Nobody could understand the pain I go through, the agony I feel as I am forced to live alone in this world, caring as best I can for my children who are forced to grow up without a father. I always knew there was something special about me, from when I was a young girl slash praying mantis. My parents never went into details as to how it happened. I once over-heard my aunt telling my cousins that I had ingested an insect, a praying mantis, and that I couldn't possibly control the effects it had on my body.
Yes, I am part human, part something else, and I have the ability to change as I see fit. This wasn't always the case. Sometimes I would be buying lollies at the corner shop, and my arm would suddenly turn into a green clawed stem. It was horrible. I could never have boyfriends, or any friends of any kind, because I would always fear that I would be judged. I think it was the loneliness that finally drove me into my designed life path. I had to reproduce. I had to continue the journey that I had created so many years ago and develop more of my kind. Eventually I found that the bug eating story was a fake, but I was still in the dark about how I became like I am.
And so, I became Natalie French. Natalie, named after my grandmother Natalie-Marie Montessa, and French after the finest country in the world. As a child my grandmother took me and my brother to France once. We dined in the most expensive restaurants, shopped in the most decadent stores, purchased the divine delights that France had to offer. Of course, we had to return to America, back to my parents hometown of Sunnydale, California. My grandmother promised to take me back one day, but she was getting far to old and I knew that if I were to return to the land that I loved so much, I would have to go by myself.
I finished my high school days, sticking only to myself and drawing very little attention from anyone. I still hadn't mastered my changing abilities and so risked being 'found out' if I got close to anyone. My parents despised the fact I had no friends, the pair of them being home-coming king and queen of their time. My brother became the 'it' child and so I was left to fend for myself.
I studied so hard for my exams and it paid off. I received a full scholarship to a college of my choice, and after looking into exchange programs, I was soon jet setting across the globe to my beloved France.
I studied teaching and became a qualified science teacher.
During my final year of college, I was attacked by a man and left for dead in a gutter. My confidence was shot and I attempted to kill myself of several occasions. The transformations began to increase rapidly and I couldn't control it. I didn't leave my house for weeks at a time.
During one of my alcohol-fueled days at home, the postman dropped a pamphlet in my letter box. It was an open day for women looking to develop skills in self defense. It was exactly what I needed to boost my self esteem.
I enrolled in the class the following week and met my master, Kenji. He trained me in martial arts and self defense for almost four years. I became a senior black belt and felt invincible. I shared everything with him, including my secret about my disease. He helped me to control my feelings and enhance the gift I was given. Before long I was able to control the praying mantis's functions with ease. Master Kenji helped me so much, but nothing could compare me for the future that lay ahead.
On the day of my thirty first birthday, I received a phone call from my mother. She was crying. Immediately I knew it was my grandmother. With master Kenji by my side, I shot off to America to see my dying grandmother.
I remember getting to the hospital and hearing my mother tell master Kenji that he wasn't welcomed into my grandmothers room. I also remember telling her that if she didn't shut her mouth, I was going to slap her scrawny face. That didn't go down very well, but I didn't care. My parents were morons. I asked Kenji to wait for me outside while I spoke to my grandmother alone. I walked into her room, the curtains closed blocking out the light from the winter sun. I saw my grandmother, looking as frail as ever, barely moving under her white hospital covers. I rushed to her side and grasped her thin arm.
"Darling," she spoke as she felt my warm hand on her cold flesh. Without even opening her eyes, my precious grandmother knew it was me in the room.
"Don't speak, grand mama, rest now. Everything will be alright."
Her skin was badly bruised, her face split and damaged like a crushed orange. It pained me to know that I had left this poor woman here while I was in my dream life in the land she introduced me to. Without her guidance I would have killed myself long before this. She was my angel and now she was little more than a ruined rag doll.
I left the room and asked a doctor how she hurt herself, assuming she had had a bad fall.
"Quite the contrary," the English doctor said. "Your grandmother was attacked in her home and badly beaten. She looks to be recovering well, but she will need constant care upon her release, due to her spinal injury."
My heart sank and I shed a single tear. In my own selfish search for happiness, I had neglected the ones I loved. The one I loved. Then it hit me.
"Her spine?" I questioned the doctor.
