He moved almost cautiously through the grass, searching for just the right spot, when he’d at last turned to the herd and motioned them to them edge of the water to drink.. Though his senses were heightened he never seen, nor heard what was about to take his life from him. The large male lion never let his presence be known until he was at just the perfect striking distance, and once he’d struck his prey down, there would be no escape. that’s what predators do.. that’s what they’re good at.. that’s they’re gift.. They hide.. They watch.. They wait.. And when the prey is at its most vulnerable.. They strike with extreme prejudice.. And they kill. But as is the irony of life.. Nature can be a funny thing.. And even the most ambitious predator, the most accomplished hunters, can themselves eventually become prey. He’d already proven himself the predator, but here he found himself, running for his own life now, six women, six successful kills, but the seventh, oh unlucky number seven, she was still in play.
And what was it that saved her? It looked like a man, human even, but no human he’d ever seen was that fast, or that strong. He’d been running for what seemed like hours, endless city blocks, he’d ran, the cold, damp early morning air seemed to tear through his tired heaving lungs as they gasped for every precious breath he took. He stumbled and eventually fell. In some park now, he wasn’t sure exactly where, only that it was a place that he didn’t want to be. He struggled to his feet, only to feel them taken out from under him almost immediately, landing him hard against the cement sidewalk, the air once again leaving his body, the fire returned to his lungs and all he could do was lie there. Game over.. From predator to prey. Now he began to hear it. That voice.. That cold, deep, menacing voice.
“What are the words officer?.. That vow that they make you all take?”
He couldn’t answer.. Gasping for air he tried to roll onto his side.
“Ahh.. Yes.. I believe it is something along the lines of.. To Protect.. And To Serve..”
He struggled to his knees and began crawling towards the bushes. Chapel sat perched on the back of the park bench.. His elbow planted firmly on his knee, his chin on his palm. his forefinger resting along the side of his cheek.
He thought that if he could just make it to the shrubbery he’d have a chance, if he could only catch his breath.. Perhaps the police training would kick in and he’d have even the slimmest of chances against this psycho. Chapel strangely calm.. Watched patiently from the park bench.
“Go ahead.. Crawl away.. Hide like an insect.. Burrow yourself little bug deep within the bowels of the Earth.. Dig.. Burrow.. Until you reach China for all I care.. It doesn’t matter where you go.. Or where you hide. I…. will.. Find you.”
Now Chapel was stalking circles around him, growing impatient with the game, smelling the fear.. The sweat.. Feeling the heart pounding in his chest, the blood coursing through his veins.. And when he’d crawled out the other side and pulled himself clear of the underbrush, he could no longer contain his rage.
“Still think drinking that synthetic shit is going save what’s left of your undead soul Chapel?”
His eyes slowly turned red as he bent down to look his prey in the eyes. His cold undead fingers slowly circling his neck.
“So.. Did you show them your badge? Is that why they thought that they could trust you? And then what? You just… Betrayed them?.. I.. made a promise.. So long ago.. To myself.. To what was left of my own dying humanity.. I would never feed on an innocent.. But you and I.. we both know you’re dirty little secret don’t we?… you’re no innocent.”
He tried in vain to struggle free from Chapel’s grasp, but his hands tightened even more around his jaw as he began to slowly pull him closer. His eyes became redder… his canines slowly began to grow as he leaned towards his prey.
“Oh.. To be reduced.. To prey… I….. Can… Smell…. You… Enjoy Hell.. You won‘t be coming back..”
His feet began to convulse uncontrollably, his fingers with each painful twitch dug into the cold frozen ground as Chapel's canine’s viciously tore into his flesh, the screams choking up in his throat made pathetic gurgling sounds… from predator to prey… Game over.
He sat there on her balcony until she’d fallen asleep, he’d crept into her room, sat by her bed while she slept. Even touched her hair a time or two. He wondered in silence to himself, if perhaps in another life, a life with some sense of normalcy, if perhaps he and Annie Carelli could have had some kind of friendship. He wondered as he moved back to her balcony why it was that he couldn’t simply let go of things.. Why he’d always felt the need to be the protector. Why couldn’t he simply be like the others of his kind.. Like Sipe.. Like Harken.. Just let it go.. This foolish need for humanity.. This peculiar sense of right & wrong.. Embrace the animal.. Accept your fate… you’re a fucking beast Chapel! He turned one last time to look back in the direction of Ann Carelli before leaping into the snowy night air.
He would make his way through the city eventually ending up right back in the bell Tower of the Delorian Street Cathedral. He sat and watching the snow falling eventually closing his eyes.. And as suddenly as the night fell he could almost feel the warmth of the mid day sun slowly embrace his face.. He was ten again.. Running through those same golden fields of Aberdale.. He turned his head and there was Ava once again running beside him.. The image so crisp.. So clear.. He could almost feel his lips purse into a smile.. Slowly as with everything, the image faded to black and the sun died down.. The voice of Sipe strangely echoed through his mind as Chapel slept.
“The age of innocence is over Chapel.. There are no more Innocent’s left in the world.. There’s only the haves, the have not’s, and then there’s us..”
~Scratch.. A.B.T. Copyright © 2010~
No comments:
Post a Comment