Home for Horny Monsters Ch. 038

"By all means. Lead the way." Beth threw a look at Asterion. The minotaur curled his lip, his intense eyes on the kitsune. His fingers were tight on his axe, but she put a gentle hand on his arm. He relaxed, giving her a knowing look. "C'mon, Asterion, let's go."

They allowed Yuki to lead the way, figuring that it was easier than trying to convince her that Asterion wasn't leading her into a trap. Yuki summoned a pair of ethereal beings made of ice that followed them all from behind, and Beth wondered if the kitsune was somehow watching them through their eyes.

The walls of the Labyrinth blended together as they walked, and Beth stifled a yawn, her eyes itching. Yuki shook off any further attempts at conversation, simply muttering that they would talk more once they were upstairs.

Her mind wandered, her thoughts on next steps. The Society had already made their play and another one was coming. Tink was with Mike and needed to bring him back to turn the dial and then deal with Yuki.

However, Yuki wasn't what she had expected either. Instead of attacking them, she had been willing to talk and had seemed mostly reasonable. Maybe she could be reasoned with, convinced to go get Mike and bring him back until they could help Yuki work through her demons.

"You know, I could give you a demon to work through."

Beth jumped, twisting to the side. Asterion was gone, and in his place was Oliver with a cane and a top hat.

"Hello, darling." Oliver grinned, then stuck out his tongue. "It's a lovely day in the Labyrinth, though it looks like it might rain." He swung the cane up and it became an umbrella.

"Where... what..."

"Oh, this is a dream. You've drifted off, like a ship on the sea." The walls of the Labyrinth fell over, revealing a large beach made of sand and a deep blue ocean. A giant toy boat sailed back and forth in the distance, vanishing over the horizon. "Technically, this is a place called the Dreamscape. I used to know someone who could manipulate it like clay, but she seems to have gone rogue. Time flows differently here, you know. Hours could have passed already, or even days. Or maybe it's the opposite? Not even a second has passed in the waking world, your foot is mid-step, and the moment you lose your balance, you will jerk yourself awake."

"What do you want?"

"Me? Oh, I'm piloting your body around. It seems nice out here in the Labyrinth, I really appreciate the all-nighter. Not a fan of your friend, however. He smells like an undercooked steak, though I suppose I could have that remedied with a little fire."

"You stay away from him."

"On the contrary. You should stay away from him. Right now, I'm you!" He took off his hat and dropped it across his face. Her face appeared on his body, and he tossed the hat aside where it was carried off by a technicolor crab. He danced around in her body, kicking up the sand with her heels. "What should I do first?"

"Wake up, wake up." She pinched her arm, then slapped herself in the face.

"Oh, I'm afraid you're gonna need quite the jolt to get out of here. To be honest, I'm surprised that you're even conscious of this place, unless you commonly have lucid dreams. Then again, you drifted off so suddenly this time, I wonder if your awareness came with you." He spoke with his own gravelly voice despite wearing her body.

"I thought I still had time."

"Please. I gave you a deadline based on when the Society will ask me questions. That hardly meant I was going to leave you alone." He grabbed at the air and folded down a large flap, revealing stony walls and Yuki walking up ahead. "So what's her story?"

"None of your business. Besides, don't you know? You've been watching me this whole time."

"Ugh, you've been so distracted lately that the signal has been poor. And all those portals didn't help either. Let's see what I can find out on my own." Oliver hopped impossibly high through the opening and vanished. Through the gap, she heard her own voice speak out loud.

"Yuki, where are we going?"

Yuki looked over her shoulder and shrugged. "I already told you, we're going upstairs so that I can keep a watch on the front yard. I would like to talk to you some more about what's going on."

"We're taking the reflecting pool, right?"

"Of course, unless you want to hike up that hill. The path may have closed anyway, and I don't feel like wasting any time."

"Okay, good," Beth/Oliver replied.

"No, no, no!" Beth tried to hook her fingers into the gap, but they passed through it as if it were made of mist. "Asterion, someone, help me, that isn't me!"

Yuki's ear twitched and she turned around. "Did you just say something?"

"Me? Nope." Beth/Oliver cleared her throat. "I don't think so, I'm dead on my feet."

"Fuck, Yuki! Yuki, don't let him take me!" She pressed her face into the mist and screamed.

