Monster Club (Chapter 30)

“Abraham?” Abraham didn’t want to wake up. His head was ringing and pounding like a drum set. His body felt completely shattered…his arms didn’t want to move. Did he even have ligaments anymore? Surely he was just a jumbled pile of pieces and body parts.
“Abraham, get up!” Abraham felt something grabbing him and trying to lift him.
“Don’t move him, Katie! He’s in critical condition!”
“Damn it, where are the others!?” Abraham could hear the voices…they sounded so close and…so worried. That was Katie and Calypso…there was no question. But how were they still alive? The explosion. Abraham remembered the explosion. The heat of the fire and the sheer impact of the bomb. The horrible smell of ash and smoke filled his lungs and he couldn’t breathe.
“Ugh…it hurts…” Abraham moaned.
“Don’t try to move, Abraham. You have a broken rib and several major bruises all over your abdominals and I’m worried you might have a concussion.” Calypso cried. The fog was lifting and Abraham was beginning to get his vision back. He could see again. But the world was blurry, and the glowing light of the fire was burning his eyes. He tried to lift his hands to his eyes, but even the thought of such an act hurt his acing body.
“Where are…the others?” Abraham coughed.
“Well we’re looking for them. Asher is okay, and he’s helping move debry. We found Sarah. She’s unconscious but Calypso thinks she’ll be fine.”
“What about Tamil…Solomon….Michelle…and Annie?” Abraham asked, trying to sit up. He felt a pair of hands shove him down and he cried out in pain.
“We said don’t move you numbskull!” Katie snapped. “We’re looking for them, okay!? You stay here and let Calypso treat you.”
“But they’re in trouble.” Abraham pleaded. “I have to help!”
“The best thing you can do is just rest. We ca-”
“I FOUND ANNIE! CALYPSO GET OVER HERE!” It was Asher’s voice! Calypso leaped up.
“Coming!” She wasted no time running to the voice. Abraham again tried to get up but he was being held down by Katie.
“You just stay put!” She growled. Abraham began to see a bit clearer and could make out Katie’s face. She had two cuts on her face and her lip. Her eyes were brimming with tears and her hair was muddy and matted with blood. Her yellow serpentine eyes were large and scanning his injuries.
“Katie?”
“Good, you didn’t lose your memory.” She laughed sarcastically. She looked around to see if anyone was near and then she leaned down, close to Abraham’s ear. “Thank you, Abraham.”
“What?” He whispered back.
“You saved us…all of us.” She whispered tearfully. “You ran in and ripped down the barrier that Morgan guy set up…if you hadn’t done that, he’d have killed us all.”
“If I’d really saved us…we wouldn’t be looking for our missing friends.” Abraham grumbled.
“If you hadn’t saved us, then none of us would be here at all.” She growled back. “Learn to take some praise.” She then planted a kiss on his cheek and smiled a little. “Tell anyone I did that, I will constrict you until ALL of your ribs are broken.”
“Understood.” Abraham smiled back, blushing.

After a few minutes of searching and cleaning debry, Abraham finally managed to climb to his feet. Calypso wasn’t pleased, but she knew they needed to find the others. Sarah had been found not far from the road covered in dirt and pieces of the building. She too was okay, but one of her legs was broken and she’d suffered a cut below her chest that was bleeding badly. Calypso was working fast to patch it up.
“Abraham, find some bandages fast!” Calypso cried.
“I’m okay, Calypso, really.” Sarah moaned, wincing in pain.
“Just be still. We’ll fix this.” Abraham assured her, running threw the remains of what was left of their house. It was just a pile of wood, glass, and stone now. The foundation was still in tact, and three walls were still standing, but the front of the house was burning and smoldering and the roof was all but gone. Abraham dug through the trash until he stumbled across some strange…and familiar bandages!
“TAMIL!” Abraham yanked away the stones to find Tamil’s limp hand under the rubble. He grabbed it and pulled….and fell back in horror. The only thing that came out was Tamil’s hand!
“AAAH!” Abraham cried, tears coming to his eyes. “Tamil!? What happened to you?!”
“Abraham, stop crying.” Abraham looked down to see Tamil’s head sitting by the rocks. His eye was black and his lip bloody, but he was fine otherwise. “Just got…blown up. We’ll sew body back together.”
“How are…how are y-”
“I am undead body, Abraham.” Tamil smiled weakly. “Broken body can be fixed. I think the rest is over there.” Tamil leaned his head to the west and Abraham set down his hand to go and find it. Sure enough, torn and tattered, but not gone…was the rest of Tamil’s body!
“I found it! When Calypso is done with Sarah I-SARAH!” Abraham leaped to his feet and began to search the trash again for bandages. He’d completely forgotten about Sarah’s condition. After a few minutes of looking, he finally found a small box of them. As he hurried to Sarah, his thoughts went back to the mangled body of Tamil…the cuts all over Katie…the bruises and the burns on Calypso. His family was suffering.

