Page 9 of Dark Stars

Alejo grimaced as he replied, "Let's get the creepy shed out of the way. Just looking at it gives me the heebie-jeebies."

Bobby laughed.

"Where does that word come from? Jones uses it a lot, too. It's delightful."

"I dunno, the woman at the corner store always said it. Surprised you don't know, Mr. My Mother Vomited Knowledge Into Me."

"I don't think my mother ever bothered to learn more about humans than strictly needed to keep my father alive and happy."

"Fair enough,"

Alejo replied.

"At least—"

He broke off, face turning tomato-red.

Bobby quirked a brow.

"At least what?"

"Nothing, nothing at all."

"As you wish,"

Bobby replied, despite the curiosity eating away at him. He'd get it out of Alejo later.

For the present, he strode over to the shed and ripped off the cheap lock.

"I don't smell anything awry, except really old, faded hints of arcana, like it hasn't been here for decades."

"Well, perfectly ordinary creepy is loads better than arcana creepy."

Alejo grabbed the lefthand door and pulled it open, wrinkling his nose slightly at the smell of mold and dust and various critters that wafted over them. Something that looked like an opossum scuttled swiftly out of sight behind some old boards propped against the back wall.

The shed was, at least at first glance, wholly unremarkable. Scrap wood, rusty wheelbarrow, mower, weedwhacker, gardening supplies, car cleaning supplies, all the usual bric-a-brac you'd expect to find in an old shed in the backyard.

Alejo scowled at the detritus.

"I don't know if I'm relieved or disappointed."

Bobby let out a single, sharp laugh as he stepped further into the shed.

"Be relieved. This little adventure is going to get worse before it gets better, so I'll take whatever easy moments we get. That being said, I can still smell old arcana, and I'd like to see what it is or was before we abandon the shed entirely. Help me move some of this. It seems to be on or in the floor."

Together they moved the mower, a couple of beat-up old sawhorses and other miscellany, until they finally had the middle of the shed floor clear.

"Something is weird,"

Alejo said, "but I can't quite sort out what."

"There's something beneath it—well, something other than the ground,"

Bobby said.

"I don't think I'm smelling old arcana, I think I'm smelling distant arcana."

Crouching, he felt along the seams of the wood, until he found a telltale catch. Prying it up, he revealed a secret hatch—and beneath it, darkness and a ladder that started a couple of inches beneath the surface.

"Where is the church in relation to this house."

"Um…"

Alejo moved back outside and pulled a map from his back pocket, unfolding it and laying it out on the ground, using stray rocks to hold it in place.

"We're here, and the church is…here, northeast."

Bobby traced his finger along where the river had been, approximately.

"This whole town is probably filled with tunnels and warrens. I'm starting to wonder how many times cults like this have cropped up here."

"Guess we'll find out, whether we want to or not,"

Alejo said with a sigh.

"Shall we get this party started?"

Instead of replying, Bobby curled his finger beneath Alejo's chin and tilted his head up before dropping a kiss on his mouth. The only thing better than the warmth and softness of his lips was the lovely flush to his cheeks as Bobby drew back. Now that he'd given in, all he wanted was to take take take. Claim, mark, possess. This little human was his now, and he would tear apart the stars themselves to please and protect him.

Alejo shivered.

"You're staring very intensely."

"Just wait until later,"

Bobby murmured, then got them both on their feet.

"Back to work for now, though, alas."

He led the way back into the shed, and summoned up some lights that he cast down into the dark to light the way for Alejo. Crouching, he swung down onto the ladder and descended into the dark.

They must have gone at least two stories down, which was entirely too much time on a ladder. Going up would be even worse; hopefully they'd find a better way up as they went along.

At the bottom, once Alejo had joined him, he cast the lights around them and further ahead, revealing an unremarkable tunnel strung with old mining lanterns that had ceased working years ago. Here and there the dirt was covered with sheets of plywood, likely covering up holes or maybe where wiring had once been laid. Everything smelled of dirt, dust, mold, and under it all, a faint hint of arcana and the tang of old blood. Some of that blood belonged to Wilcutt, though whether it was because she'd been wounded down here or it was left behind as her corpse was dragged through, he couldn't say.

"This isn't creepy at all,"

Alejo muttered.

"Why do white people always gotta go doing creepy shit instead of leaving well enough alone?"

"Says the hunter who's dating a primordial demigod."

Alejo threw him a shy grin before turning away and heading off down the tunnel, calling over his shoulder, "That's just good strategizing."

Smiling, Bobby followed a few steps behind him, giving them both space to work and handle any surprises without it taking out both of them.

Thankfully, everything remained quiet, and the scent of arcana grew steadily stronger.

