Chapter 4
Gideonn’s POV
I shifted my legs and pulled my shirt back
on, walking into the bar toward the table where Leviticus and the rest of the
hunting party were already seated.
Their hungry eyes met mine the moment I sat
down. We craved blood. A good chase, whether around the estate or through the
wild. I didn’t build my mansion on a chunk of land just because it looked nice.
The hunting party was small, just four of
us—Leviticus, Cormack, Zack, and me. A good hunt was something we craved from
time to time, but lately, with everyone paying upfront for the past few months,
we’d stuck to mountain deer and lions. They gave us a little rush, but nothing
like the thrill of chasing a screaming human girl. Her feet pounding the
ground, adrenaline pumping through her, the fear in her every movement.
Zack slid a beer across the table, and I
cracked it open with one of my fangs. The bar was filled with other
supernatural creatures like me. I owned this place. A few of us had learned to
control the beast within, but most were still in the process of taming it.
"Anything?" Cormack asked, his
rough-cut hair glinting faintly in the dim light. His eyes, golden slits,
watched me closely.
"I found a girl."
The growls around the table were immediate,
ears twitching in anticipation.
Leviticus's fangs flashed as he took a deeper
bite of the meat in front of him. The girl I had in mind, I saved her image to
describe to them. She was nothing but bones. Frail. We liked them fuller,
fleshy, meaty. We enjoyed them begging and terrified.
"Describe her," Zack demanded.
She smelled decent tonight when I passed by
her, though there was a deeper scent I didn’t care for. After she’d washed the
filth off her body, she smelled beautiful. "She doesn’t smell too bad.
Very skinny. Ugly. Mangy."
"She’ll have to do. Send her out
tomorrow night?"
I gritted my teeth, my beast stirring
uncomfortably in my head. "Didn’t you hear what I said? She’s too
skinny."
Cormack growled, challenging me. "How
fucking skinny?"
"She wouldn’t make it a damn mile. The
last one we chased around for two hours—she had the lungs of a horse and the
legs of a deer. She’s nothing. I need to fatten her up," I said with a
dark chuckle. My chair creaked as I shifted my weight onto one foot, tipping it
so the other three legs were floating in the air.
"When will she be ready? I’m hungry
now," Leviticus grunted, his voice tinged with frantic greed. "I need
to hunt, now." In an instant, his head morphed into a wolf, and he howled.
"Contain yourself," I growled. Like
me, they fought for control to live among the human world—the dominant world.
Creatures like us were rare. "Contain yourself," I repeated, and he
immediately shifted back.
"I’m just so… so?" he muttered.
"Pent up," Cormack said.
"We’ve been waiting for months."
"We could hunt someone."
I interrupted; my tone harsh. "We will
not break our strict hunting rules just because we're hungry and pent up. If we
grab the wrong girl, our entire little world could be exposed." I slapped
Cormack and Zack on the back, the closest to me. "Do you want us to get
exposed?"
I selected girls who were lost. Once brought
to me, no one cared. They were sold, gone, and dead—disappeared. A secret kept
by few. Our databases were wiped frequently. But I couldn’t do that every time,
day in and day out. So, we hunted once a month. Sometimes, we went longer
without a hunt. Now, we were on a two-month streak without one. We needed to
break it. But we needed a worthy opponent.
"When will you bring her to us?"
Zack asked, his impatience clear.
"I don’t know," I replied.
Zack was the first to react angrily.
"You don’t know? It could be another two months. I can’t go that long. My
beast," he tapped his head, "needs out. He needs to hunt."
"And don’t you think I don’t feel the
same? But what do you want me to do with a skinny cat? Chase it for its
fur?"
"How long then?"
"I’ll check back in three weeks and
update you on her progress. She’s eating, so let’s see how quickly she gains
weight."
They all raised their beers. I lifted mine.
"We’re counting on it." The bottles clinked together.
"I call for the head this time,"
Cormack declared.
