Page 5 of His Hungry Wolf

“Maybe I don’t want people beating down my door.”

“Your momma had boys beating down her door,” she said proudly.

“And we know why that is. Did you drain them dry or just take a few years off their life?”

“That is not why the boys were after me,” she said slightly offended.

“I’m sure it wasn’t,” I replied doubtfully.

“Claude, you have to accept that your momma had a lot of things that brought the boys runnin’,” she said emphasizing her still stacked figure. “And your momma’s ass?” She shook her head. “It wouldn’t quit.”

“On the topic of what I didn’t need to know…”

“You should be grateful your momma was hot.”

“Momma!”

“Where do you think you got your good looks from?”

“I think this conversation’s over,” I said getting up.

“It’s over when you bring some hot piece of something home to meet me. I was sneaking boys into my room from the time I could get them through my window. Why isn’t Marcus ever crawling out of your window?”

“I’m on the second floor!” I said turning to her.

“Claude, what I’m saying is, what you’re doing isn’t healthy for anybody, but especially people like us. We need to connect with others. You know that. And that starts with opening yourself up. If you just gave someone a chance…”

“Momma!” I exclaimed ending the conversation and heading to my room.

“You’re too young and good-looking to be a lonely, old man,” she said as I left her.

Closing the door behind me, I had to admit she wasn’t entirely wrong. I mean, she was wrong about the bisexual thing, and what she suggested about Marcus. He was just my coffee supplier. But she was right that something needed to change.

This was not the life I had pictured for myself when I graduated university. Sure, I had what was becoming a thriving business, and I worked with Titus. But that was only spring through fall. The rest of the year, having coffee at Marcus’s popup was the only time I didn’t feel starved.

Incubi didn’t survive just by latching onto someone’s life force and draining them dry. We could take it from people a little at a time. It could be like an I.V. drip. At the right rate, they wouldn’t even know it was being taken.

But I wasn’t going to feed off of friends like that without their consent. And since I was never going to again tell anyone what I was, I wasn’t going to get it.

Even so, just being around people helped. I wasn’t sure why. And if I could find the right person, someone who could replenish their life force faster than I took it, maybe what I had wouldn’t have to be a curse.

That was what Momma had implied by suggesting that I give someone a chance. She thinks that if I opened up and asked someone to be my feedbag, I could get what I needed. But not only was I not going to do that, I didn’t want to hear that from her. Not her.

That didn’t mean that she wasn’t right. Having isolated myself for the past two years, I was starving all of the time.

The only thing I could do not to go insane was to pretend I didn’t feel what I did. That had worked for a while. But having cut myself off from connection for so long, the dam was cracking. Something definitely needed to change.

Waiting for my usual five minutes before we had to go, I headed back downstairs grabbing the car keys. With my mother at school all day, we shared a car. It worked out well considering I never went anywhere at night. But driving her this morning with her picking up her lecture where she had left off, I second guessed our arrangement.

Dropping Momma off and heading to my new place, I pulled into the parking lot and sat. Staring at the small log structure, I was expecting to feel more than I did. Momma wasn’t wrong, having an office to run our business out of was a reason to celebrate. But with my business partner still finishing his spring semester, I was the only one here.

Getting out of the car, I walked the dirt path to our front door. The place was the ultimate cabin in the woods. Surrounded by perfect pines still damp with morning dew, I glanced through the trees at the shallow river less than a hundred feet away.

This place had been an excellent find. The only thing that it would never have was foot traffic. But with our tour’s path beginning less than a quarter mile away, it would allow us to fit more tours into our day. The rental made a lot of sense.

Unlocking the door and looking around, I felt its vacancy. Had this been a good idea? How much more isolation did I need? Could I spend the rest of my life working here in this town?

Quickly wiping a tear from my cheek, I straightened up and got sensible. I had wanted a business and now I had it. If I wanted to open up and let someone into my life, I could do that too.

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