Run & Hide by Beatrix Hollow

7

“Ava, why don’t you come sit on my lap?” I asked with a cheeky smirk. The hotdog was halfway to her mouth when it stopped and she gave me a wide-eyed look. I could almost see the words in her head--is he joking, is he serious? I patted my knee and smiled wider. Her eyes drank in the expression.

Yes, Ava, be lulled by my face—come in close. Also, be careful because I bite. My tongue rolled over my teeth as I thought about her thighs. I’d love to sink my teeth into those—bury my face in, drag my tongue up, and chomp. Ava had such delicious thighs.

“Stop joking around,” Ava said with a nervous chuckle.

“I’m not. Come on, right here,” I said, brushing my hand over my crotch and gripping myself a moment. Her eyes widened in shock. Oops. “I’m cold,” I said with a wink. Her eyes swept around the camp like there might be someone to help guide her on what to do. She munched the rest of the hot dog while eyeing me. I kept patting my knee and smiling.

“I guess…” she finally said, sliding off her chair and coming over to me. Fuck yes. She sat on my knee and I wrapped my arms around her, pulling her in closer, until I could feel the cheeks of her ass pressing heavy on my cock. I loved the pressure. I wish she would grind in, bruise my balls with her weight.

“I don’t know how you’re cold,” she said, sucking in a sharp breath as I squeezed her tightly.

“You smell good,” I mumbled against her back, inhaling her.

“I do?” Her breathy voice made me excited. I ran my hands up and down her thighs while my face stayed pressed into her back. Up and down, my fingers inching higher each time. Her legs started to spread wider and I had to inhale a groan that tried to escape.

She leaned back against my chest. I looked over her shoulder at her body draped on mine. She was beautiful in the campfire’s light. My face turned into her neck and I closed my eyes, brushing my lips against her neck but not really kissing it. My fingers dragged back up her thighs and her legs spread wider, her breath hitching as my thumbs briefly slid below her shorts.

A little golf cart beeped at the front of our campsite. Ava startled, her legs closing back up. My teeth ground together and I nearly dropped Ava on her ass and chased the motherfucker through the woods. I could imagine him wailing in terror all through the mountains while I flashed my teeth behind him.

Ava peeled herself off my lap. I flung my head back and groaned as she walked over to the man. He was telling her about campfire stories by the time I came over. I put my arm over her shoulder and rubbed her arm.

“Campfire stories?” I asked in annoyance. The ranger nodded in excitement. He was a middle-aged man with wrinkles around his eyes.

Brandon and Matthias trotted up and listened in. Their moods seemed better now that evening had arrived. Good for them. They could take their good attitudes back to civilization and leave me all alone with Ava.

“I like to tell stories when there’s a nice group around,” the ranger continued. He had a thick country accent. He looked at us with hopeful eyes. I turned to Ava to see what she wanted to do. It was very unlikely she wanted to join in. Campfire stories sounded suspiciously like scary stories that involved everything she hated.

“Absolutely. We would all love to,” Brandon interjected quickly. He was smiling at Ava who looked annoyed. My eyebrows pinched.

“Great!” The ranger said with a broad smile, clearly excited. “Head on over then. The fire is already going at campsite number three. Bring your chairs and s’more supplies if you want them.” He began driving off. “Hope you like scary stories!” He called out and Ava made a face of disgust that was so cute I couldn’t help but laugh. I reached out and pulled her into a hug, kissing the top of her head.

“You can’t avoid the strange,” I said in entertainment. Brandon gave a mean smirk and trailed back to his camp to collect their chairs with Matthias. I frowned but let it go, going to collect our own chairs and s’more supplies.

“My mom might be pleased to hear the calling is still finding a way into my life even out in the woods,” Ava said sarcastically.

“Ah yes, the Luna family calling,” I said with affection, grabbing the folded chair from Ava and shoving it under my arm with my own.

“Yes,” she huffed. “Just the women though.”

“There are only women in your family. Sort of freaky.” I leaned in with a toothy smile that made her laugh. Ava had such nice laughs but I was ready to hear what other noises I could force out of her. Moans, groans, gasps, whimpers… screams.

