Chapter 22. The Monster


"Well we saved another group of Eloi Jones!" George danced around, checking on the new bunch. "It's alright fellows. You are now safe with us. You will no longer have to fear them."

The Eloi stood around with blank faces. Most were bruised and some had burns. All this concerned Jones. Who knows how many were actually killed in this rescue.

"I think this didn't go so well planned George. You were very hasty." He set his jaw firmly.

"Well we did defeat those Morlocks." George began inspecting the new Eloi and treating their wounds. "I am sorry I did hurt some of the Eloi. That was not my intention."

"No that's not what I am talking about." Jones sat down and rubbed his aching knuckles. "I feel badly for what we have done out there. I saw female and adolescent Morlocks running for their lives for Christ's sake!"

George hasn't really thought about that and did feel a pang of guilt. Well the deed was done and he could not reverse it. Well he could but why bother?

"I am sorry Jones. Really I am. It was the first time I had ever seen mother and children Morlocks."

"You slaughtered them. You are no better then a Morlock. Actually cut that, I believe a Morlock makes less of a monster then you do." Jones headed outside. "Think of your grandson damn you!"

George almost dropped the gauze. "J-Jones?"

Outside Katie had led Shandow onto the front porch. He was limping badly now from a sprained ankle. He hugged his arms around her shoulders and hung on like a nervous infant. The resident Eloi gathered around them, touching both the newcomers. Shandow shrunk away from their hands.

"Leave us alone." Katie slapped their hands away. "We need our rest."

It did not take long for Shandow to come back around to his old self. After a few hours of rest and eating fruit he stopped shaking. There was a new part of him though. A new closeness he felt with this female. He leaned against her and stared at all the rest of the Eloi with his big eyes.

"Katie." He called her.

Jones drove back out to what was left of the Morlocks home. The ruins were smoldering now. Some fresh bodies of Morlocks were strewn on the grass from being hit by the truck. He leaned over and inspected some of them with his flashlight. They were stone-cold dead and two of them were females. This was his first time seeing a female Morlock up close.

"She has such a lovely face compared to dear Shadow." He went on to the caved in ruins. There were several holes in the ground, he would have to watch his step. To his scare there was an abrupt growl beside him. A male Morlock laid helpless in a ditch nearby. The man approached too closely for his comfort and he let out a warning. Jones flashed his light on the Morlock for a second before pulling it from it's face.

"Oh you poor lad." Jones looked over him and saw that he was not going to get up anytime soon.

The injured Morlock turned out to be BlackStone. He had just drug himself out before the caves collapsed. His right femur was cracked in several places and several ribs as well. Too much shock prevented him from reacting sharp with this man. He lay still with fright as Jones came closer to check out his wounds.

"Ugh broken leg as I suspected. Probably a few other things as well. Might as well bring you back. This whole matter is not your fault."

The man's talk came to him but just mere chatter. Jones backed the vehicle closer to him. Jones had the vehicle specially equipped to help him with larger sick animals. Poor BlackStone remained in his frozen state, not caring anymore about his life.

"I bet you poor beast are in shock." Jones rushed him back, ignoring the Eloi and brought the Morlock back into his lab.

BlackStone was rested on top of a padded wide table. His heart raced and he could scarcely breath. Like the Eloi this was just too much for him. He felt that his heart would explode inside his battered chest.

The shot given to him made him feel very sleepy. If the man's hand came close enough he would snap at it, clipping his teeth at the man to stay away.

"I know that you are scared of me right about now. I understand very much." He answered in a soothing voice. "But I must help you alright?"

He grabbed a small towel and wrung it in a tight sausage wrap. Then he inserted it in the Morlock's mouth. From what he learned with Shadow he found the Morlocks had no top molars so there was no way he could chew his way through the clothing. BlackStone wheezed loudly.

He grew more relaxed after being wrapped together and ointments rubbed on his burns and bruises. He closed his eyes and attempted sleep.

"You are a very strong fellow." Jones said. "I will have to stay here overnight to make sure progress is good." He untied the wrap and pulled it out from the Morlock's jaws. BlackStone didn't bother to snap at the man. He knew well enough what was going on even though he still didn't care too much for this creature.

"Such nice humanoids once you get to know them." Jones told himself. He brought out his notebook and jotted down his new specimen. An aged male with multiple injuries.

The low lights from the lamp bothered BlackStone but this was much better then any fire. If he had known who had started this fire he would have been at Jones's throat no matter how badly hurt he was.

His mouth felt dry and he lifted himself half-way up, scratching his claws along the metal sides. Jones pulled him back down and gave him another sedative. Why all this? He only wanted water.

Jones seemed to have read his mind as he went to the sink with a bowl. Over the years with Shadow and his translating collar he started to pick up a few grunts that he recognized meaning to. He lifted the bowl the Morlocks mouth and let him drink. Turned out BlackStone guzzled down about seven bowls one after the other.

"Oh boy it's going to be fun when you take a piss." Jones gritted his teeth with sarcasm. "No food for you as you will just barf it up everywhere."

BlackStone couldn't fall asleep as much as he wanted to. Not in this strange place with that strange man. He watched Jones with one eye open, pattering faintly to see if any of his other kind would hear him. It sounded like dog whimpers. A call of distress.

"Oh dear Shadow used to make those sounds all the time when he was scared. He'd cuddle up with Katie. Poor little Katie. I believe a Morlock ate her. George will never forgive your kind for that."

Jones went about his usual observations. He made notes and details about whichever Morlock he would manage to capture. BlackStone made a shrill warning again when Jones tried to age him by his teeth. His long tusk grazed Jones's hand, drawing blood.

