3. Sera.2
“He?”
Those massive, dark eyes seem to follow us as we walk.
“Yes, Ramsyk. He was a bit too spirited to remain on ground level. He’s been contained up above and now watches over the Mid Hallows. Trust me, he’s much happier up there.”
It’s a bit unsettling to have a giant monstrous moon man staring down at you, but the light he emits really is quite lovely.
The field gives way to a darkened plot of hilly land. The ashen earth spreads as far as the eye can see and is covered in grey stones of varying shapes and sizes. No, not just stones. Tombstones. It’s a cemetery . Simple rounded headstones give way to grand mausoleums and ornate statues.
The vast expanse of carvings and plots should be creepy. Back in the mortal world, it would be. But here, the carved names and weathered rocks feel just right. The entire scene is even—beautiful.
A looming black gate stands at the far end of the cemetery. The enormous iron doors swing open as we approach. The faintest shimmer of translucent skin hovers around the midsection of each door. The longer I focus on the blurry shapes, the more they come into focus.
“Ghosts?”
Two grim faces come into view, and I blink. Depending on the angle, their expressions shift from ghastly grins to ghoulish grimaces. A shudder moves through me. I’d much prefer not to be on the darker side of these two.
“Mileen and Rapha. The guardians. They control who can access the Mid Hallows. There are many ways to leave, but only one way to enter again.”
The two don a more pleasant expression and bow their floating heads in deference as we pass the threshold.
“Why would anyone risk leaving the Mid Hallows?”
I think back to the tree I fell through right before I landed in the Deeper Hallows. I guess it’s easy to leave but tricky to get back. If Kel hadn’t discovered me, I don’t think I would have ever found my way out of the darkness of the Deeper Hallows.
“Many leave to visit the cemetery." He nods over his shoulder.
“How very human of them.”
“You’ll find no humans in the Mid Hallows.”
Kel walks us along a cobblestone road. “Each human who ends up in the Mid Hallows is rebirthed in the cemetery. The dirt transforms them. Those who rise from their graves take their Hallows forms. This realm twists and bends their souls. Each emerges as a new and unique creature. Monsters, you might say. For some, the headstones are the last connection to their humanity. I think that’s why, on occasion, they choose to revisit their final resting place.”
I guess that means I’m about to encounter some strange things. “So, no one looks human here?”
His eyes pass over me. “No one except you.”
Pfft. I’m hardly passable as human. My creator’s butchery and rough handiwork has made sure of that. A longing reaches out from between my ribs and stretches its forlorn fingers back toward the cemetery. “Do I have a headstone?”
I’ve felt like such an unnatural being since the worm made me into this. Having something to tie me to the girl I was before my murder tugs at a broken place within me.
Kel’s dark eyes sadden. “No. You didn’t enter the Hallows in the usual way. You were brought here. Your spirit was forced, unnaturally, into the new pieces that make up your body here. You entered directly into the lab. Your Hallows form was designed. To have a plot beyond the gates, you needed to have been reborn through the cemetery.”
My heart sinks. I’m even more of a monster than the other inhabitants of this world. All that’s left of my humanity sits buried with ash and soil on the property of my killers.
“I’ll do anything to take that sadness from your eyes.”
Kel’s pained features assess me.
Long fingers brush along my chin as he turns me to face him. “You are different, but perfect. I will find a way to make you see how true that is.”
His arm wraps snugly around my shoulder. We walk the rest of the way tucked into each other’s sides. My gaze is cast down. I stare at my mismatched feet and the cobblestones beneath. The silence dwells atop my throat, but I’m too weary to break it.
“My king!”
a sharp, feminine voice pitches from nearby. The hunched form of a small green goblin hobbles forward. Her misshapen mouth and sharpened teeth are on full display as she smiles up at Kel. “You have returned from the mortal world. Another All Hallows’ Eve has passed! What was it like? Did you reap a great many souls? How many demons did you fight?”
“My king.”
“Our king has returned!”
“The king is back.”
A symphony of strange voices echo similar sentiments as the residents of the Mid Hallows rush to greet Kel. The creatures are reminiscent of horror films and spooky stories. Some of them are short and warty, others are oversized and shrouded in mist. There are creatures made entirely of insects, and others that appear to have risen straight from a swamp.
“Did you scare them to death, my king?”
