by Mirren Hogan
The face hissed at Makani.
She did the first thing that came to mind—she swung the lamp. It missed the face and rattled hard against the coffee plant trunks, sending a jolt of burning pain down her side. Makani tried to recover her balance, the ache in her torso becoming a scream of blood rushing through her ears. The lamp had shattered against the plant, but it still worked. Her head whipped around, trying to see where the . . . thing . . . had gone. If it was close, that meant Flynn might be near.
“Shit! Flynn?! Where are you?!”
There was a rush of wind tearing at the trees, followed by a cry of rage before everything fell silent again. This time the silence was broken by a groan from within the trees.
“Here.” Flynn’s voice sounded weak, but close. “I’m okay . . . ”
“Hey!” She followed his voice into the thick foliage, the broken lamp hanging loosely from her right hand. Heaving a sigh of relief, Makani reached for him. “What the hell just happened?”
He struggled to sit up, and leaned his back against a tree. His face was white, except for a trickle of blood that wound its way down his temple and onto his cheek. He put a hand up to his head and it came away red. “Death chicken?” he suggested lamely.
“If I get my hands on the death chicken, it’s becoming fricassee.” She peered down at Flynn, a worried grimace on her lips. Reaching out to him, she asked, “Do you think you can walk? We need to get out of here.”
“Of course, I’m fine.” He put one hand in hers and the other on a branch beside him. With a tug, he got to his feet, only to wobble and sink back down. “On the other hand, give me a minute.” His previous machismo was replaced by uncertainty.
“Crap, please tell me you don’t have a concussion.” She checked her pockets but came up without her phone. “I can’t call for help. What happened to you?” Makani leaned down and started checking him over for any other wounds, brushing his hair away from the cut above his temple.
“Depends, who are you?” He grimaced. “Sorry, bad joke.” He thought for a moment. “Something grabbed my arm. Then it felt like I’d been swallowed by green jelly. Which isn’t ironic, because I’ve never liked green jelly. I prefer the red.” He shrugged, winced and went on, “Then you swung the lamp and it spat me out, head first into the tree. At least it didn’t slime me.”
“Wait—you were inside that thing?” That gave her pause. “What if I’d swung and hit it? I could have hurt you!” She kept her voice low, but there was urgency and panic in her tone. At least it had been the tree that messed Flynn up, and not the thing that grabbed him. “Can you see straight?”
He looked at her face. “There shouldn’t be two of you, but I like it.” He grabbed the branch again and got to his feet. “I’m pretty sure my travel insurance doesn’t cover ‘act of death chicken.’ Or zombie horse. Not that we’ve had one of those. Yet.”
He tottered toward their room, hand pressed to his forehead. “So, what did you see? Not really a death chicken, I assume?”
“Uhhh . . . not a chicken, no. Let’s get you settled in before you keel over.” She opened the door and went in first. Makani looked around in case something else jumped out of the shadows. The only light came from the lamp next to the bed and nothing had been disturbed, so she led him over and laid him down. She grabbed a bowl from a rickety cabinet and filled it with warm water from the faucet. She took a hand towel from the rack and settled on the bed next to Flynn, ready to wash the worst of his wounds. Carefully, she started wiping blood away from his face. “That was the Green Lady.”
“That was no lady,” he said sourly. “Ladies don’t try to force themselves on people.”
“They also don’t live in parks or elementary school restrooms. But she does.” Her hands worked slowly, and she debated about what she could say. “The Green Lady is a staple of childhood for local kids. She haunts every school bathroom, every park with trees. Supposedly, she eats human livers.” A tentative finger brushed against the lump forming, “I’m guessing that was an understatement—looks like she tries to eat the whole person.”
Flynn patted his side. “At least I got spat out. I need my liver. What else am I going to abuse with alcohol?” he joked. He winced a little at her touch. “Why are all these things female?”
She thought about that for a second, until an answer dawned on her, “Because women are the root of all evil,” she said with a sardonic smile. “This is going to hurt.” Makani started bathing the cut and tried to be gentle, but she knew it was a losing battle. She pursed her lips and frowned, “Why did this have to follow us here?”
