Monster Mansion Chapter 3: Hellhound

THUMP! RUMBLE! BLARE! THUMP! RUMBLE! BLARE! THUMP!

“Ugh, how uncivilized,” my grandmother said, watching the frat party from the window of the study, blaring their music. “They have no respect for anyone besides themselves. It’s truly appalling.”

“Grandmother, just let it be,” I said back to her, looking online for a cleaning company to come in and help. It has been three days since Ann started living in the mansion, but she wasn’t that much help. She started to take residence in the attic and has only ever bothered to clean up there, leaving me to clean everything else. It truly was a pain. Not to mention that she was out most nights and slept during the day. I was trying my best, but I wasn’t a professional cleaner. Plus having to clean while my grandmother was still teaching me everything that I needed to know about this mansion, wasn’t optimal.”

There were countless cursed artifacts scattered around the mansion, and each one had the ability to transform people into different monster girls. Most of them only had a one-time use, so they would either break after being used once or they would become part of the person’s body. I wanted to examine them and see if there was a way to turn myself back to normal, but my grandmother would allow it. She insisted that these artifacts returned people to what they were supposed to be. They did not have the power to transform them into something they never were. Though despite this, I couldn’t quite wrap my head around it.

“How can I let it be when they are playing that vulgar game in the streets,” my grandmother said, still refusing to give it up.

“Um, that’s touch football,” I said to her. My grandmother never was one that liked modern technology or even sports. The only reason we had Wi-Fi here was that I had set it up myself several years ago, and that was a pain or at least I think I was. Once again, my memories were still spotty since the change. It was great to have her around, but I wish I could show her that there was nothing wrong with change. Just look at what she did to me. Last month I was still a guy, and now I had the body of a sixteen-year-old girl.

Oddly enough, I didn’t really mind being in this body that much anymore, well that’s if you could call it a body. My physical body was upstairs in the master bedroom, and there were already visible changes in my hair and skin. Parts of my hair were turning silver, and my skin was becoming visibly smoother. I tried asking my grandmother what was going on, but she told me that all would be answered in due time. Not that I quite understood what she meant by that.

“I know what it is, but I can’t see the appeal of throwing an odd-shaped ball around and tackling other people to the ground,” my grandmother said, still looking displeased. “The only creatures that should play catch are dogs, don’t you agree~?”

“Grandmother, what are you doing?” I asked, seeing that she was up to no good.

“Just watch~.” I could feel my grandmother using her magic, and out of nowhere, the football magically fell over our fence and into the backyard.

“Don’t worry, I got it!” yelled a young man with pitch-black hair yelled, running over to our fence and hopping over it without hesitation.

“Come~. This way.” My grandmother led me to the back of the mansion, where I could see the young man searching for his football.

“Grandmother, did you really have to play such a prank on them?” This was just rude. She could have just let them continue to play. “Hmm? Grandmother, is that…?”

“It is~. That’s Chloe’s doghouse~. You remember, don’t you~? You loved to play with her. It was a shame that she is no longer around~. Don’t you wish that she could be her again~?”

“Grandmother, what did you do?” I asked, seeing the black-haired young man get close to Chloe’s old pink doghouse to pick up his ball. Though before he could pick it up, he tripped over her old chain, and when he picked himself up, her old skull collar was wrapped around his neck. He tried to move it off, but the moment he did, he began to clench his chest as if there was something wrong.

I watched in amazement and horror as his skin started to turn a dark charcoal gray, his body slowly becoming smaller! He desperately tried to take the collar off, but it was no use. It refused to budge. It wasn’t long before black fur began to grow across parts of his body, and before I could even process what had happened, his hands turned into giant black paws. And it didn’t stop there. Soon a cute set of wolf ears grew on top of his head, and a cute fluffy black tail had grown out from his back!

Strangely enough, after that, he began to sweat rapidly, so much so that he was even taking off his pants. Though that attempt to cool himself off failed, and soon he was rolling around in the dirt. I wanted to help him, but I knew that my grandmother wouldn’t allow it. She would stop me from interfering, just like last time. Why did she force me to watch these scenes unfold? What was the purpose?

“Watch what happens next~,” my grandmother said as a ring of fire appeared around the young man, and before he could react, it erupted around him, encasing him in flames.

“Grandmother! Stop! This is barbaric!” I yelled at her, seeing as this went way too far. Transforming someone into what she called their “true form” was one thing, but burning them alive, what the hell was she thinking?

“Calm down, dear, look~.” She pointed to the window, directing me back to look at the poor young man, but he was no longer there. In his place was a cute and beautiful dog girl with D-cup breasts that were barely held in by her stretched-out red hoodie!

“She looked confused and scared like a lost puppy as she made her way into Chloe’s old doghouse, which had surprisingly been perfectly restored.

“Grandmother, what happened?” I asked, not understanding what just happened.

“The answer to your question is a simple one, my dear granddaughter. That cute little puppy out there is a hellhound. They can’t be harmed by fire, so you must have been shocked when she was covered in flames. Don’t worry; she’s harmless… I think.”

“You think? What do you mean by that?” The name hellhound didn’t scream harmless.

“Well, isn’t it obvious by where she is right now~? She wants to be your puppy~. I doubt that she would harm her master~. And besides, in your current form, she can’t harm you at all~.”

“I guess you’re right,” I said back to her, looking at the cute puppy as she tried to sleep.

“Here, you should take this if you are going to meet her,” my grandmother said, allowing a plate with a cooked steak on it to fly into my hands. “I was saving this for dinner, but now seems like a better time than any. And try to be nice~.” My grandmother pushed me out the back door, making me head toward the new puppy.

The more that I looked at her face, the more I could see Chloe inside of her. I couldn’t help but wish that Chloe was around.

“Chloe, what are you doing, you lazy pup? It’s dinner time. Come here~,” I said in a soothing voice, placing the steak on the ground for her to eat. I used to wake Chloe up like this all the time because no matter her age, she was still my puppy. Would she accept me as her family this time as well~? …Wait, this time? Why do I feel as if something is wrong with my memories?

Before I could think about this further, Chloe woke up and started to eat the food I had prepared for her without a word. It would seem that her intelligence was reduced upon her transformation.

“My, my, look, she likes you~,” my grandmother said, making her way outside to where we were.

“Grrrrr~!!!” Chloe started to growl at grandmother, much to my surprise.

“She can see you? I thought that I was the only one that could see you?” I asked this because when I tried to introduce Ann to my grandmother, she said that she couldn’t see anyone there. My grandmother said that since I was the primary spirit of the mansion currently, no one else could see her beside me.

“Not exactly. It’s more so that she senses my presence. Here look.” She flew behind Chloe, and Chloe turned around and began to growl some more. “Animals have a higher sense of perception than other creatures, so it's no wonder that she can sense me.”

“Hmm, it would seem that we have yet another quest coming by today. You best run off while I stay here and watch this cute puppy~. Have fun~.”