"Come on, it’s the third time in a row
you’ve gotten the head," Zack complained. "Give someone else a
chance." The muscular man sounded irritated.
"I’m a leg guy," Leviticus replied,
unbothered.
I smirked. "Yet you’ve got the shortest
fangs and you’re going for the fattest part."
The only thing the girl lacked was food. Our
fangs might snap from the effort of tearing through her bones. "Her flesh
looks rubbery, as if it’s stretched tightly over her bones, with barely any fat
underneath."
"She must really be skinny. Tell me, are
her breasts at least juicy?"
"Flat chest. Even I’ve got bigger tits
than that poor girl," I replied, reaching into the ashtray for my box of
cigarettes. I slid one out. "No ass, no boobs, no thick thighs. She’s as
flat as a fucking board. When I saw her, I was so fucking disappointed. The
sister," I added, my eyes scanning the table for a lighter.
Zack stood up, spinning the backrest of his
wooden chair around to rest on the rim of the table. "You don’t say. A
sister."
"She served me tea." I was still
captivated by the girl I had come to collect. Maybe it was just the night, but
she looked prettier in the dark. "A fucking lighter," I growled, the
cigarette still hanging from my mouth.
"Sorry." Leviticus leaned forward
and lit my cigarette, his arms steady with the flame.
"Why didn’t you take the sister, if she
was fatter?" Zack asked.
"It’s a fucking contract. I can’t break
it. I’m the devil, but I play fair. I always play fair."
"Was she pretty? I love hunting the
pretty ones. They turn ugly really quick."
I smirked, inhaling deeply. "I left out
one tiny detail about this one."
"What’s that?" Cormac asked.
"She’s suicidal."
"She wants to die?" Cormac leaned
back in his chair, his posture tense. "Fuck. What are we supposed to do
with a girl who won’t even run? You better fix that."
"I am. I’m working on it. Plus, I know
she’s counting down the days. She’s curious."
Zack growled, slamming his empty bottle down
onto the table. "We’re monsters. We don’t want curious little princesses.
We want scared, screaming, panting girls." He paused. "Also, I call
dibs on the intestines. I want a taste of all the undigested food."
"I always get the intestines. You can
take the arms," I replied.
"What am I supposed to do with two arm
bones? Do I look like a dog?" Zack pondered.
I chuckled. "We are. That’s what she
called me today."
Cromac bared his fangs. "I can't wait to
enjoy her."
I stayed quiet. Something felt off. My wolf
wasn't in a state of rage like usual. We were always pent up, always eager to
hunt. Yet, tonight, he was silent. Why
was he so suddenly quiet?
************
Nalani POV
It was early evening, but it felt like night
had already fallen. Sleep wouldn't come. I was locked in this room, with
nothing but my thoughts running wild. What was out there, wandering the
corridors? Why was I confined to this space?
I paced over to the window, phone in hand. I
sent a message to my stepfather, just to let him know I’d survived another day.
I was going shopping. I couldn't say I was excited about it, but what else was
there to feel?
Everything here felt so cozy—death looming,
but the surroundings so comfortable. The bed. The meals that kept me full. The
beauty of the place. If only I didn’t have to die... Maybe I could be a maid,
do something mundane. No, I wanted to die. I wanted to leave this world.
My gaze drifted to the faint marks on my
wrists, forearms, and other parts of my body. The scars that told stories of a
time when death was my constant companion. Each time I picked up a blade, I was
just a cut away from bleeding out. But I never cut deep enough—just enough to
inflict the pain I wanted on Thane. I wanted him to feel hurt, even if it was
something as small as stumbling down the stairs in his drunken oblivion.
I checked the message again.
Thane: I want more money.
Thane: I want more money.
Thane: Kali wants food.
Thane: I know you're there. You couldn't be dead yet.
I stopped in my tracks, staring at the last
message. How could he know I wasn’t dead yet? Kali was trying her hardest to
find a job, but her father had stopped her at every turn. As for me, I was
stuck—no credentials, no qualifications, nothing to offer. Landing a job
anytime soon was out of the question.
