The Gator.

     *Renna's POV*

       He leads us out the door, hand firmly holding my wrist as I stumble into the lot behind him. My eyes scanning for Brie or the man that took her. They come up empty. Outside women whimper and cry out as they are loaded or packed off. Businesses with dim lights surround us. Unable to hold my curiosity and terror, I quickly blurt.

      "Sir, there's businesses everything.  Won't people see or hear us?"

      "This is our town, we run it. They either are one of us, or belong to one of us if they are here. Some of them remain here to keep the electric, water, things running. The government won't touch us, they turn a blind eye so long as we are peaceful." He adds the last part as if he can read my mind. They are far from peaceful,  I want to say, but I shove it back down. I'm roaming the streets naked, with some horned devil beast, in a town the government knows has been compromised but let's it go. I am dying to ask more questions,  but I worry about the repercussions. I debate my options,  then softly ask.

      "What's going to happen to me?" He stops and turns his body towards me. Street light catches his face and his unusual eyes glow. His head tilts and I fear that I've messed up. That I've overstepped my boundaries. 

      "Whatever I choose." I go silent and glance at my surroundings. Taking everything in, trying to memorize the roads and buildings, to be sure if I run that I don't come back here. "Your heart rate has picked up. Adrenaline? Whatever you are planning I'd abort it now. If you stray from me, you are dead or worse." I still don't respond. I don't trust my voice, mind or mouth. I keep thinking of Brie. I hope Brie is safe, and she makes it out of here somehow. Maybe the thing that took her isn't some  bear man or horned demon.

      We turn from the streets and head away from the town, towards the woods. He stops in the clearing and stares me down.

      "I'm going to do something, move and your dead. I mean it." The look in his face is dead serious, and despite my body crying out to run, I stand grounded. The giant dips his head and in minutes the antlers have resprouted and his body tremors under change. The beast that stands before me could easily eat a moose. On my tiptoes I could still walk underneath it, and not touch its belly. It scrapes its antlers, now much larger than the ones in his human form, along the ground and earth moves under the tines. He's trying to scoop me up. I stand frozen. I'm definitely hallucinating or have lost my mind. I keep touching my arms to confirm that I am really here. "Get on my back." His voice projects but his beastly lips do not move. I nod and will myself to move, but I'm not quick enough to suit him. "Ride me." He kneels lower, massive upper body flat to the ground so I might climb. "Mount me or I mount you." I all but dive onto his back and look for somewhere to put my hands. I settle for the base of his neck, holding to either side. He nods his head, satisfied and we are in motion. I bounce around lightly and the movement of his shoulders jostle me side to side. I notice movement among the trees and brush, but the beast does not mind.

       We soon come to a large stream. I focus my vision to see a man swimming on his back in the stream. He is completely nude and unconcerned with our presence. His skin is olive and his eyes a brilliant yellow green. He floats now, lazily on the surface of the water. I grip tighter to the beast's neck as his eyes come up to land on me. He grins, a pearly line of jagged teeth reflect back at me. I notice blood flecks on the perfect teeth, and several across his elevated jaw as his head is raised above water. I shiver. He notices and continues to gawk at me as the beast enters the water with me in tow. The 'man's spins and vanishes below the surface, haunting in grace. He soon pops up feet from us without so much as a sound, water hardly disturbed. The water is up to my waist soon and I feel myself pulled from the beast. 

      "Stop!" I yell as I try to wrap my arms around the thick neck of the beast below me. I don't understand what the man in the water is, but his whole aura reeks of danger. He surfaces, with my leg in hand and tugs at me. The beast feels me slip and he finally turns.

      "Let go of it. It's mine. You left with yours earlier. Now let us pass." His tone is deep and threatening.

