Chapter Eleven. #2
“What are you doing?” Griffin bellowed. Jess sent him a look, grabbed Mitch’s hand and touched the mirror. Mitch screeched as they flowed through it and stumbled into the portal tower.
“What have you done?” Griffin yelled angrily as he came in behind them.
“Saved him. Didn’t you notice the bullets flying through the air?”
“Oh, I noticed, alright. Funny how the Hunters attacked while we were with him. It was a damn setup, Jess. He’s playing you!”
“No, Mitch isn’t. How would Mitch have known you’d be there?” Jess shouted.
“Someone wants to explain what’s happening?” Mary demanded.
Mitch raised a weak hand. “I’m trying not to be sick.”
“Thanks for respecting my tower,” Mary said sarcastically.
Mitch offered Mary a thumbs-up as he gulped in deep breaths.
“You’ve exposed yourself and this place. All because you’re pathetic and need love,” Griffin sneered. “Last time you were in love, you murdered millions.”
Jess paled as Mitch looked up. Clearly, Mitch didn’t like what he’d heard and straightened. Griffin scoffed and went straight for Mitch. Mitch fought him off and smashed Griffin against a mirror.
“Hey!” Mary yelled.
“Get off him!” Jess screeched as Mary darted out of the way of the fighting men as they continued trading blows. Griffin punched Mitch, who promptly returned the punch and delivered a roundhouse kick that knocked Griffin back. Jess spotted her mirror, grabbed Mitch, and flowed through it.
Goddamn male tempers!
Mitch
He landed with a splash and immediately swam upward. What on earth had happened? Mitch’s stomach rebelled a second time, and he did his best not to puke. What the hell was he doing in a lake? Jess headed towards him, and Mitch swam away. Jess looked wounded at his action and stayed where she was.
“Quit yanking me about!” Mitch shouted as his stomach churned.
“Well, stop fighting!” Jess retorted.
“Griff started that without warning! Stay there, Jess, because I’m too close to vomiting all over you!”
“Sorry, teleporting can have side effects on humankind,” Jess apologised.
“Humans?” Mitch’s head snapped round as they trod water.
“I think you guessed,” Jess said warily.
“That you’re a shifter under a glamour. Yup. Which one?”
“Don’t scream,” Jess warned, and closed her eyes, shifting. When Jess opened them, Mitch was staring at her in wonder.
“That’s no glamour,” he stated, stunned and began to swim towards her.
Ness backpedalled. “What are you doing?”
“I’m checking you out.”
“You’re doing what?” she asked incredulously.
“I always liked women with big butts,” Mitch retorted and kept swimming around her. To Ness’s ultimate shock, Mitch slapped her on the rear, making Ness roar in surprise. Then he hauled himself up onto her. Ness craned her neck around to stare.
“Comfortable?” she demanded as Mitch settled on her back and lay down.
“Yup,” Mitch wriggled his butt, and she snorted. “Jess…”
“In my true shape, I’m called the Loch Ness Monster. Jess is my human form,” she informed him.
“That’s a mouthful, I’m not calling you that. What about Nessie?” Mitch replied.
“I hate Nessie; the others call me Ness when shortening my name.”
“Ness?”
“Yup.”
“Good. Well, Ness, here we are!” Mitch quipped, and Ness stared in shock. Mitch chuckled. “I should have guessed after being confronted by your friends. But I was too stupid to realise. Now a lot of shit makes sense. This glamour—”
“It’s not glamour. We’re shape-shifters, and nobody knows,” Jess warned.
“Okay, so this shapeshifting, is it painful?” Mitch demanded with concern. He didn’t like the idea of Jess being hurt.
“It stings, is the best I can say, and can be awkward. But the more we change, the less uncomfortable it becomes. If we don’t shift for a while, that’s when we feel it,” Ness explained.
“That explains why the Hunters are having so much trouble finding you. They think you’re hiding under glamours and not shapeshifting. Nifty trick. Damn, my woman’s the Loch Ness Monster? Now you being on that boat makes sense, only where was the owner?” Mitch asked curiously.
“The Sins need to feed. We hunt those who fit our Sin. The guy was spreading Disease by dumping waste in Loch Ness. Disease killed him and ate the Sin within him.”
“I’m sorry, what?” Mitch asked, sitting up.
“The Sin’s we carry belonged to mankind. God removed them from humankind and locked them up in a Jar,” Ness explained.
