Darkness

Chapter 2

I inhaled deeply again, spining around trying to find the source of the scent. I caught it, I knew the direction it was coming from. I followed the sweet, tangy scent winding deeper and deeper through the vast wilderness until I came across a man pushing a wheelbarrow through the trees, often crashing.

His wheelbarrow looked heavy, he was sweating and breathing heavily from wheeling half a tonne of wood around. I could smell the fresh blood being pumped through his veins. It made me hungry.
It made me ravenous.

He carried on through the trees, cursing when he crashed into the thick trunks. From hitting a tree, some wood toppled out of his cart.  He bent down to pick them up as I took astep toward him. He must've heard the little rustle of the dry autumn leaves under my feet, because his head snapped up and his eyes searched furiously for the cause of the sound, looking all the wrong ways before his eyes settled on me. He craned his neck up, staring me in the eyes, but I wasn't looking into his eyes, my attention was focused entirely on his neck. Because unfortunately for me, and my need to feed, the way he craned his neck to look at me made the vein in the side of his neck pop out, and that's all I could focus on.

Seeing the pulsing vein in the side of his neck made my canines lengthen a good two inches, and I had to control myself to not get carried away and feed on him right there and then.

A mix of emotions flashed across his face; confusion as to why I was staring at him so intently, shock probably wondering what had happened to me, because I was pretty much caked in blood, and I think horror because of the blood. Though despite all that his face just settled on me looking like he didn't know what to think, he probably thought I was some crazy wierdo being out here in the middle of nowhere, covered in blood.

I pried my eyes off of his neck, probably making him uncomfortable from staring at him for so long, and looked at him instead.
Kind of average looking, nothing special or suspicious. Quite tall, heading toward the 6 foot 2 region, broad muscular shoulders and arms, as a result of being a woodcutter judging by the cart he was wheeling around, narrowed brown eyes, a long straight nose and lips drawn into a straight, thin line. He had medium length blonde hair that rested lightly on his broad shoulders and a stubbornly set jaw waiting for me to say something and not just stare.

I made to turn around hoping he would follow me so I could have my meal in a darker more private place than the clearing we were standing in. I turned around and started walking into the darkness. He called to me to wait, but I just ignored him and carried on walking.

He caught up to me and put a hand on my shoulder to spin me around and face him. Just like I planned. Now I just had to pretend and make him trust me. Trust me that he is safe and I won't kill him, which I will obviously. I didn't need to trick him into thinking those things, I just enjoyed deceiving people. It makes the kill more fun and enjoyable, the poor humans thinking their safe one minute and the next bam their dead lying lifeless, drained and still on the floor. After snapping out of my dark thoughts, irealised I was staring again. He probably thought I was super wierd.

"Hi." I said lamely. I decided to stare at the ground, not wanting to get formally introduced or interact anymore with my next meal. But It looks like that's where we were heading because he took of the gloves he had on, stuffed them into his pocket, dusted his hands off on his trousers, and held one out for me to shake. Just like any ordinary human would.
"Hi," he replied back, still holding out his hand for a few more seconds before realising that the gesture was lost on me or unwanted, so he let his hand drop back to his side before shoving it back in his pocket. He decided to take a different approach on getting me to interact with him, being polite whilst I was being quite rude, by introducing himself.

"I'm henry," he has a deep voice with a strong Scottish accent,
"Henry Anderson, pleased to make your acquaintance ma'am." he said with a mock salute. I wasn't listening, again my attention was on the pulse in his neck. Again, too busy caught up in my own mind, I didn't realise I was leaning toward him until he put one hand on my arm and one around my waist. To stop me, to brace me, to push me away, I want sure.
"Woah, careful!" He said suddenly.
"Sorry," I muttered under my breath.
"Its fine," he replied " you don't look to great."
" No I don't feel great either." I confirmed.
He coughed as if he didn't know what to say to what I had said and decided a cough would be enough to fill the awkward silence.