More Than Human

Chapter 16: A Goat and A Fish

As the rest of the Vaqueros and the team piled out of the vehicles at the safehouse, unloading equipment and checking each other for injuries, Alejandro was taking Rudy and jogging down the path to the river. He hated how limp and lifeless he felt. Especially when he could feel the life and energy he had given coursing through his own veins.

That wasn't their dynamic.

Alejandro fed and protected Rudy. Rudy wasn't supposed to have to do this. Alejandro would never ask for his tears. And he had been so weak already when he had first broken out of his cell. By using his tears, he had nearly killed himself to save Alejandro's life.

He couldn't help but think back on when they had first met each other.

Alejandro had been slinking through the forest. In his teenage years, he liked to be in his other form much more often. Things in his life were going quite well, albeit a touch dull. He went to school, he had a girlfriend, everything was about as normal as it could get for a teenager in Las Almas. Even if he was a chupacabra.

He had been trying to find a creature to drain and shift back as it was getting quite late into the night. In fact, the sun would be rising soon. But he had gotten a little sidetracked. His nose and ears picked up some strange sounds and smells. He was drawn to them, pulled almost subconsciously in their direction by an invisible tether.

He arrived at a little clearing in the woods, hearing a group of harsh voices talking with each other. He kept himself concealed in the shadows of the forest so that he could see what was going on. He could tell based on the large group that there was some sort of transaction happening. And it didn't seem particularly legal.

His eyes flitted over to something in the bed of the nearest truck. He felt his eyes widen at the sight of it.

A mermaid.

A siren.

They were trapped in a small coffin sized box of water. The sides were clear allowing anyone to get a good look. Alejandro had been entranced by the sight of its tail, of its scales. The shimmered and shifted color in the moonlight. The siren looked a little lethargic. Resting on the bottom of its case. It had a muzzle strapped across its head to keep its mouth shut, and chains wrapped tightly around its wrists.

Alejandro had to fight down a low growl at the sight. He listened in to what the men were saying.

"Where'd you even find that thing?"

"In the ocean. Obviously, ​​estúpido." Another muttered.

"Sí, lo entiendo. But I meant, how were you able to catch it?" The other hissed.

"Sirens are silly things. They're vicious, territorial, dangerous. But they can't seem to think straight when their pods are in danger. So, I kill the pod, and the one is easy to catch."

"How do you even find a pod of them? They're nearly extinct!"

The man shrugged, "Intel was good. Now are you going to buy it or not?"

The man glared back, "I would have preferred a female. I have half a mind to give you less for it."

The other man waved him off, "Mers share similar parts, you can play with it the same way. And the tears are just as good I'm told."

Alejandro couldn't stand to hear anymore. He might have blacked out a bit, it happened more often when he was a teen. But the next thing he knew he was surrounded by viscera. All of the men in the clearing were torn to shreds, he opened his mouth and a leg dropped to the ground. He fortunately had enough self control to apparently leave one man alive. Although he was missing both legs and an arm.