Home for Horny Monsters Ch. 084

Emily had brought out the best and worst in her. Now the person she was today was just a shell of the person she used to be, going through the motions of living. The rage and anger were largely gone, but had left a chasm she had yet to fill.

"I thought you didn't need to bury your head in someone to smell them." He put his hands over her wrists and squeezed.

"I know what it's like to hurt," she told him. "Like you do, right now. I'm not saying that you should stop, but I do want to say this: don't end up like me. I...I wish I was doing better."

He turned around in her arms and contemplated her with dark eyes that glowed from within. Even now, she could feel his magic radiating from him like warmth from a lantern.

"Want to talk about it?" he asked.

She shook her head no. Talking had taken her as far as she was going to get, and she needed something more. She lifted a hand to his cheek and moved in, closing her eyes as her lips approached his.

When their lips touched, she felt his magic intensify and press against her. His hands tightened around her waist, but the sudden pressure of magical energy from behind them caused her to break the kiss and spin around.

Christmas Present stood about ten feet away, a smile on her face. She clapped her hands together slowly, then approached.

"God-damned cock-blocking holiday," she heard Mike mutter.

"I thought you were watching the party," Yuki sneered as her heart slammed shut again, the moment lost.

"I still am." She gestured over toward the barn. Up on the roof, Eulalie stood gazing at the stars, her hands on Velvet's egg. "You see, we're not just here for the party. I want to see the ripples you've left behind in this particular pond."

When the spirit snapped her fingers, they teleported to the roof. Eulalie cradled her sister's egg, singing something under her breath. Her eyes shimmered in the starlight, her lower lip trembling.

"I wish you were still here," the Arachne said, her eyes on the stars. "Or Mom. Or even Dad. I hate how alone I feel in a room full of people. I hate that a year ago, you and Dad were still here. Everything changed so fast, I feel like I'm a different person now. Almost like the old me died, and I'm all that remains."

Yuki felt Mike tense up beside her, so she took his hand and squeezed it.

"Ah, here it is. The secret misery behind the holidays. Missing the ones we've lost." Christmas Present's eyes had turned black, and dark veins sprouted along her cheeks. "If joy were measurable, I wonder just how much of it you've robbed from this beautiful creature."

"Eat my whole, fucking ass." Mike spun to face the giant. "If I hadn't come along, Leeds would have torn this entire place apart. Maybe Velvet would have survived, maybe not. This is the same shit Christmas Past tried, and it didn't work."

Christmas Present's left eye twitched, and a heavy presence descended on them both. The world dimmed as a harsh buzzing sound filled the air, and Yuki moved between Mike and the giant, summoning foxfire into her hands. The giant smiled, revealing teeth that had elongated into fangs.

A quiet hum filled the clearing, broken by the occasional hooting sound. They all turned their attention toward the forest where tiny lights had appeared.

It was the Nirumbi. The small humanoids marched forward from the forest, each one clutching a tiny LED in their hands that flickered like a candle. A group of Nirumbi children led the way, each one carrying the edge of a giant piece of fabric that was rolled up between them.

Yuki realized that the Nirumbi were humming the tune of Silent Night.

"It took me a while to teach it to them," Bigfoot spoke from down below. With a grunt, he leapt onto the roof of the barn and sat next to his niece.

"What are they doing?" Eulalie asked.

"Bringing you your Christmas present." He placed a large hand on her shoulder.

Yuki chanced a glance at Christmas Present. The giantess' features twitched as the darkness receded.

The Nirumbi came to a halt beneath the barn, and the children unfurled the fabric. It looked to be woven from wool, and in the middle of the cloth was a beautiful geometric design that looked like a cross between a spider and a woman.

"I don't understand," Eulalied whispered. "They made me a blanket?"

"Keep watching," Bigfoot whispered.

Nirumbi warriors moved forward from the group, clutching their spears tightly as they turned toward the cloth. As one, they knelt down around the children, setting down their weapons. Nirumbi elders, dressed in fine robes, surrounded the warriors. Each one held a wooden bowl full of a dark liquid.

"That's blood," Eulalie said.

"Deer blood," Bigfoot added. "They've stopped using their own."

One by one, the elders anointed the faces of the warriors, drawing the symbol around their tight features as the tribe continued to hum. Once finished, the warriors turned to face Eulalie, grim determination on their faces.