The question comes from a giant man sporting the tattered rainbow garb of a long-forgotten clown. His pink tentacle-like tongue flicks out and runs along the rows of shark-like teeth that fill his wide mouth.
“By the hundreds,”
Kel answers with a wide grin.
“You’re the most fearsome,”
a blue, legless monster cries out.
“I’d die all over again for you,”
screeches a bird-like man with taloned feet and a crooked black beak.
“How terrifying you are, my king.”
A scaly, six-armed woman with skin like tree bark and bones hanging from each hand paws at Kel’s clothing.
The mass of citizens grows as they swarm around their leader. I’m crushed against him as the fanfare intensifies. Each monster is desperate to get close to Kel. They belt out their praises. Some even sob as they catch a handful of his t-shirt or jeans.
“Thank you, everyone,”
Kel responds calmly, despite the chaos surrounding us. “It has been quite a night. If you’ll excuse me and my guest. I am in need of rest after such a successful reaping.”
He snaps his fingers and six stoney gargoyles drop to the ground before us. Their horrifying faces sit in revered stoicism as they line the walkway, making space and moving one over the other to keep our path clear. Kel whispers in my ear, “My personal guard.”
The overexcited crowd thins as we journey farther down the path. A row of burning jack-o-lanterns leads up the steps to a massive manor. The house itself is as black as night, with spires reaching high into the sinister sky. Candles rest on the sill of two great windows. Below them, a long porch with scalloped edging stretches wide. Two eyes and—a mouth? It’s a face . And I could swear the windows change shape slightly, their candles lowering to stare down at us as we approach.
The grounds surrounding the impressive home are covered with an intricate weaving of vine-bearing pumpkins. The twisted greenery exhibits the largest gourds I’ve ever seen. A tangle of vines grows up the walls of the house itself, depositing bright orange pumpkins every few feet. They dangle from floor to roof. The vines slither and move, further giving the manor the impression of being alive.
A single, oversized raven caws at us from above the entrance. “Hello, Peck.”
The bird flaps his wings excitedly. “He keeps an eye on the manor.”
I find myself smiling as I take in the unusual structure. “It’s beautiful.”
“It’s home.”
Kel rubs his thumb across the back of my hand. “Mine and yours . If you want to stay with me.”
When I peek up at him, I find uncertainty and fear in his deep gaze. It’s enough to make me laugh. I’m in a foreign world filled with monsters. I’ve been brought back from the dead. Demons and ghouls have tried to take my life more than once. Throughout all the madness, Kel’s been with me. My protector. I can’t think of a single reason why I wouldn’t want to spend every moment by his side. He’s kind and safe. Not to mention incredibly hot and all too generous in those intimate moments.
My cheeks flush at the memories of our previous sexual encounters. A boldness blooms in my chest. “Maybe we should go inside. You could show me where you sleep.”
Kel gives me a heated stare. “Are you asking me to take you to my bedroom?”
His grin is practically feral.
“I...”
I swallow my nerves. “Yes. I want you to take me to your bedroom.”
A shriek escapes me as Kel sweeps his arms beneath me, lifting my feet from the ground. “Kel!”
His lips land on mine with a weight and urgency that has fireworks bursting low in my belly. “The bedroom is this way, monster bait.”
A curtain of vines bearing mini yellow and white pumpkins draws back upon our approach, revealing two obsidian doors. Kel kicks out a foot, slamming the doors inward. Blue-flamed candelabras fill the interior with an eerie light. A layer of swirling fog shrouds the ground. Statues of stone gargoyles decorate every corner of the floor and ceiling. They mimic the group of guards that led us to the manor. Part of me wonders if they’re alive beneath those pupilless eyes, just holding incredibly still.
“They’re dormant,”
Kel answers yet another of my unspoken questions. “Unlike the guards, these won’t awaken unless they’re summoned.”
I must be easier to read than I thought .
An endless spiral of glassy black stairs leads up to the highest part of the manor. Space feels like an illusion in this place. There can’t possibly be this many stories. From the outside I counted only three. Kel breezes up the swirling flights. His long legs take the steps two or more at a time. All the while he has me lifted in his arms as if it’s no effort at all.
