Chapter 2

/

Hours had past, and the creature had not yet returned. Ami had remained on the pile of clothes, and had even caught a brief nap, but fear had kept waking her up, over and over again. She had already used some of the clothes she found, finding a man's blue flannel shirt and torn pair of skinny jeans that fit her fairly well. But now, she was hungry and thirsty, and still cold. The warehouse was chilly and damp, and hardly a suitable environment for a living human. Ami slowly rose from the pile. She would not dare go far, but she had to find water. There might be some in one of the other rooms of the warehouse. Hopefully, the creature would not be mad that she simply explored the place. As she slowly moved out of his Room of Horrors, she realized the warehouse was once perhaps used to make cars or something of the sort. There were machines and assembly lines everywhere, covered in wet rust. The smell was unbearably musty and tangy, and she found herself covering her nose with a long sleeve of her too-big shirt. The farther she went down, the more nervous she got. Despite it being the daytime (or at least she was pretty sure it was) there was little light here and it only got more and more dark the further she went. The sounds of dripping water kept her going though. Her thirst was incredible, the thought of water was the most wonderful thing in the world right now. At last, after a few more yards of walking in the huge abandoned building, she saw the source of the drip, coming down the walls and collecting into a rusted out bucket of some kind. Frowning, she knew the water in the bucket would not be suitable for drinking, but she walked over the small stream and let some of it trickle into her mouth, also getting her face wet in the process. The water tasted pretty bad, but she drank it anyway, hoping it was at least relatively clean. After quenching her thirst, she nearly jumped out of her skin as she suddenly heard a thump and a low growling.

Oh god. He's back.

Although Ami was terrified, she quickly headed back to the room as fast as she could. She began to wonder if her search for water was the most stupid decision she had ever made. Maybe he would be mad. Mad enough to end her life, and all because of her stupid curiosity.

Ami was almost to the room's entrance when she walked right into the creature's chest as he stepped out before her. Letting out a slight shriek despite herself, she quickly covered her mouth. After a few tense moments of silence, she averted her eyes, looking down at the floor.

"I...I was thirsty. I was just looking for water." She spoke in a whisper, still remembering to be as quiet as possible. The creature huffed, grabbed her arm, and shoved her back into the room. There, the crude light of a few candles lit the place. It was obviously not as early in the day as she had thought, it was now evening. He stared at her for a while, and jabbed a finger in the direction of the pile of clothes. Wordlessly, Ami went to it and sat down immediately.

She then watched him walk over to a pile of bodies, wrapped in bloody sheets. They looked fresh, these had to be his newest kills. It didn't surprise her much to see one of the victims, now strapped to the table, was still alive... albeit barely. He seemed to have fun with both kinds of prey, those he had already killed, and those he decided to bring home still writhing.

Ami fought to turn her head away, but morbid curiosity kept her staring. The creature hardly seemed to care, he grabbed the first wrapped body, tore open the sheets, and began his long ordeal of sniffing every inch of the body. Finally, using his own clawed feet this time, he tore open the midsection and began devouring the organs with incredible eagerness. While he ate, he made sounds of obvious pleasure as he smacked his lips and reached for another piece, dripping with copious amounts of blood. The urge to retch overcome her again, but Ami fought it back. Tears flowed freely down her cheeks, this creature, whatever it was, seemed like something that could just not be real, and yet here she was, watching it tear apart humans as if they were mere animals, and feeding on them with relish.

An animal. Was that what she was to this being? Just an animal to feed its unearthly appetite? Who was she kidding, anyhow? For all she knew, the monster only kept her alive for now because she was...entertaining. Or even a sex object, though he had yet to actually take her. When he was through and bored with her...she was certain she would just end up hanging on a wall, like all the rest.

Her hope was starting to diminish, and so was her sanity.

After a long while, the low sounds of the creature's feeding frenzy were becoming dulled in her ears. Somehow, she was falling asleep again. Despite the fact the clothes reeked, they were still comfortable and soft. She found herself drifting off, until finally, she was out.

