Meet Ze Monsta

short story

It was my turn to work the night shift in the emergency room. I’m still in college to become a nurse, and, well, you have to get your hours in, so sadly I had to do everyone’s least-favorite shift. I haven’t worked the emergency room before, but from the stories I’ve heard, it gets crazy, especially at night. That’s when all the crazy people come out; at least that's what my classmates say. That it gets really busy, and soon you won’t know where your scrubs end and you begin. They told me I’d be covered in all types of substances at the end of the night, that I would never feel clean again after this shift. Maybe they're being dramatic, trying to scare me; I don’t know.

I just clocked in at the nurses’ station, ready for what the night brings. I don’t know where to sit; I don’t want to take someone’s seat. Elder nurses sometimes have chips on their shoulders towards younger ones. They believe we need to learn our ‘place’ in the hierarchy. Whatever, I will just stand over in the corner and wait till I have something to do.

“What are you doing standing over there? Come sit down next to me.” An older nurse motions for me to come sit next to her. She’s greying, and her skin has begun to sag. Her voice is sweet, slightly southern. She looks like she’s been doing this for awhile, its like seeing my future right in front of me. I scurry over to her and say a small, “Thanks.” Comes out of my lips. As I sit down in the chair next to her, she smiles at me and asks. “My name’s Amanda. What’s yours?” I set my bag on the floor underneath the desk, and I turn to her. “Cali, nice to meet you, Amanda.”

Amanda snorts and says, “Is Cali short for California?” I pretend to laugh in response; everyone always says that. Whenever I was younger, that joke would really piss me off; people would say it over and over again. It really isn’t funny, like at all. But I am not a jerk, so I am not going to argue with her over that. I shake my head, still faking laughing, “No, I think my mom just liked the name.” Amanda took a sip of her drink and responded, “Well, it’s a beautiful name, makes me think of sunshine and the beach.” That acutally made me smile. Amanda seems like a sweet lady. “Thanks,” I say.

Amanda looks over at the whiteboard and tells me, “It looks like you’ll be working with me tonight, Cali.” I nod in response. God, I got lucky. Well, it seems so far I got lucky. Haven’t seen what she’s like when it comes to patients yet. I could’ve been stuck with some old hag who hates me for being young. Amanda seems like a kind woman, or she’s buttering me up. “It’s only six right now; it’ll get crazier as the night goes on. If it ever gets too much for you, there’s no shame in it.” Amanda explained to me.

We take care of different patients in the meantime. Amanda is as sweet to patients as she is to me. No matter how much they yell, complain, or whine, she always responds with a smile on her face. I wish I could be as optimistic as her. Some man earlier was complaining that he wanted a male doctor because apparently the female doctor/nurses on staff and I aren’t good enough. I wanted to punch him right then and there, tell him if he wants a male doctor so bad, go somewhere else. Does he think they hand degrees out to everyone? Is he that delusional that he thinks a female doctor isn’t as intelligent as a male doctor? God, what an idiot. Despite his ramblings, Amanda still assured him, being as kind as she could be. I haven’t even had that many patients, and I am already pissed off, already over it. The emergency room is a different type of stress; I don’t get how Amanda is so happy.

It’s almost nine o’clock, and they just sent me on my break. I decide to go outside and smoke. I know, how hypocritical of me. I want to be a nurse, and I smoke. I can’t help it; I started the nasty habit when I was fourteen and haven’t been able to kick it since. I go near the alley of the hospital, somewhere that patients can't spot me. I put my back against the wall and let out a long sigh. I really prefer working in the ICU, atleast the patients barely complain. It is still hard work, keeps you on your feet, but there is not as much complaining. I can’t stand it. I light my cigarette and take a puff. As soon as the nicotine hits, it’s like ambrosia to my lungs; suddenly, the stress I felt melts away. It’ll be over soon; that's what I keep telling myself.

