Chapter 11: Apex Predators

A lot longer chapter for you! I really hope you like it! I actually enjoyed writing this chapter a lot! There seems to be manipulation being thrown from both sides now and I like writing manipulation, it's always a fun time :)

Mick's eyelids fluttered as sleep fell away from his tired face. The sound of soft snores danced in the air from beside him. The orchestra from the bugs rippled through the open window above the bed. The night animals made their wailing calls just before the sun was set to rise.

What remained of the night had been peaceful with his wild, new girl.

He smiled as he looked at the sleeping beauty beside him. The only way that she had been able to sleep comfortably with her facial wound was with her chest to his chest which had allowed him a spectacular view of her peaceful sleep. She'd slept against him like that for the remainder of the day and the rest of the night.

He'd woken up regularly throughout the day and the night checking on her to make sure that she was still with him. He'd been surprised that she hadn't tried to escape again.

He'd never had a woman sleep peacefully against his chest as if she were trying to soak in all of the warmth that his body provided. He could hear the small hitches in her breathing as she lay against him. The scene almost seemed surreal. He reached out to her and smiled as he closed the distance between them. He ran his hand through her dirtied, tangled blonde hair. The blood in her hair, the cut on her cheek, the M on her stomach, and the exhaustion on her face had been all of his doing and it brought a larger smile to his rested face. The bruises that had marked up her face had finally darkened and gave her the appearance of a battered wife and that thought forced his pride grow a bit larger.

A tingling sensation ran through him as he looked down her bruised face. She should be sleeping far away from him, as far away as the mattress would allow her, but here she was snuggled beside him.

All the other girls had screamed and cried until her broke their minds. This one had been different. She certainly was stronger than the others. She'd been held hostage by other men and then transferred into his care. She'd screamed and cried, but she still held conversations with him. She begged for her life but she had talked with him.

His favorites always talked to him, and there had only a few. Having a conversation was one of the driving factors in switching over from hunting animals to hunting tourists.

This girl was tougher than the others. She'd been able to survive when others had failed.

"You a tough ol' bitch I'll give ya that," he said to her as he thought about how she had tried to elude him.

He watched as she continued sleeping, the soft changes of her breathing and the occasional groan from a sudden movement that irritated her wounds were the only noises that she made beside him.

Mick's observant eyes trailed down to her hands. One lightly brushed against his stomach while the other rested under her still intact cheek. His girl had no idea, in her sleeping state, who she was cuddled up against.

He took in her hands. Blood and dirt still caked her fingers. Her hands were dangerous. She'd hit him with a fucking hammer and then shot down her rapist while he begged for her for his life. She slept innocently, but he knew inside of her there was a predator just like him. It would only take a bit of time to bring that out in her. He could tell that she had a killer instinct inside of her that could compete with his if he prodded her in the right direction.

He looked over her body. She was a looker. Big breasted blondes were his preferred choice when it came to women. He could wait to have her. It would be hard to suppress his carnal desires, but it would be worth it.

He'd never had to wait with one of his girls. If he wanted them, he'd just take them. He could wait for her to heal just a bit more before he took what was now his.

And he still had the other girl that Jessica was supposed to replace hanging around for when he felt a bit jumpy.

Mick watched as her eyelids fluttered as she began to stir from her sleep. He smiled as he closed his eyes, pretending to be asleep. A trick he had only performed when he had been whacked in the head. It was a first time to pretend that he was asleep in bed and he was curious to see what his green eyed girl would do. He strategically placed his arm over her stomach to make her work a bit harder to escape him.

All he had to do was wait for her to wake up and he could see what she would do when she thought he wasn't watching.

...

Jessica heard the bed creak as she was pulled out of her slumber. The sunlight was just beginning to peer through the open window above the bed she shared with a murderer. Her stained dress stuck to her dirty flesh as she slowly maneuvered herself on the bed.

She felt her hand against Mick's stomach and she quickly pulled it away from his presence. She took in his sleeping form; she froze in her place in an attempt to not wake him. Her captor looked peaceful in his sleep. He looked the part of the Good Samaritan while he slept, he looked innocent. The vulnerability that took over his face called out to her as she took in his appearance. His greying hair was messy and hung over his eyes as he slept which helped with the allusion of innocence. Small scars covered his suntanned skin that seemed to give him a story that a part of her, the morbidly sick part, wanted to know. Her eyes traveled away from his face slowly as she took in the small details that made up Mick Taylor's person.

Her pastel eyes took in the greying chest hair that poked through his black undershirt and moved to his muscled arms that held the traditional tattoos from his youth.

Her hand slowly moved from under the cover as she slowly rolled away from Mick. She allowed her hand to softly touch his arm. Her fingers gently wrapped around his wrist, his arm hair tickled her bloodstained fingers as she carefully lifted his protective arm off of her stomach. Her heart quickened in her chest as she kept her eyes on his face as she slowly distanced herself from him.

