you, Giovanna.” The man said gravely.

She saw that face before, but…but where? Where had she seen him before?

Chapter Eighteen

“Your bad choices will come back to bite.” The man said before he disappeared like the crackle of fireworks.

Giovanna blinked away the white that flashed in her eyes and tried to remember where she had seen the man before, where-

She saw him as a boy, glaring at her as she walked down the hallway at school. She saw him when she worked at the aviary, yelling at her for crushing the birds. She saw him sitting next to her at the school assembly.

He was none other than Dylan’s friend, Hernan.

What came next was a wave of woe and guilt, so gray that she couldn’t even cry. Did Hernan really hate her that much? Did he really think of her as that much of a monster?

Did he possibly have something to do with why her kids were born the way they were?

Chapter Nineteen

Giovanna sat on the couch, next to Dylan. He had gone upstairs and turned on the TV, said he was tired of watching it downstairs. The kids were playing with each other except Samantha and Adelaide, who were doing their own things in their room. Giovanna should have felt satisfied that they were a “real family” but Dylan still didn’t want to talk to the kids and Giovanna was still lonely. Seeing Hernan in the hospital only further swirled the despair inside of her. Did he really think that having monster kids was a curse?

“I want another child. This is the last one, I promise. After that, I won’t want any more.” Giovanna said.

She turned to look at Dylan and thought that she saw a flicker of irritation in his eyes. She didn’t tell him about Hernan, because why would he believe that his close and only friend was a witch? He could believe in the monsters being born, but he’d always love his friend, even though he never spent time with him, as far as she was concerned.

“Alright. Last kid. It better not be another monster, because if it is, I’m done. I’m leaving. I can’t deal with this anymore. The house smells like dead animals.” Dylan snapped.

She stored bodies of dead animals in the cabinets for the kids, just so she wouldn’t have to go outside and hunt for them for a bit. The house stank from rotten flesh, but she sprayed flower spray everywhere and besides, they didn’t invite anybody over.

But why would he even care? It was just their house. It only smelled that way because of love. Love had rotten parts to it, but all the rotten parts were outweighed by the blooming ones. Seeing her kids smile and giggle as though they were the happiest alive was the best thing in the world and she wouldn’t have it any other way. It was what every mother strived for and it was something that she’d give without hesitation, just like she did with her dolls as a child.

“Fine. Go and do that.” Giovanna said, tired of arguing with him.

Why did he love her at all? She was always a desperate, scavenging monster and in that moment, he was beginning to see clearly.

Everyone in school knew it.

Chapter Twenty

It was yet another day at the aviary! Giovanna didn’t kill any birds and she still somehow had her job! Maybe the people there felt bad for her and wanted her to have a job, maybe they didn’t care. Either way, she was ever so grateful to have her summer job and as she climbed down the ladder away from one of the highest perches around, she couldn’t help but hum a little tune to herself, just like the characters in movies, free and-

“Hey Giovanna!” A boy’s voice cried out happily.

Giovanna had just gotten down from the last step and turned around to face the owner of the voice. She had seen him once or twice in school and had heard his name before, but she couldn’t…Dylan!

She recognized those soft, warm brown eyes anywhere! That sweet smile! It was him, the boy who seemed nice but was way too pretty for her to actually talk to!

“Hi, Dylan. What is it?” Giovanna asked, hoping that she didn’t sound too rude.

Dylan scratched his curly black hair as though he wanted something to do with one of his hands and then he said:

“Nothing much. I’ve seen you a few times at school and I’ve heard so much about you. How you like Halloween, how you’re always ready for something spooky. It’s cute. At least, I think it is. I was wondering…if you could be my girlfriend.”

Giovanna’s eyes went wide. Was he for real? Was somebody like him really interested in somebody like her? What if he was making fun of her behind his back? What if-

“Yes! I’d love that!” Giovanna beamed, her excitement taking over.

What if there was nothing bad at all happening?

Giovanna thought back to the moment at the aviary, when Dylan first asked her to be his girlfriend, as she painted Samantha’s baby teeth. She did it every night ever since Aiden was born, painting the slightly less sharp teeth of her children to bring some life to her world, an idea she was grateful to have come up with.

He thought that she was cute as a smooth-skinned teenager with long, knotless black hair, but did he still love her as a woman with deep, baggy eyes and hair that was just as tangled and wild as her own mind? For it seemed that with every year, every birthday, she grew more monstrous in mind and in body, more of a leathery, wrinkled creature and less of a human. It wasn’t something she hated about herself at all. In fact, she loved how strange she was, but she would have felt more at peace if Dylan loved her the same way.

So why couldn’t he? What about her was so much more horrifying than when she was younger? She was still the same girl he asked to be his girlfriend, only better than before.

Wasn’t that what true love was supposed to be about?

Chapter Twenty-One

Months had passed. Giovanna gave birth to her very last child, David. She was surrounded by her husband and kids, her loved ones. Samantha was fifteen, Adelaide was eleven, Alastair was three, and Aiden was four. David was only zero years old. Giovanna and Dylan were as old as ever, as all adults were, except Giovanna could feel her age in her body, mind and soul. The weariness was embedded throughout her womb where she gave birth and in the bags under her eyes that tried to see past Dylan’s ridiculousness.

