The Shadow Monster

"You were just, in the ground?"

"Yes. Trapped within a wicker basket."

"A basket trapped you? You... picked me up like I weighed nothing."

"It was... not a normal basket."

Either that was a very strange attempt at making a joke, or it meant a magical wicker basket. Either way, she did chuckle, despite herself.

No chuckling! You are currently naked, and a monster just had its way with you, very much without your permission. Ignore the tingles still making your legs shake. Just because it thought you were Bethany, and was super excited to see you, and wanted to make you cum your brains out, doesn't mean you should just forgive it. Right?

"You... you did something to me, to my mind. I... prepared myself for you."

The darkness hissed, but the glowing red eyes looked away, disappearing again. "A part of me, a different part. It wanted you."

"Part?"

"I am a creature of parts. I... I..." Sighing, the darkness flowed, sliding down the walls, and churned softly around the bed like a hot tub. "I can only apologize for that part."

"Did... did that part do things like that to Bethany?"

"Yes, it did. But she never minded. When... when it was over, she said she found the experience... liberating."

So her Gammy had a brainwashing kink. God damn, Gammy, kinky as fuck.

"And you... had sex with Gammy?"

"Thousands of times."

"Thousands?"

"Thousands."

"And you did... uh... everything you did to me tonight, to her?"

"Yes... thousands of times."

Good god, Gammy!

"And she never said no?"

"Plenty, when we were playing, like... like I thought you and I were."

"I mean, a real no."

"There were times she said no, if she was too tired or not in the mood. Those were the nights we talked."

Beth raised a brow. "You talked with her?"

"Yes. We talked about her life, her family, her children. She... she was very proud of you, all of you. And, she was especially proud of you, Beth."

That was how it knew the name Jeremy. Damn it, Beth could feel her smile growing, no matter how hard she tried to keep it down. "I guess I had a need to make her proud, what with Dad naming me after her."

"She was... she was happy that you were so full of life. She said you reminded her of her when she was younger." The beast let out a quiet, painful moan. No mistaking that sound, it was the sound of sadness, of mourning, of pain and regret. "I have a favor to ask of you, Beth."

"Favor?"

"Yes. I... will be back in moments." The darkness flowed out of the bedroom, and down the hall. The kitchen light was off and the candles were out, so the only vision Beth had was what her eyes managed with the shreds of street and moonlight sneaking in. Borderline blind. But she could still see the black mass, a giant thing of flowing shadow. Its shape changed and altered, and she gave up trying to understand it as it moved out of the room through a doorway it shouldn't have been able to fit through.

Seconds later, it came back with a jar, a glass jar. One of Gammy's mason jars that she used to fill with jam, homemade, and filled with so much sugar, it was a wonder Beth wasn't extremely overweight. It gave it to her. Heavy.

Something black was inside it, something heavy, thick, and splashing softly. The jar was sealed tight, and as she turned the jar over and over, the liquid shifted like mercury.

"What's this?"

"That is me."

"Um, what?"

"That is me. That is the... the part of me that was with Bethany. That is the part of me that loves Bethany, that cannot live without her." The darkness settled around the bed's edges, covering up the whole floor in its strange, liquid fog body, and it let out another slow groan. "Please, take it to Bethany, and pour me... it, onto her grave. It wants to join her, in death."

"Are you serious?" Gulping, she turned the jar over again, and stared at its flopping contents. "I don't understand. Is it alive?"

"Yes. It is me, the part of me that... It's hard to explain, but yes, it is alive. And it will die with Bethany." Another rumbling groan filled the room, the sort a giant beast would make if it found the corpse of its mate. "I will keep my memories of her, and the joy and sorrow. But, the part of me that insists Bethany is all there is to life, take it to her, and let it be with her." More groans, and the entire house shook with the deep, bassy sound that had Beth literally vibrating in her bed. "Will you?"

"Yes, of course. I... I just can't believe this is happening."

"Thank you. Protect it from light, when you go."

"I'll do it! Definitely, I'll do it. I can't believe... can't believe you... you've been with her this long?"

"I... cannot believe I did this to her great granddaughter."

"You didn't know."

"A part of me did."

