5. Abbey

5

ABBEY

Abbey hid in the back of the store, her heart pounding so hard it felt like it was shaking her entire body.

It's him—it's him! The one from your dreams! shouted a little voice in her head.

No, it can't be—they're only dreams! she told it, trying to fight back. He's not real—he can't be!

But if that was true, then why did she hear the rumble of his voice and then Aunt Rose's higher-pitched tones answering it?

Abbey dared to open the door a crack and peek out, but of course she couldn't see anything but colorful blurs. One blur was more colorful than the others though—she definitely caught some gold in her field of vision as well as dark blue. The colors stood out against the various shades of red and pink and green that were the roses in the shop. Was that him?

She listened closely, trying to figure out what he wanted.

"I'm sorry," her aunt was saying. "But I have kind of a mess to clean up right here. If you'll wait for just a minute, I'll be right with you."

"That's fine," came the deep rumble of his voice. "I'll wait."

Abbey's panicked mind filled with a jumble of questions. Was he really a Monstrum warrior? And if so, was he really the one from her dreams? What did he want with her? What was he doing here?

Well, she could get answers for at least one of those questions, she thought. Reaching into her pocket, she pulled out her iPhone. Scrolling through the apps by touch as the iPhone whispered quietly what each one was, she found the button for an app called "Be My Eyes."

Be My Eyes was an app that connected thousands of seeing people who signed up as volunteers with visually impaired people who needed help with simple tasks. In the past, Abbey had used the app a lot while grocery shopping or doing other mundane chores where she needed someone to see details for her that her own eyes couldn't discern. But she'd never used it for what she was going to do now, she thought grimly.

Double tapping the app, she was soon rewarded with a voice on the other end of the phone.

"Hi, I'm Madison—how can I help you?"

It was a happy, chatty female voice and it sounded youngish—like a girl in college, Abbey thought.

"Hi," she said in a low voice, bringing the phone around to face herself. "I need some help—can you please describe the man, er, person I'm about to show you?"

"Uh, sure," the voice said. "Just let me see him."

Abbey turned the phone around and pointed it through the crack in the door at about eye-level.

"A little to the left," the voice said. "I can't quite see him…oh, there he is!" she exclaimed as Abbey tilted the phone. "Just hold it right there."

"What does he look like?" Abbey whispered, trying to keep her voice down. "Is he a Monstrum?"

"Oh God, he must be—and he's huge!" the girl returned. "I mean, he's twice as big as that old lady he's standing beside!"

Abbey swallowed hard. Aunt Rose was about five foot five—an inch shorter than Abbey herself.

"What else?" she asked quickly. "What does he look like?"

"Well, he's got golden skin. Or maybe it's fur? It's hard to tell but it has kind of a golden sheen to it, you know?" the girl said. "And he's got this wild mane around his head. Oh—and horns, too!"

"He has horns?" Abbey asked, fascinated despite herself.

"Uh-huh—kind of twisty and spiral, growing on either side of his forehead. You know who he looks like? Do you remember that old show from the 90s—that Beauty and the Beast show?"

"Uh…I think I saw it once or twice when I was younger," Abbey said doubtfully. "Before I lost my sight. My Aunt Rose loved that show."

"My mom too!" the girl said excitedly. "Well, if you remember the Beast guy—Victor, I think his name was, or maybe Vincent—anyway, that's who this Monstrum looks like. Only with horns."

"So he looks like a lion with horns?" Abbey whispered. "Does he have fangs too?" She felt a fresh shiver of fear run down her spine.

"Well, his teeth are kind of sharp—I mean, they'd have to be, you know? But he also has these gorgeous golden eyes. Honestly, he's really handsome if you're into the whole Beauty and the Beast thing," the girl said. Clearly she took her descriptive duties seriously. "He's got broad shoulders and he's really muscular. But not in that gross body-builder kind of way with all the veins sticking out everywhere. More like a hero in one of those Marvel Movies. Like Captain America, you know?"

Abbey vaguely remembered getting to see the movie the girl had mentioned before her fine vision had gone completely. She nodded and then remembered that the phone was turned away from her.

"Thank you," she said, turning it around again so the girl could see her face, even if Abbey couldn't see hers.

"Is he there to Claim you?" the girl asked in an excited whisper. "Oh my God, you're so lucky—he's hot!"

"I don't know what he wants," Abbey said, though she was afraid that wasn't true. "I work in a florist shop—probably he just wants some flowers," she added.

"Oh, that's too bad." The girl sounded disappointed. Then her voice brightened. "But if it turns out he is there to take you up to the Mother Ship, you're in luck. I mean, it's like you won the Monstrum husband lottery! And do you know all the sexy things they do to you once they get you up there?"

"What…what sexy things?" Abbey asked, her throat going dry.

"Well, we're not supposed to know, but my best friend's big sister got Claimed by a Beast Kindred and she told us all about it!" The girl giggled. "They divide it into weeks. There's the Holding Week, and the Touching Week, and the Tasting Week—I bet you can guess what happens then!"

Abbey didn't want to guess.

"Thank you for your help, but I really need to go now," she heard herself saying.

"Okay…well, call anytime," the girl chirped. "I love this app!"

"Me too," Abbey said distractedly. "Bye."

She hung up without saying anything else.

Her heart was still pounding and her throat felt dry. He was here—the Monstrum from her dreams was in the shop. And he wasn't just here to buy flowers—she knew that. Deep in her bones, she knew he was here to collect her—to take her back to the Kindred Mother Ship, like the girl had said.

But if he takes me with him, he'll have me up there all alone! And he's so big—he'll be able to do anything he wants to me!

Memories of that awful night with Henry came rushing back. The man she'd thought was so nice and kind until he suddenly wasn't anymore. And then before that, what had happened in high school…

No—I can't let that happen again! I can't let him take me away someplace where he can get me alone! I can't let him take me at all!

But how could she stop him?

Abbey didn't know—she only knew she was scared to death of the huge Kindred warrior and she felt trapped, like a tiny mouse confronted by a large, hungry cat.

Oh God—what was she going to do?