Page 8 of The Boys
Caleb
My mind raced withboth excitement and fear. He knew about us, he knew it all, and he hadn’t run screaming for the door. “What did you see?” I finally managed to choke out and tried to pull away from him, but instead of pushing me away he leaned in closer and held my arm around him.
“I saw you and who I presume were your brothers gathered around eating something that was prepared by another even bigger creature. You were feasting . . . on a human.” The last part was whispered. “I know you’re not evil, but I don’t know what you are.”
I could have lied, but I knew eventually it would all come out, and he wasn’t wrong even if he hadn’t really gone to the cave. “How did you see me?”
“In my dream. No matter what someone tries to hide from me it will eventually be shown to me in my dreams. It’s just how it is,” Syd said.
“Have you heard the tale of the Yule Lads?” I asked.
“You mean the Christmas story I asked about earlier?” Syd asked.
“Yes, but the story has changed through the years. When we first were found out, they knew exactly what we were. We stole into the villages to find the children who were naughty and brought them back to our mother who made a meal of them. But soon the villagers realized we were vulnerable during the months when more sun shone, and they started to hunt us.
“We had to find a better way, and we found feasting on humans who were truly evil satisfied the need in us for human flesh. We began to hunt for those that would do evil to satisfy the part of us that found it essential to feed on them. The image of me you see now is a glamour, a mirage. Meant to fool people into thinking we’re just ordinary humans, but we’re more monster than human.”
“What are you?” he asked but didn’t look away.
We are many things, some call us trolls, others call us ogres. I guess it doesn’t matter anymore. In the modern world no one believes we’re real.” I had never confessed any of this to a human in my lifetime, and I wasn’t sure what it was about this man that made me confess to him.
“You feed on evil?” Syd asked.
“Yes. I can sense it. That’s how I knew you were good as soon as I met you. If you weren’t, you wouldn’t have been leaving here at the end of Yule,” I admitted.
“So, the guests here were chosen?” he asked and turned to face me while pulling his knees up to his chest.
“The way you can see the truth in your dreams, I can sense evil upon speaking to a human. It’s a scent that comes from them, and an energy that draws me to them. I cannot resist and if they’re deserving, I make sure they spend their holiday here.”
“And never leave,” Syd said, but there was no accusation in his voice.
“We have to eat,” I said knowing full well it didn’t excuse the fact we killed and ate thirteen people every year for Yule.
“I know, and I also believe you only kill evil, but I still don’t know how I ended up here.” Syd’s eyes were intense as he waited for my answer, and I knew if I didn’t tell him he’d work it out eventually anyway. I couldn’t hide the truth from him any more than he could have hidden evil from me.
“Cheating wasn’t the only thing Michael was guilty of. He’d been stealing from his company for years, and since he was in charge of investors’ retirement accounts, there were many who were financially destroyed from his greed.”
Syd nodded. “I started dreaming about it a year ago, so many people were hurt because of him, and he didn’t need the money. He was doing it to prove he could and nothing more.”
“Yes, we’re aware. He was supposed to be here for Yule, not you. I did not know about you two getting married or I would have changed the plans and made sure it was only him. I’m afraid I’m responsible for you ending up here alone,” I said, and waited for his reaction.
His eyes met mine and he smiled, just a small lift of his lips before leaning in and kissing me. “I think I can forgive you,” he said, shocking me.
“For what?” I asked, needing to know. “I just confessed to committing horrible crimes, not once but for all of my existence. How could you possibly forgive me?” I wasn’t ashamed of how we lived, or the many crimes we’d committed, but a part of me I’d never known before wanted Syd to know there was more to me than the murdering troll who ate human flesh.
“I was born with the ability to dream and see everything about any person I come into contact with, and some I have yet to meet. But I’ve never been able to control my ability and for all the times I’ve hated it, I’ve also been thankful for it. If I’d married Michael, my life would have been miserable, and he would have eventually destroyed me too. He really is a horribleperson; you were not wrong about him. I know you can’t choose who you are born to be, and I know that you do what you need to do to survive but you don’t revel in it. I also know that even though you’re not human, you have a good heart, and my dreams tell me that you and I are meant to be.”
My mind raced to understand what he meant. Never had anyone said something like this to me. A few of my brothers had been lucky enough to meet a mate, but they were not human and chose to live in the old ways deep in the mountains. I needed to live among humans in order to use my ability to bring them to us. Even my brother that was gifted with knowing which humans I would seek out, lived here. “It can’t be. Why would someone as perfect as you ever want to spend time with a horrible monster like me?”
“Because I don’t see you as a monster,” he said.
“But you will,” I whispered and hoped it scared him enough to forget about me even though the thought of it tore at every part of me.
“I’ve seen your true form, and to me you are beautiful no matter what form you take.”
“I consume human flesh,” I reminded him, hoping once again to scare him off.
“I know, but only the evil ones.” He smiled at me then and this time it was me that leaned in and kissed him.
