Man Eater

1 • The Man-Eater

I stared into the tigress's den, holding the heavy five-gallon bucket of miscellaneous meats and scraps in my scarred hands. The metallic stench of blood and the putrid smell of rotting human flesh horrified my senses. Bumps raised on my pale skin, and I shivered with each breath, though it hadn't made me gag in many years now. I took a shaking step closer to the steel cage-like fencing, trying to see into the dark den. I could hear her in there, just breathing. The tigress terrified yet enchanted me, and I felt sorry for her- trapped in this enclosure. The story was that the boss had bought her off the black market as a cub, but nobody knew for sure. All we knew is that she served the purpose of body disposal.

Finally, I stopped looking. The Bengal tigress we knew as Man-Eater wouldn't come out to see me, not today. I wanted to befriend her, I wanted so badly to stroke her soft-looking striped fur. I wanted her to know she was loved, that I loved her. I sighed, shaking my head. Why would she trust humans? After all she's been through? I could relate to her, maybe that's why I loved her and admired her beauty. I finally lifted the bucket over my broad shoulder and swung it forward, launching the contents over the twelve-foot fence. Even after the disgusting mix of organs, flesh, and stray bones hit the ground in a revolting plop, the tigress did not show herself, or make any sound. I leaned in towards the steel fence, squinting my sharp eyes.

"One-eye!" a deep voice called a few yards behind me. I jumped and cursed quietly at the name. I hated when they called me One-eye, it was sickening, and an awful reminder to an incident long ago. It was true, though, I only had one eye. The other had been forcibly removed in an incident my brain forced me to forget, and now this was my name. I don't think anybody remembers my real name, a real name around here is hard to come by- you're called by the name the boss refers you to.

I turned around for only a split second, and a ferocious roar shook me to the core. The tigress hurled herself at the fencing, shaking it loudly. Her claws had been outstretched, her wild eyes blazing an unforgettable amber. I had jumped back, shocked. The big-cat had waited for me to turn around to strike. I panted, catching my breath as the tigress picked herself back up, baring her fangs at me and pacing the fencing as she guarded what I had thrown over. Her long, striped, snake-like tail lashed behind her. I heard a loud rumble of laughter from the man behind me as I glared, turning to face him.

"You moron!" he laughed. "It's a damn tiger. She bites the hand that feeds her," the tall brunette chuckled, turning. "just like the rest of you." He added as he began to walk back towards the dark mansion. "Boss wants you. I'll let him know the great and almighty One-eye is playing with her kitty cat."

Anger boiled within me as I clenched my fists, my short nails digging into the palms of my hands. Snake-heart. I hated him, and his name was true to his soul. He was boss's right-hand man, the direct next step below him. I was forced to respect him, and he liked that. The boss always had a special fondness towards me that would take me years into the future to understand, but still Snake-heart seemed to like making me miserable. I had spent many cold nights as a street-soldier in the rain, and done many dirty deeds. I don't know where he comes from, and I don't understand who he truly is; but he was the partner of Tiny, our medic, and the father of Redback- a high-ranking street-soldier. Redback was young, just barely nineteen. He was tall, and looked strikingly like his father- though his temper didn't match. He was kinder, and a good friend of mine, though I was much older than him at thirty-two. I didn't know who his mother was at the time, Tiny wasn't it.

Tiny was a little older than me, but looked quite young. She was small, barely five-foot. She had long, long dark hair and beautiful dark brown, almost black eyes. They were small, and so were her hands and her nose. She was skinny and very, very pale. She was an angel here, and Snake-heart didn't deserve her. Nobody did.