Reluctant Mates - 21 Paranormal Romance Stories (Werewolf, Vampire, Minotaur and Monster collection) (18 page)

“I don’t know – I can’t remember. I don’t know who I am, or why I’ve been damned to this prison. The first... the first thing I remember is being here, in the dark, and holding someone down. Nothing before that. Nothing at all.”

Adria flattened her hand against the wall and moved close.

“Can you hear me? Kathos, can you hear me?”

More ragged breathing was all she heard.

He snorted.

“When you woke up, and you were holding someone down in the dark, was it someone like me? A princess from Laradale? Or was it a hero? A man in golden armor? I know this is hard for you Kathos, but please, try to remember.”

After a long silence, he spoke. “I don’t... no... there was a woman. A girl, but she was so small, I let her go. I wanted to help her, but she ran away. I couldn’t find her, I don’t know...”

“Okay,” she said, “what next? What happened next? Did someone come looking for the girl?”

“Yes... no... I’m not sure. I tried to find her and help her, she kept crying out for someone whose name I can’t remember. I was able to follow her cries through my labyrinth, but...”

“How do you know that word? Labyrinth? How do you know any words?”

“The man that came. The man that came for the girl. He told me I did... horrible. He... can’t remember, can’t...”

“It’s alright, take your time. We’re in no hurry. No one’s coming after you.” She thought, though, about her father’s bogus prophecy and wondered if someone actually was going to follow. Then, she started to wonder why all of this happened anyway, why her father had her thrown into the labyrinth.

She heard fingernails scraping against the stone again, but he didn’t rise from his place on the ground, he was just scratching.

“The man, he yelled at me. What are you, he screamed, what kind of beast? He had me in a net, one of my legs, twisted. Hurt. I was bleeding.”

“Who was he?” Adria paused, not wanting to enrage Kathos, but continued. “Was it the man in the gold armor, the one I saw on those columns in the front room?”

“He had a spear in my ribs. I couldn’t smell anything – anything but blood and fear. He yelled that I killed the girl, he yelled that I was an abomination and should die.” He spoke, ignoring Adria’s question. “I remember he told me that living, even in a labyrinth, was too good for a monster like me and then he pushed the spear in deeper. He got too close and I grabbed him and ripped. Tore. Ripped and tore, and then ran.”

Adria stroked her hand against the stone barricade between them. She wished to touch him, this lost soul, and hold him. His rage, his terror, and his apparent eternity were so awful she could hardly believe what he said.

“I was covered in... blood, covered in blood. I don’t remember. I ran and my leg, it dragged, I couldn’t lift, I just dragged.”

“But you’re okay now, right? I mean your leg, and everything.”

“I... yes. The next time I have memories, it was another woman. Another woman came in, but she didn’t run. She was gray. Old. And then she disappeared. Might have been a... dream?”

“Were there more? More women, and more men in gold? Or was it just the one?”

So badly she wanted to stroke his enormous head, and comfort this unbelievably gentle, horrific creature.

“More. All my memories. Girls. They run, and I can’t find them, but I want to help them. I know the labyrinth, but they always run. And then the men. Gold men with spears. And then pain and then blood. The next thing I remember is a girl. Over and over. Every time I wake up.”

Adria had heard this before. She’d no idea why it took so long to remember. One of the stories Derik told her as a little girl was a tale of a terrible beast, although in the story, the monster lived under a castle on an island far from Laradale. He demanded sacrifices – children – every twenty years so as not to ransack the countryside, and every time a hero tried to kill the monster, but failed.

If that whole story was about Laradale, and this poor creature is the nightmare that murders knights and eats little children, then why am I...? Derik! If anyone knows what’s happening and how to break this curse it’s Derik.

“Kathos,” Adria said. “Can you get me out of here? Out of the labyrinth, I mean. I think there might be someone who can help us – who can help you.”

“Yes, but why? Why would you help a twisted beast like me?”

“I see your kindness and how gentle you can be. I know you’d never hurt those little girls, just like you didn’t hurt me. Some horrible injustice has been done, possibly long ago, possibly not. But in the castle, there’s an old man – a very old man – who knows more than anyone I’ve ever met. I get the feeling this is all some kind of trick, some kind of a show. I can’t imagine what the purpose is, but maybe he can help with that too. Do you trust me? Or can you try, at least?”

