Joelyn Annan

Professor Anna Voisard

Fairytales & Retellings – FIQWS 10005

20 November, 2022

And We Shall Be Monster (Together)

I.

Claudia had been an accident.

He hadn’t meant to kill her; her discovery of the cold room had been innocent. She didn’t go looking for it and, in all honesty, he had enjoyed her company – she wasn’t as vapid as the others. He hadn’t expected much from the gorgeous woman standing by the north facing windows at the holiday function, but she was sweet and funny and mature and oh so considerate. They clicked in a way he hadn’t with the others. It was a relief to learn that he hadn’t hitched his wagon to another person who just had to know where he was at all hours of the day, demanding his attention and presence. Those were the most annoying to deal with but the most fun to get rid of.

They were the easiest to taunt, ‘No one knows where you are baby. It’s only you and me, just like you wanted.’

He’d been dissolving a torso and playing music when she had texted him but he was so busy he hadn’t heard the little chime. Which wouldn’t have been an issue if she didn’t have her own key. Six months together without her breaking his trust was more than reason enough to give her one. So, there he stood when her knock came, but he had forgotten to lock the door.

The door swung open.

And Claudia screamed. Plastic bags of food falling to the ground as she stared in horror, his gloves drenched in congealed blood and bits of flesh.

“SHIT, Claudia Dont -”

She ran and he followed, yelling for her to wait but she didn’t. If he didn’t catch her, she would call the police…SHE’D CALL THE POLICE.  He just needed to buy himself some time, time to make her listen.

“Baby, it’s not what it looks like. CLAUDIA PLEASE?!”

“STOP FOLLOWING ME, OH GOD” She’d turned left. He raced into the kitchen only to find her with the landline to her ear and a knife in hand. “dONT TOUch Me, I will fucking kill you Landon”. Do Something, Do Something, DO SOMETHING OR WE’RE DONE FOR.

“Whatever you thought you saw…”

“That was a Human Body. Landon, you work in fucking tech?!” He took a step, and the knife followed him. She was still talking – no voice on the phone asking for the address – he still had – The Vase.

Just knock her out –

“STOP, STOP, LANDON… STOP IT – PLEASE NO.”

STOP TALKING. STOP TALKING CLAUDIA. JUST GO TO SLEEP…please, please, please.

It was an accident, the swings after the first were just adrenaline. He doesn’t remember when she stopped screaming, when she stopped moving or why he didn’t stop. She had asked him to stop.

He remembers crying for a long time while her blood seeped into the carpet and her flesh stiffened. He remembers carrying her body to the cold room and staring at her battered face. But it was an accident.  He swears it because he wouldn’t have killed the only person he’d really loved.

He’d be more careful. This wouldn’t happen again.

II.

It happened again.

The next few were on purpose though. Ryan, Diana, Thomas, and Ashley. None of them were right, none of them were Claudia. Which was to be expected, Claudia was perfect. But how hard could it be to find someone like his ex-girlfriend whose face he bludgeoned in.

Very hard apparently.

It had been nearly six months since Claudia died. He’d only killed Ryan and Ashley in that period. Ryan not because he looked for the cold room but because he would not shut up, so Landon smothered him with his pillow after they fucked one good September morning and Ashley because she had done like so many before and pretended to not have found the contents of the cold room, he still thinks sleeping pills were too nice a punishment.

Diana and Thomas had grown bored of him or scared; whichever it was he didn’t really care because he was alone again. Alone with his thoughts, alone in his bed with no Claudia because Claudia was gone. Claudia was sitting in the cold locker. Her eyes would never open again, the corners of her eyes crinkling at his stupid jokes. He’d never feel her lips again or the light kisses she’d press to his forehead when distracting him from work. He’d never get to tangle his hands in her braids to her dismay, only for her to force him to redo it as they rewatched 90’s sitcoms.

He missed her. But what he could do – she wasn’t coming back to him.

Why would she?

III.

He started going out again.

It wasn’t going very well.

He knew he was being irrational. He hadn’t been sleeping or eating much, he was irritable. It was making him sloppy. The hallucinations weren’t helping either. The shadows at the corner of his eyes, the dark figures around the corners, the smell of her shampoo, the fleeting touch of her fingers on his scalp. Her humming in the kitchen…then her screams… streaks of blood on the floor.

He was going insane. He needed to focus. He needed to let her go.

‘No, you don’t’ she whispers. ‘I’m still here Lany, I’m not going anywhere. Don’t leave me, okay?’

This wasn’t real.

Her hand on his cheek, ‘Yes, it is. You know it is.’ She kisses his forehead and smiles. And for a moment everything is okay, they’re just in bed, sharing each other’s warmth, and they’re happy. He’s happy.

