“Yup,” Mitch wriggled his butt, and she snorted. “Jess…”
“In my true shape, I’m called the Loch Ness Monster. Jess is my human form,” she informed him.
“That’s a mouthful, I’m not calling you that. What about Nessie?” Mitch replied.
“I hate Nessie; the others call me Ness when shortening my name.”
“Ness?”
“Yup.”
“Good. Well, Ness, here we are!” Mitch quipped, and Ness stared in shock. Mitch chuckled. “I should have guessed after being confronted by your friends. But I was too stupid to realise. Now a lot of shit makes sense. This glamour—”
“It’s not glamour. We’re shape-shifters, and nobody knows,” Jess warned.
“Okay, so this shapeshifting, is it painful?” Mitch demanded with concern. He didn’t like the idea of Jess being hurt.
“It stings, is the best I can say, and can be awkward. But the more we change, the less uncomfortable it becomes. If we don’t shift for a while, that’s when we feel it,” Ness explained.
“That explains why the Hunters are having so much trouble finding you. They think you’re hiding under glamours and not shapeshifting. Nifty trick. Damn, my woman’s the Loch Ness Monster? Now you being on that boat makes sense, only where was the owner?” Mitch asked curiously.
“The Sins need to feed. We hunt those who fit our Sin. The guy was spreading Disease by dumping waste in Loch Ness. Disease killed him and ate the Sin within him.”
“I’m sorry, what?” Mitch asked, sitting up.
“The Sin’s we carry belonged to mankind. God removed them from humankind and locked them up in a Jar,” Ness explained.
“Which Pandora unleashed, leaving Hope inside,” he added.
“Not quite. Pandora did release them, but Hope also escaped. It’s the cruellest Sin of them all. We were tasked with guarding the Sins. Somehow, Pandora sneaked past us and released them. We didn’t give Sins to mankind; they already belonged to you,” Ness elaborated.
“And everyone has a sliver of every Sin inside us?” Mitch asked. He found that disturbing.
“Most carry several; it’s rare we’ll cross a human carrying all of them. Those are the true psychopaths. For example, pride,envy, and wrath are often discovered together. Disobedience and disrespect accompany each other, too. Mary Worth seeks those who commit crimes in the name of the Sins we carry, and then we pass through the mirror portals and allow our Sin feed,” Ness explained.
“Why the monster forms?” Mitch was curious about that. Their unique shapes had remained a mystery to everyone. It was something the Sealgair Uilebheist would love to understand.
“We were beautiful once. The Warriors of God were stunning creatures to reflect our goodness. The Sins, when freed, realised they needed hosts to escape and to exist. They attacked us, and when they sank into our bodies, they changed our shapes into monstrous forms.”
“Ness,” Mitch said, hearing the sorrow in her voice. He reached out and rubbed her flank as she stared in surprise.
“You keep touching me,” Ness whispered.
“Isn’t that what people in love do?” Mitch replied, sensing Ness’s disbelief.
“Look at me, Mitch!” she exclaimed. “How could you mate me?”
“Mate?” Mitch asked, even more interested. He almost laughed as Ness’s jaws snapped shut and she eyed him balefully. One chomp from that powerful maw and she’d bite him in half.
“Now, come on! You can’t say that and not elaborate, Ness!” he chided.
“It’s nothing,” she mumbled and turned her head away to gaze at the distant shoreline.
“What is it?” Mitch asked, as Ness tensed under him.
“My siblings come. The water and air ones anyway,” she replied, nodding across the lake. Mitch carefully walked up her spine and hooked an arm around her neck.
“Guess we best do that thing again,” he said, tensing himself. He really didn’t like that method of transporting, but if it kept Ness safe. Mitch readied himself for another vomit-induced trip.
