Photo by Yaselyn Perez on Unsplash

*This short story is brought to you by La Bella Collaborative: Spooktober Submissions!
**This short is brought to you by Bella L. herself, following prompt: “The sickly sweet smell of the living”
***This piece is being considered to become a reoccurring series under the fiction tab. Comment to let the author know if you’d like to hear more!



‘ The Changeling: “CJ SEES ALL” ‘ by Bella L.

“Nigel paced back and forth in his living room. With every step, he heard the crunch of paper underfoot, which further distracted his thought process. While he paced he stared at the monstrosity mocking him from his only window. Who would do such a thing? There was a large piece of red cellophane covering his floor-length window. Bold purple lettering outlined in black drippy paint around what appeared to be giant tentacles reaching upwards toward the sky. The letters were written backward and read, “Karl Freemont is a slimy little bastard”, “Pay your debts!!!”, & “CJ SEES ALL”. Nigel was perturbed. The tentacles seemed oddly specific and familiar. While the cellophane had the scent of a human creator, there was a whiff of some devilish magic. His master was somewhat of a messy human, definitely unkind, unkempt, and fond of the vices often indulged by the powerful and ridiculously rich… what could the man have done, what trouble had he started, to elicit a response like this from a being with magic? Nigel wanted answers… And he wanted them now.

As if on cue, Karl Freemont opened the door to his bedroom and let out the world’s biggest yawn. Nigel jumped onto the couch and began meowing loudly. Karl could be heard groaning and grunting in the other room. A high-pitched squeal came from the bedroom, followed by a series of giggles. Nigel almost stopped mid-meow. If Karl was entertaining a woman, who knows how long he’d continue to be in there. Nigel weighed his options. He could go in and alert his master to the massive defacing… or, he could stand his ground and wait for the drama to unfold. Nigel decided to wait. After a few minutes, Nigel heard the sound of Karl’s slippers shuffling across the wood floor. Nigel continued meowing and began pacing along the back of the couch underneath the window.

“Oh shut your trap! I’m coming, Nigel! I swear, this cat acts like he has never seen food. If it was up to my ex, well he’d be the fattest cat in town!” Karl chuckled to himself as he shuffled towards the kitchen. He came into full view of Nigel but turned towards the kitchen instead of the window.

Nigel stopped meowing. He sat still as stone, his long black elegant tail now bushy and pointing directly at the window. He was watching. Waiting. Karl turned on the coffee maker and dropped a pod in. He reached into the cabinet, hand coming back with a fist full of pills. Karl gobbled them down and took a large swig of the Cabernet Sauvignon left in the glasses from last night. Nigel squinted his eyes at his master. While he was in this world, he was meant to serve the reprobate. This was not an assignment Nigel could be proud of. He had done his best, but his best didn’t make the man any less offensive. Women typically sought the man out for proximity to power, or money, or fame- not realizing things would end in humiliation, blackmail, or becoming an “entertainer” at one of the ‘Freemont Club & Resort’ locations. Karl was a greasy con artist and professional blackmailer at best… and an impossibly long list of unrepeatable words at worst. The only thing keeping Nigel on task was his desire not to become a derelict. Nigel watched Karl’s plump frame bumble around the multi-million dollar kitchen. It was like watching an Ogre in a china shop. Nigel began kneading the couch to ease his anxiety and impatience.

Karl pulled down a box of cat food from atop the fridge and filled Nigel’s dish. He opened the fridge and rustled around before pulling out a can of olives and slamming the fridge door. The fridge rocked for a second before the ice maker began loudly clicking. Karl frowned and banged on the side of the fridge.

“Stupid freezer. I thought I paid someone to put in a new one.” He continued to grumble under his breath as he reached for the coffee mugs.

“Kah’ Rahl, dah’ling,” a sing-songy voice came from the bedroom, “Do I need to come on out there and help yahs?”

Karl took a large hairy hand and smoothed his stringy black comb-over. His back was still facing an overly exasperated Nigel. “Celia, baby, I’m bringing you the best coffee in New York! Great things take a little time to, uh, heat up.” Karl followed up with a low growl causing the bedroom to respond with giggles.

Nigel rolled his eyes. In a desperate attempt to stop the disgusting exchange, he began to yowl as if he had been stepped on.

