Beneath the Courage

Humor

My bullet hit him well enough, dropping the man with a loud scream. It probably wasn't fatal, unless he bled out. Hm. Parker won't like coming home to two dead men bleeding in his backyard. Sucks for Parker. Shrugging, I dropped the dead man I was still holding and after switching the safety on for the gun, set it down on one of the chairs they left outside. 

"Stay inside, Fri." 

Of course you'd ignore me and come see what was going on. 

Shaking my head after sending him a glare from where he stood a few feet inside the home, I stalked through the large hole the now-dead man had cut in the screen and headed for his friend, silently thankful that I at least had shorts on. As if the dead man wouldn't cause enough of a scene if someone happened upon us. I didn't need to add being naked to the situation. He was clearly still alive when I stopped next to him, though, and surprisingly awake, too. 

"I don't appreciate being shot at. I believe you humans find it rude, so why do it to something that can easily kill you?" I asked, kicking him in the side I'd shot him in because I felt like it. These idiots had been stalking us for days. I needed to take a little bit of my anger out and unfortunately, his friend was already dead, so that task fell on his shoulders. 

"We were sent here as a warning, Hice." The man gasped, making me dig my foot into his side again. I wonder how hard I have to kick him to make him black out. 

When he went limp, I frowned. "Done already?" 

"I hope you've said your goodbyes to your little friend, because you're all going to die soon." The man said, barely whispering as blood began to come out of his mouth.

Little friend? 

Jerking my head up, I looked toward the house. "Fri! Get out here now!" I yelled. 

My heartbeat picked up every second I didn't see him, but after a few moments he stumbled outside. I saw him jump, startled by the dead man I'd left, then hop over the blood likely pooling  on the ground to make his way toward the cut hole in the screen. Ocar was right behind him in a pair of loose shorts. He looked wild and had several marks around his shoulders and neck, but I wasn't going to even think about what, or who, they were from. 

Satisfied that Fri was fine, I glared back down at the man near my feet. "Well, my little friend is perfectly fine, human." 

The man laughed, spraying blood before coughing some into the grass. "You really are just a stupid fish." The man forced out. 

"Enough of this!" I yelled as I leaned down and grabbed his ankle, then began dragging him back toward the house. He struggled to grab at the grass, but he was already half dead. 

Without a second thought, I threw him into the saltwater pool, grinning the whole time he squirmed on his way down to the bottom as the salt burned in his wound. 

"That's unsanitary." Ocar noted as he watched, completely uninterested in trying to help the human. 

When the man stopped struggling, I turned to Fri and pulled him into my arms with a frustrated growl. No one threatens what belongs to me. 

"It would have helped if we knew what they were here for." Ocar added, looking up at me. 

"What do you think? They clearly wanted to have a picnic." Mellac said as he leaned against the broken patio door, scratching at the line his boxers cut across his waist. 

Wait, he was here the whole time? 

"I can't say I'm surprised you didn't come out when you heard the gunshot." I stated.