A Home for Misfit Monsters

Chapter 1 - Fear The Dark

Rhia winced at the twinge of pain in her leg as she stepped into the shower. She frowned, looking down at the bite mark on the inside of her thigh as she slid her fingers over her bruised skin and trickle of dried blood.

That's never happened before.

A warm tingle washed over her and a smile curled over her lips at the memory of her decadent dream. Last night was the first time she didn't wake up in the middle of her demon's teasing and she wished she could've stayed in the comfort of his sinewy arms just a little longer.

Shaking her head as she grabbed the bottle of berry scented soap. Being in this damn house taking care of monsters had her conjuring up her own beast to fall in love with.

Six months ago, on the night of her twenty-ninth birthday she met her horned man in her dreams. She thought it was a nightmare, but it twisted into a steamy fever dream. He never told her who or what he was and she never bothered to ask until last night.

As she lathered up her body, Rhia's thoughts drifted to her demon again. What did he mean he'd find her when she was ready? Ready for what? Hell, she didn't think he was real, but the mark on her thigh would suggest otherwise.

What did it matter, anyway?

Rhia sighed, closing her eyes as she stood under the warm spray of water. Even if her demon was real, how could she be with a being like him? Not that she had a very lively social life outside of her caretaking duties. She didn't make many friends at university. She was too embarrassed that she didn't have a traditional family like the people in her cohort. She was an orphan raised in a boarding school paid for by her aunt who she 'met' in a coffin after she died.

She had one best friend who was a ghost and she inherited a family of monsters who lived in her aunt's towering Victorian home. She was no one and she was happy the way things were. It was better if her dream man stayed where he was. Locked up tight inside her mind.

"Come on. No depressing thoughts today," she murmured, turning off the shower and padding into her room. She dressed in her usual attire of black leggings paired with a long-sleeved black dress and her mother's golden tiger's eye charm hung from her neck. She pulled off her shower cap and brushed out her thick mane of curls before braiding it back from her face.

Slipping her feet into a pair of black cat slippers, she left her room into the darkened hallway. She stopped at a black painted door and stood on her tiptoes to peer through the gated window into the vampires' lair. Five coffins laid in darkness. The blackout curtains were closed tight and the soil from their homeland was spread neatly along the floor. Rhia nodded. Her assistant, Carter, did an excellent job. He always did.

She didn't understand why her aunt didn't leave him in charge when she died, but Carter helped her navigate her aunt Callie's detailed instructions to care for every monstrous being that resided in the home. Rhia always wondered how someone who knew every detail about the monsters she cared for could be taken by surprise and lose her life to one of them.

Sighing as she checked the locks on the chupacabra's den, she supposed it didn't matter how much you knew. Monsters were monsters and she'd do well not to let her guard down too much around the more dangerous ones.

Taking the creaking steps downstairs, Rhia stopped every so often to check on the nocturnal creatures while a delicious aroma of bacon and eggs wafted through the home. She smiled, walking into the kitchen to find Sully, the oldest resident werewolf, with his thick black dreadlocks tied up on top of his head, diligently cooking breakfast for the diurnal monsters.

"Good morning, Rhia!" Annie, the gnarly haired dreamwalker, grinned, sitting next to Mack and Jenny, two werewolves who lost their pack and found their way to the home a few years ago.