g/t one-shot book

sinners | pt. 2

Virgo froze like a deer in the headlights.

How did he spot them? Were they not careful? Could the young human really reach them from there? Their thoughts buzzed as they watched him come closer. Griffin, his companion had called him before. Griffin was getting too close for comfort, and he was only going to advance more until he reached them.

They sucked their teeth. Humans and their curiosity. Of course he'd investigate the sound - disrupting the dwelling's peace for an answer. It was like Raple told them: humans led short, boring, insignificant lives and made up stories to feel apart of something bigger. Stories...Virgo thought to themself, that cost beings like them their lives.

Hence now. They knew they were safest up here - it was the only bet they were certain of, but eventually he'd figure out what they were. Virgo shivered. Who they were. One thing they admired was humans pursuit of knowledge - from the messages spoken on the pulpit to the light-up rectangles they consulted in pockets deeper than they were tall. That admiration usually came with distance - something Virgo was losing more and more as the seconds passed them by.

"What?"

From their vantage point, Virgo could now see the top of his head. It wasn't like the humans' hair they'd seen pass here before - tightly knit curls formed in a rectangle that gradually faded to the sides of his head. Their heart quickened as the top of his head shifted and its position was replaced by peering eyes, ever so distant brown. Although soft, both were still observant enough to distinguish-

"Woah."

Virgo's breath hitched. The human had discovered them. Their eyebrows lifted as the gravity of their situation sank in. Why couldn't he have left with his companion? The older human, it appeared, almost successfully recruited him away from them. Had he left, they could finally leave their perch and prepare to store food for next week. Why couldn't he just let them live?

"Humans just lead short, boring, insignificant lives..."

Right. They thought, relaxing slightly. This is what they'd been warned about. It made sense that with lives so short, humans would try to find meaning in their suffering. Virgo had lived 200 years - relatively young for their kind, but old for those that lived among humans. While Raple chose to live in the Beyond, Virgo had chosen the Middle. It's why their warning was so special to Virgo - it'd been 133 years since they last heard Raple's voice. Virgo sighed.

133 years too long.

"It was you!"

They stiffened. Shit! Somehow they'd forgotten how close Griffin truly was. Wretched nostalgia - always kicking in at the worst of times!

"What'cha doing up there, little guy?"

Little guy? They processed, scrunching their nose. Smaller, sure, but little?  They grit their teeth, racking their brain for a way out. They already communicated verbally with the human, so the silent treatment was out the picture.

Virgo scratched their head. Why did they entertain the human's queries, anyway? Was it them meddling, as their kind did in the Beyond, or even in the End? Or, was it something else? Suddenly, a thought came to them - one so sinister, so ghastly that they refused to believe it.

Did they entertain the human...because he reminded them of Raple?

"Griffin."

They'd said aloud, finally. The human's name was nothing like Raple's, his nature was nothing of a Volimn. And yet...there was security in acknowledging the threat by name. Not dancing around it or reading the room, there was a peace beyond their understanding that settled there.