     "Mine didn't make it. I need another." He sneers and yanks me free of the beast. It does not take a genius to figure out what likely happened to her. I am whole heartedly convinced he killed her. The beast whirls it's body around and its teeth catch my hair, holding it. The man grins and jumps up, spinning midair and twisting my body. I cry out as he dives below the surface, pain runs through my scalp as my hair is wrenched free and my body aches from the rough twisting. My wind is knocked out of me as we plunge into the deep stream. My lungs burn and I instinctively hold my breathe to avoid drowning. The man holds me flush to his bare body and soon comes up to let me breathe. We dive again and I see the lower body of the stag like beast approaching.  It dips it's head and charges us. The man releases me, and I sink towards the stream floor among the stones and submerged tree limbs. He begins to tremble and writhe above me in the water, and before long he is a monstrous alligator. He bites at the stag's legs and tries to twist them. When he bites, he latches and rolls trying to tear what he can. The stag stomps and rams it's antlers in his direction. I take advantage and come to surface for air, then try to get to land. I'm a novice swimmer,  I do well to stay afloat. The gator man decides to chase me as I crawl out onto the shore. The stag beast follows him.

      "Leave me alone!" I cry and I grab a random branch and hold it out in my hands, attempting to stave off this demonic gator thing. It's chuckle comes out in throaty huffs. I see the stag approaching and I realize I need to keep to distracted. So I jab at it and continue screaming. It swiftly moves from the water and snaps at me and I fall over myself in my haste to get away. I'm a frightened, stumbling mess, and I have no idea what I was thinking. Ivdtep in something wet and slimy and I crash to my knees.

      "Oh God!!" I scream as I take in the forest below me. I try to get up as nausea ripples through my stomach. I landed in entrails. Guts. A womans head lays near, pieces of bone and limbs scattered near. Flesh lines the edges of the pile of organs and I notice the torso was split wide, not just a pile. A breast hangs from the reverse side of exposed ribs and I vomit.  I weakly crawl away and grip my stick shard with everything I am worth. The gator and stag now duel on the bank near the water, seeming to be equally matched. The gator snaps at a long time of antler and falls down to it's belly, pulling the stags head with it violently. The gator jumps up and does it's perfected roll and the stag slams onto it's side. I can't survive here alone, know that I know what besides out here. I need that stupid stag. I curse myself mentally and rush the back of the gator. It tries to fling me off but I dig it's scales roughly and mount its head with a little battle cry. I have to reach down for balance as it shifts and its jaws clamp onto my hand, releasing the tine. I cry out and slam the stick into it's eye as it releases a deep wail and shakes it's head. I am slung, for the umpteenth time today, and into the chest of the stag. The stag rises to its feet and slams it's rack into the gator who immediately cries out and retreats through the trees,  the stag does not follow. I cradle my hand and whine, blood oozes.

      "Ride." He simply says, and I climb his hunched shoulders with one arm. He turns his head to inspect me. "This is why you do not stray. He killed my last two." He says simply. I hold his neck for my dear life as we cross the stream again. I'm on high alert for anything that moves. I do not trust even a squirrel now. "I don't understand why he did not kill you. Though he will watch for you now. Typically they do not effectively injure us, he will blame his eye on me to the others. I smell your blood, I will fix that when we get home." I nod against his neck.

     "Wh-what happens when you get home?" He picks up his pace and takes a minute to respond.

     "We fix your hand, get the scent of death off you, and we rest. If you haven't snuck outside in the middle of the night and gotten yourself offed, we figure out the rest tomorrow as we go."

     "What typically happens?" He snorts.

     "Nothing. They have always either ran away to their deaths or gotten killed in ambush. They've never made the night for me yet."

     "I-" He cuts me off immediately. 

    "Enough questions. I'm tiring of them. I take care of everything and you keep existing. Your fate depends on your level of intelligence,  I will no longer intervene." Rude. I shudder but do not speak. As we wander, my mind does too. I can't help but think of Brie, and of my family. I'm still traumatized from that poor girl's body, but I'm selfishly relieved that it wasn't Brie. I wonder if my parent's have noticed me missing yet? I wonder what time it is? I wonder if I'll die here? Thst gator man might come back for me since I foolishly stabbed his eye. We roam for at least twenty more minutes until we reach a cabin in a clearing. He shifts back without warning and I find myself chest to back with his nude human form. His hands reach back to grab the backs of my knees to help me hold on. He pushes the door open. Apparently it was not even locked. That will change tonight. 

