Part 2

Marcus was on his third victim when the hunger finally stopped gnawing at his stomach. He had cornered some bums sleeping behind a stand of bushes in the park, and regardless of their smell and the general filth of them, had gorged himself until the last of them had nothing left to bleed. But now, as the burning pain he had endured eased enough for him to think somewhat clearly again, the stench of them overwhelmed him and if he could be sick he felt he would have been.

That he had lowered himself to feed off such vermin was despicable and it was all that damn Dale’s fault. Just the mention of his fledgling’s name caused him to loose his composure, anger driving the strict control he had been maintaining. This was his game, and testing the link between him and his new toy would have been quite useful. Once again, he had thrown himself into an unknown situation, a game in which he could only guess at the rules. But he would make sure that it was worth it, even if it was only a diversion from his current agitation. He was a persistent man, but he knew when a situation was out of his control. Getting rid of the woman would not endear him to James at all and honestly, what he really wanted to do was just to kill the both of them. He had made their existence possible; it was his blood that ran through both of their veins! A burning sensation flared up in him even at the thought of James and that woman, happy together, sharing the joys the night had to offer the way no one would with him.

At the thought, temptation took hold and the last semblance of his patience ran out. There would be no toying with the boy after all, rules and consequences be damned. Why should he have to sneak around in the dark, tiptoeing around the boy, and for what, to stop rejection, preserve the boy’s sanity? Test the waters and ensure complete control? However, having the boy under his absolute control like a mindless doll who was unable to resist would not be very exciting or distracting. So why bother with complexities and stifling old niceties. The wind howled as he followed the link that connected him to the young man from a week before. It was still faint and weak, but with time it would strengthen in his favour. Though the fun and games had not even gotten started, he would finish this thing tonight. He was tired of waiting.

XXX

Gav knocked on Nicholas’s door for the hundredth time that day as Nicholas applied colour to his pencil sketch. This was the ninth picture he had finished in less than seven days and rightly, he could not remember the last time he had had something substantial to eat of more than an hour of sleep at a time. Each time he slept he would be plagued by nightmares. Darkness, screaming and a burning hunger that got stronger and sharper each time he went to sleep. He would find himself fantasizing in his dreams about such horrible things, the kind that belonged in movies, but when he woke up, he could still almost taste the memory of the warm gushing blood he had savoured in his dream. It was not as frightening as it was disturbing, especially the state in which he left the bodies. Each time he awoke, he would be inspired to draw another drawing, and each time it would be different picture, the old one would be abandoned, incomplete. That is why he forced himself to stay awake until he was satisfied with his drawing before he allowed fatigue to pull him down. Every time it would be the same man, the same shadowed face. Now finally he was done. Running a hand through his hair, leaving it ruffled and standing on end he unlocked his door to see what his flat mate had wanted.

“Hey! Watch out or you’ll step in your supper. We got take-out.” Gav called from the couch, where he was perched in front of the television. Gav looked up, relief showing on his face now that Nic had finally come out of his room.

“Stephanie called earlier; she brought over some notes and assignments earlier. I told her to leave it on the entrance table. She’s worried about you, man. You haven’t been to class since last Thursday.” When Gav finally paused to take a breath, Nicholas sat down next to him and took a bite out of the pizza he’d found at his door.

“So come on, tell me what you’ve been up to since you locked yourself up.”

Gav had to wait until Nicholas had finished his slice of pizza before he got an answer.

“I don’t know. Not much. I’ve been drawing. I just didn’t feel well. If Steph comes by again tell her thanks for me.”

“You could tell her yourself you know. You aren’t still avoiding are you. I mean, man, it’s been three months since you guys broke up. You gotta forgive and forget.”

“Mm...” Nicholas agreed half-heartedly. “Is there anything to drink or should I go buy something.”

“I think we’re all out. But there’s some change in the kitchen if you feel like taking a walk to the shop.” Picking up his own slice of pizza Gav took a bite and turned to the TV as Nicholas got up.

“I’m off then. See you later.”

As Nicholas stepped out of the door a shiver ran down his spine. He turned and stared around. It was just dark and the cold kept everyone inside. Seeing no one, he shoved his hands into his jeans pockets and set off down the block, to prevent anyone from seeing that his hands were trembling. And suddenly this game intrigued Marcus. The boy could sense he was being watched, and he was getting edgy, but it was obvious that he did not know where Marcus was. It had been a while since he had hunted and toyed with his prey. As Nicholas came to a stop at the entrance to a rather dark looking side street Marcus savoured his indecision of whether or not to risk walking down that way. The tension was thick in the air as Nicholas disregarded his foreboding and stepped down the narrow road. Impatience clawed at Marcus, but he allowed the boy to get safely through the alley and out to the shop, trailing him all the way. This time on his way back Nicholas did not hesitate to take the alley.

Nicholas was not even halfway down the alleyway when he felt someone step up behind him. And I say felt, not heard, because whoever it was had not made a sound at all. He made to turn around but a soft voice whispered I his ear,

“For your own sake, don’t move.”

An arm wound itself around his waist and a shudder ran through him. He would have to wait for the opportunity to try to escape. The grocery bag was grabbed from his hands and thrown down the street causing his muscles to tense and his hands balled up into fists. This guy was beginning to piss him off, and he wondered at the fact that he had actually stayed still for this. He knew the other guy was taller, and by the feel of it probably stronger than him, but he could hold his own in a fight. Therefore, it was with a look of disbelief that he was turned around to face his attacker.