Page 101 of Evil Hearts

“I’m not Fei,” he said aloud.

The statement failed to dissuade the voice. “But you are so like him.” The voice was neither masculine nor feminine, something in between like a memory.

“Whoareyou?”

No reply. Lewis did not know if he should try again. A wave of pressure squeezed around his cock. His mind stretched, unsure whether to stop it or let the mysterious force do as it wished. It felt good, he had to admit. Perhaps he could simply acquiesce and let this strange phantom finish. In several hours, he’d wake up to resume his normal, sad life. He could at least have this.

Then the world came to his eyes again. The darkness shifted to his waist. A slicker force wrapped around his cock. Silhouetted against the window was the shape of branches. Lewis went cold.

He reached toward the nightstand and struggled for the lamp switch. Gold beamed out. The shadows coalesced into a figure over his hips. Lewis screamed.

Wet, slathered in mud, the creature seemed constructed of the natural refuse from the river. The mud disguised any form that may have been discernable, but the thing appeared to be hunched over. Its head had the approximate shape of an alligator with twigs and branches sprouting from it like mismatched antlers. A fishing line was tangled between them. It looked like a Jim Henson puppet without the charm or whimsy. Lewis swallowed.

The thing fixed Lewis to the bed with an amber stare.

Lewis screamed again, though it was warbled by his tongue attempting to form words at the same time. His chest heaved with breath and racing heart. But as the creature held still, some sense seeped back into his head.

“Whatareyou?”

“I am as I am.” The thing canted forward slightly as if in a bow.

A bit of frustration clamped around Lewis, honing his senses further. “Well, then. D-do you have a name?”

The creature flexed its jaw, or what looked like a jaw. It could have been a piece of wood. “You may call me Huk.”

“All right, Huk.” Lewis swallowed. “Wh-what did you want with me?”

“I spied you in the window. Then you were on the river,” it said in low gargling tones.

Lewis nodded, dislodging a bead of sweat from his brow.

“Thank you for the fish,” croaked Huk.

The man’s mind flashed to the moment on the river when he released the fish he had landed. Surely something as mundane as that could not have invoked a demon or whatever this thing was.

“I have lived along these banks for very long and I cannot remember the last time I’ve been granted such kindness.” Huk’s voice seemed to clear up with use as though each word spoken erased globs of mud from its throat. “You remind me so much of him. I thought he had perhaps returned.”

“Who was Fei to you?”

“My love. He crossed the ocean to come here. I followed.”

Lewis balked. Surely there was still some alcohol in his body, otherwise, this was the most vivid and strange dream he had experienced yet. He rubbed his face.

A low hum like whale song issued from Huk. “It’s been so long since I’ve felt him.”

“Was it you that’s been visiting me at night? I had these dreams …”

Huk remained a silent shroud of mud and river detritus. Its eyes fastened to Lewis’ gaze.

Something within Lewis gave. He could not bring himself to be mad at this creature. “I guess we’ve both been lonely for a long time.”

“Your name?”

Lewis’ head popped forward. After a breath, he replied. “Lewis.”

“Thank you, Lewis.” Huk then slid backward toward the foot of the bed. The moon peered from behind its shoulder.

“Wait.” Lewis’ heart skipped. He gazed into the gold gleaming from muddy hollows. “You can stay tonight.”

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