She winced, and shook her head. "Just... don't do it again, and... and it'll be fine." Wow, was she really saying that? After what this thing had just done to her? But, god damn, she was literally holding a piece of its life in a jar, and after everything that'd happened, she had a hard time believing it was lying to her.

"I will go," it said.

"Where?"

"I... don't know. I could rest beneath the house, but I cannot do that now, not after what I did."

Sighing, she set the jar on the nightstand beside her. Alien monster demon soul fog monster creature thing in a jar, literally. Ha.

"Rest where you normally do. I... I trust you." Because she was an idiot. She should have been panicking, screaming, running out into the streets, arms waving and yelling 'monster' as loud as her lungs could manage. But, here she sat, still naked, and unable to ignore how utterly exhausted she now was, now that her adrenaline was fading. "I don't know what to call you, though."

"Your great grandmother called me Shadow."

Beth laughed, shaking her head. Yeah, a simple name like that definitely sounded like something Gammy would give. Ain't no time for complex, silly shit, she'd say.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

She managed to sleep, exhausted as she was. Hell, she basically passed out when the adrenaline wore off. When she woke up, there was no sign of Shadow, and the bed was a mess, but there wasn't any monster cum splattered anywhere; probably dispersed with the sunlight, thank god. Still, she'd made her own mess on the sheets, and that was still there, towel lost in the chaos. Time to change the sheets.

Shadow didn't show up at all throughout the day. She found herself thinking about it a lot, about what it'd said about Gammy, and she was very tempted to call her relatives to ask questions. She didn't. It seemed wrong, for some reason she couldn't put her finger on.

Waiting for nightfall was hell, but she had to. She had to do the task it gave her, for Gammy.

The next night, after the sun set, she drove out to the cemetery where Gammy had been buried. It hurt, seeing the grave and tombstone again. It hurt, standing over it, and remembering how happy Gammy always used to be. She'd been such a big part of Beth's life, and then suddenly she was gone.

Gulping, Beth held the jar in front of her. Its insides slowly turned over and over, heavy, and sad. If it'd been raining, it would have been so painfully morose, Beth didn't know what she'd do. But it wasn't. It was a calm night, quiet, no one else in the big cemetery, as if Gammy knew she'd need it to settle.

She unscrewed the jar, and turned it over. She expected to hear a heavy splat or something as the mass hit the ground, but it landed with all the impact of mist.

"Thank you," the blackness said, that same, heavy voice. "And... before I join Bethany in eternity, please think of Shadow."

"Think of you?" she said, staring down at the mass of ink that sank into the dirt and grass.

"Not me. Shadow. He mourns Bethany, but that part of him is gone. I am gone. Shadow is alone now, and... and he should not be alone." He? Well, the voice did sound masculine. And it, uh, had a masculine appendage. A lot of them.

"Shouldn't be alone?" Anyone watching would think she was talking to her Gammy, hopefully.

"Shadow always has someone. He loves them, and brings them great joy for decades. When they die, he sacrifices the piece of himself that bonded with them, and then, he is alone again. It is not the way things are supposed to be, for Shadow. He is a blessing, meant to be passed down between distant generations, like your great grandmother to you. Before Bethany, he was lost and forgotten, and was alone for so long. He doesn't deserve that. He is the kindest creature you'll ever know. Wise, intelligent, caring, loving. Don't let it happen again, please, Beth?"

For a moment, for just a fraction of a second, the voice didn't sound like Shadow anymore. It sounded like Bethany, like Gammy.

"Passed down between distant generations? What... what does that mean?"

Silence. The black mist was gone.

Sniffing away some tears, she walked away from the cemetery, and drove home, the final words of the 'piece' of Shadow resonating in her head. A gift, passed down between distant generations, like great grandmother to great grand daughter?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Coming back home didn't feel the same, not anymore. The house was empty, but not actually empty. She turned on the kitchen light, but after a few moments, turned it off. She didn't need it on to navigate the house. Other than in the basement, starlight, moonlight, and bits of streetlight sneaking in past the blinds were enough for her to see if she walked very slowly and gave her eyes time to adjust. And she wanted to have a conversation.

"Shadow," she said to the darkness. "Shadow?"

"Beth," the house whispered. "It is done. I can feel it."

"Yeah, it's done. I... have to ask." Time for the painful part. "Did you really love Bethany?"

