ME & THE MONSTER

after

The flat was dark and silent as I peeked inside. Running into Sean now would have meant a lot of awkward questions. I breathed a sigh of relief and half dragged Kal inside.

He stumbled towards the sofa in the living room, but I pulled on his hand.

"Not there," I said. I imagined the look on Sean's face when he turned up later tonight or tomorrow morning and found a bloodied stranger lying on what he considered to be his sofa. Yes, Sean was like that. "Come on. We'll go to my room."

He gave a shaky nod and followed me. I wasn't used to him being so silent and meek. I wasn't sure if I liked it really. A groan of the door, and we were inside. As weird experiences went, you couldn't really beat this one – a beaten-up Kal Mellketh slumped on my carpet. It was beyond odd. I kicked a pair of knickers I'd left tossed on the floor, out of sight, and perched on the edge of my bed. I felt exhausted.

"Kal, are you feeling any better?" I asked.

I didn't really understand why I was asking. I didn't understand why I cared. And where was he going to sleep? No way I was donating my bed.

He looked up at me. His nose had stopped running blood, but there were blackened remains crusting his cheeks and lips.

"I think, Rae," he said, solemnly, "I'm going to faint now."

And he fainted.

*

I sat up in bed, feeling disoriented. I was puzzled to discover that I was wearing my purple turtleneck jumper. Why hadn't I changed into my pyjamas? And why did my hair smell like something had died in it?

Coming from the floor, a sleepy grunt.

I went still.

Shit.

It all came crashing back to me.

"Untie me," Kal said, in the darkness.

I approached him, cautiously. Thanks to my demon sight, I could make out the glower on his face, the angry red marks the rope I'd tied him up with had left on his wrists. I hadn't dared leave him free to come and go. He might have tried to kill me again while I slept. I wasn't that stupid. So I'd produced some spare rope – the Park Royal provided us with some – and, blessing his unconsciousness, I'd tied each of his wrists to the feet of a chair, and the chair to my bed. It was a rather neat job, I thought.

"Why should I?" I said. I stood before him. The fact that he couldn't see a single thing afforded me a cheap glee. "You've given me no reason to trust you."

Kal tossed his head back into the carpet, irritated. He'd kicked aside the blanket I'd tossed over him as an afterthought. So much for being compassionate.

"You really think I'm a scumbag, don't you?" he said. Well, he had done a good job of it, hadn't he? His voice was brittle. "Why did you help me, then?"

I clicked on the light and perched down on the edge of my bed. I sighed. The question had been whirring around in my mind for hours.

"I don't know," I said. "I guess I felt – sorry for you."

His bruised face hardened.

"I don't need your goddamned pity."

Excuse me? He had to be kidding me.

"Listen, Kal," I snapped.

Standing up for myself, usually, didn't come naturally. I had to grit my teeth and muster courage to prevent people from walking all over me. It wasn't something I was proud of. But now I was so angry it burst effortlessly out of me.