Monster Girls Read online

  Monster Girls

  Edward Lang

  Copyright © 2020 by Edward Lang

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  Also by Edward Lang

  As Edward Lang

  Monster Girls 1

  Monster Girls 2

  Monster Girls 3

  (January 2021)

  Monster Girl Mountain

  As AJ Markam

  Succubus

  (Kindle and audiobook)

  Succubus 2: Hell To Pay

  (Kindle and audiobook)

  Succubus 3:

  The Good, The Bad, And The Crazy Stupid Hot

  (Kindle and audiobook)

  Succubus 4:

  Gnome Place Like Home

  (Kindle and audiobook)

  Succubus 5:

  Hardcore Dungeon Core

  (Kindle and audiobook)

  Succubus 6:

  Devil In The Deep Blue Sea

  (Kindle and audiobook)

  Succubus 7:

  Fairy Tale

  (Kindle and audiobook)

  Succubus Christmas Special

  (Short story and audiobook)

  Ex-Superheroes 1

  (Kindle and Audiobook)

  Ex-Superheroes 2

  (Kindle and Audiobook)

  As Rob Nolan

  Time Mage

  (Kindle)

  Time Mage 2

  (Kindle)

  Iron Mage

  (Kindle)

  Iron Mage 2

  (Kindle)

  Contents

  Foreword

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Mailing List

  Also by Edward Lang

  Foreword

  The ‘naughty bits’ in this book are of a fade-to-black nature. However, I wrote all of the sex scenes – I just didn’t include them in the Kindle edition. Any time you see “And a good time was had by all,” well, there’s more to the story.

  If you want the sex scenes, I’ll tell you how to get them for free at the end of the book.

  Why didn’t I include them? After all, I’ve written LOTS of explicit scenes under my pen name AJ Markam.

  The reason is, I wasn’t sure that Amazon would smile fondly upon the intricacies of making love to a half-snake lady, amongst others.

  (You laugh, but just wait until we get to the female centaurs in Book 2. Oh yes. Just you wait.)

  So, again, if you would like the sex scenes, read to the end of the book, and I’ll tell you how to get them for free.

  1

  You know how the story goes.

  It’s the same in every portal fantasy, every Japanese isekai anime or manga:

  Regular guy dies and gets sent to some magical realm that’s sort of like Earth, but not really.

  You’ve heard it all before… but I figure we should get it out of the way anyhow.

  My name’s Scott Winslow. I’m 20 years old, and I never wanted anything more than to become a comic book writer and artist.

  I love pop culture of all kinds – but there are two particular things I love more than anything else:

  Old-school comics, like the Chris Claremont run on THE UNCANNY X-MEN back in the 1980s…

  …and monster girls.

  As in cat girls.

  Lamia, or women who are snakes from the waist down.

  Mermaids.

  Harpies.

  The more scantily clad the better.

  If you feel me on this, you’re like, “Ohhhhhhhhhh yeah.”

  If you don’t, then you’re like every girl I’ve ever dated.

  I’m not exactly inexperienced with women. I do okay, up to a point.

  But when a girl asks on the third date, “Hey, can I see something you’ve drawn?” and I show her pictures of busty female centaurs…

  Or if we get past that and she spends the night, then stumbles across my treasure trove of monster girl Japanese manga…

  Well, it’s always a deal-breaker.

  I know, I know – you’re like, “Tinder, dude!”

  Or, “There’s this thing called the internet, you know.”

  But I live in a small town, population 8,000. There aren’t a whole lot of choices around here.

  I needed to go live in a city.

  Scratch that. What I really needed was to go to a cosplay convention. Surely I could find more open-minded girls there who didn’t mind a guy with a few ‘unusual interests.’

  And who maybe even shared them.

  And who might even enjoy dressing up as them.

  But COVID-19 had shut down all the conventions since I’d turned 20. So I’d never been to Dragon Con in Atlanta, where I could find my scantily clad princess… or Comic-Con, where women dressing up as comic and manga characters is no big deal.

  What I would really love to find was a chick dressed up as a monster girl. Say, Miia from Monster Musume… or Cerea the Centaur… hell, I’d take any monster girl.

  Ah well. I could dream.

  And at least I could draw those dreams while I waited for them to come true.

  2

  So I was sitting at the counter at Comics ‘Nuff Said, named after the catchphrase made famous by Marvel legend Stan Lee. (May he rest in peace.)

  Comics ‘Nuff Said sat in an ancient strip mall and was the only comic book store in town. It was owned by Bill and Norma, this awesome couple in their early 30s.

