10. Githany
Githany
The pain radiating through every punctured tooth mark on my thigh is so all-consuming that at first I don’t notice the trickling around the floorboards.
He fucking bit me. I was floating in an orgasmic high so good that I forgot where I was and who I was with.
Every bit of those warm fuzzies were sapped from my body when he took a goddamned bite out of me.
Gator backs away, forcing all my body weight to pull against the wrist restraints still tucked behind the meat hook. The ache at the back of my hands is intense and instant.
“Where are you going?”
He slides the pig mask off and disappears into the shadowy corner. At first, I see nothing. Then a faint light sparks in the darkness. Two glowing white eyes, burning brighter by the second.
“Can you swim?” Gator’s voice is no more than a low rumble.
“I, yes. I can swim.” Why does he care if I can swim? Something cold touches my toes. I break away from those luminous eyes, dropping my gaze. The floor is covered in water. Several feet of swirling dark depths greet my dangling ankles. It’s rising fast.
Gator’s white eyes watch me from the shadows.
“If you don’t untie me, I’ll drown.”
“No you won’t,” he answers, unblinking.
The water hits my waist. This entire cabin will be completely flooded in a matter of seconds.
“Please, untie me.” I can swim but not if I’m attached to a meat hook.
“No.” He’s infuriatingly calm given the situation.
Water crests above my chest. I kick, fighting to break free. The weight of the water slows my movements.
“Gator, I mean it.”
“So do I.”
Ice-cold water slides past my throat, unlocking a new level of panic. “Please. Untie me. Please. I’ll drown. I can’t—” The water covers my face. Tilting my head all the way back gives me a brief moment to suck in air before the freezing water crests over my scalp.
This is it. I’m going to die here.
Water rises above my hands and suddenly, I’m weightless. Pumping my legs twice pushes me upward. My chained hands slip over the hook with ease. Well, I wasn’t expecting that.
Great. I’m free. What now?
Glancing back to the corner sends a new chill up my spine.
Gator is gone. My gaze whips side to side, searching the flooded room.
I don’t see him. Fighting the fear of wherever he is and what he’s planning, I lock in to pure survival mode.
The water is murky, making everything more challenging to see.
I have a decent idea of where the cabin door is.
Swimming with my hands bound slows me significantly. I hit the front wall, clawing all around until I feel the doorframe. Hooking my fingers around the edge reveals that the front door is already cracked. I swim down, shimmying my shoulders to fit through the opening.
Something brushes past the back of my legs.
I scream, wasting my precious remaining air.
Not my brightest moment. Ignoring whatever is behind me, I follow the bubbles, out the door and up toward the surface.
My lungs are so tight. The burn goes all the way through them and into my back.
If I could get this damn chain off I’d be able to swim much faster.
Instead, I’m forced to alternate between frog-pumping and quick kicks.
I sink back a little every time I draw my legs back up and push off.
The water outside is far clearer. I can see a moon in the sky above. I’m getting closer. Rapidly kicking my legs delivers me to the top of the swamp.
Warm air bathes my face as I break the surface. Sucking in glorious lungfuls of air helps to fight off the burning ache still lingering. Keeping half of my face out of the water, I kick my way to the edge. Digging my fingers into the muddy bank slams my system with euphoria.
I made it. A laugh that feels wildly out of place springs out of me. “I made it!”
“Traded one horror for another, ghost girl.”
Slowly tilting my head up brings me straight into Hunt’s arachnid gaze. Crossed arms and bared teeth. His scaly body serpentines back and forth. Those black, lidless eyes glaring. Hovering beside him, Madness’s twin faces grin.
My reaction time surpasses what I would expect I am capable of in this moment. Swinging my legs forward, I push off the wall. My body shoots backwards in the water, bringing me nearer to the center of the flooded swamp.
Hunt shakes his head. “You do realize we can swim?”
Madness cackles maniacally. “Swim, yes, but we’re not the ones you should be afraid of right now.”
Both of their gazes lift over my head. The swamp trembles. I can feel him coming. Treading water, I turn. Spines jut from the surface. The protrusions lead to a bumpy green tail that’s cutting back and forth through the water. The front of the creature rises up, revealing ghostly white eyes.
Holy shit. Is that Gator?
He swims with unmatched speed straight toward me. Just before he reaches me, he ducks, disappearing beneath the surface.
