“That’s the thing about them,” she whispered to herself. The man had looked perfectly normal, save for the fact that he could easily jump out of the hole.
Natalie rushed over to the kitchen counter and grabbed her phone, dialing the police. If he was going to come around her home, she had to be safe.
“911, what’s your emergency?”
“There’s a man, he was in my house and…I think he’s around, because he saved me from the caves, and I don’t know if he’ll…God, I just don’t know, if you can send…someone, I just need…”
“Ma’am, ma’am, please answer me. Are you in immediate danger right now?” the operator asked with a professionalism that almost felt alien to Natalie.
“No, y-yes. I don’t know. But I’m in my house, and I locked the doors, but when he left, the doors were locked, so I don’t know how he got in. He doesn’t have keys!” Natalie argued.
“Okay, what’s your name?”
“Natalie Clements.”
“Okay Natalie, I need you to take a deep breath and tell me exactly what happened. But first, are you calling me from your home?”
“Yes,” Natalie replied, taking deep breaths. “I am.”
“Okay, I’ll have someone sent over, but give me a rundown. What happened?”
“I…I’m an archeologist, and…” Natalie paused, wondering if it was a good idea to tell the police what she had seen. Would they believe her? She had to try.
“I know this is going to sound crazy, but there were monsters. One of them had wings, and the other man could breathe fire, and I got knocked out and they brought me back to my house.”
“Who brought you back to your house, and where were you?” the woman on the other end responded in a tone that was incredibly calm for someone who had just been told that there were winged monsters.
“I don’t know if it’s him, but I think so. I just think so. I was at a cave, I’m an archeologist. I went in alone, I know I shouldn’t have, but I just wanted to see if I’d find something that everyone else missed, and I saw them.”
“So what else happened?”
“I…I was knocked out,” Natalie replied. “When I woke up in my house, I went back and I saw him there. I fell into a hole, and he pulled me out. A human can’t move like that, but he did. He saved me from falling into the hole, and he jumped out. It was so deep and he just jumped out of it.”
“Okay, so if I’m right, you think the man who saved you from falling to your death in the cave, is probably a monster who is stalking you?” the operator asked.
Natalie took a breath, seeing how ridiculous it sounded. “Look, I know how it sounds, but I just need someone here, so they can look around and make sure everything is fine, okay?”
“Okay ma’am, please try to stay calm and we will have an officer with you shortly. Okay?”
Natalie ended the call and took a deep breath. She had no idea what was going to happen, or what she would even say to the officer when he arrived, but it made her feel a little better to know that there was someone coming to check on her.
A knock on the door drew her attention and she let out a low whoop, happy the officer had arrived so quickly.
As she pulled the door open, Natatlie was greeted by a devilishly handsome face. Brown hair hung loosely to the sides of his face, roughly styled by the wind and his own hands. He had the rough scruff of a recently shaved beard, and incredibly sharp eyes that made him look almost like a supermodel. She began to wonder who he was, as he silently stood there by her door, and then she remembered.
Those were the same eyes that she had seen at the cave. This was the man who had saved her. Natalie opened her mouth to scream, but the man reacted instantly, shutting the door and pulling her into the house, his hand going over her mouth with incredible speed. She had barely taken in a breath when he pinned her to the wall, his eyes right up against her.
If he wasn’t trying to kill her, Natalie would have asked him out to coffee. But she saw the rage in his eyes and knew just what kind of man he was. She was going to die, and no one would know what had happened to her. He held her still until she stopped struggling and then he nodded.
He began speaking in a low and threatening voice that made her shiver. “I’m going to say it again, and this time, I won’t let you get away. If you scream, I will hurt you. I am here to talk, and if you can’t talk normally, I will make sure you can’t talk, ever again. Nod if you understand me.”
Natalie nodded, her head bobbing up and down as quickly as she could. The man had said what she dreaded to hear, but he seemed to want to talk to her. If she could negotiate with him, maybe there was a chance that she would be able to get away from the altercation with her life.
He took his hand off her mouth, and for a moment she considered screaming. Her neighbors would hear, and they would be able to come help her. But she quickly shook the thought from her head, remembering how fast the man was. He would kill her before she would be able to draw a breath, and Natalie shivered at the thought.
He smiled and walked over to a chair, taking a seat. “What did you see at the cave?” he asked casually.
“I…I saw…” Natalie murmured. “I…”