I hear a rumble in the distance; I can hear someone else in the alley. I don’t say anything; just like me, they most likely don’t want to be bothered. I take another hit of my cigarette when the noises grow odder. I hear a gurgling. I tilt my head, trying to look in the direction that the noise is coming from. A blood-curdling scream erupts from whatever is in the alley. The scream is cut off by this ripping sound, and more gurgling occurs. I drop my cigarette; I don’t even put it out, and I run back inside. I do not get paid enough to deal with things like this. I know the hospital isn’t the nicest area, but I didn’t expect to not even be able to go out for a smoke without something happening. My heart feels like it’s beating outside of my chest; I just keep running until I finally make it to the doors. I swing them open violently and run inside. “Security! I need help, someone!” I scream, motioning for someone to come over and help me.

People come running towards me: other nurses, security, janitors, even patients. “Outside! Something happened!” I choke out. The security officer scans me up and down before sighing. “Okay, take me out there.” He sounds pissed that he even has to do his job. Something fucking happened out in that alley, and he’s acting like I just ruined his night. My breathing is heavy; I don’t want to go back out there, but I need to show him where the incident occurred. I can be brave; things like this happen, and I can be brave and face them. Besides, he has a gun, and whatever is out there isn’t invincible to a firearm.

He and another security person follow me to the outside. When I get to the door that leads to the outside, I hesitate. I take a deep breath, assuring myself that they both are armed, and that it’ll be okay. It could’ve just been a tweaker in the alley, someone high off of drugs. Maybe they need help, and it’s my job to help people after all. I open the door and take a step outside. I can still smell my lingering cigarette. “It happened down there.” I point to a dark part of the alley. The male security guard sighs and grabs his flashlight, turning it on. I walk behind them as they shine their flashlights in different places. My heart won’t slow down; my chest feels tense. I close my eyes for a moment, telling myself that it was just some drug addict. That maybe I can help them.

“Oh, God.” The female security guard says.

I open my eyes; her flashlight is shining on a body. Its face is mutilated. It looks like someone dug their hands in the mouth of the victim and pulled their face apart. The victim’s tongue is hanging out of their mouth, and their eyes are rolled back. Blood is still spurting out of their face, and it’s covering their shirt. I hear wheezing, and it hits me. They are still alive. Something took over me, and I went straight into action mode. I go behind them and grab them under their arms. “Someone lift their feet! We need to get them inside!” I know that we couldn’t do much; they are going to die, but it’s better to die inside a warm bed than a cold alley. The female security guard grabs the victim’s feet, and we both lift. “Open the door!” I ordered the male security guard to do so. He runs over and holds the door open for us. We both bolt inside with the victim. Blood is getting all over me, all over my scrubs, my hands; it's everywhere.

We run inside, both still carrying the victim. “Bed! I need a bed!” I call out. I run over to the nearest stretcher and set the victim down. Blood is trailing all over the floor; I nearly slip as I set them down. I don’t even know what to call for; I’ve never seen someone’s face nearly ripped in half. I don’t even know if we should do anything; they are going to die. After I set them down, I step back, and a bunch of nurses push me out of the way. I slip and fall on the floor from all the commotion. I just sit there, mind and heart still racing from what just happened.

That’s when I feel someone tug me up. “Get up, Cali!” It’s a familiar voice; it's Amanda. She pulls me up and drags me back. I can’t stop staring; I can no longer see the victim, only the horde of nurses and doctors surrounding them. But the image, the sound is all burned into my mind. It was like my body was on autopilot; I didn’t have to think; I just did. It feels like my body just snapped right back to reality, and that I am slowly regaining control. Amanda pulls me into the breakroom and sits me down in a chair. I am speechless; I don’t even know what to say. I don’t feel totally conscious in my own body yet; it still feels so weird. I can’t describe the feeling. Amanda is saying something to me, but all I hear is a murmur. The buzzing of the lights is too loud; it drowns everything out.

