Chapter 18
/
Ami traveled through the forest, following her son's direction. The trees were dense, and the daylight growing dim, but she kept moving.
Momma. See him, by pond.
Stopping in her tracks, Ami saw him too, standing near the pond just as Barabas had said. For a while, her eyes were fixed on him, feeling a mix of emotions...sadness, affection, lingering confusion. Then she glanced to his right, and sucked in a sharp breath.
Bodies. Many of them.
They were in a pile, stacked haphazardly, and yet...
Goliathus?
He shifted slightly, gazing over his left shoulder.
Again you follow me.
What in the hell...?
Solarus squirmed. Bad. Bad, dadda.
Goliathus seemed to pay his son no mind. He was focused back onto the water, which was still as the evening air.
Ami's heart sank...it had been quite some time. There was actually hope that he was changing. But the sight of these bodies made it clear that not much had changed at all.
Still, she took hesitant steps closer, mustering up all her courage once again. As they neared, Solarus scrunched his face at the smell of the dead humans.
What are you doing?
Looking.
At what?
He kept his gaze solidly locked onto the water, and barely moved. At myself.
Well...why?
I am trying to see what looks back. You mentioned a demon.
Ami blinked at him, at a loss. I said it was a possibility yes, but...I don't think you can see it, Goliathus. If...it's there.
Oh but it can be seen. Many a human has called me such. Am I the face of a demon?
She looked down at the water's surface, seeing the reflection of her own different, weathered face.
No. You are not. It would be in your mind, Goliathus.
He finally turned to look at her. I suppose you are right.
Why did you do this?
He slowly turned to his right. Hunger, I suppose.
You need to stop doing that.
He snorted loudly. Why should I?
You are going to stop.
Eyes narrowed now, she saw his fingers flexing, and the claws of his feet digging into the ground.
You will command nothing from me.
No, I can't force you to do anything. But I sure as hell can refuse to accept what you do.
His anger was rising, she could feel it...but she held her ground. Solarus fidgeted once more.
I no accept either!
Goliathus locked eyes with Solarus, who stared back defiantly.
I no eat humans, dadda. Never. Momma is human. Sollie loves momma!
He snorted in disdain, but despite this, his eyes showed differently. You will see, Solarus. How humans will betray you.
Goliathus, stop it! Don't say things like that to him!
Why not? It is true.
Listen...you keep your opinions and experiences to yourself. Solarus does not have to know about it. Nor will you train him to hunt humans. This is something you're going to have to accept, sooner or later. Solarus will not be like you. Ami held her gaze, even as he stared icily back at her. It was ever so hard to challenge Goliathus, without ultimate fear gripping one's very soul. And yet...she felt her own strong feelings on the matter strengthening her courage against him.
This is because you have ruined him...spoiled him even.
No, it's because he's not like you. And neither is your mother. Don't you see it? This isn't normal behavior, even for your kind. You have to break free of this addiction. But even as Ami thought the words, deep in her own mind, she knew this was a nearly impossible task.
I think we are done talking. He crouched low, staring more closely at the reflections in the water.
No. We're not. What are you going to do with those bodies? Ami tried not to look at them. It was a wonder she could somehow keep her sanity on a very thin thread when seeing this horrible massacre he performed time and time again.
He made no reply. Ami grew angry very fast, she hated when he just stopped conversations and refused to respond.
What are you going to do? She repeated, this time more loudly.
When he still didn't answer, she came up with one herself. All right. Then what you're going to do is burn them. Give them a proper cremation, at least. Do you know how many souls wander this Earth, because of you?
Burn them? He stood finally, and loomed before her as if ready to strike at any moment. There were just some situations in which the fear could not be held back. Her heart began to race madly, but somehow she didn't bolt.
Yes. That's what I said.
He turned to gaze at them a brief time. And waste perfectly good meat?
Goliathus they're not meat! They're people with lives and families that you've now destroyed. Ami shook her head, thinking she may have just as well been mentally chiding an iron wall wrapped in thick chains. Nothing seemed to sink in, no matter what she tried.
Then a sudden thought came to her mind.
Lives you've ruined...think about it. You said humans ruined yours, destroyed your family. And yet you've done this back to us more times than anyone can count. How then, are you any better than them?
