I rushed out the door and slammed it behind me, so many things were happening in my head I felt like I was going to have an aneurysm. I covered my ears, it felt like I could hear everyone screaming at once. I ran towards the stairs and looked for the nearest window, I ran at full speed and smashed through the glass, I reached into my mind and pulled the monster out, she came out with ease, a cloud of feathers being left behind as I flew away from the noises, I heard something shift behind me so I went faster. I saw a clearing in the distance so I sped up, landing loudly and painfully as I rolled across the grass. I coughed and cried, pushing myself off the ground. I looked before me and heard water so I dashed out of the clearing, pushing through branches and developing small cuts though I couldn't feel a thing, the only pain came from a dull throb in my head. I reached the water source and stopped, breathing heavily. I walked towards the edge of the river and looked across. There was a beautiful waterfall with a large hole behind it, like a tiny cave. I flew across and walked through the waterfall, soaking myself. It was so beautiful, there were trees that grew against the wall and across the ceiling, vines hung down and moss covered the floor, it looked and felt like carpet. I sat in the middle and ran my hands down my face, I was too tired to cry so I talked to myself instead.
"Why did I run away again?" I said it to myself but someone answered, a female voice.
"You were clearly stressed." I took my hands away from my face and looked around, a dragon-like creature was sitting behind me. She was beautiful. If I was going nuts, I might as well enjoy it.
"Yeah, I guess so, do you think Koi will be mad at me?"
"No, he's probably just stressed and concerned about you, I can hear him right now, listen."
I closed my eyes and listened. I could hear Koi calling my name, I really wanted to tell him to go away.
"Would it be mean to tell him to piss off?"
The monster chuckled.
"A bit, remember he can help you, you're made for each other, he completes you."
I sighed and continued to ignore his calls. Instead I acknowledged the elephant in the room.
"What are you? Have I interrupted your one thousand year nap?"
She chuckled again and placed her head in between her huge claws. Looking at me, her eyes were a mesmerising glow of white.
"I'm your 'monster' only you can see, hear and make contact with me, I'm in my true form, you unconsciously called upon me through your stress."
I stood and walked over to her, she was huge, but so was the space we were in, you know those scenes where the dragon sits on his/her treasure, this is what it looks like only there's no treasure.
"So, my monster's a dragon?"
She shook her head.
"No, I'm not, I look like one though, I think monster or demon fits."
I sat down next to her head and ran my hand along it, she closed her eyes and the space darkened, it was an incredible experience. Koi was still out there, I heard him yell and punch a tree, the two of us looked through the water to see him running his hands through his hair, he looked lethal, his hands were now the same black claws as my monster and he looked bigger in size.
"I think you should call him in, neither of you can fully become your monsters but you have a much worse form and Koi isn't far from it."
I walked over to the wall of water in front of us and stopped, I turned to look at her.
"Don't disappear please, I don't know how I did it the first time."
I think she smiled, her mouth doesn't really move, not even when she talks, it's kinda like speaking through a mind link but I can actually hear her.
"I won't disappear if you don't want me too."
I smiled at her.
"Will Koi be able to see you?"
"Yeah, only the two of you can see each other's monsters, but only if I let him, if I open that up for him, he will come out too."
I looked at Koi through the water, getting incredibly uncomfortable.
"When I bring him here do it,"
I step under the water, taking a second to enjoy the coolness of it. Koi has punched about ten trees to splinters and I could see blood coming out if his knuckled, it healed immediately. I softly flew over to the opposite side of the river and talked to him.
"Koi?"
His head whipped around so fast I thought it might fall off. Once he saw me he growled and ran towards me, pulling me into his chest, I hugged him back as he growled and snarled.
"Come with me, please." I whisper against him, he pulls back and looks at me angrily but follows anyway. I walk through the water and he follows. I look at my monster.
"Before you do, what's your name? Because I know Koi's monster is Stolas."
"Iris."
"Ok, go ahead."
I walk over and sit down, followed by a fuming Koi, who plunks down next to me and chucks me into his lap. Suddenly, a large figure appears in front of us, Stolas. He's about twice the size of Iris and even more deadly looking. His teeth are bared and he's growling furiously, Koi tightens his grip on me and it's at that moment where the puzzle fits inside my brain, they are connected, so am I with Iris, his thoughts and emotions contribute to Koi's anger and behaviour.
"Please calm down, I'm fine."
"FINE?! YOU THREW YOURSELF OUT OF A WINDOW!" Koi yelled, causing me to jump, Stolas growls became louder and more violent, I looked down at Koi's hands to see that the claws were getting bigger. I turned around in a panic and caressed his face, trying to relax him.
"It's ok, I'm sorry, I was scared and stressed, being mad isn't going to help any of us." I cooed, well I tried my best to stay calm myself so it might have come out shaky. The growling stopped and Koi remained the same. I sighed a breath of relief and relaxed into his arms. We sat there quietly for a while before Stolas growled again.
"What now?" I asked, annoyed by the interruption, I turned and saw him growling at Iris who growled back in return, I felt a slight throb from inside of me and sighed, giving up, if they want to squabble, so be it, no one can so Koi and I anyway, I went back to cuddling him, feeling my hands and feet shift into claws.
Out of nowhere, Koi stood up and walked to a beautiful looking corner, leaving a fair amount of space between us and our monsters. He sat down and watched them get angrier while I looked through the water and into the forest.
"What are guys even angry at?" I asked, getting annoyed. Koi held a finger to my mouth to silence me.
"They aren't angry, they are just… idiots."
They both looked at us and growled, they decided to stop and we all sat there quietly, I was about to close my eyes when I saw Stolas moving closer to Iris, who had her eyes closed. He jumped on her and she roared out anger, unleashing a sudden shift in me. Koi threw a rock at Stolas and he stopped to glare at him.
"Stop being a dick Stolas."
The large beast of huffed and just sat there on top of Iris, she didn't seem to care anyway, sooner or later everyone grew tired of existing so we rested, I was curled up in Koi's arms and Stolas was using Iris as a pillow, it was wholesome in a way.
I stopped to think about what Miriam said, I didn't want to do that to her, but the request made more sense when I repeated it again and again. Koi interrupted my thoughts.
"Whatcha thinking so hard about?"
"What Miriam said, what if we can't turn Carlos back, I don't want to have her cursed as well."
Koi squeezed me tighter against him and planted a small kiss on my forehead.
"It's ok, we will find a way to reverse Carlos, I promise."
I sighed and looked through the waterfall once again, turning everything over in my mind, there was no way I was going to let Miriam down, she would get Carlos back, I swear on it.
"Do you wan-" I held my hand up to stop him.
"Shush."