And then she’s gone.

He’s going insane. Somewhere in the distance, Claudia laughs.

IV.

He shouldn’t have come. He could’ve let Dennis deal with the new investors, what were vice presidents for after all. He felt like shit, probably looked it too with how many people had asked if he was okay. But he was here, and this was important, no matter how much he wanted to crawl into bed and blast white noise to drown out his thoughts and her.

Claudia liked to bother him at night.

In his introspection he had missed the commotion at the entrance, not noticing the new arrivals until they were a few feet away. Victor Cullen, a nepotism baby with an ego to match, luckily for Landon his wallet did too. He’d been trying to get Victor on to his newest project for months and it looked like his hard work was about to pay off.

Cullen had brought someone with him, she was hanging off his arm, they gravitated towards each other. He stretched his neck to get a good look at her, she was pretty.

She was-

NO.

That was…

NO. Not here

Landon knew fear. He knew what being paralyzed with dread felt like, had instilled it in his many paramours turned ‘victims’. He knew what it was to have your body connive against you, discard your wishes, and force you still. This was not fear. Fear had never done this to him.

No, it was not fear that plagued Landon as he watched the green gown glide across the smooth marble tile.

Her face was obscured from him…a taunt. The hair that mimicked the starless night done up braids, like the last time he saw her. Her brown skin was unblemished and unmarred, no blooming bruises, no open gashes that gurgled, no cracked skull. She made her way through the crowd, chatting, and smiling. Cullen smirked and whispered in her ear, she pulled back and laughed. It was a horrid wail that stabbed at his ears, and he tore his eyes away. She was no longer laughing, but his moment of reprieve was shattered when his gaze met hers.

The previously beautiful skin was sunken in, black around the eye sockets. Her nose shattered, mashed into an odd swollen shape and she smiled an ugly thing, the corners of her lips rotting away showing pink flesh and teeth. Then she was gone but Landon still could not move. No, it was not fear that dragged Landon away as he felt bile rush up his throat – it was terror.

Terror wrought from seeing a dead woman walking.

V.

“Hey Lany, fancy seeing you here”. Claudia smiled, her skin had knit itself back together. She was following him – why was no one helping?

GO AWAY. OH GOD. NO NO NO PLEASE.

“I’m talking to you, Lany. Turn around please.”

THE BALCONY, SECLUDED, FRESH AIR – REAL. SHE’S NOT REAL. NOT REAL. NOT-

“Guess I’ll do it myself.” Claudia was in front of him now. He jolted when her hand hit his chest and he stumbled onto the terrace. Her eyes grew dark. “Hi baby.”

“You’re not real.”

“Don’t play dumb Landon. I just touched you.”

“You’re dead. I killed you”. Landon hissed, she took a step forward and he stepped back, his back now against the railing.

“You obviously fucked it up. Do you know what happens when you leave a body to rot? When souls don’t get their rest?”

Her hand was on his chest. He wanted it off. This was wrong. This wasn’t Claudia.

“They fester”. Her face shifted and the wounds were back. “They can’t leave. They’re stuck. I’m stuck because you’re a fucking psycho, you won’t bury me and you won’t stop dredging up my name. You won’t let me rest”. She slapped him.

“No… CeCe-”, she growled at the nickname.  “Claudia, I’m sorry. I’m so so sorry. I didn’t mean to hurt you. I was scared, you were going-”

“To call the police on a murderer.”

“On me. You were going to call the police on me”.

She blinked, “You’re a serial killer, Landon. What the hell did you think was going to happen?”

“I wanted you to stay. I loved you. I’m sorry. Forgive me. Don’t leave me again. Please. Please. Please. Stay.” She laughed.

Stay with me.

“Fuck you.” She grabbed him by the lapel and kissed him.

“Shut up.” She hissed. She was glowing. His knees buckled. She kissed him again… he couldn’t feel his arms. He was sitting on the railing, one of her hands were on his waist, the other in his hair. He had always liked it when she took charge… Claudia.

Claudia was back. She still wanted him-

She was warm…no not warm hot. Burning, he struggled against her for a moment.

WRONG. BAD. STOP. THIS HURTS. NO. WAIT I DON’T WANT THIS-

She pushed in closer. “Stop. Claudia… you’re hurt-ting me. It burns… STOP. STOP. PLEASE.”

“Okay” and she let go. Landon lost his balance.

She was a blaze, flooded with iridescent light, he could feel it from here. And here and here and he was falling. But it was warm and Claudia smiled.

Then she was gone.

The blaze was inside him.

And Claudia was gone.