"Yes, you haven't heard?" He questioned me as if I knew. Unsurprising I guess, considering my dimwitted parents were in the hall just moments before. They could have told me, but their own selfishness prevented them. Obviously a trait I myself have inherited.
I shook my head. "Your grandmother, unfortunately, will never walk again. The damage to her spinal cord was too severe. We're unable and unwilling to operate, as it may lead to further complications. I am really sorry."
The doctor disappeared down a long corridor and I was left, standing alone. Alone. Where had my master, Kenji gone to? I looked up and down the halls. He had gone.
I returned to my grandmothers room. It was still eerily dark and quiet. I nestled beside her and felt her cool skin. I shed another tear.
"Stop your crying my dear." She whispered under her breath.
I wiped my eyes and looked away so as to avoid upsetting her further.
Suddenly she sat up. If I was in the right frame of mind, it would have shocked me, considering her spine was twisted like coiled spring. She looked about the room, grasping my shoulders hard. It unnerved me to my core. I looked deep into her eyes and saw something I had never seen before. Her grass green eyes.
"Natalie, for me, it's over. You must now carry on. You must do it for us, for the ones who have fallen." Her head shook like she was in grave fear of her life.
"What… what do you mean? I'll get a nurse." She grabbed my arm and pulled me in close to her.
"You have a gift, Natalie." She raised her arm and in just a moment, not unlike my own, and it turned green, then transmogrified into the praying mantis's clawed limp.
My jaw dropped. My own grandmother was exactly the same as me. I looked on in shock.
"He did this Natalie. You must stop him before he stops us all." As she spoke her eyes rolled into her head, and she collapsed on the bed, her arm returning to its previous state.
Kenji entered the room, immediately averting my attention from my grandmother. I looked back, knowing she was dead.
Three months past. I had a break from training and resumed studies for school back in France. I looked at the mannerisms of bug life, and studied the habits of the praying mantis. I knew all there was to know, including why I occasionally had a craving for grasshoppers and beetles. The most important question still eluded me. Who did that to my grandmother, and why?
Over the next few weeks, I began to grow increasingly paranoid, constantly feeling eyes upon me, and sensing danger. I began to lash out at complete strangers who seemed to obstructing the lives of my bug relations, even going as far as breaking a ten year old boys arm who tried to hit a praying mantis with a stick. Kenji told me that I was letting the grief of my grandmothers death affect me to greatly and that I needed to restart my martial arts training to regain my focus. Without Kenji, again I would have been lost.
Several months past and again I was back to my old routine. It wasn't until one late night of weight training that I knew something was up. At about one in the morning, craving something salty, I left my apartment and went to the store. I felt the sting of someone's eyes on me. Without drawing attention to myself, I purchased some potato chips and left the store. I lived eight blocks away and could still feel piercing eyes on me at the fifth block. I ducked into a flower bed and waited. Silence. I shook my head in frustration. I was letting paranoia get the better of me.
Then he walked past. A man with a hooded coat, slightly shorter than myself, carrying what looked to be a bag of books. He didn't notice me as I crept behind him. We reached the eighth block, my block. The man stopped and looked in the direction of my open window, lit by a few candles.
Without a second thought, I leapt forward and laid a spinning kick into his spine. He fell like putty. I followed with a quick boot to the guts to wind him. I pulled his hood off.
Kenji.
I had just beaten my master. I felt sick to my stomach and didn't know how to react. This man, my teacher, was just making sure I was getting home safely. Or so I thought.
"Natalie. I knew you would work it out. You're smart, but not strong enough." He leapt to his feet and held his crouched position.
I didn't know what was happening, but just in case it was a test of my stamina, I also kept my defensive stance. Kenji smiled. It made me nervous.
"So," I nodded.
"So," he replied. "I'm surprised you didn't work it out sooner. I knew you were special. I could smell it."
Smell it? What was he talking about.
"Your grandmother was my first target, not you. You led me right to her."
My jaw dropped. Kenji beat my grandmother. I swallowed hard, trying to keep my head from spinning out of control. "Why us?" I asked, not really expecting any kind of an answer.
"Why?" he looked at me like a piece of dirt on his shoe. "Your kind makes me sick. It's my order to bring purity to this world by ridding it of your kind, you half breeds. All I had to do was tap your phone. I got your grandmother, her sister, your cousins and aunts, and last week, I got your mother too."