  I’d hung around the shop since I was 11 years old, reading everything I could get my hands on – but I never had enough money to buy more than a couple issues a month. Didn’t matter. Bill let me read whatever I wanted. We spent hours shooting the shit about comics. My favorite thing to hear him say was, “Hold on a second, you gotta read this…”

  Starting at 13, Bill let me work there informally in exchange for reading all the comics I wanted to (don’t snitch to the Labor Department). That’s how I got hooked on back issues from the 1980s, stuff from way before I was born.

  The monster girl thing was different. You can blame that on my very pretty third grade teacher, Ms. Minniver. I had a huge crush on her… and then she dressed up as the minotaur for Greek mythology week. Why the minotaur and not some goddess in a flowing white robe, I’ll never know. Maybe she thought a toga would be too sexy.

  Well… let’s just say I’ve had a thing for ‘horny’ women ever since.

  I saw my first clip of Monster Musume when I was 15. Once I knew ‘monster girls’ was a thing and actually existed, I went on a rampage and inhaled everything I could get my hands on. I’ve never been the same since.

  Anyway, back to Comics ‘Nuff Said.

  When I reached 15, Bill hired me on a part-time basis, so I made a little money. It was actually pretty cool of him – Bill had sunk every penny he had into the shop, and he and Norma barely scraped by. The store was totally a labor of love for them.

  Honestly, I didn’t care about the cash, other than to save up for art school. I just wanted to be able to read comics and practice my dr
awing.

  So, as I said, I was sitting there at the counter reading – UNCANNY X-MEN #143, the one where Kitty Pryde fought a demon that could harm her even while she was phasing.

  Kitty Pryde was close to my ideal woman. Beautiful, smart, geeky…

  If she’d been a monster girl, she would have been absolutely perfect.

  Anyway, I’m reading the issue and studying John Byrne’s layouts when Bill and Norma come out from the back of the shop.

  “We put Charles down for a nap and Logan’s in his crate, so we’re gonna go get Ming Yat’s for lunch,” Bill said. “You mind watching the savages for 15 minutes?”

  “Sure, no problem.”

  Ming Yat’s was the Chinese place two blocks away.

  ‘Charles’ was their eight-month-old baby, named after Charles Xavier.

  ‘Logan’ was their French bulldog. I’m pretty sure you can guess who he was named after.

  Best dog ever. Sweet-natured, super friendly – way nicer than the actual Wolverine. And I love Wolverine.

  Bill and Norma basically lived in the shop from 11AM to 9PM, seven days a week, so it made sense to keep Charlie and Logan with them all the time.

  “You want anything?” Norma asked.

  Norma was awesome. She loved comics almost as much as Bill did, and she was basically like my mom. I was a foster kid, and while my own foster mother was a nice lady, it just wasn’t a great fit. We were never that close. But Norma felt like the mom I never had.

  In addition to Bill paying me, Norma always made sure I never went hungry.

  “Sure, some Mongolian Beef, if you don’t mind,” I said.

  “You got it.”

  “No hookers and blow while we’re gone, young man,” Bill said in a fake ‘dad voice.’

  “Aw, man, I had Chantal and Brandy all ready to go.”

  “Ahhhh, I know you, Scott. The only way you’re gettin’ laid is if you crawl up a chicken’s butt and wait.”

  “Bill!” Norma said indignantly, just like a mom, and smacked him on the arm.

  I grinned. “I don’t know, man – I got lucky last month. What about you?”

  “I’ll have you know I’ve had sex!” Bill crowed proudly, then pointed at the back of the shop. “One whole time! And I have that baby back there to prove it!”

  Norma rolled her eyes, though she was smiling. “Oh my God…”

  I laughed. “See you soon.”

  Bill grinned. “See you soon, dude. One Mongolian Beef coming up.”

  They walked out. I finished up the X-MEN issue and moved on to the 1980s comic Grendel by Matt Wagner. It’s all about a supervillain named Hunter Rose who’s part gangster, part world-class athlete. He fights with this badass staff that has two blades on one end, like a tuning fork made out of daggers. He takes the name Grendel for his criminal alter ego.

  I was a few pages in when the explosion happened.

  BOOM!

  The plate glass window at the front of the shop shattered inwards.

  I actually felt tiny bits of it slash across my face like stinging sleet.

  The entire shop shook, and half of the new issues fell off the shelves on the wall.

  I staggered off the chair I was sitting in, my ears ringing so loud I couldn’t hear anything.

  What the fuck was THAT?!

  Was it an explosion?

  A gas line?

  …a terrorist attack?!

  I’d been a baby when 9/11 happened. And there hadn’t been anything huge in America since the Boston Marathon bombing back in 2013 –

  But that’s immediately what I thought of.

  Especially when I saw the flames come in the front window.

  They crept up along the ceiling –

  And suddenly I was aware there was a lot of paper along the wall. Hundreds of new comics.

  Hell, the entire shop was filled with thousands upon thousands of old back issues.

  It was a tinder box.

