Chapter 9

Nine

"The munching monsters…" the words were barely more than a whisper, but the monster heard them.

He seemed to growl ever so slightly. "Yes, now quickly, we must move."

He didn't wait for a response but pulled Theo back up the hill with him. Theo didn't know what else to do but follow and certainly that seemed like the only sensible option when a screech sounded from the forest behind them and was quickly followed by several more.

"What—"

"Quickly," the monster said. "They're coming for the bodies."

Theo hurried to keep up, given he had no idea who they were and truthfully was not keen on finding out. He moved quickly, past dead muncher after dead muncher, but he was breathing heavily as he did so—shock, panic, anger and a million other emotions running through him. Whilst he half wished that he was knocked out somewhere and trapped in a dream, Theo knew as the lower gravity aided him back up the clearing, that he was not. His senses were simply too sharp for this to be anything but reality.

The crunch of the mud and the grass underfoot.

The smell of the forest in the air, and of the dead munchers too if he was honest.

The screeches of whatever flying things were roaming around in the forest canopy soon to eat the dead munchers.

And the monster next to him, breathing as well, so big and so imposing, and so…frightening? Was that the word? No, Theo didn't think it was, not now, not with the threat of an imminent eating removed. The monster could have munched him already, when they came into this dimension, when they were a tangle of limbs rolling down the hill, right this moment with Theo pulled close to him…

"You move fast," the monster said when they were back at their starting point, but he didn't stop there. He continued to move away from the forest and away from the dead munchers. "Are you able to run now? I would like to put some distance between us and them. It is too dangerous to stay for long."

Them…Theo shivered.

"If it's so dangerous, why did you bring me here?" he asked.

"This is the exact same place in our world as the cleaning facility in yours."

"The bathroom?"

"Yes."

"Can't you just send me back there?" Theo asked. "Just…let me go, and we'll forget this ever happened?"

The monster shook his head, chest rumbling again as he spoke. "I am not able to do that."

"But why not?" Theo demanded, feeling a bit braver now that the panic had subsided a bit.

"I require your assistance," the monster said.

"And what if I don't want to give it?" Theo asked.

The monster was implacable. "It will make no difference," he said. "Your service will be given regardless."

It was like the MDF all over again, and Theo clenched his fists against those same feelings of fury and helplessness that had filled him when his legal challenge was refused. "But we're here…right now…" he said. "The rips are in the same spot in both dimensions, aren't they?"

"Exactly."

"So in my world right here is the toilet?"

"Yes."

"I could go right back there, right now."

"But you will not," the monster said.

There was clearly no moving him on this, and Theo had to take a deep breath to try to control the emotions running through him. The monster also continued to push them onwards and his pace was brutal, leaving even Theo slightly out of breath after a few minutes. That annoyed him and Theo pulled them to a stop again.

"I demand to return home!" he said.

The monster did not waver. "Demands are pointless."

"But—"

"You can return to your world once you have aided me," the monster said. "I will promise you that."

"I'll go home?" Theo asked.

The monster nodded. "Yes."

He started moving again, the pace just as hard, and Theo had no choice but to follow, though truthfully there was little choice as the monster kept him close anyway, reaching out to grab him whenever it looked like Theo was falling behind.

"When?" Theo eventually said.

"Soon," the monster replied. "Our window of time is short."

"And the rip…" Theo gestured behind him even as he wondered what the monster meant by that cryptic statement. "It is like that with every rip? The rip in the sky by my house is in the same place in this world?"

The monster tilted his head. "Yes, this is basic physics."

"I don't…" Theo shook his head. "I don't know much about the rips. No one does!"

"That is not true," the monster said. "The governments of your world have simply chosen not to share their knowledge with the wider population."

"Then they know about you?" Theo asked.

"Me specifically?" the monster replied.

"That you are…human?"

The monster growled again. Growled. And Theo was struck all over again just how impossible this whole thing was.

"We are not human," he said.

"We?"

"I will answer your questions," the monster replied. "You will also answer mine. But we cannot do that if you have been eaten by the rages." He gestured to the forest.

