A Monster Named Jane

By Steven J Kachovec

According to most people, monsters are nothing more than fairy tales. But sixteen-year-old Jane Smith knows better. Monsters are very real, and she is one of them.

Hiding in plain sight with their bland names, secondhand clothing, and nomadic lifestyles, Jane and her fellow monsters have lived alongside humans since the dawn of time. The k

• Language: English
• Publisher: YA fantasy
• Release date: Oct 11, 2023
• ISBN: 9798218721657

Book preview

Chapter 27 (In The Dark)

Chapter 28 (Mahti’s Decision)

Chapter 29 (Jane Reborn)

Chapter 30 (A New Perspective)

PREFACE

Even if this book doesn’t make a dime, I’m glad I did it. We all need an outlet for the crazy

inside, and while this book isn’t my first vessel for shipping out the madness within, it is certainly the most well-polished. Whatever happens next is anyone’s guess, but I’m glad I took this first step.

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Chapter 1: A Phone Call

Everyone inside! Family meeting! her mother yelled from the door of their RV.

Even the hot August sunset over their campsite wasn’t enough to keep Jane’s skin from prickling with goosebumps. No call for a family meeting ever tipped in her favor, and her mother’s crossed arms were another bad sign, but it was the unflinching stare thatdrove the final nail for this evening’s coffin. Jane inhaled the last piece of chicken in her hands, because the rest of her dinner was likely to go cold.

NOW!

Her older brother Tommy leapt out of his folding chair, plate dropped and feet scurrying as if there were medals awarded for being first inside. Her father stood next, and Jane felt a cold, prophetic shadow cast from his hulking form. He didn’t say anything, but he didn’t need to either. The raised brow and beard scratching combo spoke volumes as he passed her by.

Jane leaned over to let waves of black hair fall around her like a curtain. Sitting alone by the campfire was making it impossible to ignore that her mother’s glare was aimed solely at her, but why give the satisfaction of acknowledging it? So she continued to look forward instead, reaching her hand over their campfire to let the flames curl playfully through her fingers.

Quit playing with the fire before someone sees you! her mother warned, still lingering in the doorway of their RV.

Mary Smith already had a commanding presence on any normal day, with an athletic build that reached almost six feet tall, and long, dark hair that hung around her face like a cloak. But these little snippets of malcontent drove her appearance to near-Amazonian heights, and Jane would have been lying if she said it was easy to meet her mother’s smoldering eyes in that moment.

Who the hell is gonna see me? Jane’s head swiveled side to side. There isn’t a human in sight.

Jane knew there were humans close by, because shewas tracking the scents of at least four different families within a quarter mile of their campsite alone. Not a one of them was showing any interest in coming over to sing Kumbaya, but even if one of these groups decided to dabble in a little voyeurism, it still wouldn’t be an issue. The Smith family strategically picked their campsites for privacy, and the dense forest screen around them made being seen by anyone highly unlikely.

Just get in here, dammit!

I’m coming, Jane dismissed the flames with a flick of her hand, and their campfire resumed its normal dance while she marched through the door.

I just got off the phone with the circus manager—

Mr. Ansen? How’s he doing? Jane interrupted.

Her mother responded by crushing the cell phone between her fingers, scattering pieces of electronic shrapnel across their living room.

You know damn well how he is, her mother said. He says that one of his attendees claims you assaulted him earlier today.

2

I didn’t get into a fight with anyone. I swear, Jane pleaded.

Calling it a fight was a stretch, so she wasn’t lying per se. Jane hit him once, and he was still puking his guts out when his friends carried him off. End of story. She knew full well that humans were a frail species when compared to her own, but it didn’t mean that she could ignore when they were being obnoxious jerks.

Don’t lie to me, she said. We’ve been over this time and time again, so tell me the truth!

Her mother’s eyes went a pale green, and Jane’s limbs melted at her sides. She was doing it again. Like the Sirens of Greek mythology, a single note from her mother’s silver tongue could serenade like a lullaby or plunge someone into madness.

It wasn’t my fault, Jane struggled through gritted teeth. They started it.