It didn't last long however. However much time had passed she wasn't sure, but her eyes snapped open as she felt her legs being roughly forced apart. The creature was back to her, apparently done with its feeding for now, and was smelling her through the jeans. He had his nose practically buried in her crotch, and her cheeks reddened. It was embarrassing and yet strangely erotic at the same time. Slowly she moved her hands, reaching to unzip her jeans, and the creature stopped sniffing, watching her actions. Then she shimmied a bit to try and pull her pants down and succeeded to getting them down past her hips. Of course she wasn't wearing any underwear, she wouldn't put on someone else's underwear if someone paid her a million dollars. Especially the underwear of dead people.

The scent that seemed to assault the being's nose caused its eyes to roll back into his head briefly, then he sniffed her with even more intensity. Whatever she smelled like to him, he liked it...a lot.

It wasn't exactly something that made her feel any better. His sense of smell led him, she had learned that quickly. She also knew it told him exactly what he wanted to eat from his human victims.

Is he going to eat me this time? It sure seems like it...

Suddenly she noticed, with her cheeks turning crimson, that he was highly aroused. She saw the member poking through the white fluff of wiry hair between his thighs and quickly looked away. It was her first time truly seeing the genitals of a male in person...since she was young and lived the life of a hermit. Her whole life she had vowed to be single, men disgusted her anyway. In her own unfortunate experience, men had only wanted her for a one-night stand, an orgy, or some other sexual lust that caused her to lose hope in ever forming a relationship. Either she was just cursed with bad luck, or the men in her town were all pigs.

Maybe it was both.

She found the courage to look up at the creature's face, and he was grinning at her with obvious, wide amusement.

"Are you..." She wanted to talk to him, but it was incredibly hard to predict his mood. In one moment he would be grinning, in the next, possibly roaring in her face and tearing her throat out. What did she know? The fear this being could bring from her permeated every bone in her body. She was sure he was quite used to that reaction.

"Huuuman." He grunted, still grinning. It was odd how he spoke, drawing out the words.

She nodded at him, blinking. A thought crossed her mind, and she pointed at him with an inquisitive gaze.

He pointed to his chest in response, suddenly seeming to puff up with pride.

"Heradusss..."

What in the hell was a heradus?

Ami tried to think of what that could be, thinking about the many books she had read at her local library, but absolutely nothing came to mind. Whatever a heradus was, it was not something normally known to humans. Ami wondered if there were others, or if he was the only one left of his kind.

She tried to understand the point of his conversation. Why was he stating to her that she was a human?

Still, she tried to play along. Perhaps she could get more information out of him.

"Are you going to..." She hoped this was not the wrong question to ask, but she had to know if there was any hope she could cling to, because her mind was starting to barely cling to reality. "...eat me?"

The heradus narrowed his gaze, but incredibly shook his head.

"Was." He chuckled, exposing those horrible and wicked teeth in another leering grin.

Ami hated the long silence that often followed. It was painstaking trying to talk to this strange creature, who obviously had little use for words and took his sweet time when he did use them. But in her next move, she slowly began to undress, the unspoken message being her compliance.

Her willingness seemed to please the creature...greatly. He purred again, that low throaty growl that she had to admit had an erotic quality to it. Again her body surprised her with the reaction it caused, as she found herself actually wanting to feel his tongue again on her sensitive flesh but desperately trying to fight the thought from her mind.

He reacted for her, tearing the remainder of her clothes away and once again exposing her skin to the chilly and dank air of the lair, causing goosepimples to rise all over her arms and legs.

"Breeeder..." he said, smelling her again, and grinning wide. "Breeeder." Ami only blinked helplessly, watching him as he seemed to stare right through her very soul again. After another long pause, he gave a slight nod, as if answering some unspoken question. "Amiii."

Eyes widening, her breath caught.

He had used her name, and in that moment, she knew the creature's perception of her had changed entirely. She was no longer just a human to him...just food.

She would not die.

She would become a breeder.

And her life, her ties to the human world...would be severed forever.

/

Being a breeder apparently meant endless attentions by the creature, wanted or not. It seemed the days passed in a blur, as the heradus, something she could still not even define, took her again and again, day and night. It was hardly romantic or even affectionate, he often simply grabbed her on a sudden whim and threw her onto a table or some other uncomfortable surface where he would then proceed to roughly have his way with her. If she whimpered, screamed, or squirmed, he only seemed to find more pleasure in it and thrust into her even harder. So she learned fast to be quiet and submissive, and then the sessions were at least more tolerable. The creature had a habit of howling out its eerie call with wings spread, sometimes flapping a time or two, at every reach of its own climax. But then in the next few moments, he would smell her all over, make a disgusted face at her as if something bothered him, and all but toss her like a ragdoll back onto her little "bed" of clothes from the victims.

