Hhhmmmmm! Just a bit closer, and closer! I own none of this, just Corbin. So go check out the source material. And also a slight warning, there's mention of attempted suicide in this, so please read with caution, or skip it if it makes you incredibly uncomfortable.
Naturally, after their fight, both maneaters consciously decided to avoid the other for the rest of the evening and most of the next day. The only time they ran into one another was when both happened to hunt in the same area, and their victims happened to bump into the same clearing. Corbin sneered at the Creeper before she snapped her prey's neck and made off in the opposite direction, dragging the poor soul by the head with her claws drawing rivulets of blood from their scalp. She only stopped when her counterpart spoke in her mind.
'I hope yer not thinkin' about runnin', Corbin. I wouldn't abandon ya on a petty whim unless yer revokin' yer vows?'
The dark female doesn't dignify him with her full attention; rather, she lets out a low growl and gives him the bird before continuing her trek. The Creeper gives an amused grin behind her back, practically burning holes in the back of her head as he watches her disappear from view. The grin falls as he brings his focus back on his prey, who has been squirming beneath his heavy boot the entire time. The Creeper quickly decapitates them with his battle axe, unflinching at the spray of blood that splashes against his face. He's not concerned that his mate would run off since she loves her humans so much, but it doesn't hurt to remind her what will happen if she does...
No, he feels no remorse for his words, not when they're true; Corbin's former "mate" and "mother" were the same species as their prey. He shakes his head to himself, It's just his luck that the first one he meets from his species, or something similar, for the first time in eons, and he happened to come across a particularly strange one. However, in hindsight, insulting the ones who kept her company when no one else like them existed did no favors in making his mate truly his mate.
The Creeper mentally scolds himself for letting his temper get the best of him, as he prides himself on staying level-headed, leaving the irrational behavior to his prey. He's still bemused on how that woman Corbin spoke of so fondly filled her with such euphoria he's never known and finds himself desiring to earn his female's affection just as effortlessly.
The Creeper concludes insulting HER humans and trying to hunt HER humans specifically only earns her ire and resentment; similarly, the same would be true if someone were to do the same to his crows or damage any of his beautiful masterpieces that his House of Pain. Yet, how to undo Corbin's resentment? Back in his time as the bat god, Camazotz, he would've slaughtered any of his worshippers should they dare slight him. Even now, he would do the same before feasting on their delectable meat; the only difference between here and then is that he would be left offerings of hearts piled onto one another. Hearts can offer plenty, yet the ancient hunter knows it might take more than food to appease Corbin.
Inspiration strikes him while he's wrapping up his latest victim, only for something to shine from the corner of his eye. Turning his head, he finds his victim wearing a ring with a thick golden band and a large green stone in the middle. He stares intently at the jewelry in contemplation. The Creeper has no real use for gold or precious stones unless he's inspired to incorporate them in his weapons' design to give them something. Often, he would watch humans fight and, consequently, die for such impractical ornaments. However, he's seen human men offer such pretty ornaments to their women, who revel in delight from their offerings and parade around while wearing them.
'Perhaps Corbin would like them?'
The Creeper thought to himself before pocketing the large ring. The more he ruminates, the more it makes sense that his mate would enjoy fine jewelry; she's always wearing that gold earring and pendant. The eldritch maneater grins as he starts mapping out former lairs to visit.
Yes, perhaps that will tip the scales more toward his favor.
In the Creeper's newest lair, Corbin is praying to any power that will listen for Tubbs to hurry his search and finally free her of that impertinent male!
She twists and tears off the head of her latest meal next to the Creeper's truck, causing blood to pool around her and gush out to the point of staining the side of the old Chevy. Corbin then starts to furiously devour the head, not caring for any more civil etiquette, with her amber eyes practically red. Sharpened teeth tear through flesh with all the effort of biting an apple, all while the dark female pictures every bite as the Creeper's flesh. After peeling off the scalp, Corbin cracks open the skull before scooping out moist and succulent brain matter inside. When there's nothing left of her latest victim she needs to eat, the darkened female rises to her feet and wipes her bloodied mouth with the back of her hand.
