Monster

Malice's POV:4:00 p.m., Christmas Day

"You need to come downstairs," Impa says to Zelda.

"Everything alright?" Zelda asks, but Impa shakes her head sideways.

"Cops are at the door. They want to speak with you."

Zelda heads downstairs to talk to them, but Impa stays behind for a moment to glare at me with her arms crossed.

"You look like you're about to throw up," she says to me, eying me with caution. "Are you using again?"

I wish. My pulse is slamming against my ribs and throat and ears as my vision dissolves into a blur of too-bright lights and smothering shadows. These "cops" are probably working for Ganondorf! They finally found me, and now they'll drag me back to the Hideout! I can't go back there!

My legs give out, and I hit the floor hard, my hands catching me just before my face does.

"Oh shit!" Impa rushes over. She kneels down, her hands landing firmly on my arms for support. "What the hell is going on with you? You need me to call help?"

"No!" I wince. Calling for help is the last thing she should do right now. "I'm just lightheaded!"

"I'll get you some water."

Why is Impa so concerned about my well-being all of a sudden? I'd expect her to laugh at me. Snap a pic to show the others. Kick me while I'm down. This isn't like her at all.

I smack her hands away and push myself up from the floor. "Fuck off, Impa."

She blinks, watching me steady myself. "Just tryna be nice."

"Don't," I snap.

She raises both hands for a sarcastic surrender, her face set in that annoyed expression I know all too well. "Won't happen again."

It sure won't. Because this is the last time you'll see me.

I drag myself toward my room. Gotta get the hell out of here, fast! Strapped into the black boots Zelda gave me earlier today, I throw on Pike's oversized hoodie and tear off the tag from the new black beanie. It's not much for a disguise, but it'll have to do until I get my hands on some hair dye.

I quietly open the door to the balcony. The temperatures are unusually low for SoCal, and the sun is just now setting, which means it'll only get colder as night arrives.

One hand on the railing, I pause to look back at the room that was supposed to be my new start, my second chance. Could've been nice. But staying here would mean dragging Zelda, Link, and everyone else into my mess. And if there's one thing I can't do, it's that. Not again. Never again. I swore it to myself.

Leaning over the railing, I peer past the palm tree blocking my window. Through its comb-like leaves, I spot the patrol car parked out front, two cops talking to Zelda on the sidewalk. Impa joins them. They're distracted. It's now or never.

Keeping low, I climb over the railing and lower myself down, gripping the cold metal until my feet hit the grass. Feels wrong to dip without saying goodbye, but what choice do I have? If I leave a note that even hints at any friendly feelings towards Zelda and the others, Ganondorf's people will find it—and they'll make her pay for my mistakes. I don't need another person on my Trust Fund. And Zelda sure as hell doesn't need to be on another Yiga's list.

I pull the hood over my head and escape through the neighbor's backyard. No money. No phone. No weapon. How the hell am I supposed to make it down to the border? Every option I can think of leads to the same dead-end. Literally. Can't ride the bus without a ticket or ID because they'll call the cops and Ganondorf gets word of my location. Can't walk to the border either, unless I want to freeze or starve on the way. Steal a car? Even riskier than riding the bus. Ganondorf will have me stabbed in jail before I even get my bail hearing.

I need to find a nearby store. Steal something to disguise my identity.

But before any of that can happen... before I do anything that might get me into trouble with the law... There's one thing I have to do. One person I need to see. I can't leave without saying goodbye to him.

I make my way downtown. It's an hour by foot. An hour of looking over my shoulder to make sure I'm not being followed. But I make it there in one piece.

When I turn the corner to his place, I spot a police car parked right outside the entrance. Did they know I was coming? Or could this be a coincidence? Is he okay?

If I didn't have this gut feeling that they're working for the Yiga Clan, I'd just walk right past them. But I can't trust them. If they recognize me, it's over.

I think back to that one time Karusa brought me along for a small task downtown. Two guys, four times our size, stood guard by the entrance of an old, abandoned office building. They were trying to intervene with Ganondorf's drug business, and as a result, we were now sent to gather information for blackmail.