     "I will set you down in the floor. You are dirty, don't sit on my bed. I'll run shower water. Run away, you die. I'm not chasing you. Alpha will not let females who enter leave. Take that as you will." I try to keep staring at his forehead, but my eyes want to drop down in shameful curiosity at the naked creature. I refuse to let it happen, but I steal a glimpse of his backside as he slinks into the bathroom. Normal human butt. I don't know what I expected to see. A tail? A third cheek? Part of me wants to try to escape, but I don't underestimate his warning. They can smell us and hear us so easily, this Alpha man would no doubt be just axstealthy and lethal. I've seen a demonic stag thing, bear thing and gator from hell. I don't want to see what else lurks.  I hear the shower run and I start a new form of panic. He won't watch me shower will he? Will I get clothes? I had somehow managed to tune out my nudity this whole time until now. I might suffocate. I grab a pillow case and shake the pillow free, tucking it over my front side. He peers out the bathroom at me.

      "That's why you're breathing weird. Humans and their fear of their own bodies." He scoffs. "Drop my once clean pillow case and come to me." I hesitate. 

      "Can I have clothes? You won't watch me?"

      "You may get a shirt if you cooperate. I won't be watching, I'll be too busy washing the filth off myself to observe you." No. Nope. My face heats and I smother once again. "At this point, a mere shower should be least of your worries. I've already seen all you have to offer. You have to have a general idea of why I chose you. It certainly wasn't your intellect." He approaches me and I jump to my feet before he can touch me and enter the bathroom. A photo on the wall near the bathroom door catches my eye. "That was here when I moved in." I'm uneasy again as I reluctantly shuffle towards the shower. I try to wash quickly, and to my gratitude the beast actually has soap and shampoo. No conditioner, but it will do. I'm pressed to the far side as he enters, striding up to the shower head and mud pools by the drain mixing with the blood from my hand and the dead girl. I bolt out the shower but I'm halted midway. He turns me around then inspects my hand. "Not broken, he was likely trying to scare you. Teeth marks..." He trails off. He pulls me closer to him and inhales against my throat. I feel his breathe against the damp skin and my hair raises.

      "What are you doing?" I squeak out.

      "Getting your scent. It wasn't as clear earlier. The blood scent is faded now. Stay here." He commands. I stand frozen in place, while he continues his shower. He sets me out as he exits and throws me a towel which I gratefully accept. I dry quickly, covering as much from view as I can. He dries as well, not bothering to turn or cover himself. I rummage around for deodorant,  lotion, anything. He approaches me as soon as he's dry and opens a drawer with the items I needed. Men's of course. But there's an unopened toothbrush. Small blessings. I do my hygiene, mindful to cover what I can. He does his routine and leads us out.

      "Do I get the shirt?" I ask nervously.

     "Yes, if you cooperate. Lay down." I keep the towel clutched around me and I lay at the foot of the bed, anxiously.  He lifts my injured hand and licks it thoroughly.  I scrunch my nose, but try to keep myself calm. My hand admittedly is less of a throbbing pain now and more of a soft nag. "Be still. That will help heal, but I'm not finished." I nod. He leans over me now and his chest settles against mine. I hold my breath and blink back tesrscas my mind runs wild. He runs the stubble of his jaw along mine, then my throat and along my body. He removes my towel and rubs his face along my belly and sides. Thighs. He finally stops. "You smell like me now. If you get stupid and run, it might get you returned to me or the others might pass you up to avoid altercations."

      "My shirt?" I whine.

      "Of course, you would still be adamant about that cloth. Like it's going to protect you." He opens a drawer and throws the shirt at my face, glaring. I duck into it quickly and throw the towel aside. He kills the lights, then climbs onto the bed and drags me along with him. He places me on my belly and lays half over me. "Sleep. The night is half gone." There's no way I could sleep if I tried. Images of that poor disemboweled and dismembered girl flashed in my head. The claws. The gator man. The stag beast man that soon snores above me. How will I ever get out of here? Will I be able to find Brie?