Despite eating her fill and then some, her stomach twists and churns until she can feel a fire broiling the back of her throat. She scowls with her red-tinged eyes toward her victim's remains. Briefly, Corbin considers ending her "mate's" life the next chance she gets, vows or not.
'You know that would be unwise.'
A voice of reason whispers to her in the back of her head. Corbin feels her murderous thoughts come to a halt at the intrusive thought.
'Fils de pute.'
She growls to herself before closing her eyes and taking a deep breath, her eyes returning to their regular amber color when she opens them again. She then looks down at her bloodied arms and meal, then crouches down to pick up the shredded carcass to give it a proper burial.
Corbin knows she can't attack the Creeper head-on as he's unlike any other foe she has ever fought. For one, those foes were often more human than not. Secondly, she's already tried that, and it didn't work, not to mention the high chance of her failing and putting Trish and Darry in danger the next time they should dare come around this area. Corbin hopes her two friends will be wise enough to avoid this area forever, but who is she kidding? These are the same people who went back willingly, where they saw a body being dumped down a pipe, rather than keep driving! Corbin could already feel a migraine forming at the thought of them trying to "save" her while ensuring her "mate" does not break his vows since he cares so little for humans.
'we ain't human... You're thinking yerself as one of them when yer not...'
The Creeper's words echo as she crouches at the foot of the freshly upturned earth, with her scarlet-stained hands clasped together in prayer. She stares at the freshly dug dirt as if it's the most fascinating object, furrowing her brows deeply.
In all her years of traveling on this earth and uncovering its darker corners, until recently, Corbin has never encountered anything like her. While she may have hoped early in her life to meet the pair that supposedly birthed her, Corbin has long given up on the notion that they're still out there or worth finding. She settled on the idea that they abandoned her in the fox den her real mother found her in during a harsh winter night.
Corbin feels the start of a familiar weight that threatens to crush her from the inside, one she often tries to block out or ignore. A sensation she despises so much that she would drown it out with other sensations, anger seemingly to be her go-to. Yet, it constantly returns to her whenever she's truly alone, leaving an almost painful feeling in her chest that slowly gnaws away at her. A feeling that has caused her such pain that it left her seeking the highest cliff at the end of a river, climbing higher until she could no longer breathe, just for a chance to end her suffering. That release never came to her, but the following agony helped to overwhelm her mind then.
The dark female turns her attention from her blood-stained hands, the blood now trying and hardening, toward the factory at her back. Corbin's heart twists at the idea of killing the other male. During her and the Creeper's first encounter, Corbin recalls her disbelief at the definite proof there's another like her was drowned out by her fury and need to protect her friends. Now without Trish or Darry to worry about, the dark female realizes that killing or somehow permanently getting rid of the Creeper would mean she's the only one of their kind again.
Corbin still resents the Creeper for chasing down her and her companions. Yet, incidents like the roof when he held her close and listened to her woes, their hunting trip, and more steamy moments such as when he offered her a heart make the inhuman woman realize that she actually enjoys being around the Creeper.
'Do we not also have the right to live? ...'
For these reasons, Corbin began questioning her current position: is it so terrible here? The dark female usually had to hide her far more bloodthirsty side that craved human flesh for most of her life. Here though, once more, she has someone encouraging her to concede and shamelessly give in to that side of her, telling her that there's no shame in eating what you have to eat to live. Is it wrong that part of her enjoys the Creeper's attention and companionship? For the first time in centuries, she has someone to fully confide in about her Hunger without judgment or underlying fear. It's also been so long since someone desired her for all she is, reawakening a neglected part of her deep in her soul she hoped would eventually fade away. The Creeper is unlike any other man she's met, for he is no man, yet some aspects of him are familiar to her as if looking in a funhouse mirror. He's an intelligent and cunning hunter; a patient and logical predator that maintains a level head, a fine craftsman even with his choice of medium; and a powerful and almost mesmerizing dark presence. Here he is, offering a home with plenty of food to choose from and all that she could need...