"I did," the darkness whispered, deep voice sad and heavy.

"And... the women before her?"

"I did. Each time, we love each other, and... and when it ends, the part of me that grew with them, dies with them. I die with them, every time."

"That's... such a sad existence."

"Yes... it is." The shadows eased over the walls, smooth and slick, like a second skin. "I have lived with humans for a hundred millennia, or more. When someone is willing to join with me, there are years of joy. A peace of me grows with the person, and dies with the person."

"That, is a long time to be doing this routine. Jesus." She stepped over to the kitchen table, sat down, and stared at the walls. Well, at least she wasn't terrified anymore. Still afraid, but apparently not so afraid she couldn't come home to her haunted house. "... I have a haunted house."

"I am not dead, or a ghost."

"Then... then what are you?"

"I am me. I am... something that has shared lives with people when they are willing. It is who I am."

"Ok." Spirit, or monster, or both. Either way, she set her hands down on the table, and shook her head. "You've been... with humans, for so long, being romantic with them. And every time the person dies, a part of you that grew as part of the romance, dies." If she was a scientist, she'd think it was some sort of symbiotic relationship that allowed a strange, almost mythical entity to survive for thousands of years. She was not a scientist. She was, in fact, an idiot, who found the whole story very captivating, and sad! Just thinking about the amount lost loves this creature suffered through made her heart ache. "I... I'm glad you and Bethany made each other happy, then."

"As am I. I will never forget her. The piece of me that died with her carried the greatest of my love for her, but I will never forget the joy she brought me."

"That's... wonderful..." Nodding, she smiled at the swirling shadows around her, and the occasional peek of a pair of red eyes.

Silence followed, and she looked down at the table, the shadows, the table, the shadows some more, and then sighed.

But before she could say anything, Shadow did first. "I will rest below, until I can find a new home."

"Um, I... uh... ok." She frowned at that, and started up the stairs to her bed. No idea why she was frowning, but she was.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Time to sleep again. She'd managed to sleep pretty well last night, despite what'd happened. Shadow had basically fucked her into utter oblivion, total sex coma. She was, evidently, caught in the aftermath of some sort of fairy tale monster story. Not nearly as gentle as a magical fairy tale, considering how rough Shadow had been with her; not so much rough, as absurdly deep. Her insides still ached.

Then again, fairy tales didn't used to be gentle. Lots of legends about fairy creatures existed, about crazy things in the shadows, things like Shadow. The Brothers Grimm wrote some nasty tales, and there was a good chance a lot of that was based on reality, if things like Shadow were real. And he was real.

She could imagine it now, a deadly creature of black fog, teeth, and muscle, protecting his mate. What would that have been like, fifty thousand years ago? A woman, living a cave, hiding away from wolves, and maybe men. What would it have been like, to stumble into that cave with intent to devour her, or steal her away, only for a giant beast of darkness to envelop, and slaughter all invaders? That could have easily been the origin of many fairy tales, of witch women who slaughtered people or sacrificed them, or who just ate up trespassers.

It was strangely romantic, and terrifying.

She curled up with her pillow, wearing her pajamas. Her thoughts drifted, a lot more than she wanted them to. Falling asleep last night had been easier than it should have been. But tonight, all she could think about was the strange, oddly kind, and horrifyingly strong and deadly monster sleeping underneath her house. Literally. Sleeping. Underneath. The house. If that wasn't haunted, she didn't know what was.

She tossed and turned, mind drifting back to last night. It'd raped her. That was bad! But, it--he'd convinced himself that she was Bethany. That part of him was now dead, and according to Shadow, maybe in the afterlife with her Gammy. It was a pleasing thought, honestly.

Gammy. Her great grandmother had always been so happy, every day Beth knew her. Shadow did that? Some of that had to be sexual, based on what Shadow did to her last night. God, just thinking about it, about how much he'd filled her up, stretched her apart and deep, until she'd thought she was going to burst, it was getting her heart beating again. Her insides were still tender. Getting penetrated deep like that could be damn painful, unless she was deliriously horny when it happened, and she knew she had been. And, just thinking about it was digging up that feeling again.

God fucking damn it.

She sat up, groaned, threw up her hands, and half tossed her sheets aside. "Shadow!" No response. "Shadow!"

