Chapter 8 #4
“I hope he rips your arms off and beats you with them,” I boldly proclaimed. Nodding, I lifted my head, met his pleading gaze, and glared up at him. “I’ll wanna watch.”
“Smell two males,” the beast that appeared to be paired up with the woman gruntingly corrected.
The male that had chosen to crouch down near me gave a short sniff and then grumbled something in their growl-speak language to the others that I had no clue as to what.
“No know them,” the male with the woman grumbled. “Not smell f’mil’ar.” Tilting his head to study me, he shook his head. “No know her neither.”
“Of course you don’t, I’m human,” I blustered.
“Female smell like funny Lo denaii,” Vurhg grumbled half under his breath.
Shooting a glare his way, I pointed a finger at him warningly. “Hey! No one asked you, Suzy Startles and Throws!”
Vurhg’s face turned a funny color and he looked like he was struggling to find his breath.
“Look, if I’m good, I’d like to get going back home now. My people will be looking for me right about now.” It was a lie but what did they know about me? Nothing.
“No have people,” Vurhg grumbled.
Trying to stand, cautious, I whipped my head in Vurhg’s direction to growl at him, just like I used to when I was a kid. “Like fuck I don’t, fuzz for brains.”
Vurhg blinked at that, his scowl slipping into a half frown. Eyeing me from head to toe with the beginnings of something more than curiosity, he rumbled softly, “Sound like Joad-knee.”
“I don’t know what that means and quite frankly, Suze, I don’t give a damn!” Congratulations, Vurhg, you’ve just earned yourself a mocking forever nickname. At least until I get my ass moving back home and leave his mangy ass in the dust.
My glare continued, until Vurhg had enough sense to grow uncomfortable under my blackened stare and his gaze darted away.
Turning back to testing out taking a few steps, I found three sets of surprised eyeballs blinking at me. “What?!” I grumbled. Yes, I’m churlish. Can a being blame me?!
A grunt left the male who’d been crouching but was now towering over me. The beast with the woman was a bit of a giant himself too, the woman looking ridiculously small standing beside him.
With a sigh, I closed my eyes and carefully felt around my head.
“Vurhg not make hairs fall out. They stick to hat,” he cut in.
“My hair fell out when I was a small child, shut up about my hair already!” I snapped. Forcing myself to gentle my tone, I added, “It was a hat with fake hair sewn into it, okay? Drop it with the hair.”
Vurhg meekly nodded but, my god, the look in his eyes was starting to alarm me.
Was he- Did that weirdo think- Was my surliness turning him on? Ew. No thank you.
“I need to get home,” I stressed.
“She ‘lone. No have people,” Vurhg argued. “All by self, Vurhg see female.”
“Call me female one more time, Suzy,” I growled.
Vurhg shut up, at least for the moment. I held little doubt that would last very long.
“Not Sudezee. Name Vurhg. Vur-guh.” Grumbling petulantly, he mumbled under his breath, “Won’t tell Vurhg fe- Won’t tell Vurhg name. Vurhg ask, she say mind own bizzed-ness. Vurhg not bad male. Vurhg not Sude-zee- Vurhg-”
There was more but I was just kinda over it. “Does he have an off switch?” I muttered as my hand came up to rub at the spot between my eyes that was starting to throb.
The woman laughed, her beast along with her.
It died a quick death as I got one look around, realized this looked nothing like the forest near my house, and blurted, “How far is your village from my house?” Smoke stacks puffing away in the distance, weird colored trees, that sky, all of this was foreign to me.
The horrible, awful, no good feeling I was not in fact in my forest somewhere near home hit me. “Where, uh- Where, uhm, exactly am I?” I whispered, fear lacing my tone.
Don’t panic. It’s not what you think. It’s not. That’s impossible.
“Vurhg brought you through a portal that leads to this world,” the woman said slowly.
“Where?” I croaked, emotion thick in my voice. “Where is it?” So my ass could run back through it.
“It close,” Vurhg added unhelpfully. “Come through, it close ‘hind us.”
“Maybe you not talk now,” the male with the woman grumbled at Vurhg. He didn’t sound impressed with him either.
It closed behind us. “When will it open again?” I managed out as I found it suddenly hard to breathe. My god, has it gotten hot out here? I was feeling very warm and nauseous.
