Minerva groaned as she felt someone shaking her in an effort to wake her up. She groaned again and scratched at them. Her eyes shot open as claws sank into her wrist. She turned and caught her attacker with a left-hook, sending him crashing into the wall. She crossed her arms as she realized who hurt her. "Well that's what you get for hurting me." The man stood and licked the blood from his lips.

'I'll pretend that didn't happen.' She rolled her eyes. 'You overslept. We are behind schedule.'

"Schedule? What schedule?"

'We only have a short amount of time left so stop asking and listen to me!' She shut up and pricked her ears up. 'We have much to do today. We need to hunt, bring the bodies back here, prepare them, and then hang them up.' He paused to make sure she was paying attention. 'Now, follow me.' He walked to the door and flew out of it. She followed a few steps behind him.

They flew up to the pipe's opening. It was covered with a large piece of metal that was locked in place by a heavy-duty lock. The man pulled out a key and unlocked it. He let the lock and the piece of metal fall to the floor below. He then flew through the pipe. Minerva made sure there were no rats in it before following him.

After getting through the pipe, she landed and looked around. The trees nearby were blocking any view of the road from anywhere except right in front of the church. The grass was slightly brown and the leaves on the trees were only just growing back. The sky was a little cloudy but a few rays of sunlight still shone through. There were about thirty or more crows sitting up in the trees and on the roof of the church. They let out loud caws every so often. There was a dark brown truck half-hidden in the large, overgrown bushes. It looked like it had taken quite the beating in its long life bu could still stand more. The cow-catcher on its front was slightly bent but still functional.

The man walked over to the truck and got in the driver's seat. He motioned for Minerva to get in the passenger seat. She complied, seeing no reason not to. She reached for the seatbelt but found nothing. "I take it you don't care about the seatbelt law." He ignored her and started the truck. The engine sputtered before fully activating. He drove out onto the highway and kept the truck at a fairly reasonable pace. She was surprised. "Gee, with all the other laws you break, I'm surprised you don't drive like a bat out of Hell."

'There is no reason to speed right now. I only do that to distinguish prey from trash and to escape.'

"Really? Who would've guessed?" She turned her attention to the seemingly endless fields outside her window. They looked like they would be fun to run through but she knew better. If she even stepped one foot into them, she'd be covered with chiggers. And with chiggers, comes absolutely horrid itching fits. Which are not good if you have razor sharp nails. The first, and hopefully last, time she had gotten chiggers, she had nearly ripped all her skin off in an effort to uproot the little pests and stop the itching. She sighed. She had never been able to deal with bug bites. Every time she got one, she tried to rip it off with her claws by sinking a sharp nail into her skin and cutting a circle around it. She would then pull it off. And if that didn't work, she would cut it open and suck the venom in it out like she'd heard people do with snake bites.

She sighed again before turning her attention back to the man in the trench coat. "Say, you never told me your name."

'I don't have one.'

"What? You're kidding, right?"

'No. I've heard people call me names but they were all used in anger or fear.'

"Oh."

'What about you? Do you have a name?'

"Uh... Yeah... My name is Minerva."

'What, no last name?'

"Nope. It's one word, like Cher." She did a sweeping motion in front of her face with her hands.

'C-could you give me a name?'

"Are you serious?"

'Yes. If you are going to stay with me, you might as well call me something.' They sat in silence as she thought.

"I've heard people call you the Creeper. Would it be all right if I called you that until I can think of a proper name?" He nodded before turning his focus back to the road.

After a few minutes, they came upon a small Volkswagen Beetle. It was a putrid green with slightly yellow tinted windows. It made Minerva want to throw up but she fought back the urge. The man she was now calling The Creeper opened the air vents as wide as they could go before speeding up and honking the horn wildly, as if he badly wanted to pass the Beetle. The person driving the Beetle moved over to let him by but he continued his strange antics. Then, he rammed them, causing Minerva's head to hit the windshield. The glass cracked, leaving a small spiderweb pattern, She grabbed her slightly bleeding head. "What the hell man?!" He ignored her and rammed the Beetle a few times before sniffing the air coming in through the vents. A smile crossed his face. He floored the truck and rammed the Beetle as hard as he could. It spun a few times before somersaulting three or four times. It finally came to rest a few yards away from the now stopped truck. The Creeper opened his door and walked over to it. Minerva opened her door and followed him, desperate to know what in that car was so important that he would go through that to get it.

She stood by and watched him rip open the driver-side door and pull the half-conscious person out. It was a man, probably no more than twenty, with black hair and blue eyes. It was a strange combination but not special enough to prompt Minerva to stop The Creeper from doing what he did next. He sniffed the man over before promptly shoving his hand into the man's abdomen, pulling out his stomach, and eating it. He then offered the body to Minerva. She sniffed the man and looked into his eyes before extending her claws, sinking them into his chest, and pulling his heart out. She ate it slowly before licking the blood from her claws. 'Is that all you will eat?'