The entire night was just a matter of searching for and finding their family, and mending wounds. Sarah was back on her feet with some webbing wrapped around her leg like a splint. She was helping Calypso sew Tamil’s body back together while Katie was tending to the still unconscious Annie. The little girl had not waken up, despite all of her vitals being okay. For all they knew, she could have been merely sleeping. Asher was moving in and around the group, searching for any sign of their missing leader, Michelle.
Dawn was beginning to break…the fires had died down. The club was all sitting around the broken house, though Asher was not with them. He was searching around for Michelle and Solomon.
“I can’t believe this.” Katie muttered.
“It’s….it’s horrible.” Calypso agreed. “How could this have happened?”
“It was that bastard Morgan!” Katie shouted. “If I ever see him again I’ll….I’ll…”
“Katie calm down, you’re getting too excited…just relax.” Sarah urged her. Katie calmed herself again but didn’t stop snarling.
“And what about Michelle!?” Calypso whimpered. “What if she….”
“NO!” Sarah shouted. “She’s okay! She’s okay I swear it!”
“Nothing kill her.” Tamil muttered darkly. “She too stubborn be killed that easy. I know…I know she okay. She need be okay…” Tamil was merely staring blankly ahead, unable to see any of the destruction…but it was clear he felt it. “Can’t…lose family member again. Just…just can’t.”
All of them had just lost the one place they called a home. Thanks to the hands of a radical monster hater. To the hands of a human. This fact only struck Abraham even harder. One of his kind had done this. Abraham clenched his teeth and his fists tightly.
“Abraham?” Sarah looked over at him, sitting on the boulder near them. “Are you okay?”
“A human did this.” Abraham grumbled. “A human like me.”
“Abraham, I know what you’re thinking, but Morgan and you are nothing alike!” Calypso cried. “Just because you’re both human doesn’t mean that all humans are like him!” Her words were little comfort for the pain in Abraham’s heart. It was little wonder why the club feared humans like they did. It was no surprise now as to why Katie had hated Abraham so much when they first met. He was just a human. Another bigot. Another hateful creature.
“This isn’t your fault!” Everyone looked down at Annie, who was just now beginning to stir. Her eyes were half closed and she looked so sleepy. Her voice was horse and she was speaking loudly, as if her ears were ringing and couldn’t hear well. “It’s not…don’t blame yourself Abraham.”
“But he’s a human like me. He nearly killed us all…his hatred nearly destroyed everything.”
“Yes, and he would’ve done it too if you hadn’t broken his barrier!” Sarah argued. “Humans can cause a lot of destruction and hatred…but they can do good too!”

“We can’t let the actions of one dictate our opinions of the whole.”

