The Book of Monsters.

Teeth and Tentacles.

Imagine...

Akumu had always lived here.

There had never been a time when he had not.

The moment the house stood, he had seeped into it, binding himself to the walls and floors, to the very foundation. A door didn't creak, a floorboard didn't squeak, a breeze didn't blow through an open window without him knowing about it.

He was the protector of the house, it's longest residence.

Humans came and went quickly over the years. Older couples looking to retire, young couples looking to start families, single humans simply looking for home. But...they never stayed long and after they left, there were often years between them. Perhaps his presence frightened them, they were such fragile creatures. Perhaps they sensed him and got scared...Akumu wasn't quite sure. He never thought much on their comings and goings, not unless they bothered him too much.

Humans came. Humans went. Seasons changed and Akumu's home grew old.

It had been many years since a human had even stepped foot on the land. Dust settled inside the home, weeds overtook the garden. Stories spoke of the "ghost" that lived in his home, Akumu had heard the whispers of scared human children and laughed. But there came a day where Akumu's home was ignored no longer.

He didn't know why. He never knew why.

But finally, a new human came along.

Her boxes filled his rooms, stacked along the walls neatly room by room. Akumu watched her move each one, noticing that she was quite alone. When she dropped a box with a heavy thud, she apologized and Akumu found himself watching her more carefully.

She was quite cute, really, such a pretty little human. And the more he watched, the more he didn't mind her staying a while. She lugged box after box inside inside, sorting them into this or that room. She opened the windows, letting in the sunshine and the fresh air. She dusted and swept and looked around his home with a big smile.

What a pretty smile it was, Akumu thought.

By the time it was dark, she was already finished. Now she was standing among the boxes in the kitchen, making some dinner as she talked on the phone. He crept closer, straining to hear her happy chattering.

"It's exactly what I wanted! Small and comfortable and lots or privacy. There's a big porch and a..."

Akumu listened happily.

She had listed everything he liked about his home too...It made him feel proud, the way she spoke of it all.

The first day grew into the first night and this "Y/N" found her blankets after almost an hour of searching. Akumu had laughed as he watched her struggle and search until, with a cheer, she finally found her sheets and blankets. He didn't feel embarrassed, watching her as she changed and slid into bed.

And as the human snuggled up...Akumu could not resist.

She lay so quietly, so peacefully, and he just had to get a closer look. H slithered in the darkest parts of the room, shying away from the light. She was too busy staring out the window to notice his presence. The moonlight shined brightly inside the room as he gathered himself beneath her bed...and waited.

Waited...waited...

He was patient as he listened to her breathing, to her little heartbeat, to the rustling of the sheets. He waited until he was certain that she was fast asleep. Inky blackness rose up as Akumu looked at her.

She WAS pretty...and she looked so peaceful too.

He wondered what she was dreaming about as he stared at her slumbering figure. A slow smile spread across his face, sharp teeth glinting in the darkness.

"Stay awhile, won't you?" He whispered.

And she did.

Y/N continued to stay in the home and while he was certain she had sensed his presence in the home...she didn't seemed at all afraid. She wasn't like the others, shaking and whimpering and looking into the darkness as though they expected him to jump out. Y/N was too busy reading and laughing and being cheerful to care. She played music everyday as she unpacked, singing along and dancing from room to room.

She was a beautiful little human, so happy and pretty. So...bold. Unafraid.

And that made him braver.

Akumu learned everything about her over the next three months, slowly becoming more obvious as he did.

He watched her often and he didn't always lurk in the shadows, even during daylight. Sometimes he was certain she had caught him in the corner of her eye or in a reflection of a mirror or window...It made his heart race, an excited smile painting itself on his face. He would still lurk beneath her bed every night, whispering to her when she may or not be asleep. And it was all in good, flirty fun...until the night she reached under the bad and grasped one of his tentacles.

"Oh!"

Akumu was surprised by her boldness! But he instantly crawled out from beneath the bed and into the open, revealing himself to her.

Revealing a pitch black body; the lower half composed of a hundreds upon hundreds of inky black tentacles and the upper half that of a man. A man who was thin, with long hair hanging in his face. Through the darkness, Y/N could barely make out features but some seemed to stand out...long arms and fingers that ended in black claws, four purple slits for eyes, and a mouth full of long, sharp teeth, pulled into a smile.

"Hello, Y/N."

His voice was the silky soft one she had been hearing this entire time and...and she smiled at him.

"You are real!" She whispered.

"Very..."

She reached up and touched his face, which both surprised and pleased him.

Her touch was warm and gentle compared to his own permanent coldness and Akumu loved it...He wanted more of it. A part of him felt silly for thinking such a thing, a creature like him wanting a human's touch! But it was true...

"Are you a ghost?" She asked suddenly.

Akumu laughed (at least, she was certain it was supposed to be a laugh, it sounded more like a lot of hissing) and shook his head.

"I am older and stronger then the lingering. I am Akumu."

Y/N leaned back against the pillows, looking at him.

She should be afraid. She should run away from this dark creature...but she didn't want to.

Instead, she stayed up late talking to him. Every word only cemented the idea they both had in mind:

There was no way Y/N was leaving. Not now, not ever.

She eventually dozed off, leaving Akumu to stare at her a little longer. Such a pretty little human...Perhaps she could be his human...

🖤 For anyone who wants to know what Akumu is! I'm not quite sure...I imagine him to be a shadow spirit that needs an object to bind itself too in order to create a form. The house is Akumu's object. The form he reveals in the story is not his true form, just one he created to put you at ease. In reality, Akumu is just a massive black shadow with a ton of tentacles. 🖤