A/N: A reviewer (whose name I have forgotten, sorry!) asked a very good question; was there other breeders besides Maria and Sky Eyes, and if so did they have any offspring who lived? The naked truth is: I don't know. Sky Eyes lived during the Anasazi civilization. Maria Adams lives a bit in our future. That's a long time apart. Breeders are very, very rare. I had an idea, fleshed out with my best friend redplanetes that there was another breeder between the two who lived in the Old West, a European settler who was more akin to an eager Helen Murdoch to a timid Maria Adams. I also had ideas of Breeders who lived long before Sky Eyes. But honestly it was just an idea, and one that never made it to the official story. I like the idea that our Creeper has children somewhere he has long forgotten about, one or more who was possibly tied to the common Mesoamerican custom of sacrificing humans to the gods. My mother is a Mexican mestiza so I was always fascinated by my native ancestors gruesome religious practices involving human sacrifice, so I always had story ideas of ancient Mexican civilizations getting started by sacrificing people to a Creeper. It always was just an idea though. So officially there will be no other Breeders besides Maria and Sky Eyes mentioned. Sorry.
The mysterious character who is only knows as "The Hunter" hears an interesting tidbit on his police radio. An old abandoned school house has partially burned and corpses have been discovered, he immediately heads over there to check it out. However the police have already set up barriers to keep out gawkers and the Hunter can only hear the local rumors. Several preserved bodies have been found in the school house, some badly burned beyond identification but a few recognizable as local missing persons. He listens intently and the Hunter realizes that these kills are the Creepers but to his surprise realizes the Creeper has a manner of preserving his victims in various hideouts. This is interesting.
Meanwhile Maria's brother Miguel is in the neighborhood because her bank settlement showed that her debit card had been used in the local grocery store. He eagerly pursues the lead and interviews several store employees. To his joy they remembered a girl strongly resembling Maria alive at least a few months ago, but provide disturbing details like the chain around her ankles. He asks why they didn't call the police but the store employees merely shrug and point out she did nothing illegal. Frustrated, Miguel leaves, but not before hearing the local gossip about the bodies in the burned schoolhouse. Horrified, he immediately heads there only to be stopped by the police. He tells them about his sister and at the station they say none of the intact bodies matches her description and they're still sorting through the burned ones. They promise to call him. Miguel reflects on his mood swings. He is elated by a sighting of Maria alive one minute and devastated the next because of the news of the corpses. His gut instinct tells him Maria is still alive, but he knows that may just be false hope. Morosely he continues his search and comes across the Hunter. The two interact briefly but don't make much of an impression on each other-they don't even exchange names- Miguel just gives him a flyer with Maria's picture on it and goes on his way, the Hunter secretly thinks the poor girl is long dead.
We then cut to Maria and the Creeper. Maria crawls back to her couch bed after being raped once more. She notices distantly how much harder it is to have sex while she becomes heavier and bigger. She zones out for a while, as she usually does after trauma then gradually notices that her right earlobe is slightly bloody and her gold stud earring is missing. She realizes the Creeper must have tore her ear slightly with his claws in his frenzy. This upsets her, as the earrings were a gift from her late mother, who took her to get her ears pieced when she was little. The Creeper catches her crawling painfully along the floor looking for it and thinks she's being foolish but agrees to look for it, he finds it and gives it back to her.
Creeper POV
The Creeper reflects on his Breeder once more. He is delighted how big she is getting while still remaining healthy. But worries her mind might go as Sky Eyes did. He thinks of her silliness of crawling painfully along the concrete floor in her condition just to look for a little piece of gold. He then muses on the fanatical human desire for gold and other worthless things. Gold is too soft to make into knives and other tools, and he has no use for jewelry. Sometimes he might use a bit of gold or silver in his weapons, especially if they are embedded attractively in a human tooth but on the whole gold is worthless.
