Sunset’s Monster

by Danny Daly

5:34. A dreadful realization dawned on Billie as he popped open a bottle of medicine. It was empty. He groaned in frustration as he held the bottle over his mouth and shook it. “Oh, come on, there’s gotta be a little left, right?” he murmured. As much as he tried to shake a little liquid out of the bottle, it was about as dry as a creek during the summertime. “Guess I really screwed this one up. Thought I could make it last just another day,” he sighed.  He grabbed his phone and checked the time. He had to be out the door in 10 minutes if he was going to make it to his date on time and he was out of medicine. And he needed to take that medicine every 12 hours on the dot, no sooner, no later. If he didn’t, his human disguise would disappear and he’d turn back into a monster. A large pit formed in his stomach and he clenched his shirt, twisting it up into a knot. 

 In case of emergencies, he kept extra bottles of medicine in a hand-made basket underneath the bathroom sink. They came in handy when he hadn’t saved up enough cash for some more. He grabbed another bottle and looked inside hoping there’d be some left within its contents. It too was empty. He groaned then tossed it into the trash. As he stood back up, he was caught by his reflection in the bathroom mirror. He leaned in bringing his hand over his eyebags. “Man, I look like a zombie, I need to get more sleep.” He adjusted his tie while practicing his smile. Even after spending years as a human being, he was never a fan of his smile; always thought his long canine teeth still made it look a little monstrous. 

 5:42. Billie rubbed his temples and felt his stomach start to bubble up with nerves. He rubbed his sweaty palms together. He grabbed his cell phone and thought about sending a quick text to cancel. Clenching it tightly in his hands, he opened their conversation. As he quickly fumbled together a cancellation message, he hesitated before pushing down on the send button. It was already hard to find time for dates between his day job and her demanding research work. Canceling at the last minute could mean their next date won’t be for a while or there might not be a next date at all. Even if they hadn’t been together for long, spending time with her had brought so much joy to his life. A joy he lacked before meeting her. He sighed and put his phone away then grabbed a few more bottles and shoved them into his pockets hoping that one of them would have at least a little something left. Then slipped on a black coat and stepped outside of his dingy apartment and down to the busy street below.  

5:47. He walked through the bustling rush hour crowds, continuously checking the time. He put his thumb to his lip and bit at his nail. He hoped to be there before her so wouldn't have to leave to go take his medicine. As he hurried along, he noticed his reflection in a clothing storefront. He brought his hand across his hair to smooth it out and adjusted his tie before taking a deep breath and moving along. He placed his hands on his pockets making sure he hadn’t lost any of the bottles.   

5:56. He made it to the restaurant. It was crowded. Practically stuffed wall to wall on this Friday night. Luckily, she wasn’t here yet. The dull chatter of the restaurant filled his ears. He fidgeted with his shirt collar and felt the blood rush to his face when he saw the crowds. He could already imagine their eyes boring into him if he transformed. Before the hostess could greet him, he booked it to the bathroom. His eyes were glued to his phone screen waiting for the alert to take his medicine to go off. 

6:00 pm. He ran past the bathroom mirrors and into a stall. He closed his eyes and popped the tiny bottle open. He frantically swung it to his lips, but not a drop slipped out. His heart stopped in his chest and his eyes shot open before he tossed the bottle aside then reached into his pocket to grab another.  It was empty too. As he grasped another bottle, his hand started to shake causing it to slip from his fingers and fall to the floor.

After only a second, Billie began to feel a dull pain in his stomach as if he had been punched right in the gut. His knees grew weak causing him to sink to the ground, his back leaning up against the wall of the narrow stall. He closed his eyes, as he broke into a sweat, and tried to reach for the bottle he dropped, but as his fist curled around it, his arm locked up and a tingling sensation ran through it. He bit his lip as his fingers twisted up and molded themselves into a familiar shape. His tie felt much tighter around his neck as it grew in size. Billie prayed it wouldn’t rip. This was his favorite tie; it was the one he wore at his graduation ceremony about a year ago. He was jolted back towards the door feeling his legs twitch and his knees slam towards the ground. The worst of it was a splitting migraine across his forehead as if his head was about to rupture. 

After the discomfort subsided and his vision cleared, he tried to stand up only to fall back to the ground. His arms and legs were now long black twigs each with a claw at the end. He stretched out the two that replaced his arms, crawled out underneath the stall, and reached out for the counter pulling himself up to the mirror. His head and body were like that of a black spider with eight red eyes that bulged out of his head and a set of fangs that stuck down from where his jaw once was. A large piece of exoskeleton made up his head engulfing the area where his neck and shoulders once were. Even if his head and back grew in size, his body shrunk down to a gaunt thorax that strung together his head and abdomen. His first set of legs emerged from his upper exoskeleton while four more ripped through what was left of his coat leaving it a tattered wreck. His hind legs bent back behind his abdomen forcing his body to curve toward the ground. He scurried around at the buzz of his phone on the bathroom floor.

6:03 pm. ‘I’m here! 

6:09 pm ‘Where are you?’

He took a deep breath, rubbed the sides of his black fuzzy face, and stared into the mirror, his gaze entrapped by the creature staring back at him. He looked over at the bathroom door and slid back towards the stall. The temptation to never leave that restroom was unbearable, but he had to go back there. He knew that never coming out would be selfish. He had made a promise to her after all. 

