Prologue 002
"Need a smoke, kid?" The voice was harsh in the piercing silence of solitude, causing the girl to whirl around, hands clenched into fists. Her eyes took a moment to adjust in the mixture of darkness and hazy streetlights, but searched frantically for the individual attached to the voice. Just under one of the lights a few meters behind her, stood a ragged figure, a boy no older than she, his hands stuffed casually in the pockets of his frayed jeans.
She stiffened at the boy, and through clenched teeth replied, "Funny, you're the only kid I see here."
The boy looked struck for a moment, and produced a sudden laugh, one that caught the girl even more off guard than it should have. He took a few steps forward, to which she took a few steps back. He stopped, looked her up and down and said, "Oh, so we're gonna do this sort of dance, now are we?" The girl narrowed her eyes. The boy extended his hands, palms facing her, in weak demonstration of innocence. "Hey, hey, hey, listen here I just was wondering if you wanted a smoke. That's all."
The girl said nothing. She simply stared, her body determined to project and air of intimidation as her mind screamed RUN!
After a few moments of silence, the boy began again, this time producing a pack of Malboros and a cheap plastic lighter from the inside of his jean pocket. He slowly thumbed for a cigarette, selected one, and lit it unceremoniously, casting a taunting look at the girl. He took a puff, maintaining eye contact, let the smoke settle inside his lungs then exhaled. "You see," he drawled as smoke continued to leave his lips, "this has got to be some of the worst goddamn stuff for you. You know that, I know that. We should stop right?" His response was silence.
The boy smirked and chuckled to himself, the deep rumble of his chuckle an eerie juxtaposition to his wiry voice. "Not much of a talker, huh?" The girl didn't even have to fight the urge to shake her head, her sense had already been paralyzed by and icy aura of pure fear. The boy didn't seem to notice, or so she hoped, because he simply shrugged and continued on. "That's okay. You know, that's how it is, isn't it? The thing with bad stuff, like cigarettes, you just can't kick it, even though you should." He took another puff of the cigarette, made a face, and flicked it to the ground, letting it sizzle into a lifeless husk on the asphalt.
"I mean, I think I can kick the cigarettes," He gestured to the one on the ground lazily with his head, "But huntin'? Man oh, man. That shit will never get old." His eyes raked up the girl slowly, before his met hers. She felt the air leave her lungs when she noticed his irises were a bright amber, dilated like those of an animal ready to move in for the kill. His gaze was purely predatory.
The girl could feel herself quaking, silent sobs slithering into the back of her throat as she cast her eyes away from the boy. She stumbled back, trying to regain a sense of balance, but merely ended up looking like a quivering, clumsy foal. The boy noticed and let out a harsh laugh that rung out into the desert. "You poor thing," He muttered as he regained his breath, "I tried to be nice. But you know what? I'm all for second chances. I'm prepared to be nice, one more time."
He held out an ominous finger, indicating his supposed generosity, and began to slowly strut over to the girl. Frozen in place, she had no other choice than to let him. As he neared her, his eyes raked over her once more. He leaned in, their faces now nearly touching and snatched a tendril of her hair. She watched him purse his lips and begin to whistle a disembodied tune as he twirled the strand around his finger. She could see his hands were dark, especially his finger nails. She could just make out the small clots of dried blood in the corners of the nailbeds. A scream rose to her throat but died into a whine, in an attempt to somehow salvage her pride. The boy most certainly noticed and smiled a wolfish grin as the deep, eerie rumble of a chuckle returning to reverberate in his chest.
"Now, now," He drawled, stroking her face as hot tears of fear streaked down her cheeks, "None of that. I said I was going to be nice, remember? I'm going to give you a ten second head start, so you better liven up soon. I'm not always this generous."
In that instant, the fuel of fear and promise of escape activated her flight response. She didn't even wait for him to begin the count. She simply turned and ran, paying no mind to the fact that there was a look of sadistic pleasure plastered across the boyish-monster's face.
Her lungs flared with exhaustion and terror as she pumped her arms and legs, hauling herself down the highway as quickly as she could. However, she had yet to realize, you can't run away from the kind of monster this boy was. She'd learn that soon enough, as he latched onto her with his jaws, searing pain surging up her spine and hot blood gushing down her leg, as he dragged her into the desert void, only the full moon as their witness.