Perfect Prey

Chapter five

The creature that had apparently jumped from the roof of the nearest warehouse – or from the nearest tree – was vaguely humanoid, but straight from a nightmare. Almost six feet tall, its weirdly long and thin form clad in relaxed joggers and sweatshirt towered over Dove's 5'3" and its gaunt, grayish face was dominated by almost comically large, tilted black eyes. A fae of some kind, Dove thought, nearly numb with horror.

The fae tilted its head and seemed to sniff in Dove's direction.

"And what do we have here?" the creature asked in a weird, sibilant voice. "A lost little lamb?"

Dove forced her mind to snap out of the shock and tried to think through the terror. She had clearly let the spells slip slightly, but they would do no good anymore. It would take a very talented and powerful witch to make someone believe something straight in front of them was suddenly no more there. Dove was neither, at least at the moment.

The fae in front of her took a deep breath, and its thin lips spread into a wide and chilling smile, revealing razor-sharp, pin-like teeth.

"This smell...," it whispered almost reverently. "It's been a while since I last smelled it. Decades. I still remember the last time."

The fae licked its lips in a grotesque manner and its completely black eyes seemed to zoom in on Dove's arm that she was still gripping against her chest.

"Oh, I remember." It took a slow, leisurely step towards Dove, its eyes fixed on the blood staining the sleeve of her jacket and leaking onto her chest and the fingers of her other hand.

Now, Dove thought furiously. Act before its too late.

She cast a glance around the yard and noticed a large piece of metal sheet leaning against the wall of the nearest warehouse, behind the fae. Making a split-second decision, she mustered up her concentration and commanded the metal sheet to topple over and fall down against the other junk on the ground with a great amount of creaking and banging.

The creepy fae in front of her turned its head towards the commotion, and Dove thrust her hand forward, summoning energy. Fire, she commanded.

Flames erupted on the ground in front of the fae, licking his pants legs, and Dove spun around and bolted away from the preoccupied fae, towards the other two warehouses at the back of the yard.

A blood-chilling screech followed her as she pumped her legs and tried to ignore the urge to look behind her. She scanned the buildings at the back of the yard, desperately hoping that the side door to the closer one was unlocked. If she could get in before the creature reached her – because she had no misconceptions about the effectiveness of her small fire trick – she could create a shield around the building and would have more time to consider how to get out of this absolute shitshow she had gotten herself into.

"Run rabbit, run rabbit, run, run, run," rang a chilling, merry song behind her, reverberating from the metal walls around them and making it impossible for Dove to estimate how close the creature was.

No, she thought desperately, doubling her efforts. The door loomed just yards away from her.

"Don't give the farmer his fun, fun, fun..." the voice sang just behind her.

Dove reached for the door handle and twisted, pulling at the door in desperation. She almost sobbed with relief as the door creaked open, and she was able to slip inside the dark warehouse. Just as she was trying to pull the door closed behind her, a grayish, veiny hand shoot out from the gap and gripped Dove's arm, sinking long, talon-like nails in her skin. Dove wailed in agony as the creature pulled at her hand.

"Tut-tut," the fae disapproved in a playful voice. "Can't have the others snack before I get a chance to taste you."

Others? Dove thought in horror. And as if on cue, she heard shuffling and sibilant whispers echoing in the not-so-empty warehouse.