Jessica swallowed the worry that filled her fully rested body as she slowly pulled herself from under the thick, warm blanket that she and Mick had shared in the night. She kept her green eyes on him the entire time as she struggled to move without waking him up. Her heart beat like a tom tom in her chest as she edged further and further away from him.

She placed her feet on the cool hard wood floor and closed her eyes momentarily as relief washed over her. She'd been able to escape his grasp without him waking up, a feat that she had never been able to accomplish when she wanted to get out of bed while Brandon slept in.

Jessica turned her back to Mick, a mistake that caused her to miss his eyes opening to watch for her next movement. She took in the small bedroom that they had shared. A photograph of a middle aged couple with their prepubescent daughter looked back at her. A feeling of disgust came over as she looked down at the bed.

He'd killed the family and she had fallen asleep in their bed with their killer.

She'd slept peacefully beside their murderer.

'You can't think like that. Thinking like that's going to fuck you in the end.'

Her inner monologue was slowly and slowly trying to push her into becoming the perfect victim. She wanted to fight against him, but she knew that it would be more trouble than it was worth.

Jessica looked down at her dirty dress and shivered. She hadn't had a bath in days and she desperately needed to wash the blood and grit off of her body. She slowly made her way towards the old dresser in the corner and silently dug through the previous owner's clothes before finally pulling out an old pair of khaki pants and a simple blue and white striped blouse that were a size or two bigger than her own size.

She moved slowly towards the small bathroom that adjoined the master bedroom. She didn't notice Mick watching her as she slinked towards the white tiled bathroom. She walked with careful steps on the floor as she made her way to the small room where she could finally have a moment alone away from Mick Taylor to clean herself off and clear the dark thoughts that rattled in her mind.

The water was a relief as she stepped into the shower. Steam filled the room as the water beat down on her like a heavy rain. The water fell down her face and trickled down her chest, the blood that had stained her skin raced down her legs and towards the drain.

Jessica hissed in pain as the hot water burned the wounds that Mick had given her. She forced herself to brave through the pain. She had no more tears to cry and no more sobs to escape her. She had spent weeks mourning Brandon, days crying over what had been done to her at the hands of money hungry men, and hours sobbing over lost hope that came in the form of deviously clever Australian that used the elements against his victims.

She couldn't cry anymore. Her eyes only sparkled from the physical and mental pain that she was going through.

The sound of the bed creaking caught her attention and she hurriedly washed her body and her hair. The soap suds fell down her bruised and cut up body and disappeared into the drain carrying the dirt and dried blood along with it.

'So much for enjoying the silence.'

Jessica turned the water off and made her way out of the shower. She grabbed the white towel and lightly wiped the small drips of water off her bruised body and quickly wrapped it around her naked body as the cool air nipped at her flesh. Her wet hair fell in tangles down her back as she quietly opened the bathroom door.

The bed was empty. She looked to the floor and noticed that his flannel shirt that he had stripped off was missing.

"Mick," she called out softly as she pulled herself out of the bathroom and walked towards the bed.

There was no answer from her captor. She looked up at the window and sucked in the smell of the fresh morning air that was creeping in through the open screen.

"Ahh there ya are," Mick announced from behind with his wicked giggle.

Jessica jumped from his sudden proximity and turned quickly. Her hands instinctively held tight of the towel that covered her private bits from his eyes, even though he had already seen more of her than she had wished.

She stumbled backwards and onto the bed as he approached her like a hungry, dangerous predator. She shivered in fear as he crawled on top of her. She didn't struggle against him as he looked down on her and revealed his hunting knife to her once again.

"Now didn't I tell ya not to go runnin' out again," Mick asked as he glared down at her.

'He's just fucking with you. Play along.'

"I wasn't," she answered as she placed herself in a comfortable position underneath him. Disgust ate at the lining of her stomach as she felt his dirty body against her freshly cleaned body.

"I wake up and you up and disappeared," he stated, "I mean what's a man to think when his girl sneaks outta bed on him?"

"I wasn't," Jessica whispered as the towel loosened from around her, "I thought since I can't," she paused as she spread her legs wider and placed her knees beside his hips as she lay beneath him, "since we can't do anything yet, that the least I could do is clean up for you," she smiled up at him and licked her lips seductively, hoping that he was falling for her ploy, "You want a clean girl, don't you?"

She closed her eyes as she felt the towel moving ever so slightly against her flesh as he stood atop her. Silence filled the space between them until she was forced to open her eyes and look back up at him. She watched him in confusion with furrowed brows as he stared at her scar.

"Mick," she asked after the silence became unbearable. She couldn't make out what he was thinking as he took in her torn facial features courtesy of him.

He blinked as he looked away from her cut and smiled with yellowing teeth as he looked into her worried green eyes.

"Ya 'right," he asked in a tone that was softer than usual as if he were really interested about the state of the wound that he had gifted her with.

Jessica looked up at him with complete confusion in her pastel orbs. She watched as his eyes trailed to the cut on her cheek and she felt a strange sensation come over her at his strange change of behavior. The question seemed to reveal a human side to the monster that was sitting atop of her.