Corbin growls at herself and shakes her head, tearing apart that last thought. Has she forgotten why she ended up here? Has she forgotten the reason why she tried to kill him in the first place? She may have been the only one of her kind, but she still occasionally found companionship and love among humanity. She only agreed to bind herself with the Creeper to placate him into sparing Darry from a fate that doesn't end just in death. They may have hunted together, but she has to listen to his whims at the end of the day. This is true whether or not he acts sweet towards her. Otherwise, their deal is off, and he'll add Darry to his House of Pain amongst his numerous victims. A fact, he continues to dangle over her as a bladed pendulum.
Corbin did not see the Creeper back at the factory again until long after dark. She expected him to try and bring fresh meat for her, in this case, a small wrapped parcel containing three human hearts. However, Corbin didn't expect him to also bring her a handbag and then open it to reveal it's full of glittering gold jewelry!
"You look like you had a busy day."
Corbin deadpans at a low volume with a hint of exasperation. The Creeper gives a self-assured grin, similar to whenever one of her Ravens has uncovered an especially nice trinket.
'I got'em from other meats from ma other Houses of Pain.'
"You realize that's grave robbing?"
The dark female raises a brow in question with her arms crossed over her chest. In truth, Corbin does occasionally her own grave robbing when in a tight spot, but usually just to grab as much as necessary and only for those who can afford to be robbed. The Creeper gives a barely perceptible shrug in response.
'They don't need it no more, plus they had no graves.'
The Creeper sets the bag down beside the nook Corbin was reading one of her newly found books in. The darker female leans forward to glance within the sparkling horde, as her counterpart starts to meticulously dig through thousands of dollars worth of both new and aged jewelry; listening to how the metal clinks against one another as they slip through the Creeper's fingers as he searches for a specific piece of jewelry. Corbin recognizes the 1978 graduation ring that belonged to Kenny Brandon amongst the wedding rings, promise rings, earrings, cuff links, earrings, and every type of jewelry type imaginable. All of them are gold, tinted gold, or some substitute metal meant to resemble the element. The dark female hasn't seen such a hoard in a long time, not since the night she and Jacquotte married; the latter insisting on claiming her greatest treasure amongst the other treasures.
The Creeper lets out a barely audible sound of satisfaction when he finally finds what he was looking for, a flexible bracelet made from solid gold that's tarnished around the edges. He holds the bracelet in front of Corbin with the same grin she sensed from him when he gave her a fresh human heart after making a god-awful joke, that actually made her laugh.
'A gift for ya, if ya like.'
The Creeper confirms. Corbin raises a questioning brow as she looks from the bracelet to her counterpart and then back to the bracelet. She knows he's attempting to win back her favor to make up for the other day, and yet, she senses no real remorse from him for his actions. Corbin tries to poke around the edges of his mind, not able to gauge much more besides the lack of malicious intent. The dark female wants to refuse his "gift" outright and tell him where he can shove it, yet the gleam and shine of the bracelet have her pausing. She understands the appeal of gold for its value and shine, even though she has no real use or need for it. Corbin likes the occasional gold jewelry besides the two she always wears. She loves the sort of art that can be done with it, and Jacquotte often praises how it accentuates her beauty.
"It makes you beautiful like some angel of the night."
Her former mate once told her.
"Very well,"
Corbin holds out her wrist toward the Creeper.
"I accept."
The Creeper gives a grin as he carefully slips the bracelet over her wrist, tracing his fingers almost sensually over her scales as if wanting to map out every single detail to memory. Corbin gives a growl when his touch lingers more than necessary. He pulls back his hands and holds them out in front of them with an "innocent" expression which he is anything but. The dark woman then turns her attention to the bracelet, turning her wrist ever so slightly to catch the candlelight on the gold in a way that beams of dazzling light reflect off the precious metal.
The Creeper feels a swell of pride as his mate continues to twist and turn his gift that shines so nicely despite its age, with wide pupils like an entranced cat. He doesn't miss how Corbin then briefly eyes the rest of the golden jewelry with a barely perceptible tilt of her head. The Creeper half expects her to start snatching up the rest of his gifts to adorn herself from the expression on her face, instead, Corbin's expression turns blank.
The dark female eyes her lovely gold bracelet, which started to resemble the chains that once held her. Corbin could hear the rattling and jingling of her chains as her jailors bellowed at one another.
"HOLD IT STEADY!"
