Holly

Wild Animal

The wind bites into me but I hardly notice. It is dark outside, the pathetic street lights can hardly keep up with the growing darkness.

I stand by the side of the bar, watching Holly and Ira walk home. Holly looks back at me several times and it only fuels my anger. He came too close to her. Devils are savages and if he thinks he can get that close with me in the same room, then he thinks he can get away with anything. He thinks he can do whatever he wants to Holly.

The door opens and I step into the shadow on the side of the building. He comes out, clearly drunk. My eyes widen when I see his face in the light. He is struggling not to shift right here. His time is almost up.

I feel guilty. No, horrible for not telling Holly yet. I can't bring myself to see how she will react and I don't want her doing anything reckless to try and get rid of the curse in a hurry.

He starts to walk down the sidewalk, towards the ocean and past my spot. I step back further, not wanting him to smell me. He starts sniffing the air and following the same route as Holly. I'm not sure why he is targeting her and not Kaia. I can only assume it is because Atticus is always with her.

I follow behind him. He is too drunk to notice. The closer he gets to Holly's house, the closer he is getting to the ocean. That is exactly where I want him to go. No one will see, no scenes.

His head turns towards her house and the rage in me crackles to life. In a quick motion, I grab him by the back of the neck and shove his head down. He tries to yell but I tighten my grip as I drag him towards the ocean.

"Get the fuck..."

"Shut up." I growl at him. He tries his best to hiss. Touching his skin with my hands makes the anger stronger. He is disgusting to me, repulsive. I know what kinds of dark thoughts he has about Holly. The thought of him getting to her makes me squeeze harder.

The waves slam into us and I shift, continuing to drag him farther into the ocean. Eventually he shifts and rips himself from my grip. Still drunk, he floats in the water for a moment before regaining his senses. His eyes bore into mine, a pitch black madness. They are predatory, wild, and untamable. An animal like him should be put down.

The long spines on his back stand on end and his claws lengthen. His scales are a mute gray which shimmers in the moonlight in the water. He lets out another hiss but I remain calm. In a matter of seconds, he swims through the water at a fast speed, his claws at the ready. Just as he is about to slash me, I swim down and back up, slamming into his stomach. I use all my strength to swim for the surface and we both fly into the sky before crashing on the ocean surface. I use my claws to slash at his side and then I let him back off.

This is fun. It is a game. I feel like a matador and he is the bull. I'll stick the animal until it bleeds out. Each stick will make me feel powerful, above this lesser animal.

It floats there, still drunk and in shock. It pisses me the fuck off. I expected more of a fight but here it is, slow to responses. The animal regains its composure and charges at me without so much of a thought. It is like a mindless fly now, bouncing off a window.

I let it grab a hold of me, just to make it more fun. The rage boils up in me when it touches me. This fucker wanted to hurt Holly. My Holly. My better half.

I shove its weak body towards the ocean floor and slam it into the sand. It thrashes at me, wild and mad. I pull away to avoid its claws but use my tail to slam its head into the ground. It hisses and spits in pain but I slam its skull into the ocean floor again. When it pauses and does not attack, I slash it with my claws, putting deep slash marks in its chest. It howls in pain and I grab ahold of its hair, slamming it into the ocean floor once again. This time, I hold it there and drag it along the floor, letting its face slam into rocks and sharp shells. The blood pulls in the water but no sharks circle. They would never attack a devil, even a bleeding one. When the blood floats up to my nose and I smell it, the rage quickens its hold on my soul. I quite literally see a disgusting red.

It stops its howling and its fighting slows. I slam its head into a large stone and it becomes dazed. I turn it around to face me and it blinks at me.

"Don't ever go near her ever again!"

It glares at me, its humanity finally coming through its black orbs. "Fuck you," it hisses out.

The anger boils over and I feel myself shaking with rage. I can't control what I do next. Something in me snaps and I lose control. I hiss and bite a chunk from its shoulder, spitting it into the ocean. It howls in pain and I slash its face, silencing it.

I reach out, ready to take another bite out of its neck when I stop myself. I blink away the madness and fear grips my chest.

I lost control...

A piece of my humanity has slipped from me and now I cannot bring it back. My fists shake as I try to keep what I have left for now.

'You better.' Her voice plays over in my head. She needs me to come back. I am fighting to stay in one piece for her. The look in her eyes told me another thing. A thought was running through her head as she walked away from me. She doesn't want me to kill anymore. She wants me to join her in her humanity but I don't know if I can.

I reach out and place a finger on the animal's neck. There is a pulse still. My hands are still shaking as I fly through the water back towards the shore. I rush out of the waves as fast as I can, grabbing a bag of clothes that I have tucked under a rock. After letting myself dry off as I race towards her house, I throw on the clothes and approach the back door.

Everything is silent other than the crashing waves. It must be something like 1 am. I take a deep breath and twist my wrist to pull some water out of my soaked hair. It floats through the air and into the lock. Entering the house, I instantly smell her. It scares me even more because my smell has never been this strong. Her smell is intoxicating and I hurriedly but silently work my way through the house.

I slid into her room, silently closing the door behind me. She is asleep in bed, the moonlight shining through the curtains and onto her beautiful face. She looks so peaceful in her sleep, no raging fire or swearing. Just calm breathing like the crackling of embers.

She rolls over onto her back and her lips part. My shaking has stopped but I still feel a deep need to soothe whatever is raging inside me. I reach out and touch her hair and the calmness I need washes over me. I lift the covers and slide into her bed next to her. Her eyes flutter open and she looks up at me in wonder.

"Arius? Are you okay?"

I nod. "Holly, let me hold you." I say, with a hint of sadness in my voice. What if I never get to hold her again? If I lose myself entirely, I will never even know who Holly is. I will beach myself like a wild animal and die in a bloodbath, never remembering her beautiful smile or laugh again.

She moves over in the bed, making room for me. My arms wrap around her body and I pull her flush against me. Her hands hold onto my shirt as she buries her face in my neck. Finally, my breathing steadies and all of my fears fade away as she drifts off to sleep in my arms.