by Mirren Hogan
Uncle George didn’t answer as he slid the beers across the table and sat down. When he finally opened his mouth to speak, the man didn’t look into Makani’s eyes, as he normally would. “There are things that happen, sometimes. No need worry. Jizo protects me.”
Flynn gave Makani a worried look.
Things had been going so well. Too well. They could almost have forgotten the manananggal, the kappas or mo’o or dismiss them as just a dream. But now it all seemed far too real again.
“Protect you from what?” Flynn asked, taking a bigger sip of beer than was probably sensible.
“Something has been coming up to the house at night. I get scared, so I ask Buddha and Jizo for protection. It works! No more robbers or not’ing come here.” But he still refused to meet Makani’s gaze, and that was very disturbing.
“Uncle, come on! Tell us what you saw that made you put the Jizo up.” Her hand gripped Flynn’s knee and her brow furrowed in concern.
George sighed and put the beer down. “You like see? Come, I’ll show you.” He stood up and slowly started to make his way out the back door and toward the church.
Flynn glanced at Makani again and then shrugged. “I’m not sure I want to know, but I suppose we should follow him.” Reluctantly, they stood and he held his hand out to her.
“I definitely don’t want to know . . . but if something was after him, we’ve gotta find out.” She took his hand and stood, not letting go of it.
Uncle George had wandered out back, but instead of stopping at the statue, he continued on to the rear of the temple. Opening the door, he stepped inside, waiting for Makani and Flynn to follow. He gestured to a shelf and pulled down a lockbox.
“Uncle, please tell me someone left a million-dollar bill in the collection?” Or the Hope Diamond? Maybe a priceless Faberge egg from the czar’s collection? Anything along those lines would be most welcome. But Makani felt the hair on the back of her neck stand up, and she knew it wasn’t going to be something quite as pleasant as that.
“No—no. This.” Uncle George flipped the lid of the box open, and pulled out something large and translucent.
“What the hell is that?” Makani stepped forward and examined the thing more closely. “It looks like a giant fish scale!”
“Nah, nah—it was from a lizard. A big damn lizard!” He held up his hands as wide as they could spread from each other. “It walked right through my yard and into the garden. It dropped one of its scales.”
Flynn’s hazel eyes were wide. “Bloody hell. I thought we had big animals in Australia, but even the gropers don’t get that big. They’re a kind of fish; apparently they’ve been known to swallow people.” He looked at Makani sheepishly. “Sorry. I’m just saying . . . ”
“This wasn’t a groper.” She stared at the scale, morbidly fascinated by the rainbow sheen and its size. It looked familiar, horribly familiar. “Which direction did it come from, Uncle? Did you see?”
George thought about it for a long moment, turning the scale between his hands. “The back. Through the drainage canal, I think. Same way it came. Why?”
“We’ve gotta go. Come on, Flynn.” She tugged his hand and started toward the truck. Grabbing the keys from Flynn, she went to the driver’s side and opened the door.
“Do I even need to ask?” he asked wearily. “It’s starting again, isn’t it? Why now?” He got into the passenger side but put a hand in her arm.
“Maybe—because we’ve been avoiding the inevitable? The dream came. I knew there was something out here, but I ignored it.” She turned the key in the ignition but stopped short. “It might be better if you stayed with Uncle. In case that thing comes back this way?” Makani was always one to give people a last chance to escape.
“He has the statue,” he pointed out. “Wherever you go, I’m going. Uh, where are we going?” He let her arm go and squeezed her leg instead.
“Rainbow Falls. It’s just north of the temple, if you follow the canal.” She started the engine and put her hand over his, before pulling back out onto the street.
“Sounds pretty. That usually means trouble when it comes to us.” He rubbed the scar on his temple from where the Green Lady had spat him into the tree. “And why are we hunting this thing?” He thought for a moment. “Didn’t you say it couldn’t be killed?”
