I remember when I was young, before my family came to this town, before I believed in the tooth fairy.

It exists in many different cultures. That in exchange for teeth would grant something in return. In Korea, India and Botswana among other countries they throw their old fallen out baby teeth onto the roof of their houses in order to grow new teeth to replace the ones lost. They ask a squirrel, in Sri-Lanka, a rat in Haiti and a bird in India and Korea. The tooth fairy comes to this town as well except all we gain in exchange is suffering and instead of an animal it comes in the form of a demon.

My hand tightened around my rifle. Tonight we'll put this to an end. It visits us once a month every full moon to collect our teeth. I check my watch. It reads 11:59. It’s soon time. A loud deep ringing fills the street echoing through the empty streets. There is not a person in sight. I scan the sky but apart from the bright moon it’s empty. Until I see it.

Through the scope of my rifle I am able to see a black speck. It slowly grows bigger. I can now make out its disgusting figure, its empty eyes, its shrunken pale face, and its unusually large and wide mouth. It’s hideous wings It lands soundlessly. If I hadn’t seen it I wouldn’t have heard a thing. It’s still gross no matter how many times I see it.

The doors of the surrounding buildings open and fearful people come pouring out sticking close together eyes wide in fear. A little girl walks towards it no older than 7. A woman cries out from the crowd but it’s too late. It turns its head towards her with a smile on its face.

The girl is seemingly unfazed by its terrible countenance and gives a toothy smile despite missing several teeth. She reaches out her tiny chubby hand holding 2 small teeth in it.

“They fell out last week, please take them. One is for me and one is for my mommy.” The little girl said. It slowly reached its hand forward, the moonlight glinting off of its rough grey skin and grabbed it.

Its mouth opened and it spoke in a low raspy voice.

“Fresh… fresh teeth.” it said. “These aren’t fresh teeth.” It raised its voice. “I need fresh teeth. These are from last week”

Its eyes turned into slits. It raised its arm and struck forward but instead of striking the girl her mother rushed in between somehow managing to escape and the crowd received the blow. The loud crack of her head splitting echoed across the street. The girl was too shocked to speak, her mouth was wide open but no sound came out.

It leaned forward seemingly unfazed by the change of events. It reached into the crushed head of the mom and withdrew white objects.

I couldn’t stomach it and turned away. When I turned back it was grinning again.

“More” it whispered gleefully. Slowly people began approaching it.

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Damn it, where’s the signal? I thought. As if on cue an old man moved forward pulled back his coat revealing a shotgun and shot it point blank in the chest. That was when all pandemonium broke loose. People ran in all directions screaming. 2 men with rags obscuring their faces rushed forward wielding long daggers and stabbed it multiple times all over its body.

They didn’t hesitate, they didn’t stop, they didn’t give it time to react. It withered in pain and let out a shriek but was unable to resist. A horn blared this time from a red pickup truck. It cruised down the street churning up dust and gravel and plowed directly into the creature. The creature was flung 7 yards forwards, the pickup truck was smoking heavily and a large dent was left in the center of the bumper.

The creature to everyone’s dismay slowly stumbled back to its feet. That’s when I pulled the trigger. I’d only practiced on deer but not to toot my own horn. I was a natural from the start. The shot was a damn good shot. It pierced it through the eye snapping the head backwards. The men began cheering but my blood ran cold. It did not fall, instead it turned its head and focused its remaining eye directly at me. It grinned. Its body then began morphing; it oozed a thick green pus and its skin turned transparent.

Something was moving inside of it. Its chest burst open revealing a head. Out of the chest the head was followed by shoulders, a pair of arms, hips, legs and feet. The men were still celebrating, they whooped and cheered thinking their torment had ended.

I tried to call out but it was too late. It vanished from my vision moving at speeds it never had before and ripped out the neck of the person who had the shotgun. The men panicked but quickly charged again. They still wield knives but this time it clinked off its skin. It was way harder now. I tried to fire again but the men were in the way. It grabbed the hand of the knife-wielder and snapped it. The same way you or me would snap a cucumber.

It grinned at its pain before opening its mouth impossibly wide revealing rows upon rows of teeth and bit down on the man over his entire upper body. The man could only give a startled yell before his torso was torn in half. The 2 men tried to retreat but they were too slow.

They were both decapitated instantly. It picked up one of the heads and walked towards the truck the man inside was unable to escape and he sat there with his eyes wide in fear. It reached into the decapitated man’s mouth and plucked out red stained teeth. The root was intact and it began snacking on them as it slowly walked ever closer to the truck. It jumped onto the windshield and using its clawed hand speared the man through the heart.

I fired the trigger again. It dined on its armour like skin. It stopped and looked back at me. It got off the truck and flung it, yes flung the truck. Right at me. I scrambled up but I was too slow. It splintered the old rotten wooden wall sending splinters flying in all directions. I was knocked to the side and the truck fell through the floor as it was unable to bear its weight. It landed gently beside me and grabbed me by the arm and flicked its wrist.

A white stick was protruding from my forearm. I realised it was my bone before my arm erupted in pain. It brought its face to mine. Drool dripped from its face and its breath stunk horribly like dead fish that had festered in the sun. “I’ll come again and then this town will be destroyed'' It then cocked its head to the side, “Not that it’ll make any difference for you.” It then jammed its hand into my mouth grabbing a part of my upper jaw.

It violently ripped out a handful of teeth with some blood vessels and bone still attached to it. It tossed it into its mouth and ground it up with its teeth. A look of pleasure crossed its face before it leapt into the sky with its powerful legs disappearing into the night. It’s been a couple of days since the incident and I have given up all hope. If you ever see the tooth fairy never resist and always offer fresh teeth.