Where the fuck did he go?
A shadow passes below. Something sharp scrapes across my calf. Gator’s terrifying form is fully revealed to me when I dip my face beneath the water.
The skin of an alligator runs from the point of his spiny tail to the end of his sharp-toothed mouth.
His feet are tipped with curved talons that must be several inches.
Powerful legs lead to a smooth-looking stomach and chest. His arms are overly long, so long they must drag on the floor when he walks.
The hands are massive, spindly fingers with pointed claws.
Gator’s neck is thin, stretching several feet. His face is an absolute nightmare. Glowing white eyes, an elongated bumpy snout, and dozens of overlapping fangs.
He is absolutely enormous. More of a fucking dinosaur than a creature from a swamp.
The lazy path he swims sends him back and forth beneath my feet. I don’t want to take my eyes off him, but I have to take a breath. I gasp, catching sight of Madness and Hunt in the process. They’re both smiling. It’s unsettling.
Back beneath the water, Gator has disappeared again. By the time I spy him, he’s already grabbed hold of me. His taloned back foot wraps around my thigh, dragging me as he swims back toward the cabin.
I’m completely submerged again. My clawing does nothing to slow our travels. We pass through the entrance and straight to the door on the back side of the wall.
I’ve never been in here. Trying to gain my bearings while being dragged around by Godzilla’s mutant cousin is a struggle. I can tell this room is massive compared to the cozy size of the main cabin room.
Gator releases me without warning. It’s too far to try and make it back through the cabin and into the swamp.
Swimming to the top of the room is the only choice I can make.
There better be some air up there. Relief spins through me as I find a three-inch gap between the water and ceiling.
I grip a nearby chain, using it to hold myself in place while I suck down air. Gator circles me.
His tongue sweeps along my feet and calves with each pass.
The next time his body rolls near the surface, I spy a new part of him. Deep red and corkscrewed, with a star-shaped ring of webbing around the tip. Gator’s cock matches the size of his insane body.
Of course he’s aroused. He’s nearly drowned me twice now. I’m terrified and he can sense it. Taste it, even. That’s what they do, isn’t it? Feed off of fear.
The realization that he’s enjoying himself at my expense shifts some part of my fear into anger. What am I going to do? Sit here until I either drown or he decides he’s had his fill and eats me? No. I’m going down fighting like hell.
The next time he swims by, I thrust my leg out, connecting my foot with the side of his face. Barely. The water slows my movements, making them ineffective. Something changes, though. The water begins to recede.
A few inches drop. It’s enough for my whole head to break the surface.
The next drop lowers the water all the way to my stomach.
I’m able to pull my body out long enough to really strike Gator when he swims past. Slamming my heel straight into his eye causes a flurry of thrashing.
He rises to the surface, floating like a crocodile. One eye blinks rapidly.
“That wasn’t a very nice thing to do. Especially after I let some of the water out.” Gator’s good eye narrows.
“You let the water in here in the first place,” I argue. “So don’t act like you’re doing me any favors.”
His smile is predatory and unnatural. “Is that what you want? A favor?”
“I want the water gone and I want out of here.”
He floats closer. The near proximity squashes some of my bravado. One bite and my face will be gone.
“I thought you liked to be scared?” Leather hands encircle my hips. I grip the chain tighter as Gator rolls me until I’m facing away. He whispers, tongue flicking the shell of my ear. “Are you sure you want the water to disappear?”
“Yes. Don’t you have ears in your scary lizard form?”
Gator actually laughs. “So spicy. Let’s cool that temper of yours.”
A hand grips the back of my head, shoving my face underwater. From this angle, I have a clear view of the door out. A door that’s open and occupied.
Hunt swims through first, his snake body rippling as he enters the room. Madness follows, not swimming so much as moving forward, almost as if he’s the dark water itself. Their gazes lift.
Gator yanks my head above water. “You’re right. It’s time we drain the room. The others have been so patient.”
Madness
“We thought for certain you’d be Gator-stuffed and squealing by now.” We can’t stop our laughter. Githany frowns.
“I’ve said it before”—Gator smirks—“I’m more patient than you two.”
“And he was waiting for an audience,” Hunt adds begrudgingly. We think he’s still sulking. Githany escaped his domain before he could catch her. Hunt is the only one who hasn’t had his fill of our ghost girl yet. She’s got Gator’s scent all over her.