Hey all, Annabelle here with the exciting conclusion to Mike's battle in the Dreamscape! Some of you made some really good guesses as to how he escapes, so it's time to see who was right!
Home for Horny Monsters is written as a novel. If you are new to the series, you should start at Ch. 01. Much love to my supporters, I hope you enjoy what happens next!
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Soul Survivor
Lily sipped at her cocktail, smiling at the ocean waves that crashed into the shore, scattering sand along its edges. Technicolor crabs that looked like they had been drawn by a toddler scurried in every direction, a remnant of a childhood memory seeking shelter from the crushing surf. While the drink was good, Lily was a little sad that it had no bite to it — it was impossible to get truly drunk from a dream.
"Hey!" Lily held up her drink. One of her beach minions ran forward to refill it. Truth be told, while she couldn't get drunk, she also couldn't get full. She would drink until the stars came out, and then watch them wander in random directions across the sky until day broke again. She was content to wait the contest out, more than happy to live in the simulated time of Mike's mind.
"You ...How long have we been sitting here?" She turned to the minion closest to her, the remnants of a soul she had consumed once upon a time, long ago. She had forgotten who he was, and so had he. Once properly consumed, a soul was little more than an automaton-no memory of its former self coupled with unwavering obedience. They would do absolutely anything for her, no questions asked.
"Nine days."
She had tasked this one with keeping track of the time. A silly task, but to a being that had lived for so many centuries, it was easy to lose count of something as small as a day.
"Nine. Wow. Romeo must be going nuts." She looked at the soul, dressed in white shorts and a tux jacket. He was blond, with hazel eyes, clearly a young man once upon a time. He didn't respond to her — the souls of the Damned rarely did. Social cues were beyond such creatures.
"Hmm. I wonder what he's up to." Lily sipped her refilled drink. Her infernal magic had been directed outward, waiting to sense a new challenge from Mike or, if he was stupid, his third orgasm. So far, he was lying low, probably trying to prolong what was left of his existence.
Lily smiled. Maybe she would let him wake up and go about his life. The next time he boned one of his monsters, she could claim him on the spot.
Lily's smile faded from her face. No, she wouldn't do that. When Elizabeth had first contracted her to go after Mike, she had been under the impression that he was just like every other man whose soul she had been sent for. Eager to fuck anything with two legs, cocky, arrogant, the list went on. His lack of desire for sex with her in any of her human incarnations had been profoundly mind blowing, until she realized that he needed something more ... outside the norm.
Yet, when she had appeared as Naia, all he really wanted was to hold her. There had been no demand for sex, no position of power between them. Despite appearing to him as a horny water spirit, Mike had shown mutual respect for the nymph that extended to what could only be described as romantic affection.
"Bah." Lily threw her glass on the ground. It bounced twice, spilling its contents across the tiny grains of sand. Glaring at the unbreakable glass, she summoned her tail and lashed out with it, snapping the tip like a whip. This time the glass shattered, sending tiny glowing embers into the sky. Affection was a farce, a mask worn in the name of love, but only as a means to an end.
Or was it? There had been a time when she hadn't thought so, but it had been so long ago that she couldn't remember how she was supposed to feel. Staring out at the waves, she wondered what the human was up to. Did he spend his days plotting? Or maybe screaming at the visage of his mother? He was taking his time doing something, but Lily was content to stay where she was, relaxing on the shores of his mind.
Suddenly, there was a flash of light along the water's surface, a wave of energy that sparkled along the sky above, tickling Lily's senses: Mike had called to her, and it was time to go. The Dreamscape folded itself around her, like the turning of a page, and she was suddenly back at the house.
"Okay, so this is clever." Lily stared at the large maze around the house. Stone had been pulled up from the earth beneath, forming a labyrinth that led to the house. Long, slender vines clung to the stony walls, vines with tiny thorns. "You've built a maze. Good for you. Did you put traps in here? I love a good trap."
"Come and find out." Mike's voice came from somewhere within the maze. Lily rolled her eyes. Clearly, the man had snapped. Best case scenario, some dream contraption he built could actually kill her, driving her out of the Dreamscape and back into the real world. It would take her all of a minute to get back in, and their game would resume. Lily sighed — the last thing she needed was to spend all night trying to seduce a man who had lost his mind.
Walking into the maze, she was immediately assaulted by a winged figure made and stone. In the real world, such a creature would have a fighting chance. Here, however, Lily was the Queen. She snapped her tail like a whip, cracking the stone figure in the head, shattering it into fluttering butterflies.
"Cute." Lily navigated the maze. Every few turns, a new stone guardian sprang from the shadows, and Lily quickly dispatched each one, her tail shattering them with relative ease. The maze itself was intricate, but Lily was far too curious to simply fly over the top. Mike had spent his time mastering the Dreamscape, but to what end?
Moving ever deeper, she couldn't help but laugh at the childish traps he had set for her: A deep pit full of water, spikes that came out of the walls, and even a rolling boulder which she swatted with one hand, making it float away like a balloon. Thinking she was near the center of the labyrinth, she was surprised to emerge back where she had started from.
"Wow. Nice job, Romeo." Chuckling, she turned around to walk back in. She was in no hurry.
This time, the stone warriors were short men with spiked knuckles. Again, she whipped them with her tail, shattering them into dust. Spike pits, logs, and even a pit of paper tigers were no match for Lily, but she kept going. She found the whole thing rather amusing.
The stone walls suddenly became smooth, giant letters carved into them. Lily laughed.
Clearly Mike had attempted to write something in the maze, hoping the large letters would remain in place. While true, the letters shifted back and forth between similar shapes. Lower case "a"s transformed into curvy "e"s, and Lily had to hold her stomach when she found nearly half a mile of stone with poorly spelled iterations of the word "penis." What the hell had Mike been up to?
Soft music played ahead, the sky above growing dark. She had fucked around in his maze for so long that she hadn't even noticed the change in day. Rolling her eyes, she made the final few turns before stepping into a lavishly decorated bedroom. In the middle of the room was a table lit with candles, and a large vase of roses. Sitting at the table was Mike, who flipped casually through an old, leather-bound book.
"Hey there, Romeo." Lily sauntered forward, her hips swaying from side to side opposite her tail. "This is super cute. Did you spend all week making this?"
Mike held up a finger in response, his eyes scanning the rest of the page. He wore a button down dress shirt over his jeans, and his bare feet were in the sand. The rest of the room was empty, though tiny waterfalls along the edge of the room filled water troughs.
"Oh please. We both know you can't be reading anything in there." Lily smirked. She was dying to know where this was going.
"On the contrary." Mike flipped the book over, revealing the word CAT in giant letters. "You can call it an exercise in concentration."
