She's My Prey Episode 4

Chapter 1

RENEM

The second she stepped out of the house, my attention was on her. I was close to leaving after seeing how active the house was tonight. I thought maybe I needed more time to find a way in.

But her scent hit me on the breeze, and it calls to me in a way I’ve never experienced before. There’s nothing else that can hold my focus when she’s near.

I scrambled to the edge of the forest line and up a tree, just to get a glimpse of her. And when I did, adrenaline poured through me.

She looks stunning, as she always has, but her body is swathed in large poofs of white fabric, and her face is laden in a strange, heavy paint that muddies her smell. Even despite all of the strangeness of her current appearance, so different from the first time I saw her, she practically glows with beauty. I’ve never felt anything but hungry before, but ever since I saw her, each night I’ve dreamed of her, I’ve realized that I find something in her that others do not possess.

She is undeniably, gut-wrenchingly beautiful.

It’s been so long since I’ve even had a frame of reference for that word, but it echoes through my mind when I lay eyes on her.

And when that dark elf thrust her forward, her scent shifted. I smelled it instantly, the fear and hesitation.

And I knew I had to get my girl out of there.

At first, I plan to slip up to the crowd without detection. The shadows are long now, and I believe that I could slaughter a few servants before anyone even noticed me.

It’s working, too. I’ve closed about half of the distance between us without detection. But then I look up to see her at the edge of the altar, and my madness sets in.

My senses zone in on the threat, and my whole body starts to tremble with the need to hunt and destroy. Hunger claws at my throat as my vision darkens as my other senses take over. I don’t even realize I’ve launched myself into the air until the first scream erupts from the crowd.

“Run!”

A deep chuckle rumbles through my chest as I land harshly on the ground, chairs and bones snapping beneath my weight. I waste no time swiping the closest dark elf and wrenching their body apart.

My mind struggles for control as I devour the severed limbs, blood pouring down my throat and spilling across my open jaw. It’s glorious, and for a moment, it’s the only thing I can think of.

It’s been so long since I was able to lose myself in the hunt, and as more dark elves run, my instincts are triggered. I bound effortlessly through the crowd, ripping their bodies apart to feed my insatiable hunger. All conscious thought is now lost on me, and I’m certain I would have kept going until there was nothing left at the manner.

But then the breeze shifts.

My head jerks in that direction, my visions blurring along the edges as my mind fights for control. As Sadie’s scent washes over me, my bloodlust starts to clear, and the carnage around me becomes apparent.

The ground is more red than green now, and everything around me is a mass of splintered debris. I can barely tell what pieces are from the chairs and what is bone.

There are still some survivors rushing away from me, and while I am tempted to go after them, Sadie’s scent calls to me more.

“Get away from me!”

Her screams divert my attention away from the distractions littered around me, and I turn to see Indor, the very elf that led me to her, and another man that looks remarkably like him rushing toward her.

“No!” I roar as I push off the ground, my wings beating powerful as I swoop over them.

Sadie has scrambled back from them, putting as much distance between her and the elves who took her away from me as possible. She’s slower than them, though, in her restrictive clothes, and her small body isn’t made for outrunning their lithe forms.

Luckily for her, I am made to destroy. And I will destroy anyone who dares to harm her.

“I’m not going with you!” Her scent is tainted with panic, and I want to tell my little dae she will always be safe with me. Much like the animal in the woods, I will always chase this sweet creature.

“I’ve got you,” I murmur as I scoop her up, pulling her tight against my chest, and she gasps, her eyes rounding wide.

“W-what?”

“I won’t let you go again,” I promise as I dive for the forest. My fingers comb through her strands. “Nothing will keep us apart.”

She’s not as excited as I am. She squirms and squeals, tearing at my hands, and I am nearly manic as she almost comes loose.

“Stop! I’m going to drop you.”

“Let me go!” She screeches.

Before I can respond, something crackles through the air, and instinctively, I dive to the side. A bolt of magic soars past us, stunning Sadie so that she finally falls still in my arms momentarily, the burst of magic hitting a nearby tree. It explodes, and I twist so that the splinters land in my fur instead of puncturing her smooth skin.

The dark elves follow us into the woods, and I fight to keep low enough to blend in with trees without catching my wings. Blasts of magic and arrows pierce the sky, and a few snag on my limbs.

More and more elves are flooding the forest, and I’m reaching the point where I am unable to maneuver all their attacks. There’s no way for me to avoid this many projectiles pinned on me, and I decide that perhaps if I fly higher I can diminish their accuracy.

But with a beat of my wings, agony burns down my spine and through the membrane attached to my back. I roar, fighting to say airborne, and scrambling for one of the tree tops. One of the damn elves must have hit me. When I find out who it was–

I realize as I twist to catch myself from falling out of the air that Sadie has pulled a sharp pin from her hair and torn through my wing with it. I’m stunned by it, and I miss the trunk I was scrambling for, my other wing failing me. We’re not going to be able to keep flying, I know, so I curl my wings around Sadie as best I can and flip so that I am beneath her.

Pain lacerates my body as I hit branch after branch, but it is necessary. I needed something to slow us down, and this will keep me from being too damaged from a harsh impact. So far, I’ve only sustained superficial – albeit painful – wounds.

We fall through the last branch, and my back slams into the ground of the forest. I groan from the force of it, my arms slackening as I roll to the side. I’m almost certain I’ve broken one of my ribs, and my wing hangs limply to the side.

But all of that is worth it to have my little dae back.

I try to roll to the side, intent on standing with Sadie still in my arms, but she takes advantage of my slower movements. She slips free of me, her breath coming in harsh gasps as she takes off through the woods.

I chuckle softly. “Oh, my little dae,” I whisper as I watch her legs pumping. I can hear her heartbeat from here as she tasks off through the woods like the little creature she reminds me of. Only she moves so much slower than her four legged counterpart.

She glances back at me with wide eyes, and the sight of her giving chase, especially as the fear taints her scent, awakens the predator in me. I have to have her, even if I am damaged.

I’m not letting her get away from me this time, and I especially am not letting one of these dark elves take her away again. I will stalk these woods all night and rip them all to shreds if I have to.

But Sadie is coming home with me.

Despite the protests from my body, I roll onto all fours and slowly push myself up off the ground. Fallen leaves and dirt stick to me, and blood seeps down my fur until half my torso feels slick. But I ignore it.

As I stumble to my feet, I know there is only one thing that matters to me.

Catching my prey.

And I am not one to give up. No matter how many times she escapes me, I will find her again. She will learn soon that I will not be bested. I always get what I want.

And what I want is her.

“Sadie!” a voice calls to my right. A familiar one. “Sadie, come back! Let me help you! I know you’re hurt!”

“We’ll find her.”

“You better or I will take great pleasure in killing every single one of you. You were supposed to keep that monster away from her.”

His voice is filled with bitter rage, but I know the truth. There is fear tainting his scent, and I want to laugh. He calls me the monster, but I wasn’t the one Sadie was running from.

And if he wants to call me a monster, fine. I’ll be the one haunting her dreams while he’s the one she’s avoiding.

In the end she’ll be mine.

Then let the best monster find her first, I silently challenge.

And then I take off through the woods, searching for my little dae that has seemingly disappeared. I only hope that I will be the one who finds her first.