Eventually, the absolute dark of the place turned to hazily visible, and Bobby withdrew his lights. As the light increased, voices began to trickle in, though they were still too far off to easily make out the words, and Bobby didn't want to risk using his powers further. The lights had been risky enough.

Then the tunnel widened into an area stacked with crates and boxes, a couple of lanterns that must be battery powered hanging from the low ceiling.

"Anyone close by enough to be a problem?"

Alejo asked softly.

Bobby shook his head, and in silence they set to work investigating the crates.

The oldest crates were full of junk, from long-outdated tools to pamphlets that must have been made in the nineteen twenties or thereabouts, and bottles from the same era, with ingredient lists that ranged from illegal to holy shit how did anyone survive. Sadly, the contents had long since dried out, or were so expired, even he wouldn't drink them. Would have been fun to try, ah well.

The newer crates and moving boxes from a hardware store were filled with more modern items, from lanterns like those hanging from the ceiling, to caving equipment, diving equipment, candles, pamphlets, and plastic bags filled with what looked like a shit ton of herbs or something.

"Well, it's definitely not cocaine,"

Alejo said with a snort as he turned one of the bags over and over in his hands.

"On the other hand, this is really good plastic, because I can't get a whiff of anything."

Bobby held out his hand, and Alejo handed over the bag he was holding. Flicking his finger to produce claw instead of nail, Bobby slit the package open and breathed in the scent that poured out.

"These are not from earth, not even from this or any nearby galaxy. This blend of herbs is favored by only a handful of my relatives, and of those, only three would deign to play around on Earth."

He set the bag aside and brushed his hands off.

"I already had my suspicions, but this definitely narrows it to three."

"Who?"

"Strictly speaking, I guess it's four, but the twins are one entity in all the ways that matter. As you humans would say them: Nug and Yeb, the Twin Blasphemies; Rhan-Tegoth, They of the Ivory Throne; and Gol-goroth, the Forgotten Old One, God of the Black Stone."

Alejo wrinkled his nose in a way that was entirely too adorable, especially given the subject matter.

"I don't like the sound of any of those."

Then his face brightened, filling with that open curiosity that Bobby already loved so much.

"Do you have a fancy title like that?"

"No,"

Bobby said with a soft snort.

"Not unless you count 'the Weak and Tainted One' as my relatives love to call me. Such titles are accrued from mortals and other 'lesser' beings as we muck around and corrupt them to our own ends. That's not really my style, though. They Who Reads a Whole Lot of Books is my only claim to fame."

"They?"

Alejo asked.

"I'm sorry, have I been misgendering you this whole time? You should have yelled at me."

Bobby abandoned the crate he was poking and prodding at to wrap his arms around Alejo's waist and reel him in close. Kissing his nose, and then that lovely mouth, Bobby then said, "I'm not really anything at all, so I don't particularly care what pronouns are used. He works as well as anything else, and if I ever feel like something different, I'll say."

"So your mother…"

"Mother, grandfather, all of us. Primordial beings don't have gender or sex, as such. We are everything and nothing, a mass of infinite dark that can be molded as per our whims. Easier to just be Bobby."

Alejo's fingers stroked absently through his hair, tugging and twisting and combing.

"Have you ever wanted children of your own?"

"I'm way too young to be worried about that right now,"

Bobby said with a laugh.

"Someday, though, certainly."

"You're like thousands of years old. How are you too young for children?"

"I am my mother's only child in the many billions of years she's been alive, and if she has another, it will be long after Earth is nothing but dust and distant memory."

"My head is spinning,"

Alejo said, resting his head against Bobby's shoulder.

"I don't even understand how you find me interesting, let alone worthy of being your lover. I'm like a baby dust mite in your worldview."

Bobby cupped his face, stroking Alejo's cheeks with his thumbs, and kissed him softly, deepening it slowly, letting it linger, absorbing the taste and scent and warmth of this man the dark stars crafted just for him.

"When time is so extensive it cannot be properly measured, it ceases to matter. You are very, very young, that's true, but if you are here in this place at this time, then all is as it should be."

"My mom is going to freak,"

Alejo muttered against his lips before he happily acquiesced to another kiss, and Bobby relished every shiver and whimper and moan he extracted before finally forcing himself to let go and step away.

"No, don't stop."

Grinning, Bobby grabbed his hand and kissed the back of it.

"We'll have more fun later, little hunter. For now, though, we must hunt."

Alejo heaved a loud and dramatic sigh.

"Fine, but let it be stated for the record this is the first time since I was five that I wanted to do something other than hunt monsters. Oh, god, my siblings are going to start calling me a monster-fucker. You're never meeting my family, that's it. My dirty secret for the next five million years."

Bobby reeled him in again, muffling his laughter against Alejo's shoulder, and kissing his throat as he slowly calmed down.