A strange feeling fluttered inside of her as she mulled over his simple question.

'Maybe it's because you didn't escape? This really isn't him though. Stay on your toes.'

She nodded softly and replied, "It's sore."

"Good," Mick answered loudly as his eyes sparkled in deviousness once again and a smile grew across his features, "cause daddy needs help getting' his old ass cleaned up. I think I need a sponge bath!"

She whimpered as he jerked her off the bed with a harsh tug.

"Come on now," Mick answered in excitement, "I got a really nasty case of dirt up me ass that needs to be taken care of!"

...

Jessica sat on the old couch as the old music box played a Patsy Cline record. The living room was littered with photographs of the previous occupants of the house that she and Mick resided in for the time being.

A shiver ran through her as she thought about the shower that she had to share with him. He'd told her that he'd never shared a shower with a girl before. She had to wash the blood, sweat, and dirt off of his hairy body. He had forced her to shave his growing facial hair, though she had to make damn sure she didn't chops off his out of style mutton chops or there would be a toe to lose for it. The shower was filled with inappropriate touching on his part and she had seen how excited just touching her had made him.

He'd promised her that once the time had come, she'd be screaming his name.

But it was over and they were now fully dressed.

Jessica looked through the glass doors that looked out at the backyard. A sandbox and wooden swing set sat in the far corner of the yard that the couple had brought in for their daughter when she was younger. The grass was dead in the yard and dust flew with each harsh gust of wind that blew by the old farm house.

As her eyes scanned the backyard, a small, white tennis shoe came into view and her heart fell as the body of the young girl came into view.

She looked around her for any signs of Mick. She could hear him fiddling with car outside, the sounds echoed in from the opened front door which she knew was a precaution Mick used to make sure she wouldn't escape without being heard.

Jessica slowly grabbed the throw blanket from behind the couch and made her way to the glass doors. She took a deep breath as she stepped out into the dead backyard. The dirt cracked beneath her bare feet as she made her way to the body of the young girl.

Her heart fell for the young girl as she looked down at her. The smell of death permeated the air around her. Blood stained her forehead where a bullet had sped through her forehead at top speeds. It had been a clean shot and she hadn't suffered. She'd been killed quickly; she probably hadn't even known what had hit her.

The girl's skin was dark from the beginning stages of decay. Her eyes were gone having been picked away from the resident bird population. Their talon marks had been left upon her cheeks as a sign of evidence that they had stolen her eyes balls right out of her skull.

As Jessica leaned over to the little girl to place the blanket over her dead body, she realized a harsh truth. The truth fell over her like cold water as she tucked the girl into the blanket, readying her to be buried in the ground eventually.

She wasn't going to survive being with Mick Taylor. Conversation and sex wouldn't keep her alive forever. If he could kill a little girl, he could kill her just as easily. She was disposable. Mick could kidnap anyone that stumbled into his trap. It had just happened to be her this time.

She had no idea how many other girls there had been. She knew she wasn't the first, and she knew she wouldn't be the last.

Her plans of escape disappeared out of her mind and were replaced by morbid thoughts of her death at Mick's hands.

Mick was going to kill her eventually. There was no denying that simple fact, but she could delay it with conversation and sex for a while.

She was just Mick's puppet on a string and to prolong her life she'd have to let him have total control over her strings, but there was still something that she could suggest to him that he could decide upon.

"There's a crocodile," she said as she heard Mick walk up behind her unannounced, "in Africa. They call him Gustave."

She turned to Mick slowly and looked him in the eyes; she felt hatred bubbling inside of her as the smell of the little girl filled the air. She wanted to put a bullet between his eyes for what he did to the little girl.

"It's rumored he's killed over three hundred people on the Ruzizi and a few others on Lake Tanganyika," she informed him, "He's killed men, women, children," she rolled her eyes and added with a soft chuckle, "tourists even! You're like Gustav, killing for the hell of it."

"What the blood hell ya getting' at Jessie," he asked in slight confusion as he looked down at the now covered young girl.

"And then there is Little Vitani," Jessica continued, ignoring his question, "She's the hyena that war lords fear. She's killed sixteen people in the last two years. You think Australia has wild animals, well let me tell you something Mick," she popped his name as she glared at him, "Your Australia doesn't have shit on my Africa. You're the predator that tourists fear, but I'm the predator that men that cast long shadows of terror fear the most."

Mick nodded at her insult. His fingers played at his knife as he asked, "Just so we're clear, what are you sayin' to me right now?"

"I'm saying that it would be more beneficial to you if you kept me alive and healthy," she informed him bitterly, "for as long as possible. What better way to catch your prey than by two apex predators working together," she smiled wickedly at him, "Tourists are more trusting of a nice couple than one single man with a truck."

So my favorite, favorite part of the first Wolf Creek film is when Lizzie goes and talks to Mick when he's "working" on their car and he asks if she's alright. I don't know why but that scene and that line have always stuck with me and I wanted to incorporate it in this story in a few places.

What do you think about Jessica's little plan? What's she up to?