"Actually, there is something. I get terribly dizzy going through the pool and was wondering if you would be willing to help me when we get there."

"Help you how?" Yuki's tails swished impatiently.

"Hold my hand?"

"NO!" Beth swiped her fingers and jumped up and down. "Don't listen to me!"

"Can't your friend do it?" Yuki looked at Asterion, who in turn looked quizzically at Beth.

"He could, but he's a little clumsy." Beth/Oliver stated while looking at Asterion. A knowing look crossed Asterion's face and he nodded.

"Don't listen to... dammit!" Screaming wasn't doing any good, she needed to find a way out. The viewing screen Oliver had made was just to torment her, foreplay for the torture to come. Could he really take Yuki, too? If so, what would happen to everybody in the house? Looking up and down the beach, she realized there was nothing but sand in both directions, and the ocean was calm. In the distance, the toy boat began to sink, a pink tentacle wrapped around it.

What if she killed herself? Would that cause her to wake up? Dying in a dream was scary enough, and always caused her to wake up in a cold sweat. Her options were limited, and she decided to throw herself in the waves and see what happened.

Wading out into the water, her clothes fell away until she was naked. Submerging her head, she swam as far down as she could, the water miraculously clear. Fish made of colored glass swam around her, and she inhaled a large breath.

Nothing happened. Instead of a mouth full of water, she kept on breathing as if nothing had changed.

She swore, a stream of bubbles coming from her mouth. Each one had a capital letter in them, and the F made the surface first. Looking toward the distant drop-off underwater, she thought about the pink tentacle. Would the ocean of her mind have sufficiently dangerous creatures to do the job?

As if willed into existence, a large shadow emerged from the depths, headed straight toward her. Beth's heart pounded in her chest as it reached out with hungry arms made of teeth and claws.

She swam toward it.

"I don't think so," Oliver said, a current yanking her away and back toward the shore. Large waves tossed her onto the beach, slamming her into the sand.

"Goddamnit!" Grabbing a handful of sand, she threw it in frustration, hot tears stinging her eyes. "Somebody help me!"

"There's nobody who—" Oliver's voice disappeared, and the viewing screen collapsed.

She waited for several minutes. Oliver didn't reappear, and the only sound was the rough surf. Out on the water, something pale had floated to the top.

"What is that?" She thought the words, but they echoed around her as if spoken. The object was floating, carrying something pink and blue with it. Moving away from the water, she wondered if this was another of Oliver's tricks.

The creature was tossed about on the waves, eventually carried onto the sand. It stood, huge clumps of seaweed hanging from its body and lurched toward her, a pink and blue blob hanging from its limbs. Once away from the water, it shook off the seaweed, revealing pale limbs and dark hair.

"Je...Jenny?" It was hard to believe, but she was looking at Jenny, who seemed to be dragging a large, deflated beach ball with her.

Jenny grunted, tossing the deflated ball into place. Upon closer inspection, Beth realized it was a deflated kiddy pool.

"Where did you get that?"

Jenny put her mouth on the nozzle of the pool and blew. It inflated almost instantly, revealing a plastic bottom with crabs on it that reminded Beth of one she had as a child. Setting the pool down, Jenny collapsed on the edge, exhausted from swimming.

"Bucket," she wheezed, then pointed at the ocean.

"If this is a trick, then it's a dick move."

"Bucket!" Jenny's legs were withering away and turning to sand. Panicked, Beth looked around on the beach and saw a series of sandcastles form all around her. Buckets of different shapes and sizes were scattered among them, and she grabbed the biggest one she could find and ran to the water's edge to fill it.

Back at the pool, she poured it in, surprised at how quickly the pool filled. Jenny's body was turning to sand faster now, and Oliver's voice came from the sky, muffled by the clouds.

"What are you doing in there?" he asked.

Two more trips to the water and the pool was filled. The bottom disappeared, revealing a place of infinite depth.

"Get in," Jenny told her. "Escape the dream."

Beth didn't hesitate as the sky filled with the sound of storm clouds and Oliver's voice. Holding onto the side, she kicked her feet to stay above the water.

"Are you okay?" she asked the ghost.

