Mandy had been feeling better than she had in a long time. Things really started to come together for her when she met Marcus. The guy was an angel, 25 years old but he was an old soul, a poet, a softy and he reminded her so much of the best parts of herself about a year ago, the parts of her that she lost and never quite got back. It helped that Mandy also liked her boys nerdy, pale and on the shorter side.
They first met after Mandy had called the highest quality fluffy pest control she could find to get rid of the microfluff infestation in her mumâs family pub. As it turns out, the highest quality pest control in south England just so happened to be a charity funded organisation that prided itself on a non-abuse method of capturing and euthanizing the creatures. Marcus admitted that he didnât enjoy putting them down, but a small needle full of fluffycide was a mercy compared to the things he had seen be done to feral fluffies by humans, wildlife and even other fluffies.
Marcus was a big hugboxer, an unapologetic lover of fluffy and all animal kind, biotoy or not, the guy could see the best in any living thing, no matter what.
He was a bit concerned when Mandy brought him home to meet Frankie and Creature, but after getting to know them (and Mandy supplying a few fibs here and there about their origins) he grew to adore the two monstrosities as if they were the cutest little things to ever fall out of a fluffy mareâs rotten snatch.
Mandy had used her 2 weeks off to take a short vacation away from any large towns or cities, somewhere green and beautiful, somewhere she couldnât possibly have her temper set off⊠Wales.
It was beautiful, with its many rolling hills and fields, lush grass and trees. It was exactly what she needed.
The young couple parked their mini by a small village that -like every other village in Wales- had an unpronounceable name for outsiders due to it being made up of thirty six letters with twenty nine of them being vowels.
They signed themselves into a local bed rest and pub, before making good use of the boozerâs part of the building.
âso, tell me about your first fluffy again? I wasnât paying a lot of attention in the carâ Mandy smiled warmly.
âyeah Bubbles⊠She was the sweetest damn fluffy I had ever had the pleasure of owning. Then she got the idea into her head that she desperately needed babiesâŠâ
Mandy bit her lip, she knew exactly what that meant and she could comfortably guess the behaviours that followed.
âwell, things were going great for a while until her litters started randomly dying to accidents, or at least I assumed that they were, what else could they have possibly been?â Marcus shrugged while staring into his shandy.
âChrist no!â Mandy gasped.
âchrist yes, Iâm afraid. She wasnât lying when she said she wanted babies, specifically only babies, and once those little bundles of Joy had opened their eyes and started exploring the house, she had decided that they no longer served their use as her perfect little balls of loveâ Marcus continued, visibly uncomfortable but equally in desperate need to spill his guts.
âwhat did you do?â Mandy asked as her hand reached over the table and lightly wrapped itself around his.
âI⊠I had her spayed⊠I just couldnât do it anymore after what she did to the last litterâ he croaked as he squeezed her hand for comfort.
Mandy didnât need to ask what she did, with her free hand she lifted her pint and sipped it, all the while never breaking eye contact. She knew that he was going to tell, he just needed a moment.
âshe led them outside⊠they trusted her, they loved her more than anything, and she just⊠Just watched as⊠as a gang of feral stalli-⊠Iâm sorry, I canâtâ he said as he necked his shandy, as if it were any stronger than a watered down glass of cider.
Mandy felt terrible for him, unimaginably even. as refreshing as it was to find someone so emotionally open as she was, she still couldnât bring herself to watch him cry like thisâŠespecially over a shitrat, he was better than that, and she knew it.
She looked around for some kind of distraction and luckily spending her entire life helping her Papa and Mum work a pub had fine tuned her ears to cut through the ceaseless chatter and the 80s music playing on the jukebox until they pricked up at a conversation going on between three of the most stereotypically Welsh gentlemen she had ever seen in her life.
âitâs true, I swear on my mother, I do! Claw marks all over the fluffaloes on Brendaâs land!â
âbollocks, fine then, what about the feral herds, you know, the regular kind of fluffs? How are the they fairing against these little nightmares that crazy old Brenda keeps chattering on about?â
âtheyâve been having it worse than anyone else I suppose. She says the little fuckers keep turning up in the water, torn to shreds and missing chunks. They damn near look like a bloody cougar has gotten to them!â
âwe are not going over this again, Philip! There are NO bloody big cats around these parts!â
After a while Mandy kindly asked her miserable looking boyfriend to get some sleep and wait for her upstairs in the room they had rented. She watched closely until he disappeared up the tacky carpeted wooden hill before running over to the old men and squeezing every hint about these attacks out of them with the skill of a seasoned officer in the midst of a career making interrogation. Although in truth she didnât really care about what happened to a bunch of worthless pig-horses, she knew a little bit of adventure and a mystery would probably be exactly what her partner needed right now to take his mind off of his old pet.
