4. Just My Luck

FOUR

JUST MY LUCK

Faktil quo Laus

What was that? Faktil's gaze swung to the left.

It looked like a large fish had darted past him, though that was probably wishful thinking. He'd been waiting in the bay for the fish to return, but again he was having difficulty, which was surprising and frustrating. Surely, he hadn't lost all his old skills while serving in the guard.

Whoa. A wave of nausea hit him from the rapid head movement.

The root vegetable he ate was starting to disagree with him. His mouth itched and his stomach rebelled. He assumed since the human had the vegetable drying by the fire it was safe to eat. Apparently, he'd been wrong.

That's what I get for stealing. He grimaced. Cadi were hearty, so the discomfort would pass, probably quicker than the shame of stealing from the little female. But if I catch a big fish, it will more than make up for what I took. At least that was his hope.

He was about to dip below the water to get a better look when there was movement on the beach.

It's her. Swiftly he ducked deeper into the water, up to his eyes, not wanting to frighten her.

The fish and his gurgling stomach were instantly forgotten as the little human walked across the beach. Briefly he noted the green bird with a red face as it flew from her shoulder to the nearby rock. It was like the one who'd watched him climb the tree. But his focus quickly returned to her. The dainty female was as stunning as he remembered, with her sun-kissed cheeks and dusky, pink lips. She wore a sweet yet inquisitive expression as her dark eyes casually scanned the bay.

You are a beautiful little flower.

He ducked farther underwater when her gaze panned his way. He wanted to try introducing himself again, but not until he had something to repay her for what he'd taken. Giving her a gift would also bridge the language barrier he still had to overcome.

His eyes widened when she began peeling off her long-sleeved white shirt.

What is she doing?! He quickly looked away as she disrobed.

He wanted nothing more than to see the gorgeous female in all her natural beauty, but since he was spying on her, it wasn't right. Except, he apparently wasn't as honorable as he'd like to believe. He brushed off the momentary nausea from the sudden head movement, and whatever it was that bumped his thigh, as he looked back at the captivating human.

Disappointingly, she wasn't nude beneath the white shirt. She wore a smaller, tight, green shirt. Although, the way it hugged the dip of her waist and the swell of her lush breasts, he couldn't complain. His inner beast stirred at the sight. Cadi females weren't nearly as endowed or curvaceous as humans. His fingers itched with the urge to palm her full mounds.

A lump formed in Faktil's throat and he swallowed hard when she unlatched the waistband of her tan breeches. Even clothed her full round bottom teased him.

Yes! he groaned, his shaft kicking as he watched in anticipation.

Abruptly something clamped down on his calf, sending shooting pain radiating up his leg.

"T…" he cursed into the water then slammed his mouth shut as water rushed in, though not before choking.

Torment! There was no way the female didn't just notice that. And what in perdition attacked me?

Faktil punched the creature attempting to tear the flesh from his leg, as he swiftly ducked beneath the water to see what it was. The gray fish latched onto his leg was unlike anything he'd ever seen. Granted he only ever hunted the rivers and lakes back home, so he was clueless about Earth fauna. The lithe beast was as long as he was tall, had stripes, and an upright dorsal fin. He punched it again in the gills and this time its jagged teeth unlocked from his leg. Except the underwater predator was hardly deterred and came for him a second time. This was the big fish that had been circling him and he'd foolishly ignored it.

Son of a metcor! Faktil lunged for the beast beneath the water.

Naomi

Naomi was pulling down her pants when a commotion in the water caught her attention. Amidst the frothy churning water, she spotted a dorsal fin .

"The sharks are hunting in the bay. We better stick close to the beach," she commented to Bandit as she sat on the rock and tugged her capris over her sandals.

She left her pants and shirt where they wouldn't get wet and headed to a rock thick with limpets and other shellfish. There were several tide pools here and the sea creatures thrived in the water trapped in its numerous valleys. Bandit knew the spot and was already waiting for her.

Naomi fisted the rock she used to knock the shellfish loose and was about to start harvesting the conical limpets when her gaze shifted back to the splashing. Some sort of battle persisted in the bay.

"Oh, I don't want to see if the shark has a seal." She cringed and looked away.