“Nigel If you don’t stop-” Karl turned towards Nigel, mugs in hand, “-I swear I’m gonna,”

Nigel watched as Karl’s eyes slowly drifted from his place atop the couch to the window above him.

“I’m gonna… I’m gonna.. I oughta… What the hell?!”

Nigel stopped yowling and jumped to the floor, awaiting Karl’s angry displeasure at the graffiti. Instead, he watched Karl slowly move towards the window, staring, mouth agape. Suddenly, the color drained from Karl’s face. He dropped the coffee mugs, narrowly missing a quick-footed Nigel with shards of pottery and splashes of very hot coffee.

“CJ… sees… all…” Karl whispered. His eyes darted all over the poster. “CJ! No, no no no! CJ sees all! It can’t be, not CJ! CJ’s not real. He can’t be, he-”

Nigel listened to the man frantically mumble to himself. He had never seen Karl scared, but the stench of fear was palpable. Nigel flicked his tail back and forth as he pondered who CJ could be. CJ had to be pretty powerful to scare a man like Karl, but Nigel had never heard the name mentioned before.

“Kah’ Rahl?” The voice called from the bedroom, “You alright?”

The hair on Nigel’s back began to rise. He heard the rustling of bedding and footsteps of a woman’s soft and delicate feet coming down the hall- yet he sensed magic. Nigel looked back towards a mumbling Karl, who was now pacing and pulling at what little hair he had left. Nigel drew a protection spell with his tail and threw it on Nigel’s back. The symbol glowed purple for a second before dissolving into Karl’s silk robe. The pungent smell of devilish magic got stronger with every step he heard. Nigel turned towards the hallway to see a beautifully tall and shapely woman coming towards him wrapped in nothing but a white bed sheet clutched closed by her waist. The woman’s long red hair swished by her hips with each step. Karl stopped pacing as she came into view.

“Celia, I must’ve dropped the coffee, let me get you another.”

Celia looked at the mess on the floor and let out a low whistle.

Nigel stared, unblinkingly at Celia. She was a beautiful woman, or at least, presented like one. The smell of magic was strong, but Nigel could not see anything amiss. He slid his claws in and out. The protection spell would keep Karl from death once or twice before disarming. He glanced over to find Karl sweating despite his attempt to regain his composure.

Karl quickly crossed the floor to the kitchen and put a coffee pod in the machine. His robe fell open as he reached into the cabinet for two new mugs. “The maid comes later today, I’m sure she’ll clean that up. In the meantime, I have business to attend to this afternoon but my driver can take you home.”

“Are you trying to forget me already, sugah?” Celia pouted and clutched the sheet harder. “If I knew that’s how our night would end I wouldn’t have stayed so long.”

“Baby, Celia, Honey, no! I’d have you with me all day if I could, But you know, business is business.” Karl stood with the fridge open and one hand out to Celia.

Celia walked over and flipped her hair to the side, landing a kiss atop Karl’s head. She dropped the sheet, embracing the man with a little giggle. She turned her face and winked at Nigel before saying, “I understand sugah.”

Time seemed to slow down as Nigel watched the wink and saw Celia’s lips move. A very happy Karl nuzzled into the comfort of Celia’s embrace, seconds before he began to feel painful pinches all over his body. Nigel watched in horror as Celia turned dark as space from head to toe. Her arms became sets of giant tentacles, her head elongated with sharp teeth protruding from her menacing grin. Her body and legs stayed that of a human, while her hair became many tentacles glowing with bright blue suckers. Nigel lunged forward only to be smacked away by the ever-growing tentacled monster that was Celia. Karl whimpered in pain.

‘It can’t be!’ Nigel thought, ‘She’s- She’s a Jones! CJ must stand for-’

A portal appeared within the fridge. Celia, now completely hunched over in the kitchen began to laugh. She held Karl out and smiled at him. “That wretched accent and disgusting body were really worth the trouble. It wasn’t hard to stroke that ego of yours and gain entry. Pathetic!”

Karl opened his eyes wide and screamed incoherently. A yellow substance dripped from between Celia’s tentacles.

“You have got to be kidding me!” Celia & Nigel yelled in unison.

