Caspar is no stranger to sickness. He had his fair share of childhood colds, flus, and viruses. As a kid, he had a system of dealing with them: stash pedialyte, saltines, and tylenol by his bed, keep a large bowl nearby for puking, and sneak his moms bottle of Nyquil to sleep it off. He could deal with it. He was strong. The worst part really was being alone. He hated being alone.

He still hates it, if he’s being honest.

“Wake up,” a soft voice commands.

Caspar groans. He’s trying. 

“Wake up. You need to eat,” the voice coaxes once more.

Caspar shifts in his bed, rubbing his aching neck. Someone is here. He tries to open his eyes, but they’re glued shut. 

“Hello?” he croaks, voice mangled by days of disuse. 

“Good morning.”

Caspar stretches. Everything hurts. He groans, nuzzling his pillow for comfort. “What happened?”

“I found you almost dead from a vamp bite. You’re lucky I came when I did.”

“Am I a vampire?”

“That remains to be seen. But it’s been a few hours since your bite and I have yet to see fangs, so I’d say things are looking optimistic.”

Caspar looks at his phone. It reads 4AM. No new texts. Jacob hasn’t even noticed his silence. “How am I not a vampire?”

The man chuckles. “I used a poultice to draw out the venom: holy basil, echinacea, thyme, Saint John's wort, vamp blood, and ghost pipes.”

So he was saved in just the nick of time. Poultices were only effective for a few hours after a bite. He needs to thank this mystery savior immediately. 

With some effort, Caspar cracks open his eyes. A tan-skinned young man, maybe in his mid twenties, is perched on the edge of the bed. His face is pensive, head tilted. “How do you feel?”

Caspar attempts to sit up, but waves of searing pain radiate down his neck. “Fuck! That bastard got me good.”

He trembles, attempting to ignore his body’s protests, but a hand on his shoulder stops him. The man pushes him back into the bed. “You need to rest still.”

Caspar rubs his eyes, studying the man closer.  He’s wearing a red flannel shirt, a black undershirt, and some blue jeans. His dark brown hair is tied back in a short ponytail, leaving some wispy bangs to frame his sage green irises and a small mole under the right eye. 

“I’ve been resting long enough. I need to get up,” says Caspar.

“You’ve been resting, but not eating. Try to get up now, and your low blood sugar is going to put you in your place.”

Heat rushes to Caspars face. He really doesn’t like someone seeing him so weak. “Well, then I have to get up anyway. I need to get my damn food.”

The man laughs. “Dude, I’ll get you something. Lie down.” 

Reluctantly, Caspar lets his throbbing head lay back down on the pillow. “Fine.”

“I’m Malakai by the way.”

“Caspar.”

“Casper? Like the friendly ghost?”

“Caspar. And I'm not a ghost yet, thanks to you. Fuck. I thought I was a goner.”

“I thought so too for a hot minute. You lost a lot of blood, I was worried if it wasn’t the venom that got you, it would be that.”

“Well, looks like I lucked out.”

Malaki hums in agreement. He heads toward the kitchen, searching through the cabinets. “So, Caspar, from the creepy conspiracy board, I see you’ve been hunting down this coven for a while.”

“Not me. My mom and my uncle. I thought the vampires were keeping them hostage. I came to find them, but… I didn’t have much success, unfortunately.”

“What exactly happened back there? They were all dead. I know vampires are pretty temperamental, but this was something else. They were torn to absolute shreds.” 

Caspar’s headache grows in intensity as he contemplates his memories. As the fog of his sleep begins to lift, his heart drops. 

The priest. The demon. The deal.

You fool, you poor fool. You caught her attention, you’ll never know peace now. 

Fear races in his heart. “They were feeding on—on something not human. It made them go crazy and kill each other.”

Malakai is standing before the stove. His hand pauses stirring.. “Not human? What was it?”

Caspar’s mind is racing in circles. He’s alive, he’s still human, but is he safe? He anxiously palms his neck. “Something strong. Something really strong and really ancient.”

