I fought him the whole way, but he was easily four times my size. By the time I saw the light from his opened door, I’d stopped struggling, trying to conserve some energy. Once I could see better, maybe I could figure a way out of this.
We went through the opening, and I was blinded by the light. I squinted, and then pinched my eyes shut when his enormous head rotated down to peer at me. Those black eyes would haunt me for the rest of my life. That’s if I live long enough to even have a nightmare.
Then to my surprise, he let me go, shoving me to the ground. My eyes opened in time to catch my fall, bloody hands smacking the ground. I braced myself for the attack. Surely, he would do all that he’d promised to do, right? Have his fun… eat me for all I knew.
I waited, staring at my hands. I’d rather watch my blood pool on the ground than face him.
He breathed hard, his panting loud.
What’s he waiting for? Maybe he wants to talk to me first…
I forced my neck to turn and absorbed all his horrid details. He had a barrel chest with scars decorating his skin, as if something used his body to sharpen its claws. His face was mostly human, albeit his features were out of proportion, eyes bug-like and positioned too far to the sides, small nose, enormous mouth, and brown hair spattering his skull in patches, not quite enough to cover it. His wings were horrifying and captivating. They started at his shoulders and dusted the floor with their ends. Instead of translucent with brilliant colors, they were mud brown, thick, with corded veins running through them. He stood over me, his chest heaving up and down.
Looking behind him, I took in my surroundings. It appeared to be a bedroom, if that nasty pile of cloth, springs, and feathers counted as a bed. Looked like a mattress after a tiger had gotten to it. There were a few metal, folding chairs, but nothing else.
I didn’t know if it was stroke of genius or insanity, but I blurted, “You promised I’d fall in love with you, but I’ve never even met you.”
His head cocked to the side, his eyes ogling me. “You may not know me, but I know you. You’re all I heard about for so long,” he growled. “Guess that’s why I had to come see you myself. So you see—it’s really his fault, not mine. He should’ve known better.”
The monster roared and glanced away from me. “Just shut up! I don’t want to talk! I want to enjoy her!” Still facing away, he sputtered, “But she should know why this is all happening. It’s only fair.”
I stared in a stupor, as he clenched his fists and faced me again, “She needs to know why we hunted her. Let her understand that at least. Please.”
We stared at each other, me too terrified to move. I wasn’t sure which part of him had won the argument, and I wasn’t sure if it even mattered either way. I was dead. I could see no way out of this.
He grumbled under his breath and then spat, “Fine.” Reaching down, he hauled me to my feet. I didn’t have time to react because he was throwing me at a chair. “Sit down. Guess I have to tell you some things.” He let out a stream of profanities.
Then, after he’d made sure I stayed in my chair, he grabbed my arm and, to my horror, ran his long, skinny tongue along my wrist. I tried to recoil, but his grip was iron. “Then, my dear, you’ll be all mine. How I will savor finding out what makes you tick.”
Think, Sam, he wants to talk… I tried to focus on what I could control instead of his repulsive actions. Get him talking.
“Why don’t you change back—show me who you are? I will understand things then,” I said, straightening my back, trying to be brave.
“You trying to trick me?” he growled.
“No, it’s just I didn’t think bugs… err… the ones Tonbo changed so long ago could morph. That means you are extra special, strong.” I had no idea if these things ran on ego, but it was worth a try.
“Tonbo changed? Tonbo didn’t do this to me.”
“He didn’t? Weren’t you a super soldier?”
“Soldier?” he roared, laughing. “I’m no soldier. He gave it to me, and I took it. Played me like a fool, but nothing’s going to change that now. Besides,” he purred, “I like what I am.”
“Who gave it to you?” I asked, hoping to keep him on topic.
He moved toward me, his arms reaching out. Maybe I’d run out of time. Maybe that was all I was getting. Then, to my surprise, he began morphing back. The creature collapsed down into the man I’d seen before. Only this time, I saw his face.
Brown eyes. Kind, brown eyes. Memories tugged at me. I tried desperately to place them. I’d seen them before. At the time, I’d been feeling terror and his eyes brought me comfort. This time, I could only gawk at them. My mouth dropped open.
“You’re the EMT!” I finally croaked, remembering all too clearly that day. I passed out after running too long, and woke up to see those eyes.
