Page 33 of Blade
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“Part of me is really surprised there aren’t more shenanigans going on around here.” Leaning back on the bench as Blade nudged the tablet to stop the way it was reading a newspaper article for him, I frowned at the conversation I’d been having online.
The Monster Network had a narrow focus and hadn’t been sure Blade was real since he’d never shown up online, but I’d gotten more information from the wider paranormal internet. “Everyone says the locals are nice and even the coven around here is supposed to be friendly and supportive.”
I was supposed to be a half-mage, half-human guy who’d never been introduced to the community as a kid, so I didn’t have to worry about how human I sounded on their site. It really wasn’t much harder than being a Bigfoot on the Monster Net but I had to complain about different things.
People only seemed to get suspicious when I didn’t complain.
It was kind of weird.
This time I’d just made it sound like I had friends who wanted to move to the area, and everyone online was used to me being chatty and nosy, so no one thought it was odd. They’d given me notes on everything from great local restaurants to a realtor who was human but in the know and could help just about anyone.
“You were mentioned a few times but most think The Beast of Bladenboro is a human myth that got out of control and the handful that seemed to understand the situation dropped comments that sound like what the ranger was saying.” No one I’d talked to online was old enough to have been alive whenit’d originally happened, but Blade seemed to have turned into a local cautionary tale for making sure everyone realized that anyone could have mental health struggles…and that when you added magic to the mix things could go very wrong.
The Monster Network guys kept an eye out for him but didn’t seem to understand he wasn’t the same kind of person as Mothman or the Bigfoot who ran the Monster Network.
“Oh, and because of your situation there is now a wider network of therapists and psychologists in the area that deal with the paranormal world.” I probably should stop saying monster around him just in case. “It’s still slow but they’re not far behind the human world when it comes to handling difficult situations.”
Depending on what group was talking…I wasn’t going to point out what the cat shifters online had said or about half the Bigfoot community.
He’d already been listening to old newspapers talk about the rumors around him, so I wasn’t going to point out anything else negative.
Some groups were more receptive to mental health help than others.
“That’s another point in believing the locals’ version of events. They talked about it in enough detail to look bad and for other people to want to learn a valuable lesson from it.” I just really wished I’d thought to ask the right questions online to begin with.
I’d met the people who thought it was an old wives’ tale to begin with and hadn’t thought to push deeper. It was a mistake I wouldn’t make again, but it’d allowed me to meet Blade, so I wasn’t going to feel too badly about it.
His soft rumbling sound was a thoughtful agreement, so I nodded toward his tablet. “We can do this the short way or the long way, but have you made up your mind yet?”
Blade nodded.
That was a good start.
“Before I ask any more questions, I’m going to remind you that I will not be angry with your decision, even if it goes all kinds of fucked up and we end up caged and experimented on.” Blade cocked his head before looking over at the TV. “Fine. Yes, that was basically the plot of a terrible movie but it fits.”
His chuff had me rolling my eyes. “Anything could go wrong, but the point is that I’m not going to be upset. We’re making the best choices we can and that’s all we can do.”
I’d repeated that enough when I thought about my family that I must’ve sounded believable because Blade licked my cheek.
He was sweet.
“Okay, do you want us to contact someone here like the coven or the ranger?” He might still be pissed, but if he was, Blade could eat him. “It’ll be?—”
Blade stopped me by licking my cheek again before he nodded very deliberately.
“I…I need you to tell me you’re doing this for selfish reasons because it can’t just be about me and that…that thing we’re not talking about yet.” Reaching for the tablet, I was a complete pain in the ass and turned on the typing program again.
When I had it positioned right, he huffed but focused on the screen.
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