Blessed by Night

'Hungry...!' 'Damn it, fine but I just want you to know that you have some shit timing.' -

Luna took Mal to a special section of headquarters where monster corpses were kept. Here they were stripped down and put to various uses depending upon the type of creature. Monsters with exoskeletons were refurbished and turned into weapons or armor, while those with higher regenerative capabilities were dissected and studied, as a means to advance medical procedures and treatments. But one thing that always typically went unused was the meat of the creatures. Monster meat has a very poor flavor and gamy texture, and even a Michelin starred chef couldn't work with it as an ingredient. As a result, a large chunk of it is usually thrown away and wasted. There was talk of donating it to local zoos but... a few too many congressmen were worried that the animals might mutate if they ate enough of it, so the idea was scrapped. At the end of the day, monster meat's only real value was to Blessed with contracted beasts. The magical creatures subsisted on the distasteful flesh like it was the best thing in the world, oblivious to the human stigma around it. Naturally, Luna had a mini fridge full of the exotic meat for her beloved kitsune, Shiro. "I would have given you some of hers, darling. But it seems she is being rather... stingy at the moment." She apologized. 'Call it what you want! He must have fucked every last brain cell out of your mind if you think I'm going to let you give away my food!' A vein bulged in Luna's forehead as she lamented over the fact that her sweet and fluffy pet was learning more and more colorful language. No doubt it was due to that show she had been so adamantly watching over the last few days. 'That's it, no more Snowfall for you.' She said sternly. Immediately, her mind was filled with whimpers. 'Wait! Wait! I-I'm sorry! He can have all of the food he wants, I just need to know what happens to Franklin's dad!' 'No, I don't like what it's doing to you.' Luna said firmly. She was met with another wave of stringent complaints but she merely ignored them in favor of her boyfriend that was still at her side. "Don't worry, love." Malachi said as he took her hand. "I'm pretty sure that Shear would have eaten everything you had for her anyway." The nightmare was admittedly quite the glutton, and even now Malachi could feel her hunger that was almost bottomless. "Well, it's a good thing I have prepared quite a feast for her then."

Luna and Malachi finally reached a large meatpacker on the inside of the warehouse, and found hooks hanging with meat from all kinds of creatures. Orc, lamia, siren, goblin, even some demon. An all you can eat nightmare buffet. "Alright, girl. Come out and eat your fill." Malachi goaded. A moment later, a small wisp of light left his forehead mark and Shear emerged at her full height and appearance. She carefully inspected the meat on all of the hook before turning back to give Malachi a disappointed look. Even though she did not have eyes, he could swear that she was trying to use the puppy dog technique on him. Without saying a word, Malachi knew exactly what the problem was. For Shear, eating meat that was already dead was like getting a blowjob with a condom on. It was fine but... it could be done so much better. "I'm sorry, girl but we don't have any fresh meat right now. I'll work on getting you some for you next time around."

The nightmare seemed to be somewhat satisfied with that promise, and she started eating not long afterwards. While she chewed voraciously, Luna tapped Malachi on the shoulder to ask about his 'fresh meat' response. "Is she not happy with this?"

"I guess not... eating a monster fresh gives you this sort of influx of raw magical power, and I'm guessing she's missing that part of her diet."

Luna nodded in response before nodding and pulling out her phone. "I'll apply for a private dungeon pass for you so that you can go...grocery shop?"

Malachi suddenly pulled Luna in and kissed her gently on the cheek. "Thank you... I don't know what I'd do without you."

Luna blushed slightly in his grasp before pushing him away at the last second. "You can thank me later... for now I want you to try something."

"Hm?" "It'll be easier to bond with Shear when she's in a relaxed state like when she's eating. Linking your minds together is the first step to synchronizing your bodies."

Malachi nodded in understanding before inching his way over to Shear.