An idea then comes to him. The Breeder still resists his advances no matter how much pleasure he gives her maybe he can bribe her.
Maria POV
Maria lays on the couch listlessly for many days. The Creeper practically has to do everything for her, from feeding to bathing because of her injury and depression (Maybe I would have included a Ceeper POV about how he weighs the pros and cons of twisting her ankle so badly, he feels no remorse or sorrow over it, but he wonders if it would have better just to cut her Achilles tendons or just hobble her again. He almost bit off her foot, but decided that would have been too extreme, she could have gone into shock, bled to death, or developed septicemia. Now he realizes how wise a decision it was not too, as he is not a caring being by nature and now he must work to make sure she has all her necessities. (But the fact she is more dependent on him than ever has certainly improved her manners)
The Creeper approaches her one day with a happy, expectant grin on his face after long days of being away. She is wary but that turns to shock when he sets an old heavy briefcase and opens it, because inside is a large amount of valuables.
She sputters in shock, asking he robbed a jewelry store or something. He says it comes from his victims. Her jaw drops even further. She looks at the horde. There is thousands of dollars in cash in various purses and wallets. Tons of wedding rings, graduation rings, earrings, rings of all kinds, and necklaces, cufflinks every kind of jewelry imaginable. There is even old silver and gold fillings included. (A/N: I had written a good description of this out on paper but I've since lost it, sorry) She realizes he spent the last few days collecting all this stuff from his old victims in various places, and realizes just how much this all worth. How it's accumulated over the years. He obviously has no use for it, and thinks it will make her happy.
She feels horribly about this. It feels like grave robbing, and she truly doesn't want it, but even though a few months ago she probably would have thrown it all in his face in defiance she can't now. She doesn't have the strength or the energy. And she is afraid of him, so she smiles falsely and thanks him. He is delighted and pushes her down onto the couch. This makes her feel even worse, like a whore. So she cries silently as he takes her again.
When she dreams she dreams of Darius who tells her that she did the right thing and not to feel bad. Maria vows never to use wear any of the jewelry or spend the cash. Darry tells her to use it if she has to, she has to keep herself alive, and besides him and the other victims are all dead, they have no use for earthly things. Reluctantly she agrees, Darry then tells her to please save any identification she comes across and she agrees to this also. She then dreams of flying over the landscape as the Creeper. He notices the old schoolhouse and the humans swarming around it. He sees how it has burned and resignedly writes it off as a lair. He does not know how the fire has started. In her sleep Maria smiles.
The next day she does as Darius tell her and organizes any and all identification within the money and jewelry pile. The Creeper thinks she is enjoying his gift and is happy but to his puzzlement she merely stacks everything neatly in the suitcase and never touches it again. Then becomes silent and withdrawn once more.
However he has a new worry, he caught some humans around the lair he was keeping the Breeder in and killed them and brought them inside, even though only one was really edible.
Maria then argues angrily (though not violently) with him, outraged she would kill people just for getting to close to her. He retorts that humans would kill her if they could and that she must never go near them again. She argues they wouldn't, that he doesn't know anything about people. He tells her she is a breeder, she is carrying their future hunter, of course they would kill her. She argues against that, but privately she has doubts. She reflects that he can be extremely generous with her-the money and jewels and the way he cares for her- and despite herself, no matter how much she resists it, she is relieved that he protects her. She tries to remind herself not to bond with him.
As the delivery nears he becomes even more protective and paranoid. He packs her up several times and takes her further and further away until they reach the mountains. Maria feels her due date nearing and is terrified. She begs him to take her to a hospital. He of course refuses. She knows she's putting innocent people at risk and hates herself for it, but she begs him to kidnap a doctor then, or a nurse or midwife, anybody to help her. Please, she begs. He refuses, it's far too dangerous.
Ultimately he takes her to a place far up in the mountains where his truck can reach, into a small but dry cave. He prepares it for her and awaits the birth, which is very soon.