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And the thought that immediately follows is that I wish I had been in there with him. I want to let him fuck me against a shower wall.

We really have to figure our shit out…

“I bought you food,” I tell him. I can't look him directly in the eye, not after what happened between us this morning. I don't even really know what happened between us. All I know is that I had sex with Zach for two years, and he couldn't figure out how to give me an orgasm. Fitz found my clit in five seconds flat.

I hand him the beef jerky, figuring it'll probably occupy him for a moment, and put the hot dogs in the mini fridge.

He says those three words again, the ones he said last night that I think mean thank you, and I just nod.

“I have to go to school today,” I tell him.

He chews a piece of beef jerky and stares at me.

“Me,” I say, with my hand on my chest. “Go.” I point to the door.

At this, he drops the beef jerky and jumps to his feet.

“No, no, no,” I say, waving my hands around. “No, I'll come back. I'll go,” I say, pointing at the door again. “But I'll come back,” I say, and mimic stepping back into the room. I don't know if he understands, but at this point, there's nothing I can do about it. “I need to go to the campus library to try and get some answers.”

He doesn't seem any calmer than he was a moment ago, and I reach up to put my hands on his shoulders. I pull him down, until his forehead is pressed to mine. “I promise I’ll come back,” I tell him. “I promise.”

Something about my tone seems to get through to him, and he nods. I hate to leave him here, but there's nothing else for me to do at the moment. I can’t solve this on my own, and as long as Fitz and I can’t communicate, he can’t really help me either. He isn’t acting like he’s in a hurry to get back to wherever he came from, so for now, he needs to stay hidden.

“Where did you come from?” I ask him. “Where do you belong?”

I wonder if he has a family. What if he has a wife somewhere, children? But if he does, why isn’t he trying to get back to them? If he has somewhere to go, why is he here with me?

I try to freshen up as much as possible, but I'm still wearing what I was wearing yesterday, and I look rather deflated. I’ll have to stop by my dorm later.

Luckily, the bus runs right by the motel.

I hurry through campus, heading straight for the library. I keep my head down, praying that Zach has decided to stay home today. I don’t know who he got involved, but hopefully they’re out formulating their own plan instead of hanging around campus. And we’ll be formulating a plan, too.

I use one of the back computers to look up the section on cryptozoology. I think that’s probably my best bet, all things considered. I know there are several books in this library on the subject because some of the classes cover it, especially in a town known for having its very own demon species.

I slip between the stacks and find the section I'm looking for. I don't know what kind of information I can even find in a book in the library, but I have to try. I have to figure out how to get Fitz away from here, or at least, back where he came from.

I'm scanning through one of the books on cryptids, but I don’t even know where to start without knowing how well-known the Yellow-Eyed Treufel is. I try everything I can think of. He’s not a yeti or anything like that, though I guess he looks most like Big Foot. If Big Foot had wings like a bat and a ridged tail that can turn a sexual partner into a quivering mass of goo.

Amidst books on general cryptozoology and folklore, I discover a book called Creatures of Northern Idaho. Most of the book is about extinct animals, rare species of birds, but then, there he is. The Yellow-Eyed Treufel, it reads, a name that makes my blood boil. Fitz is anything but a demon, a fiend. He’s been nothing but kind to me. In the book, there’s a blurry photograph of a black form and a fairly accurate illustration.

“The existence of the Yellow-Eyed Treufel is dubious, at best. Some swear to have seen it, but others claim they know of its hoax origins. Like a game of Telephone, the stories and truths about this mysterious creature have twisted and changed with each new storyteller. The only thing citizens seem to agree on is that these creatures dwell in the woods, and that if you encounter one, it will most likely be in the dead of night…”

Well, I guess that much is true, at least. I'm flipping through another tome furiously when I hear footsteps behind me.

“We missed you in class today.”

I spin around, knocking one of the books off the top of my stack and onto the carpet. “Professor Watts!”

He smiles at me, adjusting his glasses. He's got this floppy brown hair that’s rather charming, and he brushes it out of his face now with one of his broad hands.

“Yeah, um, I just, I had something I had to take care of,” I tell him.

He nods. “Sure. It happens. I'll email you the assignment.”

“Thank you. I really appreciate that.”

His eyes drop to the book at my feet, the one in my hands. On the floor, a book lays open, a cartoon rendering of the Yellow-Eyed Treufel right there on top, staring up at us. On the shelf beside me, several books on mythological creatures are stacked, ready to be sifted through.