20 Votes
Hungry for Life
by:
541
Views
Views
Chapter 1:- Prologue
PROLOGUE
The tires of the car created a crunching sound as they crushed the stone and gravel mixture of the damp drive. The black limousine stopped abruptly in front of the white decrepit house, spitting small stones against the underside of the vehicle. As Ben looked through the tinted window, towards the farmhouse, he saw her. The young girl stood barefoot on the porch, arms hanging tensely at her sides. She wore a white cotton dress, worn and tattered and her hair hung in limp strings around her face and over her eyes. She looked feral.
“She’s certainly not as kept as we would have hoped,” Nic said with a snort. He pulled down the mirrored flap over his head and brushed a large hand through his thick blonde hair, eyeing himself in the mirror. Using that same hand, he smoothed the lapel of his Prada suit, taking a moment to adjust the pink silk handkerchief tucked into his chest pocket. He looked down at the silk and pulled it out of his pocket, saying, “I’ll never understand the men these days. Real men, in fact, should not wear pink.”
Ben looked down at the pink tie that Isabelle had insisted he wear and blushed slightly. The suit he wore was also Nic’s, and the extra room in the shoulders and chest exaggerated the difference in size between them.
“Isabelle will be angry,” Ben teased.
“She will have bigger battles. Now let’s get this done.” Nic rested his hand on the door handle and turned back to Ben. “If you aren’t going to be able to control yourself, tell me right now and you can go and sit in the front seat with Roger.”
“I’ll be fine Nic,” he said through gritted teeth.
“Ok Ben. Just remember; Vic said alive. He will not tolerate anything less, even from you.”
Ben’s face burned. “I know. I said I’ll be fine.”
Nic’s blue eyes fired him a final quick warning glare before he grabbed his sunglasses out of his pocket, placing them on in a swift motion as he opened the door and stepped out of the car.
Ben crawled over the seat after him and slipped out of the door with slightly less force. The weather in this part of Florida was considered unbearable by many, particularly during this time of year when the regular thunderstorms did little to relieve the stifling temperatures. Ben’s cool skin easily absorbed the heat radiating off of the metal as he leaned against the car, attempting to act casual and collected behind Nic as he called to her.
“Emily?” Nic asked.
She crossed one arm over the front of her body and clutched her other arm without speaking. Something glimmered in the sticky sun, and Ben realized that she was holding a knife by her side. A large one.
He stiffened and quickly pulled his body off of the car. Nic put his arm out to stop Ben from moving forward any more. He had noticed it too.
“Ok, stay calm,” Nic said slowly to the girl. “We aren’t here to hurt you.” He smiled at her. Nic used this same smile whether he was prying a woman off of a bar stool or whether he was closing an important meeting. This was his business smile, and the word business of course, was open to interpretation.
The girl did not respond. Instead she cocked her head to the side and stared at him fiercely, eventually directing her stare to Ben. They locked eyes and when he saw the green sparkle, he knew instantly that she was the one they had been looking for. His gums began to tingle slightly with excitement. He ran his tongue over his teeth and lowered his eyes to the ground. Ben was as good as dead in Nic’s eyes if he lost control, and he knew that Nic had been waiting for him screw up just once, so he could capitalize on it. Ben had often wondered if, when the time came, Nic would offer him the same smile he was offering to the girl now.
“I’m sure it’s difficult to trust people now, what with all that you have been through, but your mother had sent for us a long time ago and had planned on us-”
As Nic spoke the word mother the girl’s chin jutted into the air. She glared down at Nic and leapt off of the porch, letting out a guttural growl and holding the knife above her head as she lunged toward him. Nic’s gait changed and he crouched slightly in preparation for the girl’s force. Despite her small stature, she was able to knock him back a good distance. He fell against the car with a loud thud. The metal of the car bent easily under his weight, and his body left an indentation where he landed.