Okay, so now I was really ready to throw up. I didn't like my mother very much, but now I knew why. Because she was the same as me and didn't know how to accept it. And now it was clear how I had become this way. It was a trait passed down through the generations. And now, I was the only one left.
"So, it's passed only through to the female offspring?" I tried to get some clues about who I was from my new found enemy. If he was going to kill me, which I had no doubt he would, at least I'd like to get some answers.
"Yes…" for a moment Kenji looked at me with a kind of shocked look on his face.
"You were telling the truth, you really have no idea about what you are."
"Yeah, but I'm beginning to learn real fast. So, I'm it. I'm the last of the girls left of my family huh?"
Kenji smiled to himself. "You're the last of your family. They're all dead. Your uncles, aunts, cousins, your parents, your brother…"
I could feel the rage building inside me. "But you said it only passed through the females?"
"Yeah, but I had to cut the lose ends. Too many questions otherwise. You're the sole survivor, but don't worry, you'll be as dead as the rest real soon."
I let out a slight wince and stepped back. Everyone was dead. I could not lose this fight. I had to do it, for my grandmother.
We held our positions under the street lights and I waited for his first move.
He lunged forward and laid several heavy punches to my stomach. I fell and hit the pavement hard, feeling my ankle twist awkwardly. I looked up, just managing to jump before Kenji landed a kick to my face. I swung my right leg and kicked him hard in the back. He grasped the light pole and signaled me to come get him. I nodded and pounded off the ground into the air. Kenji met me with a fierce fist in my jaw. It cracked and I fell to my back again. I spat the blood and stood, ready for my next move.
"So predictable," he nodded at me.
I felt the rage grow inside me. I raced towards the bastard at full pelt. I stopped myself moments before his face.
"Predict this, asshole!"
I took a deep breath in, closing my eyes. I felt my flesh shiver and begin to transform. My legs stretched, my face turning oblong. I looked at Kenji below me, who hadn't thought I would do it. I giggled to myself.
"No…" Kenji gasped.
He let out an awful scream as I bent and bit his entire head off. I crunched his bones and salivated over his juicy brain. It was a delicious treat. His lifeless body fell to the street and I resumed my human form. I looked around the street, noticing no witnesses and hurried back to my home.
Days passed, and I waited for the police to come and question me about Kenji's disappearance. Nobody came. Weeks passed. Nothing.
It was a Saturday. A heavy knock at the door startled me from my sleep. It was ten fourteen at night. I went to answer it, then decided to leave it. Something was off about the presence at my door. Again it banged louder. I raced to my wardrobe and hid, not in fear, but in anticipation of what was to come. I turned again, back to my green, natural self. I heard the door open.
"Anyone here?" a voice called.
He was young. Perfect.
I turned again, back to my human form and wrapped myself in a silk night gown. I exited the wardrobe and met my pizza boy companion.
"Hello, friend."
He was perfect. A good father for my first offspring. A young virgin, ripe and delicious. After he performed his duty, feeling very impressed with himself, I transformed to my mantis ways, biting his head off and then laying my eggs. It was perfect. The way a true romance should be.
The following day the police were snooping around my building, and so I figured it was time to make a move. I packed a few things, said goodbye to my unborn babies and hoped they would be safe.
I went to the airport. First stop, Spain. The sun was wonderful, however the cuisine wasn't much to write home about. Very few juicy crickets. One bonus was the young men, and having successfully fertilized three sets of offspring, and enjoying the delicious human brains of my lovers, it was time to move on again.
My next stop was the beautifully historic city of Prague. It was easy to lure a handsome man to my cottage, but my stay was short due him being of a royal background. His father had sent countless police to search the city. I left my babies again and raced to the airport. Unfortunately, another of Kenji's henchmen tried to stop me. I got a bit of a slicing on my right cheek, but nothing that couldn't be cleared up with a touch of foundation. Rather than just nip this guy in the head, so to speak, I figured it was time that Kenji's people learnt their lesson. With my newly cut face, I took a few drops of blood, and, after knocking the man unconscious, slipped it into his mouth. It wouldn't kill him, but I knew his head would be truly messed up from now on. And who in their right mind would believe a crazy person talking about a woman who turned into a giant bug? Can you say mental hospital?
