used to be one of our guards. After the affair she was put up to be his offering the next week. When she was ‘offered’ the Night Gaunt apparently smelled the scent of another man on her.” Greta responded.
“How do you know?” Kim asked.
“He killed her! Ripped her throat out! Then he went on to destroy the church in the village,” Pam stated somberly.
“How do you know that was the reason?” asked Kim.
“He mentally told the priest before he destroyed the church. He can mentally converse with people if he chooses, though he has never spoken to any of us before,” Greta replied. “He told the priest that if one of his ‘harem’ was ever touched again by another man he would destroy the whole village next time. That is why we now have female guards.”
Kim just frowned, not really knowing what to say.
“We will never be free of that monster!” Trena cried. “We have to be faithful to something that rapes us once a month for however long as he wants us. You know what that means? No marriage, no children, hell who would want us after being with that fucking demon!” Trena’s voice shook; she was speaking more to herself with a tear rolling down her cheek.
“Is he a demon? I mean what is he?” Kim wondered out loud.
“No one really knows. Sure there are legends; the Gaunts are mentioned as a fictional race in the Cthulhu Mythos and also a part of H.P. Lovecraft’s Dream Cycle . Supposedly, Night Gaunts inspired Lovecraft’s childhood nightmares but who knows. I don’t think he is an actual demon from Hell. I know he is the king of the other Night Gaunts and he has a lot of Gaunts under him. You can see them sometimes fly over the village in a flock. The King is very distinctive. He is much bigger than the others. He actually has a rather nice physical body. The others are real skinny, so at least there is that………what is really freaky to me is that face,” Pam said with her glass in her hand.
“What about the face?” Kim asked.
“He doesn’t have one,” Greta called out after downing her third shot of whiskey.
“What, he is headless?”
“No, he is faceless,” Greta said. “He has some features but it mostly blends. To be honest I never have looked at him in the face close up. I don’t even think he has a mouth to be honest. I mainly keep my eyes closed.”
“Okay, now I am totally freaked out!” Kim replied.
“Wait, you weren’t before?” Greta snorted.
“No, I was but now I am terrified. I want to go home,” Kim said with tears in her eyes.
“Sweetie, we all just want to go home. Do you think we chose this? We are lucky we only have to do it only once a month with the rotation of the four of us. Nobody would choose this. We all were taken from our home,” Pam patted Kim’s knee.
***
Two days had passed and it was Kim’s time to be the offering. She was sitting at a beauty table being prettied up to lose her virginity to a monster. Wow, what a difference a couple of days can make. The girls were fixing her hair and putting on her makeup. She felt like it was her wedding night. She guessed in a way it was. She was going to lose her virginity tonight. They put her in this beautiful white nightgown. She looked in the mirror and had to admit that she looked rather stunning. The white was very symbolic, she mused.
“I am so fucking nervous. I don’t want to do it. Where is this opium aphrodisiac?” Kim asked.
“Here it is. The soothsayer just brought it to us. She said she made it extra strong,” Greta handed her the glass with a grim look on her face. “Since you’re a virgin, she thought you might need a little extra courage.”
“Why would I need that?” Kim bit out with teeth clenched as she downed the cocktail. “Did she think I would be nervous because HE KILLED HIS LAST GIRLFRIEND?” Kim shouted with frustration. Frustration at having to do this, and having