The neighborhood was darker than the night itself, every streetlight broken, probably by bullets, but in the faint light of a nearby billboard, we could see that the two men were heavily armed.

"Let's tell Ganondorf we were outnumbered," I whispered to Karusa. I wasn't willing to risk my life just to gain some info on our rivals.

"Keep your head down and follow my lead," Karusa said with a crooked grin on his face. Looking back, we were being idiot teens. But back then, it didn't seem so serious. Karusa made life fun, he made it lighthearted. And that's exactly what we needed to forget about all the shit that had happened to us.

In a crouched sprint, I followed him around the block. We entered the alleyway from the back where no guards stood watch. He acted like nothing could touch him, like he'd already won before the dice even hit the table. And because I trusted him with my life, I went all in for him.

"See?" he said, pointing up at a broken window on the second floor. "There's always another way in."

We slipped in and out without anyone seeing us. I remember the adrenaline, the rush of hearing their voices from the other room while we were taking photos of their gun collections and stash. We took some selfies in there too. Like I said, we were being idiots.

We sprinted down the dark streets afterwards. My lungs were burning and Karusa's laughter echoed in my ears.

"You're a natural," he said later that night as we shared a cheap beer below the pier. I didn't feel like a natural. I felt like a scared kid way out of her depth. But Karusa had a way of making me believe I could handle more than I thought. Like life and death was up to me.

Now, as I stand here staring at the police car, my chest tightens with the same kind of fear I felt that night. Back then, Karusa had been right beside me, ready to take on the world with that reckless confidence of his. But this time, it really is all up to me.

I sneak around the block and approach its alley from the back, just as we did back then. Sure enough, there's another way into the building. It's the fire escape I hid on whenever Pike was home. It leads right up to his apartment. As I climb up, I feel an overwhelming wave of emotions. Fear, love, guilt, anger, innocence, and everything I've lost. We were supposed to make it out of here together. Instead, all of this feels like a countdown to the end of something I can't even name.

When I reach the top, I peer through his window. The lights are off but I see his figure moving inside. My fingertips grip the icy window frame but the reflection staring back at me makes me stop momentarily. I see the girl I used to be before all this. Before Ganondorf. Before I stopped believing in happy endings. Wavy brown hair, messy and short. No pink strands, no makeup. No drug-heavy eyes.

I push the window open and climb inside. The cold air follows me into the dark apartment like a warning, and before my boots even reach the hardwood floor, I get the feeling that something is wrong.

He turns around. Our eyes lock, and the world stops.

Before me is not the person I expected.

"Ganon," I whisper in shock, instinctively taking a step back towards the window.

I stare up at his dark, red eyes, too stunned to say anything more. He's supposed to be locked up! How is he here? Why is he here? 

"Hello Malice." His voice is low and deep, more venomous than my name. He's holding one of Pike's notebooks and reads the first line that catches his eyes. "Were all stars to disappear or die, I should learn to look at an empty sky."

I grip the window sill to keep myself from plunging into panic.

"This crap really work on chicks?" Ganon mocks in a flat tone before carelessly tossing Pike's notebook to the floor.

"What are you doing here, Ganon?" I manage to rasp, my voice audibly shaking.

"Looking for you, of course." His words are casual, but the way his eyes rake over me tells me he's far from indifferent. There's something cold and calculating in his gaze. He knows something—something I did. Is it the fact that I ran away from Ganondorf, or is there more? Could he have somehow found out that Zelda helped me? Does he know about the townhome? Or is this about me and Pike?

I subtly try to look past him into the dark, empty apartment. "Where is he?" I ask, already fearing the worst. "Where is Pike? Did you hurt him?"

"Answer me this first." Ganon's eyes darken. "Why do you care so goddamn much about that fucking fairy?"

I ball my fists and clench my jaw to hold back any reaction to his words. "Where is he," I say again through my teeth. I want to shout Pike's name, hoping he is in the bathroom, conscious and alive, but one wrong move and Ganon might...

"Relax, Mal."

"I will. As soon as you tell me what you did to him."

"Nothing."

"Don't bullshit me."

"It's Christmas. He's probably with his family."

