Creeper - 7. Chapter 7: Let Me Handle This

CREEPER

Chapter Seven: Let Me Handle This

Spin. And let go. Fall. And rise up. Flee. And care not. Love. And change.

~*~

Face down in the sand and gasping for breath, Landry couldn’t think. He had swallowed too much salt water he knew, diving over and over until his own survival was is question. He was going to throw up. And he did. Not having the strength left to lift his own head, the bilge water gorged out of his mouth and nose. Choking him again, a reminder of his struggle to find Isaac. This is… Disaster. Failure. Horror. My fault. Delirium. A future he had never envisioned suddenly disappeared from existence. A future that included Isaac. Bleak. His life had lost so much meaning and purpose. So final. No choice at all. He wanted to run and hide from this, but his exhaustion and shock pulled him under. Dare not say, he passed out in his fear and grief.

~*~

Creeper had sat silently the whole time, watching and thinking, evaluating and considering; trying to come to a consensus. Arguing and discussing with his many selves. This was by far the most difficult and perplexing situation he had ever come across. He didn’t even know such things could come to be. He was alive and Isaac was alive and they were sharing one body now. His body. Which Mistress had once called the perfect vessel. The perfect vessel for what he had wondered. Now he had an answer. But the first thing he considered was simply to walk away. Stand up and walk away. Maybe it was time to do so. But he would be taking Iggy with him, unless he shed him, like a dead skin. That led him to examine his bond with Iggy, where was Iggy now. I moment’s reflection and he knew. Iggy was unconscious and sleeping and dreaming… of Creeper waiting on the beach and Landry diving in the sea. Could he walk off and take Iggy with him? Deprive Iggy of his life, his free will. Iggy was mortal, finite. Or was he now? What was he now? Creeper was not immortal. He would live as long as he had the will to do so. He could die. Only one problem with that, he could be resurrected. All it took was a call that sparked his will. He had learned that only this morning. He had learned so much this day. So why was he so very confused? As the moments flowed by, Creeper’s mind flowed; sometimes rapidly and often slowing down, searching out answers and finding more questions.

~*~

A dream. Kind of vivid. Creeper sitting on the beach in his favorite poise. Knees up and wrapped with his ivory arms. And behind there are strange sounds. Splashing and crys of anguish. It all seems so familiar. Funny, how Creeper has returned. Isaac was tired, it had been a busy day, a confusing but wonderful day. He would talk to Creeper later. This is what he needed now, a long nap.

~*~

Lashes fluttering, Landry opened his eyes. And it all came back. Isaac. Gone. What was he going to do? He was going to get up and search. And then… he would have to go back, with or without Isaac’s body. He would have to tell all this to his adoptive parents. Isaac’s parents. Pushing himself up into a kneeling position Landry lifted his head and roared his disbelief, his sorrow, his guilt, his loss. Where in heaven could he look, where in hell could he bargain, where inside himself could he ever find anything at all. He must… he must do his duty. He swore and promised years ago. Service and love and fealty to his adoptive family. He finally stood and scanned the beach, finding what he thought first was a wish, an illusion, a ghost. A last taunt by fate. Landry blinked. He shaded his eyes with his hand and stared. He stumbled forward. He moved with purpose and then he ran. How could remorse suddenly turn into joy and suddenly turn into rage in a matter of a few strides. But it did. Landry was putting two and two together. This was what… the third, no fourth time today Isaac had pulled something on Landry. This whole day was just one long joke for Landry’s behalf. Well he was good and tired of it now. This time Isaac was going to pay. This time Isaac was going to get what he deserved.

~*~

It was a charging beast, nothing was going to stop it, so Creeper didn’t try. He simply bent over at the exact moment needed and Landry went flying into the air, carried by his own speed and force. Flipping in the air, he landed flat on his back with a whoosh, losing his breathe with his impact. What was worst? Not being able to breathe or the ache in his back or the humiliation of being tricked by Isaac again. Before he could decide or brush this aside, Creeper pounced just like earlier today.

But there was a very big difference. Earlier had been kind of fun and silly, and well, arousing. This time, this Isaac was very different. Landry gathered his wits and reached for Isaac, only to have his hands caught and brought swiftly to the ground on either side of his head. Isaac was now leaning forward over him looking squarely into his eyes. Isaac’s red curls were only inches from his skin. Somehow Landry knew he was in trouble, this was a predator pinning him. He could feel the tingle of threat. The danger of sharp blades. The will to do whatever it would take. Then he heard Isaac whisper, “Let me handle this.” As shadows fell across them blocking the sun.

“Well, look what we be finding, a couple of the local whores with time on their hands. Ha! I be wondering if they be hungry for the meal I be packing?” Landry counted six.

~*~

Abandonians. The Abandoned. Seamen. More like pirates.