Hunting Season

Revelations

God remembered everything the day Adira left him with her cellphone. He spent hours, looking over the wallpaper she had, confused by the memories it was bringing.

He had always had strange visions, but examining the three men on that screen made the hazy dreams all the more vivid.

Despite discovering who he was, God felt disconnected with his former self. The body he wore now fit him so well he found it hard to imagine he was ever human to begin with. Then, there was the matter of the two men- Conrad and Kevin.

They tugged at his heart strings for a reason he did not understand nor want to. He knew they were his friends before, but it was so hard to fit into Mitch.

Mitch...

Even his name made him want to rip everyone apart in frustration. He hated the cult who transformed him, and he hated it even more now that his once pure emotions were tainted by his blood lust and anger.

He cared for his companions, yet he never wished to affiliate with or see them again. He loved Adira, but the love he had for her was slowly turning into a deadly poison.

He would keep her around despite what everyone else wanted or did. He would kill a hundred men if he had to, just to make sure she stayed by his side. She had to stay by his side.

And then there was the matter of killing...

It felt so right ending a life that deserved it. God relished in devouring flesh and swallowing the sins of mankind. How could he ever have been human- those putrid lowlifes who gave a shit about no one but themselves.

God glanced behind him, watching a quiet Adira wrapped up in his jacket as she continued to doze off. She was soft. Softer than anything he had ever touched. She was much too delicate for him. The memories he had of his past life with her seemed foreign, like he was in someone else's body viewing every lovely moment behind unfamiliar eyes.

The sound of stirring caused God to glance back at Adira's sleeping body. He froze as she slowly lifted herself, her droopy eyes examining her surroundings in confusion. She seemed completely lost and unaware of anything until she met eyes with God. Both of their hearts paused in unison- an unsettling, awkward aura settling amongst them until Adira decided to break it.

"Where am I?" She stood up, pushing the jacket aside while avoiding God's intense stare. By how nonchalant yet unsure she was, he guessed she must have thought their last encounter was nothing but a dream...or to her a nightmare, perhaps.

"Right where I left you. You still have your little friend's clothes to change into." He struggled to speak, as if something was forbidding him from doing so. He wanted to spill everything he had uncovered about himself, in fact he wanted to for a while now. The only problem was she wouldn't believe him.

"I...," Adira paused, scrunching up her face as if trying to suppress some unwelcome thoughts, "Got to go."

"Again?" God questioned, exasperated by her constant desire to leave him.

"I'm leaving Whispering Winds-."

"You can't, Adira," God approached her, and he could tell she was starting to remember their passionate night. She couldn't even look him in the eyes.

"Look at me, please." The monster rose his large claw to the woman but she shrunk back, stumbling over the bag of clothes belonging to Devon. She stared at it a moment, wondering if she was abandoning not only Mitch and his friends, but her as well.

"Let me go," Adira almost growled the second she felt a heavy hand on her shoulder. She flinched when the being rose his voice, and his grip tightened.

"I said look at me."

His voice was pure bitterness, and when the humans terrified eyes shakily glanced upwards, she could tell something was definitely about to go down.

"I have to tell you something. You need to believe me." God paused, loosening his hold a little once he realized he was harming the woman he adored.

"Listen, Adira. I have been seeing things since I was brought here to this forest. Visions- no, memories. I didn't know what they were, but I've discovered things about myself with you."

Adira's eyes widened, unsure of what the hell the other was going on about. She was just afraid. Afraid and guilty for doing what she had done with that thing. It was almost like she was under a spell that night, causing her to feel so comfortable and familiar with the beast. Why was-.

A small gasp escaped her lips as she began to shake her head, reality slowly settling in as tears flooded into her eyes.

"What the fuck are you talking about."

It was time. Now was the moment.

"...I remember all three of us were out by a lake. We had our eyes set on a buck just across the waters. I had...my rifle aimed. Then they came," God let go of the woman, the tips of his nails gliding across her skin and leaving behind goosebumps.

"They ambushed us. That cult. One of us tried to run, but his foot got caught. They had to-." God paused as he saw everything now. Every single bit of memory was as it should have been, only it wasn't.

He was wrong.

How could he have been wrong?

He saw a young man, laying on the floor, screaming as he rose from the darkness. He saw the life drain it of him and flow into his own body. He became flesh and bone because of that human- and that human was now inside him. At least only bits and pieces- memories and emotions.

He was Mitch, but not in the way he thought he was. There was a ritual done that night, a ritual to bring him into Earth through a solid form. He had consumed Mitch, his first victim, and thus took part of him. The cult never told him because they knew the problems it would bring. He was starting to feel. And now his feelings for Adira all made sense.

He had killed Mitch, and now he had to tell his lover what he had done. The woman he himself had grown fond off.

"He is inside me. I...consumed him. He lives in my thoughts. His blood runs through my veins. I thought I was...well, I am sorry," And for once in his life, God felt truly and utterly horrible for killing a human.

Adira's face grew unusually pale as she almost swayed to one side. God tried to reach out and steady her but she yanked herself away. His fingers almost shook as he slipped into his jacket pocket. When Mitch died, he had taken the locket wrapped around the man's neck due to how beautiful it was. He had forgotten everything when he stepped out of that cabin. Now that his memories returned, it was only right to give it to her.

God pulled out a familiar locket, causing Adira's heart to freeze. No wonder she had felt the "attraction" to God. It was because of Mitch. She had never betrayed the one man she loved...he was always there.

"I understand if you-."

God was cut off by the sudden feeling of arms wrapping around him. He looked down, surprised to find Adira holding him as if for dear life. He didn't know what else to say, and in return held her gently as she began to sob.

There was no point in saving Mitch, Adira thought. He wouldn't come back home and watch movies or go on adventures with her anymore. Inside God was all that was left of her lover. It was the closest she would ever be to him. The hug wasn't for him, but for the man who gave him life, and God knew it.

God immediately shot his head up when he felt the uncomfortable sensation of something malevolent lingering around the area. He sniffed the air, pulling Adira behind him as his red eyes examined their surroundings.

Something was there, and when a distant unearthly screech broke the silence around them, God knew it had caught sight of them.