Episode 36

Episode 36

Immediately, he looked toward the bathroom door and then back to me, unable to muster up enough care to address the question further. Even in his barely conscious state, he knew she had slipped away without ever visually confirming. It was kind of creepy how extremely aware he was of his surroundings lately, even now with his eyes sagging dangerously. Lark was changing right in front of us. We were witnessing it all in real time. The way he grew stronger with each minute wasn't lost on me, and if I noticed it, Gran had to have noticed it, too. Hell, in ways, I even felt myself changing. Hard not to after everything.

"Earth to Ryn?" Lark's voice came through with a yawn he barely tried to hold back. "Did you hear anything I just said?" He once again rubbed his sleepy eyes.

I was about to start arguing with him but was interrupted by a slight moan echoing from the bathroom. This seemed to make Lark suddenly wide awake. "Ohhhh..." This one was louder than the last, and before I knew what my body was doing, I was on my feet, quickly making my way toward the bathroom door. My hand clasped the knob and began to turn it when I felt Lark grab me by the arm and pull me away. He looked at me and snarled before leading me straight to the parking lot.

Please... yes... oh please...

It forced itself so hard into my brain that my knees instantly felt weak. My skin felt like it had trapped thousands of ants underneath who were all so desperate to get away. Lark all but ripped my arm out struggling against the reluctance of my body as he pulled me to the Jeep. "Get in." his voice was short, and his red eyes glared at me before he let himself into the driver's side door. It took me off guard, and I almost didn't know what to do. It was unlike him to not open a woman's door. I shook the thought off and quickly followed suit.

No sooner than I sat down and closed the door, Lark asked simply, "So. Girls, huh?"

"What?" I honestly had no clue what he was talking about. Until it finally registered, "Oh, that? That's just the compulsion thing. It works on everyone, Granny said. No one is safe from it."

I couldn't really tell if he was angry or surprised at the possibility that he was correct. Honestly, I'd never thought about talking about it with him. We'd been friends with benefits since freshman year, and I guess I just didn't want to ruin a good thing, maybe? It's not like I'd talked about it with anyone. Any time I'd ever gotten the urge to let it out to the world, it seemed so pointless to. What would it accomplish? Lark's flat tone broke through my thoughts, "Nah nah nah nah. You're so full of shit, Ryn. That wasn't compulsion. That? That was..."

"Really sexy." Like earlier, it slipped out before my brain realized what my lips were doing. He was mad crazy, though. She's not even my type. If that wasn't compulsion, I don't know what is.

He laughed genuinely, and when he looked at me, his eyes had returned to their usual green color. Mind reading and chameleon eyes were now together on the list of recent changes in my friend. "Why haven't you ever told me?" He sounded both slightly disappointed and defeated. Maybe a little hurt if I'm reading him correctly. He sighed and continued, "You kept all that bottled up inside for that long? No wonder you were so ready to add yourself to the Thea one-woman show. You were at that bathroom door in a maximum of what? Three seconds?" He chuckled again, and I could feel my face start to flush. "Gran said age eighteen would hit us differently, but I thought you would be much stronger than me in holding out."

"Oh, holding out my ass. Shut up. Not everything is a contest, and it was so far from being an actual reality for me that I always kept it far from the conversation. You know how my family is, man." A golf ball started forming in my throat, and my eyes began to sting and blur. I couldn't bring myself to look at him. Why

hadn't

I told him? I didn't want him to be upset, that's why. Pretty selfish of me. I thought he was so set on being with me. With us being together and living that white picket-fenced dream. Wasn't it what he wanted? I realized then that maybe I didn't know my best friend as well as I thought. I only assumed what he wanted. Why didn't I ever even bother to ask him? We'd talked about it, sure. Us and the prospects. "You're not mad?"

His brow furrowed as he studied me. "As shit as it sounds, I am a little disappointed." My vision fell, and the pit in my stomach widened.

This is the end of our friendship.

Lark picked up on my weariness. "Not at you at all. I mean the situation. Me. Going out, meeting people, and socializing. You know I'm not good at pretending to care about stupid shit, so it's going to take me forever, bro." He groaned loudly and then smiled.

He was an idiot, and I think I portrayed that well with the look I gave him.

