The Monster Within
Katherine Rochholz
I flip the channels on the
television. I am sick of all these black
and white monster movies. They were big
in the 1940’s. Now that was a time to
live in for a monster. They started to
romanticize us; I had a blast. I miss
those days. Where I could at least be
myself; until they started to romanticize the monsters, we were hunted. And a hunt is how I ended up the monster I
am. This is my story.
“Henry,” my
wife called out to me. “Lord Baron is at
the door.”
I looked up
from my journal. I couldn’t stand that
man, but he was the leader of our little group of monster hunters. “Coming, love.” I stood up from my desk and threw my journal
in the drawer locking it.
“Henry! Old man, how are you?” Lord Baron greeted me as I walked into the
drawing room.
“Jacob.” I said in a way of greeting. “What has caused the pleasure of your
company?”
“Heard
about a monster or two, werewolves I think.
I am not sure if it is only one or two, but it seems like a lot of death
for just one.”
“They are
nasty things to hunt during the full moon cycle. Do we have an idea who their mortal host is?”
“No.” Jacob stated simply as the maid set down our
tea tray, a tray I knew would sit untouched, but it was the proper thing to
offer.
“Tea?”
“How about
a nice brandy?”
I knew he
would ask, so I walked to the bar and poured him a good portion. “Here you are.” I stated and sat down across from him.
“So when do
you want to start the hunt?”
“Tomorrow
night is the first night of the full moon.”
“Fine. You contact the others?”
“Of
course. How is that little project to
try to increase our strength going?”
“I am going
to test it on myself later.”
“Shouldn’t
you try it on a servant first?”
“Should the
servants really have that much strength if it works?” I said, though I was a fair boss and didn’t
believe my help was below myself, I didn’t want to endanger their lives,
however Lord Baron thought otherwise.
“Fair
point. Let me know how it goes.” Jacob finished his brandy and stood up to
leave.
I stood
with him. “Jacob, until tomorrow.” I stated and showed him out.
“What did
he want?” My wife asked.
“Love, just
business. We are going to have a meeting
tomorrow night. I won’t be back until
late.”
“I hate
your meetings.”
“I know,
but they must happen.” I kissed my
wife’s check and retreated back to my study.
I pulled
out my journal once more and started to look over my notes. I had brewed the formula yesterday, and let
it set. It was a moment of truth. A moment that would have defined our hunting
expeditions.
I drank
it. At first nothing happened and then a
burning sensation traveled through me.
It threw me to the ground; I thought I for sure was going to die. But I didn’t.
I stood up. Nothing about me had
changed. I was upset. I tried to pick up the desk but could not;
that meant the last three months were for naught. I would have to start from scratch again
another day.
The next
night I took my horse and rode off to meet up with Jacob and the rest of the
group of hunters. When I got there they
were all there looking quite worried, the town had already been destroyed by
the monsters. The moon wasn’t even up
fully yet. What type of being were we
dealing with? “What happened?” I asked.
“We do not
know. The moon isn’t even high in the
sky.” Jacob responded.
“What are
we dealing with?”
“A monster
of the likes we have never seen before.”
An older man came up to us.
“Lord
Earle.” I said in way of a greeting.
“Henry, my
man. Did your potion work?”
“Richard,
it did not I am afraid. It is back to
the beginning.”
“Pity. I have a feeling we could have used it with
this beast.”
“Well,
let’s get to it.” Jacob stated and
mounted his horse.
We rode in
silence. It seemed like days, but only
hours before we heard the howl. We knew
that it was only a matter of time before it was upon us. We jumped off our horses and prepared for the
beast. We waited only moments but it
felt an eternity.
The beast
came into the clearing, and I gasped. It
was huge. It was larger than any wolf we
had hunted before; about three times the size!
Its teeth dripped with blood, it walked on hind legs like a man, but was
quick. Before I could figure out what
had happened he had Byron and Richard both on the ground at its feet. Their throats were ripped from them, and they
chocked on their own blood.
I was
upset. So upset that the feeling of
death came over me, just like the day before when I had taken my potion. The next thing I knew was blackness. When I awoke the next day I lay in a pool of
blood. The bodies of all the hunters as
well as a new body, which must have been the wolf, lay dismembered and
scattered around me. There was blood on
my hands, in my mouth, and in my hair, all round me there was blood.
I stood and
discovered I was naked. I quickly
grabbed a blood stained coat and ran.
The horses were even killed. I
could do nothing but run. I ran all the
way back to town. I ran to my house and
threw myself into my study. I had no
idea what happened. No clue but I knew I
would be labeled a coward. Because I had
lived.
I stayed in
my office for days. I only came out to
eat with my wife. Soon Lord Baron’s
nephew and heir came to see me. I
answered the door. “Lord Baron.” I said as a greeting.
“Lord
Jekyll.” He came into my foyer, and
removed his coat. “I came to talk about
what happened to my uncle. I take it you
were injured which is why you haven’t came out with the rest of the hunters.”
“Yes. Please come with me to the drawing room. We can discuss it there.” I walked into the drawing room and right to
the bar. I poured both of us a large
brandy. “Here you are Lord Baron.”
“Thank you
Sir.” He said and accepted the drink; he
took a large drink before speaking.
I sat down
across from him and waited. I was unsure
of what he would say.
“I will get
to the point. You are the only one that
lived. What happened?”
“The wolf
was larger than any we had ever seen. It
was about three times the size. It
walked upon hind legs. It attacked. I ran to attack it, upon seeing Jacob and
Richard killed. The next thing I knew I
woke up in a pool of blood.”
“Why did it
let you live?”
“We were
able to kill it somehow. I don’t know
when or how.”
“It is
interesting that you were the only one that lived. Especially since you tested your concoction
on yourself that night my uncle came to tell you about the hunt.”
“I don’t
like you implication.”
“You don’t
have to coward.”
“I am no
coward.” My blood began to boil. I, again, felt death upon me. Before I knew it my world had gone black, the
last thing I heard was a scream.
I came too
just hours later. I lay quite nude in my
drawing room. Blood and body parts all
around me once more, and worse my wife stood in the doorway. “Love?”
“Mr. Edward
Hyde says to congratulate you on finding a woman such as me.” She stated.
“Mr. Hyde?”
“He said
that was his name. The monster you
became.”
“I… A
monster?”
“Yes. You killed Lord Baron when he called you a
coward.”
“No…”
“Well, you
did not this Mr. Hyde did. But he is
really you…”
I just
stared at my wife. At that moment I knew
that I had made a mistake. In an attempt
to play god, God had turned me into the very thing I hated… A monster…
“We will
return after these messages.” The
announcer states bringing me back to the present. I sigh.
My love had long since passed.
She had lived a normal mortal life, by my side. She loved me no matter the monster I became. She was the last person to truly accept Dr.
Jekyll and Mr. Hyde as one in the same.
I turn off
the television. It is playing the 1940’s
version of the movie based upon a romanticized version of my life. My friend Sir Stevenson had written my life as a short story and found his
fame. I sigh and know that one day Mr.
Hyde will be back and there was nothing I can do to stop him… Nothing I want to
do to stop him… I have finally embraced the monster within…
No comments:
Post a Comment