Home for Horny Monsters Ch. 061

"Oh, please." Amymone pushed herself to a standing position, then turned to face him while adjusting her gown. Her nipples were, in fact, shaped like tiny acorns. She grabbed his cock and gave it a playful squeeze. "You're not one to talk. After all, you're the one who brought all the wood."

Mike groaned. "Please, no more," he begged.

"You're saying you want me to leaf it—" she never finished her statement, because Naia had summoned a jet of water to hose her down. Both of them laughed, and Mike couldn't help but join in as he put his pants back on.

Mike checked the time on his phone and smiled. The party for the equinox was apparently going to roll well into the night, and he couldn't be happier. The setting sun cast long shadows that had draped themselves over the garden, but many of the magical flowers had started glowing. It was like looking at a field of stars in his own lawn, truly a sight to behold. They had already chased off a couple of people who had wandered in while everyone gathered. Mike had mentioned to Tink that it was time to put a locked gate in the front yard.

Beth was currently dancing with Sulyvahn. He wasn't sure if she had seen him when he came back, but she was clearly having a good time with the dullahan and he was very reluctant to butt in.

The centaurs milled about with food and drink, and it looked as though anyone able to come was there. Even Dana had come out to visit—after finishing up a project for the centaurs in January, she had turned her attention to the giant mechanism on the third floor. Last year, the shadow had unlocked a mysterious door on the third floor to reveal an observatory with a dilapidated telescope inside.

Mike hated that room. The few windows it had were boarded up from the outside, but when they had tried to open the large sliding wall that allowed a telescope to see the sky, it had been to a place of absolute darkness, though it was still the middle of the day. The observatory was meant to view a place that wasn't here on Earth, and it frightened him to think about what might be looking back when they finally fixed it up.

Still, it gave Dana something to do, and though he hated the room, he never felt like he was in danger while in it. The door had to be removed, because nobody was certain what the password was to get in, and it didn't seem like it could be opened from the inside. Now it just sat on the floor of the room, and Tink could often be found studying its inner mechanisms to try and figure out its secrets.

There was movement down by the lions, and Mike headed to intercept the newcomer. He assumed it was another jogger, or someone out for a walk that wanted a closer look, but paused when he saw a man in brown pulling a dollie laden with a sizable wooden box on it. The party cooled rapidly as the man walked past everyone, all of them holding still as if not to be seen.

The delivery man looked confused for a few seconds as his eyes slid over everyone, then finally landed on Mike. "Mr. Radley?"

"That's me."

"Great. Would you like me to bring this inside, or...?"

"No, you can just leave it right there, please." Mike wasn't expecting a package, and was immediately suspicious.

"I mean, I can, but..." The delivery man looked around again. "Isn't this a wedding reception?"

"It's just a rehearsal dinner." Lily slid up beside Mike, her arm going around his waist. The succubus gave him a tight squeeze. "For two people who are very much in love, isn't that right, Mikey-bear?"

She pinched his cheek hard enough that he winced.

"Yeah, well, I might be having second thoughts." He moved toward the delivery man, who set the crate down. "Sent away for a new wife, this must be her. Hope she has enough air in there."

Lily laughed obnoxiously, and the delivery man just shrugged and held out his tablet for a signature. After getting one, he took his dollie and left, leaving Mike and Lily standing over the box. The party livened up again, but the random interloper had definitely put a damper on the mood.

"What did you buy me?" Lily asked, then ran her fingers over the wood. "I'm guessing it was expensive."

"I haven't bought anything. Tink or Beth must have ordered it." He made eye contact with Beth, who stood nearby with Sulyvahn.

"Wasn't me," she told him.

"Must have been Tink then?" He looked at the packing label, but it didn't have a return address. "At least, I hope it was her." His luck with random packages on his doorstep wasn't great.

"Should we open it?" Lily asked, her tail appearing over her shoulder. It looked like she was going to wedge it into a gap in the wood when the crate shifted on its own. The party came to an abrupt stop as all eyes now rested on the mysterious delivery.

"I think we should definitely open it," Mike said, taking a step back. "But not inside. And definitely not without backup. Everyone, stand back." He held up his hands and walked in a circle. "I don't want anyone getting caught up in this. Yuki, where are you?"

"Here." The kitsune had been sitting up on the porch. She already had a pair of shimmering spheres of ice in her hand that were swirling around and forming into a pair of icy spikes.

"Abella, I need some—" The gargoyle landed behind him with a solid thump. "Muscle," he finished.

"I'm on it," she said, then grabbed the lid. Tink appeared with Kisa in tow, both of them looking very concerned.