“Fuck. I didn’t think this hunt was going to be so complicated. I thought it was just some bogey 

in the woods picking off drunkards and runaways,” Malakai’s brows bunch, his expression wary. ”What monster kills vampires but leaves a human alive?”

“So you were here for the coven?”

“Not exactly. There were reports of activity on the outskirts of town. Livestock being killed, people vanishing, and strange sounds in the woods.”

Caspar groans. “So, Redpine has more problems than just vampires.”

“Unless there’s another coven here. Vamps don’t usually attack livestock but if they’re desperate they might try it.”

“Not possible.”

Malakai carefully ladles a bowl of chicken noodle soup into a bowl. “Why not?”

Caspar fiddles with his blanket. He probably should lie. He knows that if the vampires didn’t take his mom and uncle, whatever Malakai was hunting must have. Weak as Caspar is right now, he could really use the help hunting it down. Telling the truth might scare Malakai off.

Caspar grits his teeth. He can’t lie. It’s not right. 

“Malakai. You need to abandon this hunt. It’s not safe.”

Malakai scoffs as he sets the chicken noodle soup in front of Caspar. “I know it’s not safe. Since when is hunting these freaks safe?”

“No, I mean, I,” Caspar pinches the bridge of his nose, “the thing the vampires were feeding on. I made a deal with it. It's going to come for me. I know it. I don’t want it to take notice of you, too.”

“You made a deal with a monster?”

“Yes.” 

Malakai gapes. “So, what does that mean, exactly?

“I just made a deal with it to kill the vampires. It was supposed to end there.”

“Supposed to? So… it’s not over.”

“‘Course not. It’s a fucking—a fucking demon. It was trying to get me to agree to a contract as I was dying from a vamp bite. It’s going to come back, no fucking way this ends so easily.”

“Shit. A demon? Like, a real one?”

Caspar sighs. “Let me eat before I recap all this bullshit.”

He attempts to sit up again, this time slower. Pain still radiates down his neck, locking his muscles in place. Fuck, is he not even capable of eating a bowl of soup?

“Want me to help you?” asks Malakai.

“No, damn it, I’m fine.”

“You look a little not fine.”

Caspar grunts in protest as Malakai tugs him up into a sitting position. He’s a bit short, but definitely not weak. Caspar wonders if under that baggy flannel, he’s hiding a built physique. 

If that's the case, this makes things even more embarrassing. Considering Caspar’s in a new clean shirt now, the new bit of softness around his stomach must've been exposed. Damn it, he needs to get back on track with his workouts, and this injury certainly isn’t going to make it easier. His mom would definitely be making comments about it, if she was here.

“That wasn’t so hard, was it?” Says Malakai.

Caspar declines to comment, choosing to tuck into his first meal in days. Strangely, he doesn’t feel hungry. In fact, his stomach feels tense, a sense of nausea creeping up his throat. A paranoid thought in his mind tries to wriggle to the forefront about his possible vampiric status. Vampires can’t eat normal food.

He suppresses the thought. There is nothing to do now but try. 

He lifts the spoon to his mouth warily. As the soup hits his tongue, his appetite seems to awaken like a slumbering beast. Caspar abandons his manners immediately, favoring to drink directly from the lip of his bowl. In just a few moments, he’s devoured all of it. 

Good. He’s definitely human. 

“Do you want mine too?” Malakai asks. 

Caspar's growling stomach demands he accept the offer. But he knows better than to take the food from the person who just selflessly saved his life.

Which, come to think of it, is debt Caspar will have to repay, probably with something much more valuable than a can of Campbells. Hunters make it a habit to help each other on the rare chance they run into each other on a case, and it was bad form to not return the favor. 

He takes stock of the dingy, run down RV. Maybe he could give Malakai a weapon when they part. His mom has way too many for her to notice one missing, right?

Caspar sighs. No, she’d definitely notice. Just the fact he took the RV by himself is going to cause her to do a whole investigation looking for scratches and missing items. 