"HURRY UP, BASTARDS! IT'S WAKING UP!"
She remembers metal clamping down on her limbs, and those god-awful chains bounding her wings. The metal was so tight that it cut into her scales and caused her black blood to trickle out. Corbin feels her throat close up as she attempts to inhale more and more air. She then claws at the bracelet,
'I need to get it off! I need to get it off! I NEED TO GET IT OFF!'
Snapping its aged chained links apart effortlessly. Corbin ripped the bracelet off with enough force to toss it at her male counterpart. Within an instant, the Creeper narrows his eyes as he lets out a barely swallowed growl of irritation with his teeth bared. He starts grinding his fangs when Corbin starts to scramble away from him and falls to the ground.
"Je n'y retourne pas! Je n'y retourne pas! Je n'y retourne pas!"
She chants breathlessly until her words morph into gibberish. The Creeper stands up with his mandibles starting to twitch in a show of his vexation.
'I'VE HAVE HAD IT UP TA HERE! DO YA NOT UNDERSTAND I AM TRYNA-?!'
The eldritch maneater stops in a mid-telepathic rant when a familiar but foul odor enters his nostrils, matching the sight before him. His mate's eyes dart in every direction yet are unfocused; Corbin heaves before attempting to greedily gulp in more air; her wings are partially open and her tail is stiff. It doesn't take too much effort for the Creeper to peek into his mate's mind before he's bombarded with images of torches, stone walls and floors, blood and viscera, and men in uniform holding chains. Chains that are then wrapped around all of Corbin's limbs. The eldritch maneater recognizes these uniformed men, with a particular one dressed in more medals, from his mate's nightmares.
'That clears up one thing.'
The Creeper instinctively puts up mental barriers before the images can become too much. He's met with the expected psychic waves of emotion similar to last time, but not as bad considering there was no Swarm to contend against. The Creeper keeps up his mental walls as he approaches his mate, who now has tears streaming out of her eyes, before doing the first thing he can think of to fix the situation.
The Creeper unfurls one of his wings to scoop Corbin into his arms before grabbing her face while ensuring his claws aren't pressing into her skin, so his mate has no choice but to look at him. He leans in close to delicately lick Corbin's salty tears away with his slightly rough tongue which gives her pause.
"Qu'est-ce q-?"
"You are... Here... with me... Just... Me... No one... Else..."
The Creeper interrupts as he wraps his sturdy arms around his female counterpart's torso and arms, with enough pressure that Corbin could feel it but without crushing her ribs. The dark female instinctively claws her fingers as if ready for an incoming attack. Corbin lets out a hiss in between heavy breaths.
"Shhhhhhh... Breathe..."
The Creeper replies evenly. He sets his chin atop Corbin's temple before letting out a sound that took the latter aback.
'Is he... purring?'
Corbin ponders to herself. True, upon initial inspection, the sound resembled an old engine sputtering, but being pressed against the Creeper sounds more like a giant beast purring. If Corbin is being honest with herself, for once, it's a rather soothing noise that placates something deep in her core. At first, the dark female remains frozen within the larger male's arms and just listens to the Creeper purr. Eventually, her tears stopped pouring out from her amber eyes, which seemed dim in color; her breathing returned to normal as did her heartbeat; finally, she let herself sink into the Creeper's embrace.
"Nais Tuke..."
The eldritch maneater doesn't respond verbally but does squeeze his mate. Corbin lifts her arms from her side to wrap under the Creeper's waist. They continue to hold each other long enough that the sun outside began to peek from behind the horizon. Finally, after hours of silence, Corbin speaks again.
"I appreciate your... gifts. They are lovely to look at. I did not mean to react the way I did, honestly. It's just-"
The dark female takes a breath to steel herself. Corbin didn't need to look at the Creeper's expression to sense his silent question of "but?". She briefly debates on just not telling him, but given her latest episode he may already know from the visions alone. So there's really no hiding it anymore. Then again, Corbin reasons, who is the Creeper going to blather this to? Now assured, the dark female continues her tale.
"Two hundred years ago, some Navymen killed my wife while we were defending territory belonging to her and her crew. They... they shot her in the heart,"
Corbin pauses as she feels her eyes sting with tears threatening to spill again.
