It's a Monster

"Then it will start to get in our hearts. It's gone too far, that's who we are."

The song was from a band called Extreme and this particular song although written about sex was ironically perfect for that evening and what had just happened to me. I chuckled as I sang along with the chorus.

"It's a monster, we all have within us. It's a monster."

"It's a monster. Turns us into sinners. It's a monster."

I played the song over and over during my drive home. It took me longer because I stayed off of the freeways and drove through deserted side streets with my lights off. If the police were looking for anyone, I wanted to be sure that I saw them before they saw me.

I got home and went into my apartment through the back door. I wrapped the blanket around me in case I ran into anyone. But as luck would have it, probably because of the lateness of the hour, I got into my apartment without running into anyone.

I showered several times and made sure that no traces of blood remained on me. I went downstairs into the building's incinerator and burned my clothes and the blanket. I would buy another emergency blanket the next day or so. I got into my bed and thought happy thoughts. It was as if my mind had made the connection, however wrongfully between the assholes that cost me Galan and me reuniting with him. Even though one thing had nothing to do with the other, I just seemed to think that I had to get rid of the three of them for Galan to take me back. It was probably the formula warping my mind in the same way that it did my body.

* * * * * *

Galan

I was in serious trouble. Glory and I were as solid as ever. But I was spending a lot of my time thinking about Grace. There was no way that anything between us could ever happen. It would be just too weird to start something with Grace while I was screwing her mother. It was all a question of timing. If I had taken Glory up on any of the thousands of times she'd offered to hook me up with her daughter before we got together, everything would have been perfect. But now I was screwed.

Even when Glory and I were having sex, I found myself wondering what Grace would feel like. And we had so much in common. We both liked to run. We liked all of the same foods and the same TV shows and music. It would have been perfect. Of course there was no way that Grace would want to have anything to do with me. She spent most of her time trying to get me to leave her mother alone. She was convinced that if I went away, her parents could get back together.

On the other hand Glory didn't want me to leave. She was even harder to understand. She told me that she was never going to be in love with me, but every night we fucked like bunnies. I didn't understand any of it.

We went in to work on Wednesday and found the police in our office. They wanted to talk to everyone and had pretty much set up some type of command post in the office.

They were establishing some sort of timeline and map that detailed where everyone was after they left work the previous evening. At first they wouldn't tell us why but then they got us all together to make an announcement.

"Another of your coworkers was killed last night," said the man in charge of the police officers. That immediately started everyone to talking among themselves.

"Don't worry," said the officer. "No one here is a suspect. It was an animal attack. It was seen by several witnesses. The problem is that the attack was so sudden that the witnesses are unsure what kind of animal it was. Some of them thought it was a gorilla. Others are sure it was some sort of mutant bear. Judging from the injuries that were suffered in the attack, we think it's the same creature that attacked your other coworker, Craig, last weekend. What we're trying to establish is the pattern the two of them had and if there are any similar traits between them that could attract the creature. All we need is for you to answer our questions so we can figure those patterns out and we'll try to catch this thing before it kills again." He stepped away and several people started asking him questions.

I didn't get a chance to talk to Grace because I had to go on several sales calls during the day. But when she got ready to leave for the day, I made sure that I was back at the office for once.

"Galan, Honey, what are you doing here?" she asked, keeping her voice low. She didn't want anyone to know about us, so she pretended that it was business. She grabbed several files off of her desk and handed them to me and then pretended to look them over for mistakes.

"I came to walk you to your car," I said. "I'll follow you home."

When we got to the house, she was still laughing. Grace asked her what was so funny and Grace told her.

"Remember when I called and told you that the bear or whatever it was got another one of our coworkers last night?" she said to Grace. Grace just nodded her pretty head and had me almost gasping as waves of beautiful hair swished around with each nod.

"Galan came back to the office early just so he could escort me home. Isn't that funny?" laughed Glory. Grace immediately stopped laughing. It was almost as if she was angry at me.