"Pretty much, yeah.' He shook his head. 'This will not do. You need to get more nutrition than that. You cannot live on hearts.'

"And why can't I? I've been doing fine for many years." He growled in annoyance.

'Surely, you eat something besides hearts!'

"Well yeah! I eat human food."

'You can eat that?'

"You can't?"

'I can. It just doesn't help me.' After a few seconds of silence made it painfully obvious that neither of them had anything left to say, they walked back to the truck. The Creeper walked around and put the man's body in the back of the truck; Minerva's attention was grabbed by the license plate. BEATNGU It either means Beating You or Be Eating You. She thought for a second. It's probably the second one.

Upon hearing the heavy back doors slam and The Creeper's footsteps, she walked to the passenger side and got in. He started the truck and started driving like he had when they had first set out.

"So how long are we gonna be 'hunting'?"

'All day.'

"What?! I don't wanna do this all day!"

'Well too bad.' She slumped in her seat.

"Kill me now." She quickly sat up when The Creeper began staring at her with a strange look in his eyes. She then let her head rest against the window and kept it that way for the rest of the day, feeling no desire to keep getting out to eat because he was bringing the bodies with them.

After what seemed like eternity-but was really only five hours-he headed home.

Upon reaching the church, he turned the truck and positioned it so that it blocked part of the pipe from view. Before getting out, he turned his gaze to Minerva, who was sleeping peacefully against the window. He lightly caressed her face with his hand, careful not to graze her with his claws. She moaned and twitched a little but did not wake. He leaned over and sniffed her a few times before getting out and opening the back of the truck.

He grabbed one of the bodies-all of which were bound in white sheets-and carried it over to the pipe. He dropped the body in and listened for the noise that assured him that it made it through. He then repeated this process with the other bodies. After they were all down in his House of Pain, he got back in his truck and drove it back to where it was before they left this morning.

He then reached to wake Minerva up. He stopped as he remembered what had happened that morning. He instead got out, opened her door, and picked her up bridal-style. He carried her over to the pipe and flew through it as he was unable to climb with her in his arms. He set her near one of the tables and looked around for something to use to wake her up. He picked up one of the empty beakers and threw it at her. It shattered against her head. Her eyes shot open. "You son of a-" She jumped over to him and punched at him. He blocked it and head butted her. She pushed against his body and struck at him with her tail. The spike on the end of it went right through his stomach. He let out a moan before falling to the floor. "Oops..." She sat down beside him and pulled his head into her lap. He looked up at her, confusion burned in his eyes. "Sorry. Guess I overreacted." He sat up and nodded. "So, what are we doing now?"

'Preparing the bodies.'

"And then we hang them up. Right?"

'Right.'

"Then let's get started. So what do we have to do first?"

'We eat what we want from their bodies.'

"Shouldn't that be a separate step?" He ignored her and walked over to the bodies. "Stop fucking ignoring me!"

'Stop asking stupid ass questions!' She rolled her eyes.

"Fine." She walked over to the bodies and watched as he unwrapped the first one. It was a woman. Most likely mid-thirties. She had blond hair and blue eyes. "Of course." The Creeper gave her a questioning look. "Oh, it's just that she has like the most common eye-hair color combination on the planet."

'Oh.' He reached down and ripped open the woman's chest. Minerva almost retched as he pulled out her lungs and ate them. 'What?'

"I-I'm sorry. I've just never seen any human organs outside of a body except for a heart."

'You're kidding right?'

"No. Remember? I told you I only eat hearts and human food."

'Oh yeah.' He reached into the woman' chest and offered her heart to Minerva, who took it and ate it. The Creeper proceeded to sniff the woman over one more time before wrapping her up and putting her on a different pile.

"What, you aren't gonna eat her brain?"

'No. She had a recessive brain disease. I might've gotten it if I ate her brain.'

"Recessive? Doesn't that mean that only your kids would have a chance at getting it if you had it?"

'Yes, giving me all the more reason not to get it.'

"Makes sense."

later, after repeating the process with the other bodies...

Minerva sat down and watched as The Creeper put the last body they had eaten from on a table. He grabbed one of the tools and began working on it. A surge of disgust raced up her spine. The Creeper noticed the scent change. 'Go up to your room. Your assistance is not required here.' She nodded and flew up to her room, glad to get some alone time after spending a whole day with another living creature. She slipped her boots off and laid down. She curled her tail around her feet and drifted off.

(Wow... 2118 words... That's the most I've ever written for a chapter.)