When Jenny lifted her head, her skin looked like a lizard. She smiled, her face disintegrating into the water. The ground rumbled and rose up beneath her, the pool tilting dangerously, but Beth dropped into its depths, sinking into the murk while curled up in the fetal position. Looking up into the light of the sky, she could see the giant hand made of clouds trying to reach into the pool.

In the distance, Beth saw stars, stars that vanished and reappeared as if swirling in the void. All around her, dark forms circled hungrily, amorphous beings that tumbled over each other in their haste to reach her.

"Where am I?" Was this somewhere inside her head? Her whole body had gone numb. She was no longer in water, but clumsily tumbling through the darkness.

Nightmare images filled her mind when the forms drew close, and they whispered dark things in her ear in a language she couldn't understand. All around her, reality began to crack apart as they pounced, each one trying to pull her in a different direction.

She screamed, her mind suddenly fractured. She could see different versions of herself, each one being hungrily consumed by the void. With every shout, the universe roared and shook, the stars around her exploding. Filled with terror, her whole body trembled as she tried to fight off the darkness, her heart rate spiking. The universe cracked, showering her with light from every direction.

"Leave me alone!" she screamed, but this time it scratched her throat raw, her soul firmly seated again in her own body. They were outside now, walking on the path toward the reflecting pool. Yuki startled and spun around as Asterion panicked and smashed one of their icy escorts with his axe. It exploded with a burst of magic, blowing her away from Asterion. She tumbled across the ground and found herself sliding across the ice of the reflecting pool. Out of breath, she sobbed openly, unable to stand.

It was too much. If Oliver was trying to break her, he had succeeded. Already, her memory of that terrible void was fading, but not the fear that had lurked there. She had no idea what part of her mind contained such terrors, and she hoped to never see it again. Even the sight of her own shadow beneath her made her wonder if such dark things could see her in the waking world.

Asterion roared, and she tried to shout to him, but couldn't find her voice. Yuki was shouting something, and the sound of crunching snow filled the air, followed by the minotaur's axe crashing against metal. Flurries had formed all around her now, drifting across her body.

"Asterion, stop!" Her voice was quiet, and she fought to sit up. Her arms were weak, and she could hear Oliver's laughter in the back of her mind. "Yuki, please don't hurt him!"

She looked up in time to see Asterion swing his axe down on Yuki from above. Yuki nimbly dodged it while tossing aside a bent sword, spinning away from the minotaur and yanking her eyepatch off.

Oh no. Beth turned her head away and heard him bellow one last time before the world went quiet. The flurries caught in her hair, and she wondered if it would simply be easier to just will her heart to stop in this moment, to give up and give in.

"Asterion?" she called, weakly.

"He's fine. I'll let him out when I'm convinced he won't try to take my head off." Yuki sounded angry, but Beth didn't dare look. "As for you, what was that about? I thought you might be planning something, but I don't get what you were trying to do."

"Yuki, listen quickly while I still have control. There's a demon who is trying to possess me and he's been walking around in my body since shortly after we left the Labyrinth. I don't know what I said or anything since then, but you can't trust it. Especially the part about holding my hand! Don't get in the pool with me!"

Several seconds passed, and then Yuki broke the silence. "Yeah, I'm starting to think you're more trouble than you're worth. Humans cling to their lies as if their lives depend on them, which, in your case, is accurate."

"It's true, I swear! Get the ball out or something, I need you to believe me."

"What the hell is that?" Yuki asked.

"Are you trying to make me look up so you can turn me to stone? That's the oldest trick in the book and we don't have time for that." Beth shook her head, but then heard it too. Beneath her, the steady tapping of a finger on the ice. She opened her eyes to see Oliver grinning at her from beneath the pool, just behind her own reflection.

"Jesus fucking Christ," she whispered.

Satisfied that he had her attention, he started dragging one of his nails along the ice, his finger forming a large arc around her reflection.

Oh god. Beth watched the ice crack near her fingers, realizing that Oliver was trying to get her to fall through. The large grin on his face said it all, and she swallowed the lump in her throat.

"That would be the demon who works for the Society, the one who can possess me. The one who will eventually gain control of my body if I don't give him what he wants," Beth explained.

"What does he want?"

"Me. For all eternity."

"I could just turn you to stone, too. To protect you from him, I mean, until we figure something out." There was now concern in Yuki's voice.

