Julycanthropy // A Monster Month Series.

Nights in the Bayou.

 Stories had floated around the bayou for years.

Since the tree had been little seeds and the lakes no more then raindrops, there had been something so strange about it...something that made people afraid. The bayou, old and dark and secretive, had been full of strange stories since the day it had been stumbled upon, and its sleeping waters were said to hide all kinds of things.

Witches were said to fly in the moonlight, cackling high above the clouds as they cursed the mortals below.

Spirits dancing through the dark, wailing and screaming as they floated through the shadows.

And beasts. There were endless tails about monsters in the bayou, the rougarou who changed forms and hunted for victims in the light...swamp monsters who viciously defend their lands from unwanted human invasion.

Growing up in Louisiana, you heard all of these stories and more.

Your grandpa used to sit you upon his knee and whisper stories about these beasts to you, stories so scary that they left you shaking for days on end, always watching the shadows for something lurking inside...but you always came running back, hopping onto his lap and begging for more of his frightening tales.

And he was always willing to tell you a story.

There had been one that he told over and over, swearing it was true every time.

"Down in the dark waters, there's a monster lurkin' around. They say that in the light of day, he's no more then a man, same as you and me. But when night falls and the moon is bright, this man becomes a terrible beast! Rough scales cover him from head to toe..."

He'd creep his hands along your belly, tickling you softly as though he had claws.

"Rows of sharp teeth along his jaws, powerful enough to snap anything into bits and pieces!"

He'd chomp and bite, all while snarling softly in between pretend bites.

"And in the darkness of the night, he slithers through the bayou, waiting to snap up an unsuspecting victim! RAAAAR!!"

He'd always tuck you in, assuring you that while it was a true story ("Seen the beast with my own eye!") that there was nothing to be frightened of, not while he was around. Excited screams slipped away into giggling, you'd go to bed with those stories in your mind. Stories of monsters and crocodiles and moonlight on the bayou...

In time you grew up.

Some childish things were left behind but one thing always stayed: your love of stories and monsters. Now you didn't just listen and read stories, now you wrote ones of your own. Tales of monsters and adventures and romance filled the pages of your books which in turn, filled shelves across the world. Grandpa, you thought, would be rather proud of you.

And he would love your new house!

The old lake house you had bought sat right in the middle of the bayou, once grand place and full of light. But for years it had been neglected and forgotten, left to rot in the darkness until you had stumbled upon it and fallen in love.

It was private and, if cleaned up and repaired, it would be perfect.

Luckily, you had Castile to help you with that. The tall man with his dark skin, handsome features and smooth as silk Louisianan accent, had been a godsend. He was a jack of all trades kind of that had been introduced to you by a friend and, when you showed him your new house, he'd said only one thing:

"I can fix that."

And he'd been here ever since. Staying in a little room on the first floor, Cas proved himself to be an expert in, well, everything. The house was coming along nicely, the dock had been repaired, and the little lake had been cleaned up. He could fix it, build it, anything you put in front of him, Castile could do it.