She's My Prey Episode 3

Chapter 1

SADIE

I’m falling.

I don’t have it in me to regret my choices, my timing of that fatal twist that sent me careening out of the monster’s grasp. I suppose falling to my death might be a more peaceful end than what was in store for me with that beast, anyway.

My eyes squeeze shut as wind whips past me, and I brace myself, waiting for the inevitable pain. The fear of death has a funny way of slowing things down, making everything happen in slow motion. There’s a part of me that wishes I’d just hit the ground already.

A sudden warmth encloses my outstretched arm, firm, solid fingers yanking up on my wrist. My eyes fly open at the sharp bite of pain as I lurch to a sudden halt, still suspended in the air, only to find dim red light pouring from empty eye sockets.

The monster… the monster saved me.

His wings flap once above him, no doubt in an effort to slow our dizzying descent to the ground, but whatever magic is being wrought on him makes it useless. He must come to the same realization, yanking me up hard against his chest and curling his body around mine, twisting as the ground rushes up to meet us.

The sound of his massive body hitting the cobblestone of the street beneath us echoes in my ears, my teeth clattering with the force of our landing. I’m distantly aware of shouting, of motion around us, but my fear-addled mind isn’t keeping up as I stare at the monster still clinging to me.

He broke my fall. He used his own body to protect me.

Why?

It’s you, his raspy voice plays in my mind. Any other predator would have abandoned his prey at this point, deeming the risks too high for something as simple as a meal. But I must not just be a meal, not to this monster, if he’s willing to go through all of this simply to have me.

So what am I? Why was he searching for me?

What does this nightmarish monstrosity want from me?

As if in rebellion to the raucous thoughts whirling in my head, I jerk away from him, breaking his hold on me much easier than I expect. Deep, black-red blood glints on my hands and dress, staining me with the marks of his growing injuries.

Whatever spells the dark elves are using to hold him must be nasty ones, to injure a creature like this. His eyes flash as I slip from his grasp for a second time, and his arm reaches out for me again, that dim red gaze fixated on me.

I scramble back, away from his outstretched hand, narrowly avoiding his grasp. Blood begins to pool beneath the monster as he groans, trying to push himself up, to come after me again. Uninhibited fear courses through me as I think about him soaring off with me again, and I throw myself back, my eyes glued to him like a prey surveys its impending demise.

The blood drains from my face as he pushes himself up, his body sagging as he gets to his hands and knees. He makes another feeble motion for me, collapsing with a groan as more blood spills from the slices in his skin.

“Sadie!” I hear the madam’s voice ring out. My head jerks in the direction of her voice, the madam and several dark elf guards rushing toward us. Relief floods me as I watch them approach. Saved- I’m going to be saved!

Subconsciously, my eyes drift back to where the monster lies in a heap mere feet from me, struggling to get up once again. His gaze rests squarely on me, either unknowing or uncaring of his doom rushing toward him.

For some reason, the sight pulls a strange emotion out of me. Not quite pity, but something near it. This monster, however terrifying, was the first being other than Anika to try and extend some sort of help toward me.

Guilt – the emotion is guilt. As I watch him struggle toward me with another groan, I realize that he’s going to die. For whatever unknown reason, whether because of my desires or his own, this monster tried to help me leave the Bordello.

He was going to get me out, and now he’s nothing more than a target, lying bleeding in the street, all because of me. Because he refused to leave without me.

Is this the price to pay, for trying to leave the Bordello, leaving the responsibilities that were thrust on me behind?

The monster growls, and my fear rises up again, drowning out the more benevolent emotions I was feeling mere seconds ago toward the creature. No, I shouldn’t feel guilty. Nothing that this monster has done was for me- he was going to kill me, to eat me, the second we were free of the city walls. I’ll be saving myself and countless others by letting the dark elf guards take care of him.

I scramble to my feet, and the monster seems to sense my burgeoning resolve, loosing another growl. I back away, turning toward where madam Fleur and the guards are approaching. Images of the guards in the Bordello flash unbidden through my mind, their broken bodies and horror-stricken faces laid on the plush rugs of the Bordello halls.

He killed them like it was nothing, like all of those highly-trained city guards were little more than livestock. Is he going to do the same to this flock of guards? Will they even stand a chance at stopping him?

My eyes flit back over my shoulder toward the creature, struggling to his feet despite the rush of blood coursing out of him. He’s injured now, and while this monster seems impervious to many threats, he clearly isn’t impervious to magic.

I turn back, watching as the madam comes to a stop a safe distance away as more guards rush forward. There must be at least a half dozen of them, all in gleaming armor, their lips pressed into a firm line as they behold the battle ahead.

One dark elf splits off from the rest of the group, planting his feet as the rest linger at his back, grim determination set into the high planes of his features. The lead dark elf extends his hands in front of him, his focus resting on the monster behind me as his fingers begin to curl, his expression stony.

The hair on the back of my neck stands on end as I feel power rush past me, and I turn to look just as shimmering, navy strands of magic begin to appear in the air, binding the monster to the street beneath him.

I back away another step, the sheer violence and threat rolling off of the monster spurring my fight or flight instincts, but for some reason, I can’t look away. The second I’ve backed away, however, something in the monster seems to snap.

With a deafening roar, he rises to his feet, the magical binds going taut beneath him. Massive muscles ripple in his arms and chest as he fights to drag his arms up, to break free of the tendrils holding him here. Dark elves push past me, swords raised, as they lunge for him.

My heart leaps into my throat as a glint of steel swings toward the beast, but he dives, avoiding the blow. Instead, the sword comes down on a tendril of magic, the shimmering blue dissipating as it comes into contact with the gleaming silver blade.

His skull is fleshless, expressionless, and yet I swear I see the creature grin.

In a flash, his newly freed arm lashes toward the guard, gripping his skull tightly before he sends him careening headlong into a brick building, the dark elf guard’s body landing in a mangled heap with a sickening crunch.

It’s too much for me. I’ve seen enough violence, enough gore. There’s been enough bloodshed in the past few hours of my life to last me a lifetime.

I turn away, my eyes burning as they focus on madam Fleur, who’s tucked a safe distance away at the mouth of a city alleyway. My heart soars as she extends her arms to me, a soft, welcoming smile tilting her painted, crimson lips.

My feet pound against the ground as I run toward her, my feeble, aching body screaming against the effort. Just a little farther, a little more work, and I’m safe. I’ll be safe, and at home, just like I should be.

My knees threaten to buckle mere paces away from madam Fleur, but I push harder, throwing myself into her waiting embrace. The cloying scent of her perfume envelops my senses as her arms close around me, keeping me upright as a sob wrenches from my throat.

“Madam,” I croak, relief permeating my voice as tears slip freely down my cheeks.

“Shh, shh, Sadie, you’re safe now,” she croons above me, sliding a comforting hand over my hair. I feel a sharp prick against my arm just then, the sensation making me hiss in equal parts surprise and pain.

No sooner have I registered the sharp sting does my vision begin to swim, although not from the tears. Whatever strength was left in my legs begins to give out as they buckle beneath me, a strange heaviness flooding through my veins, my own weight becoming impossible to hold up.

I pull away from the madam, my eyes finding hers as my brows pull together in sluggish surprise. Something’s changed in her face, that welcoming smile now smug, the warmth in her eyes hardening into something different that makes my stomach twist into feeble knots.

My mind slows, my tongue heavy as I try to form the words to make sense of what’s happening. A figure appears from the alleyway behind the madam, the colors blurring together, my eyelids becoming too heavy to see the person properly. My mouth goes dry, that heavy darkness sweeping in, the edges of my vision going dark.

“Madam… what…”