What could I do? Pretend to be dead? But
Kali... I couldn’t leave her behind.
I moved to the window, staring out, as I
typed a response.
Me: I don’t have money.
Me: How’s Kali?
I had to make it seem like I cared. That was
all I’d ever done with him—fake it. I typed a few more texts.
Me: How are you?
Me: I miss you.
I didn’t miss Thane. The mere thought of
missing him disgusted me. I could never stomach the idea of wanting anything
from that monster. The nights he violated me, claiming he was making love,
insisting that I needed to fill the space left by my dead mother because he was
a lonely man. He was right about one thing: no woman in this world could ever
be as crazy as he was.
It started with a simple brush of the wrist,
the same wrist I had once cut to escape. And then... thinking about it now, my
stomach churns. It escalated, until one day, he was spreading my legs, calling
me his lover.
I couldn't imagine another man—another
human—touching me the way he did. I didn’t think I could ever love again. Not
that I would ever have the chance. I felt as though I was already dead inside.
Thane: Ask your wife for money.
I scoffed, staring out the window at the dark
forest stretching before me. If only I could run out there for some kind of
closure. "Wife?" I muttered. He was just as delusional as his
daughter. I didn’t feel like a wife—I wasn’t a wife. It was just a title, a
pawn, a way to make my death seem less brutal. "Look at me, I died as a
wife."
Me: I can’t.
Thane: Fucking ask.
I froze when something moved at the edge of
my vision. A dark, shadowy figure darted into the forest, disappearing into the
blackness.
“What was that?” I whispered, my curiosity
inflamed. I quickly moved away from the window and toward the door, but I
hesitated. I shouldn’t disobey, but I had seen something—a cat, a dog, a
figure. I needed to know what it was.
I gasped as my phone slipped from my grasp,
the sharp sound of it hitting the floor echoing through the quiet room. Slowly,
I picked it up, flipping it over to check the screen. A chill ran through me as
I saw the second message.
Thane: I need the money.
Thane: I need you.
I knew exactly what he needed me for: a quick
blowjob, a fast release. I couldn’t bear the thought of his rancid, drunken
breath on me. I’d never been so grateful for the sober air, free from the
stench of alcohol.
I glanced around the vintage room. It was the
nicest room I’d ever seen—hell, it was the nicest thing I’d ever seen. Just
imagine her bedroom. I’d caught glimpses of a few parts of the house, and I was
impressed by it all.
Thane: Please 🥺
That fucking emoji. Was he really trying to
make me feel sorry for him, to manipulate me into doing what he wanted? How the
hell was I supposed to ask this woman for money?
Me: How do I ask her?
I’d never had to ask anyone for anything. The
only thing I’d asked for was God to take me out of my miserable situation every
single day—though I never imagined it would lead me here, waiting for my
execution like some prisoner.
Thane: Steal it.
Me: How???
Thane: However you can.
I stared out the window, hoping to spot the
figure I’d seen earlier, but it was probably long gone by now.
I wondered if Gideonn was nearby. She hadn’t
mentioned anything about going out for the evening.
I was supposed to go shopping tomorrow—maybe
I could sneak away with a few dollars while I had the chance.
Me: How much?
Thane: 500.
Me: 👍
I turned off my phone, staring at the dark
screen. Where had all the extra money gone? Had he paid someone off, perhaps to
keep them from coming after his precious Angel daughter? I hated to admit it,
but a small part of me felt jealous. I shouldn’t feel that way. Kali had always
been kind to me. She deserved to be protected, no matter what.
I lay down on the bed, the most comfortable
I’d ever slept on. At home, there had barely been a bed, and when I did lie
down, he was always there—heavy, suffocating, his breath in my ear, his body
pressing against mine. I closed my eyes, a faint smile on my lips. It was
nothing but silence now. Nothing but sweet, silent peace.
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