"I was there to watch the life drain from her eyes as the sand beneath her turned red."
In response, the Creeper unwraps one of his arms to pat Corbin on the shoulder. The latter gives a ghost of a smile at the maneater's attempt at comfort. She then places a hand over the Creeper's, her face morphing into a dark and manic grin.
"Naturally, in my state of grief, I decided to enact my fury upon those Navy Men. I believe you would've considered what I did to eat and every one of those bastards a work of art belonging to your House of Pain."
Without being prompted, Corbin sent mental images to the Creeper: a Vice Admiral cut open to have rocks stuffed in his guts before stitched back up and tossed into the sea, a rear admiral gutted and left in the hot Caribbean sun to be eaten by her ravens all while still alive, bodies that were hardly recognizable if it weren't for the shiny medals shoved down their throats. The Creeper had only one question.
'What 'bout the one with the most medals?'
Corbin's grin falls in an instant and is replaced with a sneer, her claws lightly digging into her male counterpart's thick skin.
"That one only caught me because I was betrayed by a former crewmate!"
The dark female spits out with venom laced in every word, her words echoed back to them by the empty desolate factory around them. The Creeper tenses as an intense migraine hits him out of nowhere, and he quickly puts up his mental walls. However, while they were stronger than when he first faced his mate's psychic attack, his walls still cracked under the tidal wave that is Corbin. Nonetheless, only enough slipped through the crack so that The Creeper wasn't overwhelmed with the fire that overtook his physical body's core. The ancient maneater lets out a growl as he's able to see that filthy human in his mind's eye. However, the Creeper gives a light shake of his head to will away some of this anger, recognizing most of these projected emotions aren't his.
Corbin doesn't appear to notice this as she hisses out her next words.
"Eleven years I spent in that damn cell without the sun's warmth or the wind under my wings,"
The dark female's tail springs to life from underneath the Creeper's embrace, as it whips angrily behind its owner.
"Eleven years more of those des sacs de merde would enter my cell and try everything in the book they could think of to kill me, prolonging my torture. Their superior officer,"
Corbin spits out as her wings start to twitch from behind her.
"Took my wings not long after captured me as a trophy. As if he did the dirty work himself!"
The darker female then laughs, but it is neither the melodious nor sarcastic ones her male counterpart is familiar by this point. No, this one sounded more manic with no real humor, giving a hint of something broken.
"Once, they tried to burn me."
Her laughter increases in volume and lasts long enough that tears start to appear from the corner of Corbin's eyes. The Creeper gives her another squeeze as if to silently encourage her to calm down, which his mate seems to understand as she takes a deep breath before continuing in a snarl.
"As you can see, that didn't work as well as they hoped. By some miracle, I was still "alive" if you could call it that."
Corbin lifts her hands before her face.
"I managed to eventually gain my strength by eating the small fish from the when the high tides and any bird that got too close... After I went through, death would've been too kind to the man responsible for my misery. I simply took his limbs, eyes, and tongue."
The darker female curls her hands into fists, digging her claws into the palms of her hands hard enough to draw blood.
"My only regret was that he could only die once, and you know what the worst part of that hell was?"
The Creeper doesn't respond but pulls back enough to get a better look at Corbin's bared fangs.
"You know what the worst part of the entire ordeal was? It wasn't the imprisonment, the constant torture, or even the betrayal, but how helpless I felt throughout. Just as powerless as I- as I was in the Old Country."
The darker female's voice cracks near the end, but her male counterpart doesn't comment. After another bout of silence, Corbin speak again; this time, turning her gaze upwards to the Creeper's face.
"Have you ever felt that way, gorja? Or were you always a dark creature mankind has feared since the dawn of its civilization?"
Corbin half expected the elder maneater to remain silent or not answer her inquiry at all, but, as usual, the Creeper proved to have a surprise or two up his ratty sleeves.
'I once was perched so high that I looked down at all I deemed prey. I was, am, the most feared of all the dark creatures. Camazotz was the meats believed me to be.'To me, they were nothin' more than cattle, somethin' none of the meats seemed to dispute. They knew to keep me fed, lest I chose to do some huntin' of my own; so they made stables containing young healthy males so I may sometimes feed on their hearts. Hearts fresh and ripe with blood and fearrrr..'
