They look like people

08

I could say that Marvin took a whole lot of pride of being a Venanti.

Maybe he wanted to scare me -which he had, to be honest- but the way he had said it, the way his posture had grown with pride was unmistakable.

"But you... look like a human. And the groups of Monsterhunters- sorry, Venantis I saw yesterday also looked... normal."

My brain was running at full speed, desperately trying to connect the dots. At my words, Marvin scoffed.

"Maybe we look like humans. But our appearance is the only thing hiding the immense difference between humans and us."

"And that would be what? Except that super-human thing."

"Beside that?" Marvin rose a dark eyebrow. "That super-human thing is everything that makes us what we are. The senses, the fight skills, the healing strength... those things are what builds our hunting instinct. And because we have that instinct and those natural skills, it is our duty to get rid of the Monsters from the surface of our World."

Woah. I think that I would start laughing any time given, if this information was not just changing the whole perception I had from the world. It was just so... confusing.

He was just so invested. So radical. Were all Venantis like him? So focused on their "duty", killing Monsters, saving poor, weak humans that don't even know that they're in danger? I guess it was like a job to them, but... damn, that was a big responsibility. And Marvin, in his dark curiosity cabinet, seemed to be straight out of a parallel world to me. He didn't lived for himself, but for that duty far bigger than him.

"And the Monsters?" I asked, unsure if I really wanted to know more of it.

Marvin stopped pacing and sat back in front of me, taking time to formulate his answer, this time.

"Monsters..." he started, the atmosphere of the office darkening, shifting with his mood. He cleared his throat. "Monsters are creatures that are so... unnatural that they shouldn't even exist. They can look like anything. A mix of animals, humans, dead things... Sometimes they don't even have a proper body, but they are in your head."

Was it me or did just a little shiver shook Marvin's body? My stomach churned at the fact that even he, that placid and stone-like man with dead animals and bones exposed in his own office shivered at the thought of Monsters. How could I be reassured after that?!

"They can ghost in your head and let you live your worst nightmare again and again, tear you in pieces in form of a beast made of bones and dead skin or make you commit suicide, looking like the most magnificent being you ever saw... When they feel your presence, there is no escape, do you understand?"

He leaned forward to underline his next words, so that our gazes were only inches apart. I blinked nervously, unable to hold his gaze.

"Hiding won't help, running will only make it worse, Nea Smith. Monsters are savage creatures killing everything and everyone that crosses their way. They don't have feelings like compassion or love. Only hatred, rage and hunger. Hunger for pain and death. You are one of the few humans that ever survived a Monster attack. If Fernanda and her group had detected the Monster even a few seconds later, you would've been dead by long, now."

I struggled to gulp past the thick knot that had formed in my throat, and Marvin leaned back in his seat and crossed his hands on the surface of the desk. Like nothing happened.

"But that makes the transition easier for the next thing I wanted to talk about with you."

My gaze shot to his, feeling like every thing that used to live and that was now on display on the wooden shelves was staring at me.