Vurhg started to speak but the male that had been arguing with him gave him a look that shut him right up. My god, this time it worked. I could kiss this stranger for it.
“I don’t belong here,” I blurted. “This… I don’t know this place.
I can’t stay here. I have to get back home!
” I wasn’t really referring to my physical house so much as the people back on my planet.
Cy was back home. He’d be waiting for me once he got up off his ass and returned to my place to claim me.
He kept pics of our fake childhood wedding all these years, one in his emergency duffel bag.
He had a ring- He- He called me his. I’m his Pru.
He’d claimed me. He’d meant it. I might never seen him again, or Elm, or any of the Trees… ?
“Portal closed,” the male beside the woman murmured softly.
“What does that mean? It closed? Tell it to open!” I was panicked, babbling, and I knew it.
“I have to get back there- Get back to my-” A pain stabbed my chest, causing me to stumble where I stood.
I was lightheaded but that was easily explained from all the panting and internally freaking out. Had I cracked something in the fall?
The fear and the pain morphed as I stood there, gaping and rapidly blinking back tears as three sets of eyes watched me with what I could only describe as pity.
“This can’t be it!” I was shouting, an outburst of anger, but it was the only thing that made sense right now. My fingers slipped into my hoodie, curling around the black box with that fat rock in it, sitting right next to the fake wedding day Polaroid.
“Vurhg-”
Vurhg didn’t get out much more than that and I was launching myself at him.
I couldn’t explain it. I wasn’t thinking much other than this was all his fault.
He’d ruined everything! When I snarled this aloud, grabbing handfuls of his hair to jerk him about this way and that, he yelped for help, doing anything but defending himself from me.
“What’s the matter? Nothing to throw me at this time, Suzy?!” I shrieked. “Do you have any idea what you’ve done?!” I was screaming, shrieking, yanking out handfuls of fur, anything I could get a grip on as he growled and yelped and howled for some being to help him.
Help was not forthcoming. At least not right away.
Eventually, about the time I promised to unalive him, a set of firm hands went to grip me but I snapped my teeth at them and they instantly disappeared.
A few seconds later a larger set of hands grabbed me under the armpits and effortlessly plucked me up. I snarled as those hands attempted to separate me from my prey.
I was blindly raging. I knew that much. No real clarity but for the anger and pain this jerkhole had caused dragging me all the way out to his world, from the only world I’d ever known. The only world with Cy and- and- and Elm.
The noise I let loose at being thwarted was something of a roar. It was probably pathetic compared to anything a Lo denaii might produce, but it felt good to let it out.
Curling the blanket around me, I was caught up and pressed tightly up against a thick chest, my back to their front.
My anger went on. I was properly restrained, though, and that anger soon slipped into pained anguish. The noises I made went from snarls to pained howls. I honestly had no idea I was even capable of making such noises.
Through tear filled eyes, I made out Vurhg staring at me. His entire countenance had fallen— in its place he stood there staring at me, fidgeting in place, sniffing back sympathy tears— I mean, unless it hurt that bad to have hanks of fur yanked from his hide.
“You have no idea what you’ve done!” I raged.
“Pfft. What Vurhg do?” the dummy had the audacity to huff and puff.
“YOU’VE RUINED EVERYTHING!” I screamed.
Vurhg jerked back, scooting closer to the human woman and the male she was with as if to dodge behind them for protection. Protection from ME.
The male with the woman grimaced in disgust and muttered what I thought sounded like, “Puny male,” causing the woman with him to clap her hand to her mouth to smother her reaction.
The beast holding me carefully turned me, taking a big gamble as they pressed my face to their chest and curled me into them tight.
A hug.
It felt like a supersized version of the one Elm had thrust on me. It was more restricting than the ones Cy offered— his gave me a chance to back out. This one felt born of necessity. It felt so much so like one of Elm’s hugs, tears sprang to my eyes.
Elm. The portal had closed, separating us. Would it open? Was this for good? Would I ever see him again? Would things just be left as they had been? Would I ever see Cy again? How long would he still consider me his?
What would happen to my parents’ things? Would they just be tossed away like trash? Like they didn’t matter?
Anger quickly followed the pain thinking about everything Vurhg was responsible for, the pain he’d caused. I was just so damn tired, flat out exhausted, and my hugger was so damn warm. It was hard to think straight.
“Kehl,” someone grumbled.
A short grunt left the male holding me. Kehl. Was that his name?