  Suddenly, as the ringing in my ears gradually decreased, I heard a baby screaming – though the sound was muffled, like my ears were packed with cotton.

  CHARLIE!

  Shit, shit, shit –

  I raced into the rear of the store, behind the dividing wall that separated out the D&D gaming table from the comics portion of the shop.

  Charlie was standing up in his crib, tears pouring down his face, terrified out of his mind.

  There was thick, black smoke pouring in from the vent in the ceiling.

  FUCK –

  “It’s okay, man, I got you!” I cried out as I picked up Charlie and held him close. “I got you, I got you!”

  I don’t know if I was trying to reassure him or me.

  I would have gone out the back door, but Bill had been robbed five years ago by a meth-head who came in the back and held him and Norma up at gunpoint. I wasn’t there at the time. They gave him what money they had and the guy ran away. Bill and Norma were shaken, but okay. The very next day, Bill had installed a heavy-duty deadbolt.

  Problem was, it was always locked – and only Bill had the key.

  There was only one way out.

  I looked back behind me.

  The wall of new issues was just beginning to catch fire. Smoke was filling the store.

  I pressed Charlie’s mouth and nose into my shirt to make sure he wouldn’t breathe in any smoke – and then I ran.

  Charlie screamed into my chest as I raced through the shop. I just kept repeating, “I got you, man, I got you, I got you – ”

  And then we were out.

  I burst through the front door onto the sidewalk.

  There was a lady out front, probably in her 40s, who stared at me in horror.

  Her mouth was moving, but nothing was coming out.

  I was suddenly scared to death that something was wrong with Charlie.

  I held him back away from me at arm’s length –

  No, he seemed okay. He was screaming and crying, but he was okay.

  Suddenly my ears popped, like I had a cold and stuffed-up ears and I’d yawned.

  Now I could hear.

  Charlie was screaming – flames were roaring behind me –

  And the woman was saying, “Are you alright? Your face – you’re cut!”

  But I wasn’t paying attention to her.

  Because back in the store, I could hear a dog barking frantically.

  NO!

  In my rush to save Charlie, I’d completely forgotten about Logan in his crate.

  I looked down the street. No sign of Bill or Norma, but there were plenty of people out on the street, looking around in terror.

  I shoved Charlie at the lady. “Here! His parents are Bill and Norma – keep him safe!”

  She took him into her arms. “I’ve got him!”

  Under ordinary circumstances, I wouldn’t have trusted Charlie to a complete stranger. But I didn’t really see her taking off with him – and these sure as hell weren’t ordinary circumstances.

  Then I turned back towards the store.

  It was going up in flames – but the fire was still only along the walls. None of the boxes of back issues in the center of the shop were burning, and there wasn’t any smoke along the floor yet.

  There was still a chance.

  I headed for the door –

  The woman immediately screamed at me, “Are you CRAZY?! You can’t go back in there!”

  “Just keep Charlie safe!” I yelled.

  Then I took a deep breath and plunged back into Hell.

  It was hot as an oven now.

  Smoke stung my eyes. I could barely see.

  Thank God I knew the store like the back of my hand, so I was able to maneuver to the rear of the shop with no problem.

  Jeez, this was effing stupid, I thought, but I kept going. There was no way in hell I was going to let Logan burn to death.

  But by the time I got to the back of the shop, my lungs were close to bursting.

  I heard Logan barking from his littl
e plastic crate. The sound guided me through the last ten feet of smoky air.

  I dropped to my knees and fumbled with the catch.

  I wanted to breathe so bad, but knew I couldn’t, or I wouldn’t make it out alive.

  The smoke was burning my eyes, and it felt like my skin would start blistering any second.

  The metal clasp unhooked and the door opened.

  Logan raced out and turned around, barking at me frantically, like, COME ON!

  “GO!” I yelled at him, forcing myself not to breathe in after I said it.

  He gave me one last terrified look, then turned and bolted out through the smoke in the shop.

  As I turned to watch him go, suddenly my stomach twisted with fear.

  The boxes in the center of the shop had caught fire.

  SHIT.

  I started crawling across the floor on my hands and knees.

  I had to breathe – I had to –

  But I kept my mouth closed.

  I scrambled as fast as I could across the linoleum floor –

  And then I heard Norma screaming from the front of the shop, barely audible over the roaring flames all around me.

  “CHARLIE! OH MY GOD, CHARLIE! LOGAN!”

  He’s safe, I thought, and a smile crossed my lips. They’re both safe.

  “WHERE’S SCOTT?!” I heard Bill scream.

  “OH GOD, WHERE’S SCOTT?!” Norma shrieked.

  Someone else yelled, “NO, MAN, YOU CAN’T GO IN THERE!”

  Another person yelled, “HOLD HIM BACK! HOLD HIM BACK!”