Monster by Abigail Livinghouse (chromebook ebook reader .txt) 📕

Stop running, you'll only attract attention.

At that moment, with the Voice commanding her to do something yet again, she did the exact opposite of what she was told. Ana broke into a full out sprint, flying past people who yelled and even went to shove her if she had gotten in their way. She ran for blocks, not sure where she was going, and as soon as she had started running the Voice had begun a steady stream of commands, screaming them at her.

Stop it! Stop it right now! Don’t you see them all watching you? You're doing exactly what you are not supposed to be doing. Stop now. Ana!

Oh but Ana was long gone now. Gone from the diner, gone from her nearby home suburb, and gone from the murders of her friends. She just wanted to get away, to feel something other than the hollow throbbing ache inside her chest that had arrived and never left the moment she found out Lisa and Kristen were dead, and she was still alive.

The burning in her lungs and limbs was satisfying, and only made Ana want to run faster. It was feeling, nothing else. Like when Maria at school told about having sex with guys she met at parties, never returning their calls or going back to the same person. It was just a feeling, meaningless except for the void it filled at that precise moment.

For Ana, the running was worth nothing else than that short burst of something different. Even just for a few seconds.

She had to stop eventually though. Her body was about to give out on her. She never ran like this, and with the athletic capability of a two hundred pound competitive eater, Ana knew that this wasn't going to last long and that she had to stop before she crashed.

Dragging in broken gulps of air, she jogged into an alley near a bright street and leaned against the cold grimy bricks. She was breathing like someone who smoked packs upon packs of cigarettes a day, and her face was burning. Her whole body felt like it was on fire, but Ana didn't care. Even though her head was throbbing, it was silent. She was finally left alone to think, without the influence of the Voice.

How dumb could Ana be? Leaving her home only a few weeks after a horrific crime she was a part of, searching for a killer and not even knowing what she was going to do once she came face to face with him. There wasn't even a word for her type of stupid.

With her back against the surprisingly cold bricks and the sun beginning to sink down in the sky, taking the light with it, Ana felt as if she was seeing clear for the first time in weeks. And with that clarity, came a rush of fear that hadn't been present with her for the past few days, ever since the Voice had commanded her to dye her hair and go on a manhunt.

Ana had to get home. There was no doubt in her  mind that where she was right here right now, that running away, was wrong. Getting tried for a murder case back home was horrific, but alone here in a New York alley way wasn't any better of an alternative. Soon Ana would inevitably be found by the police, and she was more than willing to return to Manhattan peacefully. She had caused enough trouble, now it was time to fix things.

Have you lost your fucking mind?

The volume and icy cold tone of the Voice was so harsh Ana jumped, clamping her lips shut to keep from letting out a yelp of surprise. She didn't have a chance to respond before the Voice screeched.

You have no fucking idea what you're doing. If you don't listen to me, you'll end up dead.

A surge of anger gripped Ana, holding her firmly in its grasp. Her face flushed and her lip curled, as she screamed out loud.

"I've done nothing but listen to you for the past few weeks and I'm as good as dead already!"

She lowered her voice, even though the streets were empty that didn't mean no one was listening. "Nothing you can say to me will change my mind. I have to go home."

Something inside of her, something that had been wound taught and in control of its actions for weeks, snapped. It wasn't a tangible thing Ana could grasp in her hands, but it was something that she could feel. It was like a rubber band being stretched to its limit and suddenly snap!

You dare disobey me Ana?  Me? I control you. You do not listen to me?

Suddenly the Voice's presence began to fade, going further and further into the background of her mind. The intensity was still there, but it was shifted. The shift made her skin crawl, because she got the horrible sense that she was not alone . . . and that the Voice was not done.

If you do not want to listen to me Ana, then I have no choice.

The fading was even more prominent now, until the Voice was just an angry whisper, talking in an even voice that shivered with fury.

You don't need my help anymore. You have found me.

Ana was wrong, she realized with a chill dancing slowly up her spine to rest at the base of her neck. She was wrong, oh she was so very wrong. The whisper was no longer soft, it was very loud. It was loud, angry, and right in her ear.

Ana stood at her full height, a coldness like no other seeping through her skin right to the very depth of her bones. There was no doubt there was someone standing next to her in that alley, someone who had not been there ten minutes ago when she had entered the dead end alley way.

The voice inside her head was gone, because it was now standing with her, right next to her and breathing into her ear. Oh god.

"You know who I am, Ana." It was the same voice, male, demanding, harsh, that was addressing her right now. No longer in her head, but literally in person.

How could this be happening? The alley had grown so dark Ana could barely see more than a few feet in front of her. If she was imagining this, then she was in no danger and she could turn around and walk away right now if she wanted to. If she wasn't imagining anything, and all of this was really happening, somehow the voice inside her head had manifested as a physical being, then there was nowhere to run except where the Voice was currently standing. It had shifted to that it was directly behind Ana. If she turned and ran, she would slam right into him.

 The alley was cut off at the end with a barbed wire fence. She would have no chance of getting over it, and would probably be hurting herself rather than making an escape. Ana had no choice, but-

"Turn around and face me." The Voice commanded, fury running as deep as the chill in Ana's veins.

"Who are you?" She sounded so small compared to the all-encompassing voice of the thing that had been residing in her subconscious for the past month. It didn't answer her of course, she hadn't expected it to.

"Turn. Around." It repeated, the only answer she knew she was ever going to get.

Closing her eyes for the briefest moment, she slowly turned.

It was like nothing she had ever seen before. It stood, fully erect, at seven feet tall. The appearance of its body was that of possibly a human skeleton, with a thin layer of skin stretched tightly against the bones, like its sharp structure was trying to force its way out. The skin itself was a sickly gray, the color of fog.

Its mouth was slightly parted, showing full, pointed teeth, much like a piranha's. Ana had the briefest flash of those teeth tearing into her, shredding her to bits like the vicious fish they resembled. She swallowed, quickly pushing the thought as far away as she could.

The worst of the creature though had to be its eyes. They were large and round, resembling human eyes, except they lacked color. They were as white as bone, and glowing fluorescent against its pallid skin and the darkness surrounding them.

Ana's heart pounded, slamming roughly against her ribs. This thing, whatever it was, had been inside of her fucking head. It had been resting in her body, giving her orders, telling her what to do, and she had listened to it for fuck's sake. What had she been thinking?!

"The answer is quite simple, Ana." When the creature spoke, its voice was just as calm and cool as when it had been inside of her head. Ana tensed, because despite that, she was staring at a creature straight from the depths of hell, it wanted something from her, and to top it off, it was pissed at her. And she knew it.

"I was thinking for you. You had no say it what you did or did not want to do. It didn't matter. The only thing that mattered, was me." It sneered proudly at her with its mouthful of triangular teeth.

Ana's anger returned with what the creature growled, the heat of fury replacing her cold fear.

"You have no right. Whatever you are, I do not belong to you. Go back to hell, where you came from." She said, a bit brazen for an eighteen year old staring at a demon. Probably a stupid move, but Ana was too pissed to realize that.

The creature smiled, a nasty grin that showed all of its razor sharp teeth. The newfound confidence that had sparked inside of her dimmed a bit, as the Voice reared its ugly head.

"You have no idea who you are dealing with."

"What are you?" Ana couldn't help but ask again, her fists clenched from the anger that she still held, while her legs strained to keep from shaking. The Voice's smile widened.

"I have come for you, Ana Walcott. Just like I came for your friends."