Goliathus chuckled, sounding old, dry, and worn. Such logic you have Ami. You see I do not care. That is the thing. I just don't care like you do. I don't value myself, so I have no reason to feel guilty. It is a temporary, fleeting moment of satisfaction to kill humans, that I will admit, but there are plenty of your kind, aren't there? I see no reason to stop. It is at least...something to my existence.
He paused, and with a great sigh closed his eyes for one moment.
But if you want to burn them...to give them a proper end... he snorted. Then go right ahead. I will simply find more.
The wings on his back twitched, but Ami quickly stepped forward.
Don't you go anywhere.
He grinned in a most unpleasant fashion. You will stop me? This should be amusing. His grin turned a little more sinister. Unless, of course...you've changed your mind about our previous encounter.
Sorry but a malicious grin and your bad mood aren't exactly what I'd call a turn on for me.
He laughed loudly, and Ami was always amazed to realize she seemed to be the only one that could elicit such humor from him, no matter how twisted it might be.
Then we have nothing further to talk of, do we? I'm starving, and must do something about it.
Ami gave him a steely gaze. It's called deer.
He shook his head. I have told you, and mother, that deer are tasteless. He frowned. And boring forms of art.
I uhm...thought that was rather creative, actually. What you did there...in the cave.
He grinned again, but it was short-lived. There is no stopping me, Ami. You are only merely delaying the inevitable.
Ami desperately searched her mind for something, anything. She couldn't give up.
Then just...what about me? Wouldn't you at least try and stop for me?
Her feeble, mental pleading seemed to quiet Goliathus. He went stoic and merely stared at her.
Because...I value you, Goliathus. I do. Maybe if you truly realized that someone does care...
She looked up at him, but he stood silently blinking at her.
Solarus, who had been quietly listening the entire time, had simply cuddled up close against his mother's side. Occassionally, he glanced back at his father.
You...lie. He grimaced, and seemed anxious to fly off somewhere.
No! I don't.
Oh yes. You said before on the hill, how you hated me. The true feelings came out then, didn't they? It is for fear of your life that you try and appease me, as is the case with all I have captured. Do you not think women have pleaded with me before?
On the HILL, Goliathus...and I've stressed this before...you attacked me. Fear and heartache caused me to say those things! But I don't really mean them, or I wouldn't be here right now, tracking you down and risking everything, now would I?
She was yelling, and tried to force her breathing to calm down.
After a long silence, he looked back at the dead humans, snorted again, and took off before Ami could say anything more, gusting such a mad wind over her that she nearly lost her balance.
/
Jezelle's dreams were very strange. In one particular vision, she saw herself sitting on her couch, staring out of her opened front door, and seeing many faces peering in. Darry was among them, and seemed to be jostling about, as if trying to get to the front with a message. But in the next moment, he was simply gone. Then Billy, the farmer's young son, peered in, trying to get past the taller, more numerous adults. Jezelle wondered who they were, she didn't recognize many of them. They seemed...very distraught.
I have an infant daughter, what will she do without me?
Why did he take me from my husband?
My liver...he took my liver! This one, young teenager she noticed raked his fingers across his lower abdomen, making the psychic cringe. She tried to drown them out, but they only seemed to grow more numerous and their voices rose to a painfully loud crescendo.
Then the vision shifted, to the most vivid one yet. She was in the woods. The sky was inky black and yet the full moon shone like an ominous beacon. She heard animal sounds like panting, heard feet padding through the leaves, crunching in the still night air. And then howls. Many, many howls. She saw them coming, at least twenty of them.
Wolves. Sleek and silver of varying shades. A particularly dark one seemed to suddenly notice her, and he howled up at the moon long and loud.
Then they suddenly ran, coming straight for her. Closer, and closer still...
Jezelle screamed, and she shot up to a sitting position, opening her eyes and looking around frantically although her vision had not yet cleared. Someone was holding her, trying to comfort her in the most pleasant, soothing voice she'd ever heard.
It's all right, Jezelle. It's over.
She knew that voice. So reassuring-
All over. You made it.
Finally her blurred vision cleared, and it was Alonus that held her like a child.
For a time, I thought you might not pull through. Your mortal body was very weak. But here you are.
There was a very strong undertone of satisfaction and perhaps a little pride in Alonus' words. Jezelle blinked at her for a time and then shook her head slowly.
"Alonus...I had the strangest vision..."
"Really?" She cocked her head. "Tell me of it. What you see is quite important. It has a meaning, of this I am sure."
