His scent lingered on my skin. I held my hand to my nose and breathed him in. Burning candles were the only remains of our second date. That, and of course, that smell. Thick and strong, like flesh and iron and blood. Raw. Visceral. I closed my eyes and thought of him, letting my imagination take care of the rest.
In the shadows cast by the streetlamps, Tegan and Damon stood watching.Their prey had been indoors for almost a week.
“This day time thing really isn’t working for me,” she said.
“If I could switch with you, I would. I’ve not seen the sun in nearly two hundred years.”
“You’re not missing much.”
Damon grunted and Tegan yawned. “Tell me again why I can’t bust down his door?”
“Because he knows we’re watching him and he’s smart. Perhaps smarter than you and I.”
“He may never come out.”
“He will eventually.”
Tegan yawned again and sat down on the grass. She stretched out onto her back. She looked up at Damon, but could barely make out his face against the backdrop of the star spattered sky. The breeze came and it chilled Tegan’s skin. She shivered and Damon dropped his coat on top of her. She slipped it over her cold skin.
“Thanks.”
He nodded. “You should go home and get some rest. I’ll be fine by myself.”
“What if he makes a move after I’m gone?”
“I will summon my coven.”
She stared at him and knew that he wasn’t going to let her stay another night. She was of no use to him this exhausted and she knew it. “Fine. I’ll go home. But after this is over you owe me.”
“Whatever you desire is yours,” Damon said.
“That’s a tall order to fill.”
“I’m up to the challenge.”
Tegan stood and kissed him on the cold cheek. She disappeared around a corner and was gone. He stood there in complete stillness for hours. He did not tire or grow bored, but instead meditated and snacked on the energy of oblivious passersby. By the time the city had finally quieted into slumber, the door of his prey quivered and opened a fraction of an inch.
Damon did not hesitate.
There’s a knock at the door, which is strange, but I open it anyway. Two guys stand there with pamphlets in their hands. I’m not wearing a bra and my shirt covers my shorts so it looks like I’m pantsless. The wintery cold air hits my chest and I see the younger of them glance down, then look away.
Hi, do you have a minute? the older asks.
Sure, I say and I bend down to scratch my ankle, letting my shirt fall forward a bit.
The older of the two starts talking about natural disasters and how the world is turning to shit and the whole time I’m staring at the younger guy biting my lip. He smiles and looks at the older man and nods.
Wouldn’t you agree? he says.
It’s cold, do you two want to come inside?
Oh no, we couldn’t go in there.
But I’m freezing. And all this stuff your saying is turning me on.
Excuse me?
I’m not interested, I say. I stretch and lift my chest in the air and I see them both look away into the distance.
Well, sorry to bother you, the older one says.
He shuts my door and I go back to sitting in my blankets.
Her body was still warm when they found her. Her father checked for a pulse, then began CPR. With every attempt at jumpstarting her heart and with every breath he pushed into her mouth, he begged God to save his child. The paramedics peeled him away, his arms and legs flailing like a mad man.
Today, the sun breaks the clouds and touches a church. A column of light shines through a pane of colored glass, engulfing the flowers on her coffin, dust particles floating in the beam like spirits.
The creature hit me, knocking me off balance. I dropped my torch and my face collided against the rocky floor. I felt the warmth and thickness of blood trickle down the side of head. The fire from my torch burned a few feet away, but still I could see nothing. As I stood I heard the patter of footsteps, then felt teeth or claws sink into my shoulder and flip me to the ground. More blood trickled down my arm, wetting my clothes. Again, I could see only blackness, but this time heard a sniffing. The creature was sure to have tasted my blood and now hungered for more. I shuffled forward, reaching for my torch. I heard a low growl, and in that instant I neglected the torch and removed my blade and thrust it at the sound. I felt the satisfaction of it penetrating flesh and felt the warmth of its blood oozing onto my hand. It lashed out at me and struck me, but I didn’t let go. I felt fur and muscles and saw its orange eyes glowing in the dark. I removed the blade and again thrust it into the creature’s chest. It gave off a tiny exhale and fell forward onto me. It’s mouth was near my face. I could feel its breath on my neck and smell its fleshy urine stench. The creature snapped its jaws at me, and as it did I ripped my blade from it and jammed it into the beast’s neck, its teeth nicking my already injured shoulder. I sliced sideways against it’s flesh and tore the knife from it, and heard blood spatter the walls of the cave. The beast fell to the ground.
I stabbed it twice more until there was no breath left in its chest. Behind me I heard a whimper. I picked up my torch and approached the source of the noise and in the firelight I saw the bruised and beaten body of a young girl. She looked at me with fear in her eyes, and cowered as I stepped near. She was tied with ropes, so I cut them and removed from my pack a blanket, which I wrapped her in and carried her from the cave.
Now she sleeps next to my fire. I gave her some stale bread and some dried fruit. Soon after she fell asleep, I returned quickly to the cave, but could not find the body of the beast I had slain. A great dread arose within me, so I sprinted back to camp and found the girl laying peacefully, her eyes closed in reverie.
She hasn’t spoken and looks different than the Peruvians I’ve encountered. Her skin is lighter and the exotics of her face suggest she is of oriental descent. There is a mystery here that I do not understand.
After waking up yesterday and eating the rest of the yucca and rice, I trekked further up the mountain. About two hours into my journey I found a dead and mutilated animal that I believe was an alpaca. It had been dismembered and the meat stripped from the bone. It’s head had been severed, but was nowhere in sight. So I continued with my senses on full alert. A number of times an animal moved and I drew my blade and my body tensed, listening. But nothing was there.
As the sun fell and the sky turned orange, I smelled a foul aroma, like that of rotting flesh and the sourness of urine. I listened, but could discern nothing. I proceeded, following the smell until I came to a cave. The sun was nearly below the horizon and I dared not face the creature at night. I could choose to face whatever was in that cave now, with what little light remained, or make camp and wait until morning. But my choice was made for me.
From inside the cave I heard the scream of girl. It was high pitched and so loud, I could hear echoing in my ear drum. Then came a roar — a deep gluttonous, roar — that was so deafening, the earth shook and to my left I heard the clatter of rocks as they fell from a precipice. The girl again let terror erupt from her lips. I acted as fast as I could. From my bag I pulled a torch and lit it with my blade and flint, I then approached the dark cavern. The girl was no longer screaming. There was the type of silence that comes only seconds before death. My foot entered the lip of the cave, and the quiet was broken by the girl’s sobbing. I took a breath and entered the cave. Before I could react, I felt a presence to my left, in the shadows…
I made camp in a small cave that overlooks a valley. I started a fire and had a small dinner of yucca and rice, provided to me by a tiny village I passed through about two hours ago. The people there were kind, giving me warm clothes and food. They speak a language that I don’t understand, but their hand gestures and smiles seemed to imply that they were offering me a place to stay. I declined, not wanting to put them into any further danger.
One of the old women took me by the hand and led me to her hut. Inside was her daughter, perhaps 12 or 13 years old. Her face had been bludgeoned and her forehead bore a wound that still seeped blood. She could barely breathe. The woman seemed to want my help, and kept repeating apu, apu,which I’ve surmised is their name for the creature I hunt. I could do nothing but put my hand on the chid and whisper a prayer, then, to the protestation of the child’s mother, I turned and left. She grabbed me by the wrist and begged me to stay, but there was nothing I could do.
I’m close now. Very close. This has been a long six weeks, but finally it will come to an end. The creature hasn’t much longer to live.
Blue Eyes and White Lies 