The Year Of Rain

Contain, neutralize, or set free?

Though having it attack the others hadn't been part of their plans, they could indulge in some guilty pleasure.

"Told you. You can always count on trusty Patches." the bald spider said, his wide grin unsettling the Shade Lord.

"Yeah...right." they replied and looked back at the chaos inside the house when something caught one of their eyes.

In a bush, at the edge of the forest, stood a figure dressed in black, doing what looked like taking notes, a pair of binoculars before its eyes.

Angry, they were about to give whatever it was a good clawing when, out the blue, they disappeared without a trace, leaving the void creature confused. Were they hallucinating now? What was going on?

✠♦✠

You were face-planting on the table, tired and eyelids heavy from sleep. Two hours. It took you all TWO FREAKING HOURS to catch that damn thing, a ruined T-shirt, a few chewed books, a broken drawer on the first floor and a few ruined flower pots. Things finally came to a close when the White Lady, done with comforting her husband, came in with a frying pan and began chasing the chest-monster around the house, landing a few good hits now and then. Half an hour later, the creature fell to the ground, exhausted and with nowhere left to run. Props to it, it endured her anger with quite some dignity, and judging by its pained groans, she wasn't holding back either. It was rare to see the Queen angry as she preferred to wear herself with grace and serenity, bottling up any negative emotion and taking a more polite and diplomatic route in solving her problems. However, as she proved to you all that night, she did not shy away from violence. Not at all.

After the monster had been dealt with, everyone was lying in the kitchen, the clock ticking away the few minutes left of the night, cups of coffee and tea in front of each of you, a small kick to start the day. The Pale King was still shook from the experience, his wings twitching nervously whenever a sudden noise came up, looking frantically around to make sure that monster hadn't escaped its enclosure and came back to finish its initial job.

"I swear, if I get my hands on whoever brough that thing here, I'll fry them up." Hornet said, glaring at the mug of tea in front of her, arms crossed and fingers tapping angrily against the fabric of the new shirt.

Her favorite crimson coat was caught in the jaws of the monster once and completely ruined, which soured the princess' mood.

"Sign me up too." you groaned, lifting your face off the table, eyes closing on their own.

How were you going to stay awake in class today?

Speaking of the devil...

You mumbled to yourself, seeing your phone screen light up, the alarm beginning to play as the numbers 6:30 flipped on and off.

"Great. Just what I needed." you said, turning it off. "I'm going to get dressed. Be back in a minute."

"You sure you want to go to school today?" Cecilia asked as you passed her by on the way upstairs. "You can stay home if you want."

"Thanks, but it's the first day and I want to see my friends." you replied, before resuming your walk to your bedroom.

It wasn't a lie, not completely. You just didn't want to be home, didn't want to stay between those four walls in fear of your mind going back to the same dark places from the previous days. Last night, you did your best to mend the bridges between you and the Great Ones, and though it brough a tad of closure to you, you still feared, the guilt was still there. You didn't know how to deal with it, how to face it, but one thing was clear in your head. You couldn't just lay around doing nothing. You needed to focus on something, to concentrate on anything that could pull you into its hold like those monster's teeth, and where better to go and find it if not at school?