Monster Mash

                         

Every one of us has their demons; their skeletons in the closet, so to speak. But what if I told you that those demons were real? What if I told you that that one time you cheated on a test, or that time when you were a kid and snuck into the movie theater to catch an R-rated flick--those little dishonesties--were actually manifested into disgusting, hideous monsters, but you just couldn't see them?

You'd call me crazy, of course. But soon, I'm going to show the world (or at least my classmates) what I witness every single day. Ever since I was a child I've had the ability to see these creatures lurking around their creators. Why I've been cursed with these images I do not know, and every shrink or doctor I have tried to talk to about them, only dismisses them as being a creation of my over-active imagination, or just a psychotic hallucination. But, I know that these creatures are real. I know because they get really pissed when they are acknowledged.

As far as I've always known, I'm the only human who has ever been able to see them. I'm seventeen now, and I've gotten pretty good at avoiding and ignoring them. It can be hard to meet a new person when you can literally see a huge, vicious monkey on their back. Or an amorphous, flaming flesh glob with razor sharp teeth just pacing around in the background. It can still be a little hard to act natural, as you can imagine.

My life hasn't been a complete hell, though--if you can believe that. In my time floating from doctor's office to the next, I happened to meet a nice, young social worker (well, 21, is too old for me, but young for a social worker) named Charlotte. It was actually on the night of my high school prom, and I couldn't believe that my parents would make me go to another appointment rather than allow me sit in my bedroom pretending not to care that it was, in fact, prom night and I didn't have a date.

Anyway, the first thing that drew my attention to her when we met in the waiting room of the university research hospital--as she took my information down on a clipboard--was that she didn't have a monster hanging off her, or floating around her, or looming behind her. I was confused. There's never been a person that I have met--I suppose other than myself--that didn't have one.

As we sat in the quiet hallway, and she was jotting down some last bits of info on me, I looked all around her and under her chair, and behind her but saw nothing. She must have noticed my prying eyes, because she glanced up from the clipboard.

"Is something the matter, Damon?" She asked with an eyebrow raised (Damon's my name, obviously). I stammered, tried to act naturally. "You know, I've read about you. I know a lot about the whole situation," she continued, "and I know what you're doing." I sat there dumbfounded. "So, what does it look like? Is my monster a giant squid? Or a robo-deathmachine?"

I sat back in my chair and sighed. "I don't know," I said, "I can't seem to find yours. But I guess it is possible that your monster is...smaller than most. It might be hiding in your pocket or something." Charlotte shrugged and set down her clipboard. She got to her feet and smoothed down her shirt and slacks and then reached into her pockets. She turned them out. Still nothing. I was completely baffled. "Nope. You just don't have one."

Charlotte gave me a lopsided grin and looked me in the eyes. "Everyone has their demons, Damon. Even I do. If you want to see it, you'll have to come to the hospital basement. That's where the real research goes on."

I shook my head, and then finally threw my hands up. "What are you talking about?" I spat, "You sound crazy right now." Just then, leaving the clipboard on the chair, she took my hand and we dashed for the elevator. I could feel my heart fluttering. I hadn't had much luck with high school girls, because most of them had had some pretty weird monsters, and it wasn't exactly easy to make conversation with them just lurking around.

The elevator dinged and the doors slowly slid open. We stepped forward into a dingy, poorly lit corridor that had a single door at the end of it. Yup, it was exactly what I imagine the basement of a research facility to look like. This was the kind of place where the unheard of went on. I suppose it was nice to know I lived in a world where mad science still existed. I began to think I wasn't so crazy after all.

We arrived at the door, and Charlotte swiped her laminate on a small terminal panel. With a quick hiss of air, the door crept open, and a computerized voice greeted us. "Welcome back, Doctor Munroe." Charlotte turned to me with her lopsided grin again. "Come on, follow me. And please don't touch anything, okay?"

"Doctor Munroe?" I muttered under my breath. 

Inside there was a lot of computers and machinery that was far beyond my understanding. Diodes blinked all around me, and the monotonous hum of technology surrounded me. Charlotte flipped a switch and the fluorescent lighting overhead flickered to life. I then realized we were standing in a room filled with massive glass chambers, each containing its own exceedingly bizarre monstrous creations. "Mine's over there" She pointed at a chamber to the left that contained a moderately-sized mechanical squid with laser eyes. "Part squid, part deathmachine, I suppose," Charlotte chuckled. "That's from shoplifting a pair of sunglasses when I was twelve. Want to see yours?"

