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Chapter 2 - Echidna

Tears are such weird things. If you're ten, they show disappointment and sadness. If you're twenty they show betrayal and horror. However, a mother can bring us to tears with just a pure show of affection. That's what I felt right now. Gretta hands rested on my cheek. Chasing away all the fears that had welled up inside me. I had witnessed her do something horrible but right now I couldn't even remember it. "Poor darling, you've been alone so long... you don't want to leave mama just yet, do you?" She whispered.

My eyes couldn't leave hers. I could hear Devon behind me sliding down onto his knees. Bowing his head down to the ground. A position of submission to her as she guided me down. I too was soon on my knees and looking up at her. "Now bow your head like a good kitten," She removed her hand from my cheek. The order pierced through me like a shot. Making me drop my head down to the grass.

Removing her head caused the sweat to erupt across my forehead. Dripping hard I kept perfectly silent. I feel my stomach beginning to well up again. That fear turned to nausea again in my belly. She stepped past me and stood over the mutt behind me. "Now I believe I told you to be a good puppy...you upset mama," She motioned him to stand. She slid the end of that cane up against his nose. The smell of iron must be filling his senses. "Was it not enough that mama pulled you from the dregs? Helped you to purge that poison from your arms?" She spoke at a whisper. Sliding the tip of her can up to push his sleeve up slowly. Showing the tire tracks running down his arm. The scars from the puncture wounds.

My eyes glanced behind me seeing cowering. He didn't even shake, he just looked completely ashamed. "Mama..." He started to talk, and she tapped the cane on his finger. Pressing down enough to cause some light pain. He quickly shut his trap. "When you came to mama what were you doing to get more of that dreadful poison?" She asked him. "I... anything I could," He spat through his teeth. Fighting the pain in his knuckles. "Even sleeping with men twice your age. Letting them use you like some filthy toy in exchange for a few dollars.... aren't you better than that my little one?" She seemed honestly concerned about him. Sliding the cane off his finger she motioned him to lift his head.

He looked up just for a moment. Tears streamed down his face, and he latched onto her dress. Digging his fingers into the ruffle and pulling his face into her dress. I could hear his cries from where I was. The sobs he let out would have melted any heart. With a smile she brought her hand up to the top of his head. Petting between his ears softly. Her delicate fingers ran through his hair. Those expensive rings shining as she whispered to him. "Shh shhh your mama's good puppy aren't you darling," She smiled. He just nodded and whimpered in her dress. "This is your third strike, and I'm sure you won't cause any more problems for mama," She leaned down. Kissing the top of his head made him let go enough to wipe his face.

Turning back around she walked back up to me. Petting my head as well and guiding me back up to my knees. "And as for you my naughty little kitty cat, be a good boy and finish trimming the bushes," She scratched behind my damaged ear softly. Stepping past, she just sauntered around the corner. Disappearing again, leaving us both alone. "Are...you, ok?' I looked over my shoulder. Looking back at the mutt behind me. He just nodded trying to regain his composure. "Sorry I....just wanted try and let you escape," He shakily muttered out.

We attempted to return to work, but Devon seemed far more open to talk. His cheerful and general demeanor had slid past as he took a more serious tone. He explained that he had been brought to her by the same horse. He was strung out in a back alley, and he offered him money to get in the car. He thought it was going to be a quickie for some cash. Then he ended up here. There were fifteen people there when he arrived. Slowly they disappeared or were sent off to work at other estates. But it was clear those that disappeared had never really left the estate. Their rooms had just been emptied and it wasn't until he got his first strike that he found out where they went.

There was a maze of corridors under the estate. Old tunnels made of brick from way back in the day. He snuck down there one night thinking that he could find a straightforward way off the estate. However, what he found was a maze. One tunnel was being bricked off. Thinking it was a way out he peeked inside and saw what remained of the people that had disappeared. They were just being walled up in the darkness. Left to rot in the dead-end passage. He ran back to the house after that and was immediately caught as he came back up the steps. Gretta had scolded him like she had before and gave him one strike. He never forgot that and every time a new person arrived; he tried his hardest to get them to run. If he could not escape. He was going to be sure someone did manage to leave.

I hung on to his words. Listening to everything he said but he had not explained what worried me the most yet. Something was wrong here, and it wasn't just the murder. I watched Gretta's eyes change from blue to orange. There was something other worldly happening here. As much as I knew it was impossible. I couldn't deny what my own eyes saw. Moving from the bushes to the roses we kept working diligently. "So... why can't we leave?" I asked.

