Page 9 of Hollow

Yes, they were vacant black orbs, but Dimitri found the shadows held such animated emotion. It was an interesting trick that he hoped to learn more about soon.

“I am Dimitri.”

“Well, Dimitri,” Jack said, tilting his head. “Care to explain who the heck those hunters were and why they were dragging you with them to get lil ole me?”

Dimitri didn’t know where to begin, but he found himself eager to divulge all he knew. It had been so long since he spoke with another creature like himself, spoke with someone who didn’t harbor disgust in their voice and hate in their eyes.

CHAPTER THREE

Dimitri was a gorgeous giant of a man. He was easily a foot taller than Jack. Well, maybe not quite. The top of Jack’s pumpkin stem barely reached Dimitri’s chin, though. Still, it was hard to gauge his height with those massive antlers that added an even more domineering appearance to the Leshy.

Though Jack had only ever encountered a handful of Leshys in his life, none looked quite so human. Dimitri had fairly normal flesh. No bark or wired hairs. His face, a very cute one at that, seemed mostly human. No large snout or protruding bones. Aside from the antlers themselves. But usually, Leshys had entire jaws composed of corpselike flesh and bone.

The only features that really stood out to Jack were Dimitri’s clawed hands and feet, his antlers, and, of course, the glowing green eyes. They held this stoic somberness to them. Jack could lose himself in such beautiful emeralds.

“You’re not like other Leshys, are you?” Jack grimaced, and his shadowy expression mimicked the look on his enchanted pumpkin.

Definitely the downside to his shadow abilities. They acted on instinct and broadcasted his hidden facial expressions on a big pumpkin billboard.

“I just mean, um, well, like you look different,” Jack said with a twinge of anxiety. “Not like bad different. Good different. But not really good, because that implies other Leshy look bad. Which they don’t. I love how Leshy look. Not in a lecherous way. In an awesome way. Because they’re awesome. You’re awesome, too. I just think all people of all looks are amazing and wonderful and awesome and should be proud of it.”

Jack managed to silence himself momentarily as he gulped nervously. Dimitri’s blank stare down at him in absolute silence only further fueled the nervous monster into rambling more.

“OhDearGodInHell, you think one of those hunters could try shooting me down again so I can stop babbling?”

Dimitri burst into laughter, loud and boisterous, completely opposite of how he appeared, how he carried himself. It was as if the weight of the world poured out of Dimitri’s mouth. His joy echoed throughout the woods, and Jack sighed with relief.

“You are a funny little man,” Dimitri said, still laughing. “I am half-human.”

“Really? Fascinating.” Jack nodded, thinking about all the monster fuckers who followed him online professing their love for an untamed man.

Guess it turned out some folks really did enjoy rolling in the sheets with beasts. Dimitri was living proof of that.

“You wished to know why the hunters were here,” Dimitri said, his accent becoming more captivating with every new word he uttered in English. “I cannot say for certain. They do not share information with me aside from tracking targets for the Hearst family.”

As Dimitri continued speaking, the chains coiled around his body rattled.

“I imagine you were a quarry intended to be detained and returned to the estate for examination and extermination. That is all they do with cryptids, monsters, spirits. Really, any creature they can later put on display for a private party.”

“And they only ever kept you?” Jack asked, raising a hand to touch one of the chains wrapped across Dimitri’s chest.

When the Leshy recoiled, Jack paused.

“Not the only one. I am useful for tracking; others are useful for whatever the Hearst family requires.” Dimitri shrugged. “It was a rare occasion to see other monsters. And even then, it was usually just for interrogation or experimentation. Mostly, they are replaced and do not last as long as me.”

“How long were you with the Hearst family?” Jack swallowed hard because that question sounded like Dimitri was a guest. “How long did they keep you trapped?”

Jack knew Leshys were immortal forest spirits who seemingly lived as long as the land itself, but he wondered if the same applied to a half-Leshy.

“Fifty years, I believe.”

Jack’s eyes widened. Considering Dimitri looked like he could pass for his twenties, it was likely his human half didn’t detract from the longevity of his Leshy bloodline.

“That’s awful,” Jack whispered. “I’m so sorry.”

“It was not your doing.” Dimitri’s somber expression returned, his face fell into this hidden sorrow. “It was my own foolishness that led to my capture.”

“No, it was their hate,” Jack said, grinding his teeth beneath his pumpkin mask.