His eyes dart to the cubby above the driver's seat. It’s cramped and tight for a tall guy like him, but Malakai would fit perfectly. Maybe Caspar should offer him a place to stay during the hunt. At the very least, it’ll save him on the hotel money. 

“Thanks, but I’m fine. I need to slow down anyway or I’ll get sick,” says Caspar.

Malakai nods. “I'll get you something else in a minute. Tell me more about the creature you encountered. You’re sure it was a demon?”

“Definitely. I know it sounds like a tall tale, but that's what it was. I assume you’ve heard the stories?”

“Which ones? The ones from crazy hunters who lost their minds, or from the Old Testament?”

“It had wings and called itself a seraph.”

“Fuck. Are you sure you didn’t make a mistake?”

“I know my monsters. What else could it be?”

“I don’t know. But I do know there’s a lot that like to fuck with people and can cast glamours.”

“Look, whatever the fuck it was, it punched a hole through multiple vampires, teleported, and killed the coven leader with a kiss. So either it’s a demon, or some other variety of oh God hell no. Regardless, shit’s fucked. You don’t want to get involved.”

Malakai’s lips thin into a grim line. “Well from where I see it, if this thing is so locked on you, who’s to say it’s not already aware of me now? What if it uses curse logic? I’ve already been with you for two days. I think a better idea is to stick together for now.”

“Fuck. You really think so?”

“I don’t know. There's not exactly a hunter manual for demons. But it's always better to hunt with a partner, anyway. Did you go into that nest alone?” 

“It’s a long story.”

“Well, if you don’t have the time to talk about it, we should talk about what else is eating up Redpine.”

Caspar sighs, pinching the bridge of his nose. There’s never a moment’s rest, is there? “If it’s not vampires, it must be something that likes to hunt in packs. Tell me about the livestock.”

“Multiple reports of missing or injured livestock numbering in the hundreds over the course of the year. Includes mostly chickens, goats, and sheep, but also a few cows and horses.”

“I assume there's more to the story. Otherwise, I would chalk it up to coyotes and bobcats.”

“The missing people could be attributed to the presence of the coven, but locals have also been reporting strange sounds in the woods, like singing and crying. Also, a couple reported that something destroyed their tent while they were backcountry camping.”

“How was it destroyed?”

“Animalistic claw marks. They were returning to their camp at dusk so they avoided the attack.”

Caspar stretches, thinking. “There are a lot of things it could be, but I'm betting on a more animalistic monster. Something operating on less intelligence and more instinct.”

“Any guesses?”

“Hard to say…without seeing the damage myself, it could be anything. Though it’s peculiar—Texas has more demi human species to worry about than big predators, believe it or not. Especially here in the hill country.”

“Wow, I've been hunting since I could hold a gun and I didn’t know that.”

Caspar nods. “They need to eat something. Up north, there's more prey species. That's how we have cougars in Texas, but you rarely, if ever, see them down south.”

“Humans aren’t tasty enough to be prey?”

“I’m sure they’d love to sink their teeth into some long pig. But they’re like normal wildlife. They avoid humans when they can. Unless they get desperate, that is.”

“So what animalistic monsters do live here in the hills?”

“Lechuza, Dogmen, fleshgaits—though I’m praying it's not that last one.”

Malakai stirs his soup contemplatively. “No shit. I definitely want backup on this if there's even a fraction of a chance it’s fleshgaits. There populations of them in Texas?”

“They’re anywhere people get lost or turned around. I’ve heard reports from Canada to New Mexico. It's a strange country out here.”

“Don’t I know it.”

“Do you have anyone else coming to back you up?”

“My people can’t get here at the moment. Can I rely on you to help me out with this case once you’re recovered?”

Caspar shifts in bed, face down in his pillows. “Yeah.”

“Alright. And in the meantime, I’ll help you out with this demon situation.”

Caspar sighs a breath of relief. He’s not going to be alone in this. “Deal.”