The Things We Hunger For

Chapter One - New Town, Same Old Ryan *Ryan*

One

-New Town, Same Old Ryan-

*Ryan*

Have you ever been hungry? The kind of ravaging hunger that is all consuming and can't be denied? That kind of hunger that is capable of making you do just about anything? The kind that fills your mind with images, tastes, sounds and smells of what it would be like to have that which you desired? The kind of hunger that drowns out all else?

If you have, you have the smallest inkling of an idea of what it feels like to be a werewolf.

Only the thing we hunger for is not food as you would see it. Because while animal meat will keep our bellies full and bodies strong, it cannot take away our hunger for the thing we crave most. Can't take away the hunger burning in all of us; the hunger for raw human flesh.

"I've worked with cars before, mostly domestic. I show up when I am supposed to and I never get into fights," I told the shifty looking mechanic. I'd added the last bit because it was true; I wasn't a violent guy - at least I hadn't been before – and because I could tell by the way the mechanic was frowning and shifting his eyes, taking me all in, he was a little worried.

You see, I look like I should be a dangerous and violent guy. I was tall even before, but after becoming a werewolf I grew an additional three inches, making me well over six feet tall. I'd also grown an impressive amount of muscles, which had resulted in more than a few guys attempting to pick fights with me; to prove how tough they were. I'd walked away from most of those fights, but one that I hadn't been able to avoid had left me with a nasty looking scar above my left eyebrow that ran almost up to my hair line.

"Mmm," the mechanic said, smiling unpleasantly. He'd clearly decided I was a violent guy, despite what I'd said."You said you were in town for a few days only?"

"Yes," I said.

"Only a few days? Not much use in me having you for just a few days," he said, taking out a toothpick, putting it in the corner of his mouth. "No dice boy."

Used to the rejection – most people don't want to hire a young slightly unkempt looking guy, especially one that isn't planning on sticking around– I turned and headed off. It was probably for the best anyway. The first night of the full moon had been yesterday and I was still feeling tired and sore all over from the change. And tomorrow I'd be glad to have the day to recover for the final night. Yeah, it was better this way. The risk of me getting one of my burning flashes of hunger would also be less if I stayed away from people. Even people that smelled of car oil and other nasty chemicals.

My jacket was thin, and the December wind tore at it as I left the side street and turned onto to what I'd figured was this town's main street. My growling stomach made me decide to search out the diner I'd seen on the way into town.

The old guy I'd hitched hiked into town with, had picked me up a little south and west of here, but his final destination had been Canada, which I wasn't so keen on. Mostly because I had no passport to show if we passed through some sort of border, which I was sure we would have had to do at some point, and because Montana was already cold enough for my taste.

So I'd said goodbye when he stopped for gas here, figuring this tiny place was as good as any to stay for a few days. I never stayed much longer than that, not wanting to draw attention. I figured if I was lucky I might find someone to take me east, maybe all the way out of Montana and into North Dakota. It would be nice to spend Christmas in my home state.

Thinking of Christmas made my throat feel tight and the cold wind, even colder. Cheerful lights were lighting up almost all the shops on the street. They'd already gotten all their fancy decorations out. I was sure my family had too. My mother had always loved to decorate for Christmas, as had my little sister. My dad had claimed he hated all the fuss but I had been sure he secretly loved it.

A bell chimed cheerfully as I entered the diner. It looked like a diner from a 50's movie; booths with red leather seats, white and black checkered floor and a bar with bar stools – also red. Only there was a plastic tree with blinking lights in the corner as well as a big plastic reindeer by the bar and more than a dozen Christmas decorations hung from the ceiling. There were no customers eating at any of the tables. Lunch rush over, dinner rush yet to start. If there was such a thing as rushes in a place like this.

On the wall right next to the entrance was a notice board. There were a few pinned sheets of paper, some offering babysitting, one selling kittens for a dollar each and a band-poster for a band I'd never heard of. Pinned on top of all the rest where two missing persons posters. One showed a picture of a boy that according to the info was fifteen and the other an attractive dark haired girl; age eighteen. Both had the words MISSING in big bold red letters above their pictures. I looked at the posters, wondering if there was such a poster - only with my picture - sitting in the diner or post office back in my home town.

Swallowing I headed further into the diner glad for the warmth. The waitress that nodded to me as I took a boot in the corner was fat. Which was good because fat people didn't make me imagine sinking my teeth into them to the same degree healthy, slimmer people did. I guessed my wolf liked lean meat. Which was a bit messed up.

I ordered a steak –rare- and two baked potatoes from the  waitress. I was hungry and sure even if I ate twice of what I'd just asked for I'd still be hungry. No food would be able to fill me up today. It was the full moon after all.

"There you go love," the waitress said as she put my food down on the table a few minutes later. "Enjoy."

I smiled, trying to push back the images and sounds the beast inside of me was sending out. The images of me tearing her thick neck open, of the sweet scent her blood was surely have, of how her entrails would taste.

God, I needed to get away, to get far into the woods before the full moon came out. I needed to let my wolf run where there were no people, where there was plenty of game to hunt. Rabbits and dear. But I also needed to eat before the change or else the wolf's first feeling would be one of ravenous hunger. And that would be bad.

"Thank you," I said forcing my eyes away from the fat waitress' neck and down to the food. "It looks and smells delicious."