Ami once again struggled to keep her mind sane. It was now a sunny day, she could tell from just the barest amounts of sunlight somehow creeping into the dark abode of death. She had been lying down for some time in the eerie quiet, and examining her half-dressed body. There were bruises and marks all over her, and a constant aching in her nether-regions. It wasn't pain really, although she was quite sore from his rough handling, but she found herself wanting him to come back, and take her all over again. Not knowing whether to chuckle or burst into tears at this odd pull of emotions, she figured maybe her mind was truly going...or was already gone. How could she feel that way towards him? He had spared her life but on no certain terms.

And so far, whatever he was trying to accomplish, wasn't happening. She knew it and he knew it.

How long would he try...before he gave up and killed her?

That thought made the coming night even more frightening. At some time very late, perhaps one or two o'clock in the morning, he returned from a long period of hunting. After dragging in a big kill of nearly twenty bodies, he amazingly showed little interest in them and went straight for her. Ami saw him coming, and didn't like the changed feel in his expression. He looked at her as if unconvinced of his own decision, and was scraping his sharp fingernails together as he gazed at her. The wheels were whirring in his mind, and Ami knew she had better do something...anything...or her time was surely up.

What if a breeder...failed?

"I...I'm very hungry myself. You bring me very little food except what scraps you might find in backpacks or whatever, and I've been feeling...weak."

The creature snorted, and turned his head away, but she quickly spoke again, always keeping her voice soft. "Perhaps this is why it's not working...because my health is poor. You have to take care of me, or I'm not going to be a good breeder for you."

I can't believe I just said all that.

This caused the heradus to turn his eyes back on her, regarding her curiously. She had made him think, and that might be enough to change his mind once again.

He then grinned wickedly, as if some mighty idea formed in his mind. He walked over to one of the bodies, dragged it over, and unwrapped it right in front of her. Ami tried hard to keep herself from gagging at the smell, despite the recent kill the body stunk already and was bloody all over. She could also smell death all over himself, even though he carried no scent of his own, he certainly carried the horrid scents of his kills.

The young man he unwrapped was not even peaceful looking, his face was contorted in horror and pain and it was obvious his death had been long and drawn out. Ami found tears forming in her eyes and looked up at the Creeper forlornly. Why was he showing her this?

The answer became horribly clear when he grabbed a bowl he had found in the gear of some campers (he tended to hoard all of the items he took back with his victims) and then worked with one of his favored blades to slice large slivers of flesh off the carcass and dump it into the bowl with a sickeningly wet squish. Ami had to look away, lest she see this for one more second and end up vomiting all over the place. After a few more minutes, he shoved the bowl in her very reluctant hands.

"Eeeat".

Ami stared back at him in horror, too shocked in the moment to get any response out of her mouth. How, how could he expect her to be a cannibal and eat her own kind?

Tears streaming down her face she fiercely shook her head and shoved the bowl back at him. The Creeper stared down into the bowl in a rather humorous fashion, as if wondering what was wrong with it. He shoved it back at her.

"Freeesh. Eaaat."

Again Ami shook her head, this time with a whimper, and shoving it back at him even harder. "Are you...serious? I am a human, I'm not going to eat another of my own kind!"

He regarded her with that disgusted look again, but this time got up with the bowl and walked away. Ami sighed in relief as she sank back down into her clothespile, but found it difficult to stop the tears in her eyes and the nausea in her stomach.

For a while, there was total silence, save for the occasional return of the creature as he took each of his prizes, one by one. It seemed to take ages for him to finally finish whatever ghastly work he was doing on them, and in truth Ami really didn't want to know, she was glad to be in a room where he mostly did his art. Surprisingly it seemed the heradus was rather a clean creature and did all of its feasting (or most of it anyway) in the adjoining room.

At last, when he came back into the room, he walked briskly over to her and pulled her up from the clothes. In one fell swoop of his arm he cleared off his worktable, blades and other metal objects clanging all over the floor in a loud symphony of noise, and hoisted her up onto it. It seemed as if he was once again going to have his way with her, but instead he sniffed at her belly, intently, as if trying to figure something out. Ami felt herself grow dangerously lightheaded, the lack of proper food and water, and the emotional toil on her psyche were taking a huge toll on her. She would soon get very sick, or worse, if the Creeper didn't do something to aid her.