"You'

re in her domain, this place...it's not real," he said with no hint of humor in his voice.

"Her domain?" I asked. Thirty minutes ago, I would have told him he was full of shit. But it didn't seem as crazy after what I saw. "She's a monster, not just like a regular monster, she's one of the big ones," He took a clip of a branch quietly.

"There's journal in her library, she wrote it during WW2" He quietly explained.

"Wait World War 2 wasn't that like eighty years ago? She's clearly not that old?" I tried to make a little light of the situation.

"Yeah, she's almost a hundred years old, her grandfather was a bad guy. Like a real bad guy. He worked with the nazi's and was researching into tales of demons and monsters. Something about trying to find a secret weapon they could use to end the war..." He started in. I waited for him to explain the rest of the story. Yet, he just went quiet and kept on working. It was a total buzz kill moment.

He finished working on the rose bushes. Leaning in he took a sniff of one and looked back at me. "You're looking at me like I'm crazy dude," He stared at me a little. I admittedly was making a stupid face as I looked at him. I was just wrapped up in the story he was telling me. "Oh sorry, it's just a little hard to believe," I stepped back looking at the bushes we had worked on. I clearly didn't do a decent job. There were some clear patches where I trimmed too deep. "Well, you can ask her, or you can just find the book like I did," He spoke quietly.

I was clearly afraid to go back into the house. Yet, with the sun starting to set and the darkness starting to set in again. It seemed far more dangerous to stay out here. Devon just led us and walked into the house like nothing happened. It was dinner time and the buffet had been filled out again. I was a bit squeamish to take anything from it. Knowing what happened I was unsure if I should even touch it. "Go on, eat dude, if you starve, I'll have no one else to talk to," He nudged me. Filling his own plate with food he patted my back. So, with his reassurance I filled my plate again.

The night was quiet and much less welcoming than the day before. My body was sore from work and my mind was racing with what I had been told. I just sat down on my bed and stared at the wall. Was what Devon told me true? Was this place even real? I know what I saw, and Gretta was clearly bat shit crazy. However, being homeless was not much worse than this. I watch two coked up crack heads beat each other to death over a taco before. I wasn't a virgin to the idea of death. It's just all this crazy talk about monsters and nazi's. I should just talk to her directly. Gretta didn't act like she was hiding anything and if Devon could find all this out then I surely could.

Biting my lip, I was going to take my chances. She was either going to talk or kill me. The questions I had warranted the risk. I returned to the staircase and looked up at the stairs. She was up there somewhere. I lifted a foot and placed it on the first step. Pushing myself up I felt a sense of dread rush over me. Every step sent a shot to my head. Till by the time I reached the top my heart was thumping in my ears. I turned heading down a hallway to the left. Hearing just a little bit of sound to warrant that someone must have been there.

Moving closer I came to a doorway with the words master bedroom written across the door. I could hear the crackle of firewood inside. The soft humming was enough to warrant a knock. Raising my paw, I rapped it against the door. The humming stopped suddenly. "Come in darling," Gretta whispered quietly. Reaching out I turned the handle and stepped inside. Her bedroom was warm and cozy. A small sitting area in front of a fireplace. A large bed complete with bed curtains. I could make out her form sitting quietly in front of the fireplace. The soft clacking of the knitting needle coming from her lap.

"Ma'am?" I walked towards her. Stopping at the side of her chair. She didn't even look up to acknowledge me. "Please call me Mama...I love it when young people call me mama," She spoke softly. Tapping those needles together gently. "Can... we have a conversation?" I asked, causing her to turn her attention to me. "Of course, darling," She motioned to the seat next to her. I slid over and took a seat staring at her as she kept on knitting like nothing was wrong.

"Is what Devon told me true?" I plainly asked.

"I'm not sure what he told you sweetheart, my old ears aren't what they used to be," She dodged the question.

"Are you a monster?" I asked again. I had been raised to not mince my words with anyone. If you ask people honest questions, you will always get an honest answer. "When I was your age, my grandfather put this cane to my head and told me, If I was a good girl even as a Nazi, I would be let into heaven..." She sat her knitting aside. Turning her head to look at me. "He lied...then I heard another voice tell me, if I wanted to live all I had to do was accept her into me, Of course, I didn't want to die so I told it I would do whatever it took to stay alive, I don't remember what happened after that but I do remember waking up covered in blood, holding my grandfather's cane, with the flashlights of solders shinning in my face," she told me the truth. It matched what Devon had said. This was either some elaborate lie or clearly the truth.