Amanda shakes me. “Cali! Are you okay?” Suddenly everything snaps back; I can see everything clearly now; no longer are things a blur. I can hear Amanda’s southern drawl and hear the concern in her voice. “What the fuck.” I mumbled, my voice barely coherent. Amanda furrowed her brow, leaning down to my level, so we were eye to eye. “What?” She asked; she wanted me to repeat myself. I shot straight up, and I began to rub my head. “What the fuck!” My voice rose. Amanda grabbed hold of my arm and led me to the chair again, motioning for me to sit down. I complied; my body felt too heavy anyway. “Don’t curse Cali. Here, let me go get you something to drink.” Amanda said to me. I could tell she was unraveling; her voice was unsteady, but she was trying to keep calm, keep a smile on her face. My voice was still raised, and I replied with, “I can curse if I want to! A guy’s face was nearly fucking ripped in half!” I dug my head into my knees and screamed.

I unburrowed my head from my knees, and Amanda was standing before me with a cup of water. “Drink this.” I grabbed hold of the cup, my hands still shaking. I brought it up to my lips, my hands covered in blood. I took a deep breath and took a sip; the liquid moved down my throat too quickly, causing me to gag. I spit it back into the cup. I set the cup down on the table beside me. “I don’t think I am thirsty.” I say, looking up at the ceiling.

That’s when it hits me: whoever did that to the victim was out there with me. I was there; I was out there. Oh, god what if I am next? What if they saw me? “I was out there when it happened. I didn’t see who did it but-.” I was cut off. Amanda interrupted me, “The police will be here shortly; just take it easy.” How the fuck am I supposed to take it easy? I’ve seen a lot of gross things: infections, wounds, bones; I’ve seen things. But I have never seen a man’s face nearly ripped in half, never seen a tongue hang out like that, never heard a bloody gurgle of someone struggling to bleed as they choke on their own blood. The man’s eyes rolled back; in pure shock, he most likely couldn’t even feel it. His body was in such a state of shock that he didn’t realize he was dying.

That’s when I heard more screaming. I instantly shot up and bolted out of the room. My body seemed to move faster than I could think. “Cali!” Amanda called out. But I didn’t listen; I just kept running towards the screaming. As I ran, the body of the victim lay on the stretcher, now covered in a sheet. His blood stains the sheet, soaking it in the substance. I made my way to one of the patients’ rooms, fighting my way in through the other staff who came to help.

Someone is on top of one of the patients, eating her. Taking bites out of her chest, holding her down with his body weight as she tried to fight back. He tore off a chunk of her chest, holding it in his mouth like some prize. One of the doctors pushed past me, diving onto the man. The doctor knocked him onto the ground, straddling him, holding down his arms. The man bit at her and spat blood in her face. “Don’t just stand there!” The doctor looked at all of us. The doctor was struggling to keep the man down. Security came rushing in, drawing their guns. People rushed over to the wounded woman on the bed, trying to desperately nurse her wounds.

One of the security guards grabbed at the man’s legs; the other switched places with the doctor, holding the man down. The man continued to struggle; he made unearthly noises. He was hissing at us, like some cat. He continued to thrash and kept trying to bite at security. “If you do not comply, we will shoot!” Security ordered, trying to reason with the man. He didn’t listen; he just kept trying to bite at security. That’s when the man threw security off of him, throwing them to the side like they were mere toys. One of the security guards drew their gun instantly, like it was a reflex, and shot the man in the head. His body instantly slumped, falling to the ground.

He began to bleed, but his blood wasn’t red. It was black; it looked thick. A scent arose in the air; it was sugary sweet, smelt like the cotton candy you would get at a fair as a kid. The blood was inconsistent with its flow; it was almost spurting out chunks from his head. Something in me told me to go get a closer inspection of that man; something was telling me something wasn’t right. I rushed over to the man and knelt beside him. His mouth was slightly agape, and I opened it further. Inside were rows of spiked teeth. His tongue was thin, like it was made for scraping out bone marrow. A security guard grabbed hold of me, taking me away from his body. “Everyone who isn’t attending to the patient, get out!” Yelled security.

As security pushed me out, my mind began to spiral. Humans don’t have teeth like that; humans don’t bleed black chunks. This thing wasn’t human. That means whatever killed the other man in the alley wasn’t human either.

It wasn’t human.

A/N: Okay guys, I am ending it off on here. If you want, like a part two or something, let me know. All my stories are named after songs this one is by PJ Harvey. This is based off of a Roblox game