I just didn't understand women. One of them thinks I'm funny. The other gets pissed at me at the drop of a hat. If only this could be like those stories on the internet. Then I could have one of those three way relationships with two women and marry both of them. But in real life most men can't handle one woman. Only a fool would want two.

* * * * * *

Grace

"We need to talk." It was funny because my mother and I had said it at the same time. We laughed as we stared at each other and then we both started again.

"It's about Galan!" We both said the exact same thing at the exact same time again.

This time though, she continued.

"Grace, I don't understand how the hell this happened," she said. "I always thought that Galan would be perfect for you. When I asked him to move in with me, my thought was that the two of you would meet and I'd end up with some grandkids. But somehow, he fell for me. I know all of the reasons why we don't work. I've done the math and come up with all of the correct answers, but somehow he still loves me.

Grace, he treats me better than anyone in my life ever has. And that includes your father. He's kind, he's considerate, I'd be a fool not to take the chance at something like that. So tonight at the party ... I'm not going to make a big announcement or anything, but the bullshit is out the door. I'm going to act the way I should. I'm going there with Galan, not as some big secret, but as the man in my life."

"Mom, you can't do that," I shrieked.

"Yeah, I can," she said. "I'm tired of basing what I do on what other people think or like. If Galan and I are happy, so be it."

"But what about Daddy?" I asked.

"Honey, I know this is hard for you. And your father was the love of my life. But I can't compete with his job. If it was another woman, I'd fight for him. But we've been divorced for more than three years now and he's never even called me. I have the right to be happy too. And Galan busts his ass trying to make me happy. I've tried to hold him off emotionally for just too long."

"Yeah, you've held him off emotionally alright," I spat. "But that's the only way you've held him off." She looked at me strangely.

"Grace, are you a virgin?" she asked.

"Of course not mother," I said.

"So how many guys have you slept with?" she asked.

"Mother that's kind of personal," I said.

"Is it more than three?" she asked.

"Well ... slightly," I said.

"How slightly?" she asked.

"Okay, including disastrous one night stands it's probably five or six guys," I said. "But that's over my entire life. Why do you want to know?"

"Because you're trying to act like I'm some sort of whore," she said. "Grace you're twenty-seven years old and you've slept with five or six guys. I'm fifty five and I've been with two. Both were long term relationships, one of which was a marriage."

"Mom, I'm not trying to ... It's just the way you act with Galan. I'm ..." I began. I couldn't figure out a way to say what I wanted to say. How do you tell your mother that you've fallen for the same guy that she has. The situation seemed to get worse every day.

The more things he did for her, the angrier I got. He should be doing those things for me. With the way things were going, I was no longer sure that my plan would work. If it didn't, someone was going to get hurt. And I'd end up the bad guy.

* * * * * *

Beth

Halloween is a strange time of year. But it paled in comparison to me. Only two months ago, I had been a very happy and fulfilled girl whose only thoughts were planning out my upcoming wedding and making Galan happy.

Now not only was I not engaged, I had, under the influence of my formula, killed two men. Two months ago, I had to call Galan if I found a spider in our bedroom. Now, the only thoughts I had concerning the two coworkers I had murdered was, fuck them, they had it coming.

I was so locked inside of my head as I walked towards the lab that I bumped into someone and fell backwards. A hand reached out to help me to my feet. As I grabbed for the hand my eyes locked on Galan's.

"Sorry, Beth. I guess I wasn't paying any attention to where I was going," he said.

"I wasn't either, Galan," I said. He smiled at me for a second and then anger flashed across his face.

"What was that for?" I asked.

"What?" he asked.

"You looked at me and then got pissed," I said. "We were having a nice cordial conversation and then ... Poof! Anger!"

He looked down. "I'm sorry, Beth, I had no right," he said.

"No right to what?" I asked. I was confused. Was even Galan about to make a fat joke?

"I ... I ... Looked at you and I noticed your breasts and all of that cleavage that's showing and ..." he began.

