There are some things in this world that we grow up believing to be true. If you sit too close to the T.V. you'll go blind, if you cross your eyes for too long, they'll stay that way, or if you swallow a watermelon seed then another watermelon will grow inside of you. Fortunately, as we get older we learn that these are just old wives tales that parents tell their children to keep them out of trouble. That these are merely fairy tales or ghost stories that you can laugh at once you've grown up. Because you finally realize that none of it is real or true. This is not like those times. In the twenty-four years that you have been on this Earth you thought that you had mastered what was real, and what was made up to scare little children. So, when you heard the rumors about giant monsters coming from Mt. Ebott in mass quantities, you easily dismissed them as just that: rumors. You wouldn't admit this out loud to anyone, but you were one of those people that believed in the supernatural, aliens, demons, the whole shebang. You knew it was irrational to be afraid of something that didn't exist, that's why your parents had engraved into your head at a very early age that the existence of monsters, ghouls, goblins, the boogeyman, etc. was just a form of entertainment. That the only reason that they exist in the first place was to scare people, and so that the big shots in Hollywood could make money from people that wanted to be scared. So naturally you assumed that the news of a new species rising from underneath a mountain was just a load of hoo-hah that had gone viral from a tabloid article or something to that fact. Oh, how wrong you were.

1 Month Ago, ...

You weren't particularly impressive or popular when you were younger and that didn't change when you became an adult either. Your life was not interesting, at least to you it wasn't. Nothing ever special or exciting happened to you, and you didn't think anything ever would. That is until your apartment building started to shake, and things started to fall of the walls and shelves. Your first immediate thought was that it was very strange that you were experiencing an earthquake. When you had lived with your parents in Florida you had endured several tornadoes and hurricanes throughout the years, but never an earthquake. When you moved to North Carolina you never expected a natural disaster like this, flooding sure, but you didn't even live near any fault lines. You braced yourself fearing the worst, but as suddenly as it came, it stopped. You opened your eyes cautiously checking to see if it was really over. You really wished you hadn't done that. As if on cue a blinding light poured through every window in your apartment, temporarily blinding you. You cried out in pain and surprise. By the time you regained your sight it was all over. You can't remember another time when you have felt so discombobulated in your entire life. "What the hell was that?", as if asking that would breed any sort of answer. So, you came to the next logical conclusion: ask the internet! As soon as you signed into your social media accounts you were bombarded with post after post saying how "The END is nigh!" or "OMG we are all gonna die!". After sifting through endless amounts of panicked comments, you finally found a broadcast from your local news that was being streamed. "Hello I'm Sarah Hall! Our top news story tonight an earthquake that shook the entire east coast of the United States along with a strange light phenomenon that lasted for around three minutes! There are no injuries or deaths reported so far due to the earthquake. But we will keep you posted as the day continues. This just in, we are getting some intel that the source of the earthquake has been tracked to the base of Mt. Ebott near Deter City." 'Deter City, isn't that just in the next town over?' you pondered. Sarah Hall continued, "Scientists are still trying to wrap their heads around what caused the strange light, that overtook the sky for a matter of minutes. More on this after the break." 'Mt Ebott, huh?' you wondered. You thought what could have possibly happened to elicit such a violent reaction from mother nature.

Another thing that was occupying your thoughts was the odd feeling that had spread through your body ever since the light disappeared. Don't get you wrong, it wasn't a bad feeling. Quite the opposite if you were being honest with yourself. It felt as if you were being covered in a warm blanket, but the feeling was most intense near your chest area. There was also another feeling along with the warmness, that made you feel slightly uncomfortable. You felt a great sense of longing, like there was something missing, but you didn't know what it was. You didn't understand what was happening, and frankly you didn't like feeling so unsure. It made you feel so helpless and weak. You quickly shoved those feelings down, and started on putting your apartment back in order. It was really a mess in here! In your panic and confusion you must not have realized how much damage was being done to your apartment. Picture frames were smashed on the ground, books were thrown all over the place, your dishes were nonexistent pieces at this point, and worst of all, your anime collectibles were everywhere! "Ughh, this is going to take AWHILE...", it took three and a half hours to getting the place looking halfway decent. Feeling like the undead, you shambled your way to the bathroom to get ready for bed. The strange events that occurred today still repeating in your head. That feeling of warmness had subsided, but that longing feeling was still there. You chalked it up to having just lived through a traumatic experience, and being so bone tired you couldn't even feel your legs. 'What a weird ass day' you thought as you slowly drifted to sleep.

