Her Beast

Chapter 18: Hunger

It's been two weeks since Zoey was taken from her brother's home. She never expected she would be here this long. She figured her presence would somehow break the curse, and she would be on her merry way. But no, that was not the case.

Jaxson hadn't been around much since that strange incident of him kissing her neck. First the bite and now this. Zoey was starting to think he had an obsession with her neck.

She had been dying to have a conversation with him so they could talk about it. He often made it quite clear that he didn't want her here, but then he did things like that, which confused her.

Zoey was starting to think he was avoiding her. No, he was avoiding her.

Zoey picked up her fifth book that week and sat by the window. This is where she usually was. Jaxson had left her a stack of books explaining that she was to read everyone. Zoey was alright with it as it gave her something to do. She spent most time inside as she was afraid to go outside and face the people. They stared at her like an alien, piercing her with their blood eyes.

Zoey stood up from her chair as a muffled thud sounded through the door. Her eyebrows furrowed in suspicion. A sharp bang followed next, as if someone had fallen and hit against the wall.

Zoey rushed into the other room, calling out for Jaxson. She gasped and ran to him as he was hunched over, his knees on the floor. She wiped the sweat from his forehead, frantically looking over his face for what was wrong. It was a challenging task as she could not see his emotions.

Jaxson was panting hard and grunting in pain. His claws emerged and stretched into the wood floor under him.

"..Z-Zoey... I-I can't..."

He choked out. Zoey's mind went blank. She didn't know what to do or how to help him. She stood to get help, but his clawed hand reached out and grabbed her thigh.

He let out a thundering roar, gripping her thigh harder, watching her red blood flow down her leg. Zoey wailed in pain, trying to pry his claw from her leg.

"Jaxson, stop! You're hurting me."

"I can't control it." He growled, his voice sounding as if he had swallowed broken glass. Zoey gasped as she looked at his face. Bright crimson colors were glowing through his shadows.

Finally, his claws retracted. "Run, Zoey!"

She didn't need to be asked twice. She scrambled to her feet and bolted out the door.

Another ear-shattering roar came from the house.

Zoey gasped and cried as she ran faster towards the old building. Blood continued to fall out like a waterfall leaving a trail behind her.

As it was in the middle of the night, people moved frantically around, confused about what was happening. They called out to ask her what was wrong, but her heart pounded so hard that she could not hear them.

A clangorous crash sounded from the house, and Zoey looked back to see a large beast break through the door. Zoey screamed as the beast chased after her. Adrenaline pumped through her body as she pushed herself harder.

She shrieked again as the beast's growls grew closer. Its hot breath was felt on her neck before she was tackled to the ground. Zoey pushed herself close to the ground as the beast's enormous teeth snapped in her face. Hot tears rolled down her tears as she pleaded with the beast not to hurt her.

"Jaxson, please!"

The beast snapped its teeth again, warning her not to move as she tried to scurry away. Zoey snapped her eyes shut, not wanting to see the beast bite into her and rip her life away.