"And what?" I asked. "I've been told that the one good thing about fat girls is that they have big tits." He just looked at the floor.

"Go ahead Galan," I said. "I've heard all of the jokes."

"What joke?" he asked. "I was pissed that you were walking around showing them to everyone. I guess I was just remembering when they ... When you were ... All mine. Or at least I was stupid enough to think you were."

"Yeah," I said nastily. "But you only became stupid when you started believing that I and they weren't yours. Galan, I'm still all yours. But I'm your all human girl. I have all kinds of fears and insecurities and I did a really dumb thing that got out of control because of them. In short, I made a really big, really dumb mistake. But I never stopped loving you. I also never gave up on you or walked away from you. You did that. But if it makes you feel any better, as soon as I get into the lab, I'll button my lab coat all the way up to my neck. That way none of the guys will see your titties. Will that make you happy?"

Surprisingly, he nodded and I felt better than I had in months. "Galan, can you do something to make me happy?" I asked.

He just turned and nodded. "Could you come to the apartment tomorrow so I can tell you my part of how I ruined our lives. Even if it's only for closure, I think you owe me at least the chance to explain," I said. He nodded.

"I hope to see you at the party tonight," I said as he walked away. I felt for the first time in months that there was hope.

* * * * * *

Glory

Everyone was acting weird. All of my coworkers were traveling to and from the building in groups. Over the last week two of us had been killed by whatever type of animal was stalking the area.

The police couldn't seem to find any type of pattern. The only connection between Craig and Todd was that they both worked for our company. But even the places where they were killed differed. Craig had been in our parking lot. Todd had been at a gas station down the street. I think Todd's was the one that scared the shit out of everyone. He'd been murdered in front of witnesses by some sort of bear/ape hybrid. At least we knew what it was now.

But everyone was staying in groups so if the thing was spotted, there would be lots of people to help. Besides, most animals only attacked prey that was alone and weaker. They tended not to go after groups of animals.

Then there was my daughter. Grace had always been a little hard to figure out. But now she was a mystery. I couldn't for the life of me figure out her motivations.

But above all, I, myself was a mystery. I was going away from my own ideals. I had become something I never thought I could be. But I was happy.

Was I really? I guess I had always told myself that no matter what happened I would never give up. And now I had. Was I settling for Galan because I no longer believed that Mark would ever want me again. Or was I just facing reality and allowing myself to be happy? Only time would tell.

As I got dressed for the party, I had to admit that Grace had chosen a great costume for me. Not many women my age could pull it off. But then I wasn't built like a fifty five year old woman. A few days ago, Grace and I had stood next to each other in the mirror and except for some sagging and a few wrinkles in strategic places, our bodies were identical.

She'd chosen an I dream of Jeanie costume for me. I couldn't wait for Galan to see it. The diaphanous pants and cropped top show cased my long legs, my tiny waist and my boobs. I might not make it through the party. Once Galan got a look at me, he'd be ready to leave the party so he could bring me home. And I intended to let him. And for once, I didn't care who knew it.

The funny part was that I had a mask with a veil so no one would know who I was. But I would know Galan because Grace had told me about his costume. Galan was going as Optimus Prime. He had an incredible robot costume with a full mask. I was sure that Optimus would be dreaming of Jeanie because I was going to tease him relentlessly.

I had time to come home and get into my costume. Galan was going to change at the party because he was going to be seeing customers all the way until the party started.

I drove back to work and arrived just as my phone rang. I picked it up and answered it.

"Where are you?" asked Galan.

"I just got back to work. Where are you?" I asked him back.

"Who's with you?" he asked.

"Why do you want to know?" I asked back. The thought of Galan being jealous, made me feel really good.

"Glory you know I worry about you," he said. "You promised me that you would always have someone with you when you were in that parking lot."

"Sorry, Honey," I said. "It won't happen again. And on my way out, I'll have you with me, okay?"

"I ... love you, Glory. I don't want anything to happen to you," he said.

