The Half-Blood Giant

Chapter 37: Thrill of the Hunt

Hunter didn't want to draw attention to himself by following the cop out the front door of the main building, so he went the opposite direction, towards the library and the bathrooms. He slowed his pace as a distinctive human scent hit his nose. He padded forward silently on the balls of his feet, sniffing intently. He recognized the aroma, which had a mild spice to it. It belonged to the human girl that he terrorized when he stomped into the bike path and knocked her down on his first day.

She was alone. He double-checked with his nose, but no active scents were nearby. The giantess librarian must have left for the day, and now the human was by herself in the library, studying diligently. A sly grin crept over Hunter's face. She was definitely alone. Vulnerable. He flexed his fingers in anticipation of the hunt. His heartbeat increased in tempo, pulsing his blood throughout his body. He wasn't hungry, necessarily, but his flesh came to life nonetheless, eager to snatch up his unsuspecting prey.

The carnivorous giant didn't care about any consequences. Now that he had a real taste of his human prey, he couldn't deny himself such exquisite pleasure. He saw an opportunity that was too good to pass up. Before he stole Hannah, he wanted to test his magic on another human, someone he considered expendable, to make sure his spells would be sufficient to keep her alive and undigested in his stomach. Moving slowly and quietly, he prowled forward into the library. Since the building was nearly deserted, a blanket of hush permeated the space, broken up only by the occasional shuffling of a page, or the scratch of a pencil. The girl was sitting in the human section off to the side, at one of the tiny tables surrounded by even tinier books, which were smaller than a single giant tooth in Hunter's mouth.

She was a sitting duck. Her back was to Hunter, so she wouldn't see him coming. She was entirely focused on her studies, not paying attention to the predator stalking her from behind. All his senses were sharpened at the prospect of fresh meat, hyper-fixated on his prey. He inched forward, prepared to pounce. As he crept closer, his gigantic body eclipsed the light overhead, engulfing the miniature girl in ominous shadow.

The plunge into darkness was the only warning the teenager had before she was snatched up. She turned around to look up in horror at the looming behemoth and yelped as powerful fingers closed around her. She was raised up a dizzying distance and in a flash of teeth and saliva was snapped up. She screamed as an agonizing pain ricocheted up her arm, accompanied by a loud crunch. The giant teeth had closed around her elbow, cracking the joint and bones.

Hunter separated his teeth as the metallic tang of blood filled his mouth. As much as he enjoyed the taste, he hadn't intended to chew up the poor girl before swallowing her. In his rush to consume, he had bitten down by accident. He wanted to test how long he could keep her alive inside his body, after all. Her shrill screams echoed through his mouth and the cavities of his throat and sinuses as she thrashed against his tongue and palate. Hunter examined the injury blindly with his tongue, eliciting another fresh scream. The arm hadn't been completely severed; he could heal her. He channeled his healing magic into her and felt the tiny limb reform. Despite the care he provided, she continued to writhe and panic inside his mouth.

He played with her on his tongue, experiencing her unique taste. She was a little spicy, but also hearty and meaty in a manner reminiscent of pepperoni. She would taste great on a pizza. She punched and kicked his tongue fiercely, so he responded by slamming her against the roof of his mouth. He shuttled her to the back of his maw and gulped her down his throat. Her long hair tickled the back of his throat as she slid through his gullet. She pushed against his esophagus but was powerless to fight the rippling motion of his muscles as he swallowed. She collapsed into his belly in a wet heap before springing to life and beating up on the walls of living, throbbing, dripping meat encompassing her.