Prey

“You’re scaring me.” I was rooted to the floor, unable to move. Frozen by some unseen force. Around me, a creature circled as a wolf would its prey.

“Am I?” The man, the thing, keeping me here hissed out, and I shuddered as his completely black eyes narrowed. My voice was weak and unimpressive, but could I be blamed? I had been taken from a parking lot at my university by Darren Andrews, a fellow student that I really disliked.

But he wasn’t Darren Andrews anymore. Now, he had long, sharp fingernails that were more lethal looking than an animal’s claws. His teeth were razor points, with the canines considerably longer. The whites of his eyes had completely been swallowed up by inky blackness, and his ears came to defined points towards the top of either side of his head. Nevermind the fact that his skin had faded to a shade of pale only seen on a dead person.

        As to how I got here... My classes had ended for the night, and I’d just reached my car in a near-empty parking lot, when a very cold and very strong hand clamped itself around my mouth, while the other snatched my keys.

“I think you should come home with me tonight.” A voice in my ear had hissed. I instantly recognized it, but that hardly mattered when the world faded away a moment later.

I came to in what turned out to be my arch enemy’s house… The worst place in the world, as far as I was concerned. He ridiculed me whenever he saw me on campus, taking delight in verbally cutting down my appearance, my clothes, and everything having to do with my life.

        But he soon revealed himself to be an even bigger monster than I ever could have imagined. One with sharp teeth, sharp nails, abilities that I still wasn’t fully comprehending, and a desire to cause me unending suffering.

“Yes, I’m terrified. What are you going to do with me?” I had already tried running, and I screamed like a B-Movie queen upon seeing Darren’s true form. My voice came out hoarse this time, and I would have fallen to the ground if Darren had not frozen me.

“Well…” He drawled, his voice a bit deeper and more sinister, thanks to the large teeth filling his mouth. “You should be scared of me. Very scared. And I’m going to do whatever I want with you.”

I swallowed hard as Darren came around from behind me, and strolled even closer like a lion closing in on a cornered gazelle. My entire body began to tremble.        

        In the ten minutes since I had woken up, I had seen Darren crawl on the ceiling, leap across the room, close a door without touching it, and freeze me in place with just one look. I had no doubts at all that he could do whatever he wanted with me.

My eyes immediately closed as the back of Darren’s bony fingers brushed my cheek, and I would have jerked away if I could have.

“Wh-Why are you doing this? What did I ever do to you?”

There was a small shift in the air, and I knew Darren had stopped still, even before I looked at him. His eyes were cast downward, and a troubled look crossed his terrifying but beautiful face.

“Alana… Do you remember the first day we met? In Poetry 203? I made a joke about your outfit and coffin purse?”

My eyes raised to meet his now pained ones, and I could tell he saw that I remembered, even though it had been six months ago.

Darren placed his hands behind his back and started circling me again.

“You’ve always been so quiet. So mysterious, even though I can hear your thoughts.”

I let out a short gasp of horror. No!

“I was intrigued by you. But, I could tell that you weren’t interested in me. I seemed like just another mundane guy to you. So, at a strange loss for how to get your attention, I decided to start picking on you. The age old ‘teasing the girl you like’ method.”

I could feel my face burn red, and my trembling turned into hard shaking. Anger boiled up in me, and a scream caught in my throat. How old was this monster? And for six months, he had resorted to playground tactics to make my life a living hell?

When I got angry, I cried. Which is exactly what happened in record time. Hot tears cascaded down my cheeks, and my chest heaved with every ragged breath I drew.

“You… You…”

“Are an idiot? Yes, I know.” Darren cut off my stutter. “Also, I’m 230 years old. I should have known better. But you are a special case. I was not sure how to approach you. In all my years, I’ve never encountered someone who thinks like you. So, I reverted to my usual asshole self and decided to interact with you any way I could.”

He locked eyes with me and started advancing with a purpose. In the span of a second, he was before me, and I suddenly felt like I could breathe again. I was free. But rather than back away from him, another instinct took over and my right fist sailed towards his stern face. Halfway in the air, though, his own hand shot out, faster than I could see, and locked around my wrist. I didn’t even have time to be shocked before his other hand grabbed my free wrist. It was as if steel vices had clamped down on me, threatening to break my fragile bones and rendering me defenseless.

“But I got tired of waiting, Alana. I also saw the pain I was causing you, and decided to put an end to it.” His stark white face was a hair’s breadth away from my own, and I tried to wiggle out of his grasp.

“You’re causing me pain now, Darren!” I cried, my terror growing upon seeing the predatory sneer on his face.

“Not for long, sweetheart. Look at me.”

Something I couldn’t describe made me look up and into Darren’s eyes. I didn’t want to, but once I saw those black, shiny pools, I couldn’t look away. I was almost able to see my reflection in the unnatural orbs, and it seemed like an eternity passed before I slumped down. Darren caught me, his strong arm snaking around my waist, and at that point I realized I never wanted to be anywhere else. Only in his arms. I could look into his beautiful eyes forever, and I would do anything to please him, for as long as he wanted. He was my life, my air, my sole reason for existing. Why had I ever wanted to run away from him?

I was so caught up in my passionate thoughts, that I failed to notice Darren had broken eye contact. His head was lowered now, and I felt his cool breath on my neck. Eyes closed, I let my head fall back. His lips were now pressing hard kisses under my chin, and his tongue teased a trail to under my ear. A sense of anxiety or urgency welled up in me, but I wasn’t sure what I was waiting for. All I knew was that I wanted it.

Suddenly, a sharp sting seized my neck, and I involuntarily let out a moan. The pain faded quickly, though, and was replaced by a feeling of ecstasy that I never could have imagined existed.

I could distantly hear soft sucking, and the world nearly faded away as I got lost in the pleasure of what was happening to me. The bite was the best thing that had ever happened, and I never wanted it to end.

        The fact that my blood was being taken from my body barely even registered to me. I was no longer in Darren’s living room, but lost in some hazy plane of pure bliss. I vaguely registered the feeling of Darren’s solid arms shifting my body to a different position, and somewhere, a soft sigh sounded. It could have been mine, but all I really cared about was how this feeling would continue. Darren could have all my blood; I didn’t care. Just so long as this soft, comfortable heaven never ended...