"So....are you a monster or something worse?" I asked curiously.

"Are you sure you want the answer? It won't change anything" She relaxed back a bit.

"Then what's the harm in knowing" I pointed out. Nodding at the rare moment of saying something impressive she caved. "This body has become my personal favorite of mine, of all the bodies I've claimed and have withered...I've kept this one due to how much I love it, when I was born in this world all the anthromorphs and humans feared me. Called me monster or demon...even named me Echidna and ran me off into the wilds, The barbarians called me Baba Yaga and feared me even more," The blue of her eyes began to drip away as the orange quickly took its place. Bleeding up those predatory slits reformed. Her shadow grew behind her till it seemed to claw up along the wall. "I took possession of bodies to hide amongst mortals, I love children you see, and raised a family from my womb," Her words burned the air as her shadow betrayed the illusion. Her body was much larger than it truly was. That black silhouette cast upon the wall had a neck like a great dragon. Leading to a large, elongated face crowned with enormous horns. Her arms were as long as the room and tipped with talon-esq claws. "I'm very much like an Immortal, far deadlier, and much older," She explained it simply. She talked to me like a child. Given that I never went back to school after 10th grade. Using simple words helped me to understand. The fear in my chest helped me understand far more as I gazed past her. The completely black image of the monster behind her was intense.

The very pit of my soul cringed just staring at it. Shaking I knew if I stopped talking. The monster she truly was, may find a treat in me. Clearing my throat loudly I caught her attention. I nearly jumped as those thin serpentine eyes darted to me. "Immortals huh? So, I take it that there are more of you...Mama," I kept my calm. Feeling my claws gripping into the chair below me. Feeding her fantasy was my best attempt to stay alive. Even the poor deer she had killed attempted to do it.

"Yes many, not as monstrous or ugly as I...but far more," She growled between her teeth.

"As far as I can tell...your far from ugly, Mama," I felt he anger in her body well up in that growl. Saying that seemed to put ice on the wound. Causing her shadow to lower and lighten. "All of us are very lucky to be children of such a generous and lovely mother," I continued to flatter her. There was some honesty in what I said. She was a monster, but she fed us very well and made sure we were comfortable. Each time I complimented her it did seem to calm the storm radiating from her. The smile returned to her face as she lifted a hand up slowly.

The chair I sat in shuttered suddenly. I tried my hardest not to move. The chair let out a loud groan as it was dragged across the floor. Leaving some clear lines on the floor till my chair was up against hers. Reaching up she stroked my cheek softly. Every touch still has that deep effect on me. Calming, soothing, and deeply warming as she stroked my cheek. I had done this before. Sweet talked my stoned-out mother plenty of times. Got her to give me a little bit of money to order pizza sometimes. She never reacted like this.

"Mmmm such a sweet boy, Perhaps Mama can trust you like my real children," She whispered. The image of the picture downstairs flashed in my head. If she was a monster, then what were the rest of them? "Your real children?" Her hand slid up to my other cheek. Pulling my face, a bit closer. I trembled in her gasp. "Yes, my little one...I could envelope you.... mmmm birth you again, make you one of my children, raise you like my own," She leaned up her face to mine. Slowly rubbing her nose to mine. Making her ears flop from side to side.

"N...." I stopped myself from reacting. She wasn't being aggressive so I could only assume she didn't want to hurt me. However, I knew what her hands could do. The blood that must stain that pale soft fur. "No thank you Mama, you're so generous and I'm clearly not worthy of being your child," I turned down the offer as politely as I could. Pulling away her face turned one of disappointment. Yet, she didn't get angry. Like a child who said they weren't hungry. She just nodded and slid one hand up to stroke through my hair. "Mmm such a humble little one," She smiled and removed her hands from me. "Now I think it is bedtime little one,Little boys need their rest," She softly picked up her needles once again. Going back to her knitting like nothing had happened.

