Welcome home.He didn’t bother to hide the excitement in his thoughts.
A smile lit up my face.How is the road?
It hasn’t rained yet. Hurry up. The impatient growl in his voice made me giggle.
Shannon sang along with the radio, turning down the road and into the swamp. The frogs sang loudly to welcome me back, too.
“You know, that witch called me last week to make sure everything was still good. I guess she’s waiting for a symbolic divorce,” Shannon finally said.
“What was her name?” I’d forgotten all about the witch Shannon called what felt like forever ago.
“Esme Rinah.”
I hummed with consideration. A true blood family member, but it didn’t interest me anymore. My little family of Rot and Shannon was more than enough for me. My bond to Rot wasso solid I still felt him whenever I had to leave, and Shannon had become my best friend somewhere along the way. I had two people who would live and die for me. That was more than most.
We turned along the final curve of the road, and I was shocked to find a little car at the end. My eyes scanned the area and found a group of people set up at our old base camp.
A place that hadn’t been used since, because Shannon set up her observation post further up the way to avoid flooding.
“These motherfuckers.” Shannon slammed on her brakes, threw the car into park, and got out of the truck. “You are trespassing! This is a wildlife sanctuary.”
I stepped out of the vehicle to stand beside her. Her eyes narrowed on the group of men. I smirked at her and tapped her back. There was always one easy way to get people out of here.
“I’m James Martin of Martin Industries.” The leader stepped up with a smile designed to sell snake oil, putting his hand up to shake.
“Dr. Fredricks.” She shook his hand with more aggression than was needed and tilted her chin to me. “This is Dr. Rinah. We’re the caretakers of the land.”
After all, we were the only ones who didn’t mysteriously vanish.
“We intend to buy this parcel of land.”
“What part of wildlife sanctuary do you not understand?” Shannon pulled the declaration she always kept in her pocket for these occasions. “There is no buying this land.”
“Everyone has a price. Especially underpaid scientists.” He smirked, like he’d already won. He pulled out a checkbook. “So how much does it cost for two scientists to go into court and take back everything they said?”
Shannon sneered at him and nodded for me to take over.
He should have listened to Shannon.
“That’s weird,” I asked, hoping to sound confused, walking closer to the water. Everyone looked out at the calm water. I could almost feel the unease rolling over everyone as they tried to find what I was talking about. It settled on the air like a bitter tang; Fear.
Now.
The water in the distance rippled, making people gasp with concern. As he grew closer, the ripples grew bigger and bigger.
“What is that?” one of James’ henchmen squeaked nervously. Everyone else froze, trying to make sense of it.
“Probably an alligator,” Shannon lied with a dismissive tone I almost believed.
Make it good.
He roared underwater, making everyone’s heads snap back and forth as they tried to make out where the muffled sound came from. One person was already preparing to run, shifting from foot to foot.
My body ached for him. It had been two weeks since I’d gone to present my thesis and attend graduation. He was all I’d thought about while I was gone.
I’d managed to get my degree while only leaving a handful of times to take tests with Shannon’s help. Turns out, I could have everything.
He sensed my excitement and swam faster, making the ripples turn to splashes. He stepped onto land on all fours. Our eyes met, and he smiled his terrifying grin. The one that showed his teeth and made most people piss their pants.
