Chapter 4
It was pitch black. The night air was cool, but not too cold. The taste of thick blood on his lips, he drew his tongue over his fangs. He was hungry. Always so, so hungry.
"Adrien, come inside now! What are you doing still playing out this late?" He crouched lower, disguising himself amongst the tall grasses and dense trees.
"There's something outside mama! I can see two big eyes over there!" The little boy pointed.
The mother squinted, looking into the distance. She was weary from a full day's work and her favorite late night net drama was going to start in a few minutes. "It's past your bedtime mon chérie," his mother cooed, "what about a nice glass of warm milk and a cookie?"
No, come out and play with me instead…
The little boy went on and stared into the dark abyss. He could've sworn he heard rustling in the grass, and he was sure he felt a presence there..someone or something hiding there. But everything was still and black… There was nothing there the little boy finally concluded.
He ran back in the house.
The young boy's flesh had smelled so sweet. How tender would he be, the child's bones would be so soft. He'd take his time stripping away the meat from the thighs and stomach- his favorite parts on anything he devoured. His favorite treats were little children.
His right ear twitched and he turned back and darted. How could he forget, he hadn't finished his meal. The boy had only distracted him, but he was ready to finish the cow he had taken earlier. On the ground, the cow was nearly torn in two, blood splattered on the neighboring trees and a pool of blood mixing with the dirt where the dead animal lay.
He took another bite, rolling his eyes in ecstasy. Fantasizing about the boy worked up his appetite. A loud crunch under his teeth, he would have to settle…for now.
Ze've jolted from the bed, heart racing, body sweating.
He had dreamed he was somewhere in the mountains, running on all fours. The wind was blowing against him, but it did nothing to lessen his pace. He ran to the edge of the cliff over howled at the full moon. This was a usual dream for Ze've, but last night was unusual.
Instead of feeling free in his dream, he was running with a deep hunger inside of him, and before the dream abruptly ended- he himself wasn't the wolf, he was looking directly at the wolf.
Two big, hungry yellow eyes gleaming in the dark.
He looked to his left, Scarlet was not there. The smell of freshly baked goods and fresh coffee filled his senses.
His stomach grumbled.
A quick cold rinse to wash away the sweat, he finished brushing his teeth. Caring for his canines often took the most time. He looked at the mirror, examining his jaw. The beard had successfully made his face look a little softer; hiding the last modifications he had on Lunar. Before he left the bathroom, he looked directly into his own eyes and thought of the yellow eyes gleaming in the dark in his dream. It wasn't him, was it? He thought about it no more.
He walked into the kitchen to find Scarlet tapping a large glass tablet with a finger.
She looked up, smiled, and combed her hair behind her ear with her fingers to reveal her full face. He gently reached out his hand, cupping her face to kiss her.
"Good morning,"
Spread on the table was a huge array of cold cuts, cheeses, fruits, and 5 hard-boiled eggs. Scarlet only had one croissant on her plate with a couple of grapes and a slice of Camembert cheese. The rest of the food was, of course, for him. Whatever meals she made, she kept 1/5 for herself and the rest to fuel him.
"Hiring" Ze've was the equivalent to hiring (and feeding) 5 human farm hands. He learned everything quickly and with his strength, did all labor intensive tasks quickly with ease. Scarlet did all the bookkeeping, went back to responding her customers, and maintained all machines that took care for the crops. She refused to let the non-medical androids take care of the animals, so she fed, washed, and groom them herself.
She went back to scrolling through her glass tablet. "Thorne and Cress sent a really nice cookbook from America".
He sat down fixing himself up a plate of food.
"Look it even came with a note," She lifted the tablet to show him two stick figures: one drawn with big red curls with a 'w' on its' chest and the other a much taller figure with fangs and messy spiked hair. Scarlet pressed the 'play' option on the bottom right of the drawing.
Immediately Thorne's left eyebrow appeared, "Hellooo to our most fearsome crew members…" It was obvious Carswell Throne was not used to sending video messages. Cress's sweet face appeared and took the device away from Throne so that they both fit in the frame perfectly "Scarlet! Ze've! Hope you enjoy the cookbook we've sent. We are doing a tour of America. I'll upload some pictures on our net group!"
The group, fittingly named "The Rampion Champions" was created by Cress (who was motivated by Thorne, although he would never admit it) to keep in touch. In its' creation, Scarlet made everyone promise they would only fill the net group up with important notifications. No spam.
"What's spam?" Wolf said the night they agreed to it. Everyone took delight in it, it made everyone feel connected although their lives were completely different from one another. Kai and Cinder often uploaded pictures together in a formal political events, Cress submitted scenic pictures of their various destinations, Thorne liked to take front facing photos, labeling them with "Wishing you were here…to address me as Captain" (he would argue that it wasn't spam). Scarlet herself couldn't resist sharing a picture of Ze've holding a baby chick in his hand. His face full of fear he might accidentally crush it to death. Everyone loved that one.
"Wolf, you'd love the bacon, nothing beats American bacon!" Thorne imitated a drooling face. "Sending you lots of love," Cress waved excitedly, Thorne winked at camera and the video ended.
"He's taking her to meet his parents," Ze've speculated. Scarlet looked at him, "think so?" taking a bite of her croissant. They both laughed softly, wondering what that would be like.
"I had a dream where I was running again," He said.
"No wonder your body was so restless last night," She responded.
"It was different this time. I am not exactly sure if it was me, if I was watching me, or I was watching someone else. But I had this feeling of being hungry and craving the taste of blood."
"Were you frightened?"
"No way." he was peeling a hard boiled egg, difficult to do in his giant hands. He contemplated just eating the egg with the shell on.
"Ze've," She began. "I don't know if its rural paranoia, but some of the farmers are missing their livestock. Our neighbors even complained their best milking cow went missing last night".
He continued to eat.
"I don't want them to think these disappearances have anything to do with you," her eyebrows furrowed together. "I just don't know how I can make them see that". She took the other hard boiled egg and began peeling the shell for him.
"Have you kept in contact with your neighbors at all?"
She froze "Well…no. I mean my Grand-mére would bring them homemade goods there from time to time, but… no I've never spoken to them." Pausing, she added, "I've scolded the children once or twice I think".
"That doesn't count," He smiled. "They probably miss the delivery of fresh goods…"
Scarlet looked down, feeling naïve to think that her grand-mere's death would only affect her. How could she forget this family was the only one to send flowers to her door a week after her Grand-mére's disappearance? She felt ashamed.
"How about I pop a cake in the oven, find some bottles and cheeses, and we give them a little visit?"
"And come unannounced?" The idea sounded good otherwise. He started stacking the empty plates and utensils to clean.
"If they don't let us in, you can threaten to blow their house down". She teased, sticking her tongue out.
"Let's just hope they don't have your fondness for shotguns".