The following year, as I laid my roots down in Hawaii, I began to feel the urge to go back to my hometown, to feel the power of where my family had come from. I'd already packed when a gorgeous cabana boy came to my room looking for directions. Another perfect meal, and more of my wonderful children to carry on my name. I just wished I was able to be with them. I knew I would catch up with them in the future.
And so, I boarded a plane, destination Sunnydale, California, America. The trip was awful. Turbulent and very noisy all the way. I just wished I could have bitten all the heads off of everyone on the trip!
I bought a lovely modest home and began to circulate the town, getting my bearings and finding out more on the youth. The night life in Sunnydale was very active. I soon realized I wasn't the only thing to fear here. Vampires, demons and all sorts were running around and these humans didn't even seem to care. Most humans were far too oblivious to the real world, and the dangers that laid therein.
After a few months I figured my best option was to get into the school where I could be able to find a few virgins who I could seduce and lure to my house to help me create some more precious children.
It was on a quiet night of browsing the school files that I managed to steal, that I came across a teacher with the same name as me. Of course she retired years ago, but she had the experience at the school and so I figured that the paper work would be looked over upon application to work at the school again. All I needed was to knock out some other pathetic human and assume their teaching role. Easy.
The following night I slipped into the school undetected, due to a very poor security system. It took ages for me to find someone, but finally I found an old man. Not exactly a perfect specimen but I was in no place to be choosy. And so, with a quick transformation, I lopped his head off, sipped on a glass of water, plunged him into the cafeteria fridge and skipped home for the night.
The next day, I entered the school, and was offered a temporary teaching position.
Perfect. I was in. my first class was senior science. I doubted I would find any virgins in that class, but alas, there was one. Lester Simpkins. A complete nerd, but a suitable guy nonetheless. I asked him if he would mind coming to my house so I could catch up on what I needed to know about the class. That night he was there at my door. Pathetic excuse of a man. He had flowers and even a bottle of wine. I smacked the bottle over his head and locked him in my basement cell. He yelled and screamed but it was no use. He knew he was doomed and so happily obliged in the end, refusing to die a virgin. His head was quite dry and flaky, so I vowed to stay clear of nerds from now on.
The following day at school the teacher who I dispatched, Mr. Gregory, was found in the fridge. Took longer than I had expected actually. Nobody suspected me of course.
I subbed another science class, and as it concluded, a young man, very handsome and with powerful arms, haltered me and asked me for my number. Of course I didn't have any number, but a quick trip to the closet showed him who was boss. He tasted ever so delectable. It was quite an effort to drag him down to the basement floor of the school. Unfortunately, my eggs couldn't wait till I got home, and so I had to leave them in the closet and pray nobody went in there.
As night fell, I fetched the body from the basement and took it home in the boot of my car. Another carcass on the list. With the body count rising, I needed to dispatch them to the dump.
I went shopping that night and bought an axe and a sharp knife as well as a few homely items like celery and milk so as to not draw attention. On the walk home, a vampire of sorts tried his part at getting to me, but one look and he was off running. Surely he knew he was no match for me. A praying mantis has holy water pulsating through their veins. How do you think they got their name? And so, I surveyed the area, and I don't think anyone saw my head turn all the way around. Imagine the face of a human who saw that? I wish I could have just done it in class one time, just to freak everyone out.
The next boy I got to my house was Blayne, a jock type and surprisingly a virgin. He came, also with flowers, and after one glass of my famous drugged martini, he was ripe for the picking. I locked him in my basement and figured I would wait and make a party of it when I got the next boy on my list tomorrow night.
Xander Harris. Giddy eyed and as hopeless as a lamb. Nobody will miss him. It'll be perfect.
Xander arrived just a moment ago. He downed a martini rather quickly and the drugs took effect soon after. I dragged him to my basement and locked him in the cage next to Blayne. Soon, the party shall begin and my babies and I will be running this dump of a town!
Buffy broke into the house, and with the help of Willow and Giles, slaughtered Natalie French and the eggs she had in her basement. Both Blayne and Xander were freed and that was an end to that. Nobody knows if any of her offspring survived, but perhaps some day we will find out!