Satisfied with their work, the elders turned to each other and repeated the process. As they finished, more members of the tribe emerged from the shadows, revealing that their faces had been painted similarly.

"What is this?" Eulalie whispered.

"The Nirumbi decided some time ago that it was time to part with the way of the warrior and embrace the role of the protector." Bigfoot smiled, then wiped a glistening tear from his face. "They believe that the spirit of your sister protects them, and she is now the guardian spirit of the spider tribe."

Eulalie was speechless.

Yuki heard Mike sniffing next to her, but didn't look to see if he was as moved as the Arachne. Instead, she turned her attention to Christmas Present, whose face had reverted to normal, the heavy presence fading.

"Perhaps seeds of joy can be grown from the ashes of despair." The ghost stroked her chin thoughtfully, all signs of corruption gone. "How soon could I forget?"

"To be fair, you're less than a day old," Yuki told her.

The spirit chuckled, laugh lines blossoming next to her eyes. "Do not let my age fool you. After all, I am full of the wisdom of the season."

"Full of something," Mike muttered next to Yuki.

A dark look crossed the spirit's face, and she grabbed Mike and Yuki by the hand.

"Somewhere else," she declared in a hollow voice, then yanked them across time and space. The glowing lights the Nirumbi held spiraled like fireflies before disappearing, and now they stood outside of a two story home.

"Ah, now this is more like it." Christmas Present's pupils dilated as she stomped toward the home, tendrils of smoke swirling below her feet. She passed through the front door, leaving Mike and Yuki outside.

"Where are we?" Yuki asked.

"Dana's parents." A dark look crossed Mike's face. "The spirit is losing control. Just like Christmas Past, it seems to pull energy from sadness and anger."

"Seems that way." They stood outside in the whirling snow, the flakes passing through their bodies. Yuki looked up at the house. "So what do we do?"

Mike nodded, then looked at Yuki. "I'm going to try and seduce her. I think my magic is the only thing keeping her from going full dark side on us, so maybe I can tilt the scales in our favor by flooding her system."

"I agree." Yuki kept her thoughts on his word choice to herself. She didn't know what sort of chaos would ensue as a result of such a union, but had a pretty good guess it would get messy one way or another. "What do you need from me?"

When Mike laughed, it sounded almost like a bark. "Keep her from crushing me between her thighs, maybe?"

"You almost sound excited," she said.

"Have you seen how big she is?" Mike winked. "I've come to terms with my unique skills, and have decided this is a mountain I need to climb. She's twice my height, after all." He let out a heavy breath, his anxiety breaking through." Now c'mon. Let's see what sort of special guilt trip she has planned for me here."

Mike disappeared through the front door. Yuki stood outside the front door of the home, wondering briefly what it would feel like to crush him between her own thighs, then followed him through.

The interior of Dana's home smelled of scented candles and ham. An old sofa in the front room was surrounded by a pair of ebony tables stacked high with worn copies of Popular Mechanics, and a half-finished puzzle was on the coffee table. Mike could tell that the room had been recently vacuumed. In the corner of the room, a Roomba covered in stickers sat on its charger.

"Dinner is this way!" Christmas Present declared from up ahead.

It certainly is, Mike thought, magic gathering in his fingertips. He had tried to play it cool with Yuki in regards to his intentions with the giant, but his stomach was a mixture of fear and excitement.

On the one hand, he had always had a thing for tall, muscular women. He was certain that any armchair psychiatrist could take a guess as to why. Sex with Sofia had always been fun because of her height, but Christmas Present was at least a few feet taller. It was like she had been built specifically for this fantasy of his, and he suspected that was his magic's doing.

On the other hand, he had sensed the darkness dwelling inside her on the roof of the barn. His magic had been squished away as her dark side manifested, and his precognition had been put on high alert. In terms of size and strength alone, the giant could easily kill him if she wanted, and he suspected that she almost had.

His plan to use his magic to drive the darkness out came with plenty of risk. If not for Yuki's presence, he would already be sweating bullets at his chances of success.