Celia sighed and spoke to Karl with disgust, “The next time you decide to pee on someone, you ought to remember their strength! Say hello to my father for me!” Celia dropped Karl and kicked him straight through the portal.

Nigel gasped.

“You’ll be relieved of this assignment changeling,” Celia laughed, “My father wants this man to pay his debts… personally.”

Nigel tried to use his shape-shifting, but the portal was preventing him from changing. He looked up at Celia. ‘You’re a Jones!’ he thought. Celia puckered her lips. ‘Yes,’ she responded. ‘My father is the one and only Cthulhu Jones. He sent me to collect this sorry human and with a message for you: Lucy awaits your arrival.’

Celia stuck a tentacle into the portal and was sucked in, the fridge door slamming shut behind her.

Nigel blinked at the fridge as it rocked before shuddering back down to its normal hum. The scent of magic was completely gone. It took a few minutes for Nigel to get his bearings. A juvenile Jones had stood mere feet away, and what’s worse- somehow his assignment had known of the Jones family without Nigel realizing it. Nigel attempted to shapeshift once more but to no avail. The residual effects of the portal were still too strong. The protection spell Nigel had cast would only last so long, it wouldn’t take long for Karl to die in Nigel’s world, and he was at Celia’s mercy. Nigel opened the fridge, but all he saw were leftovers and copious amounts of cheese- there was no portal in sight. He hopped atop the counter and peered down the hall into the bedroom. It looked to be in disarray but that was to be expected after Karl’s escapades with Celia all night. Celia had mentioned Lucy, but Nigel couldn’t contact her without a pay phone- and there were hardly any that existed in this world anymore. He also had no idea how long these effects from the portal would last. In an attempt to do something productive, Nigel squeezed through the kitty door and went searching for the driver.

Tim, the driver, was surprised to see Nigel come waltzing into the garage all alone. He wasn’t sure what to make of the cat sitting in front of the limousine door, but he felt a cold sweat drip down his spine as he remembered his boss’s words. On many an occasion, Mr. Fremont had pulled Tim close and held him tightly by the collar. Through gritted teeth, he would snarl and say, “If anyone comes to you wearing this gold insignia- And I do mean anyone, doesn’t matter what they look like, what they say, or who you think they are, even if it’s my fat AF ex or her cat, Nigel- You drive them anywhere, anywhere they want to go!” Tim decided quickly against risking his livelihood and opened the door for the cat. The cat blinked twice at Tim before jumping in the backseat. When Tim got in the driver’s seat and looked at the GPS, it was pre-programmed to go to go to the bus station and then back to the Freemont residence. Tim gulped, then began the 45-minute drive to the bus station.

Nigel sat up in the backseat and looked around the limousine. There was a minibar, a TV, a remote with a million buttons, and a small rack full of fancy ties and expensive jewelry. Attached to one of the doors was what appeared to be an old-style car phone. Nigel knocked the phone off the door and lowered his ear to listen for a dial tone. He heard nothing. Nigel snuggled down into the plush purple velour seats. He decided he might as well nap while he awaited his arrival.

Tim woke Nigel with a sharp rap on the window before opening the door. Nigel stretched and stepped out onto the sidewalk. He wandered around the bus station looking for a pay phone for almost 2 hours before calling it quits. He wandered back to the sidewalk and found Tim right where he had left him. Tim opened the door and was surprised by the cat giving him a little wink and a gentle meow before hopping into the backseat. As the door gently shut, Nigel attempted to change once more. This time, his magic worked. He took the appearance of a tall and slender gentleman with perfectly quaffed dark hair. He wore a dark black suit with a gold tie, and his collar had become a simple red ribbon necklace with his golden tag hanging loosely at his chest. Nigel reached for a pair of sunglasses from the rack of accessories. Changing always made him feel more sensitive to sunlight. The sound of a bell cut through the silence. Nigel looked at the carphone. It was ringing! He picked up the phone with caution.

“Hello?” Nigel was met with a tinkling laugh on the other side.

“Nigel, sweetie, it’s lovely to hear your voice!”

“This… This is not… a payphone.”

“Desperate times call for desperate measures my love.” Lucy’s voice crackled with what sounded like excitement. “I hear that you’re assignment has come to an end.”

