A Monster that Kills

As Jasmine ran into the darkness, her eyes blurred with tears and her lungs burned with the fire of running too hard for too long.

God, she hoped Adam was okay.

There was a clump of shrubs to her left, directly below the large trees that would hide anything the size of a cow.

She heard the sound of the men at the top of the hill and quickly slipped through the thicket, wedging herself between the leaves and brambles.

The branches tore at her clothes and body, scratching her skin red and raw, but she dared not look at them for fear of causing unnecessary rustling noises and risk the chance of getting caught.

She heard their voices. Then she heard yelling and screaming. It sounded as if something unholy had found them and was hacking away at them.

More screaming. More howling. More thudding sounds as if bodies were dropping down onto the woodsy ground.

There were so many of them and they were all fighting to stay alive but it was a vain effort. They were all silenced, one by one. Whatever beast had found them, it had spared no one.

Jasmine curled up within the bushes with her eyes squeezed shut, praying that whatever monster was out there would not find her.

She did not know how long she sat in the bushes. It could have been a few minutes. It could have been an hour.

All she could remember was that she needed to pee badly and that she itched all over from the mosquitoes that had come out at night. Where the brambles had scratched her, it stung badly.

Oh God. She hoped Adam found a way out of there.

Just when she had made up her mind that she was going to remove herself from the bushes, she heard a noise to her right.

Frozen with fear, Jasmine cocked her head to one side, trying to determine the source of the sound.

Her body slumped with relief as she heard her name being whispered.

It was Adam.

"Jazzie. I know you're in there. Are you alright?"

"Yes! I'm so glad you're okay!" She whispered back.

"Come out. We need to get out of here." Adam's voice whispered back to her.

Jasmine scrambled out of the thicket and looked around. It was so dark, she could not really make out much, but she saw no one.

She felt a hand pull her along and she ran where he led, towards the bottom of the hill where a road diverged out towards the main thoroughfare.

There, behind some bushes was her yellow bug.

"The keys are inside. Hurry!" Adam whispered into her ear.

Jasmine ran and got into the car. Adam climbed in, sitting beside her on the passenger side.

"Go straight to the police station!" He whispered.

She started the car and took off towards the highway.

Once safely on the road, Jasmine laughed as she realized that, somehow, they had gotten away from those beastly men at the compound.

"How did you know where I was, and how did you get away from those men?"

Adam sighed.

"I was given enough power and the chance to help you escape, so I took that chance because I wanted you to live." His voice lowered.

For the first time, Jasmine noticed something strange.

Adam was sitting inside her car quite comfortably!

Only a few days ago, he was so tall she had to open up her ragtop so he could sit up straight and not have to bend his head over.

She kept her eyes on the road as she drove to the police department.

She had to say something. She couldn't just not say it.

"You're not Adam." Jasmine's voice wavered. A slight tinge of fear clutched at her heart.

"Why do you say that?"

"Adam's too—too tall to fit into this car. Who are you?"

Adam sighed.

"I don't want to scare you Jazzie."

Jasmine shook her head with determination.

"I don't scare that easily."

She asked again, this time more forcefully.

"Who are you?"

For a moment, there was silence.

Jasmine took a chance and glanced at the figure sitting next to her.

He was still sitting there, not saying anything. His posture was definitely unlike Adam, who tended to slouch everywhere he sat because he never could fit into any chair properly.

The figure that sat next to her was leaning casually back against the chair, staring into the darkness.

He looked familiar. She had seen that same posture before.

"Blake?" Jasmine whispered.

The blonde hair that was Adam slowly transformed into that long black hair that Blake had. His pale pretty boy face gleamed in the moonlight coming in through the windshield.

"Please don't be afraid." He whispered, not daring to look at her.

Jasmine bit her bottom lip. He had saved her from the terrifying place that had been her jail cell for two days. Compared to that horror, he was a godsend.

"I'm—I'm not scared. I don't know how you did it and how I am able to see you, but thank you for rescuing me."

Blake turned to her, his amber eyes warm and kind.

"I was worried. You had been missing for two days. Me and Adam hatched up this plan to get you out after your aunt and grandmother told us where you were."

"Adam can see you?"

Blake nodded.

"After his possession by the ghouls, his inner eye opened wide and now he can see me. I didn't know you could see me too."

Jasmine nodded her head.

"It runs in the family. That's why Grandmother and Aunt are living in the temple. They help people who have turned into ghosts."

Her voice began shaking.

"I didn't think I had that genetic predisposition either, but it looks like I do. This trauma must have triggered it."

"I'm sorry for misleading you. I didn't want you to be scared of me so I appeared in front of you as Adam, but I was the only one who could make it into that compound without being seen."

She laughed nervously. She was sitting inside a car going sixty miles per hour down the freeway, chatting with a ghost. It all felt normal, and yet not normal.

"Honestly, you're my hero. My family became nuns to help the ghosts, but this is the first time that a ghost has been able to help us. How is it possible that you can do this?"

Blake laughed without mirth.

"It's because I'm not a ghost. I'm a ghoul."

"What—what's the difference?"

"Ghosts are apparitions and can't affect the world you're living in. I can touch things and people in your world. I can even kill living humans."

Jasmine's eyes popped open.

"Were you the one who killed those thugs inside the elevator and at the hospital…"

"Yes." He inhaled with a hiss. "They were going to hurt you Jazzie. I couldn't just stand there and watch them hurt you."

Jasmine's eyes blurred as tears rolled down her face.

"Thank you Blake. You're such a sweet caring kind person."

Blake shook his head. Twin flames burned within his amber eyes, glinting in the darkness.

"I'm a monster, Jazzie. A monster that kills people."