That voice! It couldn’t be! They all spun around at the sound and looked to see Solomon. It was indeed their ghostly friend, but his body was…different. Like a television screen that was struggling to find a connection, his figure kept glitching and shaking. His eyes were filled with the saddest tears, but his smile was the most genuine happiness they’d ever seen. Everyone leaped up and hurried to him, though Annie stayed back, not sure who this was.
“SOLOMON, YOU’RE OKAY!” Abraham cried.
“Well…not entirely.” Everyone paused and stared at Solomon as he shook his head. “My connection to this house was all I had left…and I can feel my spirit slipping away from this realm. I don’t have long.”
“No.” Katie snapped. “NO! You can’t go! You’re like our father! You gave us this home! We’ll rebuild it and you’ll be alright!”
“I’m afraid it’s not so simple dear.” Solomon muttered. “Using new parts to fix this house will not bring me back because I am tied to what it was. But don’t be upset. I am so happy for all of you. I was lucky to know you for this part of my afterlife. Now I can rest in peace. I can move on.”
“Solomon don’t say that!” Sarah cried, hot tears rolling from her bloody cheeks. Tamil wasn’t even facing them anymore but only staring at the ground, unable to handle the sounds he was taking in. “Please stop! You’ve got to stay!”
“Normally, I would be worried.” He laughed, though his laugh sounded more like a cough. “I would be worried for you all, without me around to keep you in line…but I’m not. Not anymore. I’m proud of you kids. You’ve all grown up, and you don’t fear humans the way you did. And I owe that to you Abraham.” He turned his eyes on Abraham who was trying hard to fight the tears of guilt and depression. He bit his lip and chocked back his frustration, trembling like a leaf in a storm.
“I…I didn’t do…anything!” Abraham sniffled.
“You gave them hope, Abraham. You made them believe they could exist in a human world. You did more than anything I ever could. Thank you Abraham.” He then looked to Annie and smiled. “And is this a new friend?” Annie stepped forward, holding her torn up black stuffed cat and her finger near her lip as if she wanted to suck her thumb.
“I’m Soyeun…but everyone calls me Annie. I’m a witch.”
“A witch?” Solomon asked. His body glitched again, but his smile seemed to last through it. “Well Annie, welcome to our sad but still solid little family.”

From out of the bushes behind them, there was the sound of rustling and thrashing. They turned and out came Asher…holding Michelle in his arms. She was bloody, bruised, and her hair was soaked in mud and blood. Asher was grimacing as he walked her back to the group.
“Is she-”
“She’s alive.” Asher growled. “But she was on the verge of death….her breathing couldn’t be any weaker.”
“A-A-Asssh-ee-er?” Michelle whispered, trying hard to sit up.
“Stop! Your body is a mess. Stay still!” Asher ordered. Michelle, stubborn as ever, ignored him and tried to look through the bloody bruise that was her eye and see Solomon and the others.
“I-Is…every-*cough*-one accounted…for?”
“Yeah…we’re all here.” Calypso cried, dropping down beside Michelle to treat her. “Just don’t talk right now! You’ll be okay. You’ll…you’ll be…” She broke down. She threw her arms around Michelle and cried desperately. Michelle winced in pain, but didn’t stop her. Abraham felt a slight relief knowing Michelle wasn’t dead…but there was a loud cough and a shudder of cold air as Solomon once again began to disappear.
“OLD MAN!” Asher rushed forward, but Solomon held up his hand to stop him.
“It’s time…oh I’m so proud of all of you. I have no regrets.” He smiled widely and his body began to blur…and soon it was becoming hard to see at all. “Rebuild, children…rebuild the club. Don’t let our family die.” Abraham made a movement as if to grab his hand…just to touch that lifeless, transparent hand…but just as he came close, he was gone. The chill of the air that Solomon carried anywhere he went…was missing from the world. And not one person breathed a word.
The rising sun and the chirping birds set the tone of bitter tears that rolled down everyones face. Asher had to turn away as he slammed his fist into a nearby tree, leaving a huge dent, shaped like a fist. Michelle trembled on the ground, tears mixing with the blood on her cheeks so it seemed she was crying tears of red blood. Katie slithered away to be alone, morning his loss while Tamil cried pathetically in the corner, the closest thing to a father he, or any of them had, was now gone…and he felt like he was in the dark once more. A light he’d been holding on to had been snuffed. Sarah held Annie close as the two cried together, while Annie did not cry as loudly or as passionately, her tears were no less real. Abraham though, merely stared where Solomon had been moments before, as if expecting him to reappear and reassure them that it would be okay. That his smiling face would welcome them home once again. Make it all a bad dream…make it all a horrible nightmare. Solomon…they’re friend and family….couldn’t be gone.
“Solomon…” He whispered, his voice drowned by the cries of his family. “We won’t. We won’t let it die.”