It was the circle of life, though she didn't like witnessing it. She couldn't very well complain, though, since she was about to kill and eat a sea creature herself.

"Thank you," she murmured and whacked the first limpet loose from the rock.

She had collected a few of the shellfish and bagged them when the commotion drew her again.

Is that an injured seal? she wondered as a dark head started to emerge from the water.

Very quickly that notion was dispelled as a blood-red face breached the surface. A chill worked down her spine, freezing her to the spot. She wasn't imagining this, was she?

It's the oni. Her heart sped up, the fear she felt this morning returning ten-fold.

Her gaze was riveted to him, and time seemed to stand still while he emerged from the water. It had to be a demon. As red as his skin was, this wasn't simply a man who was badly sunburned. The sneer on his face exposed his sharp fangs and his long coal-black hair was a wild, tangled mess. He was exactly like the oni from those Japanese handscrolls.

Maybe not exactly like the myth. He didn't appear to have horns, but his hair could be hiding them.

He has a tail! Her eyes widened farther. Oni didn't have tails, but the Christian version of demons did. W hat the hell else could he be?!

The demon was larger than life, or any man she knew, with broad shoulders, thick corded arms, and mountainous pecs, covered in scrolling black tattoos. Set after set of abs were revealed as he emerged from the water. She was impressed by the sight and actually wondered if it was going to be a six or eight pack, until she recalled the stories about demons eating flesh. This oni was real and he was coming ashore.

Hide, idiot! Naomi's mind screamed. The demon was a dozen yards away, and would see her standing by the rocky outcropping any minute now.

"Bad Pig!" Bandit screamed, just as she was about to duck behind the rock.

Two thoughts crossed her mind simultaneously. God, Bandit has awful timing, and, this is the bad pig Bandit was trying to warn me about. Except they both took a backseat to her mounting fear. Her heart froze, so did the rest of her, and she didn't hide in time as the oni's angry dark gaze swung toward her, pinning her to the spot.

The demon lunged, reaching out for her, and that was all she needed to break her terrified stupor. Naomi turned and ran for her life .

Faktil quo Laus

Wait! Faktil was about to say when the female turned and ran. Instead of anything coherent or articulate coming out of his mouth, he vomited. He vomited!

Wrestling with the giant fish expended what little energy he had, and all the tumbling underwater made him even more nauseous. Knowing the female was nearby, he hadn't wanted to simply pop out of the water, but the damn beast with all those sharp teeth kept coming for him. When his blood attracted more of the beasts, he had to choose between becoming a meal or the human's sensibilities.

Gripping his knees in exhaustion, Faktil stared at his feet in disgust, watching the tide wash away the remnants of the root vegetable that clearly disagreed with him.

Thank the goddess. The female had already left and didn't witness his humiliation.

Faktil grimaced as he noticed the blood running down his calf. The bite was worse than he realized. He could count every one of the damn fish's teeth from where they tore into his flesh.

I guess it's fortunate I can walk. He groaned and started to hobble farther onto the beach. He needed to get to someplace with less sand to deal with this.

"Bad Pig!"

The loud squawk startled him. His gaze shot to the female's avian companion. This time he understood what the bird shouted at him.

It's calling me a bad animal. His eyes widened.

Faktil was offended at first, but then his gaze went to where the female disappeared in fear—for the second time today. He then looked back at the intelligent bird who was glaring at him .

"You are probably right," he acknowledged, then coughed from his sore throat.

The bird's feathers ruffled indignantly then it took off, following after the female.

This is going well.

Faktil limped farther ashore, mentally cataloging all that had happened since crash landing. He'd tried to be positive, but that was becoming increasingly difficult.

The planet hates me. That was the only conclusion he could draw. On the positive side, at this rate, I'll be dead by nightfall.

Faktil paused when he nearly tread on the little human's white shirt and tan pants.

I don't have fish to give her, but maybe she'll appreciate it if I return her clothes.

As he bent over, a bout of dizziness struck him. Faktil managed to grab her clothes, though. Again, he caught sight of his calf and the blood still running down it, staining the sand.

That's not good at all.

His gaze shifted to her clothing in his hand. What else could he do, he was bleeding profusely?

