Page 19 of Hollow

“No, just realistic.” Jack ran a hand over his bare chest. “But I can appreciate all the monster lovers out there who think I’m sexy.”

“People think monsters are sexy?”

“Yes and no.” Jack rocked his head side to side. “Most people think I’m just a human dressed up as a monster, which to them is sexy.”

“So, if they thought you were a real monster, they would no longer find you to hold sex appeal?”

Jack paused, trying not to laugh. There was something so endearing about Dimitri’s questions, about the way he worded things in English. “Hmmm, I mean, if you find yourself in the right comment sections, you will learn there are a lot of folks hungry for monsters.”

“My word, they want to eat us?” Dimitri appeared quite perplexed. “I have seen humans commit many atrocities, but I had no idea they feasted upon our kind.”

“Oh my God,” Jack said with a laugh. “Not eating us, exactly. They’re hungry in a different kind of way.”

“I do not know of these other hungers. Can you explain?”

“They wanna get with monsters.”

“They wish to meet us?” Dimitri shook his head. “I would not like that.”

“No, like sexy times get with us.” Jack winked suggestively.

“Ooooh, they wish to fuck us?”

Jack snorted. “Well, more like they wanna get fucked by us.”

“I see. Quite the interesting prospect, but unlike my father, I have never fancied humans much in the way of intimacy. Too breakable.”

“Yeah, doubt the monster fucker crowd sees themselves that way.” Jack’s cheeks burned, and he found himself even more grateful for the pumpkin over his head. “Let’s just say there is a huge obsession with monster cock.”

Dimitri’s eyes bulged.

“You look like a literal deer in headlights,” Jack said with a laugh as he pulled out his phone.

Dimitri didn’t respond; he merely kept his green eyes fixed on his shaky reflection.

“It’s not recording. That’s just the camera.”

Dimitri didn’t say anything, merely stared at himself.

“Here you go.” Jack turned off his phone. “Camera shy, I take it?”

“I am unused to such boldness in front of society,” Dimitri explained. “My father taught me the importance of solitude.”

“Introverts unite,” Jack said with a ‘woo’. “Or I suppose…not? That would defeat the purpose of solitude.”

“He believed remaining hidden, unknown, is what kept cryptids preserved.” Dimitri stared off stoically. “Though his belief did not serve him well in the end, and it has not served the one hundred and twenty-seven monsters I have encountered any good either.”

Jack gasped, shocked the Hearst family had hunted so many cryptids over the decades. He wondered how many they hunted down before Dimitri; he wondered if, without the Leshy, they would have trouble tracking monsters. Mostly, he found himself saddened by how quickly Dimitri mentioned the kill count. He must have many of their deaths ingrained in his mind. Such a horrifying existence. Jack hoped he could help Dimitri make new memories to mend the wounds of his old life.

“I played a role in all their deaths.”

“You were forced by those hunters, by that family.”

“No.” Dimitri shamefully shook his head. “The Hearsts presented me a choice, and I picked survival. I was not forced.”

“Choosing to live means you were forced,” Jack said, wishing he could find the words to explain how cruel a decision they put on Dimitri.

He wanted to elaborate on how no one should have to face such choices. He wanted to offer comfort with words, but Jack feared he might say the wrong thing.