We walked down the little street behind Brandon and Matthias, towards campsite three—closer to the front entrance.

“It’s all freaky. I’m the only normal one,” Ava said. I let out a sudden bark of laughter that made her jump and look at me in shock. She eyed me strangely as I tried to calm my dying laugh.

“Sorry, sorry. You’re completely right. You’re the normal one. Completely unaffected by the draw your family has on strange things.” Ava was hilarious sometimes. I gave a wide smile and bumped our shoulders playfully.

“Screw you,” she grumbled without any real anger as we arrived at campsite three. Oh Ava, if you only gave me the chance I certainly would screw you. Roughly, passionately, and with just enough restraint that you wouldn’t go running away screaming. Hopefully.

“Welcome!” The ranger said. The campground manager was here too, eating a s'more in the messiest way possible. Pieces of melted chocolate slipped from her graham crackers and landed on her knee. She wiped at it, smearing it around into a sticky mess as she tongued the s’more’s insides while eyeballing me suggestively. I grimaced.

She was strapped up with a gun and kept eyeing the trees like a nervous habit. I looked around too, feeling as if I needed to make sure we were alone as well.

We all settled in. Ava bounced in her chair as she pushed a marshmallow on a stick and got to roasting. I reached out and gripped the edge of her chair, tugging it as close as possible. Brandon was a few feet to her right, slumped in his chair with his arms crossed. Matthias was on the other side of him, mopping his brow with his shirt while glancing at his phone with a frown.

The family we'd seen earlier didn’t show up and I realized we would be the only victims. By now the sun couldn’t be seen and the sky was starting to turn purple.

“Y’all know about the murders here?” The ranger asked, instantly dispersing my wandering thoughts.

“Here?” Ava asked, pointing down. He nodded, a sly smile curling up his face. She shot me a look and I shook my head and gave a huffed laugh. He was making things up.

“Every year at this very campground at least one person goes missing. Sometimes it can be as many as five,” the ranger said.

Brandon and Matthias sat up straighter, looking more interested now. My eyes slid to Ava, enjoying the warm golden glow of the fire on her skin. If we pressed our bodies together I bet I’d be able to feel the heat lingering.

She clutched my hand and lowered her marshmallow to nearly touch the red coals. I watched as it flared with a brief flash of flame before dying into an ashy husk. Was she worried? I didn’t want her to worry. She should feel safe. I was right here. I threaded our fingers and pulled her arm closer. Then I shot a nasty glare at the ranger who ignored me.

“Bullshit,” Brandon said.

“It’s true,” the campground manager spoke up, aggressively licking chocolate from her arm. “People go missing every year in the summer.” Her eyes slid to the forest again, scanning. She really seemed to be looking for something.

“Ever hear of the Mothman monster?” The ranger asked us. My body tightened in response to his words. Ava noticed and looked at me questioningly.

“Have you?” She asked.

“No,” I responded apathetically with a blank face. Everyone was looking at me so I decided to try again. “I haven’t,” I said with inflection and a small smile. I brought Ava’s hand up to my mouth and kissed the back. She sucked in a little breath and averted her eyes quickly in embarrassment. I hoped she looked just as embarrassed when I crawled between her legs and fucked her. I imagined pulling her hands from her face, not letting her hide just how embarrassed she was to have me inside her.

“He’s famous,” the ranger started. “A legend that came from these very woods. Matter of fact, not far down the road is Point Pleasant. Every year they hold a big festival all about Mothman.”

“That sounds cool,” Ava said, forcing a little smile.

“It’s to inform people about what's out there. The creature with glowing red eyes and wings twenty feet long,” the ranger said, throwing his arms out wide. I nearly barked out a laugh but Ava nervously slid her attention to the forest line. She squeezed the blood flow from my hand so I brushed my thumb in circles over her thumb.

“Some say he’s the devil. A furred man with taloned feet and the pits of hell burning in his eyes.” The ranger's dark eyes were wide. I could see the flames of our campfire reflected in them, emphasizing his point about the monster. At some point, he’d gone from easy going to serious. His eyes dug into us as if begging us to deny his claims.

