When We Were Still Human by Vaughn Foster (mobi reader android TXT) 📗

teeth were clenched in agony. The loving, inviting eyes were pressed shut, refusing to meet his attacker’s gaze.

Reflexively, Val’s jaw loosened. She quickly stood and backed away from the wreckage. He had fallen unconscious, and now she could only stare in fear and disgust. She was afraid, not just at what she had done, but at how good it felt.

Unconsciously licking her lips, she swallowed the blood that was still there. Despite this sudden burst of self-control, all she wanted was to go back to him. To hold him, to kiss him— to feed on him until nothing remained.

She whipped her head around in panic until zeroing in on the main door. Running at full speed, she flung it open and rushed for the steps.

The sound of people coming up the stairs stopped her in her tracks, and she quickly skidded back the way she came. Val frantically looked for another means of escape and focused on the window in the center of the hall. Kicking off with full force, she smashed through the glass and plummeted ten stories onto the asphalt. Shaking off the debris, she pulled herself out of the pavement and took off.

It was zig-zag pattern through the alleyways. In minutes, she’d escaped the suburbs and traveled into the wooded outskirts of the city. Thorny branches ripped red streaks across her skin, but her pace didn’t slow. Somewhere in her mind, she thought she could outrun the monster inside. She couldn’t bear to face Jason when he woke up. What would she even say? Would she be able to give a pathetic attempt at an apology, or just rush him again?

She felt her way through the dark, the ravenous hunger aching deeper into her body. Her legs started to quiver, and a gnawing pain pressed on her insides. She stumbled blindly, grabbing onto any trees that were nearby for support. It became too much. She collapsed.

Her despondency was soon broken by the rustling of leaves. Something large was approaching. She looked up and saw a doe calmly walk in front of her. Either oblivious or unthreatened, the doe lowered its head to feed on a patch of clover. The breeze blew the animal’s scent into Val’s nostrils, and a soft moan escaped her lips. The doe froze, then turned its head to meet Val’s gaze.

Before it could process the threat, Val sprang and tackled the deer to the ground. Hunger deafened her to its cries as she broke its neck in one twist and sank her teeth into its jugular.

She paused in the middle of her ecstasy. A mouthful of fresh, still-warm blood bathed her tongue as the rest spilled out to stain her chin. She dug into the carcass and shoveled handfuls of meat into her mouth. Fingernails sharpened and each hand became like a set of knives.

She buried her head into the now open chest cavity, slave to bestial instinct. Its heart was in the palm of her hand. The steady beat slowed in her grasp until it was nothing but a soft, limp weight. She continued to dig a path through the animal, consuming organs, bones, and tissue alike. Even after she had devoured it entirely, she continued to lick the blood and juices from the blades of grass.

If only the effort had been of some avail. The hunger returned minutes later. Its demanding bellows echoed through her body with indiscriminate rage. Her head snapped left, then right, desperate to locate something else that may appease her.

Nothing.

She fell to the ground with a scream of pain and frustration. The world began to spin as she stared skyward through the gaps in the treetops.

“Mom?” a voice asked warily. The hair on Val’s neck crawled upwards as she slowly moved into a crouching position.

“It’s fine,” a woman replied, this time a bit closer. Val slashed out in the direction she heard the voice, but her claws only met air.

Something sharp struck her ankles and her legs gave out like putty.

“Who’s there,” Val growled. The animal instincts were still in control, but her breathing was heavy, and she was growing weaker by the second.

A branch broke behind her.

She whipped her torso around and lashed out with her left hand. Instead of tearing open flesh, a vice-like grip caught her arm mid swing and dug into the skin with tiny knives.

Val raised her head and saw the silhouettes of what looked to be a woman and child standing over her. Angels of death or executioners from hell; it didn’t matter. She had burned through the last reserve of energy, and her body had given up. Baring her teeth one last time, Val collapsed into the dirt and blackness took her once more.

 

Chapter 4

A heavy door slammed, accompanied by feet stomping on wooden floors. Torn from her coma-like slumber, Val pried open her eyes. She was in a cabin of some sort; the log walls were worn from age but seemed well-maintained nonetheless. Bright rays poured in from the full pane window opposite the bed and bathed the entire room in sunlight. A carved dresser stood beneath, and to the side, a matching bookcase.

Val tried to lift a hand to wipe the sleep from her eyes, but couldn’t move. She panicked for a moment, thinking she was restrained, but soon discovered her bindings were only the ends of a wool blanket tucked underneath the mattress. Her mind raced to remember how she had gotten there, but the sound of muffled voices through the walls broke her focus. She couldn’t exactly make out where they came from, but the sources couldn’t have been more than a room away. Closing her eyes, she took a deep breath and broke free of the blanket.

As soon as her feet hit the cold floor, the room started spinning. A wave of exhaustion hit