Her mother had always preached a lifestyle of caution and consideration with humans: limiting contact, avoiding confrontation, and above all, they were never, ever to transform in front of them. Tommy picked up this lesson easily enough (of course he did), but Jane simply refused to be anyone’s doormat, and this point of contention led to an almost round-the-clock berating from her mother’s phonetic hypnosis. While it wasn’t doing wonders for building a healthy ego, the repeated exposure was bearing the unexpected fruit of tolerance. Nothing near an immunity, sure, but at least enough moxie to argue back.

I don’t care who started it, her mother said. Did you touch a human?

Yes.

In anger?

That wasn’t a fair question either, because anger found Jane the way bees find nectar. From solving a calculus problem to opening a stubborn pickle jar, anger was Jane’s preferred emotion. Besides, anger was supposed to be the default in a fight. No one ever threw a punch out of sheer bliss.

It wasn’t just anger, Jane explained. This guy was being a real jerk to me and Dustin, and I barely—

You risked exposing this family over some human boy?

So what? You’re okay with bullies just pushing around—

It’s not about what’s right; it’s about what’s safe, her father interrupted.

This was another bad omen for her. James Smith didn’t possess the linguistic powers of his wife’s voice, and his enormous presence spoke for him instead. But in the aspects of parenting, her mother was the storm, and her father was always the harbor.

He would often remain silent during these shouting matches with her mother, only to come and find her after the fact. His greeting would be nothing more than a wink or a nudge, and as Jane would begin pouring out the details of whatever skirmish she had gotten into earlier, a little smirk would begin to cross his face. Sessions like these becametheir secret way of bonding, and Jane suspected that he took pride in seeing a part of himself within her.

But with her father’s words, Jane saw little hope for any support in this argument. She looked over at her brother Tommy, but his eyes never left the floor.

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Of course, it was a fool’s hope to look for any comfort in her brother. Tommy was the golden child. Every word he spoke or action he took was poetry, never seeming to want for anything beyond the blessing of his parents.

I don’t really care about what’s safe, dammit! she pounded on their table. I am not going to go through life letting people treat me or my friend like shi—

Your friend?! her mother’s eyebrows shot up. What have we told you about making friends with humans? And what about your family? Do you know what will happen if—

Yeah, yeah… Jane rolled her eyes. If I don’t keep my head down and follow every stupid rule you feed me, the Boogeymen will come and get us all. Is that about right?

Jane had heard the stories before. All monsters had. While some over-imaginative humans may be checking under their beds or in their closets for her kind every night, monsters like the Smith family had an entirely different threat to worry about. A real Boogeyman of sorts, but not one lurking in basements or storm drains. Their devils were all around them, everywhere and nowhere, all at once.

These Boogeymen were humans, hunting down people like the Smiths. Taking them from their homes in the night and sending them off to God knows where. No one really knew where the Disappeared had gone, and while most just assumed that those who vanished were lying in unmarked graves somewhere, her parents held onto another idea. A darker one. Rumors spoke of her people being harvested for a different purpose, and suffering fates far worse than death.

Jane had found these stories terrifying as a child, but the sixteen-year-old version of herself wasn’t quite so gullible. Not once had she met someone who could admit to seeing one of these Boogeymen with their own eyes, and that led to formulating a theory of her own.

This Boogeymen thing was just a myth.

A fairy tale from days past, and a way to keep monster children in line. Yes, she believed humans may have hunted individuals such as herself, perhaps in the time when witch hunts were popular and Earth was the supposed center of the universe. But this was the 21st century, and from what she could tell, humans didn’t care about monsters. They cared about bills, calories, and videos on their phones, but not fictitious creatures coming for them in the night.

It was all so obvious, and yet her parents couldn’t see it. Or maybe they simply wouldn’t see it.

I’m tired of living like this! Jane paced the room. We aren’t allowed to talk to anyone or own anything. Every day is the freaking same! All we do is work shitty jobs no one else wants and move from one crappy campsite to the next. This isn’t a life! Tommy agrees with me!

Woah! I never said that, Tommy’s hands waved like white flags. Jane had to check the rising vomit in her throat, and she marveled at how someone who was seemingly spineless could stand a foot taller than her.

