Seeing Monsters

by Hopefullygoodgrammar

The Thrall Of Nightmares

By the time Daring managed to work up the nerve to leave the bar, Luna’s night had fallen across the land.

She hadn’t planned on staying the night, but she had enough bits to rent a small, dimly-lit motel room for one night. She tried to get some rest, but she couldn't close her eyes for more than a few minutes before the image of Dr. Cabellron- no, the thing that had been wearing the guise of Dr. Cabellron’s blood-red eyes forced her back into the waking world.

In her many years as an adventurer she had encountered many monsters, from chimeras to giant spiders, but she had never once encountered something that made her this uneasy. It hadn’t even tried to attack her for Celestia’s sake! But that look that it gave her had been enough to reduce her to a little filly hiding under the covers in the hopes that the monster under the bed wouldn’t claim her.

Oh. My. Celestia… that’s what its eyes reminded me of: the Monster Under the Bed. she thought, letting the realization wash over her like cold water.

When she was young, long before she discovered her love of adventuring, she had been into drawing, letting her imagination run rampant in the form of crayon scribbles. Her imagination had come in handy years later when solving the many puzzles and traps in the ruins that she entered, but that imagination had often been an issue when it came to the monsters in her nightmares.

One of the only images that she had drawn that she could remember where of the Monster Under the Bed: who she had given a shadowy, panther-like body, a mouth with jutting fangs not unlike a venus flytrap, a barbed tail and pure red eyes that pierced the darkness it prowled in.

Daring suddenly got the impression that, if she had looked at those eyes closer, they would have looked more like crayon scribbles than actual eyes.

Sweet Luna, if I keep thinking like that I’ll never get a good night’s sleep! she thought, trying to distract herself from the awful mental image that she’d given herself.

She turned over on her bed and glanced at the door.

The lock was firmly locked and a heavy chair had been placed against it. Had she been facing a normal pony, Daring wouldn’t have taken as many precautions, knowing that her physical prowess was at its peak, but she was certain that she wasn’t up against anything that even came close to “Normal”.

I wish that I had brought a weapon that was better than my whip. she thought as she stared at the door.

She sighed and turned away from the door, she reached out with a wing to turn the lamp that sat on the nightstand next to her off, but thought better of it.

She closed her eyes and thought about all of the beautiful and grand vistas that she had visited, trying desperately to keep those red eyes out of her mind.

KNOCK-KNOCK-KNOCK!!

Daring shot upright and fluttered off the bed, going into a fighting stance as she did.

“Who's there?” she called, not wanting to go near the door.

“I-it’s me, Dr. Hoof.” said a familiar, shaky voice.

Daring let out a sigh of relief, but tensed back up just as quickly when the image of The Monster Wearing Dr. Cabelleron’s Face standing outside the door and imitating the good doctor flashed through her mind.

The tan pegasus crept to the shuttered window that lay opposite the door and peeked out: Dr. Hoof was waiting outside the door, looking around nervously and fidgeting with his hooves.

Daring rushed to the door, moved the chair, undid the lock, opened the door and yanked the startled doctor in before he could so much as open his mouth to protest; then she slammed door shut.

“Miss. Do!” shouted Dr. Hoof, looking flummoxed, “What on Equus is wrong?”

Daring shot him a tired look before slumping to the floor, “I think I’m going crazy.” she said softly.

“Excuse me?”

“I said ‘I think I’m going crazy’.” she said in a louder voice.

“Why would you think that?” asked Dr. Hoof, gazing at her with concern etched across his face, “Did what Ahuizotl said yesterday get to you, or-”

“No.” said Daring, cutting him off with a shake of her head.

“Well…. what is it, then?” asked Dr. Hoof, walking up to her and sitting beside her.

Should I tell him? she wondered, her imagination supplying her with several scenarios, most of which ended in her being hauled to the asylum in a straightjacket.

“I won’t think you’re crazy if you tell me.” said the doctor, interrupting her thoughts, “I just came here to warn you.”

“Warn me?” asked Daring, suddenly very interested in what he had to say.

“Yes, y’see…. Ahuizotl got out last night.”

“What?!” asked the tan pegasus, her voice coming out a little louder than she had expected.

Dr. Hoof wilted under her intense gaze and nodded, “Y-yes, he-he escaped a few hours after you left.”

“How?” pressed Daring, getting closer to him.

The doctor, who was looking closer to fainting by the second, gulped and put his hooves up in a placating gesture, “I-I’m not sure, I left him alone for about an hour to go check up on some of the patients and when I got back his cell door was wide open.”

Daring sighed and leaned back, she placed her hooves to her head and began to massage her temples. “So you came to see if I was okay?” she asked after short silence.

Dr, Hoof nodded slowly, “Yes, I was concerned that Ahuizotl might come looking for you, considering you’re the only living pony he knows and could recognize and, if what he told me and what your books say is true, his sense of smell is perfect for tracking.”