"Please...I need water. I'm so thirsty." In fact Ami's throat was so dry, that the unheeded words made her cough a little. The heradus went deathly still, staring at her.

"Don't you understand? Even humans will give food and water to their pet animals. How do you think I'm going to do this if you choose to ignore my needs?"

Ami figured that perhaps the creature just didn't understand, and by saying this she only hoped to help him to. But it was dangerous, sometimes when she talked too much it angered him and he'd force her mouth shut or painfully shove a hand over her mouth to silence her. Other times, he acted strangely, as if he couldn't figure out why she even talked at all.

He made little sense, but Ami knew she had to try, one way or the other, if she ever hoped to get out of this.

However utterly hopeless it seemed.

Finally, he slowly let go of her, allowing her to slide off the table. She very quickly gave a little distance between them, but he moved instantly and was up to her face once again.

Personal space was something he obviously knew nothing about.

"Pet..." he grinned, his reptilian eyes sparkling with twisted mirth. Then he looked about the room, and rooted through the camper's backpacks once again, coming up with a sealed plastic water bottle. Ami found it strange how she could drool over the sight of water, but she was, and crept over to him. He handed it to her, and within seconds she yanked off the cap and was guzzling it down. The Creeper watched her until she had polished it off, and Ami heaved a great sigh of relief.

Her stomach felt a little heavy, but dammit was that the best drink of water in her life.

"Thanks..." she said, very softly. "Now...is there anything to eat in there? For humans to eat?"

Her captor ignored the question, intently watching a drop of water fall from her lips and down her neck. It made her own body go rigid, to see him analyzing her in such a fashion. She had no idea why, and it unnerved her. His mind was like a complex weave of chaotic thoughts, and his next move or action was anyone's guess.

He shoved the backpack in her arms, and she looked through it, but only found half of a protein bar. It tasted horrible, some nasty concoction that was supposed to be chocolate, but at least it was something. "I'll need more than this..." She paused, and pulled out a twenty dollar bill from the backpack. After searching some more, she found a few loose coins on the bottom.

"You see this? It's money...I could use it to buy food. If you would let me go outside-"

He grabbed the money from her with a snarl, and shoved her already aching back up against the wall. The pressure was intense, she almost couldn't breathe and tried hard to keep herself calm.

"Staaay." He growled in a deep, fierce fashion that he had not used before.

"I-I will come back...I swear it. But I need food-"Ami choked out the words, still finding it difficult to get air into her lungs.

"I will get it." Four words. An entire sentence. This was a night for surprises. The creature didn't seem to envy humans and their ability to talk, but he chose to do so himself whenever he felt like it, which was as Ami learned, quite a rare thing indeed. The fact that she could get him to talk at all was still a great marvel to her. He didn't have to listen to her or tolerate this living victim in his lair, but he did, and it was a constant source of mystery and fascination. The one and only thing that kept her sanity going.

"Pet." he said, the hardness in his voice finally relenting as she felt the pressure against her chest mercifully ease off as he adjusted just slightly. Doing this caused him to inadvertently brush against her in an erotic fashion however, and she couldn't help the sudden flash of need coursing through her. It was uncanny how the Creeper sensed this immediately, he breathed in deep and made all kinds of throaty, growling noises that sent unbidden shivers down her spine. In the next moment he was roughly forcing down her pants, and Ami did nothing to fight him. As much as she was hating herself for thinking it, she wanted him, and no matter how hard she tried, this feeling would not go away.

He gyrated his hips a bit until he found her entrance and thrust into her in his usual animalistic, primal fashion. And although it was quite uncomfortable to have one's butt constantly banged up against a hard stone wall, the pleasure built within her quickly.

Odd, how the Creeper never seemed to mock or or do his usual chuckle of amusement when this happened. If anything, he seemed to yearn for it as much as she did, and not once did he fail to notice when she was feeling this way.

/

The rest of that night went quietly, the Creeper did not disturb her, and occasionally during her sleepy stupor she thought she heard him leaving, hearing the flapping rustle of wings slowly fading into the night. By morning, the lair was eerily quiet once more, save for the constant dripping of water in the background. Slowly getting to her feet, Ami stepped off the pile of clothes only to nearly trip over a large brown paper bag...two of them in fact. She looked in them and found all kinds of food, from loaves of bread to cans of tuna with pop-tops. Smiling with a little gasp of surprise she dove into the bags and nearly squealed with delight to actually find some candy in one of them, there were bags of M&Ms and gummy bears.