Upon entering the dining room, he saw that Christmas Present had taken a seat on a chair in the corner, her head nearly scraping the ceiling. Sitting at a hand-carved wooden table were an older couple, Dana, and Quetzalli. Dana's father looked scholarly in a sweater vest and glasses, but the calluses on his hands revealed otherwise. Her mother was in a pretty blue dress and wore a cheap necklace that said Happy Holidays in beads.

Dana wore a sweater and jeans, and Quetzalli had on a purple sweater dress. Her hair was parted high and clipped around the sides of her head to avoid draping over her invisible horn. Mike thought he could spot the edges of the enchanted napkin ring that concealed it.

An awkward silence hung over the table as everyone ate. Dana was surreptitiously palming bites of food off of her fork and slipping them into a napkin on her lap.

"So, you two met at Dana's internship?" Dana's mother forced a smile as she took a bite of ham, then looked over at her husband. "I think it's great that you're making new friends."

"Dana here hasn't told us much about this internship." Her father set down his fork. "Maybe you'd care to enlighten us."

"We all signed a non-disclosure agreement." Quetzalli's plate was loaded down with food, and she speared a bunch of green beans with her fork. "They even keep us in a top-secret location."

"Is that true?" Dana's father didn't look convinced.

"Ick ith." Quetzalli's mouth was too full of vegetables to respond properly.

Mike looked at Dana to see her reaction. Though she had fed shortly before going home, her eyes already had that dull look that could be so off putting. At worst, her parents would assume their little girl was on drugs, not realizing that she was actually dead.

The conversation was grim as Dana seemed to ignore her parents while Quetzalli did most of the talking. Dana's father kept throwing odd looks at his daughter while her mother worked hard at being polite.

"Now this--" the giant began.

"No, fuck you, I get this one." Mike moved to stand by Dana and made his voice deep. "Ho ho ho, you got this girl killed and now it's ruining her afterlife."

"Mike." Yuki moved next to him, concern in her voice, but he held up his hand for silence.

"No, wait, what else? Ah, yes. Eternal damnation made her eat your essence, ho ho ho." He stared hard at the ghost of Christmas Present. Her soft features were already beginning to harden, confirming his theory that antagonizing the spirit brought out whatever influence the Krampus had. It was time to make his move.

"So then, you acknowledge that you've wronged her?" The spirit's eyes were already fading to black.

"What's happened between Dana and myself is nobody else's business. Do you know why?" He hovered his hands on Dana's shoulders, making it look like he was touching her. "Because we've talked about this at length. She doesn't hold me responsible, and I've promised to do anything possible to return her to normal. She's not some victim of an official Mike Radley Dastardly Plot, she's part of my family."

The darkness receded, and Christmas Present gestured at the table. "Well then what is this? You can see that her parents are hurting!"

"She cut out her parents long before I entered her life. In fact, her coming here tonight was my idea. I want her to have these ties, to be part of both the old world and the new." He trickled magic throughout his whole body, being careful not to draw attention to it. Even so, Yuki seemed to sense this and casually moved to stand on the other side of Quetzalli. "What happens next is up to Dana."

"But then why did you--" Christmas Present's eyes went wide as Mike pulled off his shirt. "What are you doing?"

"They can't see us, right?" He tossed his shirt onto the table and watched it vanish through the ham. Flexing his shoulders, he stretched his arms high, revealing the lean muscle of his shoulders and back. Ever since he had started working out, the nymph magic had altered his body so that his muscles looked as if they were cut from marble. Other than the scars along his side and hip, his torso was lean and flawless.

"Yes, but this is..." The spirit seemed lost for words as she stared at Mike's abs.

Mike was startled when he felt Yuki move behind him. She wrapped her arms around his waist and dragged her claws over his belly.

"Mmm. Nice and firm." There was a purr to her voice. "And you're sure they can't see us? We could do...anything?"

"No, this is wrong, I..." Christmas Present seemed confused. The room darkened momentarily as the world rumbled around them, but Mike could sense his magic inside the spirit, dancing about as if to be let free.

"That's right," he told her. "We could do anything, right in front of them, and they wouldn't know it." He was pushing his luck now, and a ball of ice was forming in his gut. The darkness inside the spirit was lashing out, causing Christmas Present's left eyelid to flutter.

The scene around them melted, and they were now standing in Ratu's sanctuary at the center of the Labyrinth. The naga was sitting on a chaise lounge with a cup of tea in one hand as she addressed Opal, who sat in a large plastic tub.