"Well..." Jezelle sighed, scratching the back of her head, and noticing the hair felt much softer. "The spirits...of the dead...that one I've seen before, they come to me and ask me why...because I'm one of very few that can help them. I'm not sure there's much to that one, although Darry wanted to say something, and then Billy tried to do it for him when he lost his energy and disappeared."
Alonus just nodded, silently urging her to go on.
"But then...suddenly I was in the woods...and it was so dark and strange...there were big mountains to the left, and a deep forest to go with it. I was in a clearing...where I don't know...and then...wolves. Many of them. About twenty I'd guess. They had a silver shine to their fur that I've never seen before." She stared off into space as she retold the vision. "There was this darker, larger one, and suddenly they all came running at me, howling..." She shivered, clearing the vision from her mind and looking back at Alonus.
"What do you make of that?"
Alonus' eyes widened. "Dinarius..." she breathed.
"Huh?"
"My nephew." She continued to speak quietly. "Those wolves...they are, not normal wolves, of course."
"Don't tell me there is such thing as werewolves, now, honey-"
"No..." Alonus chuckled. "...but there are animal familiars. I had one once...a black cat of all things. But it was a poorly designed creature, and soon perished. They need to be in Rings, like the wolves. They could live on forever if that is the case...much like we do."
Jezelle blinked, still clearly confused. "Chile...you ain't makin' one lick a sense."
"Yes, I know. To you it would sound like an imagined story...a fairytale. But in my time, so many years ago...this world held more oddities than it does even now, Jezelle. But the Ring of the Full Moon...those are Dinarius' familiars." Her voice softened. "It is a message...from him perhaps...or the wolves are even trying to help me find him." She smiled. "They are using you as a way to communicate."
"Where in the world do these Rings come from? Who creates them?"
Alonus stood, taking Jezelle with her. At once, she noticed her limbs didn't hurt anymore, and her breathing was strong and steady.
"Oh my...I feel...like I did when I was just a little girl!"
"Yes...you are quite well now. And looking younger, I'd say."
At those words, Jezelle pulled away and took a few strides over to her large mirror above the hearth. What stared back at her was a young black woman with flawless skin and vivid, doe-brown eyes. As if...she were twenty years old all over again. Her now too-big clothes hung comically over her shoulders like a kid playing dress-up. For quite some time, she stared at herself as her eyes grew moist, hardly believing what she was seeing.
Alonus smiled again, understanding perfectly of what she was feeling.
"I'm happy the Blood Exchange worked. But there is little time to relish in it, my new friend. We must see about those wolves."
"We?" Jezelle finally turned away from the mirror. "I gotta come with you on this crazy search?"
Alonus nodded. "I will need your gifts, which are more powerful than ever now...to help me locate them."
"All right chile...if you insist. But answer my question, who created those Rings you spoke of?"
"That is a long story for another time, Jezelle. I promise you though...one day it will be told."
She sighed and looked back at the mirror for a moment. "Well...can't argue with tiredness or old age now, can I? Guess I'm stuck with you."
Alonus laughed.
/
Ami had trekked her way back to the house, mumbling under her breath. She had tried everything, and apparently had failed...again.
Solarus are you hungry? She nuzzled him as she headed up the pathway and into the little brick home. It was incredibly silent, which instantly worried her.
A little, momma. Mean woman is not here!
Ami nodded. I was afraid of that. But where will she go? This place is as remote as it gets. Has your grandfather told you anything?
Solarus puckered his lips and then grimaced, as if trying to force open a mental doorway. She took your food, and water, granddaddy say. She try to escape, find town.
Ami felt a surge of irritation. Great, just great.
She thought about going after her, but why should she? Trisha was as stubborn as a bull, and would probably only run at the sight of her, refusing to be brought back.
Although she hardly expected any reply whatsoever, she called out to Goliathus.
She's left, you know. Trying to escape.
A wash of great irritation came over her. So? Nature and the elements will kill her. If she wants to be stupid, why should I care?
Truly surprised at the response, Ami sat down slowly on the log chair in front of the house.
I guess...you really have no reason to. But could you go get her, so that she doesn't get hurt? Listen, I don't care for her much either...but Trisha really can't be blamed for her actions...she's not just going to stay here by her own free will-
If I go and get her Ami, then I will kill and devour her, as I should have done many years ago. That bitch is not worth the trouble her and her brother gave me.
Ami took a deep breath, cradling her head in her hands. These malicious responses were getting all too common, although she knew by now most were just fear tactics.