We reach the top of the staircase and head down a shadowy corridor. Sconces burst to life as we pass, illuminating the darkness. A single door sits at the end of the hall. It towers over us, coffin-shaped and decorated with a border of small bones. Kel waves his hand and the door creaks open.
More candles illuminate the interior of the room. An enormous bed sits in the very center of the space. In place of the usual four posts that would border a bed like this, there are four twisted petrified trees. They hook up and over the bed, their branches knitting together to create a cryptic canopy. Again, I find the dark decor dazzling. A fireplace shaped like a wide, fang-filled mouth roars to life, lending even more light to his chambers.
Kel spins me, settling my legs around his waist. The hard length of his erection presses against my core. His mouth is frenzied and rough as his lips take mine. His long stride devours the room in a few quick steps. The twisted trunk of one of the trees presses into my back, and I gasp.
“Eventually we’ll need to get you some proper clothes.”
Kel’s hand slides beneath the jacket. “But for now, I’m quite enjoying the lack of layers.”
My moan is needy as his fingertips toy between my thighs. I’m just as eager to be close to Kel again, but something keeps nagging at the back of my mind.
“Wait,”
I say. He withdraws his hand immediately. “I want to see the real you. Not the one hidden beneath this skin. Will you show me the Skeleton King?”
Kel hesitates. The brows of his painted skeletal face furrow. “I don’t know if that’s a good idea.”
“Why wouldn’t it be?”
The muscles in his jaw tense. “I’m worried it may scare you away. In my human skin, or even partially shifted, I can be more gentle with you.”
“I don’t want gentle. I want the Skeleton King.”
I’m getting more and more comfortable with the dark thing that’s filling in the secret corners within me. It guides my actions, spurring me on. I don’t know what it is about Kel, but he makes the dark hidden things in me rise to the surface. With him, I feel safe. Something about that kind of security has me craving the perverse. Maybe I have lost my human side completely, because the things I want—they aren’t human desires.
Bending forward, I take Kel’s lip in mine and bite until I taste blood. My voice is a whisper against his parted mouth. “Show me your monster.”
Kel sucks in a ragged breath. It’s followed by a long, low groan. The tip of his inky tongue flicks out, sweeping across the wounded flesh. With that first taste of blood, the darkness that tints his irises spreads. It consumes the entirety of his eyes like a shark. He rubs his thumb along the pooled blood, gathering it, and presses it between my lips. My body reacts, sucking his finger, loving the way his hips buck slightly in response. The metallic, spicy flavor dances along my tongue. Arousal pools between my thighs, soaking the front of Kel’s jeans.
“Your wickedness grows by the minute.”
He pulls his thumb free, replacing it with a searing kiss that sends more blood flowing between my parted lips. His hand finds mine, jerking it lower so that I can feel the stiffening inches of his hard length. “And so does my cock.”
“Mmmm,”
I simper needfully. The heat of his shaft sinks into my palm despite the thick fabric separating us.
“Do you want this thick cock in your tight little cunt?”
Heat rushes to my cheeks when he says those filthy words to me. I’m so turned on by him, I could burst.
“Yes.”
I grab for his waistband, but he snatches up my wrists, pinning them above my head.
He clucks his tongue. “Not so fast. You said you wanted a monster…”
He dips lower, his voice a haunted whisper in my ear. “Nightmares are real, monster bait.”
Sharpened teeth graze the side of my neck. “I’m about to make yours come true.”
The bed frame creaks and groans and then— Snap . Branches wrap around my ankles. Snap. My wrists are next. Kel backs away from me, and the limbs pull tight.
“Ahh! Kel?”
I’m suspended vertically, feet dangling off the floor, while my limbs are attached to each corner, stretching out my body into the shape of an X. I squirm, working to pull my arms and legs back in, but the branches only pull taut in response.
“Don’t struggle.”
At the sound of Kel’s command, my gaze flicks back to him. His voice sounds different, coarse. It’s unnaturally deep with a grittiness that wasn’t there before.
The expertly carved muscles of his stomach are exposed as he drags the hem of his t-shirt up and over his head. Every detail of his human form is sinfully perfect. My throat goes dry when he reaches for the top of his jeans. The feeling of him inside me is so fresh in my mind. His grin is feral as he shucks his pants, revealing a hard human cock. My tongue slides out across my lip.
He strokes it once, lifting an eyebrow at me. “Don’t get used to it.”