"We don't have to tell them what I really am. We can just go with whatever they assume. I've been everything from a vampire to a faerie."

Alejo frowned, reaching up to brush a strand of hair from Bobby's eyes.

"I'm not going to lie about the person—being—I'm in a relationship with."

He flushed.

"I mean, if that's what this is, or will be, I don't want to just presume—"

His frown turned into a scowl at the fingers placed over his lips.

"You're mine now, the wording doesn't matter,"

Bobby replied.

"Neither do lies about my true nature. My ego isn't that fragile. We'll work this out later, because seriously, this is enemy territory, and we're not paying nearly enough attention."

"Point,"

Alejo said with a sigh.

"Take the lead, then, let's see what we find next. Snagged a couple of pamphlets. Can't wait to read about all the perks that come with joining a bloodthirsty cult."

Muffling a snort of laughter, Bobby drawled as they resumed walking, "Sunday picnics with the High Priest! Learn how to properly sharpen your sacrificial dagger! What incense is best for sacrificing children?"

Alejo snickered.

"I think I did see something about 'what the rich and powerful don't want you to know'."

"Naturally."

Their chatter faded off as they went further down the latest tunnel, and now the scent of water was strengthening. The voices had faded off, but he had no doubt they'd be back, or he and Alejo would catch up to them.

After a few more minutes, the noise came, and Alejo murmured, "That's the river."

Just minutes later they spilled out into a familiar cavern. Well, familiar-ish. It wasn't exactly the one they'd been in before, but he'd be willing to bet they were on the other end of the tunnel they hadn't been able to boat through before. That would match up with what little information the map had provided.

"This is pretty close to the church, isn't it?"

Alejo replied, as masterfully quiet as ever, clearly having plenty of experience speaking in cavernous spaces prone to revealing echoes.

"If we follow the river against the current, bet we'll find that tunnel we couldn't breach. Why are you always taking me to dark caves?"

"Is there such a thing as a bright cave?"

Bobby asked thoughtfully.

"Ugh,"

Alejo replied, all of his eyeroll in that single word, before he nudged past Bobby and started walking along the wide, open edge or bank or whatever it was along the river.

"I don't sense any arcana."

"Still faint, I think we'd have to follow the river the other direction to reach the source."

"Guess we're doing a shit-ton of walking, then,"

Alejo said with a sigh.

"My watch is going to love all the steps I'm getting today."

Bobby huffed a small laugh, but before he could say anything, the path widened into a large, open area…complete with steps carved into the stone at the far end, flanked by melodramatic torches… and carved into a large patch of wall was an enormous, repulsive sculpture.

"Why does looking at that thing make me want to throw up?"

Alejo asked, voice shaking.

Taking hold of his arm, Bobby pulled Alejo into his arms, letting his head rest in the hollow of his throat.

"Because that's what they do when seducing you to their side doesn't work."

He frowned as he looked the image over. To ordinary humans, it would appear as either a completely boring, uninteresting statue if they were strong enough of mind—or so dull of mind the supernatural may as well not exist.

To those with weaker minds, it would appear heartachingly beautiful or utterly terrifying or both. The bigger problem, though, was that it wasn't any of the three primordial beings that Bobby had expected. This was much, much worse.

And he hadn't sensed its presence. Even now, for all he could see it, he couldn't feel it.

For the first time since this adventure had begun, Bobby felt real fear.

"You're trembling,"

Alejo said softly, slowly looking up at him. "Why?"

"Because we might be dealing with something much, much worse than one of my stupid cousins,"

Bobby said.

"That statue isn't of any of them. That's one of the many forms of—"

A skittering, click-clacking sound cut him off, and Bobby swore. He knew that sound. The little fuckers had bullied him relentlessly as he grew into himself. His mother had rarely interfered, the entire matter beyond her comprehension as they were all cruel and kind to one another in equal measure, possessing no metric to clarify something as trivial as wrong or right.

Holding Alejo tight, he retreated back the way they'd come, but the sound grew louder. Closer.

Ctheldush, we can taste you…

"Shit! Fuck!"

Bobby snarled.

"You need to get out of here."

"I'm not leaving you,"

Alejo said, pushing away and looking around, tensing for a fight.

"What's going on?"

"My niblings have come to play, and by play I mean try to kill me. Humans call them the Dark Young. Usually, though, they prefer forests and shit. I don't understand why they're in a goddamn cave. Why She is in a cave."

Alejo shot him a bewildered look.

Fuck. He could fight them easily if he was alone. But fighting them while also protecting Alejo? That was a far more dangerous proposition, especially since it wouldn't take them long to realize how important Alejo was to him. But he couldn't just toss Alejo in the river.

Could he?