Hunting Party

HUNTING PARTY

A rush of wind filled my nostrils with the scent of liquor and sewage, clenching my teeth I repressed a gag. I stopped for a moment while considering going to a better part of town. Don't be a prude, I reprimanded myself, forcing my feet to keep moving.

The ambiance was clouded with the sound of drunk and klutzy laughs from the men, and women in the nearby illegal taverns. It was definitely no place for a woman to wander alone. I could feel the danger creeping under my skin, there shouldn't have been a respectable man in at least a mile round, not that I was looking forward to finding one. No, the evil would have to do.

I wandered with no rush the filthy stone streets, my steps echoing on the emptier parts of that wretched place. The only people around me —women selling their bodies, their clients, and the homeless—, didn’t even notice me at all. My empty stomach twisted, starved to its limit. I couldn’t help a weak pant when the pounding in my head grew stronger. I kept moving struggling to ignore the sensation of illness. 

A stream of the cold autumn wind stroke me, lifting my long black coat and ruffling my loose hair; a slight scent of blood drew my attention. I expanded my senses around me, exploring; a suffocated moan reached my ears, completely different to the sounds of fake pleasure coming from the alleys. It was a sound of fear, of frustration. I used it as a guide.

It didn’t take me long to find the alley in which the terrible scene took place: a young woman with a broken nose covered in blood and tears, and a man — not that I thought he was one —, forcing his way under the girl’s dress. With no hesitation, I threw a punch right to his face, he fell to the ground immediately. 
She cried without sound paralyzed by fear. Her scent and garb indicated me she worked as a bartender, something completely inappropriate; she looked so young, probably 15 years old. Her hair was a complete mess, she was a complete mess. I got closer to her.

“Hey, look at me,” I ordered. 
Her brown eyes focused on mine at once, pleading; tears falling down her chin. She was so small. She tried to talk but couldn’t.

“Go home, forget everything that happened tonight.”

Her eyes lost focus with the force of my hypnosis. It worked perfectly, she started walking away stumbling slightly, but disappearing from my sight.

“Argh,” growled the bastard struggling to stand up. I waited for him to face me.

He looked at me, his brow furrowing with confusion. Unaware that it was me the one who’d hit him. His brown eyes wandered my frame; from my long brown hair, through my blouse and pants, and finally to my leather boots. A mix of lust and confusion filled his expression, slowly — so he could now see me— , I hit him, open hand on his chest. He flew several feet away from me landing on his ass; seething with anger, he fought to stand up again, I waited.

I wanted him to fight and see how useless it was. I wanted his fear when he realized his life was over.

“You bitch!” He shouted throwing his fist at my face. 
I grabbed his hand too fast for him to see and shattered his bones, he howled in pain. His white skin turned pale, the stinking sweat made his hair stick to his forehead.

He threw another punch with the good hand, I dodged him and kicked him away sending him to the end of the alley. His scent was a mix of cheap liquor, silk, sweat, and lavender; a wealthy man that enjoyed hurting defenseless women, one of my favorite preys. 
My fangs descended at once; it was slightly painful, but I barely felt it thanks to the hunger, and burning rage. My empty stomach clenched, a shiver of anticipation running down my spine. One week was quite a stretch for my feeble self-control.

“Get up,” I growled getting close to him. My voice sounded completely inhuman, similar to a feline roar. 

“You don’t like fair fights, do you?”

Actually, it wasn’t fair at all. I was at least a dozen times stronger than him, could be much more if the hunger hadn’t weakened me already. He was barely able to stand up, gasping for air and crawling like the insect he was. Finally, he lifted his eyes and saw me, we were near a streetlight so he could see my cat-like silver eyes, and long fangs. I smiled wickedly at the pure horror on his face, the scent of his fear tainted the air with a repulsive scent.

“You are a monster,” he murmured.

“Funny, that was my line,” I replied.

He tried to run, in the blink of an eye, I stood in front of him. I pushed him to the furthest wall back on the alley drawing us away from the possibility of being seen, then lifted him with one hand to face me. He was a couple inches lower than me, I was tall for a female. His heart raced under my touch as cold as night. 

“Please,” he begged, “God!”

I laughed while I got closer to his neck, my mouth watered with the scent of his blood.

“I think he listened to the girl’s prayer tonight,” I murmured in his ear.

I bit his neck cutting through the damp skin like a knife on butter. The warm, bittersweet blood flooded my mouth, I could taste the alcohol and evil in it. He fought uselessly under my hands, hitting me with all the strength he could muster, but I barely even felt it. I was covering his mouth with one hand to silence his choked screams.

His heart lost the battle to my unleashed hunger that knew no bounds that night. His death came faster than I wanted, I tossed his dry and useless body to the ground, and cleaned the corners of my mouth with a handkerchief, disgusted. Not even the slightest trace of regret clouded my mind. Yes, I was a murderer, but I only took the lives of the vile, of creatures far worse than me.

I  took out the bottle of bourbon of my coat and drank a bit to cleanse the taste of his corrupted blood. Then, covered the body with the rest of the liquor, and took a few steps back before tossing a lighter. The flames would cover the traces of what I had done in a short time, cleaning after myself was something I would always do.

I walked away slowly from the scene of fire and death I had created. One more dead pervert and an eternity to take down as many of them as I could.