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edible.”
“Explain what the hell that means, brother!” Franz rages.
“He has our taste, but there’s a mixture of somthin’ else. And it isn’t human.”
Franz says, “What th—” But he is cut off from Percy’s waving hand. She steps toward me with apprehension, stretching out her hand to caress my blood-soaked neck and dabs her two fingers in the fresh wound. I jump with sensitivity. She takes a deep sniff and touches the blood to her lips. I see her tongue swirl around to analyze the tiny pool and I have to admit that my neck wasn’t the only thing throbbing. Her eyes close, roll back, and leisurely open with a softer, gentler look. She leans in, puts her mouth next to my ear, and I feel the tickle of heated air as she breathes. “It’s good to see you, Adriel.”
Chapter 2
My mind is in a frantic search for a familiar memory, a scent, anything that will explain how the hell she knows my name. I dust off old mental flash cards from places I’ve lived or visited, strangers I’ve met, but how could I have forgotten those eyes? The remnant of her touch fades from my neck, but our eyes are still locked in muddled discovery. I catch myself choking on the thick intensity when the distant throb of my heart grabs my attention. It’s the rhythmic beat of ancient ceremonial bass drums, slow and rumbling in my ears. Their sound growing, boom… boom… boom, until I am deaf with nothing, but the methodical pulse of dread.
I squeeze my eyes shut to force the bellowed thumping out and feel my heart churning in confusion. Slowly, my eyes break open to see Percy’s mouth moving with no sound and a countenance of panic. The earth begins to spin and blur, yet I remain unmoved as nausea creeps up my throat. Hanz and Franz are staring with startled dismay, trying to reconcile what they just witnessed and heard. She cups my face with both hands and I notice her brow crease and muscles tighten while she silently screams my name.
I sense the boom shaking my body from the inside out, and just when I think my mind will slip into unconsciousness, it bursts. It’s a Red Nova, the Big Bang, a star collapsing, then exploding with such force I think blood is going to shoot out of my fingertips. My blood transforms from cool blue to raging inferno. It’s a stream of hot lava racing through my arteries, cleaning and purging all in its path. My bones melt and I slump over from no support.
The pulsing drums are smoothly replaced by cracking and movement as my ligaments sever and rejoin. At this moment, Percy is barking noiseless orders to get the car at Hanz and Franz with pointed finger and agitated movements. They appear to accept defeat with dumbfounded grace, making a straight line for the edge of the fifth-floor wall. I achingly peer in their direction as they turn quickly to reevaluate the new situation, say a few secretive words to each other, and jump into the void of night. Normally this would be a disturbing sight, but my bones are beginning to re-solidify and the pressure in my head feels swollen and heavy on the deep ocean floor.
My body is begging for reprieve, my head is a symphony building to a climax, and POP! Abruptly, my ears release the pressure, my eyes bubble around the corners, and I can finally breathe without congestion through my nose. Thousands of distinct smells overwhelm my senses as I struggle for breath. Aromatic perfumes squeezed from dying flowers catch my mind, but are tainted with the billowing exhaust left by an antique car five minutes earlier. I observe dozens of unique colors undulating in the shadows near the edge of the parking lot as tiny insects trail for food. Percy’s skin is a pale assimilation of hardened ivory and beige. My eyes move into hers, and for the first time, I see that she is a true paradox: a predator, menacing and gentle with feral resolve and tender protectiveness. A cacophony of sounds penetrate the moment when remote conversations resound
“Explain what the hell that means, brother!” Franz rages.
“He has our taste, but there’s a mixture of somthin’ else. And it isn’t human.”
Franz says, “What th—” But he is cut off from Percy’s waving hand. She steps toward me with apprehension, stretching out her hand to caress my blood-soaked neck and dabs her two fingers in the fresh wound. I jump with sensitivity. She takes a deep sniff and touches the blood to her lips. I see her tongue swirl around to analyze the tiny pool and I have to admit that my neck wasn’t the only thing throbbing. Her eyes close, roll back, and leisurely open with a softer, gentler look. She leans in, puts her mouth next to my ear, and I feel the tickle of heated air as she breathes. “It’s good to see you, Adriel.”
Chapter 2
My mind is in a frantic search for a familiar memory, a scent, anything that will explain how the hell she knows my name. I dust off old mental flash cards from places I’ve lived or visited, strangers I’ve met, but how could I have forgotten those eyes? The remnant of her touch fades from my neck, but our eyes are still locked in muddled discovery. I catch myself choking on the thick intensity when the distant throb of my heart grabs my attention. It’s the rhythmic beat of ancient ceremonial bass drums, slow and rumbling in my ears. Their sound growing, boom… boom… boom, until I am deaf with nothing, but the methodical pulse of dread.
I squeeze my eyes shut to force the bellowed thumping out and feel my heart churning in confusion. Slowly, my eyes break open to see Percy’s mouth moving with no sound and a countenance of panic. The earth begins to spin and blur, yet I remain unmoved as nausea creeps up my throat. Hanz and Franz are staring with startled dismay, trying to reconcile what they just witnessed and heard. She cups my face with both hands and I notice her brow crease and muscles tighten while she silently screams my name.
I sense the boom shaking my body from the inside out, and just when I think my mind will slip into unconsciousness, it bursts. It’s a Red Nova, the Big Bang, a star collapsing, then exploding with such force I think blood is going to shoot out of my fingertips. My blood transforms from cool blue to raging inferno. It’s a stream of hot lava racing through my arteries, cleaning and purging all in its path. My bones melt and I slump over from no support.
The pulsing drums are smoothly replaced by cracking and movement as my ligaments sever and rejoin. At this moment, Percy is barking noiseless orders to get the car at Hanz and Franz with pointed finger and agitated movements. They appear to accept defeat with dumbfounded grace, making a straight line for the edge of the fifth-floor wall. I achingly peer in their direction as they turn quickly to reevaluate the new situation, say a few secretive words to each other, and jump into the void of night. Normally this would be a disturbing sight, but my bones are beginning to re-solidify and the pressure in my head feels swollen and heavy on the deep ocean floor.
My body is begging for reprieve, my head is a symphony building to a climax, and POP! Abruptly, my ears release the pressure, my eyes bubble around the corners, and I can finally breathe without congestion through my nose. Thousands of distinct smells overwhelm my senses as I struggle for breath. Aromatic perfumes squeezed from dying flowers catch my mind, but are tainted with the billowing exhaust left by an antique car five minutes earlier. I observe dozens of unique colors undulating in the shadows near the edge of the parking lot as tiny insects trail for food. Percy’s skin is a pale assimilation of hardened ivory and beige. My eyes move into hers, and for the first time, I see that she is a true paradox: a predator, menacing and gentle with feral resolve and tender protectiveness. A cacophony of sounds penetrate the moment when remote conversations resound
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