In the brief moment they'd been talking, she had completely cleaned her first corpse and was now moving on to the second. Malachi placed his hand on top of her head as she ate, and tried to concentrate on the connection between the two of them. For a moment, he wasn't sure if he was doing it correctly but upon closing his eyes to concentrate, he was able to link their minds together. However, he immediately wished he hadn't. His mind was flooded with strange feelings and frightening images. Brief flashes of horrifying creatures, nightmarish apparitions, and very ominous tidings. Apparently, nightmares share something of a hive mind amongst themselves, but Malachi's blood connection allowed her to be walled off from such nastiness. But when Malachi intruded into her mind, he unknowingly delved too deep inside and exposed himself to all of it. He couldn't catch everything, but he now understood exactly why the gods were so worried. These things that were coming... they were utterly horrifying. To call them monsters would be akin to a gross understatement, and there was only one word that could truly describe them. Nightmares. 'I have to get stronger...much, much stronger.'

-

"I try to forget it but... the memories don't seem to go away. The way I acted, what I did for him, what he did to me... I'm so fucking pathetic that it's laughable."

"You are far from pathetic, Director. You have experienced a hell that most people could never fathom.

The fact that you're taking positive steps to healing, however small they may be, is a monumental achievement in and of itself."

Director Joanne leaned back onto the leather sofa and stared nonchalantly into the ceiling. "Yea, well it's not like I really have a choice. I won't be cleared to resume my duties until you give me some shiny gold star."

Sitting across from her was a gentle looking woman with a dark complexion and wearing circular glasses and a simple button down and slacks. As for what her name was... Joanne had already forgotten.

"You should be grateful that your higher ups care about you enough to get you proper help. My boss couldn't give a shit if I lived or died." The woman said honestly. Joanne knew that she should look at it like that, but opening up always had been rather difficult for her. This was her fourth session so far, and coincidentally it was also the first one she had decided to actively participate in. In all of the others she merely sat back and watched the clock tick by while her therapist asked her questions that she never answered. Only today had she decided that the sooner she got this over with, the sooner she could throw herself back into work.

That's what she'd always done, and that's the only thing she'd ever been good at.

But against her expectations, once she started talking she couldn't stop. And unlike what they say on tv, she didn't feel better the more she talked. She just felt angrier, and more revolted. Memories of all the abuse she had suffered through continued to plague her like a bad fucking dream and she was so sick of it that she wanted to... she didn't know what she wanted. Her body was filled with raw emotion that she had no healthy outlet for. She was like a bomb that was just waiting to go off. 15:57

But in time, she would come to realize that her therapist was trying to diffuse her slowly, while directing her towards proper outlets an healing methods. For both of them, this would be a long and arduous process. But when it was over... maybe she would be better off than she was before. "That's our time for today, right?" Joanne said as she stood up in a hurry. "I'll be going then."

"Oh, alright before you go I have a bit of homework for you." "...What?" The woman backed away under the blessed's irritated gaze and tried her best not to pee herself in fear. "Ah, well I'm not going to ask you to turn in a paper or anything."

Joanne stared at the woman while folding her arms, seemingly waiting to hear her next words.

"I just... I want you to find a hobby, or better yet a friend. You need something to take your mind off of everything and I think-"

"Yea, thanks for the advice, Doc. I'll go dig out my high school yearbook and call some numbers or buy a vibrator. Whichever I come across first."

Joanne immediately left the office, in a worse mood than she was originally. Her hobbies were getting work done and collecting checks. Anything else was frivolous and unnecessary, and she had no time to indulge in some needless activity that would bear no fruit. And as far as friends went... that was even more of an impossibility. As Joanne walked through the hallway to get to the lobby, she heard an unusual commotion. And when she reached the front desk, she understood why. Casually taking a picture with the two ladies at the front desk, was a young man she knew unnecessarily well. When Malachi's eyes landed on Joanne, he smiled softly and immediately tried to approach her. Somehow, Joanne felt like her headache was about to get a lot worse. Trynna convince your homeboy to eat ass is lowkey like introducing someone into a cult... Idc tho he finna listen to me just this once. AnathaShesha