“My mother hasn’t sent for anybody! She’s been dead for years! She never planned for anything!” The girl shrieked. She leapt for Nic again pushing him back into the car; this time the glass of the window developed a large spider web of cracks. The smile on his face was eerie as he allowed her to pummel him again and again. Ben saw her veins pulsing out of her neck as her blood threatened to escape. The quiet tingling in his gums turned into a searing pain, and the heat became almost unbearable. He stood frozen, knowing that if he moved in any way he would lose control.
“You are stronger than you thought, huh?” Nic spoke to the girl playfully. It was clear that this was her first encounter, but it was also clear that she had been trained.
The girl grabbed Nic’s suit with her hands and lifted him off of the ground. His face dimmed for an instant and then opened into a large smile as she threw him onto the ground. She leapt onto his chest and pushed the knife in with all of her weight. Nic laughed, taunting her. She pulled the knife out and pushed it in again, and this time as she pulled it out Ben noticed something that he was sure Nic had missed. On the edge of the large butcher knife was a small wooden tip. It was sharpened to blend with the rest of the knife and was almost unnoticeable.
“Nic, the knife! It’s wooden!” Ben screamed.
Nic’s smile melted into a thin line, and his neck bulged as he sat up and flung the girl off of him as if he were batting a fly. There was a loud clanging as the knife flew out of the girl’s hands and crashed against the car. Within the same second, the door caved in under the force of her head smashing against it. She slumped to the ground and lay still with her eyes closed. The sounds of the Floridian wilderness began to creep back into Ben’s ears in the absence of the rumbling.
Ben stared at Nic, wide eyed. “That was close. A few inches closer and she would’ve done some damage,” he said to him.
“Too close.” Nic said solemnly. He glanced down at the girl and narrowed his eyes, dusting the lapel of his jacket. He examined the tears in his suit. “That bitch’s entire property probably doesn’t even amount to the cost of this suit, and she’s ruined it.”
Nic looked back up at Ben and he knew what was coming next. “And you. Its one thing to maintain control, but you just stood there like a pansy! What’s the matter, are you scared of a little girl?”
“I’m not scared.” Ben felt a wave of heat passing over his skin. “She’s stronger than I thought she’d be. She could’ve taken you.”
“That’s bullshit! I was playing with her!” Nic looked down at the girl and spit on her. “Now get her into the car. It’s the least you can do.”
Ben bent down to pick her up, sliding his arm easily under her shoulders. With his face this close to hers; he could smell her breath as it moved gently in and out of her nose. Her breath smelled sweet, different, special. He crouched closer to her so he could slide his other arm under her legs, and breathed her in slowly. Her body felt hot, as if she were on fire. It was pleasing to him and he felt his gums begin that familiar tickle again.
“What the hell are you doing? Go on with it Ben. She’s bound to wake up shortly. ” Nic’s voice was insistent; barely masking the strange tone that Ben thought was maybe fear.
He moved more quickly, scooping her up easily. She was light, but her body was hard, and each muscle became palpable as he moved her. She was strong like them. Ben felt a small sigh escape her as he boosted her up more comfortably in his arms. She was much prettier from this distance, much softer. Her eyes moved slightly and her long lashes fluttered open to reveal the most dazzling set of emeralds. They stared at each other for a moment, her eyes blinking as she focused them. Suddenly her muscles tensed and he felt her once hanging arm instantly wrap itself around his throat. Within seconds, her limb was a python, threatening to squeeze what life Ben had left out of him. With her free hand, she gripped the other side of his face, twisting his head. Ben heard a quick snap. He loosened his grip on her slightly and she capitalized on the opportunity to lower her legs. The girl hung from his neck and kicked her legs into Ben with an incredible force, unbelievable for someone her size.
Ben fell back. The earth met him with a loud thud, cracking several of his ribs. The pain gave him a burst of strength and he jumped back to his feet. The girl and Ben were facing each other now, circling. His sunglasses had been knocked off at some point and the moist sun gave everything an ethereal glow. He felt the color draining from his eyes, and his most guttural reactions ensued. Ben felt his throat release a low growl and the burning in his gums was now unmanageable.
“Ben! Let me handle this!” Nic leapt onto the back of the girl. She let out an ear piercing screech as she fell to the ground.