Opal's features were glossy, like melted wax. At the center of her body, a glass vial hovered roughly where her heart would be. She was using her hands to sign at Ratu, who had Cerulea on her shoulder for translation.

"She said it feels hot," Cerulea told her.

"That would be the new enchantment," Ratu said, her voice tired. "Residual magic from using raw materials to repair and strengthen her core. It'll fade, but you'll be stronger than ever."

Distracted by Ratu, Mike wasn't able to get out of the way when Christmas Present grabbed him by the neck and lifted him into the air. Her cheeks were flushed and she was panting, but darkness hovered about her like a cloud. Yuki climbed onto the giant's back and tried to wrap her arms around her neck.

"Naughty...so naughty..." Christmas Present's face spasmed as she struggled to focus on Mike.

Gasping for air, Mike clamped his hands down on the spirit's thick wrists and unleashed his magic. It spiraled around the ghost's muscular arms and then entered her open mouth, flooding her with magic.

The scene flashed again, and now they were standing in an apartment. It was empty, but there was a decorated tree in the corner. The room shifted, and now they were in a hotel lobby. Santa Claus is Coming to Town blared over the speakers as a brutal storm swirled outside the glass doors. They continued like this for several moments, teleporting to random locations, until Mike was dropped on the ground.

When he hit the floor, he was in a dark room lit by a single light bulb hanging from the ceiling. There was a chill in the air, and he stood to see that Christmas Present and Yuki had vanished. The dirt floor and warped floorboards above his head put him in a basement, but where?

"What the fuck?" He rubbed his arms and turned, then froze. In the corner was a wooden chair with metal bands bolted to its frame. A human figure sat in the chair, but large chunks of them were missing. Instead of blood and guts, it was just empty holes with veins and muscles exposed, as if they had been casually dissected and the pieces lost. Dark spots like ash swirled through and around the figure, and its head was missing from the nose up.

Mouth frozen in a soundless scream, the figure pulled against their bindings. Without a head, it was impossible to be certain, but Mike recognized a metal ring on one of the hands. The last time he had seen it was on a man he thought long dead.

"Amir?" His voice was barely a whisper, and the figure flinched as if struck. Flooded with terror, Mike backed away. An icy sensation swirled through his body as a figure came into the room from the stairs. Their features were obscured by the large hat they wore. When they looked up, the pupils were crimson in color.

"Who is there?" they hissed, looking directly at Mike. It was almost like the stranger was sucking the energy from the room.

Stunned, Mike was grabbed from behind by a powerful hand, and the scene vanished. He tumbled over backward, and was now in the middle of a massive office party. Surrounded by men and women who had been drinking heavily, he stumbled to his feet and flinched when a woman walked through him.

"Didn't mean to drop you." The voice behind him was dripping with sensuality, and he turned to see that Christmas Present stood in the middle of the room, her robes pulled open to reveal her naked body beneath.

"Where's Yuki?" he demanded, aware that Christmas Present's eyes were now glowing blue. It was the color of his own magic. The darkness within the spirit had been compressed into a tiny ball deep inside.

"Here." Yuki's head popped up over Christmas Present's shoulder. She was clinging to the ghost's robe, and there was a strained look on her face. The kitsune dropped to the ground and collapsed.

"What did you do to her?" Mike asked.

"That last temporal distortion was quite tricky," Christmas Present replied. "We passed through a rough patch, which is how I lost you."

"I'm okay," Yuki added. "Just need to catch my breath."

Mike nodded, then looked at the spirit, who was moving toward him. He could sense her intent as it washed over him, and his magic responded. She stood at almost ten feet now, her head missing the ceiling by less than a foot. Moving with purpose, she clamped her hands on his sides and lifted him into the air, then pressed him against the wall.

"You're mine now, little man." Her voice was husky, the want clear in her eyes. Mike's cock surged to life, now uncomfortable in the confines of his pants while she forced her body against his. For a moment, his entire world was a pair of massive breasts, but he was able to shift his head upward to get some air.

Impatient fingers pulled off his pants and boxers, stripping him down so that the fabric dangled from his ankles. When the spirit grabbed his cock, she let out a tiny squeal.

"This is the first time I've gotten to open something on Christmas," she said, stroking his erection.