Don’t try to drag your brother down with you, her mother warned. At least he understands that this is our way of life, and it’s why we’re still alive. Believe me, young lady, you have no idea what’s out there…

You’re right. I don’t, Jane said. I don’t know about anything that’s out there, and it’s because of you. You want to keep me in this safe little bubble because you’re afraid of the world, but guess what? I’m not afraid. Dustin is one of the nicest people I have—

4

So this Dustin is the reason you got in a fight today?

The answer was a bit more complicated than Jane was willing to explain. It’s true that she was with Dustin when this little altercation occurred, but for some reason, the fact that she was only about five-foot one (five foot and ¾ if you want to be a jerk about it) seemed to be an invitation for the world to treat her like crap. Her father was almost seven feet tall, her brother was just over six feet, and her mother was almost there, so they would never understand. Phrases like Watch it pipsqueak or Outta the way smallfry would never be thrown their way. No one would ever shoot them a pompous look that insinuated short people are somehow less important.

This was really all her parents’ fault, because somehow she missed inheriting any of the Smith family height. Perhaps if they had shared some of this genetic component, Jane would be spared the constant barrage of comments and looks. But the ridicule never stopped coming, and people can only expect you to brush off so much crap before you start to give it back.

It wasn’t long before any insult triggered an entirely different side of her to surface, one that didn’t mind using physical aggression to get a little respect. Tommy may have taken on their father’s size, but Jane had his strength, and she had no problem putting her one inheritance to good use. If she was being honest, knocking the smirks off of bullies’ faces and killing the laughter in their throats was one of the little joys she had come to know in her sheltered world.

Conveniently, this side of her always checked out when the time for consequences came knocking, and Jane would be left to deal with the repercussions alone.

This is the last time I lose my temper, she would tell herself, and she meant it. That is, until the next person shouted, Move aside squirt, and her vision would burn red anew.

Yes. Well, some kids that were trying to—

Well then, you can thank Dustin for making us leave the area tonight.

What?!

You heard me, young lady. We are out of here. Tonight. We aren’t going back to work at the circus, and we aren’t coming back to this area for a long time. So I hope that you said your goodbyes to Dustin already, because you won’t be seeing him again!

This was a scenario Jane never expected. Yes, her inability to keep her cool had forced the Smith family to abandon a few jobs and leave a campsite or two earlier than expected, but she never imagined their family would leave the circus behind. While they had no issues finding work, Jane knew that the circus life was one of their better sources of income. Their supernatural talents allowed them to perform sideshow attractions that humans couldn’t possibly replicate, and Jane hadn’t worked a show in the last year where her pyrotechnic abilities weren’t a sell-out show. So yeah, Mr. Ansen was probably upset about her hitting that boy, but so what? Tomorrow was another day and another dollar. A lot of dollars actually, both for him and the Smith family.

What? No, you can’t do that. You can’t! The circus is going on for another three days. We need the money, and we still have to—

"We have to leave. Again. Thanks to your carelessness, we have to leave another place early, upset another employer by leaving a job without notice, and lose money on our campground. We’re leaving at first light tomorrow, and that’s final. Dustin is only your friend because he doesn’t know who you are. What you are. If he ever found out, he’d run screaming just like all the others. To them, we’re nothing

5

but hideous beasts. Always have been, and we always will be. Trust me, it’s better this way."

She produced a stack of letters then, and Jane’s eyes grew to saucers.

Where did you find those? Were you going through my stuff again? Jane growled.

Never mind that, her mother said. Are these letters from Dustin? The boy who we now owe for upheaving our lives again?

Y-yes, Jane muttered.

Her hands clenched down on the letters and ripped them in half. Then in half again.

Jane and Tommy were rarely allowed any leisure time in their lives, and those few precious moments of downtime were still constrained by the Golden Rules of her parents. They weren’t allowed to play with humans, or even near them (which basically meant they played at night). Her parents also labeled most items from the human world as unnecessary and were therefore discarded. Jane had frequently gone against this rule over the years, acquiring items from sympathetic vendors at the local fairs and circuses, or sometimes even borrowing items without permission (call it stealing if you like to throw ugly words around).

