MonsterVille
Twenty Four

It had been hours since Danny, the blemmyes and his tentacle—whatever the hell they were—friends had invaded the mermaid’s home. River had run for what felt like forever. Currently his back was to a large tree that blotted out the moonlight that trickled through the woodland canopy. He breathed hard and Aura’s head rested in his lap. She hadn’t stirred in so long he would have feared she was dead if not for the entrancing soft rise and fall of her chest. River swallowed hard and hated himself for the thoughts running through his head. His best friend had turned out to be a monster, Aura’s family had been massacred and now he was running for his life and still he was just a stupid guy who couldn’t help but check out a girl’s boobs.

Aura groaned and shifted, her fingers found his and River’s breath caught as she unconsciously entwined their hands. The soft warmth of her fingers with his, the press of her body as she moved.

“Hey,” he murmured softly, “Aura?”

She groaned again, her eyes fluttered but she didn’t wake. River frowned as the light glinted across her pale features; her lips were chapped and broken. River was no genius on monsters but he was going to go out on a limb and say she was drying out. Mermaid minus water, it couldn’t be a good thing.

River cupped her cheek and his frown deepened as a strange crackling howl broke the night. Danny’s pack was hunting him. Brannagh said they were plains creatures, but it wasn’t like River was an expert woodsman himself. Sure he’d been on a few hikes in college, but that was mostly to find a nice clearing and bust out the beer for a party. Hell Danny had been with him for most of those… Danny… It was just so unbelievable.

Another cracked howl sounded, closer, and River sucked it up. Took a deep breath, scooped Aura into his arms and haphazardly pushed back to his feet. He’d like to have said he was all manly carrying her but the truth was she weighed practically nothing, he could barely feel her in his arms. Such a vivacious presence—how could she feel so lifeless?

Having no better notion River turned in the opposite direction of the howls and started trudging through the woods. He had no clue where he was going, and those howls were getting closer.

Snicker, snicker, snicker.

God, River knew that sound. He had heard it before. Snicker, snicker, snicker, followed by the rapid click of keratin pincers. Click, click, click. He wanted to run, but where? Which way? Howls behind him, snickers and clicks ahead of him. The woodlands surrounding him rustled in the breeze and the faint glow of the moon breaching the canopy above cast an eerie glow through the night. It was the scene of a horror movie and lucky River, he had a starring role. Now given the events of the last week he felt he had done a reasonable job of keeping his shit together, but he was at the end of his rope. He was running blindly through the woods, for all he knew he was heading deeper into the lair of some wood monster just waiting to rip him up and suck the marrow from his bones.

He had been cut up, attacked, had his world turned inside out and upside down, he’d had sex! With not one, but two different flavours of monster and damn him but he had enjoyed every aching moment of the experience. Monsters killed people, ate people, but they weren’t all bad—sort of. He was so confused. And now Danny! Danny who he had known for years, Danny who had been there with him through heart ache, heart break and that time he had gotten himself in a brawl with another school’s football team—the entire freaking team on one guy and Danny had pitched in with no reservations, no hesitations. Danny who had bailed him out of more jams than he could remember, who had spent nights and weekends cramming with him to pass their mid-terms.

Danny who was a Monster. It was the final straw. The thing that broke his composure, broke him. If Danny was really a monster, was everything between them fake? A scam? Some elaborate cover in the human world? It wasn’t possible, it couldn’t be possible. No one could fake being a friend so sincerely, for so long. But if that Danny was genuine, if that Danny really existed then what the hell was this monster side? How could he be so cruel, so… so monstrous?

Aura groaned and River tightened his hold on her. Honestly if her life wasn’t in as much danger as his own he might have just dropped to his knees and given up, he was just so tired of it all, so completely exhausted. He looked down into Aura’s pale complexion, the ugly bruises marring her pretty throat and the blood crusting in her hair. She was still oozing blood, it was thick and dark, trickling from her mouth.

In a human that was a bad sign, like a she-would-soon-be-dead-without-medical-attention kind of sign. Was monster physiology the same? He didn’t know. Either way he was betting it wasn’t good.

“Alright,” River muttered, “I can do this.”

Snicker. It was so close. Click. River’s head swung to the right and the dark shadows stretching his way, the gleam of light reflecting off monstrous eyes. A Rat. Another god damn rat monster snickering and edging closer to him, it turned its head this way and that, its nose twitching as it took in his scent and dropped to all fours with a soft thump. He couldn’t run. Not fast enough, not with Aura in his arms.

River looked down at her helplessly and a terrible thought occurred—he could leave her. If he dropped her he might have a chance, he could run faster, further and maybe… maybe she would distract them until he could get away. The thought sickened him, and he hated himself for it. But there it was. He was in a situation with no good options, and no real way out. Besides what did he really owe her? Aura just wanted to use him, just wanted to breed him with her human women so the monsters could eat the babies. She was a Monster. He didn’t owe her anything.

He put her down. Gently. He laid her out on the ground and glanced towards the imposing shadows looking for the way to run. The Rat slowed, its nose twitched and it looked down at Aura with a snicker and hungry expression. River’s fists clenched and he squeezed so hard his hands were going numb.

“You want her?” River asked quietly, his words disappearing into the cold dark of the night, being swallowed up by the damp woods. “Well?” he demanded, “Do you want her!” the Rat snickered again and took another step forward.

It was with a heavy heart and painful resignation that he finally said it, finally spoke those damning words aloud.

“Well you can have her—” River closed his eyes, “—over my rotting, fucking, corpse.”

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