“It’s never been done, but . . . ” She shrugged and sighed. “If it’s going so far afield from its pond, it’s going to start attacking people. And I can’t let it go without trying to stop it.”
“Maybe you could run it over?” he suggested. “I don’t suppose you stowed any spray cans and lighters in the back of the truck?” He did like his toys.
“Unfortunately . . . ” Makani shook her head but thought for a second and brightened. “Crowbars in the back. Look. Are they still there?”
Flynn pulled his seatbelt down to give him some slack and twisted around to have a look. “You’re in luck. If it can be bludgeoned to death, we can do it.” He sat back straight and looked at her. “We have a unique idea of a romantic date, don’t we?”
“If we ever have kids, we can totally tell them some awesome stories.” Makani wouldn’t say, but the thought of having children with Flynn held a certain appeal. But those were thoughts for another time.
There was silence from his side of the truck for a moment and then, “You didn’t ask what my mother wanted to know.”
“I figure she must have asked you something stupid—like, if you even knew my last name, or if I spoke English.” Once again, her own mother had asked those questions. Apparently, the woman had no faith in her own daughter.
“Oh no, it was much worse than that.”
“Well—what did she want to know?” They stopped at a light, and Makani turned to look at Flynn.
He looked out the front windscreen, not meeting her eyes. “She wanted to know if we’re going to get married.”
Makani did a quick count in her head. “She realizes we’ve only known each other for . . . thirty-seven days, right?”
He turned to look at her and nodded, a smile on the corners of his mouth. “Yes, but apparently jumping in too soon is better than living in sin.” He shrugged. “Maybe she has a point. And the light turned green.”
Before Makani could comment, the driver in the car behind them tapped their horn and she started rolling. “Whadda ya mean, ‘maybe she has a point?’ “
“Well, do you want to go to hell?” he asked teasingly.
“I’m probably going anyway, with all the sinning we’ve done.” Makani smiled at that. The sinning was probably one of the best parts of being alive. “Let’s discuss this more later. How’s that?” Everything was dependent on them both surviving.
“At least you didn’t laugh.” He glanced at her and smiled. “So, how far to this place?”
“Not very.” She checked the streets and flipped a left, away from the town’s center. “The problem will be figuring out how to get down. There’s a bridge and a lookout over the falls.”
“And not get anyone else involved,” he said as the truck slowed. “Or killed. Or worse.”
“Exactly. It’s the slow season for tourists, so the area should be pretty quiet. But—you never know.” Makani turned one more right and pulled up to the entrance of the state park where the falls bordered. Cutting the engine, she tossed the keys to Flynn and went to the truck bed to pull out the crowbars. “Ready to do something crazy?”
“I’ve been doing something crazy for the last thirty-seven days.” He looked immediately apologetic. “That didn’t come out right, sorry. I just mean I’m doing all sorts of things I never thought I would.” He took one crowbar and slung it over his shoulder. “Let’s do it!”
“Wait— “ Makani raced around the back and wrapped her arms around Flynn, burying her nose in his chest. He always smelled so good, like spice and promises. “I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you, I love you!” She bit her lip hard to keep from crying, and reached up to draw his mout
h down for a long, sweet kiss. In the dream, the Mo’o had taken her down into the water. For all she knew, the dream had been a taste of what was to come.
The end of everything. Dying at the hands and teeth of her nightmares.
The hardest part of dying, would be leaving Flynn alone. “I just—just in case, okay?”
He blinked, his eyes suddenly shining. “Yeah, just in case.” He squeezed her gently. “I love you five times too.” The smile he gave her was soft and loving, but the look in his eyes was worried.
CHAPTER 15
With a growing sense of dread, Flynn followed Makani toward the falls. The louder the sound of the water got, the faster his heart raced. He’d never seen her like this—almost resigned to the possibility that they may not survive. They’d been through worse and come out of it with only scars and crazy tales that no one would believe.
Something about this was different. It made him more nervous, more cautious. He stayed closer to her, watching for any danger. His grip tightened on the crowbar. He would never have given his life for anyone—until now. Today, he’d throw himself in front of anything or anyone to protect her.