Jane didn’t see how a handful of knick-knacks or some colorful posters were such a crime to own, but no matter how clever her attempts at stowing these items away (not like there’s a ton of hiding places in an RV to begin with), those hidden treasures would come up missing a few days later.

I was cleaning and stumbled across this, her mother would say.

You mean snooping in my stuff, Jane would spit back at her.

But of all the items she had accumulated over the years, those letters from Dustin were hers, dammit! They were not just some random store-bought trinket or a cheap carnival prize; those letters had been written specifically for her. Jane could feel Dustin’s energy with every word of those pages, and reading through them was a reminder that she wasn’t alone in the world. Every night she would pull the letters from the hidden pocket lining of her trunk and go through them, often sleeping with the pages tucked under her pillow afterwards. Those few pieces of paper were worth more to her than all the riches of the world, and her mother had just destroyed them right in front of her.

As the scraps fell like autumn leaves, a switch flipped somewhere inside. Her eyes locked with her mother’s, and Mary Smith’s expression had changed in that last moment. The eyes had softened, and the scowl was gone. Jane would have called it remorse from any other individual, but she didn’t think her mother was capable of such a feeling. Either way, it did nothing to stop the words from coming out.

I hate you, Jane said.

She didn’t wait for a retort. Jane turned and threw open the door.

Don’t you—

Her mother’s words cut off from the slamming RV door, leaving only the sounds of sobbing breaths and feet racing through the forest. Tears poured from her cheeks, and her skin ran hot enough to turn those teardrops into steam before they fell.

Monsters were naturally gifted with endurance levels far beyond those of humans, and the Smith family’s numerous occupations aided in keeping up their physical statures. It may take all night to run this

6

energy off, or even get to a point where she could indulge in conscious thought. Didn’t matter. Anywhere was better than being with her family.

As the moon and stars followed their celestial paths above, Jane eventually came to rest by a small creek. Taking in a few long breaths, her brain wrapped around a single thought.

Dustin.

Throughout most of her life, she had always felt alone. It was a gnawing isolation that followed her everywhere, even in the presence of her family. Perhaps it was the rigid nature by which they were raised, but Jane never felt a true connection with anyone. She and Tommy had been close when they were younger, but one day he decided to give up being her brother and became the golden child to his parents. That was years ago, and the loneliness grew ever since.

But two years ago, her family started to let Jane work with them at the circus. The show took them all over the country, but it was a town in southern Ohio where she found something to fill the void inside of her. It came in the form of true friendship, and his name was Dustin. Their meeting seemed coincidental at first, but now it felt like fate was finally throwing her a bone.

Dustin wasn’t forced to be in her presence, nor did he want anything from her. The first time they met, he just sat down and started talking as if they had known each other for years. His words weren’t Shakespeare, and the talking points were mostly pop-culture nonsense, but that was exactly what drew Jane’s attention. He spoke to her like a person, and no one had ever really done that before. From their first conversation, Dustin became a lighthouse in her dark little world, and no amount of distance or time was enough to fade its glowing beacon. But now, her parents were threatening to extinguish that light forever.

It’s not fair, dammit!

Jane let out a kick that snapped a log in half, resonating like a shotgun blast among its standing brethren. Every day was exactly the same. Her mother’s trumpeting call waking them up at dawn. Some form of back-breaking manual labor or sideshow performance, followed by a fireside tutelage with her parents. It didn’t matter if it was August in Ohio or December in Argentina. The venues of the Smith family may have changed like the wind, but the daily routine held as stone.

Jane had come to accept this lifestyle over time (mainly due to a lack of plausible alternatives), and she obliged their every demand (perhaps not always willingly), but still, all she wanted in return was this one thing. A single friendship that took nothing away from her parents’ precious routine, and it honestly wasn’t asking too much for all she had given them.