I stare at him for a moment, trying to see if he's lying. He really has no reason to lie. If he had hurt Pike in any way, he'd say it without hesitation. He's probably use it as a threat.

Ganon leans against the bookshelf, arms crossed. "Why'd you come through the window? No key?"

"Police are outside," I tell him.

"Don't worry about them. They're my escorts."

"That's exactly why I worry about them."

I study Ganon carefully, questioning what part he plays in all of this. How did he find Pike's apartment, and why is he looking for me? Did his father hire him to track me down and get rid of me once and for all?

Is he going to kill me?

Ganon's eyes narrow, his gaze carved out by dark shadows that have fallen over his face. He knows exactly what I'm thinking. No point pretending I'm happy to see him, he can definitely see the fear in my eyes.

For a split second, I glance at the window, considering making a run for it, but he's watching me too closely to try anything stupid. He'll just grab me with one effortless motion and take me back to the Hideout...

"Why are you really here, Ganon?"

"I told you. I was looking for you."

"Well, you found me," I say with a tone of surrender, along with a defeated shrug.

Ganon doesn't move. Just watches me slowly panic more and more.

"Did you know I've been out since Thanksgiving?"

"No. I didn't know they let you out."

"Karusa picked me up from jail. He showed me your voicemail."

"I told him to delete it."

"Well he didn't." Ganon's lips curl slightly at its ends. A sinister smile that doesn't reach his eyes. "It was so nice of you to warn him about the video tape at Zelda's home. How'd you manage to get into that mansion? I bet they have lots of security."

"I snuck in."

"Just like that? Without anyone seeing you?" He sounds more than just a little skeptical, but there is no way in hell I'll tell him that Zelda willingly took me in and helped me detox.

"I'm a natural," I say casually, without blinking, without looking away for even just a second.

He nods, pretending to believe me. "Did you know that their house burned down? Along with that video tape."

"I had no idea." He knows I'm lying. "Convenient though."

"Me and K did it."

I have to tense every muscle in my arms, chest, neck, face—just so I don't break down in front of him. "Good," I say, though it doesn't sound very convincing. I always had a feeling that it wasn't some dumb natural fire, and that it was my stupid voicemail that caused Zelda's dad to die, but hearing Ganon confirm it so casually breaks my heart more violently than Zelda's grief ever could. He's a monster.

We're all monsters...

"How is Karusa?" I ask before I can stop myself.

Ganon ignores the question. His eyes flick around the room, landing on every detail—Pike's unmade bed, the vinyl records stacked in messy piles, the guitar leaning against the wall, Navi's empty food bowl.

"Did you sleep with him?" he asks deceptively calm. It's not a question—it's an accusation.

"With Karusa?"

"With Pike." Annoyance crosses his face. "But sure, while we're at it, did you sleep with K too?"

I shake my head sideways.

"You sure?" His eyes return to Pike's bed.

"I swear we didn't—"

He cuts me off with a quiet, bitter laugh. "It's fine, Mal." He pushes away from the shelf. In two steps, he's in front of me, positioning his face only inches from mine. "I was gone for almost a year. Only an idiot would think a girl like you could wait that long. But I'm back now. No more bullshit, got it? You're coming with me."

"I'm not going back to the Hideout," I say.

"You think you have a choice?"

"I do."

"Do as I say, or pay with your life."

"The second option," I say resolute. "I'd rather die than go back to the Yiga Clan."

"Don't be stupid."

"I'm dead serious," I say. "You'll have to kill me right here."

Ganon's hand moves, not to hit me, but to brush a stray strand of hair from my face. It's a gentle motion but it feels wrong. He's just reminding me how easy it would be to break me.

"So eager to die," he chuckles. Then he leans in closely, close enough that I feel his breath on my neck. He murmurs slowly, "I think you're bluffing."

He brings his hand to my waist, his touch familiar and estranged at the same time. His weight presses against me, cornering me, suffocating me, making it impossible to breathe, impossible to think. My mind goes blank.

Next thing I know, his lips are on mine—forceful and strong—and his hand slides up beneath my hoodie. Pike's hoodie.

I turn my head away, escaping his lips. "Ganon, stop!"