The next morning Marcus was awoken by being thoroughly shaken about within his blanket.
âWake up! Youâre going to love this!â Mandy beamed at him.
âMandy? Itâs like three in the morning⊠arenât we supposed to be on vacation?â he slurred out groggily.
âshhh, grab your shit and follow me! Youâre gonna love this!â she whispered excitedly before laying a tiny peck on his cheek.
An hour or so passed and they were wandering through the fields of Brendaâs farm after offering the old lady their assistance. Mandy had explained to her boyfriend everything that she had heard the night previous, she assumed a mystery revolving around saving fluffies was exactly what the big hugboxer needed to take his mind off of Bubbles. After all, if thereâs one thing that brought him joy, it was saving fluffies from undue misery.
They both decided that it would be best interview the witnesses, the witnesses of course being the milk fluffaloes. Mandy had worked on a few before but for Marcus they were a fresh new wonder to behold. He was awe struck by them, being that this was his first encounter with the subspecies.
They were big, at least by fluffy standards. Their heads stood tall above that of the regular variety, nearly reaching up to Mandyâs thigh. Their eyes were covered (like the rest of their body) by a long, thick and frizzy fluff that cascaded down like colourful waterfalls. But the most eye-catching trait were that their heads were adorned with a set of horns that curled at the tip, but in truth were more fragile than a wine glass, cosmetic at worst and for attracting mates at best.
âHewwo nice mista an wady! Wewcom tu da feewd!â a cream coloured mare with scarred teats that dragged upon the ground smiled at them.
âwell hello little missy, what is your name?â Marcus asked as he got down on one knee, so as to pet his new friend.
âam Missy! How yew know dat? Mista mus be da biggest smawty-hoomin!â she replied with starry eyes and a childlike gasp.
âfucking figuresâŠâ Mandy mouthed to herself as she rolled her eyes.
âyour owner has asked us to help find the meanies that have been hurting you, can you tell us what youâve seen or heard so we can catch them?â Marcus ask the fluffalo in the sweetest voice Mandy had ever heard.
âMissy neba see dem, dey am sneeky, com in the dawk timsie an tayk miwkies wen hewd am aww sweepy⊠Den ifv any fwuffy wakies, den⊠den miwkie theefs gibe bities, scwatchies an wowstest huwties be-fow wun way!â the mare explained tearfully, âmissy am miss speshew fwend, su mush⊠Huhuhuhuuâ she added before exploding into a torrent of tears.
Marcus immediately wrapped his arms around the heartbroken creature and whispered sweet promises of justice into her ear. If he were anyone else, he would have sickened Mandy, But Marcus wasnât anyone, he was Mandyâs and whether she liked it or not, the display of genuine warmth tickled the recesses of her heart.
After wondering about and interviewing (and in Marcusâ case, hugging) every fluffalo in the field, they had discovered that the attackers always escaped their nightly raids to the east, the tracks of blood, torn fluff and scratched out gaps under the fence leading towards a forest confirmed it.
they followed a dried trail until they stood at the edge of the tree line. Marcus was determined to find these monsters, but Mandy felt apprehension. She had looked over the claw marks, bite marks and wounds given by all sorts of felines towards all sorts of animals, but those were nothing like she had seen before. they were vicious and plentiful, sure, but they were also erratic while being suprisingly well organised, almost broken mentally⊠It told a story of duality in the mystery predator and whatever these things were, they were smart enough to form packs and develop strategies but unstable enough to go into a frenzy when their machinations fell apart, like some form of diabolical tantrum.
âwait!â Mandy ordered as she gripped the sleeve of Marcusâ sweater, âI donât like this, something feels very wrong, we know diddly fuck all about what is actually in thereâ.
ânow that you mention it, your rightâ Marcus sighed as he reached for his phone.
âwhat are you doing?â Mandy fretted as she watched him thumb through his contacts.
