I agreed out of respect for Sofia. Not because I was buying the fact I was having a nightmare. Because I still feel eyes on me. Watching me. Always watching.
Chapter Six
____________
Drake
People again. I hate them. I hate everything. I've had to live through years of being hunted by them, threatened, having my friends killed, and now they won't leave me alone in my solitude to rest and mourn. I realize this might not be a simple caver coming to find what I'm hiding in here when I see her fall.
Not to be cruel but I make no move to save her. The water isn't too deep but deep enough to keep her from being killed. She can swim out easily enough and walk to the entrance. It’s fairly easy to find. I think. At least it was before I went to sleep. If things look like they might get bad I'll contact the Dentons to come and help her.
From the conversation I overheard she told some little shit no. Good for her. All except the falling part, which could have been handled a little better. She finds her way up and out of the water and I take notice of her form. She's tiny, but all humans are tiny to me in this form. Still, I think she would be tiny to me no matter what. She has curves for a creature to hold on to if you're into that sort of thing. As soon as she leaves the water the cave fills with a mouthwatering aroma.
I see her fall over one of the smaller stalagmites growing up from the floor of the cave. She is kind of cute, this human who can't seem to stand on her own two feet. I wonder how young she is. It is hard for me to judge those kinds of things. I take another breath and can tell right away that she’s not one of my kind. She is fully human like I originally thought, so no matter her age, she is going to be young to me.
She puts her head down and my curiosity comes to life wondering what she is doing. I have excellent sight in the dark and have no need for light to watch her curled in a ball around herself. It’s not until she looks up that I can tell she is crying though.
Her tears do something odd to me. I don't like them. They make angry. And sad. She lifts herself up muttering to herself about kicking someone in a very hurtful place. She makes me smile. It’s not happened in so long that it feels strange and out of place on my face.
I wonder why I have such an odd reaction to her tears. What do they taste like? I wonder what she tastes like. Maybe I'm hungry and that’s the driving force that woke me from my rest. Not that I eat humans, even if this one does smell so...delicious. It's frowned upon by my kind.
She braces herself against the wall and limps to the back of the cave where the waterfall is. She is going the wrong way if she wants to get out. She's not very good with her sense of direction. She's also injured herself. This girl should have someone with her. Someone who would look over her and guide her where she needs to go instead of letting her trip and fumble through life. Does she not have parents? A boyfriend? Someone?
I've already contacted John and Martha letting them know someone needs help. They should be here to lead her out of my home soon enough. As she rounds a corner, I uncoil myself to follow. She left a bloody handprint on the side of the cave, and I don't stop to think about it before I use my long tongue to lap at the side of the rock.
And instantly shit happens. It’s not a slow, gradual awakening. It knocks me on my ass. Her blood tastes good. She tastes good. She tastes like something that should belong to me. I follow. There is no keeping away from her. She's found my waterfall.
Possession slithers through me. My kind are awful when it comes to ownership of something, especially something we perceive as a treasure. Something that smells and tastes so sweet. Parts of me I thought were irreparably broken are waking up and yearning to be dealt with.
My kind can sense so much around us, often times we become overstimulated among humankind. Everything is too loud, too bright, and too smelly. This tiny human woman smells fresh and it’s not because she fell into my pool and washed off all the shit her kind wears to cover their natural scent. She just smells like something good, pure, alive.
The ground knows I am awake, soon everything will being to come alive. The bioluminescent creatures that keep me company will start glowing and the rock and water will be mine to control. One of the reasons my kind were almost hunted to extinction was because of the power we hold over the elements - over nature. Some said that we could cure diseases and heal wounds but those people didn't understand what they were seeing when they peered into our world. The only people we can save are our mates.
Or maybe it's just the fact that humans know why we exist in the first place. They remember the myths, the legends, of long ago. The times when we were used to control humans - to keep order. Maybe they resent the genetic memory of being created for nothing but slavery by those who created us as watchdogs.
The woman feels the changes. She can sense them. Even without my extra senses, she is able to tell a difference. I move as quietly as I can so I can come closer to her. When I want to, I can be very silent or I can shake the earth with a single step. But that would frighten her and I don't want that.
I push my tongue out when she steps into a dark spot and let the end feather across her skin. I can't hold back the hiss that falls from my mouth. She spins so fast, she almost falls, trying to find me in the dark. I hold myself back and wait. It takes every self-disciplined fiber of my being to keep hidden from her. Her taste lingers on my tongue and the sensation goes all the way down to the heads of my dicks.
Yes, I have two. All of my kind do. It’s not abnormal if it is normal for your species. Yet another reason all those damned men came to try to hunt us. We don't have females so we find our mates in the human world for the most part. I once knew someone who mated another creature but it didn't end well for them or their offspring. We just stick to humans.
The rush of water covers any sound I might make as I use the height of the cave to my advantage. She is so tiny. And I feel such a pull to her. She drops to the ground and cups her hand in the water and tries to wash off the dirt she's picked up from her fall.
The water begins to glow around her. She gasps as the plankton that lives in my cave rises to the surface to greet...my mate.
Chapter Seven
____________
Lillie
I look up at the ceiling. I can't help it. I know what I saw. I've not been back in the tub since 'The Incident'. The shower, where I am standing now, is just like everything else in this castle - huge. The shower head from the stone wall is at least seven...eight feet high. The other heads aren't small. And there are like six of them. I joked about it being a car wash when I first saw it.
Maybe I'm out of sorts because I still haven't heard from Jossie. Or maybe it's the mystery drafts. Whatever it is my nerves are pulled taunt and ready to break. My ears catch on a sound. It sounds like...footsteps but when I step out of the glass divider I don't see anything out of place.
Surely Sofia would say something if she were in my room. Or the "Master's Room". Unless she's trying to drive me crazy. But why? What would her motivation be to try to cause me to lose my mind? I don't have money, I'm not important to anyone except Jossie - who also doesn't have money - so why would she try to do something like that?
Not to even mention that I like Sofia. She has a calm presence about her that I really vibe with. And she always brings me something to snack on when I work late in the upstairs library. I finish up with my shower and step out to wrap myself in a huge fluffy towel.