He hissed and jerked back a little. “Maybe they think I’m hot?” He tried to smile but didn’t quite manage. “If that’s the case, I’m letting myself go.”
Makani tried to find some humor but couldn’t quite drum any up. “Seriously, Flynn; these things are here because I’m here. Nowhere is safe anymore. But why now? Why, after all these years? I thought . . . ” She paused and leaned back, a guilty look on her face. “Maybe if I took my meds, this would all stop?”
“You have meds? Wait, didn’t the doctors mention something about doing a scan on you?” He looked at her with concern, no judgement of her in his expression. “Whatever it takes before these things kill you—”
“I know . . . I know.” She peered at the cut. It wasn’t horribly deep but it had bled a lot, as most head wounds did. He wouldn’t need stitches, thankfully. Wrapping her arms around her knees, Makani stared at a spot in the distance instead of looking at the man. “Seizure meds, anti-depressants, sleep meds, birth control because doctors don’t recommend having babies on these pills, pills to keep my kidneys working because of all the meds . . . yeah, I’m supposed to be a walking pharmacy.” Her words were bitter and it was apparent that she hated talking about it, even with Flynn. “I’m overdue for scans. The doctors think I have a form of epilepsy that causes psychotic episodes.”
He shook his head. “They’re wrong, you’re not hallucinating. Unless I’m a figment of your imagination. There must be some other explanation. Maybe they existed already, but they’re drawn to you or us somehow. Have you got any childhood friends that had shifty eyes? Maybe they’re being sent by them?”
Makani looked out the window, a little afraid of what might be there. Thankfully, nothing stared back but the ghost of her own reflection. “I don’t know. I can’t think of anyone who would do it.”
“Any crazy family members? Everyone seems to have those. A bitter ex, maybe? Those are pretty common, too.” He looked as though he was speaking from experience.
She snorted. “It’s hard to have a bitter ex if you don’t get into relationships.” Her frown deepened. “What if it really is the two of us being together?” She unfolded herself and put a hand on Flynn’s knee.
“Were you with someone the first time?” he asked gently, taking her hand in both of his.
“I wasn’t even old enough to legally pump gas, let alone have a boyfriend. In fact, I didn’t have a lot of friends until Charlie and Annie.” His fingers felt so warm against hers.
“And I was on the other side of the world. So that theory is out. You’ve never lived over an ancient burial ground, I assume?”
“Brah, this is Hawaii—everywhere is an ancient burial ground. The whole coffee farm is built over an old village, so there’s gotta be bones under the soil. Grandma’s house had a few gravestones, if the old survey reports are to be believed.” She grunted and lay down next to Flynn. “It might just be me. Guess I’m my own worst enemy.”
He lay down with her, keeping her hand close. “You know—you might be onto something. I mean, you’re not your own worst enemy, but maybe you’re theirs? Maybe you’re the only thing stopping them from coming in greater numbers. Like—a gatekeeper or a key. Maybe the meds closed the gate. Or maybe they weren’t strong enough then. You might be the only thing between them and the rest of us?”
“I think—we’re tired and sore. And we need to sleep, befor
e we think about this anymore. We should . . . ” A yawn escaped her lips, and Makani squeezed his hand tight. “We should sleep now. We can deal with more in the morning.” Although, the idea of sleeping and dreaming wasn’t as appealing as it should be.
“Good idea. I’m hoping to get some work done tomorrow.” It sounded as though he was going to add something, but he didn’t. “I suppose we should get undressed first.” But he didn’t move.
“But that would mean moving, and my side is aching.” She moved closer, nuzzling into Flynn’s chest.
“I could undress you,” he suggested, his voice light and cheeky. Much more his usual self.
“Don’t offer if you don’t plan on going all the way.” Her smile was soft as she twined her legs with his. “Besides, you’re hurt, too.” Her eyelids started to flutter down as Makani felt the exhaustion overtake her.
“I’m okay.” He sounded equally sleepy. Then he started to snore softly.