Please. Please go and find her.
Oh? You want me to kill her? In her mind, there was a derisive snort.
No. I want you to bring her back here. Please, can you do that?
A growl. You women. Always wanting something. Begging and pleading to get your way.
GOLIATHUS, PLEASE.
She thought she heard another snort, or was it a chuckle? It seemed he faded from her mind then, and she wondered if he was going to comply or not.
For a time there was silence. Then Ami felt a rather bizarre sensation, and his next statement echoed loudly in her mind rather eerily, as if he were very close.
All right, little mouse. I'll go fetch her for you. But I'll have fun with her first.
With that response, Ami regretted talking to him at all. What had she been thinking?
Nature and the elements. They were certainly a far better fate than what Ami feared she had just brought upon Patricia Jenner.
/
The Taggarts had been lying low, since the incident at the Facility had nearly cost Jack Sr. his life. But for right now, this wasn't what the farmer had been worried about. He sat in his wheelchair, cringing from time to time from the pain in his injured back. Looking around the barn, he found his eyes kept wandering to the spot where the Creeper had once hung like a shriveled up ornament.
'Jackie! Jackie! Jack-eeee!'
Taggart shook his head, trying to drown out the terrible memory of his son Billy screaming for his brother. It still haunted him, even now, like it had just happened yesterday.
And that was the thing...Jackie. He had acted so strange in the Facility...like he hadn't wanted to go after the Creeper anymore. But why? How could he not? How could he not want to kill the monster that killed Billy?
"Dad?"
Jackie's voice snapped him out of his train of thought, and he wearily looked over to him, his hands still clutching his makeshift harpoon.
"What the hell you doing in here? You're supposed to be in bed, resting." Jackie stood by the barn door with his arms folded, but there was a strong glint of concern in his eyes. "And with that stupid harpoon?"
"This stupid harpoon brought the Creeper down, didn't it?" Jack lovingly stroked the dusty metal as if it had been one of his plane models he made as a child. "Still got his cursed knife in it, too. That bastard ever comes back here, I'll make him regret it. You watch."
Jackie sighed, running a hand slowly through his brown hair. "Dad, come on. You promised you were going to get some rest, your back still isn't healed yet."
"You heard what I said, boy? I have to be on watch."
The fact his father still called him boy bristled Jackie. He was well over forty. He took a breath as if to say something else, but instead just shook his head and gave up.
"Fine, do what you want. Apparently, what I think doesn't matter." He muttered this under his breath as he walked away, but his father heard him, turning his gaze towards him once more and calling out to him.
"Remember what he did to Billy, Jackie. Remember."
Remember. That's all he could remember, because his father just wouldn't let him forget.
It was also why he could never have a life of his own, and here he was, still unmarried and miserable. But no his father could never see that, because his obsession with the Creeper consumed him.
Yet Jack was his dad. And he felt like he would be betraying the old man...and Billy... if he didn't stay with him.
Sighing more heavily, Jackie just shook his head and continued on back to the house.
In the background behind the old farmer, the ghost of Billy waved frantically and called out, his mouth moving but no sound coming out. Neither of them saw him.
/
Goliathus hunted for Patricia Jenner. After all, that was what his breeder had asked of him. And why shouldn't he fulfill her request? After all, he was more than a little irritated that she had interrupted his meal.
'Burn them, and give them a proper burial at least.
Please, please go and find her.'
He huffed and banked to his right, the land below him rising and falling as if it rested on the waves of an ocean. What did that woman think he would do? If he was going to find her, then he was going to do it his way. She asked for it, after all.
He caught a faint scent on the air, and scanned the ground below. A single, lone human was slowly making its way up a steep hill that crested near some pine trees. He silently descended a little, to get a closer look, and grinned widely.
There she was. With a little pack of supplies and everything.
Determined yes. But stupid and foolish. You didn't think I would find you, or that you'd be more at risk all alone?
He wasn't really aiming the words at her, but Trisha seemed to halt in her tracks, and look around. And then he knew she saw him, because she suddenly bolted as fast as she could into the cover of the thick pines, and he could smell the fear rising on the wind.
Heh.
He did a dramatic swoop downwards, and moments before he would collide with the ground, jerked his wings open and like a parachute soared the rest of the way. Once his claws struck the earth, he snorted in amusement.
You make it far too fun. A game of cat and mouse.