“People have seen him?” Ava asked.

“Oh yes,” the ranger said, nodding. “Lots of people. Most literature likes to think this all started in the sixties but Mothman sightings have been going on since people existed in the area.” A monster story, how ironic. If only these humans knew what was sitting around the fire with them. A smile spread over my face.

“Mothman lives in these very woods, hidden closeby and waiting,” the ranger continued. “Hungry. Blood is always drenched around his mouth because he is always feeding. Always eating. Sometimes the animals of the woods aren’t enough. Sometimes he wants human flesh.”

My smile flipped into a frown. It was always the same with these stories. The monster was a human eating beast, practically a rabid animal. My eyes darted to Ava, she was looking at my frown with curiosity.

Brandon and Matthias were listening in while sharing a bag of gummy worms in neon colors. They looked mildly entertained.

“Every summer campers come to these woods. Every summer some go missing. Sure, we say they got lost in the woods or fell in the river but the bodies are never found. There is a cave somewhere out there,” he pointed into the shadowy woods. “A cave filled with bones. Bones of settlers and explorers from hundreds of years ago. And at the top, bones of campers freshly picked clean.” I rolled my eyes.

“That’s metal,” Brandon commented with a smile before throwing a gummy worm in his mouth.

The fire made a crack noise and something scurried loudly in the woods nearby. Ava clawed at my shoulder, looking as if she wanted to climb right in my lap. Please do. The campground manager gave a throaty laugh at her reaction.

“What was that noise?” Ava asked, almost trembling as she stretched out the neck of my shirt. No one answered and that only seemed to make her more worried.

The ranger leaned in and talked lower as if fearing someone… or something was listening.

“Mothman is a bad omen,” he said. Ava shivered and I squeezed her hand. She hissed in pain and my eyes widened in surprise. When I opened up our hands I saw her splinter bandaged up. Was it still bothering her? Why didn’t she tell me? What if it was infected? Maybe we should drive to an emergency clinic tonight, get it checked out just in case.

“Why is he a bad omen?” She asked the ranger.

“He hides deep in the caverns of the old Appalachia. Two great big demon eyes blinking out, seeing everything and feeling when something bad is going to happen. In the late sixties, he stretched out from his hiding place, ran people off the road, chased them down, terrorized them. The entire area grew paranoid and afraid. Neighbors began turning against each other, no one went out after dark.”

“He left them alive though?” She asked. I twisted her hand around to get a better look at the bandaged area. I couldn’t see any red skin. The urge to peel the bandaid off and look at it was strong but I’d wait until we got back to camp.

“Yes ma'am, he wasn’t looking for food. He was warning us.”

“Of what?” Matthias asked with a sigh. He seemed to just want the story over with so he could leave. He was constantly scratching at his collection of bug bites and mopping the sweat from his forehead.

“Warning about the bridge collapse,” the ranger said, his lips tugging down at the corner. He leaned back, shaking his head. “Silver Bridge was built in the twenties. For forty years it was reliable until one night it wasn’t.”

“What happened?” Matthias asked, looking more concerned now as he ignored his scratched raw skin. I could even see a little blood on his fingernails from how he’d broken the skin trying to relieve the itch.

“It was rush hour, people traveling from work to see their families. Cars were loaded up on the bridge. It was a disaster. Forty-six people never made it home. Two bodies were never found.”

“But what does that have to do with a monster?” I asked, annoyed. They blamed monsters for everything. “It was the bridge.”

“I’m not sure anyone blames him.” The ranger scratched at his jaw “But no one wants to see him flying in the skies. It means disaster is coming. That people are going to die.” I rolled my eyes then looked down at Ava. She was looking at my rude reaction. I swallowed then smiled shyly as if embarrassed by how I just acted.

It had grown fully dark as we folded our chairs up and grabbed the s’more supplies. When we started to walk off I eyed the trees around us. Ava suddenly grabbed my arm, wrapping her fingers around the bicep and squeezing, her eyes darting around everywhere.