"Monsters…"

"That have yet to make it to your dimension," he said darkly. "Be grateful for that." As if that had jolted something in him the monster held out Theo's knife. "Take this back," he said. "You must be able to defend yourself. Do not attempt to use it on me though," he added. "I am your only way back to your own world. If you were somehow able to best me and make it back to the forest, you leave yourself only at the mercy of the rages. To be clear, they have none."

Theo took the knife and placed it back against his thigh, securing it tight. He took a quick look behind him to where the forest was. Were the rages responsible for those bright lights? How awful were they that even this monster feared them?

"We're not going to hurt each other," Theo said, and he wanted it to sound like a statement, but it sounded more like a question.

"You are safe with me," the monster said and then he shook his head. Shook his head. "Safe from me," he added. "I cannot protect you if enough of the rages find us…"

Theo gave the monster a nod because frankly these rages were starting to worry him. Taking that as a signal they began to run in the opposite direction of the forest. Theo was careful to take note though of the exact position he had come through to this world in case there was a chance to return and get home to his dimension…

There were no lights here and it was dark indeed, so Theo's attention was soon pulled from a route home and then held entirely by the run. He adjusted position and followed directly behind the monster. The monster didn't seem to like that though and kept moving so that Theo was right next to him, in his sight, close enough that he could grab him again should he want to. And he did seem to want to. Several times he reached out and patted Theo's arm, as if reassuring himself that Theo was there. Theo tried to ignore him, focusing instead on avoiding any holes in the mud, because the last thing he needed was a sprained ankle!

He was hugely thankful that he'd eaten the three Mars bars and drank some isotonic. Though he recalled now that he had very much needed to use the toilet. He tried to ignore that and concentrate on his running instead. Perhaps if it had been daylight, he could have looked around this dimension, this world that was pressed so closely to his own and seen things that no other human ever had. He could have marvelled at it all and felt privileged beyond words. But Theo was tired, it had been a very long day and one that had started far too early at that. He was hot and sticky and there were still bits of purple goo over his clothes now combined with blood and alien mud and who knew what else!

He found himself worrying about Dimitri and Gill. How long before they'd checked the toilet to see what was taking him so long and then found him just…gone? His chest tightened as he considered that they might think he had abandoned them. Perhaps slipped out the back whilst they were recovering themselves? And what about the others? Were they still being chased by the dozen or so munching monsters? Or had that been their queen back there, and her death had ensured theirs?

Theo played those thoughts over and over in his mind and before he knew it a half hour elapsed and then another half hour more. Without knowing it Theo had run a half marathon in the best time of his running career. But then, did personal bests count if they were on an alien planet with lower gravity and motivated by the possibility of being eaten? It was something he would consider in the years to come.

The monster slowed slightly as they came to a huge field pressed up against a cliff face. The rolling field would eventually lead down to the coast. They were too far away to see it now, but about sixteen miles from their location was the rip which had led to the infestation that Theo had been sent to contain.

"Follow me," the monster said as he led them towards the cliff face, though once again he did not wait for Theo to follow, reaching out instead to encourage him to do so.

Theo sucked in some deep breaths as they approached. He was starting to tire, and he was unbelievably thirsty. It was a combination of all the adrenaline and all the running. The Mars bars had long since been exhausted.

The monster pressed something on the cliff face and a door appeared. It flooded them both with light, and Theo had to take a moment to let his eyes adjust.

"Come," the monster said, and he gestured to the inside of the cave. There was a room inside of it, a hidden room, and it was clearly where the monster intended for them to rest.

Theo paused for just a moment as he considered the cave. He realised that once he was inside there would be no escaping the monster. He turned slightly and looked back to where the forest lay in darkness but even here, at such a distance away, Theo was sure he could see dim lights…there were monsters in there…monsters that this massive one was frightened of…

Theo let out a shaky breath, this whole thing was just so surreal. He wasn't quite sure that he really believed it was happening and wouldn't be at all surprised if he woke up at any moment now back in the village shop. One thing he did know though, there was no way back to his world alone. It was the cave with the monster, and a promise from there to return him back, or the darkness of this dimension alone.

Theo sighed and he entered the cave.