I tried to act cool with a shrug, but hell yes I wanted to see mine. Up until now I had no idea what it looked like. Not to mention that up until now I thought I was the only one who knew about the monsters. I was speechless. "Here," Charlotte said, "stand still."

She lifted an oversized camera with an absurdly large flash mechanism on it and snapped a shot. I was blinded by the overwhelming flash, but when I came to, I could see Charlotte standing in front of me, wagging a polaroid-sized picture in front of me. "Just give it a second," she said, "It's gotta develop."

I was starting to think that Charlotte was more than just a social worker.

As we waited for the picture, she steered my attention to a massive orb that seemed to be covered in thousands of tiny LEDs. It basically looked like a giant disco ball. "This thing here," Charlotte began, "is a prototype IMDAC, or Invisible Monster Detecting And Capturing device. It's pretty much what they use in Ghostbusters, but a little more sophisticated. Because it zaps 'em and traps 'em all at once. And I really want to use it. And you're going to help me."

My jaw dropped. "Why me? I'm not a scientist. I can't do anything, I'm sorry." She chuckled and told me that my ability to spot the monsters would be a great help to the procedure. "And besides," she continued, "Don't you have a prom tonight? It's the perfect setting." She handed me the polaroid. On it was a picture of me looking stunned, as a giant pink grizzly bear tried to shield its eyes from the flash behind me. How embarrassing. I sighed. "I think he's cute," Charlotte chimed.

***

Later that night, Charlotte and I stood like wallflowers on the edge of the gym floor at my high school. The prom was in full swing, and every students unnerving monsters were in attendance. I could swear I saw the odd one dancing to the music. Charlotte was next to me in a what must of been her prom dress from when she had attended high school. I was in a frumpy suit I got from my father's closet. She tapped me in the shoulder and pointed up. We looked up to see that the IMDAC disco ball we had secured in the ceiling earlier was beginning to warm up. "Just a few more seconds," she said nervously. "I even queued up a special song to play when it activates."

Just then 'Monster Mash' burst through the speakers, and with it a burst of light shot out of the disco ball overhead. Every disgusting, hideous monster in the room was revealed to everyone. Tuxedoed and gowned students began screaming and running for their lives. They flooded out the fire exits, trampling each other to get away from their own demons. I couldn't help but think this was a slight overreaction, but then again, I had become pretty familiar with most of these awful creatures.

Charlotte turned to me once more with her lopsided grin slapped across her face. "I can see them," she giggled, "It's working!"

Before the monsters could realize that they had been discovered and begin what I could only assume would be a mass slaughter, the IMDAC did it's job and zapped them all out of the room. "Where did they all go?" I asked in an excited, but equally nervous tone.

"Back to the lab, of course. Come on, let's go check 'em out! I'll send a team to recover the IMDAC."

As we left the gymnasium, we watched as the students stopped and stood staring with blank expressions. I could tell they couldn't figure out if it was all an illusion, or if it was real. For a moment, though, it made me happy to know they got to live my life--if only for a few seconds.

Author's Note

As always, all criticisms welcome. If you notice any grammatical issues, or you think it's crap, or if you actually like it, please let me know in the comments!

Reviews

[Andrew Leister-Frazier]

This is a classic. I am going to stop before I praise you with jinxing flattery.

[Jennie Baron]

A very original tale, Kid. It's even creepy enough that I'm glad I'm reading it first thing in the morning rather than at night! And I think you've presented it well with good pacing, dialogue and description. Well done!

[crystalandra]

I was curious to read your work and I must say that I really enjoyed your story--it was original and quite entertaining. I like reading a story that helps me to visualize what is going on and I must say you have done that and kept my avid attention. Awesome story!

[roarke]

I liked the story. Original concept. Possible a fun YA fiction genre piece.
The use of the double word, "that, that" " had, had"... always bothers me, although I've used it myself, it breaks the flow, and doesn't always reflect dialogue style.
When Charlotte and Damon go into the basement lab, you might want to expand their getting to know each other just a tad. I'd also suggest playing up a great opportunity in the prom scene of relating personalities of the people to descriptions of their monsters.

this kind of has a Ghostbusters meets Carrie kinda feel to it. Nice composing.

[Butterfly_Kid]

Thanks so much for the helpful words. You know, I've never been terribly fond of "that that", either. I consider revising.