The Creeper sends his mate a mental image of his description; which is of him standing atop said pyramid with the sun blazing behind him. The Creeper, dressed in nothing more than a loincloth made of stitched together human skin, stood over an ornately dressed priest and his acolytes bowed at his feet, the priest's arms raised to over the fresh dripping human heart. Corbin could almost smell the coppery scent that comes from fresh hot blood that causes her mouth to water. The Creeper gives an amused grin at the recollection of those simpler times before his face becomes than of a stoney expression.
"Yet, like all empires, it fell."
The ancient maneater gives a nod, his expression unchanged.
'Forces outside of my control took all of it away from me,'
"During your hibernation?"
'Correct. They were other meats, of course, but paler and dressed in clothing I'd never seen. They slaughtered the meats that fed me and burned the stables. Soon more and more of those paler meats arrived. No more human sacrifices would be made, no more festivals would be held in my given name, and no more to fear me. It became obvious I could no longer continue to live as I once did.'
The Creeper's eyes lower to the floor as the corners of his mouth were pulled into a frown. It became Corbin's turn to show some comfort to her counterpart by laying a hand on his shoulder to give it a small squeeze.
"It sounds like you miss it, dearly."
'It was... nice"
The Creeper concurs.
'Yet, this falling from grace as humans would say, taught me an important lesson.'
"And that is?"
Corbin raises a brow in question. The Creeper leans in close to his mate, invading her personal space with a shark-like grin on his face. The dark female didn't move away.
'The best predators aren't the fastest or the strongest, it's the ones that can adapt.'
"Hmmmm... Wise words."
The Creeper then backs out of his mate's space and gives a huff as if to say "thanks".
'I knew even without godhood, I knew I had to hunt to survive. I had to hunt to live and live another day to hunt before the cycle begins, just like you and the very meats we hunt.'
He pauses in his mental speech as he makes eye contact with his mate, longing ice-blue contrasting tired firey orange.
'If I am bein' true with ya, I envy yer freedom fer as much as ya have suffered.'
"I am sorry that is your fate, truly. At least, you can live in mostly blissful ignorance of the world around you,"
The Creeper snorts in disbelief.
"But, what I have doesn't exactly feel like "freedom" as you may imagine. I have feasted to my heart's content, I have lived in luxury many would kill to have, and I have indulged in pleasures of the flesh with both men and women. Yet none of it could satiate my true hunger,"
Corbin's vivid amber eyes seem to dim as her eyes shined with tears threatening to be shed. The dark female wraps her arms around the Creeper, taking him slightly aback since she's the first to initiate such positive contact.
"Everyone I had ever known, my mother, my wife, my entire family... gone. In the end, time or something else took them all, I would always end up alone."
Corbin takes a shaky breath, barely holding back a new onslaught of tears. The Creeper pulled his mate away from him by the shoulders so she could look him in his determined eyes.
"No more... tearssss... I am... not... them... Corrrbin..."
A shiver makes its way down Corbin's spine at the way her counterpart's deep gravely voice pronounced her name.
'I can never truly die like your humans. We made our vows, so I will always be by your side so long as you'll let me long after every human decays.'
Corbin lifts her hands to rub at her eyes and face to wipe away any stray tears.
"I uh- I- Va, I think I would like that."
She stammers. To the Creeper's delight, the color appeared to return to his mate's eyes. The maneater nuzzles the crook of her neck as he purrs briefly. Corbin's stiffens at the foreign contact, before eventually accepting and even reciprocating with a purr of her own.
'Yet, is that such a good thing?'
So Yeah, this was a long chapter. Did y'all pick up the comic book references? I was actually inspired by a plethora of authors from different platforms that wrote Jeepers Creepers fanfiction including "The Creeper Speaks" by Speilberg on ; House of Horrors: Director's cut by LittleLiteratureRSJ from Archive of Our Own; along with fellow Wattpad writer, VickerKern from our talks on Discord. So if you're reading this, thank you. I hope you guys love this and enjoy it as a Christmas gift. Stay weird, my fellow humans.