He does stop, but not before his fist slams into the brick wall behind me. "You're literally my girlfriend! When did you become so fucking scared of me!"

"When you started acting just like your father!" I hold his gaze, my eyes rigid and full, not daring to move. 

Those words trigger something within him. He looks as though the thought of being anything like Ganondorf has deeply wounded him. He even backs away from me for a moment.

A sudden bang on the front door snaps him out of it and he turns his focus away from me entirely. I could make my escape right now if I act fast.

"Ganon!" A deep male voice hollers from the other side of the door.

"Who is that?" I ask.

"It's the cops," he tells me in a low voice.

The handle of the door dips low, but the lock prevents them from getting inside. Only a few seconds later, a loud boom sounds, and the walls shake as if someone just threw themselves against the door to break it. They do it again, and again. Each time louder and with more force. Any second now, that door is going to break. 

I cling to Ganon like a shield of steel. "I thought they're working for the Yiga Clan," I say.

"They are."

"Then why are they trying to break in?"

Instead of answering me, Ganon's eyes narrow. Slowly, he moves away from me. "Something's wrong."

"Clearly!"

"Did they see you climb through the window?"

"No. They couldn't have. I made sure of it."

Ganon looks back at me, then toward the open window next to me. "Go."

"What?"

"If they see you here, they'll hand you over to him."

"I thought you were gonna do that anyway."

"I changed my mind."

I hesitate, unsure if this is some kind of trick. "What?"

His eyes stay locked on the door, his posture tense, every muscle coiled as if ready for the lock to break. As he braces himself, he pulls out a pistol and some cash, and places them on the shelf for me to grab. Is he really letting me go?

He turns to look at me briefly and says, "I'm not like him."

Something about the way he said it makes me think that he really believes that. And maybe he's right, maybe he's nothing like his father. But he is still choosing to work for him, which might be just as bad.

I reach for the gun and the money and make my retreat towards the window. Just as I make it back out into the cold, a loud crash sounds, followed by heavy footsteps. Instinct kicks in and I press myself against the brick wall, trying to steady my breath as the noise grows louder. I can't see what is happening inside, but I can hear their voices very clearly through the open window.

"Where is she?" one of the men asks.

"Not here," Ganon replies. There is an unsettling moment of silence before he speaks again. "The fuck you breaking the door for? Clean that shit up before Pike gets back."

"Ganon Dragmire, you're under arrest for aggravated arson and the murder of Rhoam Bosphoramus Hyrule," says the male voice.

Ganon laughs, but the stillness from the other side quickly drowns his laughter out. "What the fuck you talking about?" Ganon snarls.

"You have the right to remain silent."

"What is this? Some kinda joke?"

"Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law."

"Oh you're fucking serious. Alright big boy. You're betraying the Clan, you know that, right? You literally work for my father! He'll have you killed for this!"

Another male voice speaks. "Ganondorf is the one who gave the orders to arrest you. Now put your hands behind your back and shut up."

"The bastard's throwing me under the bus?" Ganon says. "Yo, don't fucking touch me! Explain wh—I said don't fucking touch me!"

"Hands behind your back, Ganon or we'll shoot!"

I quietly move away from the wall, trying not to make a sound on the old, rusty fire escape.

"Why's my father ordering you assholes to arrest me! I just got out a month ago!"

I make it to the floor below Pike's apartment before I have to stop. My legs are too shaky and my breaths too loud. I slide down the wall, crouching on the fire escape with the pistol in my secure grip. Ganondorf must have decided to use his son as a scapegoat for the fire.

What does this mean for Karusa? Will he get arrested too? That would be the end of him... Unlike Ganon, who will always get bailed out by his father, Karusa has no one to protect him.

I look down at my hands and the heavy metal between them, playing with the thought of helping Ganon out. He'd probably do the same for me if roles were reversed. He'd pull the trigger without a second thought. But once I do this, there's no going back. I would start a war within the Clan that neither of us can win, and for what? The slim chance that Ganon will actually side with me and K and help us get away from this life? Yeah right... Hiding from Ganondorf was hard enough when it was just me. Can't imagine three Yigas getting away for as long as I have.

I think Ganon is better off going to jail and letting his father fix things later.