MonsterVille
Forty Three

River stood behind the Rat-Bitches corpse. Half naked, covered in blood. His chest heaving. But he stood there, apparently alive and well despite Mellie having just ripped out chunks of his flesh and eaten them. Beneath the blood and grime he was pale, his pallor that of death, but it was his eyes that held Mellie’s attention.

Eyes so full that the pupil eclipsed the whites with red.

Blood red. Just like Mellie’s.

“River…” Mellie whispered, her voice fading into the stillness of the night. It was so quiet they could have been alone, frozen in their very own tableau while the rest of the rampaging monsters faded into oblivion. “You’re alive.”

He smiled, “I’m not sure if that was relief or disbelief.”

“I thought I killed you.”

“And did you grieve my death? Or was it a necessary evil, a convenience for you.”

“River…”

Pain flickered through his eyes, pain and anger. What remained of the rat’s corpse hit the ground with a soft thump. “What have you done to me?” He moved in a blur, and grabbed her, “What have you done to me?!” he screamed.

“I-I—”

She couldn’t think. Couldn’t breathe. She could only stare into those blood red eyes. She had fought her own nature for so long and in a single night she had succumb…and bred. Had it been her bite? Or her claws? Had it been the mortal wounds she inflicted? How had she done it? Did it even matter?”

“I’m sorry.” Mellie said, “I am so sorry. I didn’t mean to do this, I just, I lost control.”

“And that justifies this? Justifies making me a monster? A monster like you?”

A scream broke the moment. In a field of the dead and dying it was hard to imagine a scream so petrifying that it could slice through the tension, but as all eyes turned to Nicodemus Mellie swallowed hard. It wasn’t often monsters watched as a little old man took a knife and fork and started cutting into a woman’s thigh like it was a steak. Correction, a mermaid’s thigh. A screaming, writhing, mermaid.

Nicodemus met Mellie’s gaze with an innocent old-man expression, as if to say ‘Oops’, before he started cutting again. He worked diligently; with careful, small, slices.

“Congratulations,” Nicodemus said, around a mouthful of Aura’s flesh, “you have exceeded my wildest expectations.” His gaze flicked to Elyse, who had crossed the field unnoticed by any and stood only a few feet from Mellie, “Madam Mayor?” Nicodemus prompted.

The Mayor sighed, “Yes, yes, Nic, you win.”

“Win?” Mellie asked.

“Win?” River echoed.

“A game of the ages, of blood, death and wagers.” Elyse waxed poetic.

“Wagers? You were taking bets?” Mellie exclaimed. “On who would win?”

Elyse shrugged, Nicodemus answered. “On who would win, on whether you’d eat your little human, which monsters would rally to whom.” Mellie turned a half circle and saw monsters chuckling, trading favours, coin and flesh, she wanted to be sick.

“A game.” Mellie repeated. “All just a game.”

“Well, we must entertain ourselves somehow.” Elyse said, “I’ll admit the boy’s conversion is quite a surprise—that I didn’t expect.”

Nicodemus smirked. “I’ll take my crown now.”

Elyse sighed and dipped her head, “Lord Mayor Nicodemus.”

Mellie’s blood ran cold.

“You bet being the Mayor?”

Elyse shrugged, it seemed to be a habitual motion for her. “I was growing tired of the job anyway, let Nicodemus maintain order until the next games.”

Mellie collapsed to the ground. Unfucking believable.

“If you raise that knife again I am going to rip off your head!” River shouted.

Mellie was in a stupor, but River? He was filled to bursting with rage, with the need to tear someone to pieces, and right then his eyes were all for the monster Nicodemus. Aura was looking at River with such a pleading expression, begging for him to save her. She mouthed something and River’s blood turned glacial. An hour ago he would have been throwing his life away—he still would have done it.

But now? He felt like he could tear down mountains.

“Let her go.” River demanded.

“Or?” Nicodemus prompted, “You really must follow up your demands with a repercussion, otherwise you’re simply asking nicely.”

“Pretty sure I said I’d rip off your head.” River countered.

“If I raised my knife again,” Nicodemus pointed out, “but a threat is a like a transaction. You made your threat, my knife is on the table. Transaction concluded. However I don’t need a knife to eat this morsel,” he played his fingers through Aura’s hair and River’s stomach turned, “so now you have made a demand, you have offered nothing in return, not even a dulcet threat. So shall we begin again?”

“Let her go, or I’ll kill you.” River looked towards the dead Apex meaningfully.

Nicodemus shook his head mirthfully, “No, my boy. That won’t do at all. You have now made a threat you are incapable of delivering on, for I cannot be killed. Not by your hands. So now you are simply spouting hot air.”

River puffed up, he was about to do something monumentally stupid and everyone knew it.

“Nicodemus,” Mellie said quietly, her eyes downcast, “let her go.”

“Now Melanie, why—”

She met his eyes. “Please dad, just let her go so I can go home, so this night can be over. Call it a belated present for all the birthday’s you’ve missed.”

Whispers, murmurs, and hushed voices swept through the remaining crowds. Dad, Father, shock, surprise, disbelief.

“You knew.” Nicodemus said.

“I wasn’t sure,” Mellie admitted, “not until you just confirmed it.”

Nicodemus sighed, “Fine. Take her. All those pregnancy hormones sour the taste anyway.”

“Pregnancy?” Mellie mouthed.

She didn’t think River could have looked any paler.

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