“No. A Jones just took off with Karl. I’m headed back to get him as soon as I-”

“You will absolutely not!” Lucy said sternly. “Besides, the assignment is dead. That horrid man will live out his immortal days on my farm.” Lucy laughed as if it was the funniest joke in the world.

Nigel winced. He was anything but fond of Karl… But the man was dead, and as Lucy said, his eternal demise was not exactly a walk in the park.He didn’t exactly feel sorry for the man, but relishing in his pains didn’t seem quite right either. He sighed into the receiver.

“Nigel,” Lucy said softly, “I have a new assignment for you. You’ve caught the attention of someone much stronger than even me and not even the sickly sweet smell of the living can keep them away from you. I need you back here before you take on the assignment. Hurry though… This assignment might get to you first, and If they do, there’s absolutely nothing I can do about it.”

Nigel felt the hair on the back of his neck rise. Lucy was the mother of all changelings. She was a force to be reckoned with! Fear was always a pawn in her games. Never once in 666,000 years had he ever heard a hint of anything that could be misconstrued as fear, or even hesitancy. He wasn’t prepared for what he heard in her voice. It was concern.

Tim nearly fell over from fright as a tall, dark, and handsome Nigel stepped out of the passenger’s seat. He noted the insignia on Nigel’s necklace and tried to shake off the fact that after hours of searching the limousine, he could find no sign of the black cat he had taken to the bus station.

Nigel walked into Karl’s bedroom to see Polaroid pictures of a human-like Celia Jones all over the bed and the floor. He collected a few and put them in the pocket on the inside of his jacket. He jolted at the sound of the ice maker clicking loudly amidst the silence. The icemaker slowly began to click louder and louder. A newer sound, that of grinding metal and like the shriek of a train horn, joined the frenzied clicking in an ever-building crescendo. Nigel bolted towards the kitchen. The sound grew rather grotesque, convincing Nigel that there must be something rather animalistic living behind the refrigerator; Maybe even within? The freezer door began to shake, and the whole fridge began to rock. A loud BANG sent both fridge and freezer doors flying with such force that they shattered straight through the graffitied window. A portal teeming with large green tentacles grew in front of Nigel. Tentacles began to fill the kitchen floor, spreading out and along the walls. Nigel dodged the tentacles and tried to hold onto what little was left of his composure while the full head of the beast began to emerge. Behind the gigantic head, Nigel could make out the tips of sharp wings barely within portal view.

A head-splitting voice boomed inside the walls of Nigel’s mind. It was accompanied by the sound of thousands of hands scraping their claws across chalkboards.

“Nigel, my son,” Cthulhu Jones called, “Lucy is no longer your mother. You will answer to me and me alone.”

Everything around Nigel seemed to shake with each word.

“I have an assignment for you. Do it, and you will be greatly rewarded. If you are found out, you will face the same fate as Karl.” A tentacle dropped the swollen and bruised body of Karl Freemont, covered in puckered swelling, with a wet plop straight at Nigel’s feet. Nigel could hardly look at the oozing and slime-covered corpse. “Do you agree to the terms? Or should punishment come now?”

“Do I even have a choice?!” Nigel shouted aloud. “What is the assignment?”

Cthulhu picked up the corpse and squeezed Karl until an eye popped out and rolled across the floor. He pulled his head back into the portal and began to disappear, all tentacles except one slithering back swiftly. The lone tentacle held a note. Nigel grabbed the note and the tentacle waved before the portal completely collapsed.

Nigel opened the note while trying not to wretch as he picked up the eyeball with a cloth napkin to throw in the trash. He set the note on the counter in pure disbelief. At the top, it read, ‘Become Karl Freemont for the next 25 years’. Nigel sighed with disgust. He couldn’t even read the rest of the note. He pulled out the pictures he had stuck in his pocket, hoping to use them against Celia Jones. Much to his surprise, the pictures had changed. The pictures were of him in his current form and Celia in her human one at one of the clubs & resorts. He leaned forward and tossed the real Karl Freemont’s eye into the bin before uncontrollably vomiting all over the kitchen. When he was done, he called down to Tim. The first thing the new Karl needed was a new place to stay.”



This is the final post in our Spooktober Submissions 2023!

Thank you to all of the amazing writers, poets, and authors who submitted pieces for Spooktober and joined us this spooky season via La Bella Collaborative!