Cravings of the Dead

I don’t know how long I’ve been here, I keep fading in and out of consciousness and I have no way to tell how much time has passed. It can’t be more then a week though.
I’m so hungry. We don’t get that much food at the Chateau, but at least we get our daily rations.
Now, even my little emergency bar is gone.

I know that monster’s not going hungry.
It’s often gone from time to time and comes back reeking of blood.
I would have pretended that it was failing in its hunts; if it wasn’t for the random body parts it tended to drag back with it.
I can still vividly remember the day it brought a dog’s skull here.

I had passed out again but I twitched awake at the sound of a sharp snap. My eyes fluttered open and slowly focused on the monster’s feeding form.
In its grasp it held the dark furred scull of a dog; I could see its jaw hanging loose as though it had been broken. Horrified I watched the monster bring the skull closer his mouth, and delve its tongue into its short snout in a sick parody of a kiss. Its jaws worked over and in the muzzle. When it seemed to have a good enough grip, it suddenly yanked the carcass away. A bloody piece of meat hung from its lips which it quickly swallowed down.
Then it returned its attention to the abused skull. Before I could even comprehend what it was doing it stuck its tongue out. The pointed, pale purple shaded thing touched to the dog’s glazed over eyes, licking and caressing each of them almost lovingly. Then it curved its tongue into the socket, behind the eyeball and bit into it. He pulled the eyeball out of the socket and into its mouth.
I could see the nerve endings, still connected to the brain, hanging limply like spaghetti from its mouth.

At this point I couldn’t take it anymore. A shrill scream gurgled up from my throat. Its head twitched towards me and it growled.
I’m not sure what it was trying to achieve but this only made me scream louder.
It immediately dropped the carcass and launched at me, pinning me to the ground. The impact of hitting the flood forced my voice to a pitch much higher then usual.
The monster winced and retreated almost immediately.
When I didn’t stop screaming it chucked the skull at me.

I think sudden realization startled me into silence. It didn’t like screaming. Well maybe not screaming specifically, but high pitches were definitely one of the things that could drive it away.
I’ve never been so happy in my life that I have a slightly girly voice.
Ever since then I’ve also never screamed so much in my life.
I’m really thankful for the small puddle of water that is fed by a minuscule stalactite. I don’t care if it has me lapping from the ground like a flee-ridden stray hound. The water keeps my throat smooth and the monster away.

But I can’t go on like this much longer.
I need food. I can feel my body start to tremble ever more often. Soon I won’t be able to escape anymore. So I have to get out.

When I woke the monster was gone. Probably out feeding.
I’ve got no idea how long it’ll be gone, but I have to chance it. In my gut I know it is now or never.
So I cautiously move towards the only exit of the dingy cove; the elevator shaft.

I grasp on to the rope and slowly make my accent. It’s a ridiculous short way up. Strange how far the sky always seems when you’re trapped somewhere.
Once outside I just stand still for a while and just breathe.
The air is so fresh and clean and delicious, I can taste the rain on its breath. I can see the thick grey cloud cover overhead, swirling like an angry blue concoction. It makes pinpointing the time impossible, but I don’t care; this is more light then I’ve seen in days.
I let out a content sigh as I start walking into the direction of le Chateau. I never thought that name would ever sound so good to my ears.

I’ve underestimated myself though.
Hunger has taken its toll and I am not quite as mobile as I used to be. I would have very much preferred to travel by the safety of the roofs, but with the way my legs are trembling with every step I don’t dare.
I just wish I could move a bit faster.
I’ve long stopped to perceive the swirling concoction above me as pleasant. It keeps getting darker and darker, as though nightfall is approaching.
I don’t like night fall, though the monsters aren’t exclusively nocturnal experience has proven that the night is their preferred hunting time.
Scavengers by day and hunters by night.

The wind is also picking up and I can’t help but fear that a storm is brewing.
I need to get home, but all my body can do is yearn for food and it makes my movement harder and harder.
Suddenly I notice what my hand has been resting against; the wall of an abandoned pet shop.
Laugh at me all you want, but if there is one thing that hunger will teach you, is that the prospect of getting a few kernels of dog- or cat food can be make your mouth water.
Carefully I edge my way into pet shop through the broken display window.

~*~

He had been searching what he termed as his territory all day for food and come up with nothing.
Food was getting scarce now. It was blaringly obvious as he found more and more torn up carcasses of those like him. He knew these weren’t humans, the smell betrayed that.
Those within the masses were turning on each other.

He was about to turn for his den when he caught a whiff of a living one. It couldn’t be far. He just had to hurry and make sure he’d be there before the masses found it.
They were exceptionally alert lately.

He didn’t make it.
When he was close enough to make sense of the situation he already knew that this prey would not be his; he could smell the small horde that had brutally invaded the building the human was in.
He would have turned away, left in the safety of silence while the others were distracted. If it wasn’t for the piercing shriek that send a twinge of pain through his skull.

Anger curled up in him along with a sudden streak of possessiveness that he had previously only associated with his den.
This was his prey. He had claimed it, his scent all over its skin and they had no right.

As he stood frozen by indecision, the decision was made for him. The small human body burst through the shop-window in a shower of glittering glass and came running blindly down the street.
Incidentally, the same street he was standing on.
He just reacted and automatically grabbed the running boy’s arm and dragged him into the direction he came from, away from the building and its damned masses.

Unfortunately his action wasn’t received positively by the human and it immediately began to struggle and try to pull away, slowing the pair down considerably.
He growled low in his throat with barely contained frustration; he’d get caught like this.
So he did the first thing that came to his mind.
He paused, crouched and with a massive yank slung the human onto his back. It had no choice but to grab on as tightly as it could. And fear made it a tight grip indeed.

He was moving fast now, fast enough to have put a proper distance between them and the mass. But he’d have to hide. He couldn’t keep running like this forever.
And there was the problem, the damn human kept screaming it’s lungs out as though it was a siren gone haywire. He’d have to shut it up.
Knock it out? No, its limp body would only hinder his maneuverability.
Kill it? No, that’d be a waste of fresh flesh. With the horde hot on his heels he’d have no chance to eat it and the blood trail would probably set them after him too.
He had to shut it up though.

Pausing slightly he did the only thing he could think of. He yanked the body half over his shoulder so its head was in reach and stuck the only thing he had free into it’s gaping mouth. His tongue.
It worked, the screaming immediately stopped as the human tried to spit the invading appendance out of its mouth.
But the side effect was completely took him by complete surprise. The moment the human bit down op his tongue a shock of sensation ran through his body. It bit down harder and it sent shivers down his spine, his steps faltering.
When it started to grind its teeth viciously on his tongue it became his undoing. He came to a complete halt and sagged against a wall as shivers ran viciously through his body. He could taste his own blood slowly start to flow into the mouth of the human and a thick guttural growl escaped his throat as the tip of his tongue was smashed between the teeth hard enough to bruise.

He could hear the mass behind him come closes at an alarming pace. And he knew that the human noticed it too, the sharp scent of its fear was spiking rapidly.
But he just couldn’t bring his body to move. Not with the way sensation ran havoc through his nerves, tightening something within him, and not with the way the rising scent of the human engulfed him completely.
The vague echo of a fear he had long forgotten began to resurface as his body stiffened under the assault of heavy conflicting sensations.
And the horse came ever nearer.