I quickly slid from the chair and walked to the door. Grabbing the doorknob, I felt her looking at me. It felt like a predator was staring down at me. "Oh.... I almost forgot my manners. Good night, Mama," I said. I refused to move or look behind me. If I did, I could only assume what would happen. My senses didn't lie. Thankfully, once I said good night. The feeling slowly faded, and I felt I was allowed to leave. Shutting the door behind me, I immediately slid down to my knees. Breathing hard and I was able to relax.

I had no option. I had to stay and work. Over the next few days, we didn't have any incidents. I kept trying to get closer to the front gate. Yet, each time I did I could feel that same feeling staring at me. Like she was right behind me ready to pounce on me. Other than that, it was a rather uncomplicated way to live. It wasn't anything like being homeless. Food, warm bed, access to a real bathroom. Just dealing with a horrible monster who at every turn was watching you. This must be how prison feels. Knowing any mistakes, you make will be reprimanded harshly. Thankfully, no one disappeared. Yet, I did keep feeling this curiosity in me. Growing like a sapling in the depths. There we're more like her. How many more? How many creatures of our nightmares we're just living out there. Living out in the open for anyone to see. This curiosity was going to kill me. I needed to know more. I needed to learn more. I needed to see her for what she truly was.

Unbeknownst to me, I would be given that opportunity very soon. It was Friday. The day before we were supposed to have some unknown guests. I was working in the parlor with Devon. Just cleaning up glasses and dusting the bar. We were a few rooms away from the entrance hall when we heard the knocking. Out of curiosity we headed out to the sitting room next to the entrance hall. Just peaking around the corner. We wanted to know who was coming in. Glancing outside I watched the Rolls Royce pull away down the gravel driveway. It was that horse from before. He must have dropped someone else off.

The front door opened as Gretta made her way down the steps from the upper floor. Quietly looking up as a guy around our age walked in. He was a bit more muscular than any of us. A big lizard by the looks of it. Smirking he looked around the place. Dropping his sack onto the floor he let out a little laugh. Gretta didn't approach him with the same level of kindness as she had me. "Shit lady you got some fuckin money," He laughed a bit. "Yes, I do," She sat her cane between her fingers.

"So, the horse guy told me I could stay here for free? You looking to be some kind of cougar and get your old box punched by some real dick?" He laughed in her face. Gretta didn't respond and seemed to narrow her eyes. "You were always a brat," She huffed, and the door slammed behind him. The lizard turned, hearing the door close. "What the fuck you got some kind of fun house here?" He didn't really seem to care. "Look you want me to fuck ya behind your old man's back then I'm gonna need some real money, not just gonna get my dick wet for free, well maybe if you got a few cute ass daughters walkin around," He just shrugged it off. Joking about it so eagerly to her face.

Sliding his hand to his side the lizard pulled his shirt up. Showing a gun tucked into the hip of his pants. "Mmmm maybe I should just put you and the old man down and take this place for myself," He licked his lips. Gretta didn't even care about his firearm. Just slowly sat her cane aside resting it against the railing of the stairs. Stepping down the two steps towards the floor. She looked at the lizard as he ran out of his mouth. She slowly lifted her hand. Looking at her rings softly then grabbed the one with the largest gemstone. Gently pulling it from her finger she threw it to him. Letting it clang on the floor and across the floor. Hitting his feet. "Leave my home, take that as compensation for your time, I have no use or need for someone like you," she said. Her words were cold and harsh. The two spies had never seen her act so hateful.

"Someone like me? What? Just cause you got money mean I'm some sort of fucking scaley trash ole bitch? I don't want you cheap ass jewelry," He growled kicking the ring away. "You know I think I'll just kill you and leave the world without one more old racist bitch," He tugged the gun from his waistband. Without care he barely took the time to aim and just pulled the trigger. The bang radiated through the empty halls. The smell of the gunpowder hissing from him. Six bangs radiated out piercing the old female's body. Causing her to fall back onto the steps. Black blood gushing from her and running down the steps beneath her. We cowered a little behind the wall. Was it that easy? Could killing a monster be so simple? He just shot her like she was nothing. He stepped towards her body keeping a hand on the gun. The barrel was hot as smoke rolled from the end.

"Fucking bitch, think I'm fucking beneath you? You aint the first old white woman I've put down," He strutted. Stopping suddenly, he watched her hand twitch. "Da fuck..." he slowly reached back. Grabbing a clip from his back pocket. Slowly she sat up and cracked her neck slowly. The loud pop of her bone cracking echoed just as loud as the gunshot. "Such a useless brat," She brough her hand to her face. Slowly touching the bullet hole in her cheek. Moving her finger over the hole it just seemingly disappeared. Her left eye snapping back to match the right.