Okay, so I'm bro frequently now. That's cool, I guess...

It was like I could feel a shift already starting in our dynamic, and a small bit of panic started to creep in. "Look, I'm still trying to figure my shit out, okay? I never said that you had to go find someone else to screw. When did I ever say I was off the table for you?" I really hadn't. Here I was, sharing a damn near lifelong secret with the fucker and being super vulnerable. All the while, here he was, making it about him and trying to make me look like some kinda bad guy in return.

"You didn't.

I

did." The statement was short and felt like a little cut opening in my chest with each word. He sighed heavily as he regarded my microscopic ounce of pain. "Look, I can't make myself want and have you if you aren't even sure you want me in return, Ryn. And you don't! You don't know. I can tell. It shows every time I try to touch you in any way other than a hug, and even that can't last very long." I blinked at him. The golf ball at my tonsils was getting harder to choke down. "Chill out. My lack of social skills isn't your fault or your problem. Again, it's the situation. I love you regardless, so why would I be mad? You're my best friend, dude. For life and that's not going to change. If I'm mad at anything, it's that you never felt like you could talk to me about it." His face softened as he spoke, "Bro, fuck your family too. It's not like you need a man to have a kid and start a family anymore. You find a woman, and the GA will have no problems helping, I'm sure."

A tear slipped down, and I was quick to catch it. This man was excellent. A true catch and gem among men. Every time he made it obviously so, which was often, it made my heart hurt. Why couldn't I want him? Everything would be so much simpler. There's no doubt he would take great care of whoever he chooses to be with. They would be so lucky to have him. "Lark, you know their methods don't always work. Plus, I'm not sure if that's what I want..."

"Best of both worlds, Ryn? Now that's just being greedy." He smiled, and I couldn't help but laugh. Soon after, his own chucking joined in. "All the babes we could've been pullin' together over the years. Look at me! I'm the perfect wingman." He elbowed me lightly as he smiled. "Loosen up and have a laugh with me, will you? " It worked. Typical Lark fashion to lighten the mood.

Again... yes. Oh yes. Please... more. Please...

Chills ran through the two of us, and Lark wasted no time starting the Jeep. It wasn't long before we were hauling ass out of the lot. About a mile away, we were finally out of range of Thea's climaxes she was shoving into our heads. "You can't tell me that's not compulsion, Lark. The woman is practically the Queen of the god damned succubi at this point."

"That's not compulsion, Ryn. She's drunk, on fertility drugs, and who knows what other drugs." I side-eyed him. Getting intoxicated wasn't something I even thought was a possibility. Rather than interrupt, I kept quiet for him to continue. "The fertility festival drug alone... well, you know. It does... that. It's literally designed to make you fuck for hours." He shifted around in his seat uncomfortably. I think he forgot he was talking. It was quiet for a bit before he continued. "Uh... I don't think she can control herself as well when she's under the influence. She was saying all kinds of crazy stuff I didn't understand. Then, some... really terrible things I don't think she wanted me to understand. I think I understood more of it than I wanted to..." His voice trailed off with this thought. I could feel anger and sadness filling up my side of the cabin.

It didn't take a rocket scientist to understand what he was implying. His vibe said it all. I sat with this information in silence for a while. "What the hell is going on here, Lark? We have no idea what we are doing. We're stumbling around in the dark, living on the hope that she keeps us alive." He didn't have a reply to that. He knew it was true. Still, something else was gnawing at me. "Thea is nothing like I imagined an Ancient to be..."

He laughed, "I know. Not at all. It's overwhelming at times. I expected something else entirely. It's so crazy to say it out loud, and I don't even know if I can put it into words, but she's just so..." He sighed as he ran his hands through his curls a few times. "Just so..."

"Comfortably uncomfortable."

"What? Haha. I would maybe reverse that and say uncomfortably comfortable. It's strange how comfortable I feel around her. Like I've known her for years. Being that comfortable is making me uncomfortable." His sight remained on the road but shifted to me a few times before he spoke again, "You want her. No doubt. Maybe she makes you uncomfortable because you've never been with a woman. Come to think of it, I don't think I've ever seen you try to pick up a girl before." He chuckled again, "Wait... Are you comfortable with how she makes you feel uncomfortable? Weirdo."

