The Half-Blood Giant

Chapter 42: Bleak Reality

Milton was horrified to learn that another student had gone missing overnight when his teachers reported him missing. Joey and Ray returned to the school to investigate. Again, they checked the camera footage and interviewed his friends. Nobody had seen him or knew when he disappeared. During their search, the police came across smudges of blood near the boys' dorm and a smashed pair of glasses that they were able to confirm belonged to him. The evidence didn't bode well for him or the other disappearances. The missing students were presumed dead, likely murdered.

Everybody suspected Hunter was involved, but there wasn't any definitive evidence against him beyond the flimsiest circumstantial corroboration. Milton set up more cameras around the school for safety, hoping to prevent further attacks or catch the perpetrator. Hunter observed these precautions with amusement. He realized that he was untouchable. They would never be able to catch him, despite their best efforts. He could easily outsmart them. When they interrogated him, he showed no concern and didn't give anything away that could incriminate him. He merely answered their questions, flashed them a mocking sneer, and continued on his merry way, with Hannah trapped in his pants pocket or stomach. They had no clue. The other students could gossip and hate him all they wanted, but there was nothing they could do.

Hunter's overbearing arrogance was insufferable for his human prisoner. Hunter spoke as if he loved her, but his actions revealed a very different side of him. He did whatever he wanted to Hannah, whether that was eating her, holding her, fawning over her, or teasing her as she yelled in protest. He didn't listen when she pleaded for him to let her go, tried to reason with him, or cursed him out. His obsession with her, along with his despicable sense of entitlement, only seemed to grow by the day. Hannah could see, in his deluded fantasies, that he fancied that she was growing closer to him, when in reality she hated him with a violent passion.

However, he was unhinged and insane, and Hannah was terrified to defy him when he held so much power over her. When she became too vocal, he merely swallowed her down and kept her inside his belly as long as he pleased. Hannah dreaded those moments. Sometimes Hunter wouldn't let her out for days. She was scared to fall asleep inside him, because she feared waking up in his intestines again. She was beyond exhausted and drowned in grief, especially when she mourned over Hector.

As for Hunter, he was ecstatic that Hannah was his possession now, and he thoroughly enjoyed the delights her body could offer him as a snack and a source of comfort. He loved the rare moments when she was docile, and he could simply lay down and hold her on his chest in pure bliss. She was best after he left her in his stomach for a long time, because then she was too fatigued and frightened of further retaliation to resist him. She cooperated with him more when she was afraid of him, and he could even deceive himself into believing that she liked him. Often she was so exhausted after a long stint in his belly that she would just pass out in his hands, and he could cuddle with her as much as he wanted.

Chester and Jackie checked in on Hunter, and he successfully concealed his human keepsake from them. When they offered to let him come home, Hunter claimed that school was getting better and he wanted to stay. He knew, if he went home with Hannah, his father would sniff her out immediately, and possibly even eat her if he couldn't restrain himself. His parents were none the wiser. They perceived that Hunter seemed happier than the last time they saw him, and took his change of demeanor as a positive, oblivious to the harrowing truth.

Hannah was so cute and pretty, but Hunter could plainly see that all the abuses were beginning to wear on her. She was losing weight as she found it harder to eat, since she was nauseated and disgusted with swimming in a giant growling stomach all the time. Her stress, fatigue, anxiety, and misery caused her skin to look pasty and worn, and dark circles formed under her eyes. Her hair was ratty since she couldn't groom herself properly. Her vitality was draining out of her as she suffered at his hands.