Page 11 of Hollow

“That is true. This place is quite potent. More so than even the oldest trees of my former home.” Dimitri took a deep breath, seeming to absorb some of the magic in the air. “But I understand the rules and respect the privacy of other cryptids.”

“Huh?” Jack blinked a bit, confused until he recalled that most monsters preferred solitude. Most monsters weren’t like Jack. “Stay, I insist. I enjoy company. I mean, you’d probably be more chill than my demon dog.”

“I could not impose; you have already done more than I could have dreamed.” Dimitri gestured to the corpses strewn about.

“Well, if you refuse to stay, that would be offensive,” Jack teased, continuing to help hold Dimitri upright. “I mean, I went and slaughtered like a dozen guys for you. It’d be totally rude if you just bailed.”

Dimitri snorted.

“Please, come inside, rest, recover,” Jack insisted. “It’d be a favor to me. I couldn’t send you off half-dead and bleeding out.”

Dimitri stayed silent for a long time, contemplating. There was a stillness to him that made Jack antsy. He didn’t really know anyone quite as quiet as Dimitri, and naturally, Jack desperately wanted to fill the silence with idle chitchat. But he resisted the urge, though his body fidgeted the more he remained quiet.

“I shall stay and recover at your insistence, but I will do my part to make myself useful while I am here.”

“Well, I hate folding laundry and loading the dishwasher and really cleaning of any kind, so I won’t say no to a little help around the house.” Jack grinned big and wide, filling his pumpkin head, then he turned to lead Dimitri into his small cottage.

Dimitri had to duck in order to enter through the doorway, and prepared to stay low until the inside of the home revealed itself to be quite large.

“Spatial magics,” Jack explained like it was the most normal thing in the world to step into a giant ten-bedroom home. “My mother always called it her little dream chateau.”

“Quite the witch,” Dimitri replied, staring up at the high-vaulted ceilings. “Where is she now?”

“Off wandering the road of life somewhere.” Jack shrugged, making his way through the home and giving Dimitri an impromptu tour. “It’s been a while since I had a roommate. I mean, unless you count Astaroth, but he’s more like an unwanted house guest, though I suppose it’s better he’s here instead of inciting the apocalypse or some shit.”

“Roommate?” Dimitri asked inquisitively. His accent or his tone made him sound confused, and Jack found that cute.

“Or you can be my unwilling houseguest,” Jack said with a chuckle. “Whichever you prefer.”

Dimitri smiled at Jack with the softest, gentlest expression, and that filled Jack with all the hope in the world. It’d been quite some time since he could be himself around another person. Sure, his followers knew he was a monster, but no one really believed it. Jack wanted to get to know Dimitri, learn all he could about this half-human, half-Leshy who’d been liberated from foul human hunters.

“Oh, shit,” Jack sighed.

“What?”

“I just realized I gotta deal with all those corpses.” Jack huffed. “I swear, the one downside to murder. The cleanup.”

“I can help you dispose of them.”

“Nonsense. Relax, maybe wash off some of the blood,” Jack said. “Try making yourself at home. Check out the rooms, pick whichever one you want. Except for the last one down the hall to the right, that’s my room, or the one upstairs beside the library. That’s Astaroth’s space, and he will bite you if you cross the threshold.”

“I see.” Dimitri tilted his head. “You have a library.”

“Yeah, tons of books.”

“Nice.”

“Read whatever you want,” Jack said, making his way outside. “Seriously, relax.”

Jack watched as Dimitri lost himself to the wonder of the dream chateau.

CHAPTER FOUR

Over the next few days, Dimitri did his best to take it easy and recover. Still, despite all the safeguards Jack assured him of within the dream chateau and the powerful magics in the woods outside, Dimitri struggled to drop his guard.

“Aaahh,” Dimitri shouted, awaking after only a few hours of rest with his claws drawn and his fanged teeth bared.

Even though he’d witnessed Jack slaughter the hunters with ease, even though he knew logically he could sleep without fear of waking up chained in captivity again, Dimitri still woke covered in sweat and filled with terror. Every time he dozed off, he awoke in a breathless panic like clockwork.