Bite Me Harder (Guardians of the Deep 2)

Yet, they did attack without being provoked. The massacre on the barge.

Working with Keelan Kane had shown him the darker side of the underwater monsters, or at least that’s what Kane considered them. Rafe had his own theories, but to voice them around his older, meaner, half-psychotic boss wouldn’t be a good idea. He’d seen the man beat down four men inside a bar all because they’d cracked jokes about the kids who’d died on the barge, saying something about how “those young kids went looking for some ass and turns out they lost theirs.” Kane’s short fuse and violent reaction had shocked Rafe, damn near frightened him.

And here I did the same damn thing to these hoodlums.

He’d seen a lot of brawls growing up on the beaches. Surfers were some of the coolest, chillest people on the planet until they weren’t. He’d once accidentally stolen a guy’s girlfriend and it had jumpstarted a feud that lasted three years. Rafe was good with his hands. He knew how to fight, but he never fought with even an ounce of Keelan’s ferocity. Fighting had always been fun to Rafe, more like a silly way to let off some steam. That was his world though. He could laugh, throw a few jabs, laugh some more, help his fallen opponent back up to his feet, and then share a beer with him.

Unless they kick a helpless animal.

Throwing punches was a lot like surfing. You go in with a bang, take control, lose some control, rein it back in, fall down, get back up, and laugh your ass off in the end. This was Rafe’s attitude about most things in life.

Pain is temporary. Bruises lighten, cuts heal, blood dries, hearts mend, and anger fades…as long as your smile remains. Always grin wide enough that your smile hides your scars.

Rafe wasn’t a fool, but he’d learned to trick his body into thinking that everything was okay…all the time. It was one of the reasons he hadn’t had a serious relationship in a long time. He was absolutely no drama. No money? No problem. Life offers you plenty of shit to do for free. Bad hair day? Wear a hat. Friends were talking shit about you? Get new ones. These were some of the things his girlfriends had bitched about in the past. He was able to let all that slide as long as none of the shit landed on him. Ultimately, the driving force behind the break up was usually the girl trying to control him too much. He didn’t ask for much. Only three things.

1- He had to live near the ocean.

2- He needed his time in the ocean (she could even be there with him if she wanted)

3- She had to understand that he wasn’t angry, he didn’t have an attitude…he simply didn’t give a shit about trivial things.

Sadly, Rafe didn’t seem to be relationship material. Sure, he’d had meaningless sex. A man has his needs like a woman has hers, but his heart was never in it. His heart had so much room inside. It only needed the right interior decorator to spruce it up for him. A hollow heart echoes loudly when it thumps, and his heart beat like thunder at all times.

With the bird cradled softly in his arms, Rafe made his way down the sandy sidewalk and up toward the parking lot. He hadn’t wanted to be a hero. He didn’t need anyone to commend him for a job well done or to give him a pat on the back, but it did make him feel good when he passed a woman sitting on a bench tossing pieces of bread to a flock of seagulls, and she offered him kind words.

Flock of Seagulls.

They really were a flock, but as soon as he thought it, he couldn’t help singing the popular 80s tune made famous by the band with the same name.

I ran so far away.

He’d never run so far away. The world had so many beautiful beaches, and he’d only ever run far enough to find one. Then, that was where he settled until something picked him up and moved him along.

Dammit. I’ll never get that tune out of my head now.

“Looks like you’ve made a friend,” the woman said as he passed.

She smiled and it was so genuine it made him think of his grandmother, perhaps the only woman in the world who’d ever truly cared about him.

“A friend?” Rafe said. “No, this is my little brother. Can’t you see the resemblance?”

“Ah yes,” she replied. “I see it now…in the nose area.”

They both laughed.

“I saw what you did for the bird,” she said. “You have a kind heart. You like animals, don’t you?”

“Love ‘em,” he said. “I believe deep down they’re all so much kinder than human beings.”

“Interesting,” she said.

“You here for the festival?” he asked.

The Party for Life festival was one of the biggest ones to hit the Australian shores. For days, people of all ages would swarm the beaches to hear the best live music, to taste the most exquisite foods, and to see the amazing treats local and traveling artists had whipped up especially for the event. Rafe had never been to the festival, but he’d heard it was a blast for the tourists and exhausting for the locals. Maddening for the cops too, he suspected. No party that large could be easy to control.

“Oh no,” she said. “Not that I won’t stop by for a drink or two or three.”

She laughed and then continued, “My husband adores the water. We live a couple hours inland so every once in a while, we come out here to enjoy the good life. But we’ll be long gone before the craziness begins.”