"Galan ..." I hesitated. " ... I love you too." His intake of air told me that he was as shocked by what I had said as I was for saying it."

The happiness in his voice after that made me feel warm all over. I felt good to finally start getting my life back on track. I had spent too many years pining over a man who was never going to love me the way that I deserved. Maybe giving me Galan was fate's way of rewarding me for what I had gone through. But somehow, it just didn't seem right. I guess that maybe I just needed time for things to break themselves in.

It was kind of like when you first started wearing a new pair of shoes. They were stiff and uncomfortable at first. But after a little bit of time, they became more and more comfortable until they were your favorite pair of comfortable old slippers. Given a few months, Galan would become my comfortable old slippers.

So perhaps it was the fact that I wanted to make Galan happy that made me wait until I saw a few of my coworkers pull into the parking lot to get out of my car. I quickly went over and entered the building along with the crowd of them. That way I could assure Galan that I hadn't walked through the parking lot alone. It was funny but knowing that he cared that much about me gave me a warm feeling.

It was also funny that all of the men I came I contact with stared appreciatively at me. The hours of yoga and Pilates were worth every second. But the funniest thing was that they seemed to have no idea who I was. I could pretty much figure out who most of the women were. The especially short or fat ones were very easy. The men were even easier. Most of them couldn't keep their mouths closed and their loud assed bellowing gave them away.

I kept looking at the clock waiting for Galan to show up. And as soon as he did he started looking around for me. His costume was incredible it was all hard plastic and from a distance, you almost couldn't tell that he wasn't a real robot. Almost everyone he ran into wanted to talk to him, but I could see that his mind was dead set on finding me.

I felt so sorry for him. It was almost funny. He ignored all of the men, and said only one word to each woman who tried to stop him. "Glory?" he'd say.

They'd usually say something stupid like, "Do I look like I'm in my fifties?" And he would just excuse himself and walk away. Clearly the boy had a one track mind and I was the only train on his track. I watched him moving through room after room looking for me and then I lost track of him. After a few moments I had the weirdest feeling in the pit of my stomach. I turned around and there he was behind me.

Up close, he seemed a bit shorter than he'd seemed from across the room, but there was no mistaking that robot costume. I batted my eyes from behind my veil and he walked up to me without saying a word. I was sure that he either recognized the body that he knew so intimately, or Grace had told him about my costume. I guess it was only fair, since she'd told me about his.

He never said a word. So I figured two could play that game. I remained silent too. Behind us the music had started. Still remaining silent, he led me out to the dance floor. I don't know if Galan understood it, but the whole masks and silent treatment thing had me hornier than ever before. The big, brooding type was a definite turn on. As we danced he pulled me against him. It had me wishing that his costume wasn't made completely of hard plastic sections. I really wanted to feel something hard rubbing against me. But I wanted something made of hard warm flesh.

"Galan, we're not staying for very long," I said.

"Who's Galan?" he asked, sending me into shock.

* * * * * *

Galan

I was walking through room after room looking for Glory. The thing that had me confused was how ridiculous most of the people at the party were acting. Things were just getting started and some of them were already well on the way to being drunk.

Most of the men there were too old to understand who Optimus Prime was. They kept stopping in front of me and doing that inane robot dance from the eighties. They also wanted to know where I got my costume. I really didn't have time for chit chat I had to find Glory.

I asked several of the women I came in contact with if they had seen her. Very few of them actually answered me. Some of them were stupid. Others were insulted. Most of them wanted to know if I knew who they were.

Grace had told me that her mother would be wearing an I dream of Jeanie costume, so I knew what to look for. I just hadn't run into her yet. But the building was huge and the party was stretched out over two floors. Even then with over eight hundred employees there, I could conceivably spend most of the night trying to find Glory. We should have come up with a place to meet.

I decided to go up to the second floor and work my way down. As I got on the elevator a woman got on with me. There was no doubt that it was Beth.

"Hi Galan," she said, cheerfully. "Great costume!"