Now she faced an awful reality: Jane didn’t know how to make it out in the world on her own, but she couldn’t imagine not having Dustin in her life. Yes, it was true that their nomadic lifestyle allowed for maybe a two-week span every year when they could see each other, but it gave her something to look forward to during the other fifty weeks. She couldn’t lose him, but how the hell was she going to convince her parents otherwise? Her mother had never backed down on a threat before, so how was she going to change their minds this time?

Her walk back to camp was slow and deliberate. Jane had no leverage. There was nothing to offer in exchange for seeing Dustin, but she was willing to give anything. Every last ounce of freedom and dignity was on the chopping block if it meant their family would continue to visit the southern Ohio area once a year.

7

The closer she got to camp, the more this thought process twisted her stomach in knots. Her vision blurred and knees wobbled as she envisioned the next conversation with her parents. Leaning on a tree to catch her bearings, Jane prepared for the last leg back to camp and the finality of whatever came next.

Then she saw it through the trees.

What the hell?!

The night sky was blinded in a sea of floodlights and smoke, perforated with the droves of masked men converging upon their RV. Jane had never seen anything like this, but she knew well enough what she was looking at. It was the epitome of her childhood nightmares. The incessant warning from her parents that she had grown to dismiss in recent years.

Their family was under attack. The Boogeymen had found them.

Chapter 2: Jane’s Little Secret

Her father met the enemy by ripping his way through the side of their RV. This was a deliberate tactic—to have all eyes on him so they could witness every facet of his transformation. To watch as his new height surpassed the roof of their Winnebago, or listen to the surrounding trees rattling like maracas with his every step. Even the hair covering his body grew thick and rigid, becoming like the sharp quills of some monstrous humanoid-porcupine.

Her mother emerged next, except she didn’t go into any elaborate displays. Instead, she let out a pulsating shriek that drove rusty nails into Jane’s head. Her knees buckled, but Jane didn’t even try to stay upright. Covering her ears against the booming madness took precedence over gravity.

This was unexpected. Their family had done countless drills for this exact scenario, but the sheer ferocity her mom and dad were channeling had Jane’s hair standing on end. She may not have been their biggest fan right now, but seeing her parents like this stirred a reluctant inkling of pride. It didn’t matter how many of these masked men showed up for this little raiding party. There was no way her parents could be beaten. Not as they were now.

Oh, but how wrong she was.

It just didn’t make any sense. Jane had fought plenty of humans before, and beyond all the big posturing and angry words, most of them resigned at the first notion a fight wasn’t going their way. Her father’s size alone should have them running from the hills, so why didn’t they? And how were they all still standing after her mother’s wail? That scream took her legs out, but the Boogeymen didn’t even flinch.

In fact, they were advancing.

The Boogeymen had their campsite surrounded, unleashing a storm of bullets and smoking canisters from every angle. Her parents were caught in the crossfire, twitching with an unholy dance before falling into the cloud of smoke around them.

Mom! Dad!

8

Their screams pealed through the forest. Hordes of Boogeymen swarmed, some throwing bags over their heads and binding their limbs, while others took turns slamming sticks of lightning down on their bodies. It was all so fast. So brutal and unexpected, it didn’t seem real. Like it was a bad dream rather than reality. But this was real, and it was likely her fault.

Don’t think that way, dammit! Not now.

She pushed down the emotions and focused on the situation at hand. They may have had the element of surprise on her parents, but they hadn’t noticed Jane just yet. That gave her the advantage, and she was damn sure going to use it.

Jane! Run! Tommy screamed.

Just as Jane was ready to charge in and fight, her brother came running towards her from their campsite.

Run! he bellowed.

But Mom and Dad are—

Just go! his wide eyes reflected against the moonlight.

Jane lingered, every instinct telling her otherwise. Nerves ran lightning, and blood boiled underneath her skin.

Run, Jane! Tommy grabbed her by the wrist. We need to—

Bam!

Another shot was fired, and Tommy lost his grip.

Tommy!

He was rolling around on the ground behind her (proving he was alive, thank God), except that his entire lower body was now encased within a tightly woven net.

Dammit! I can’t break free! he pried at the silver cord ensnaring his legs, but its death grip remained sound.

I got you, she pulled him by his wrists across the