“Which Pandora unleashed, leaving Hope inside,” he added.
“Not quite. Pandora did release them, but Hope also escaped. It’s the cruellest Sin of them all. We were tasked with guarding the Sins. Somehow, Pandora sneaked past us and released them. We didn’t give Sins to mankind; they already belonged to you,” Ness elaborated.
“And everyone has a sliver of every Sin inside us?” Mitch asked. He found that disturbing.
“Most carry several; it’s rare we’ll cross a human carrying all of them.
Those are the true psychopaths. For example, pride, envy, and wrath are often discovered together.
Disobedience and disrespect accompany each other, too.
Mary Worth seeks those who commit crimes in the name of the Sins we carry, and then we pass through the mirror portals and allow our Sin feed,” Ness explained.
“Why the monster forms?” Mitch was curious about that. Their unique shapes had remained a mystery to everyone. It was something the Sealgair Uilebheist would love to understand.
“We were beautiful once. The Warriors of God were stunning creatures to reflect our goodness. The Sins, when freed, realised they needed hosts to escape and to exist. They attacked us, and when they sank into our bodies, they changed our shapes into monstrous forms.”
“Ness,” Mitch said, hearing the sorrow in her voice. He reached out and rubbed her flank as she stared in surprise.
“You keep touching me,” Ness whispered.
“Isn’t that what people in love do?” Mitch replied, sensing Ness’s disbelief.
“Look at me, Mitch!” she exclaimed. “How could you mate me?”
“Mate?” Mitch asked, even more interested. He almost laughed as Ness’s jaws snapped shut and she eyed him balefully. One chomp from that powerful maw and she’d bite him in half.
“Now, come on! You can’t say that and not elaborate, Ness!” he chided.
“It’s nothing,” she mumbled and turned her head away to gaze at the distant shoreline.
“What is it?” Mitch asked, as Ness tensed under him.
“My siblings come. The water and air ones anyway,” she replied, nodding across the lake. Mitch carefully walked up her spine and hooked an arm around her neck.
“Guess we best do that thing again,” he said, tensing himself. He really didn’t like that method of transporting, but if it kept Ness safe. Mitch readied himself for another vomit-induced trip.
“We can’t. We can only travel through Mary Worth’s network. She created a mirror for each of us, and they can teleport us anywhere in the world with a mirror. But if Mary locks them down, we cannot use them. And I’ve no doubt Mary’s locked them shut.”
“Then…” that was all Mitch managed before a tentacle snatched him off Ness’s back.
Loch Ness Monster/Jess
How dare Uber-Merman?
With an angry roar, Ness dived. She saw Uber-Merman immediately and attacked.
Not expecting it, Uber-Merman was caught unawares as she rammed into him.
His tentacles released Mitch, who swam upward, looking for air.
Mitch just broke the water and swallowed several gulps as Merman pounced and pulled him away.
Ness chased after him, slamming Uber-Merman with her tail, and subsequently snatched Merman in her teeth, shaking him hard and throwing him into the air.
Mitch again began swimming for the surface when Chimera swept down and grabbed him. Ness shot out of the water as Chimera let go of Mitch in surprise. Ness caught Mitch and plunged back underwater. She swam a distance away, surfaced and dropped him.
“Trust me,” Ness ordered, and then gulped him up. Mitch released one shocked yell, and Ness felt him grab a tooth at the side of her mouth. She used her tongue to shove Mitch over to her cheek and then dived again. Mitch would be able to breathe in her maw and wouldn’t be at risk of drowning.
Ness instantly spotted Merman, Uber-Merman, Phantom, Scylla, and Swamp Creature waiting for her. She headed towards them at the speed of a bullet, scattering them and lashing out with her flippers and tail. Growls escaped her as she protected her mate.
Uber-Merman lashed out, trying to control her, and Ness rolled him over in the water as a crocodile would.
She lunged, caught him in her front teeth, and dragged him towards the shore.
Scylla attempted to stop her, and Ness dived, taking her by surprise before surfacing.
Within seconds, Ness was on land and flung Uber-Merman away from her.
She scuttled after him and landed smack on him, pinning him.
Quickly, Ness lowered her head, opened her mouth and released Mitch before rolling back and forth over Uber-Merman repeatedly. Uber-Merman was on the board, but she’d show him who was boss!