"It's no wonder your real father never left his family to be with your mother, and why she hung herself when he told her...Just a little bastard who daddy said he would pay for," she pushed herself up as the holes along her body sealed up nicely. The lizard watched and fumbled to slide the new clip in. Slowly she peeled off each of those big expensive rings letting them clang on the floor. "On daddies' money that foster mother of you took you in quick, too bad her boyfriend loved to slide into your bed at night, did it hurt?" she asked. The lizard looked down and forced the clip into the gun. Sweating a bit, he looked up to see she was gone. She just faded away as he raised the gun. Looking around rapidly aiming at the air. "Did it hurt when he stole your innocence? Did it hurt when you told her, and she said she didn't care? Did it hurt when your father said he wasn't going to pay for a man to live his life," Her voice echoed around him. "Shut up!" He fired a shot into the air.

Me and Devon ducked down as the bullet imbedded into the pillar next to us. Peeking up we got a sight that truly horrified us. As the lizard whipped around. He stopped when he saw what sat between him and the front door. Slowly he ran his eyes up the grotesque beat in front of him. It took up most of the entry hall behind him. Having to bend its short heavy legs into a squatting position. Its large hooves cracking the floor beneath it. A large round belly overhung between its legs as two massive sagging breasts hung from its chest and rested on its stomach. Its arms had to bend higher than its shoulders to rest on each side of the lizard. Covered in dense matted wool. Each hand was larger than a man. Those talon-like claws scratching the wood below it. Its neck craned and curved like a dragon. Each motion sending the sagging skin and dense wool shaking. Leading to its long caprine face. The wool hanging over its eyes. as the enormous heavy ram horns seemed they should weigh its head down. Growling scraps and long shreds of the black dress she wore draped its frame.

"What are..." He lizard tried to squeak out. Only to be interrupted by those massive hands wrapping around him. Holding him like one would hold a firefly. Clasping him between her fists, she hissed between her fangs. "Little child...let mama end your suffering," She growled and slowly closed her fists. Hearing the bangs of the gun going off in her hands. She didn't react to what surely hurt. Her hands compressed slowly till they mashed flat together. Droplets of red dripping from her cupped hands. "Mama would have loved you...loved you as her own," Tears began to stream down the beast's muzzle. Pulling her cupped hands to her chest. Sobbing over the man she just crushed in own hands.

We could only stare in shock at this creature. Monstrous in its appearance. Undefinably powerful. Yet crying over the person who just shot her. "But..." She opened her palms and let what little was left of him slop to the floor. "Mama does not raise brats who cannot obey," Her tears stopped as her body cracked and shifted. Slowly morphing back to her smaller and much more manageable size. Thankfully, her clothes formed back with her as she did.

"I know you two naughty boys are watching," she looked in our direction. Slowly we slipped out from around the corner. Both shaking slightly as we did so. "Little boys shouldn't try to see mama when she's undressed, it's perverse," She corrected them. "Our apologies mama," Devon looked down at the pile of broken bones, flesh, and blood on the floor. "No matter, mama lost her temper..." She walked through the disgusting mess. Hearing her hooves squish loudly in the mess. Leaving a trail of hoof prints as she retrieved her cane.

"Would you two mind cleaning up for mama?" She turned back to them.

"Of course, no..." Devon began to say. I stopped him just before he stopped. Testing my theory of flattery on her. ", considering how strong Mama is. Do you happen to have any kind of like um magic to help us?" I asked. Gretta looked at me directly in the eyes. She knew what game I was playing. I could almost see the devious gears in her mind turning. "I just wanted to see if Mama had such power in her real body...then surely she could show two young guys like us how to clean properly," I tried to sweeten the pot. I truly didn't want to be slopping the lizard's guts off the floor. Yet, I still had a sense I could get on her good side.

Nodding she strutted back to the mess and set the end of her cane into the mess. Causing the disgusting mess to liquify and seep between the floorboards. Dripping down into the basement. It was simply out of sight and out of mind. "Like that darling?" She looked at us. Nodding we both acted impressed enough. We were happier we didn't have to clean up the mess. I had seen the monster she was. Experienced the powers she wielded. Even flattered her to the point of desiring me. Now all I had to do was find a way to escape.