Chapter Text
A group was getting an outdoor movie all set in the backyard. One of them, a young blonde woman called Ichabod, was overseeing the final preparations. The blonde woman twirled her large French braid and placed it over the right side where it touched her gut as she surveyed everything: the snacks were set, chairs were all around, and the movie was selected. All she had to do now was to check and see if everyone was ready, Ichabod went in the house and saw everyone talking.
"Alright, everything's set," She said, "We're all good when you guys are."
"Sure thing, we'll be out in just a moment." One of the other women said.
Ichabod went back outside and grabbed the DVD case. The movie was 'Shin Godzilla', she was wanting to watch this film for a while, and everyone agreed to have it on for the evening. Just as she was thinking, she heard some rustling in the bit of distance; it stopped, and she thought nothing of it … Maybe a squirrel or something. What she didn't realize was that the creature responsible for the sound was anything but what she would think as a small animal.
The creature resembled a man with limbs that appear twisted and mangled alongside with an elongated neck and openings in between its shoulder blades and a few holes in its neck. It looks towards the blonde as its next target but saw other people exiting the home and getting settled for the event. It stuck around to watch what was going on, keeping its distance to where it could see and hear what was going on. The people just stood around and were discussing the movie.
"You really want to watch this, don't you Ichabod?" A man with semi long brown hair asked.
"Of course, Ricky." Ichabod replied, "I've been hearing about this for a long time and now have the chance to watch it."
"I still say you should've picked the first 'Resident Evil' movie," a woman with the red hair pulled to a ponytail commented.
"Yeah," a man with grey hair said, hugging the red-haired woman, " The first one was where it was at!"
"Martin, Maple, you two know we've watched that so many times," the blonde said, loading the DVD into the player.
"Fine! But next time, that's the movie we're selecting."
Ichabod laughed and got to her seat, everyone got set before the movie started and grabbed some snacks. Once it got to the menu, the French braided blonde grabbed the remote and pressed play. The movie started and everyone was quite; everyone, even the creature in the distance.
It was thinking of leaving but was curious about what was on the screen. It sat down like a dog and watched alongside the group, albeit from a distance. It still glanced at the blonde from time to time during the film but was still entranced by the massive, horrific looking monster rampaging the town. The creature felt like it could understand how the mountain-sized monster on screen must be feeling, with its pain and loneness; it huffed and continued watching.
The movie had finished after a while, Ichabod hit stop on the remote as the credits began to roll. She got up and popped the DVD and returned it to the case.
"Well, I gotta say," Martin said, "That was intense. The special effects were pretty gnarly, and you can tell there was effort there."
"See, you enjoyed it," Ichabod commented.
"Well, I still say we should've watched 'Resident Evil'."
"Oh, goddamn it!"
"Man, you certainly gotta like how Godzilla showed no mercy to the city," Ricky said, "Truly a spectacle!"
Ichabod sighed and looked at the DVD cover before she spoke, "Well … I feel bad for Godzilla. He was a victim to the radiation that was just dumped in the sea, he was just a victim that had to pay for it despite it not being his fault."
The creature in the distance heard what the blonde was saying especially well, it got a bit closer to listen it some more on the conversation. It felt like if what the woman was saying was true and she did feel genuinely empathetic towards something like what it saw on the screen, then she must feel the same about something like it. For the first time in seemingly forever, it may have found one who didn't think of it as the killing machine that it was made out to be, but instead … something that wanted kindness and sympathy.
"You truly have a unique way of looking at it," Ricky added, not taking what she was saying seriously.
"I'm right! Even the OG '54 Godzilla was a victim of atomic bomb testing. The whole movie was regarding fears of nuclear weapons."
"She's true," Maple said, pulling up her phone and showing everyone the pages for both Shin Godzilla and the 1954 Godzilla.
Ricky huffed, "Welp, you won Blondie."
"I have a name!" she jokingly barked, "It's Ichabod."
"But your name Nightingale … " Martin pointed out.
"Okay, Ichabod is my nickname and Nightingale is my true name. Y'all happy?"
Martin and Ricky laughed and nodded.
"Your grandfather calls you Ichabod … Or he did." Maple said.
"Yeah … He did." Ichabod said, holding back tears.
