AllFreeNovel
Share Us
26
THE CREEPER
“Go get Uni,they said.It’ll be fine,they said,” I mutter under my breath as the portal deposits me on a rocky beach in a place that was once known as South Carolina.
Or perhaps it was North Carolina.
Fuck knows I’ve never studied a map of the before times.
Either way, the air here is balmy, and the sun rays seem exceptionally close. My skin immediately begins to overheat, and I suddenly wish I had Aliana’s powers to control ice.
“Fucking hell. They soooo owe me for this. I better get a million blowjobs. No, a million andoneblowjobs.”
I narrow my eyes and squint at the water lapping ferociously against the shoreline. I suppose some may say that the scene before me is serene and picturesque, but I know the truth.
I’m keenly aware of the monsters that lurk beneath the ocean’s surface.
Grumbling under my breath, I search my surroundings until my gaze dips to a red piece of ribbon tied around an overturnedtree lying on its side. I reach forward to run my fingers over the smooth silk and then begin to move in that direction. After one hundred or so feet, I stumble across another red ribbon.
This continues until I reach a massive cave naturally carved into the cliffside. Unlike the cave I’m staying at with Aliana, it’s large enough that I don’t have to duck my head in order to venture inside. Mud squishes beneath my shoes as I shove my hands into my pockets and glance around.
There, to the right of me, is another red ribbon.
I hurry in that direction, continuing to follow the trail of ribbons as the tunnel branches into numerous directions over a dozen times. I’d be completely lost by now if I didn’t have the red ribbons to guide me.
“Uni!” I holler, cupping my mouth so my voice is amplified. It’s never a good idea to sneak up on the large bastard. “It’s Creep.”
I turn at another fork to see that I’ve entered a surprisingly large cavern with a pool of water in the very center. High above—nearly two hundred feet—sunlight filters through an opening and illuminates the water like a thousand shimmering diamonds. I hadn’t even noticed that I was descending deeper into the cave with every step I took.
“Uni!” I glance around in dismay just as the water begins to shake and tremble, almost as if the earth is being ripped apart by an earthquake.
I brace one hand against the cave wall to keep myself upright as a huge figure emerges from the water.
To say that this monster is ginormous is an understatement if I ever heard one. He’s what you would get if you crossbreda kraken with a human. His large, bulbous body is gray and almost silky in appearance. Numerous tentacles explode in all directions from his body. The blob that consists of his face, however, holds distinctively humanoid features. Uni once told me that the more time he spends in the water, the larger he becomes, as if his bodyabsorbsthe water surrounding him.
A wide, beguiling smile curves up on Uni’s face when he sees me.
“Cousin!” he booms, and two of his tentacles come to plop down on the ground surrounding the small pool.
He carries his heavy body out of the water and settles on the cold rock, his tentacles flopping dramatically. He changes and distorts—his body shrinking and becoming thinner, his tentacles retreating inwards until they’re only a few feet long instead of a dozen feet, and legs and arms popping out of his gray body like four toothpicks being shoved into a ball of playdough.
Before I can even catch my bearings, Uni—now roughly my size—is lunging at me and pulling me into a tight, exuberant hug. I awkwardly pat his back—because what else am I supposed to do?—as Uni practically squeezes my innards out of my body. I feel like a tube of damn toothpaste.
“Hello, my old friend,” I say with a cheeky smile, trying to push him away from me.
But the damn monster just continues tonuzzleme. Yeah. Nuzzle.
“Come, come!” Uni finally pulls away, but it’s only to grab my arm and lead me towards a tiny room-slash-cave I hadn’t noticed earlier, directly behind the large pool of ocean water.
It appears to be a makeshift house, with large crates positioned to resemble a bed, a stump that serves as a chair, and a huge piece of rock that is probably supposed to be a table.
“Let me introduce you to the girls,” Uni continues eagerly.
Girls?
I furrow my brows.
Uni happily points to two porcelain dolls sitting at the table. One of them has long blonde hair and glasses, while the second has black hair cut into a short bob. They look to be in immaculate condition, which is strange because most items from the before time are nothing but garbage by now.