Thankfully, it wasn’t a very long walk. The scenery might have been picturesque, if not for the horror that lay in wait for them. Every rustle of leaves or bird flying from its perch in the trees made them startle.
Taking the path that would lead them to the base of the falls, Makani played with the crowbar, her eyes shifting back and forth. “This is so not going on my Facebook page.”
“Really? I was going to get out my phone and tweet it,” he replied. “But then again, my sisters would read it and tell my mother.” Joking relieved a fraction of the tension, but only a very small fraction. He almost hit Makani with his crowbar when he jumped back to avoid a tiny lizard that crossed their path.
“No chance Mo’o will be that small?” he asked.
They watched the lizard skitter up a tree, “No. Come on, we’re almost the—” The path crumbled out from under Makani’s feet, and she tried to get her crowbar stuck to solid ground. The only thing she managed to do was push Flynn back and slide down the side of the cliff on her butt. Trying to get her feet down to break her momentum, she just tumbled head over heels and landed on her back at the edge of the water.
“Crap,” Flynn cursed under his breath. “Makani!” He started to scramble down the slope. He lost his footing several times and slid a yard or two before catching himself. He was halfway to the base of the incline when the water started to churn. “Makani!” he called again, this time with more urgency. “You need to get up. Get out of there!”
Breathing hard, Makani hissed as her still-healing ribs throbbed. She grabbed the crowbar and used it to support herself. “I’m trying!”
The sound of her voice made cold fear creep up his spine. The dream. This was exactly it; precisely what she’d described. He slid the rest of the way and staggered to stay on his feet.
In the water, a large shadow moved silently, just below the surface.
Flynn backed away a few steps, eyes glued to the lapping water at his feet.
The Mo’o. The lizard. It was coming.
“Okay, that’s not small at all.” He thought back to the size of the scale George had shown them. Suddenly he realized the proportions and how big this thing must be. This was looking like a very bad idea. “It’s not too late to get the hell out of here.” He kept his eyes on the water and swallowed, although his mouth was dry.
She didn’t reply.
The shadow passed under the water again. This time it stopped, turned and started toward the shore. His fingers curled tight around the crowbar.
“Makani?” He had the feeling that this was the end and she knew it. And didn’t care. The giant lizard breeched the water and moved slowly toward them. Was this how a cornered mouse felt? If they were mice, they’d have to be Jerry. He never gave up, never let Tom win.
The creature turned its head one way, a yellow reptilian eye rolling around to take in the intruders. It turned its head the other way, repeating the process. A long tongue poked forth to taste the air, and decided it liked what it found. Two humans. Two delicious creatures to eat. It had been a long time since an offering that lavish had been given.
They might have moved, but fear kept them rooted to the spot. Even as the Mo’o stared them down and opened its mouth, tongue pulling back to strike, they stayed still. But when its tongue shot out to wrap around Makani’s ankle and pull her down, she was able to scream.
Fury like he’d never felt before bubbled up inside Flynn. He’d never really had to fight for anything in his life. But then, he’d never had anything worth fighting for. Now he did and there was no way he was going to let anyone—or anything—take Makani away from him. With a guttural cry, he brought up the crowbar and slammed it down onto the Mo’o’s tongue, forcing it to recoil, releasing Makani in the process.
It took her a second to recover her senses. When she did, Makani rolled to the side and scrambled up. She looked at Flynn, then back at the monster. Her big brown eyes got bigger, and she raised her own crowbar, ready to strike when the creature finally recovered.
It pulled back, hissing, its tongue swollen and bleeding where Flynn had made contact. It shook the wave of pain off and re-focused. It struck again, aiming for the female of the human pair. Something about the females, they always tasted a little sweeter.
