I felt dizzy from the gut-wrenchingly short amount of time that I'd been subjected to so much crazy. My dog was talking to me. I wanted to laugh at how insane it was like Isaac, or whatever his fucking name might be was still currently doing in an uproarious fashion.
"What is funny about any of this?" I hissed starting to feel annoyed, again.
"You take offense so easily, little imp. Relax, it is always amusing to me when I see the look on someone's face after they find out the truth," he soothed.
"Who the hell are you? And don't start with the "my name is forgotten" bullshit. I want actual answers for a change."
He shrugged, "I wasn't lying when I said that. Too many centuries have past and I can no longer recall my given name, I'm afraid. Not that I would ever want to."
"Why?"
He appeared faraway for a moment, staring past me while he was lost in some memory that still haunted him. "It doesn't matter now. What matters is the present and I won't spend it dwelling on what has already come to pass. It hardly makes a difference does it?"
"No," I said, quietly. I knew what it was to want more than anything for things to have been different in my past.
He gently cupped the side of my face in one of his big hands, "Don't let the world darken your heart, Riel. You are so precious a creature that no matter what happens in the days to come never allow your resolve to weaken."
"Why am I so special?" I mumbled.
"You'll just have to find that out on your own, little one."
"God damn you for being so vague," I growled.
He chuckled, "He already has."
*~*~*
I sat bolt upright in bed and immediately realized that I was about to be sick so I quickly bolted into the bathroom. Once I was finished I washed my face and rinsed my mouth out with cold water feeling much better afterwards. As I turned off the light I could hear the springs of my bed creaking and my senses went on high alert.
Cautiously I crept back into my room on the balls of my feet, "Isaac?" I called softly.
"Fucking hell!" I shouted at the sight that greeted me. I had known from the dream world that Isaac was ridiculously tall but seeing him here in reality, sitting on the edge of my bed wearing nothing but a terrifying shit-eating grin was still a shock.
He had to be at least seven feet tall and made entirely of lean muscle. He at least had the decency to cross his legs providing some modesty. I slapped a hand to my forehead trying to ground myself.
"Are you alright, little one?" he simpered.
"Would you stop calling me that. It's just weird," I growled. He stood and I quickly averted my eyes but not before seeing that he was.. anatomically proportioned. I felt an absurdly human reaction of shyness around this giant naked man in my apartment.
It didn't help that he now stood towering over me, still smiling with a mouth filled with shark-like teeth.
"What is weird about me referring to you as "little one". You are considerably smaller than me are you not?"
I could feel my cheeks burning slightly and I was appalled. He brought his fingers up under my chin and tipped my head back so that I was forced to look into the icy depths of his eyes. That stare was so familiar and yet.. something was vacant at the same time. Like looking into the eyes of a doll: completely devoid of emotion.
"I will help you to find Michael but only on one condition," he said, finally, after the silence had started to become uncomfortable.
I swallowed even though my mouth had gone dry, "What?"
"I want you to make love to me, Riel."
"Why?" I squeaked, my brain refusing to come up with anything more eloquent.
He sighed, closing his eyes momentarily, "For fifty years I've been forced to hide behind the form of a hellhound. I've been unable to change back in all of that time because if I had it would have sent out a pulse that someone who has been looking for me all of that time would be able to detect."
"What changed?"
"Nothing. The pulse went out the moment I shifted and he is no doubt already aware of me still being alive."