"It won't work. If I don't go with him willingly, he'll give information to his masters that will put everyone's lives in danger. Everyone is already in danger as long as Mike can't twist the dial." She felt sick to her stomach, that trapped feeling from the waterfall paralyzing her in place. She needed to fight, to take back the ground they had lost.

The ice creaked around her, the fracture growing larger. "Oliver, wait!" she cried, spreading her arms wide to prevent the ice from breaking.

"I've waited long enough." The grin on his face stretched comically up his cheeks. "Unless you are planning to run? That could be fun, too."

"No, it's not that. You said a soul freely given is worth far more than one that you took. What if... what if we came to an agreement?" Her mind spun with the realization that this was it. He had come to collect, and she needed to make the most of a bad situation. This wasn't a situation where she could go down swinging, not anymore.

"Beth, what are you doing?" She could hear Yuki walking on the ice, and turned her head just enough to see in Yuki's reflection that she had covered her eye with her hand.

"Wait there, please. This isn't a fight you can help me with, not unless you can defeat a demon from Hell." Her voice shook, her mind spinning. It wasn't supposed to happen this way. If Yuki hadn't come, she would have had time to speak with the others, to come up with a plan and get herself out of this mess. She wanted to blame the kitsune, to be angry that her vendetta against Emily couldn't have waited another week, but Oliver was the true enemy here.

"Um, not that I'm aware of. Demons are extremely difficult to defeat, and that's usually only by banishing them. This one is already banished, from the looks of it." Yuki hung her head. "I'm sorry I didn't believe you."

"Yeah, well this one has his hooks in my soul. Even if you help me off the ice, in a day or so, he will help those same people break in here." Beth's voice trembled, her heart pounding. "You told me once that you saw the best that humanity had to offer and had been disappointed."

"I'm waiting to hear my deal." Oliver now stood upside down below her, tapping his foot impatiently while holding the collar in his hand. "And no tricks this time."

"You're right, I did trick you last time, but I don't have one up my sleeve, not today." Carefully standing up, she watched the gap in the ice darken briefly and then settle. "Let me say my piece first and we can go from there."

"Fine." Oliver pulled a comically large stopwatch from his coat. "You've got a minute."

"Yuki. I don't know you and probably never will. You make terrible decisions, but I think you make them because you think they are right. This house has never been about who is powerful enough to defend it, but about love and community. By taking those things away from us, you have made us weaker than ever. Emily was your wife, and because of that, you put her on a pedestal. I don't know what happened between the two of you, but you need to see others for who they actually are, not for what she did. When she fell from grace, the fall must have been too far for you to bear, but you still have the chance for a clean start."

"That's not—"

"Shut the fuck up! I'm on a timer here. I'm about to give myself to an eternity of torment just to protect everyone who lives here, including you, so keep your damn mouth shut." She pulled the bag off of her neck and slid it across the ice. "Jenny is in there, so please keep her safe. When Mike moved in, she raised all sorts of hell, but he forgave her. Everybody did. No matter how far down the path you think you might be, I know in my heart that he would grant you the same forgiveness. Consider pursuing it and letting him do his job as the true Caretaker."

"Ten seconds," Oliver said, swinging his clock back and forth.

"Fuck you, here's my deal. I will come to you willingly in just a few moments if you promise to never share any knowledge you have of this place."

"I cannot agree to that. I have a previous deal with my masters that conflicts with this one."

"Fine, then I will come to you willingly if you promise to never freely offer knowledge of this home or its contents, living or otherwise. You are permitted to stick with your yes or no answers only from now on as long as you give no guiding advice to encourage said questions."

"Hmm." Oliver put away his clock and thought about it. "Spoken like a lawyer who knows she's about to get hung to dry. Your deal intrigues me, but I wonder where you've hidden the trick."

Beth looked at Yuki. Her face was frozen in shock, her hand still over her eye.

"Beth, I—"

"This isn't a problem you can fix for me. Not alone. I hope you think long and hard about what's about to happen here, because I'm about to disprove your theory on humans." Beth fixed her face into an angry glare, willing Yuki to listen carefully. "He's going to do terrible things to me in there. You know that, right? It's not like I'm made of stone. If I was, maybe it wouldn't be so bad, you know? But sometimes, when you've lost the fight, you've got to know when to put your hands down."