It might not have been the smartest instinct, but Flynn stepped between Makani and the Mo’o. He didn’t care what it did to him, as long as it left her alone. He raised his crowbar and aimed for the creature’s eye. Maybe he’d read too many fantasy novels and maybe the Mo’o wasn’t a dragon, but if it worked on them, maybe it’d work here, too.
The lizard let out a screech. Its tongue didn’t quite reach its target. Instead, it tangled around the human male’s waist, and started pulling him toward the water. What stopped it was the wrenching pain that blossomed through its back. Makani had driven the hooked end of her crowbar into its body, digging under scales and yanking a dozen free. “No! No, no, hell no! You can’t take him!”
Flynn heard her yell, but all he could register at first was the smell. Like fresh water and moss. How could something so dangerous smell so benign? He splashed into the water as the lizard hissed in pain and dumped him. He kicked out and caught the Mo’o in the side of its head. While it reeled, he swam back to the shore and pulled himself, panting and dripping, out of the water. His clothes were plastered to him, but he was none the worse for wear. That didn’t stop him from trembling, adrenaline pounding through his bloodstream.
Makani reached for Flynn, and pulled him close to her. The Mo’o, despite being hurt and dazed, was smart enough to go back into the water. Its shadow beneath the ripples was just barely visible, but the trail of red that clouded the murky water belied its return to the cave.
“Well, we kicked its ass,” Flynn remarked, rubbing his face. “But that’s not going to be enough, is it?” He thought for a moment. “Do you feel like causing a rock slide today?” He nodded toward the sheer face on the other side of the falls, and the caves the Mo’o had slipped inside.
Her fingers slowly let go of Flynn’s arm. Deep gouges and bruises were forming where she’d held on for dear life. It was liberating, having your death forestalled.
“How? I might know how to survive a rockslide, but I don’t know how to cause one. And—do you think that’ll be enough?”
“I’m no geologist, but the right impact at the right point would bring those down on it. It won’t be able to get back out anytime soon, and it might even die in there.” Flynn wasn’t thrilled with the idea of killing anything that hadn’t been able to inflict any lasting harm on them. Immobilizing it for long enough to maybe finally figure out what was causing these things to exist might be just enough.
“We need to get over the other side.” That might be the most difficult part.
He looked across, and saw how close the water’s edge ca
me to the cliffs above. They were steep, not easily scaled. There was a stream that emptied out into the canal the Mo’o had been using to venture out into civilization. “Hug the walls. Don’t go near the water until we have to cross the stream. Then we make a run for it.” He swallowed hard and started over, his knuckles going white around the crowbar.
This was risky and probably stupid, but he knew that Makani wouldn’t sleep without nightmares if they left it undone. And he wouldn’t sleep knowing she couldn’t.
The ground beneath their feet was steep and rocky. Every few steps, one of them would slip a little. Every time that happened, Flynn’s heart would pound as if it could come out his mouth. They’d stop to regain their balance and the adrenaline would urge him on.
The stream was deeper than he’d thought from a distance and flowing faster. It poured over jagged rocks and treacherous depths that harbored heavens-knew-what.
“Maybe we should go one at a time, so the other can keep watch?” he suggested.
Makani nodded, her eyes following along the water, tracking the large stones that broke the surface. “Follow me, use the same rocks I do. Go fast, don’t stop.”
She started along, her feet quick and landing surely on each rock. She took a zig-zagging pattern, and made it across to the other bank. “Okay, come on!” She pressed her back to the wall and glued her eyes to the water.
Flynn took a deep breath and started over. He slid on the third rock and almost toppled in, the weight of the crowbar threatening to put him off balance. Waving an arm in the air like a windmill, he managed to stay upright and reached the other side.
“Well, that was fun,” he said sarcastically. “We need to get above the caves.” He gestured a little farther on. “Think we can get there?” His eyes tracked a path with the footholds and crevices that might accommodate them both. There would be little margin for error, even when they got to the spot with a place where they might be able to stand and assess the cliff face.
“No rope, no gloves, no one to hear us scream . . . yeah, we got this,” she replied.