"Beth?" the darkness whispered. Her eyes were well adjusted to the dark by now, and she saw the flowing lines of blurring onyx swim along the floor and walls as the monster seeped into her room.

"I..." Fuck, was she really going to do this? How dumb could she be? "The... part of you, that died with Bethany. It... he said... he said you shouldn't be alone."

Silence, but for a tiny, almost mournful groan.

"I cannot deny that," Shadow said, "that I... I suffer, when alone. But, are humans any different?"

"Ha!" She laughed and shrugged. "Humans kinda go back and forth on that. Sometimes we love being along, sometimes we can't stand it." She pulled her knees up to her legs, and smiled at the flowing darkness around her. "I... wanted to talk."

"Talk?"

"Yeah, talk." Was that what she wanted? "I... ugh, I don't know how to say this." She did her best to ignore the rising heat in her body, but it was futile. She could still remember the feel of Shadow's tongue, filling her until she could see her stomach bulge with its rolling motions. She could still remember the feel of his cocks -- plural! -- pressing her down into the mattress when she was on her stomach. She'd cum so much, she'd soaked the bed, and nearly got a foot cramp.

"Beth?"

Fuck, she hadn't said a word in a minute. Shit. Shit shit shit. Do it? Really? Really do it? Are you so horny that you can't think straight? Just gonna devolve into some kinda horny teen idiot?

Do it.

Sighing, she reached down, and pulled off her pajama top. Then, pajama bottom.

"No anal! I'm not cleaning myself up for that again. Such a pain the ass -- ha -- to do that." She was laughing. Why was she laughing? She was about to give herself up to a shadow monster demon thing. Again!

"You... want this?" The two red eyes grew in size, and they floated over her bed. Now, the size of the beast was obvious, a colossal creature that could have swallowed her whole, like a two-bite brownie, if he'd wanted.

As the massive beast loomed over her, she felt her inhibitions melt away, like she'd just drank a bottle of wine. She lay back, set her head on her pillow, and spread her legs. Before she knew it, one of her hands stroked her aching clitoris, and the instant sparks of pleasure announced how sensitive she'd already become, along with a few drops of wetness leaking down from her folds. She always was a horny drunk. Apparently, alcohol not required.

"Gently this time, ok? I'm still sore. But... yeah. Come here."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

God damn, she was going to be sore tomorrow. Sorer.

Whatever it was Shadow did to her, it was both euphoric, and exhausting. Finally done, he set her back down on the bed, and she lay there like a dead fish. Sure, some trembles worked through her legs, and occasionally made her shiver, but ultimately, all she could do was shiver and breathe. Shadow's cum absolutely covered her by now, but it didn't stink or stick, and it'd be gone the moment the sunlight broke in. And, she doubted she could drag herself to the shower, let alone walk.

Shadow was still in the room, swirling on the floor, and she turned her head to look for his red eyes. They were there, at the foot of the mattress.

"Where... where did you... usually sleep, when you were with Bethany?" So strange, so damn strange to think about how Shadow used to be Gammy's lover. But this wasn't that Shadow, sort of. Hard to understand, just roll with it.

"I do not truly sleep, but I do rest. I rested in Bethany's room, on her bed until sunrise, but you're not Bethany. I'll--"

"Shadow, just... just come here, ok? Just... come here. Rest." Rest, because despite herself, despite how stupid it was, despite how this was only the second night she'd even known about this creature, she wanted him to stick around.

Yeap, she was an idiot, regressed to an idiot teenager turned into goo by a lovey dovey sad romance story. Ah well, maybe that was a good thing. Gammy loved those sorts of stories. She pat the bed beside her.

"Ok... Ok Beth."

The weight of the beast didn't actually press down on the bed, but she could still feel him, his heat, his mass, the way he radiated power and... and... protection?

She smiled up at the ceiling, and closed her eyes. Yeap, she was sinking into a fairy tale, with a monster that was as old as the human race.

Bethany. Gammy had given her this house. Gammy knew this would happen. Gammy... wanted her to be Shadow's new lover. She must have known about the strange life cycle Shadow lived, and how the monster was meant to have a lover when the previous one passed on. It was the only explanation for Gammy having put the house into her will, to be given to Beth.

Well Gammy, you slut, thank you.