The people moved to block my path but I didn’t stop my momentum.
“Kill them,” Makwa growled, the devil on my shoulder that I needed. I lifted the rock and brought it down on the person in front of me. An older woman, shorter than me—thin and wiry. Her short, dark gray hair was in ringlets. Her eyes widened in fear before the rock in my hand hit the side of her head. I felt the solid thunk and heard only the tiniest dull sound. Her legs immediately folded beneath her and she dropped to the ground, blood pooling beneath her.
Someone’s arms wrapped around me and I thrashed, pulling my arm up to smack them with the rock. A yell broke from my mouth as energy and desperation poured out of me.
* * *
We walkedtowards the cave where the cult had been hunkered down, hopeful they were still there this morning. My progress was slow but Caspian and Mothman stayed with me, sometimes grabbing me off the ground and dragging me back to my feet when I fell over. I had to keep shaking my head when I looked at them too long. I imagined ripping into their bellies as they gripped my antlers and groaned in pain. A shudder rolled over me.
My legs shook and my fingers stayed tangled in the muzzle, always pulling on it. I was both desperate for it to come off and frightened it really would.
“Makwa,” I said at some point, shaking my head and trying to think of anything but the hunger. I yanked the muzzle.
“What about him?” Caspian asked.
“I think he wants something from me,” I said, feeling something move inside me. The beast pressed on my skin so hard I felt like I would burst open like a water balloon. A growl left my mouth and saliva dripped from my skeletal snout.Eat, something dark and deep growled inside me. Mothman looked over his shoulder at me for a moment.
“Wants something from you?” Caspian asked. I sucked in a breath and squinted my eyes, trying to focus on putting one foot in front of the other while still keeping up my end of the conversation.
“Makwa… fed me. He kept calling me his pet,” I said. I knew he hadn’t meant it in a sexual sense. Well not entirely. I shivered as I thought of his tentacle in my mouth. His words replayed in my mind, causing me to shudder.Maybe I should get my new dog to fuck you, Ava. I think I’d like to watch that.
“Pet?” Caspian asked, a little smile curling his lips.
“Shut up,” I grumbled and he gave a small laugh. “He uh… he killed someone. Ate their soul.”
“We saw,” Caspian sighed. I swallowed and closed my eyes. I had to tell them. Mothman was still watching me closely as Caspian walked ahead of us.
“He gave me the body,” I said, holding my breath. Mothman blinked slowly at me while Caspian stopped walking and turned to me. I stopped and stood there, lightly yanking on the muzzle. My stomach growled and I wondered if it was really the beast inside growling and not my stomach at all.
“I uh… I ate—” I cut off and swallowed. “He made me. Sort of.”
“What are you saying? Say it,” Caspian insisted.
“He forced me to eat blood and then he threw parts of someone at me. I ate… I ate someone. I’m not the same. I can feel it,” I looked between them. They needed to know I wasn’t the same. I wasn’t just sick. I wasn’t just hungry. I was changed and not just physically.
“I feel itinsideme. There’s something in there, something that wants out.” I grabbed at my hair and tugged it sharply. Mothman stepped up to me, getting my attention.
“We’re here for you,” he signed.
“You don’t understand,” I said. “I want to eat you. Both of you. Fuck, if I could right now I would. I’m so hungry. So hungry.” I grabbed Mothman’s duster and tugged him close, smelling him. I swallowed, maybe I could get the key from his pocket.
My tongue darted out, licking at the skull’s edge before I delicately tried to move my hands towards his duster pockets.
“I can see you,” Caspian said and I darted my hands towards Mothman’s pocket fast. Mothman grabbed my wrist and pulled it back out. I growled at him and he wagged a finger in my face like I’d been a naughty child. Everyone was treating me like a fucking puppy.
“I’m not some fucking dog!” I snapped, jerking away from him. He held his hands up in surrender to my anger.
“No one said you are,” Caspian sighed.
“Makwa did. I’m telling you, he wants something from me. I don’t know what. He wants me to be his pet. He said it. He called me a dog. He knew what I wanted to eat. He knows something and he—”
“Okay,” Caspian snapped. “Just calm the fuck down,” he sighed again, running his hands through his hair. I thought back to earlier, him on the ground with my spit over his abs. Thank god the skull at least stopped me from blushing like an idiot in front of him. I’d die if he saw me reacting to him. Then again… he was saying weird things to me now.Not yet, not now… as if some later existed.
Try as I might, that affected me. He always had and it infuriated me.
I grabbed at the muzzle and tugged it as we kept walking. Mothman suddenly snatched his hat off his head. The feather-like antennae on his head unfurled and stood up straight. He slammed the hat back on his head.
“Run,” he growled out in our heads. I groaned in pain at the noise but felt Caspian pushing my back, encouraging me to go. We took off, moving as fast as we could to keep up with Mothman. He apparently couldn’t take the pace anymore, bending his knees and shooting up in the air. Massive wings exploded from beneath his duster, lifting him high.
