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"I know a lot of things about you. Does that bother you?"
I shrugged. Did it bother me? I'd be a liar if I said this entire situation wasn't balls to the wall insane, but then again, was I surprised? Not really. This was pretty on par for my life.
I relaxed and sat back on my ass, hanging my arms over bent knees. "Actually, it's kind of a relief. I'm shit with the whole small talk thing, and then there's the whole…swamp creature, merman thing too." I waved a hand in his general direction. "After last night, nothing really surprises me."
He chuckled. "You're taking this very well for a human. Usually, your kind takes one look at me and alerts the authorities."
"Don't tell me you're the Loch Ness Monster too," I said with a teasing laugh.
He shook his head, his dark eyes sparkling with humor. "I'll let Nessie know that's your theory. She'll get a good laugh out of it."
I blinked at him, trying to figure out if he was being serious or not, but he gave nothing away.
I cleared my throat. The rain still drizzled down on me, soaking me until my hair stuck to my face and arms. My clothes would be itchy when I trudged back to the house, and I'd need to start another fire soon.
"So how many monsters live in my house?" I asked. If there were three, there had to be more, right? "And why haven't I ever seen any of you before? You know, I was born in this place." I didn't know if he knew that, but if he'd been here for centuries, then I didn't put it past him.
He let go of the dock and floated, letting his muscular arms keep him in place. My eyes dipped, watching as a swirling black mass moved just under the water. At any moment, his tentacles could shoot out of the water and grab me. He could drag me under before I had the chance to even think about running away.
"You truly have no idea, do you? Don't tell me my friends kept you in the dark last night." I gave him a deadpan stare. Of course they’d kept me in the dark. Theywerethe dark. He sighed. "I figured as much. Naughty, naughty shadows, those two."
"Is that what they are? Shadows?" There was no real way to describe them aside from that.
"I suppose." He shrugged, and it was such an odd, humanlike movement on him. I wondered if it was a ruse, something to get me complacent around him. "Humans have all sorts of names for the creatures they fear—shadows, demons, ghosts, nightmares… Take your pick."
I preferred shadows myself. There were stories about shadow people floating around the internet, shapes and movement in the corner of your eye, the feeling of something watching you in a dark room. I always chalked it up to paranoia, but now I wasn't so sure.
"To answer your question, " he said after a quiet minute. "No, we're not the only monsters here with you."
I perked up, my shoulders stiffening as my eyes flitted around the foggy swamp. I didn't know what I was searching for. I'd been down here a million times, and I'd never seen anything suspicious. Well, until Kaz the swamptopus swam up and interrupted my dramatic brooding.
"I can see the wheels in your mind turning, but trust me, you won't see them unless they want to be seen."
I huffed, shaking my head as I stood up slowly, trying not to slip on the wet dock. It was time to get inside and make a fire and probably eat something, since I was going on two days on nothing but coffee and weed.
He watched me curiously, studying me, his dark eyes sparkling, the green ring in them glowing as the light from the water bounced off of them. They dragged up the length of my legs, lingering on my thighs before slowly perusing my chest, neck, and then my lips. He paused there.
"Does that mean you wanted me to see you?" I asked, a bit of flirtation seeping into my voice. What the fuck was I doing? He was sexy in a forbidden cryptid sort of way, but damn, this wasn't smart.
His eyes dipped along my neck and collarbone again as he licked his lips with that strange tongue. "I want you to do more than just see me, Iris. My…friendsmade that pretty clear last night, wouldn't you say?"
Iris
Islept in the guest bedroom on the first level of the house that night after staring at the spot on the floor where I’d given my body to two shadow demon creatures without an ounce of remorse. I couldn’t bring myself to tempt fate again so soon, even though the thought of their touch made my toes curl.
What the fuck was I doing? I was fucking monsters now? What happened to that girl from ten years ago, who spent her days in the studio painting with her dad?
That girl died with him.
From the window, I could see clear out to the gazebo. The rain had tapered down to a drizzle, and the full moon was peeking out from behind the clouds, bouncing off of the fog that rolled over the mossy ground. It was an eerie sight, but not an unfamiliar one.
Aunt Sarah used to stay in this room when she visited, but it was clear from the layer of dust that I painstakingly swept from the floor that she hadn’t been here in as many years as me. Maybe she felt the same way I did about this place. Maybe there were one too many ghosts that lingered here for her comfort.
After changing out the bedding, I settled under the sheets, Kevin and Kyle both lying on the floor in a patch of moonlight. I searched my music app for the brown noise I usually lulled myself to sleep with. It was the only way I could occupy my mind before the nightmares eventually descended.
When I was a little girl, I used to collect antique music boxes. Every single Christmas or birthday from the day I was born, my dad would buy me a brand-new one, and I would play its tune every night before bed until the next one came, watching as the little figures made of glass and metal danced in circles endlessly. He found them at estate sales and thrift shops, but they never had a broken song—that was the important part.
As I lay in bed with my phone’s brown noise, I thought about the room upstairs with a shelf full of those music boxes, and how easy it would be for me to retrieve one. Only I didn’t move to get up. I couldn’t get myself to take those steps yet.