The poking man wrapped his hand up and instead made notes of the scars on him. "I suppose you males fuss very much. Can't you get along? It's too bad you aren't a docile species otherwise I'd go live down with you fellows for a few months to study you in your real environment."

BlackStone bristled in response to his speech to him. Jones placed a hand over the Morlocks shoulder and brushed his hand back and forth. "I find it funny how you always bristle up. Shadow would do that whenever somebody frightened him. He was like a big cat. The kids used to throw firecrackers at him just to watch him puff out."

The musky smell rubbed off in a thick oil on Jones's hands. He knew better then to sniff at his hand. He went over to the sink to wash and decided to continue writing on his journal for awhile.

BlackStone observed his area for any escape routes. He could not be left behind. Their scent will only linger for so long till it would fade away. Then he would always be trapped.

"Oh what a nosey man." He whined. "Keeps jabbing me with things. He does it again I will eat his hand for breakfast."

He breathed in hard, holding the air inside his large nose for a few seconds to find anything familiar to him. No, only the smells of the medicine sterilized mats was all he could detect. He turned his head towards the man to watch him. The man watched back and started up his chattering again. The Morlock tried to move his legs. Sharp pain stabbed through his thigh again.

"I will not be getting out any time soon." He heaved, wincing as he relaxed his bad leg.

Meanwhile George sat on the porch, cuddling his grandson, Billie. He was very similar in looks to Shikha's daughter only he had more of Shadow's face and bigger teeth. He sported the normal three fingers of his father and four toes on his right foot. His left foot had five toes, which the smallest one was just barely formed. George would tease him about it and gently pull at the tiny toe, making Billie laugh.

The more he bonded with his half-Morlock grandson the more he started to feel that deep guilt of killing off the colonies. One day his grandson would grow up and discover who he was.

"I will show you how to be a proper gentleman. Just like how I try and teach the Eloi men." He sat Billie on his knee. Weena was inside cleaning dishes.

Soon enough Billie fell asleep on his lap, breathing hoarsely. George picked him up and carried him inside.

"Don't sleep so loudly boy you're just like your father." He chuckled as his snores hit a high-note. Weena smiled, drying up the last of the dishes.

Later on that night he collapsed onto the warm bed next to Weena. He turned his attention to his beautiful wife. Not a night goes by that she doesn't cuddle with him. Her love never evaporated, it was as fresh as the day they both kissed their first time. He was still marveling over himself that he had ever fallen in love with an Eloi. She was hard to distinguish from the others sometimes as she sported the same hair and size. He began to remember the different curls in her hair. That seemed to be the only way.

Even though he had fallen in love with her he had never thought of it going as far as she wanted it. Little Weena was very demanding of his love. She took her place beside him in bed. At first he found this uncomfortable. Being an English man this was inappropriate for some single woman to just lay with you. Over and over he reminded himself that this was no longer his time and he allowed himself to stretch his restrictions.

When Weena decided to get in deeper into the relationship he had almost lost it. She had snuck in bed with him stark naked one night and kissed him passionately. The kiss of an Eloi was like no other. Weena had conceived Katie, their lost oldest daughter.

Now and again he would think of what their family would be like if all of them were together. Right now it would be his family, Jones and Shadow and their Billie. It was not like that anymore because of him. Now he regretted deeply. He had broken apart the family and it cost him a daughter. If only he had taken to Shadow better.

"You alright?" Weena spoke softly as he got out of bed again to go use the bathroom.

"I'm alright sweetie." He smiled at her and stepped in front of the sink to wash his face. He peered back at himself in the mirror. He aged so much now. The light threw off strong shadows, showing off all his wrinkles. It scared him how much his own face seemed to match that of the gruesome Morlock. An angry Morlock with brown eyes sneering back at him.

"I'm nearly sixty for Christ's sake." He reminded himself and flushed his face one more time.

His poor Weena, he thought again. He found out to his deepest dread that Eloi and Morlocks age very slowly. His dear Weena was still young while he was growing so very old. What would she do after he was gone? She would surely waste away without him. Her bond was so strong. She didn't allow any other male to touch her and she was so absorbed into him. A few times he felt like telling her to rush off and leave him be before it was too late. He knew too damn well she wouldn't leave him. Jones was younger, he was thinking of leaving instructions for Jones after he died to poison Weena if she decided to give up on life.

"What have I done?" He slumped back into bed and wrapped his arms around Weena. She planted petite kisses on his nose before snuggling close.

Billie slept across the room in his crib. The edges were set up higher then normal since the hybrid was typically stronger at his age then a human baby. He was not even a year and already started to pull himself up on his two feet. The baby was restless again and fidgeted around his bed, pulling himself up on his feet again and leaning against the rail. He stared at his grandfather with glowing eyes and made strange baaing noises. George only supposed it was from his Morlock side, perhaps their babies made the same noises. He left Billie alone as he learned that the rambunctious kid would soon grow tired and just flop back over again.

He would have to teach Billie to mind his claws and teeth like Shadow. Jones had a few scars on his backside from when young Shadow decided he wanted to play roughly and tried to climb up on his back, digging his curved claws right into his skin. Shadow had learned right away that was a big no-no.

George carried himself a nasty scar from him as well. His hand was disfigured from when Shadow had bit him just the night he had left. It was still painful and would probably hurt for a few more years.

"Maah! Maabaaabaa!" Billie called out again, reaching through the bars. George gave in and got up. He gave him a fresh bottle of mango and blueberry juice. Billie grabbed it and rolled onto his back to suckle on it.

"Silly little kid." George smiled. "I might just end up spoiling you rotten."