"Sorry," he groaned. Apparently, he wouldn't be returning her clothes in the same condition he'd found them in. He was striking out everywhere.

Faktil wrapped her white shirt around his injured calf, tying the arms tight to staunch the bleeding. With stars twinkling in his vision, which didn't bode well, Faktil continued to follow the female and her bird. He hated that she was afraid of him, but he really did need her help, now more than ever .

Naomi

"Oh god, oh god, oh god." Naomi's hands flailed as she ran down the path.

It was hard to believe, but that red devil was real, as real as she was. She wasn't losing it, and she wasn't about to let some demon boil the flesh from her bones or suck her eyeballs from her skull.

Naomi paused, her fear doubling. The distinctive flapping of her feathered friend was absent. The crazy parrot hadn't followed when she ran for her life.

"Bandit," she cried as she spun around, confirming her fear. "Oh, no."

Despite her trepidation she started running back toward the beach. She rounded the curve in the path that bypassed one of the large banyan trees.

"Shit!" she barked when she nearly got a face full of beak and feathers.

"Shit!" Bandit mimicked.

"Crap, I thought the oni got you." She grabbed Bandit, spun, and started running back to the cabin.

"Bad Pig," he hissed.

"You got that right," she panted.

They reached the cabin and raced inside. She released Bandit and turned to spy out the window in the door, her gaze riveted to the path coming from the beach. She didn't see the demon, but he knew where the cabin was.

"What should we do?" she asked, fogging up the glass.

If Obaachan were here, she'd toss some dried beans at him, like tradition dictated.

"But I don't have beans and I don't think that's going to work in the case of a real live oni," she mumbled.

She had to do something, though. She locked the door for the first time ever, but the giant oni could simply break through any of the windows. Naomi pulled away from the door and looked around her one-room cabin. Her gaze landed on the poker sitting next to the wood burning stove. She raced over, grabbed the iron rod, and ran back to the window.

"Storm," Bandit hissed, sitting on the nearby window sill.

She was about to correct the bird, but sure enough, the sky was getting dark, fast. It reflected her grim mood as they kept watch, though the demon was probably responsible for the sudden shift. The rain started up then swiftly grew heavier. Lightning ricocheted across the sky followed by a loud boom that rattled the windows and her bones. Her breath sped up and she cast a worried glance toward Bandit. This was quickly becoming the perfect setting for a horror movie. Another crack of lightning lit up the compound and she jumped at what the flash revealed. The blood-red demon was slowly stalking out of the forest.

"He's here," she whispered to Bandit and gripped the poker tighter.

Who am I kidding? What am I going to do with a poker against something that shouldn't even exist? She stared into the blinding rain, squinting, trying to follow the demon.

I died and this is hell. It has to be. Being tortured with the loss of everything she knew was just the warm up. It was the appetizer before the oni came to do the real torturing.

Another flash and she flinched. The oni was passing the firepit. He was halfway to the cabin.

"Fuck!"

What am I going to do? She couldn't fight him. He was twice her size. How is he so big? The demon was as tall as a basketball player with shoulders as broad as a linebacker. He could pick me up by my ankles and split me like a wishbone. Her knees knocked, threatening to give out. As thick as his arms are, he could punch right through my chest and rip my heart out.

Naomi backed away from the door, realizing that any moment now, he'd come bashing through it. Her canvas bag thumped against her thigh and she nearly leapt out of her skin. She completely forgot it was there. Quickly she tugged it off and tossed it aside.

Where can I go? It's not like there were a lot of places to hide in the cabin.

"Shit! Why did I come here?" she lamented as her eyes darted around the room.

"Shit!" Bandit reiterated, flapping around the room and landing on the bed.

Her gaze went from him to the space beneath the bed.

"Under the bed. Good idea." Naomi got down on her knees and rolled underneath the bed. It was a tight fit, but she wasn't about to complain. "Get under here," she hissed at Bandit.

Bandit hopped onto the floor and waddled beneath the bed. She shifted the poker to her other hand and hugged her feathered friend close.

"Shh," she whispered, watching the door in trepidation.

Faktil quo Laus

Of course it's raining.