I wonder where he got all of this from? It seems fresh enough...

Looking at the dates on the cans Ami discovered the food was not expired, so either he raided a grocery store (she could imagine the screaming hoards of people jamming the automatic doors to get out) or...more likely...the home of a victim.

The thought made her frown as her appetite somewhat diminished. This was not her food, but the stolen goods from some poor, unfortunate family. It didn't seem right, but with a sigh she resigned to eat it anyway. If she didn't she would only get weaker, and she had to remind herself of her ultimate goal of survival.

A tuna fish sandwich, two apples, and a handful of cookies later, Ami lied back down on her makeshift bed with a contented sigh. After such a long time without a proper meal, the food was marvelous. She wanted to go outside, but feared the creature's wrath, so instead she grabbed a book to read. There were many strewn about the place, some new, some half-read with bookmarks labeled "John", "Sally", or "Eddie's stuff". Ami frowned, it was a constant source of sadness to be among the possessions of the dead, and mustering up all her will, she fought the emotions away.

/

Many hours later as the sun was setting, he returned, his arrival quite obvious since the sounds of his large rusted truck and screaming victims followed him wherever he went. Snorting and huffing in his usual fashion, he would set about his work. Ami kept her nose buried in the book, forcing herself not to pay any attention. A while later, he came back to her again. Seeing his clawed feet set in front of her, she slowly looked up his tall frame until she met his eyes. The instant she did, she could feel that he was going to say something.

"Eeeat...human food?"

She nodded, nervously smiling at him. "Thanks for that. How often can you get it?"

He grinned, kneeling down to her level. "Ask". Was his only response.

Nodding in understanding, Ami found herself not knowing what to do next again. Whenever he began staring at her relentlessly, her mind would go blank and she would feel utterly helpless, and she hated it with a passion.

She looked at the bags of food that remained, remembering there was a package of raw chop meat in there. Why he had done that, she wasn't sure, there wasn't anything to cook with. Did she dare ask him for pots and pans?

Next I'll be asking him for a damned tea set.

"Tea?" The creature cocked his head, gazing at her still. Ami's eyes widened...she hadn't said that out loud, had she?

Suddenly...it all made sense. He was telepathic.

You can hear my thoughts? she asked, while directly looking in his eyes.

The creature's head spines lifted slightly and he grunted in delight, obviously pleased with this mental question.

Dull-witted little human, aren't you?

The words, still deep and raspy sounding, were like painful bee stings directly on her brain. Why she could suddenly hear him now, she didn't know, but she almost wished she couldn't. Still...this was...communication. Better than a few slowly growled out words at a time.

Maybe. But excuse me if I've never heard of a heradus before or have any clue how you work.

He chuckled, getting back to his taloned feet and heading back towards the favorite part of his lair.

Would you stay, and talk to me? Ami bravely asked, frowning as she watched him walk away...yet again. Each time he did, the loneliness would drive her crazy. It was crazy enough that she actually wanted his company, and yet, despite everything she found herself unable to hate him.

The creature froze in his tracks and looked over his shoulder. Hungry. Must eat now. He left it at that, and disappeared from sight.

Still testing out this new telepathic ability, Ami kept trying to converse, even if he was out of sight, seeing if he could still hear her.

Will you tell me what your name is?

There was a clear feeling of irritation, but the physically painful answer came. I am Creeper.

No, that's what humans call you. What do you call you?

Heradus.

Ami sighed in exasperation. Either he was toying with her or he really didn't understand her question.

Listen...I'm a human, but my name is Ami.

You are breeder. Pet. The following chuckle was also in her mind.

Ami narrowed her eyes, he definitely was toying with her, and certainly not taking her seriously. I'm not your pet.

The conversation ended then, as there was no more response. Ami ground her teeth in frustration, as this mental doorway meant nothing if he wouldn't tell her anything. And she was certain he knew that, reveling in her frustration.

/

End Chapter 2 I have so much of this story written already but I am carefully going over it and adding things. It just keeps getting longer and longer! Expect more very soon, promise! ;)