Page 6 of Heathens

A blonde woman in a black leather jacket with dark eyes points a crossbow at us. Well, mostly at me. I can hear her heartbeat from here, clearly human. She has mottled, nearly ashen skin, and dark circles underneath her eyes. I can smell the sweat on her body before it even forms on her forehead, and I spot the puncture wounds on her neck just as Rene’s stench wafts toward me. I can barely hold back the urge to gag.

“I see Rene’s sent his best and brightest to guard the place.”

“Put the formula down!” She shouts. “There are more of us coming. You’d better leave while you can!”

I chuckle.

“Somehow, I doubt that.”

I take a step forward, and her whole body straightens, aiming the crossbow vaguely at my chest. Sure, if that thing hits just right I’m toast, but she’s far from a marksman.

“Take one more step and you’re dead!”

I grin and look around at Theo and the rest of the boys. They all have their hands in the air, half in mockery. Mateo is already licking his chops. He hasn’t eaten well in a few days. Hell, neither have I.

As she cranes her neck to get a full view of what she’s up against, I spot Rene’s brand on her neck. A deep “R” burned roughly into her skin to let everyone know where her loyalties lie. I can’t judge, there’s one burnt right into my chest, and it’s a lot harder to make them stick when your body naturally heals. At one point I might have even taken it as a mark of pride, but now it’s a secret shame, buried under a stretch of tattoos.

Rene loves to do this shit, to brand people like they’re cattle. He gives them food and shelter and they get to live in relative luxury while he feeds off of them. When they’ve outlived their usefulness, they get that coveted invite to his private place up in the mountains. I sometimes wonder how many go knowing what’s coming, and how many others still trust him up to the very end.

She doesn’t look like she’s too much longer for this world, but even if she’s not next on the chopping block, a failure like this will be her end. At least I can offer her a less gruesome exit. At least a little.

“Put the crossbow down, dollface.”

She bares her teeth and tightens her aim on my chest. While I admire the tenacity of humans, it can get dull to deal with, and there’s nothing I hate more than being bored.

“Okay,” I shrug. “We’ll do this the hard way, then.”

Her eyes narrow as I reach for my hidden gun, and I can see her fingers almost grasp the trigger, but I just barely beat her to the punch. A single shot rings out, echoing through the room as the hole her bolt tore through my jacket compliments the gushing wound in the center of her chest. She hits the ground with a thud, her body trying to process the shock.

There’s blood everywhere, and I can already feel myself losing control. Luke and Mateo creep toward her, slow and silent, hissing softly. I can feel their hunger matching my own. My jaw tingles, fists clenched, as the smell of her fresh blood begins to overwhelm me.

I take a step forward.

“You boys hungry?”

Mateo rumbles like a beast waiting to strike, but Theo lurches past the others without a word, grabbing the woman by her hair and slamming her up against the wall. The longer I stare at her, the less human she becomes. She’s just the blood dripping from her mouth. Pouring from her chest. Just food.

But it’s impossible to ignore that smile. It’s vicious; completely overwhelming every other part of her even as she slowly loses consciousness.

“You had a chance. He won’t stop. You know he won’t.”

She thinks I’m afraid of him. It’d be worth a laugh if I wasn’t so fucking hungry.

The four of us descend on her like vultures on a corpse. I tear into her flesh, savoring the squelching wet sounds as I go. Her still-warm blood quickly coats my throat and my eyes roll back in blissful ecstasy as she screams.

I didn’t realize how hungry I was.

Theo groans, sucking on her neck and tearing until her jugular bursts. Blood spurts from the wound like a grotesque fountain. Luke and Mateo take a wrist each as her body convulses, her head slamming against a wall accompanied by a gurgling groan. In moments, the entire room stinks of the most exquisite scent, and in another minute her heart is stopped for good.

We drink until she’s dry, and by the time I manage to pull myself away, she’s less than a husk. I back up, panting as I wipe my mouth on the sleeve of my jacket while the others come up for air.

Mateo’s eyes are wide, dancing around for another food source. When he spots the pool of blood on the floor, he rushes for it. I grab him by the back of his suit like a mother cat would grab a kitten.

I can sense his hunger, his desperation. He’s still young and having difficulty controlling his bloodlust. The dwindling human population hasn’t made things easier.

Mateo gnashes his teeth at me as I grip his chin as hard as I can, feeling the bone almost give way beneath my fingertips.

“We’re. Not. Animals.”

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