Every moment was proving worse than the last, so it wasn't really a surprise that the sky opened up, adding to his misery. Faktil lurched across the clearing toward the cabin, pain radiating up his leg with each step. The rain pelted him harder the farther he went. It felt like he was being slapped down as it hit him in torrents. Everything was dim and blurry, but he didn't know if it was all the rain cascading down his face or if his vision was failing him. Faktil brushed his soaked hair out of his face, though it didn't help.

He slipped in the mud as he neared the steps of the cabin. Agony shot through his injured leg when he tried to catch himself. With a groan he hit the muddy ground. At this point he wasn't above calling out for help, except the little female wouldn't understand him. Also, his throat was sore and swollen, which was truly starting to worry him. If it got any worse, he wouldn't be able to breathe. Faktil reached toward the door, hoping to wave to the little female for help, but her face was no longer pressed to the window. His hand dropped in exhaustion.

I'll just rest here for a moment. He laid his head on the bottom step.

Naomi

Dear god, what did I do to deserve this?! Naomi questioned, tears streaming down her cheeks as they hid under the bed.

She thought she'd been a decent human being. She hadn't committed any major crimes, unless smoking weed counted. She gave to charity and attempted to be genuinely kind even when people were assholes. There was also that one time she braved getting hit by cars to rescue a little bird huddling stunned on the centerline of the road. So, what had she done to earn this? Except in the back of her mind, she knew the sin she'd committed.

Lightning struck along with a thunderous boom and she clutched Bandit closer. It lit up the front windows but revealed nothing. The demon wasn't lurking on the porch like she expected.

Why is he drawing this out? Surely the oni would've made it to the cabin by now. Is this just another way to torture me? Was this some twisted game of cat and mouse?

"Screw this bullshit," she growled after waiting another few minutes.

She refused to entertain the oni by giving him the pleasure of hiding. He was a supernatural creature who could end this game at any point.

"Shit!" Bandit squawked in agreement, sounding equally put out.

Though her words were brave, she was more hesitant coming out of her hiding place. Bandit hopped out, and being the braver one at the moment, flapped over to the window.

"Bad Pig," he trilled in warning as he looked outside.

"So, he is waiting for us to come out," she hissed. Was this some sort of demon game of tag, where she was safe in the cabin, like it was home base?

She crept over to the window and peered out. Her brow furrowed, spotting the oni laid out at the bottom of the porch stairs. It looked like he'd plopped down and decided to take a nap. Granted it was the perfect place to wait for her, but why didn't he take a few more steps onto the porch, where he'd be out of the rain? Her head tilted in confusion.

"Those are my pants." The soaked capris she'd abandoned on the beach were clenched in his giant fist.

If he'd just moved his hand to the right, he could've tucked her pants under his head, like a makeshift pillow, instead of the hard wooden step.

"What the hell?!" She glanced at Bandit, utterly perplexed by what she was seeing. This was weird. The whole freaky scenario was just weird. "Is he seriously sleeping there, in the pouring rain?"

"Bad Pig ni ni." Bandit bobbed his head yes.

She panned the behemoth demon. He had long black hair that hid his face, and she couldn't tell if he was looking back at her through the soaked tangled locks. He was damn near naked except for a kilt. Every oni she'd seen in pictures wore a loincloth, like some sort of primitive neanderthal, so the kilt was close enough. She shivered at the sight of the prehensile tail snaking from beneath the kilt, further proof the giant was inhuman. Her gaze paused on his legs.

"Is that my shirt tied around his calf?" Her gaze narrowed.

She almost missed it because the once white shirt now blended in with his blood-red skin.

"He's injured!" Naomi gasped as the realization registered and she was instantly confused.

Can onis be injured? It didn't make sense that a supernatural being could be hurt. Isn't it the one that is supposed to do the hurting?

He's clearly hurt, though. He'd used her shirt as a bandage and it was soaked with his blood.

"He's not sleeping, he's passed out," she murmured.

Her frown deepened, recalling another of Obaachan's tales. It was a story about a red oni who wanted to make friends with humans. There was also the belief that some onis were friends and family who returned to guard their villages and ancestral homes.

Naomi nibbled her lip as she debated doing something that was probably very foolish.