Her eyes opened one more time, and Makani pulled a quilt over them both before settling down next to Flynn. She mouthed the words, “I love you,” and let sleep overtake her, despite the chance that she might have another nightmare.
***
In the dream, she was lying down next to a waterfall. The water source must have been high up, because Makani felt a fine mist tickle her cheeks as she opened her eyes. Far above her, there was a cliff. The water cascaded down loudly, blocking out the sounds around her. She wasn’t sure where she was, or how she got there. All that mattered was the way her heart was hammering like a drum inside her chest. The terror of being alone in a strange place wasn’t enough to allay her natural curiosity, though.
Makani stood and felt compelled to watch the murky pool until she saw a long dark shadow move below the surface. She took a step back as it passed in front of her, right where the sandy bottom dropped off into deeper green. The shadow stopped, and started moving toward the shallows, the outline looking vaguely like an alligator she’d seen at the zoo. But it was no alligator that came from the water; it was the Mo’o, the lizard that guarded the waters.
The body was green and scaly. Its great yellow eyes caught sight of the woman and opened its mouth, revealing fierce rows of sharp, dirty teeth and a long, whipping tongue. Its tail twitched once, twice, three times. It reared up and caught her leg in a vice-like grip, and all Makani could do in her dream was stare as it pulled her into the water and down, down, down . . .
CHAPTER 13
Another morning came spilling through the window, bringing sunshine and the sound of chickens. Real ones. Flynn was still half asleep, an arm thrown over Makani, quilt covering him to the waist. Sometime in the night, he’d taken off his shirt, but he still wore his shorts. The lump on his head was sore, but it hadn’t bled any more since the previous night. He opened his eyes a crack, reassured by the sight of Makani beside him, tangled in the quilt.
He wiggled his fingers and toes, glad to find all twenty still intact and not lost to any green ladies or death chickens. He stretched his legs and rolled onto his side to watch her dreaming.
Makani moaned softly, fingers curling reflexively as she moved through a dream. Her jaw clenched as she whimpered in her sleep and her legs kicked against the quilt. He wondered if he should wake her. She might be having a pleasant dream, but he doubted it.
Fingers feather-light, he touched her arm, caressing gently, hoping to wake but not scare her.
Hey eyelids fluttered for a long moment before she opened them wide, her features tense before she realized where she was. Sighing in relief, Makani buried her face in Flynn’s chest. “Don’t hate me—I had another nightmare.”
“Why in the world would I hate you?” he whispered. “I love you, remember? Do you want to talk about it?”
She looked thoughtful for a long while before speaking. “I think I’d better. Otherwise, it’d feel like I was keeping something important from you.” Her hands wrapped around his neck, and Makani closed her eyes for a long moment before simply saying, “Mo’o. The lizard that lives under the waterfall.”
Flynn nodded slowly. He remembered the description from back at Makani’s house. “And . . . ?” he prompted gently. “What was it doing?”
“It pulled me down to the bottom of the pond. But we never made it there. It just kept going, deeper and deeper—” She sighed and shook her head. “That means we’ll run into this thing.”
“Damn, I thought it meant it turned into an erotic dream,” he joked weakly. “So, what do we need to have if we’re going to deal with this thing? We can stock up and be ready.” Maybe they could just find a bomb shelter and hide out in there for the next fifty years.
“I don’t know. Last story I heard, no one’s ever killed one of those. The Mo’o kinda just . . . sleeps. Forever. Under the water.” She sat up and stretched gently, carefully testing the muscles along her side.
“So, we stay away from waterfalls?” He could live with that. “And lakes and rivers too, I suppose?” As long as it didn’t appear while they were in the shower. That would be objectionable.
“If that’ll be enough to keep it away. But that means it’s around, somewhere.” Her eyes focused on the window, and she frowned. “What if it gets someone else?”
He didn’t know the answer to that, so he kissed her instead. It might not help, but hopefully it’d take her mind off things for a few moments. His stomach rumbled, but he ignored it, suddenly hungry for something other than food.
Makani might have protested, but she was apparently unable to drag herself away from this distraction. Instead, she wrapped her hands around Flynn’s neck and pressed herself close.