It was the first time that Dylan smiled at the birth of his child, to which Giovanna flashed her gums in what she imagined was a smile. She would have felt Dylan’s same happiness if it weren’t for the fact that she knew the only reason he was smiling was because David looked “normal”. David had his eyes shut, so nobody knew if he had monstrous pupils like his siblings, but who cared? He didn’t have any scales or horns! His light brown skin was simply just light brown skin! He was normal!

Never mind the fact that Giovanna felt it inside her that David was just like his siblings, that he wasn’t human like the rest of them. Dylan was proud of the birth of his child, so all was well for the moment!

Besides, if Dylan left once David began to show his true self, then she’d let him. She loved him once, but if he wouldn’t love her and the kids for their macabre sides, then what was the point?

She was better off with just the kids anyway.

Chapter Twenty-Two

FLASHBACK

“Who were those other girls? What just happened?” Mom asked, furrowing her eyebrows. She still held the laundry basket, but it was empty, the clothes having already been put in the washing machine.

“They were girls from school. They were nice to me at school, so I thought that they’d wanted to be my friends. I thought that they’d want to watch a monster movie with me, but they left.” Giovanna said glumly, hanging her head low. It seemed so perfect, her idea of watching a movie with them, but saying it out loud made her sound stupid.

“Giovanna, don’t just invite people over to our house just because they’re nice to you. It takes a lot more to make friends than one conversation. Also, don’t show them your monster movies. People don’t want to watch that.” Mom said.

Sure, most people at her school didn’t like the same things she did, but it wasn’t that way about everybody, was it? Mom saying that made it sound like nobody would want to hang out with her, but if Giovanna told her Mom that, then would she sound ridiculous? Would she make sense? Would Mom even listen?

“You must be hungry. Go get a snack, then do your homework.” Mom said before she walked away, towards upstairs.

The movie was still playing. Maybe watching a bit of it while eating mozzarella string cheese would make her feel better.

Maybe it would help.

Chapter Twenty-Three

A year had passed since David’s birth. Everybody was asleep, as it was late into the night. Giovanna was in the kitchen, pouring herself a glass of water. Her body felt like it was all shriveled up within itself, but she still managed to get along for her children. She would say it was for her husband, but it didn’t sound true.

For at one years old, David’s eyes opened to reveal hot pink snake eyes and when he got angry, bumps of scales appeared on his face, his fingers contorted into claws, he grew black and red feathery wings on his back and gray horns protruding from his head.

All in all, every bit of the monster Giovanna imagined him to be and Dylan to fear. She hoped that Dylan would change his mind and be better, but she didn’t count on it. She knew better than to count on people staying with her.

“Giovanna.” Dylan’s voice said harshly.

Giovanna clenched the glass of water tightly in her fist, almost as tightly as she held the birds.

There it was. The dreaded moment she had been waiting for.

Dylan was tired of it all.

Chapter Twenty-Four

“Giovanna, nothing has changed. We’re two humans with monster children in this house. Who knows what they’ll do to us, what-“

“They’re our children, Dylan! They haven’t done any harm but the crime of existing! Don’t you think people thought this of me? Don’t you think they were scared of me? Don’t-“

“I used to think that they were wrong, but no, they were right about you. You’re not so different from those children, Giovanna. No, you’re a nightmare.”

At the word nightmare, Dylan had grabbed a tall glass figurine of a woman and smashed it into Giovanna’s eye. As Giovanna keeled over and tried stifling her own scream so that the children wouldn’t hear, Dylan grabbed more glass figurines from the countertops and open cabinets and threw them at her, glass after glass after glass breaking her skin and shattering on the floor.

Did he really want to do this all along? Giovanna thought despairingly as her blood pooled out of her body and swam excessively in her head.

Chapter Twenty-Five

Giovanna couldn’t speak. Giovanna couldn’t move. Well, she could move, but not in a way where she could get up and ask for help. She could only stumble backwards and fall on the kitchen floor.

She saw the dim lights of the kitchen, the kind that she only turned on during the night, floating above her head. She heard Dylan walk away. She thought that she heard Samantha’s voice, but that could have been her imagination. Giovanna didn’t really feel quite there.

In fact, she started to feel like she was floating through a void of space and time…was it happening? That sense of finality that everyone talked about, that so many people dreaded, but that Giovanna would often wonder curiously about?

Was she dying?

Chapter Twenty-Six

Giovanna could see a white light forming in front of her, a white light that glowed with such etherealness that she knew that it was Heaven’s glow and not the light of the kitchen. Everything else around the light was dim, but she could smell flowers dipped in rain, could feel a cool breeze on her face, all of her worries tumbling away…

And then Giovanna was being plunged back into darkness, away from the scent of flowers and rain, away from the light. She couldn’t feel any flames or hear any screams around her either, so where was she going? Heaven or Hell? Or was the void surrounding her what Hell really was like? Where was she destined to go to? Was she destined to go anywhere? Was-

Giovanna was in the garage. She could see the outline of the car and the shelves all around her, the thin sliver of daylight coming in through the door. She could also feel how she was undeniably not alive, how she didn’t even feel her own body at all.