âthese attacks, the things, they arenât natural⊠and it just so happens that I know someone whoâs familiar with everything there is to know about unnatural creaturesâ he smiled as he hit the call button.
The phone rang for a moment before suddenly before being replaced by a gruff voice that chimed with a high class poshness that made even Marcus seem common.
âMarcus, my boy! how the devil have you been?â the gentlemen on the other side called out through the speaker phone.
âHello, Henry!â Marcus replied back into the microphone, âIâm here with my girlfriend and we-â.
âFirstly, itâs âGrandfatherâ to you, young man!, secondly⊠Girlfriend? about bloody time! You had me scared that you had gone peculiarâŠâ Henry interrupted before lightly chuckling.
âweâve been over this, Grandfather, Iâm not a âfairyâ as you had put it⊠I was just⊠waiting for the right girlâ he replied as he gave a warm glance to Mandy that lit her freckled cheeks on fire.
âregardless, I am happy for you, my boy! I would very much like to see at least one more generation of little Gascoignes running about before I shuffle offâ the old man added playfully with another chuckle, as if he could sense the young coupleâs embaressment through the silence of the phone.
âyes⊠AHEM⊠anyway, weâre in Wales, Grandfather, and weâve gotten caught up in something of an investigation. Iâm sending you my notes and the pictures weâve both takenâ
âoh dear⊠this isnât one of mineâŠâ Henry said with a beat of concern as the pictures came in on his end.
âwhat do you mean? these arenât some kind of biotoy?â Marcus asked.
âno, they most definitely are, but I didnât work on these. I ask that you bear with me as I call an old protĂ©gĂ© of mine. Unlike myself, Arthur has his fingers in all of the biotoy projects on the market and if anyone can shed light on this, it may very well be himâ Henry replied confidently.
âokay, thank you grandfather, Iâll come see you and the boys soon. Iâm sure youâll all love Mandyâ Marcus smiled into his phone.
âI am very certain that I will, say hello to her for me and Iâll get back to you when Arthur calls me backâŠâ his father capped off suddenly.
An awkward silence filled the air until the old man cleared his voice. âI lov-â he tried desperately to add before the sound of something expensive shattered in the background.
âfor heavenâs sake⊠DantĂ©, what the bloody hell was that?â he suddenly barked away from the mic.
âuhhhmmm⊠Danteh nu no⊠may-beh Viwgiw du it?â a tiny voice attempted to persuade in the distance of the call before it abruptly ended.
âsorry about thatâŠâ Marcus said bashfully.
âdonât be, he seems sweetâ Mandy laughed.
The two waited for a few minutes but the call back never came. They tried to be patient but that swiftly ended when they heard a noise unlike anything that they had heard before⊠well, there were two but they both were quite familiar with the secondary noise that followed.
there was a high pitched hacking noise followed swiftly by the very familiar âSCREEEEEEEEEE!â.
Mandy couldnât even get a single word out as Marcus took off into the trees without a moment of hesitation. his bravery would have been quite attractive to her in the moment, if he werenât being a complete retard.
She followed closely until he stood still at the end of the clearing, frozen in shock. stood upon a heavily mutilated and pregnant feral mare, were four puffballs of various pastel hues, save for a single bone white one, all of which were only a third their preyâs size. They were just far enough that their features were hidden. They hissed lightly as one of them held out one of its stumpy limbs and in a swift motion slashed into the sobbing motherâs belly.
âNU! NU TAYK BEBBEHS!, DEY AM TUU WIDDLE! NU AM TIMSIE TU WEAVE TUMMEH!â she begged, but the predators didnât listen, nor care.
The fuzzy little surgeon reared up upon its equally stumpy legs and held up one of the slimy, veiny and pink foetuses that weakly felt around with its limbs before going still.
Mandy put her hand on Marcusâ shoulder and silently commanded him to take a knee beside her. they watched as the fuzzy butcher then hugged the foal as its three comrades sat upon their rumps and clapped their furry little paws together in silent celebration of the feast to come. One by one the self appointed C-sectionist pulled out a foal and handed it to each of the now purring hunters. The somewhat teddy bear shaped mutants cuddled the dead young, almost dancing with them while seated until they stopped, nodded to one another and then pulled the fleshy blobs closer to their faces before suddenly revealing a large and predatory mouth, four large canines, two upper and two lower, accompanied by a set of much smaller, pin needle like teeth that then plunged into the soft tissues of the foals and feasted away.