The man’s shoulders slumped. “I only get a minute with you. Then it’ll take over. I’ve lost the battle. Don’t talk. Let me.”
I nodded, realizing that this might be my only time to escape too. I saw the open door in my peripheral.
“You were all he ever talked about. I knew how much he loved you, watched over you, and I assumed he’d never change you. He swore he wouldn’t. So I decided I would change, become like him, so he wouldn’t have to be alone,” he gasped. Then he growled, “Oh, get on with it! Don’t give her your whole damn story!”
I bit my lip. Should I bolt? How much longer would this man be here?
“Fine,” he muttered to himself. “We were together when he heard you’d been taken. I’d been trying to get the courage to tell him what I’d done, but I was too ashamed. I realized the thing within me had taken control already. Something was wrong… my transformation wasn’t the same as it was for others. But I couldn’t tell him all that then; he said he had to find you. I wasn’t sure why he kept up the pretenses, but I was hiding things too, so I didn’t push. I told him to go, and I decided to find you myself.” He sighed heavily, like he was resigned in his defeat. “Trust me, Samantha, I never meant to hurt you! To hurt anyone! I did all this,” he struck out his chest, “for Blake!”
A thousand questions ran through my head. He changed into a dragon for Blake—why?
Who is he?
“So you changed me and then let me go? You were only doing it to help Blake. You knew he wouldn’t do it, so you did, right? I’m sure Blake will understand—”
“No! He won’t! I’ve done horrible things! I’m a monster! I tracked you down; your smell was so strong. Please believe me, I really only wanted to help. I found you tied up in the cabin. You were sleeping. I didn’t want to scare you. I was worried if I woke you up that you’d think I had done it. I didn’t want Blake to think that. So I untied you, got rid of the ropes, and waited outside the cabin for you to come to. About an hour later, you stumbled out. I stayed in camo and followed you for a few hours. Then I made an anonymous call to 911, saying I thought I’d found you. After that, it was easy. I joined the search team and led them to you. You see, I did it all for Blake. I want… wanted you both to be happy.”
“You can still give that to us! Just let me go! Blake and I are very happy—”
He groaned and held his stomach. “No… I can’t. You don’t understand. I let it see you, smell you. It won’t leave you alone. It’s made me follow you, watch you.”
Goose bumps covered my arms. My instincts were right. He had been hunting me.
“And then when that wasn’t enough, I gave it… others to keep it satisfied.” His face fell before me.
“Like Cally? You were in that tree with me,” I said, realizing I’d been right.
“Yes. It wanted to grab you then. I was lucky some dragons were in the area and wanted to show off. They hadn’t realized they’d picked a fight with Blake until it was too late. I fought the beast in me, made it take off. But I had to give it something in return.” He swallowed hard.
“Where is she?” I asked, scared of the answer.
“She didn?
??t last long,” he whispered, his face contorted in pain. He held one shaking hand out toward me. “Samantha, I’m sorry. It’s obsessed with you. I can’t go on like this. I’ve tried everything I know of to rid myself of this thing, but it just gets stronger! I’ve tried to kill myself a thousand times, but I keep on living!”
The scars on his chest made more sense now. He groaned and then cackled. He was losing his inner battle.
I began thinking about the other girls’ fate. He can’t die? And he won’t stop killing until he gets what he wants. This needs to end. I gazed back at him, knowing there was only one way for that to happen.
“I understand. Can I ask you a question before?” I couldn’t say the words.
He nodded and licked his lips. I could see energy stirring behind his brown eyes.
“Did you tie me up in that cabin? Was it all you?” I had to know, even if that was the last thing I heard before I left this world.
The brown widened and then he winced, doubling over. “No, I’d only injected myself weeks before. Like I said, I kept trying to find the right time to tell Blake, to let him know he wouldn’t be alone anymore. That his big brother would always be there for him.” He groaned, his eyes turning black, his shoulders and back growing right before my eyes. He was morphing.
But I could only gape at him. Big brother? “Jaxon?” I gasped.
The man nodded. “I never would have injected myself, if I’d known…” His hands shot out as he groaned. His wings emerged, sounding like a cracked whip.
“Known what, Jaxon? Known what?” I shouted, jumping to my feet. The monster was here. I’d wasted my time, but I had to know.
“That he was going to change you after all!” he roared, the transformation complete. He grinned and lunged forward. “And I’m so glad he did!”