“Being alive is horrible,” I hissed, doubling over where I sat. It felt like something was trying to escape Ava’s mortal skin. Mothman sighed and flicked his hat back up, red eyes peered out from shadowy black fur. He’d been pouting since his fight with Cas. Who would have thought such a well known and feared cryptid would be so put out by one little moody merman.
“You have to piss,” he sighed in my head.
“What?” I asked.
“What?” Caspian parroted, not having heard Mothman.
“I need to pop a squat,” I said with disgust. “How’d you know?” I asked Mothman.
“You haven’t gone all day, justwatchedas we did.”
“You two piss like it’s a competition. I figured you were freaks of nature and it was unnatural.”
“You’re an idiot,” Caspian sighed, settling against the wall again. He stretched out his long body before jerking back to attention suddenly. “We need to go too,” he said, hooking his thumb at Mothman.
Our babysitters eyed one another until finally one sighed and popped up, going over to Ben who was sitting watchdog at the cave’s entrance. He came back shortly afterwards.
“Only the girl…thingcan go,” he said, waving in my direction before plopping back down to continue his game of slapjack with the other watchman.
“Come on then,” my personal babysitter sighed, getting to his feet with a groan. He scrubbed his hands through his short, graying hair before reaching over to pull me up. His touch felt disgusting, his palm clammy and vile. I snatched my arm from him.
“I’ll rip that arm off for touching me,” I hissed with venom. He smiled and patted a little canvas pouch attached to his belt. It sat heavy on his hips, evidence of the massive amounts of salt he thought would protect him from me.
“I’d like to see you try,” he said smarmily.
“Wow, I’m so impressed,” I deadpanned as we picked our way through the humans, making our way to the front of the cave. They were loudly smacking their mouths open and shut, eating those dry bars they called food. Their spirits seemed rather high for a bunch of kidnappers who lost their pet monster. Couldn’t wait to ruin the mood.
“You’re planning something,” Ava said with apprehension. I smiled but didn’t divulge, not letting her see all my nasty thoughts. Soon it would be clear to her and everyone else what they werereallydealing with. A monster, not a ghost. Something vile that had been hidden in caves, terrorizing those that fell in his trap.
I was free now, or close to it,veryclose. I needed more power though. Power would give me freedom and allow me to terrorize this entire mountain range.
The Undead King of Appalachia. I liked the sound of that. Ilovedit. My queen at my side, her little harem of henchmen hanging around. I planned to keep Brandon for myself though. She could fuck him all she wanted but I was going to be his master, not her. No way I’d let a beast like that go. The rest were mere pawns but he was a powerful rook on this chessboard.
“Be careful,” Ben said as we passed him. Instead of looking at us, his eyes were scanning the trees outside the cave. I looked at him, imagining his approaching death.
“You’re on borrowed time,” Ben said, turning towards me.
“Borrowed?” I asked with a laugh, brushing my hands down Ava’s waist before settling them on her thighs.
“You aren’t the first ghost I’ve come across,” he said, his apathetic expression unwavering. He did automatically know to use iron and salt and the way he talked to me was as if he wasn’t concerned or disturbed at all. I tilted my head and gave him a once over but then pushed off any sense of unease his confidence gave me.
He was underestimating me again.
“You’ve never come across a ghost like me,” I told him and he gave zero reaction, turning his eyes back to the dark woods in dismissal. It irritated me that he thought I wasn’t worth his worry. Heshouldbe worried. It didn’t matter how much he thought he knew about ghosts.
“Don’t take too long,” Ben said. “Wouldn’t want your friends to suffer.”
I sneered at him. If he thought I planned to make a run for it, he was sorely mistaken. He would be the one running.
We moved out of the cave and into the night, emerging into the darkness. The cold air settled on my skin and I breathed it into my lungs. The human shivered, pulling the collar to his sweater up higher. He left his gun holstered and scanned the area.
There was a noise.Tap, tap-tap, tap, tap. I followed it, stepping into the treeline. My dress dragged through fallen leaves.
“Hey,” my keeper snapped. I looked over my shoulder and fluttered my eyelashes.
“Sorry, but I don’t feel comfortable squatting down with everyone watching. Right there okay?” I asked, pointing towards a nearby bush about twenty feet away.
“That’s fine but I’m staying close,” he warned.