His eyes close. When they slowly open, they’re utterly inhuman. Swirling purple fills his stare. No irises, no pupils, just perpetual violet flames glowing bright enough to make me squint. His human form shudders. A dark veil circles around him. The first thing to go is the skin of his chest. It peels back, curling outward. It’s as if the shadows themselves are flaying him. Skin gives way to muscle, and muscle gives way to bone. In moments, I’m staring into a hollow rib cage.
The process repeats across his arms, down his stomach, and along his legs. Skin, muscle, and sinew drop to the floor in discarded scraps. The pieces shrivel up, transforming into a pile of dead autumn leaves. The last to be revealed is his skull. Curiosity tinged with horror seeps into my every pore as his handsome face peels away. Lips, eyes, ears. All of it vanishes. There’s nothing but a human skeleton in front of me.
Holy—shit. That was intense. The skeleton moves toward me, bones clacking with each step. I gulp thickly as those violet eyes burn into me. “I... that… That transformation was—”
“Nothing. That was nothing.”
A small violet flicker that matches those in his eyes sparks to life where his heart should be. It grows brighter and brighter, illuminating the room. A bony hand reaches out, grasping my jaw. He turns my head so that I’m facing the wall, his grip tightening until I’m unable to turn back to face him. “Monster bait?”
I’m barely able to manage a whisper through the pressure on my face. “Yes?”
“Are you ready to meet the Skeleton King?”
I’m not given the chance to answer his question. The flames within his chest cast the shadow of his skeleton upon the wall. As I watch, a new body takes shape. The cracking begins softly, but quickly becomes deafening. As I stare at the shadow on the wall, it grows, taller and taller, nearly touching the ceiling. The skull stretches, its mouth opening wide. I can just make out the shadowy shapes of two rows of sharpened teeth pushing up through the lower and upper jaws. They must be several inches long. Once again, I’m reminded of a shark.
I’m eager to turn forward and see Kel’s true form for myself, but the hand holding my face never budges. The shadowy configuration on the wall is my only glimpse into the creature he’s becoming. The long bony fingers outlining my jaw stretch and grow until their grip encompasses my entire head. The other arm raises up, growing to twice that of a human arm. The hand that settles on the end of it is absolutely massive and tipped in curved claws. I can only assume his other arm and hand are equally as large and intimidating.
Kel throws his head back, filling the air with a monstrous howl. His back arches then hunches forward. One by one his vertebrae jut up and out. A line of sharp bony ridges settle from the top of his neck to the base of his tailbone.
“Ready for my favorite part?”
I jump at the growly tone of his voice. “Look lower.”
My eyes drop to the skeletal hips of the silhouette. Arousal and horror comingle in my gut as segments of bone separate from the tops of his femurs and sides of his pelvis. They meet in the center, twisting together and growing bigger, bigger . He shifts forward and I feel the nudge of hard bone against my stomach. The sheer size of the newly formed appendage makes me gasp.
Kel finally loosens his grip on my jaw and turns my face toward him. His teeth are even longer, even sharper than they appeared from their silhouette. The skull that stares back at me is so large, so menacing— Wait, I’ve seen this before . When I first landed in the Deeper Hallows. There were two monsters fighting. One was a terrifying lizard hybrid and the other was a giant skeleton. Kel . He saw me during the fight. That’s how he tracked me down and saved me from the viblious bloom. How had I not put two and two together before now?
Languidly, my eyes find their way up to his. Kel’s royal form is stunningly enormous.
Fiery purple eyes burn brightly. The flames are mimicked in his chest cavity and... My gaze drops to his pelvis. The bones have twisted to create a long spiral cage. Small bony knobs line the top, leading down to a wide, flat head. The inside of the cage is filled with the same swirling, violet fire. A fucking bone cock? With fire inside?
That thing is huge, huge .
“Still certain you wouldn’t prefer me to be gentle?”
The grittiness in Kel’s voice sends a shiver up my spine.
It’s beginning to feel like I’m in over my head. Can I possibly accommodate an appendage that absurdly large? I don’t know for certain, but I sure as hell want to try.
“I asked for a monster.”
I meet his feverish gaze, deepening my voice to mask my trepidation. “And that is what I want.”
