The Dark

Markee learned how to control the dark and how to let the darkness speak for her.

She listened to those that feared monsters, but Markee had grown up seeing them. They were her friends, or so she thought. The monsters were as real to her as the blanket her mother covered her in or the bottle of apple juice she sipped on.

Some monsters had long red tongues that hung out of their faces like a dog. Other were like twigs with skin stretched taunt over the frame. Long limbs, short limbs. Smooth, furred, feathered skin. Floating faces, red eyes, sharp teeth. That’s how one described Markee’s circus of particular monsters. Some would call them scary or nightmares. But they weren’t monsters. They were her friends.

And they accepted her. She was close enough to being like them that they saw her and she saw them. But she was still different from them. She had a trickle of light in her that could beat down the darkness inside of her. 

Feebe, her mother was normal. Normal enough. She still cringed at the sight of school bathrooms. She’d never forget the slippery feel of the floor after the baby had slid out. Feebe hated monsters. She never truly believed in them. If there was heaven, hell never existed. If she let herself believe in the darkness for a moment, she was doomed and her thoughts would race and Markee would be left alone. 

Markee woke up in her room with a start. 

One of her friends hissed over and over in her ear. Wake up. Wake up. It’s time.
She didn’t ask about time for what, but grabbed her blanket just incase it would be long. She sucked on her thumb, padding softly through the lightless apartment.  The apartment wasn’t large, but the hall and rooms seemed to grow and warp when the sun went down. The shadows of her friends grew and slinked as they moved together to her Mom’s bedroom.

The door was cracked open, revealing the white moon casting a light over Feebe’s bundled form. A low snore came out of her mouth.

Feathers fluttered near Feebe’s ear. Let it go. Change. Be like us. It’ll be fun.
Changing confused Markee. She liked her skin, even though the buzzing had increased inside, like water beginning to boil.

Markee shook her head, but the long, shining teethed grins of her friends made the head shaking meaningless. 

Give in, and dance.
Markee released her thumb and dropped her blanket to the ground before peering into her mother’s room. Her friends flew around her in a faster frenzy and Markee could smell blood and death. A sick feeling dripped into her, like an upset stomach. She scratched at her skin, wanting to be rid of it. 

Soon she would. 

The monster within her awoken and fluttered, and grew. 

Her body arched back, back breaking back before she was tossed forward on the floor with a thump. 

Her lungs couldn’t get enough breath and it felt like something was trying to climb out of her. 

Don’t fight, it’ll be okay.
“How?” Markee cried.
She let it crawl out of the part of her that she hid away.
The monsters let out a sharp breath before grinning at Markee. She was one of them.