Page 10 of Zombies, Satyrs and Vampires, Oh My!

“I don’t even know if she wants me.”

“You know the only way you’ll find out if she’s attracted to you is if you ask her, right?”

“I am not asking her that.”

He laughs. “Stop being a fucking pussy, Atticus. Go find yourself some happiness. Don’t you think you’ve endured enough loneliness for six lifetimes?”

We hang up shortly after that and I pace for a while, restless and uncertain what to do. I desperately want Vivian, but if I hurt her, that would mean the absolute end of whatever humanity I have left. I couldn’t bear it.

I leave my detached workshop, that used to be assistant’s quarters when I had one I allowed to see me. I converted it after the first couple of years so that I could leave the house some and still feel like I had a job to go to. Silly, when you think about it.

As I jog up the old stone steps that are partially covered with moss I hear that fucking moth’s scream before I realize where he is. Climbing on the spire that tops one of several turrets on my house.

“Goddammit!” I take off at a full run. “Get off my fucking roof!”

The mothman turns and screeches at me, flapping it’s brownish-grey wings that somehow look like they’re made of wool. There is nothing human left in this creature and I wonder if I knew this man before the change. Were we friends, acquaintances?

“You can’t have that woman!” I yell as I continue to run towards him.

“Mate,” he screeches back at me, then launches off my roof.

He lands on the ground not too far from me. And I’m ready, so fucking ready for this fight. I don’t have built in weapons like some of the others in town. My teeth aren’t like razors. I don’t have claws instead of fingernails. I’m just a man who looks different and now consumes animal brains.

“Atticus!” Vivian yells, then she’s running down the slope of my yard towards me, towards the mothman. She’s carrying something in her hand. A can or bottle of cleaner, maybe?

“Vivian, go back inside,” I say.

“Mate!” the mothman squawks and turns to face her.

“The fuck she is!” I yell.

Then Vivian is spraying something directly into the mothman’s face. It squeals and screeches and then flies straight up into the sky. I grab her hand and together we run inside my house.

“Vivian,” I breathe. “What were you thinking?”

She turns her wide icy blue eyes to me. “I could hear him scratching and screaming up there. Then I heard you yelling. I went out to protect you.”

I hold up her hand and see the can of industrial bug spray that I had forgotten all about. She must have found it under one of the sinks. I release a chuffing sound.

“You’re brave and amazing,” I say.

“Well, you can’t do all the rescuing,” she says. “Why is he still here?”

“I told you, he thinks you’re his mate.”

“Yeah, well, that doesn’t really work for me,” she says, her voice rising with a nervous giggle. “How do we get him to not think that.” She frowns. “Do I have to leave town? I just got here.”

I consider the question. Selfishly, I don’t want her to leave. Not ever. But if I genuinely thought it might keep her safe, I would send her away. Unfortunately, it’s not that simple.

“I don’t know if that would be enough. Most of the ferals are territorial, but the drive to mate and to feed are probably stronger than that. If you leave town to return home, he might simply follow you.”

She frowns, thinking, and then says almost absentmindedly, “Well, I’m not going home, at any rate. I’m sort of a professional nomad. Which means the closest thing I have to a house right now, is that cabin I rented for the next two months. And that clearly isn’t going to work.” She nods like she’s making up her mind. “So I’m safer here with you.”

I would make sure she’s safe no matter where she goes. I won’t keep her here, though it would be easier if I do. If she had insisted on leaving, I would have followed to keep her safe, even if it meant exposing my secret.

Not wanting to scare her more than she already is, I merely nod.

She takes a step closer to me, looking up at me with wide, trusting eyes. “There’s got to be some way to convince him I’m not his mate.”