“You’re fucking dead.” The words were pulled through the teeth of his mouth, violent and deadly. A raspy hacking laugh, almost so deep in tone I could barely hear it, came jumping out of Mothman as he swung off the couch and stood in front of me. He faced Caspian with wide-spread legs and shoulders held back like he was proud.
Caspian stomped towards us, raising his axe, but suddenly cried out, dropping the axe and clutching his head. Mothman made that hacking, demonic laugh again.
“I’m going to peel the skin from your body and eat it while you watch,” Caspian growled, grabbing his weapon again.
“No!” I gasped. My voice was still breathy, but loud. “He saved me, Caspian.” I shook my head. He’d saved me more than once. He wasn’t a bad guy. I owed him my life. Caspian looked over at me like I had two heads, his eyes bulging in disbelief. Then a violent shiver ran up his body as a look of hurt and panic flashed in his eyes. He gripped the axe harder, swinging it up and rushing at Mothman.
He yelled out as he rushed towards Mothman swinging the axe. Mothman jumped out of the way and the axe slammed into the small kitchen table. The piece of furniture had already been on its last leg so when the axe splintered its middle, it cleaved in two, collapsing in a mess on the floor.
“Caspian!” I called, grabbing my clothes that had been knocked to the floor and quickly sliding them back on. Caspian cried out in pain, one hand going to his forehead.
“Shut the fuck up,” he hissed out as he charged at Mothman again. Mothman sighed and then pulled out his gun.
“No!” I cried out, flinging myself between them. I faced Caspian, cradling his face in my hands. His eyes stayed aimed at the other monster with murderous intent. His entire body was flexed for violence, ready at a moment’s notice to take its opening.
He was still a monster as I touched him. His skin’s texture felt different, almost rubbery. My fingers tickled the edges of his gills. His strange grass-like hair rested on my knuckles.
“Caspian, look at me.” The tension was so thick in the air I could barely breathe, too worried we were a breath away from violence. I slid my hands down his chest then trailed them lower. My hands swept over his lower stomach then I moved to his hands. I touched the webbing between his fingers, rubbed gently on it in curiosity. His eyes rounded in shock and he jerked his attention to me.
God, I’d nearly lost him today. Nearly lost him and all he had wanted was for me to love him.
“I love you,” I told him, tears burning my eyes. The axe dropped to the floor loudly as his large eyes darted back and forth between my own.
“What?” He asked, all the violence gone from his tone.
“I love you,” I repeated, leaning into him, wrapping my arms around his body until I could feel the sharp dorsal fin at his back. “I love you so much, Caspian.” He inhaled sharply and shuddered beneath my touch. His arms wrapped around me and he buried his face into the crown of my head.
“You really love me? You aren’t just saying that?” He asked, his voice wavering in desperation. His needle-sharp talons dimpled my skin as he gripped me to him. “Even like this?” He whispered as his cheek pressed into my head.
“Yes,” I said, clutching myself to him and never wanting to let him go again. He tugged me away from him and bent down closer to my height, looking me in the eyes. My gaze trailed over his gills, the long points of his ears, the abnormally large eyes with freakishly huge pupils. His lips were puckered slightly, pushed outwards because of all the sharp teeth hiding behind them.
My instincts rattled inside me, bucking for attention. I swallowed them down and held Caspian’s gaze. My hand trembled as I reached forward, cupping his cheek in my hand. He leaned into it, his eyes hopeful.
“I love you,” I softly said again and twin tears leaked from his eyes. A big breath rushed out of him, his entire body sagging as the tension left him. A small laugh of euphoria burst from his mouth, his hands stroking my cheeks. Then he seemed to remember everything else. His gaze and hands swept over me desperately, looking for any sign of harm or distress.
“Are you okay? Does anything hurt?” He even lifted the hair off of my neck and ran his fingers across the nape of my neck. He brushed his fingers through my hair, touching my scalp delicately.
“I’m fine. My shoulder is strained a little—” I was cut off as he saw the wound on my lip from when the door hit me earlier, in the bathroom when I was found. I pushed the memory away, hating how crisp the terror still felt
“When did this happen?” He snarled. His eyes shot above my head, flaring in hatred at Mothman behind me. “Did he hurt you?” The words fell from his mouth like a threat.
“No—”
“He was doingthingsto you.” His eyes flared open wider as if just remembering what he walked in to see.
“Caspian, he didn’t understand,” I said, feeling awkward and embarrassed about the entire strange situation. Did Mothman even understand what had happened when I orgasmed? Caspian’s eyes bugged out of his head then he shot a disgusted look at Mothman as he straightened up.
“He understands,” he grumbled, eyes swiveling around the room. He saw the notebook and got it, flipping it open as he brought it to me. Mothman made an annoyed click noise in his mouth before he huffed and crossed his arms.
“He most definitely understands, Ava,” Caspian said, showing me a drawing in the notebook. My eyes bugged as I saw a cartoon drawing of me crossed-eyed and drooling with my tongue hanging comically out of my mouth. Mothman gripped me from behind in the drawing, his wide smile drawn in. On the side of the drawing, he had written: “save a horse, ride a cowboy”.
“Oh,” was all I could say because what the heck was I looking at! I didn't even know how to grasp the wildly different perception I’d had in my head. Mothman reached over and pinched the notebook from Caspian’s hands and stuffed it in a pocket of his duster.
“But...” I started, trying to find some explanation. Caspian lifted me up in a bridal hold as his body transformed in a mere half-second to look human again. The change rippled over his body in a wave.
He carried me outside of the cabin in his arms without another word. Brandon stood near the porch, his hands shoved in his jean pockets, his shoulders stiff as he looked around at the surrounding woods nervously. His eyes flipped to us as we came out.
“She okay?”