Ichabod's grandfather had passed away a few weeks back, she was entrusted the summer home he had until everything will the will and assets were settled and taken care of. Her sister and aunt were handling all of that and all she had to take care of is making sure the home was maintained, the house has been paid off so there was not too much to worry there outside of standard bills.
"Oh … I forgot about that," Ricky said.
"Is that why you've going with Ichabod for a while now?" Martin asked.
Maple walked up to Ichabod and hugged her, "He was a good man. I know you miss him dearly but at least he isn't suffering anymore."
"Yeah … That is true." Ichabod said, feeling a bit better.
The group all stood around for a moment before checking their phones. It was almost 11:00 pm, Ricky, Martin, and Maple all realized they had to leave before it got extra late in the night.
"Oh shit! Hey Ichabod, I hope you don't mind if we leave. I have to be in at work in the morning and I don't want my boss ripping me a new asshole if I'm late and sleep deprived," Ricky said.
"Oh no, I understand," she said, "I have to clean up anyways."
"Do you want us to help? I think it's the least we can do," Martin asked.
"Well if you guys want, putting the chairs up in the shed I'd appreciate that." Ichabod said.
"Of course!"
With that, the three put the chairs up just as she asked. Ichabod had put up most of the other things up with the exception on the food, but everything else was all taken care of. Everyone met up right where the chairs were and said their goodbyes for the night, Ichabod watched as everyone left, she turned her attention to the plate of food. She walked over and grabbed a sandwich, she took a bite and played with her large French braid as she looked up at the night sky.
"Hey Grandpa," She said after swallowing a bite of her sandwich, "Everything's going good, hopefully the summer house gets sold to a good owner."
She took another bite of her sandwich and continued to look up at the sky, the stars always looked beautiful, and she hoped her grandfather is resting well. Her thoughts were interrupted when she heard a loud rumbling sound, similar to where she heard the rustling a few hours back. Ichabod grabbed a plate and placed her sandwich down then went to investigate, she made it to the shrubs and saw nothing. Ichabod then went out further and found a large shape covered in shadow, she crept closer to it, it looked human, but something felt … off …
Ichabod collected herself as she took it all in. She then began to speak, calmly under the fear of how it will react.
"Um … Hello there …" she began, "I'm Ichabod, well my real name is Nightingale, but Ichabod is what I'm okay with being called. Are you alright there? Do you have a name?"
The creature then moved about, facing her direction. It moved towards her with the moonlight shining upon it, that was when Ichabod got a good view of what it truly was. The creature was the mangled-up man-like creature watching her and her friends earlier, she was not prepared to see its true form and with it crawling over on all fours. Ichabod kept her calm and took it all in, it actually looked fascinating, and it didn't seem to be dangerous, she crouched to the ground to its head. It looked up at her as she tilted her head, she got back up and took in more of its features, Ichabod took in the large scar-like mark between its shoulder blades and its mangled clothes and limbs.
"Can you stand up?" she asked.
With that, it quickly got up and she jumped a bit by its sudden movements before getting back to where she previously stood. Ichabod got a good sense of its height; it was about 7 feet tall which dwarfed her at her 5'2" height (5'5" with her boots). She began to back away a bit, the creature ... or monster ... moved closer and lifted a hand up.
"Wait … Please don't … Leave …" It spoke.
She stood still once she heard it speak. This evening was certainly getting interesting, she never expected to see something like this during her stay at the summer house. Ichabod got closer to it.
"You can speak?" She asked.
"Yes ..." It answered.
"Do you have a name?"
"I do not ... I am just ... Unknown ..."
"So, the Unknown then?" She questioned to herself.
"You seem ... Kind ..." It continued, "You ... care about ... Monsters ..."
Monsters? Was this the creature that made the sound before the movie? And was it hanging around while her and everyone were watching the movie? Ichabod perked up from her thoughts and looked up towards it as it spoke its sentences, she took in a good view of its face, it had no eyes alongside a seemingly permanent grin and a few holes on its elongated neck.
"So ... You were the thing that made the rustling a few hours ago." Ichabod concluded as she recalled the previous events.
"Yes ..." It answered, "And saw ... the movie ..."
It hung around the summer house while the movie was playing. It must've also heard all the conversations between her and her friends as well, that would explain as to why it made a comment about her caring about monsters. The Unknown came closer to Ichabod; it tilted its head, and it made a loud crunching sound, as if the bones in its neck broke just to face her. It lifted a hand, and it held her French braid, it played with her hair for a moment or two before putting it back.