He stood for a while and listened. She had stopped running, and was probably now hiding, trying to be as quiet as possible. But her fear was plenty strong, and led him just as easily as if she had been yelling out her location.
But Goliathus wasn't going to kill her like everyone thought he was, oh no. For some time, he had recognized the very different scent she held...quite faint...but there. It reminded him of Ami, and caused his lust to grow just at the thought of it.
He decided to play it cool, at first. For a while he wandered about, sniffing the air and acting as if he had no clue where she was. He kept moving, heading in her direction after all, but hoping she wouldn't notice.
Trisha had been hiding in a small animal den she had crammed herself into, hoping the scent of bear or whatever else had been hibernating here would overpower her own scent. For right now, her heart hammered dangerously in her chest. She had been going along so well and then...there he was. Like a nightmarish vision from the worst horror movie imaginable, he had come swooping down towards her, claws outstretched and those massive wings outspread. Bolting seemed like a foolish thing to do, for it would surely only excite his bloodlust. But what else could she do? Just stand there like a sitting duck, waiting to get plucked off like a fish in the talons of an eagle?
Trisha fought to quiet her hard breathing, but she could hear him getting closer. He seemed to be having trouble finding her though, so she had to force herself to be quiet so as not to give herself away. She shut her eyes and just prayed.
Ah she was close now. Quite close. Goliathus kept playing the act, but at any moment he would just suddenly turn and roar, hoping to elicit the highest level of fear from her. That would, in turn, make that other luscious scent stronger, and his cock throbbed as his lust grew. What better way to have revenge on Trisha for torturing him, then to turn her into another breeder?
He knew Alonus would give him a heap of trouble for this, but at the moment he truly didn't care.
When he got only a few yards from his hiding spot, his muscles tensed, ready to strike. But then suddenly, there was a bright flash of light in his eyes, and his father's angry stare.
No, son! Don't do this!
Leave me alone, priest. He responded rather calmly, and this seemed to only disturb his father more.
Don't.
Are you going to waste your precious remaining energy to stop me, father? I would think you'd want to save that for Ami, hm?
Think about what you are doing!
I AM. I am thinking about how there will be yet another breeder, to bring yet more heradus back to this earth. Is that not what mother wants?
No! No, not like that! You-
Goliathus lifted his head spines slightly, growling...and tried to make his father go away by sheer force of mental will. It was a rather surprisingly difficult thing at first, but it seemed Barabas was truly growing weaker by the day. In another bright flash, he was gone, as if not having been there at all.
With a satisfied grunt, Goliathus went quiet and still for one long moment, now mere feet from the den. Then he suddenly stared at the spot and roared as loud as he could.
Trisha screamed, not able to control herself. He reached in and grabbed her, and she fought and kicked at him with every bit of strength she could muster.
He held her tight, and wanted to fly off to his cave with her...but found his lust rooted him to his spot.
He was going to take her, here and now.
The ultimate expression of horror on Trisha's face didn't take long as he ripped off her pants. Her eyes had gone unnaturally wide, and she could not find any words. Instead she just screamed and screamed, growing more hoarse by the second.
The instant her nether regions were exposed, the scent intensified, heightened by her fear, just like he knew it would. He sniffed her for a good long time, until his member was rock hard. Throwing her to the ground, he held her down and thrust himself inside her.
Trisha immediately reacted by reaching forward and biting down on his nose so hard she tore the tip off. He howled in pain and snarled at her, but her growing determination to defend herself was making her quite troublesome. She continued to squirm and struggle, although his strength was far too great for her. He turned her around roughly, forcing her face into the dirt, causing her to cough and choke on the dry, dusty clouds their movements were kicking up. He started thrusting into her again, purring from the building feelings and ignoring her screams and whatever obscenities she managed to utter.
It seemed Ami's denials had caused him to become frustrated, and even more violent than usual. He really wanted to force moans out of her, not screams, but he couldn't get himself to calm down.
Again and again he thrust, until at last Trisha broke down into heaving sobs and stopped fighting him. She went limp but he held her up, and kept going until at last he reached his orgasm, howling out into the air with no shame.
This time, the scent of success hit him almost immediately, which was quite unusual.
He slowly pulled out of her and kept her held down with one clawed foot, although it seemed the fight had truly left her. For a while he looked about, feeling a bit confused and lost, but it soon left him, and he grabbed her still sobbing form and hurtled back into the welcoming sky.
/
End of chapter 18.