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So it hadn’t been a dream. It hadn’t been one of my fucked-up, twisted fantasies, which meant both of those shadow creatures were real. They called one another Cilas and Cyn, and they’d called themselves brothers, but what were they? Monsters? Demons?
I ran toward the gazebo, needing to distance myself from that damn house. One night, and it was already playing with me. Instead of taking the steps towards the gazebo, I veered left and ran down the side of the embankment, heading for the small wooden dock below. I stopped abruptly at the very end, teetering forward, and it was a miracle I didn’t fall right in.
The swamp was a frenzy of raindrops, creating ripples along the murky surface. In the light of day, even as dark as it was under the cloud cover, I tried to imagine the giant black tentacles. I laughed, running my fingers through my soaking wet hair.
Laughter echoed right back at me, this time in my head, as usual. It was my own voice, only darker and more sinister—the part of me I’d kept buried since that night. It laughed at me, enjoying the way my hair tore at my scalp and the way my knees bruised as they hit the wooden dock.
Leaning forward, my fingers left my hair, gripping the edge of the dock as I peered down into the water. I could barely make out my own reflection with all the raindrops muddying it. I squinted, trying my hardest to see past the darkness, but there was nothing.
I should burn it all down…
The thought came again for the hundredth time since arriving. The cans of gasoline were sitting in my car, just waiting to be spread out over this wretched place, fuel for the fire that would burn it all to ashes, but in this rain, I couldn’t be sure it would do the job. I had to be sure. If any part of this house lived, then so did…he.
I couldn’t say his name, much less think it. I’d shoved the memory ofhimdown so far, I could scarcely remember his face…the face I used to dream about at night, the one with the dimples and…
Fuck…
I dry heaved as a flash of his face entered my mind. It was impossible to see him the way he used to be, before he’d been soaked in the blood of everyone I loved.
When I was done heaving, my empty stomach providing nothing to purge, I just stared out at the water, thinking that maybe I should just go back to the house, drink myself into a stupor, and light one last joint before setting it all ablaze.
“Are you here to poison my waters some more, sad one?” a voice called out to me, causing me to leap so violently, I nearly fell into the water. The voice chuckled as I frantically searched for the source.
The water rippled, and out of the cover of moss and reeds, came the head and shoulders of a…man. Or something that looked like a man. I scrambled back a bit, yet didn’t make a move to run away. His eyes pinned me in place as he moved closer. They were completely black with a small ring of green around the center, set in a face with skin that was dark and greenish, covered in patches of scales that glimmered in the light. He might otherwise have been called beautiful if he weren't so terrifying. His skin shimmered too, like the light reflecting off the bottom of a pool.
“What the fuck?” I whispered, eyes wide as I took in the size of him. “What the hell are you?” I managed to choke out, too intrigued to run but too afraid to move.
The…man swam closer, his muscled arms pulling him through the water. Attached to the backs of them were sharp, shiny black fins that helped him slice through the water cleanly.
He was grinning, his black eyes pinned on me. Every feature was vicious and striking, slender and yet cutting. Long onyx hair flowed out on either side of him, plastered to the sides of his head with water, and two pointed, fin-like ears stuck out from between the strands.
“Don’t tell me I frighten you,” he said, his voice low, teasing, and charming. My heart thundered as he came closer to the dock. “After the sounds I heard coming from that house last night, perhaps I should be the one afraid of you.” He cocked his head to the side, dark eyes twinkling with mischief.
Despite my better judgment, I leaned forward, crawling toward the edge of the dock, my curiosity getting the better of me. He was handsome, scarily so, in a way I’d never seen before. He reminded me of the sirens of old sailor tales, lurking in the depths of the sea for unsuspecting lonely victims to happen by them.
“You’re a monster,” I said, cocking my own head to the side as I studied him. Some kind of…swamp creature? A demon? A merman? I didn’t know what the fuck he was, but I knew he wasn’t human, and neither were those shadows last night.
His long, webbed fingers curled around the top of the dock, sharp black nails scraping the wood as he floated only inches away from me. “Am I now…” he mused, not a question but more of a taunt. “But how can I be the monster, when I’m the one who’s lived in this swamp for centuries? Maybe you’re the monster here, sad one.”
He might have had a point, but centuries? There was just no fucking way. I was fully convinced I was hallucinating all of this. The house had finally broken me after all these years, and I was going to waste away in the recesses of my own fucked-up mind with these creatures I’d conjured up.
“Why did you call me sad one?” I’d heard the shadows call me the same thing, and even though it did fit, it was a strange endearment, if that was what it was.
The swamp man grinned widely, showcasing a mouthful of incredibly sharp teeth, like white needles ready to shred flesh to the bone. “Are you not? I can taste it on you…sweet and salty, like tears, blood, and honey. It’s quite delicious.” He licked his lips, and I saw that his long tongue was forked like a snake. I blinked at him, wondering if I was in more danger than I thought. Did I really care?
No. No I didn’t.
“Then what are you exactly?” I asked, peering over the side of the dock. The movement brought me closer to his face. I caught a whiff of moss, rain, and something bitter on his skin, and found that I actually liked the scent. “If you’re not a siren or a demon, does that make you a mermaid?” I almost laughed, looking him up and down, picturing a shiny green tail flapping around beneath him.
His teeth gleamed at me, sending an excited thrill through my whole body. “Who says I’m not a siren?” Flattening his webbed palms on the dock, he used his considerable strength to raise himself upwards until I could see glittering onyx scales that crawled up his lean torso, gradually blending in with his greenish skin. Our faces were inches apart, his long dark hair brushing the tops of my bent knees. “If I sang you a lullaby, would you follow me into my depths?”
His voice grew soft and melodic again, not quite a whisper or a song, but more of a croon or a gentle coaxing. I didn’t even have to think of my answer, because I already knew that I would follow that voice anywhere.
“How about we start with a name then, if you won’t give me a real answer? I’ve already met your friends Cilas and Cyn. They were way more welcoming than you.” I felt my lips rising on one side, and he met my grin with dancing eyes.
“Ah yes, my…friends. I had a feeling they’d get to you first.” His eyes bounced over my shoulder, narrowing briefly at the house in the distance. “You can call me Kaz, if it pleases you. Your human tongue won't be able to pronounce my real name, so we won’t bother.”
"But you already know mine," I said. It was a statement, not a question.