"Well," Ichabod began, she reached her hand up and felt its neck, "You don't seem to be aggressive, or at least not aggressive to me. Oh! I bet you're hungry! There's still food that was left out. If you want, you can have whatever you want."
The Unknown nodded, it seemed like food would be nice. Ichabod smiled and began to walk towards the house with the beast following her. Once they got there, she showed the Unknown the plate of food: there were sandwiches, fruits, some veggies, and even some brownies. The Unknown took in the sight of the plate of food, after a moment of thinking, the creature pointed to some fruit: specifically, an orange. Ichabod picked one up from the plate and presented it to the monster, it picked it up and looked at it before glancing back at Ichabod; then, a loud ripping, opening sound was heard, its back opened up in the spot with the scar-like thing. The opening unleashed several tentacles, one of which grabbed the citrus and brought it to its back opening and with a crack and a snap shut, the tentacles and orange were gone. Her eyes widened up upon seeing this, she figures that one way it eats; however, there were still the holes in the neck, and she noticed its mouth opened up a bit, so possibly the mouth can also function. She still had so many questions, but it looks like she'll have to wait to get the answers.
Ichabod had just finished her sandwich and snapped the lid on the snack tray shut, she looked back at the monster for a second and back to the tray. She realized she completely forgot to make sure it was done eating before packing everything up.
"Oh, I'm sorry," she apologized, "I wasn't sure how hungry you were. Did you want anything else?"
"N-No ... Thank you," the Unknown said.
"Ah, alrighty then."
She grabbed the container and turned towards the Unknown, she yawned as she remembered how late it was. The blonde felt bad having to end the encounter so briefly, but she was winded from the day and the movie night. Ichabod got close to it again and looked up at its face.
"Well, I hate to say it but it's getting late," she explained, "I gotta head inside and get to bed. You have a good night now."
She started to make her way towards the backdoor when she felt a grab and squeeze around her left arm, it wasn't too intense, but she would be lying if she said it didn't sting just a little bit. She turned around and saw that it was the monster, it grabbed her, as if trying to ask her to stay out.
"Please ... Stay ..." the Unknown said, a twinge of hurt being heard slightly, "You ... Really are ... Kind ... to Me. I don't ... Recall ... Anything like this ... In ... ages."
It released her arm and looked at her, probably trying a puppy dog eyes kind of beg. Ichabod felt awful about needing to head to bed but also for the monster in front of her as a whole; her heart was aching at what it was telling her, and she felt certain it would tear up a bit if it could. Does the Unknown truly feel lonely and hurt? And her being the first to show it kindness, that certainly means a lot to it. Then, an idea came to her head, she is interested in it, and it was clearly interested in her; Ichabod smiled and returned her attention to it.
"Well, tell you what," she began, "I'll be here for a while, and I can spend time with you in the evenings right in this backyard. We have a good view of the lake, we have a good forest to explore, and just about everything else we can do. I'll come out each night and I can spend more time with you than this evening. Is that a deal?"
The monster began twitching and jolting as well clapping its malformed hands a bit before holding them together as it nodded, "Oh yes ... I ... Would like that ... So much ... Thank you."
She smiled, seeing and hearing how happy it is, "Then it's a deal then."
Ichabod reached her hand out to have it shake, the Unknown looked at her hand before reaching its out to shake. It noted how she felt warm and soft, it twisted its neck and head down to rub it against its face. The blonde was unsure of what it was doing but allowed it to not make it angry, the tentacles then came out once again and began rubbing her hand and arm. Ichabod was getting flustered and blushing a bit, she had always had a soft side for monsters (both romantically and sexually) and the tentacles have always been a sexual soft side as well. She snapped out of it once the feelings in her arm all stopped, it retracted the tentacles and was facing up again; she looked at her arm and saw it was covered in a purple slime of sorts.
The Unknown walked towards her and nuzzled its head against her cheek and neck, "Good ... Night. Will ... See you ... Again."
With that, it got on all fours and crawled back into the forest. Ichabod watched as it disappeared into the darkness of the night, she then looked back at her arm and realized she'll need to wash it off before bed. She walked into the house and placed the food in the fridge, then got her arm washed off and ready for bed.