"You would say that. You didn't have to dress her naked body in what, at the moment, seemed like the most perfect lighting imaginable." It came out in a muffled grumble.

That didn't stop his supersonic hearing. He laughed wholeheartedly, "Yeah, I can see how that would be extremely challenging and uncomfortable. Extremely difficult." He paused briefly before clearing his throat and continuing, "It hits me, too. Big time. Have you noticed she smells real fuckin good? It changes a lot. I think that might be part of the compulsion and what draws people in. But that back there? I don't know, dude. That..." His tongue ran across his bottom lip unconsciously, and he adjusted himself in his seat.

It changed a lot, so that was a fair assumption. Different types of things, too. Flowers, baked goods, spices, you name it. "I wonder what it was really like for her." I was pushing for a subject change, and I don't think he caught that. I'd rather talk about her in any aspect besides her ability to attract people and rev their engines. "Gran told me that most of Thea's tales are lining up with her being the literal Beast in a few. There are so many stories, Lark. Most don't end well for those who interact with the Ancients... but least so for those who cross paths with the Beast."

"Yeah, I've thought about that many times too. Not gonna lie. But you know what else comes up in my thoughts with it every time? You remember what Granny always used to say." He waited for a response, to which I just shrugged. Granny said a lot of things. Always. About pretty much everything, really. He rolled his eyes and continued, "She always would say something like 'history is written by the winning side, which sometimes means the oppressors.' Most people need a villain and a hero in their stories, Ryn. We have old stories with people's outdated opinions to base our perceptions on. What direct intentional harm has she done so far? As far as I'm aware, she's done nothing at all but wake up from a nap."

"And be a relentless tease." It came out more pouty than I expected. Just like my little brothers. A damn toddler.

Lark shivered and then laughed again. "I don't know. That's not a crime, is it? Plus, I think I might be starting to like it. She's realizing it too, and it pisses her off. I kinda like it when she gets angry at me." He adjusted his grip on the wheel, and his face started to flush. I thought I even saw him smirk for a second. Obviously, the man had lost his mind. "It's not so bad once you realize it's just a game to her. Relax and let a god stroke your ego for a while. I'll play, too, if she wants to play. The libido-increasing effect of that shit lasts about a week..." He smiled sheepishly.

Well, that explains why she's going at herself.

I shook the thought away with my head. What was happening to my friend? "Lark... man. What is up with you? Yeah, she's divine and so perfectly built it's borderline criminal, but you've never, and I mean, NEVER, had any kind of interest in a woman beyond a bit of bedroom action. You're enjoying being played with. You literally just admitted it! Tell me the last time a girl played any kind of game with you where you didn't drop her like yesterday's news? Not once, Lark. Not once. You want to provide zero effort or form of consistency, and the second it tastes like work, you duck out."

"What's up with me? I could ask you the same." I raised a brow. He didn't need to take his eyes off the road to know the look I was throwing his way. "No? I've never seen you cry, Ryn. Maybe once and not like that. I've seen you cry into a pile of putty a few times in the past... few hours or so? I don't know. You've been so fucking quiet too. You've never shied away from another strong feminine presence. You always assert yourself. You're like the alpha vag. Ryn? Speechless?! Never thought I'd see the day. Do I need to continue? Or are we good on the tit-for-tat?"

"Maybe we're both changing. Maybe this is part of the process... Eighteen's not been too good to us so far, Lark." Pretty hellish, in fact. So much so that I left that where it lay. What worried me the most was that I was starting to pick up on that smell Lark was talking about back at Gran's. It was faint, but it was rancid. I had yet to mention my recent ability to manipulate light. There hadn't been a good time yet. It started a few weeks ago, but it was just a party trick at first. It seemed pointless to mention. Nothing special. Little shadow here and there, but now? Last night, I'd made my pinky finger invisible. It freaked me out so badly when I went to grab my holo last night that I accidentally chucked it across the room. "We should really go talk to Granny. All of us."

"Suppose you're right. It's time to face the Beast. We can't hide from her forever. Besides, we need to get our asses moving outta Redmond before the streets start getting crowded again." He nodded to himself before he turned the vehicle around and started heading back to the B and B. Hopefully, Thea would be done with herself by the time we made it back.