Her answer was the sound of the tremendous stone sliding backwards and then to the side.

“It is very dark. I can carry you, if you like.” Kathos’s voice was even. The slightest hint of fear lingered somewhere at the end of his words.

“No, I’ll walk. Guide me?”

He took her hand and began to walk. Heavy, crunching, tromping, his footsteps echoed off the walls of the ancient maze.
Only those aren’t feet. He’s not like me. I have to remember that, I have to remember what he is, and be careful about him. He’s terrified, probably more than I am. I have to remember that.

Around curves, over tiny humps in the floor, up a steep spiraled staircase and down another, they went in silence.

“Are there no rats in here? No insects? Is there no water? How do you survive?”

“There is water. A pool, very deep. That’s all I need.”

“Why are you so scared of my seeing your face?” Adria broke another long silence. “Why can I not see you? After all, you took my innocence; I imagine you can’t be too horrible looking, what with all those muscles.”

“Please,” he said, “please don’t.”

“I’m sorry, it was a terrible joke.”

“Joke?”

“Nevermind. But, why are you so ashamed? I’m not afraid of you. Not anymore, anyway.” Only half true, but that didn’t matter.

“I’ve never been asked if I trust someone before. I don’t know what it feels like. But I think you’re not lying.”

Adria stopped walking, and her escort did as well.

“Kathos, I’m half your size at best, completely blind and lost. You could snap me in half or just walk away. I’d be dead either way.”

“But I wouldn’t-”

“I know,” she said, “I know you wouldn’t. Because for some reason, I trust you. I don’t know why, not entirely, maybe it’s because I don’t have any choice, but I trust you.”

He took a deep, slow breath.

“If you trust your life to me, why do you need to see? No one has ever looked at me and stayed.”

She threw her arms around his mighty neck and kissed his throat, and squeezed him tight.

“You promise you’ll be back?”

She nodded.

“First, show me I’m not a fool for believing what you say. Then I...”

“Okay,” she said. “I can do that.” She put her finger to his lips and stepped on her tip-toes to kiss him.

The floor began to move, and Adria jumped up with a gasp, latching on to Kathos.

“You scare easily,” he said and chuckled. At first she thought the chuckle was a roar.

“What is this? How is the floor moving?”

“It was a very long drop. Entrance is right below. I got tired of slipping on the steps, so I made this.”

“How did you-”

“I wish I remembered. If what you say is true, I might find an answer. Here we are.” The platform eased to the ground and creaked under its own weight.

“How do I get out?” Adria asked, her hand trembling on his chest.

“Just push. I suppose the drop was supposed to kill me if I chose to try and escape. It didn’t. Hurry,” he said, “please.”

By the time Adria pushed the door open, Kathos, on his fascinating little platform, had begun the trek back up, back into the dark and the safety of his labyrinth. His home. Night was full when she emerged, the moon a mercury disc almost as low as it was the night before.

Only two things were on Adria’s mind as she slipped out into the darkness, clinging to shadows on the way back to the castle. First, she thought of the long trek that lay ahead, and how to reach Derik.

After Derik, all she could think about was what Kathos said before he disappeared.

“Hurry,” he had said, “please.”

––––––––

C
runch.

Crunch.

Crunch.

Under my bare feet, the sound of leaves was my only companion. The forest seemed to grow darker with every passing moment. As soon as the sun reached the tree line, I knew, I would have to bed down. Set up a makeshift camping spot. Weather the night.

No choice but to keep running. Keep crunching those leaves. I knew which direction home base was – East – but getting there was another matter. Full dark was already closing in, and the little lantern I had with me provided enough light for walking at a careful pace, but not for crashing through underbrush.

I was running out of breath. My thighs burned, and my eyes stung from the mixture of tree limb lashings, mud and sweat that dripped down my forehead.

“Keep going Gina – keep going. Almost there, almost back to camp.”