âNUUUUUU! BEBBEHS AM NU NUMMIES!!!â the mare wept, trying desperately to kick and flick what remained of her aggressively amputated limbs.
Marcus had enough, he threw himself from his cover and bolted at the creatures. his breath ran ragged, he saw only crimson and his pulse quickened with fire until he got close enough for the mare to see him, then rage gave way to horror and pity.
âMISTA!!! PWEAS SABE BEBBEHS! SABE FWOM MUNSTA-aaaagggggghhhhâ
Marcus froze again when he witnessed the creature bite down and rip the throat from the mare, who then flailed and twiched, wheezed and sputtered until her body was still, her eyes forever locked upon him, forever pleading for the savior that he was too slow and too soft to be.
The white one of the pack, the host of this mad feast, then stood himself up and dug through the mareâs entrails before throwing them over his shoulders like a designer scarf. He posed like some horrific runway model, in such a way that would be almost cute if it were not for the context of the situation and the origin of the fashion accessory in question. Yet the pack leaders simply silently applauded, smacking their tiny and blood stained claws together like a gaggle of childlike invalids.
The fire ignited again and Marcus ran, fully poised to bury his size 11âs into the back of this creatureâs oversized head⊠and then it turned to him.
It was oddly adorable in a nasty sort of way, almost pitiable. It looked vaguely familiar too, with its big, black, shiny eyes and cute, twitching nose. If it werenât for the blood stained across its face then one could be easily convinced that this abomination had no mouth to speak of.
It purred as it looked up at Marcus, its eyes somehow got wider and it twitched lightly before throwing up one of its arms⊠or forelegs? into a gesture of playful waving. as if instinctually commanded to take the position in the presence of a human being.
It then turned around and dug through the cold and lifeless mare until it pulled from her chest cavity a tiny red heart with which it presented to the man, in a way that almost silently asked ânyew daddeh?â.
Marcus felt sick, he gagged and stepped away as he looked over at the hollowed out mare, her face ever frozen in terror and bewilderment, her eyes ever accusing him of his inaction, of his cowardice and of his betrayal.
The small feline like creature took the backstep as a polite rejection and simply shrugged before opening its hidden maw and engulfing the organ in its entirety before sitting down and playfully rubbing its fat little belly with a look of satisfaction.
Mandy watched silently as Marcus suddenly and without warning stomped the tiny predator into a collection of shattered bones and red paste, before turning is attention to the rest. their glittery eyes ran with water as they got up and pathetically tried to waddle away like little teddies, before a timberland came slamming down and ending their short lives. When Marcus was done he began punching at the remains of the first, smashing his hands into what was left like a chimp in the throws of territorial bloodlust.
Mandy didnât approach, she knew exactly what he had been through. And although she could not intervene, she silently wept for that hugboxer inside of him that now dangled for dear life over the abyss.
Mandy looked down at the phone Marcus had dropped and the image of an old man with a white beard and half moon spectacles illumiated the screen with the words âHenry (Grandfather)â below with the notification above stating a single voicemail had freshly been left. She picked it up and listened.
âHello? Marcus? Itâs nothing to worry about, just one of Medtelâs abandoned projects. Arthur said that they dumped it in the countryside years ago, illegally, mind you. I gave the blighters a stern rasping and they said they would get an extermination crew out by lunchtime tomorrow. now I have to go, Virgil has soiled himself again, goodbye!â
And just like that, the phone went dark as the call ended.
Marcus stood himself, he felt dirty, he felt enraged, he felt heartbroken. The young man had betrayed that feral mare via his inaction, from his inability to harm a creature and in doing so he had brought nothing but death to several.
Mandy and Marcus didnât spend the rest of the night in that village, they hopped in marcusâ mini and got the fuck out of there.
They didnât talk again for three weeks after that day. She desperately wanted to though, to tell him how she understood exactly how he felt, how she too had fallen so far from the person she used to be all because of one terrible day and a terrible decision made in the heat of the moment⊠but if Marcus knew what Mandy was truly capable of, why Frankie was the way he was, the things that she has done to the creatures that he loves so dearly, she would never see him again.
So she sat at her phone and waited⊠her dear Marcus was all alone, struggling with the image of the monster he now perceived himself as, the last thing he needed was the company of another monster.