Giovanna could see that her hands were spectral, that she was some kind of ghostly entity.

Well, if she wasn’t alive, then could she still do anything in the real world?

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Giovanna saw the garage door slide open and then Adelaide, Alastair and Aiden come in, carrying…the bloody body of Dylan?!

“Just put him in the farthest part of the shed. He’ll get eaten by the raccoons.” Samantha said from the entrance, carrying David with one arm.

Giovanna was speechless as she watched her children hide Dylan in the shed. What did they do while she was gone? Did they kill Dylan? Had they really gone that route?

Sure, she felt a little bad about seeing his dead, bleeding body, but…did they really do it…for her?

Chapter Twenty-Eight

“What happened? Did you guys kill Dylan? What’s going on?” Giovanna asked, speaking even though there was a very real possibility that her children wouldn’t be able to see or hear her.

But they did. They turned their heads towards her, then Samantha said:

“Simple. He killed you, never showed much love to us, so we killed him. A guy like that doesn’t deserve to live.”

Giovanna didn’t know whether she should smile or scream, for while she was proud of her children for doing what they believed was right, she wondered if killing Dylan would somehow “detach” the humanity in them, make them more like the “monsters” Dylan and everybody else in the neighborhood believed them to be.

But that wouldn’t happen with her children, right? They had always been good kids, right?

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Giovanna found out that she could move from place to place, just like she was when she was alive, only she couldn’t touch anything. Her hand went straight through.

She had also watched over her children in the house until Samantha grew up and then moved everybody out into an abandoned cabin in the woods. Giovanna would visit them from time to time, but she would always get pulled back to the house she and Dylan shared, the house where Dylan’s dead body was rotting in a garage.

While she was happy that her children were okay, she was also incredibly, undeniably lonely. She couldn’t pass on to Heaven, whatever that place was and she couldn’t burn in Hell either.

Forever tethered to her house, an unpleasant feeling of twisting and turning on the inside, just like when she was alive and never had any connections except Dylan.

Things changed, but not really.

Chapter Thirty

Giovanna frowned as she looked through the packet. She wanted to apply for a summer job and took the packet from the front office, but the closest job on the list was the aviary job. She didn’t know anything about birds and wanted to pursue something more creative, like writing or art.

But her parents wanted her to work close to home and she didn’t want to make travel harder for them. After all, Dad would be the one to take her to work and pick her up later. Mom would be doing errands at home, waiting for her.

So, Giovanna checked off the box for the aviary job and flipped through the pages till she got to the resume for the aviary.

It was only a summer job. She’d have plenty of time to follow her creative-related dreams. She’d be successful with them, too. She was going to do just fine.

Giovanna sighed as she reflected on the day she filled out the form for her summer job as a teenager. Yes, she did creative things as a hobby, but it was just that: A hobby. It never flourished into anything more, because she never had time. Because she wanted a family who loved her all while bringing art to the world. It was too many things crashing down on her and besides, she wouldn’t have made enough money anyway if she did creative things as a job.

Dylan had a job that brought in money. She didn’t remember what the job was, but it was something more important than what she wanted, because all Giovanna knew was Halloween and art. The real world wasn’t like that. The real world was about making as much money as anyone could before they died. The real world was about giving up childish dreams and instead going after the insanely boring but practical and needed. Creative people were stupid and hanging onto a bygone era of their past, holding onto foolish hope that everything would work out in the end, thinking like they were younger than they actually were. It was wrong to think younger, to hold onto such dreams. It would get them nowhere in life but broken hearts and disappointment.

Giovanna was in her and Dylan’s room, the thoughts of the past swirling in her mind. What else was there to do but think? Why, she didn’t regret her choices, but at the same time, she wished that she achieved so much more in her life.

Maybe, if she was more like everybody else, then she wouldn’t be dead. Maybe she’d be more stable if she was more “sensible” as others would say.

Maybe there really was only one way to be a well-off adult.

Epilogue

Giovanna kept visiting her children and telling them how good they were, but even then, it wasn’t enough. She tried her hardest to search for Hernan, but couldn’t find him. It was if he was blocking her from finding him with some kind of magic. Maybe he was. Why did she care? She wouldn’t even know what she’d do if she did. Kill him? Yell at him? What was there to do? Sure, he cursed the kids, but she wasn’t so upset about the curse itself. More so about the divide it caused, about the anger from Dylan…

But of course, it was all inevitable. If Dylan really didn’t like their monster kids that much, then what difference would it make if he had known they were cursed all along? He was mad at the children for being born monsters and not at Hernan who cursed them.

Yet even in the midst of Giovanna’s misery, she couldn’t help but smile whenever she visited her children and even when she was by herself, for she reminded herself of the good moments in life.

Nothing was what she imagined, but that didn’t mean that she couldn’t be happy.