The chuckle that rumbles out of Kel makes the hairs on my neck rise. My common sense is screaming at me, warning me that danger is close at hand. But I don’t want common sense right now. I want to experience the Skeleton King and every twisted thing he has to offer.
“Then a monster is what you’ll get.”
The tree branches securing me vanish. I’m flipped around and face down faster than I can process. A cloud of dust puffs up around me as I sink deeper into the stiff comforter. The branches find my ankles once more, wrapping tightly.
Kel turns my head to the side, forcing me to face the wall once more. Giddy anticipation tingles between my thighs as I watch his shadow dip his head down. When his jaw unhinges next, not one, but two tongues unfurl. Two? That second one definitely wasn’t there earlier. Holy—
They slide against my aching pussy with a burning heat that I’m certain derives from the violet fire that burns inside Kel. My eyes roll back as he flicks the tip of one tongue over my throbbing clit. The second tongue presses between my folds, sweeping inside me and thrusting firmly.
Flick. Thrust. Flick. Thrust.
The tandem assault is maddening. He’s devouring me and making sure his shadow allows me to see every depraved move he makes. The sounds of him slurping as his twin tongues taste every inch of me is nothing short of lewd. I’m being tongue fucked by a fucking skeleton .
“Ohhh yesss...”
I blurt out, lost in the pleasurable sensations pulsating through my core.
I watch through the shadows as Kel drives his face forward, sending his tongue so deep that it makes me choke in surprise. The feeling is intensified by the sudden sharp shock of his teeth as they sink into the flesh of my ass.
I scream. The moment the sound leaves my body, Kel ups his pace, flicking his tongue over my clit so fast that my brain melts. My orgasm cracks me open, releasing a dam of arousal that drenches Kel’s tongue as my muscles contract around him. He’s relentless, coaxing climax after climax out of me without rest.
“Too much,”
I gasp. My legs are shaking so hard that if it weren’t for the tree branches spreading my ankles wide, I would collapse.
Kel withdraws his tongues. “I disagree, monster bait. I need you nice”—he runs his tongue up my seam—“and wet”—the second tongue follows, trailing up until they meet at my heated entrance—“so you’ll be ready to take the full size of me.”
Both tongues plunge inside and I spasm. They’re each easily as thick as a normal male shaft, but even together I know they’re no match for Kel’s bone cock.
He separates the tongues, using each to press on the sides of my pussy, stretching me wide enough to make me yelp. I’m sweaty and limp by the time he’s done feasting.
“It still won’t be easy, but that should help to minimize the damage.”
I heave in a breath. I hadn’t even realized he’d moved to whisper in my ear. My eyes are blurry, but as they refocus, I see him hunching over me, his excessively large skeletal form dwarfing my own shadow. Light flickers as he grasps his cock and lines it up with my entrance.
This is really going to happen .
The first nudge of his tip has my whole body tensing. “Relax your fucking cunt. If you don’t, this will be more feral than fun.”
Relaxing is impossible. Still, I try my best. My muscles were soft and pliant after the twisted pleasure of his tongues, but the uncertainty of what’s to come has them drawing tight in anticipation. I watch his shadowy figure as his hips press forward. The feel of his monster cock splitting me open is terrifying and unexpectedly—hot. There’s pain, of course. But the pleasure that comes from the violet flames licking at my G-spot has me mewling like a cat in heat.
“Full?”
Kel asks. I can tell by his voice, there’s a smile on his face.
“Yes,”
I pant, squirming.
He chuckles. “You don’t know the meaning of full, little monster bait.”
He pushes the next few inches of his length inside me and my nerve endings explode. “Mmmm,”
he groans in satisfaction. He pumps his hips harder and I moan so loudly my lungs ache. “That’s better, but something is still missing.”
“What is it?”
My voice is breathy and unrecognizable.
“Watch and see.”
He cuffs my chin, ensuring my eyes remain on his shadow. A piece of his upper femur peels back, but instead of twisting to form his shaft like the other bones, it stretches higher, settling an inch or so above the bony cock cage.
“What’s that for?”
I’m barely breathing thanks to his massive girth.
“This”—he strokes the new bone—“is so I can fill you properly.”
The next time his hips drive forward, I nearly faint. The second bone presses into my ass. Oh god. He was right. I didn’t know the meaning of full.
After the initial pain, I feel… I feel… Incredible. “More.”