Repeating that, over and over, was supposed to make it real. Before too long, the burning orb in the sky fell. Full dark followed.
Alright. Think, Gina. Think. No one’s chasing you, probably, and even if they are, you’ve lost them by now. All you need is a little lean-to that’ll last until the sun starts to come up. Then you’re out of here. You know where you are, you don’t even need a fire. Just a few hours of bugs, animal noises and hiding. That’s it. Stay calm. Stay calm.

*

F
our hours ago, the last time I had seen my producer and my camera man, I – Gina Templeton – had been the first woman in history to film a group of curious beastmen. Exactly where the forest is, I haven’t the foggiest. To keep these incredibly strange, beautiful creatures safe from tourists, gawkers and scientists, we had to agree that our guide, who told us about them, would drop us off blind.

Our guide was a strange one. He spoke a hurried, strange sort of English and refused to give his name, or anything else. But he promised that if we followed his directions exactly, we’d find the bizarre creatures where they lived.

“They, uh, got no women. I don’t know why, but all the times I been out there, no women. They, uh, I donno what they are, really. Seem ‘tween a man and monster, I think. I’m jes’ tellin’ you now, but you gotta to be careful with ‘em. They’re big and strong, yeah, but they just aren’t quite a human. You’ll see.” He warned us, but I think we were all too excited about the possibilities to pay much mind to what he said, and he sounded, frankly, a little crazy.

Dana and Paul – they’re my producer and cameraman – and I struck out in the early morning from camp and faithfully took every step he told us. Around noon, we began to see discarded bones, some torn animal skins, that kind of thing. An hour later, we spotted them, gave them the items our guide told us would get us safe passage, and began to film. I was careful, as our guide had told us, to conceal my ponytail.

Watching these “men” was incredible. More beast than human, they sometimes seemed, as they walked somewhat hunched over, often using their huge hands to prop themselves up, almost like a gorilla. As we filmed, communicated by way of crude sign-gestures, and interacted with these bizarre individuals, it became clear, first to Paul, that they were leading us further into the forest.

The beastmen were playful, curious, and excited at first. We were guarded of course, but felt safe. The guide’s bizarre, drawling instructions about keeping my female traits hidden freaked me out a little when we started off, but they wild men just seemed so... docile, so peaceful and honestly so non-human that I guess I let my guard down.

As we filmed, the creatures began to get a bit rougher with each other. They started to wrestle in front of us, almost like they were competing for dominance. One of them was quite bigger than the other ones, but the smaller ones were
very
quick.

That was the first time I became achingly aware of their muscularity and their beauty. All of them had similar, tanned complexions from the sun, and four of the fighters were possessed of a haunting, eerily human facial beauty that I was unable to ignore.

For several moments my eyes remained locked on the four competing warriors. The way their sun-kissed skin, dusted with feral-looking body hair, glimmered with sweat entranced me and despite my best efforts, I just stared. While watching them, I absent mindedly removed the hat under which my pony tail was tucked, allowing my hair to slip down over my shoulder and curl around my breast.

The change in the beast men was instantaneous.

First, the biggest one of them looked at me, and I felt his eyes devour my body. He turned to the others and said something in a guttural tongue before facing me again. A glimmer of something – rage, need, lust – overtook the group and they charged.

Dana and Paul took off immediately in different directions. One of the wild men grabbed Paul, but my camera man managed to use his microphone as a bludgeon, and escape. As those two scattered, all attention turned to me.

I froze.

Although I was afraid, I also felt something rise up from the base of my spine that felt a little like a sex-flush. Watching them watching me, it did not take long at all to realize what they wanted, and why the guide warned me about feminine features.

There’s no women. Not a single one. Where are the...?

Terrified, as much of my own desires as of the beast men, I ran.

My path took me up the side of a small mountain, down to a ravine floor and through a creek. For four long, confusing, horrifying hours, I ran from the beastmen - four hours of burning legs, stinging eyes and a strange mixture of lust and terror.

*

F
ifteen minutes after picking a spot, I had managed to make a tiny shelter, which looked quite natural, among a group of trees. Sitting there, hidden from sight, my breathing began to calm down; the pins-and-needles feeling in my legs eased up.