"No time like the present," Mike muttered, then knocked on the crate. "You can come out with your hands up, or we can just set this thing on fire. Your choice."

Whatever was inside the crate thumped on it loudly. It sounded like Morse code for an SOS, so Mike nodded at Abella, who then sank her fingers into the wood and pulled.

A diaphanous white substance made a thick ripping sound as Abella lifted the lid, and her features went from confusion to horror. She immediately tried to force the lid back on, but whatever was inside was now fighting her, and the crate was bouncing around on the sidewalk.

"Kill it!" Abella cried, her eyes falling on Mike. "We have to kill it!"

Shrieks of panic went up from the party-goers. The centaurs, now expecting battle, rushed for whatever weapons they could find. The temperature in the air dropped as a large icicle formed over the crate, ready to drop at a moment's notice. Tink and Kisa grabbed Mike by the hands and pulled him away, but Lily was now at Abella's side, who was trying to force the lid shut again.

"Wait, what? Wait!" Lily's face went from serious to concerned as she suddenly fought against Abella, wedging her tail into the box. "Abella, stop!"

Abella shook her head vehemently, and then used her wings to shove Lily to the side. Lily looked to Mike for help, her eyes pleading.

Mike ran up to the crate and put his hands on the other side. Whatever was rustling around inside was becoming frantic, and the wood creaked as Abella used her thumbs to press nails back into the wood.

"Mike?" This was from Yuki, who was waiting to drop the icicle. "What do you want me to do?"

"You don't understand," Abella growled. "The thing in this box, it is dangerous, more dangerous than you can ever know. We had these in France, they killed thousands of people."

Mike wanted to trust Abella, to let Yuki drop the icicle, but the look of panic on Lily's face gave him pause. He looked from Abella to Yuki, then back to Lily.

"This one is different," Lily promised. "You have to trust me."

Abella snorted, and Mike paused. He hadn't come as far as he had by making assumptions, and clearly whatever was in this box needed to get out. Abella wanted to kill it, Lily wanted to let it out, but the choice needed to be his.

He decided to follow his gut. Placing his fingers on the edge of the lid, he looked at Abella and shook his head.

"Help me open it," he told her. His words seemed to stun her, for her hands slipped off the lid and it burst open from inside. A humanoid figure leaned over the edge of the side and coughed, then took a deep breath. It was a woman with dark black hair that hung over her head, and she looked up to see everyone standing around her.

"Did I make it?" she asked in a tiny voice.

"You sure know how to make an entrance," Lily said from her spot on the ground. "Probably would have been better if you had called first."

Mike tried to step around to get a better look at her, but his hands were stuck to the lid by the sticky, silken material. When he pulled them away, he realized that the same material he had seen earlier now clung to his fingers, and his heart slammed in his chest once he realized what it was.

"If you'll make some room," said the newcomer, and she pulled herself out of the box. Her pale torso came easy, but where her butt should have been was a large, shiny black surface that kept coming out of the box. Mike felt his heart racing now as several legs appeared and stretched out, allowing the newcomer to stand and look around.

Cries of alarm came from multiple directions, and the stranger suddenly looked uncertain. Mike took a few steps back, fighting the panic that had taken root inside of him. It was an old and common phobia, one that took him back to his own traumatic childhood that included weeks on end sleeping in the unfinished basements of distant relatives and old family friends.

"Eulalie?" Dana pushed her way through the centaurs, her eyes wide in astonishment. "Is that really you?"

"Uh...yeah." Eulalie drew herself up to her full height, now standing over Mike. "This was very...last minute, and...um..."

Dana ran up to Eulalie and embraced her tightly. "It's so good to see you!"

Mike took several deep breaths in an attempt to calm himself. His mind was struggling to reconcile what he was seeing, but somehow, Lily and Dana seemed to know who she was.

Dana released the newcomer, who now turned her attention back to the crowd.

"Hi. My name is Eulalie." She smiled nervously and gave everyone a wave. "Emily said that I should come here if I ever got in trouble, so...here I am." From the waist up, Eulalie looked like she was in her mid-twenties, with raven hair that covered most of her face and hung past her shoulders. Her dark eyes were like pools, and Mike was drowning in them already.

From the waist down, she had the glossy black body of a spider.

I hope you enjoyed this first chapter of book five! For those of you who are curious, more about Eulalie can be learned by reading Dead and Horny, which is available here on Lit! (But it isn't necessary, this is a homework-free zone)

Once again, thank you for your patience and don't forget to leave me some stars and comments. I've been so super busy lately that when I do get to sit down and write, it's been a big help to see so many of you enthusiastic for more.

My Lit readers are some of the best in the world, and i can't wait to see you next time!

~Annabelle Hawthorne