“I wasn’t lying about the smell thing.” said Daring tiredly.

“Oh…. well…. should we leave or-or set some traps?” asked the unicorn.

Daring shook her head, “No, There are only two places that he can enter from and we’ve got our backs to both of them.”

She turned and saw Dr. Hoof turn his head to look behind himself, then he paled and backed away as fast as he could. Daring chuckled dryly and got up, stretching her back as she did.

“Welp, if Ahuizotl’s picked up my scent- which he probably did while I was in his cell- it’s almost definite that he’ll be showing up soon.”

She saw that Dr. Hoof had begun to shake, “Don’t worry, doctor. I’ve dealt with him enough times to know his tricks.”

“I wouldn’t get too cocky.” said Dr. Hoof, “The mentally unstable tend to be unpredictable in the worst ways.”

Daring went silent for several seconds before saying, in a voice that lacked its previous confidence, “I don’t suppose you brought any tranquilizers with you?”

The doctor gave a small smile before he levitated a small, capped syringe full of blue liquid out of his suit pocket.

Daring graced him with the first genuine smile that she had given ever since she stepped beyond the asylum’s threshold.

---

Outside the rain continued to fall as a fog slithered up from the sea shore and began to creep over the town, muting the light cast by the street lamps and blackening the gutters.

Most of the ponies that had been going about their daily business had long since retreated from the chill rain and any that were left now sought solace in the many still-open bars and shelters.

Ahuizotl paced down the mist-enshrouded main street, his milky eyes staring straight ahead. He knew that nopony would halt him, his friends had made sure that the streets would be clear and they had called up the mist to conceal him from anypony who might happen to look out their windows.

“She’s so close.” he muttered to himself, “I can smell her, I can smell that doctor with her as well. Maybe he left to warn her about me, or maybe he’s getting…. intimate with my dear Daring Do.”

He let out a sharp, wheezing giggle at the thought of finding the two sharing a lovers embrace.

“If I find them making the Beast with Two Backs, then I’ll wrap my tail around both their necks and crush their heads until they are reduced to a single ball of flesh.”

He giggled again as he wandered through the distorted nightmare world that his eyes saw.

Some would say that he was blind if they were to lay eyes on the white orbs that lay within his sunken sockets, but they’d be only partially right. He had lost his ability to see things as other perceived them, but that didn’t mean that he was blind.

They’re all blind. he thought as he sloshed through the river of blood that flowed down the street. He gazed up at the sky and saw a pulsing, blue heart instead of a moon and staring, bleeding eyes instead of stars.

“The night is so beautiful.” he murmured, “But even Princess Luna cannot see its true splendor.”

The thought brought sadness to his heart and he looked away from the eyes and the heart. As he passed the buildings seemed to quiver and pulse like organs, the street lamps went out and the shadows that lurked in every nook and cranny writhed and grew bolder as he got close to them.

Overhead thunder split the sky and in it Ahuizotl could hear the melodious voices of many beings chanting, chanting for him.

He turned a corner and heard Daring Do’s heart beating a soft, steady pattern that momentarily calmed him and made him notice how hot his skin was and how unnaturally cold his innards were.

But then the feelings stopped and the world made sense once more.

I’m So Glad thaT all Those Tempting Feelings are Gone. The World’S so SCARY When They COme to Me. he thought feverishly, When I DeAl with Do and Doctor I’Ll feeL EVen Better.

Ahuizotl giggled again and licked his lips; he could almost taste the blood that he was sure to spill.

Comments

[DemonWriterX]

Holy crap! Ahuizotl is way crazy! I am loving this! Please update! ^_^

[Hopefullygoodgrammar]

4601293 I'm glad that you're enjoying this. And I'll be updating in a day or two before I leave for a trip.

[DemonWriterX]

4602475

And to think I already ship daring with crazy Ahuizotl...I don't think that is happening anytime soon. But horror is my fav genre and you are one of my favs now. ^_^ can't wait for the next one, keep it up.

[Hopefullygoodgrammar]

4602791 I didn't really add any romance to this, there aren't that many chapters, sorry.

[Dragon Turtle]

Dr. Hoof didn't think of telling any COPS about an escaped mental patient? At first, I wondered if it meant he was actually a bad guy. But Ahuizotl's perspective doesn't seem to indicate that the doctor is in cahoots.

[Hopefullygoodgrammar]

4602960 Ahhh... a very good question. One that will be answered soon...

Or not... depending on the answer that I can think up.... I may just leave it for a another story.

[RiskyBingo221]

cdn.mondomedia.com/wp-content/uploads/rac1-2013-10-05-ripper_roo_by_gate_the_white.jpg Well then Ahuizotl. Why do your fits of laughter remind me of this fellow?

[Jman14102]

So Ahuizotl warns Daring Do about unspeakable horrors, but is now out to kill her?
Cra-zy...