With that Billie curled one of his claws around his phone, hearing the screen crack as he did so, and crawled out of the bathroom. Holding the red phone close to his chest, he fumbled his way past the bar and the tables. He did his best to stand upright, using his upper legs to grip the walls and the lower two to stay grounded to the floor. As he stumbled past the tables, he started to notice people around him going quiet, their eyes moving onto him like hot spotlights. His heart pounded in his chest as he stumbled through the restaurant. Finally, he managed to make it to the front. Ruth wore a white dress with violet flowers sewn into it. She had bright brown hair she had put up into curls, and pink lipstick. Billie stared at her from afar, memorized by how beautiful she looked. She was staring at her phone but looked up upon hearing the commotion from the other patrons.

She then spotted the strange spider staring at her. “Oh my god,” she muttered. Her eyes went wide with curiosity as she hesitantly approached the monster. 

“Ruth! It’s me!” His voice had a hiss to it. It was hard to speak without shooting out boiling spit. He ran to her only to lose his grip and fall flat on his face at her feet. “S-sorry hi, it’s me, Billie!” He tried to smile at her, but he only showed off his sharp fangs.

Her face lit up. “Billie? Oh. Hi! I was wondering where you were,” she gulped before bending down and taking his hairy arm.  “Here I’ll—I’ll help you up.”

She hoisted him up by the arm and tried to hold him up but his head kept drifting over. His eyes were wide with fear, like eight bright red dodge balls. He gulped and tried to read her reaction but he couldn’t make it out. 

Ruth held him by the arm and dragged him to the hostess’s stand. As she stopped, he lurched forward grasping the stand with his tiny claws to hold himself up. She let out a long sigh and said, “Table for two. We have a reservation. The name should be under, Billie?” Ruth looked up at him with a tense smile. He nodded, all eight of his eyes locking with hers. “Maybe towards the back,” she added. 

“Oh ok. I- I can do that.” The hostess looked at him with a terrified expression, as if her heart was going to stop right then and there. She led them to their table and slammed their menus down before hurrying back to the front. 

As he went to take his seat, Billie wrapped his legs around the chair, gripping his two extra arms onto the table to hold himself up. He awkwardly tried to fit himself onto the chair. With his abdomen sticking out against the seat, he found himself almost tumbling over. The two sat in silence for a moment as she read over the menu front and back so the situation could set itself in. Finally, Ruth spoke up and said, “Are you doing ok?”

“I’m– Good,” he muttered. “How are you?” 

“Honestly I’m not so sure,” Ruth replied with hesitance in her voice. 

Billie looked down at his claws. “I love your dress,” he said softly. 

“Oh thanks! I actually thrifted it,” she blushed. She thought over how she was going to address this. Clearly, he wasn’t going to say anything himself. She bit her lip and looked away trying to think of how to structure the question. Finally, she said, “You didn't decide to show up this way, did you? Like, is this some kind of big prank with elaborate costume and makeup work?”

Billie’s legs started to twitch. He opened his mouth to speak but his jaw locked up. His head jerked down, and he blocked out all eight of his eyes.

 “Don’t freak out,” she reassured. “I’m not gonna bite your head off. I just would like my questions answered.”

He forced down his fear before whispering, “No- no. This is what I actually look like. I’m sorry. I ran out of my prescription that is supposed to make me appear as a human.”

“Appear as a human? And that aside, you were just going to, not tell me about this? Or am I just getting it mixed up?”

Billie shook his head. “Yes- yes. The plan was always to be a human. This is the first day in, well, five years I’ve been like this. I’m not really a monster. I’m a person, or rather a monster that decided to live as a person. I’m sorry, I am fumbling my speech again.” 

 “Hey, it’s fine.” She rubbed the back of her head and gave him a sympathetic smile. “So, it’s not like you’re wearing a costume. You’re just a person. I’m sure that’s not straightforward to explain right?  Actually, just curious, have you told anybody else about this?”

He nodded at her first question and shook his head at the second, “N-No. Never really intended to.”

Billie stared at her, trying to figure out what she could mean. He could hear the other patrons around him whispering about him and her. Their opinions were eating away at him. He covered his face and then said, “I’m sorry,” he muttered. “It’s my mistake for not telling you about this earlier. Now I’ve embarrassed you.” 

“No, you haven’t. Whether you had told me now or later, it wouldn’t have changed a thing. It’s really no big deal, but I’m sorry you had to spill the beans this way. I mean, I’m just glad you came today and were honest with me but, uh, you really didn’t have to. Maybe just shoot me a text next time that you can’t make it or to meet up somewhere else. I won’t be offended, trust me. I’ve canceled dates for much less.”

Billie looked at her in awe before nodding his head in agreement, “T-Thank you.”

Ruth raised an eyebrow and said, “Hey, so do you just want to hang out at your place instead? When can you turn back?”

“6 am. I hope, I still have some somewhere in my cabinet”

“Oh wow, that’s early. I guess we’re pulling an all-nighter then,” she laughed. “Do your meds cost money?” she asked curiously. 

“Erm – yeah, yeah. Prices go up you- you know?” He let out a sigh and looked down at the ground. “Are you sure you’re alright with this? And you want to spend time with me?”

“Yeah. It's cool if you sometimes look like that. I’ve never been all that scared of spiders. More crickets, if anything. Little freaks just, invade your whole house ugh. Just, give me a heads-up if you're out next time, ok?” she smiled. “As long as you’re still the same guy I’ve been seeing, it doesn’t make any difference to me” 

Billie perked up and slowly nodded his head. Ruth took his claw in her hand leading him to let out a soft purr, feeling his claws gently press into her fingers. The two leaned into one another as they left the busy restaurant and walked back to his dingy apartment. It was just ten minutes away.