For the next few weeks, you couldn't go online, watch television, or walk down the street without hearing about the strange happenings going on in Deter City. You heard it all, from alien landings to the government conducting a weapons test. It wasn't until a month later that people started saying that monsters had surfaced from Mt. Ebott and were making their way to Deter City. At first you thought when they said monsters that they were referring to some type of mutant bear or something. But as you searched the articles on the internet you realized that they meant legitimate monsters. The way they were describing them, it made them sound like these things were something straight out of a horror movie. Oddly enough people who described these "monsters" were not very consistent. Some said they had wings, others said they had scales and fins, and one person even claimed that he saw giant goats?! You were not convinced. "These people must really be desperate for attention, if they think people will actually believe them." you scoffed. Although there was one consistent factor to all of the stories and interviews you saw. Everyone who reported supposedly seeing these creatures all said that they were HUGE! If their size descriptions were to be believed, then the smallest one was 7 ft and the largest one was 13 ft tall! You got to admit they certainly were creative. You decided that enough was enough, unless you saw actual physical proof that these "monsters" existed then there was no way you were believing any of this.

You had work the next day so you decided to get some errands done, and to try to get your mind off of this whole monster business. If there was one thing you hated about living by yourself was that there was no one to help you with the shopping and cleaning. You had taken for granted the amount of times that you would get home from school, and to smell dinner on the table. No matter how messy your own room was the rest of the house always looked immaculate, thanks in largely to your mother being a bit of a clean freak. You really missed those days where you didn't have a care in the world. Unfortunately for you, time slows for no man. Eventually you knew the day would come where you would have to leave the nest. You never expected to get into any prestigious schools, but luckily you got accepted to North Carolina State University which was in your top five choices. It was much cheaper for you to go to college out of state than in state. You wanted to major in business so that you could open up a little coffee shop somewhere. It was a small dream, but it was yours. However, sometimes dreams don't always go how you want them to. Sadly, your parents didn't have the money to send you for four years to get your Bachelor's so you decided to try for your Associates instead. Your parents apologized profusely for weeks saying they wanted you to have the world if only they could give it to you. You made them a promise that day, that no matter what happened you would make something of yourself. That's how you ended up working at the 'Chew and Brew', one of your city's best eateries/cafes. You and the owner quickly became friends, she was an older woman with long black hair and piercing green eyes. At first glance you would think she was in her twenties, but on closer inspection you would see the wrinkles and the bags under her eyes from years of hard work and little sleep. Every time you would go to work, she would make you laugh with her impossibly bad jokes. Once she made you laugh so hard that the latte you had been drinking came spewing out of your nose! The woman was hilarious to say the least. She would talk to you about anything and everything from her sex life to her kid's college tuition. But the one thing she would constantly bring up is that she wanted to retire BADLY. She just didn't know who to trust to run the place while she was gone. So naturally you volunteered for the position. She responded with a hearty "It's about time you said something, I was getting tired of waiting!". She proposed that if you could run the place smoothly without any trouble for five years then she would turn the place over to you for half the price she paid for it. You have been running this place for nearly four years without incident. It was a lot of work, but the payoff was really good in the end.

It didn't matter how long the hours were or what excuses your employees made for any indiscretions, you loved working there all the same. Just thinking about work for tomorrow slightly lifted your sour mood. You were almost through with your errands when you noticed how late it had gotten. The sky had turned darker in the past hour without you realizing it. You decided to take a shortcut back home to your apartment through one of the many alleys that connected the streets. You had turned the last corner of the alleyway that led to your apartment, when you felt a chill go down your spine. You had the feeling that you were being watched. You quickly spun around to face them, but when you did there was no one there. You turned to continue your trek but stopped dead in your tracks. There standing not ten feet in front of you was a huge hulking figure. Due to the streetlamps being a good distance away from you, you couldn't quite make out their features. All you knew was that they were panting heavily like they just finished running a marathon. Then they did something that made your heart stop, they stood up straight. What you hadn't realized was that this stranger had been leaned over trying to catch their breath. When they stood up to their normal height every atom in your body was screaming for you to run. You were not the tallest person, but you were of average height. The person, no... thing, standing in front of you was at least 9 or 10 ft tall! Your body was completely frozen, you couldn't even scream for help you were that terrified. Your mind was racing thinking of things that this person could do to you, and none of them were pleasant. Before you could say or do anything, they moved towards you. And that's when you saw it...the claws. Now there was no doubt in your mind that this thing was an animal. As it moved slowly towards you, you started to make out some details about it.

Not only was this thing tall but it was big too. It's form completely engulfed yours as far as size was concerned. It had huge claws on its hands and feet, and from what you could see its fangs were razor sharp. It could have been your imagination, but you could have sworn that one of them was gold. But the worst part about it, was its eyes. Two red glowing dots in empty black holes were staring at you. You have never been so petrified in your entire life. The only thing that you found odd about this creature was that it was wearing clothing. It had on black basketball shorts with a yellow stripe down the side along with a red sweater, and an oversized black winter coat with white fur lining the hood. Even though you were scared witless you couldn't help but be jealous of this things coat, it looked really comfortable. That was the only thing you thought was funny in this situation. Being jealous of the thing that was about to kill or seriously maim you. This thing had gotten about five feet from you when it suddenly stopped. You couldn't stop staring at its eyes as they looked you over, probably wondering how delicious you'll be. What happened next left you speechless... it spoke.

"i can't believe i found ya sweetheart".