He rolled her over so she was lying on top of him. He could deal with anything she could dish out, but she’d need the control so he didn’t hurt her inadvertently.
Blinking at him from this new angle, Makani leaned down and ran her lips from his ear to his neck, giving little kisses and nibbles along the way. Her hands explored his skin freely, running over his chest and belly, down to the waistband of his shorts.
He was so worried about her, it took him a moment to lift his hips to help her. He kicked off his shorts and tugged at the hem of her shirt. He wanted her now more than he ever had. Maybe nearly dying a couple of times made him want to make the best of every moment. The thought sounded like a cheesy Facebook meme. Who knew those could be true?
She licked her lips and got her top off the rest of the way before unhooking her bra and letting it fall to the floor. She got off Flynn just long enough to get own shorts down, and straddled his hips. Leaning back over him for another long, warm kiss, her hands continued their exploration farther down. She gripped him tight and started stroking, matching his breath stroke for stroke.
He quivered under her touch. His eyes drank in the sight of her. “You have the most amazing body I’ve ever seen. And felt.” His hips rose to meet her hand, but he bit his lip to keep from doing more. He wanted to be inside her, going deeper and deeper.
“I like yours better.” She brought him to full hardness. Moving slowly, she angled him just right and started sinking down. “You fit perfectly inside me,” she whispered as her hips ground down gently.
“You fit perfectly around me.” He wasn’t sure he was agreeing or correcting. Deciding it didn’t matter, he turned his attention to caressing her breasts. He loved how responsive they were and decided that immigration couldn’t be so cruel as to deport him and deprive him of her. Or her of him.
She kept the rhythm slow, purposeful. Her hands gripped his thighs as she leaned back, offering more of herself to Flynn’s touch. Her dark eyes closed in pleasure as she rode him deep and long inside herself.
He wanted to enjoy her for as long as he could. Every thrust, every touch, every moment was like their last. He savored every second. He had to grit his teeth to make it last a moment, a dozen moments longer.
She sighed and moaned, her lips parted to draw breath. Makani brought the tempo up just a little as she leaned bac
k down over Flynn’s body and nibbled along his jaw and back to his lips. “I love you,” she whispered, lacing her fingers through his.
“I was just about to say the same thing. I see your mind reading skills are working well.” He thought back to when they’d first met and how she’d joked about showing him the back seat of her jeep. Then the present became more interesting again.
Makani cried out at the contact, her hips moving faster. She took shuddering breaths. Her cheeks flushed pink beneath her tan as she held tight to the hand in hers. “With me?” she whispered between pants, the telltale sign of her toes curling marking the impending release.
That was easier than trying to hold on. He nodded breathlessly and let go. It was intense, long, deep and amazing. He gasped, his head rising off the pillow, eyes focused on hers. All there was at that moment was him and her, together.
Riding out the waves, Makani shuddered and panted. Her thighs squeezed tight around his waist as she eased against him, drawing out their pleasure. Lithe arms wrapped around Flynn’s neck and she kissed him, her tongue and lips claiming his with fierce passion.
Flynn’s hand snaked out to rest behind her head, holding her close as he kissed her back. Even first thing in the morning, she tasted like sweetened coffee. He suckled on her tongue for a few moments, then his head fell back.
“Wow. I’ll never get enough of doing this with you.” No other woman ever had or ever would come close to her. He wanted this forever, somehow. And yet, they had to take these days one at a time, just in case.
“Then we’ll have to do this as much as possible.” She smiled softly and lay against Flynn’s chest. Her fingers trailed up and down his arm, languidly passing over the fine muscles and warm skin. She laughed quietly, nuzzling his chin. “You might have spoiled me for everyone else.”
He smiled and kissed her forehead. “I was thinking the same thing.” Then he added, “That I’ve ruined you.” He chuckled, knowing she’d know he was joking. “I suppose we should go and eat and then work, before they assume we’re lazy and fire us.” He doubted her family would do that, but he was curious to have a look around. The monsters and her dreams couldn’t stop them from living their lives.