Awakened Hunger [18+]

Chapter 1 | A fresh start

Very early in the morning. The sun hadn't even rised yet, but Teresa was already in a rush. Her screams filled the entire apartment:

"Mary! Come here you sleepyhead! We have to load the car, give grandma her medication and go! It's gonna be a long drive and I have to go to work tonight!"

Mary got up and stared with her eyes wide open as her mother grabbed a box from her room.

"Why are we moving again, mom? We just got here like two months ago."

Teresa stopped walking out and turned to her child with anger.

"There's no time for this young lady." she said as she grabbed another box and started heading outside. "Get your lazy ass up and give grandma her damn pills!"

A few moments later Mary was already up looking around her empty room. It used to be so full of everything: books, plants, cushions. Now it's just another one of these empty spaces with furniture. They had to leave it here since their new house was already furnished and there's no space, at least according to her mother.

"Good morning dear" she heard an unstable, nasal voice from the hallway.

"Good morning granny" she replied.

"Have you seen these tasty stuff? You know Hani, these things you give me every day."

"I have them right here." Mary took a bottle of Alzheimer's medication from the cabinet and gave it to the woman.

"Thank you Honig" she took them and started heading outside to the car. "I love portuguese" she said. Mary smiled widely knowing that no matter with what languages her grandma used to call her today none of them was portuguese. At first when she got diagnosed with Alzheimer's and moved in with them, everything seemed normal. After a while she started forgetting things, mixing languages and she stopped liking their house. That's why they were moving so often. They needed a place old Julianne would like.

***

After a long time Teresa finally stopped the car. They parked on a backyard in front of a wide house. There was no fence or anything around the property. No parking spot, no path leading to the front door. The only thing between the house and the road was pavement and grass. A lot of grass. Mary got out of the car, looked around and saw a few trees on the sides of their new home. They made the huge land seem less empty. She looked at her grandma and she was widely smiling and clapping her hands.

"Do you like it here grandma?" asked Mary.

"I love it here. It's so cozy. Like the motel I spent my honeymoon in."

The girl looked around and noticed a house on the opposite side of the road, on the right. It was different from the ones next to it. It looked abandoned. White, shabby walls and windows boarded with wooden planks gave her the creeps. As soon as she looked towards a window above the front door a masculine silhouette appeared from behind the planks. A man lived there. He put his forearm out the window and waved at her. A shiver ran down her spine. She took a deep breath and nervously waved back. Mary turned around, went inside her new home and headed straight to her new bedroom.

***

The next day Mary woke up to knock on the door. She looked at the clock. 8.35 AM. Her mother was still at work. With that in mind she headed to the front door. As she opened it she saw a middle-aged woman staring at her with a kind smile. She was a bit shorter than Mary, chubby, had a head full of light blonde curls and a characteristic, bright pink purse on her shoulder.

"Hello! I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to wake you up darling. We're your new neighbors. We live three houses on the left, just on the other side of the road."

That's when Mary noticed she wasn't alone. She was accompanied by a young man, probably older than her. He had shoulder length, straight, silky black hair and a red and dark blue bandana on his head. They looked like two worlds had met and decided to visit her.

"That's okay" said Mary. "My mom is still at work but you can come in for some tea if you want to."

"We would love to. I baked you a cheesecake. I hope you like it."

"I love it! Come in!"

The woman walked in with the cutest walk Mary ever saw. She sat down on the sofa and put a plate with cake on the table. The boy walked in after the woman, sat next to her and leaned back. She shuddered and spoke:

"Oh, silly me! I totally forgot! I'm Stephanie Smith, and this is my son Jackson."

"Nice to meet you" Mary sat on the armchair on the opposite side of the table. "I'm Mary Reynolds. Let me go and get my grandma. She would love to meet you too." The girl stood up and left the room. She brought Julianne and introduced her.

"What an adorable young man" Julianne said.

"Thank you. Your granddaughter is adorable too." The boy blushed.

Mary smiled. Suddenly they heard a commotion outside. Jackson ran to the window. He looked outside and turned to Mary:

"Are all the windows and doors closed?"

Mary froze.

"Yeah, I closed everything last night... Why?!"

Jackson sat down again and looked at his mother. A shiver ran down her spine.

"Was it him, honey?"

"I don't know. I hope not" he leaned back again. He glanced at Mary and then pointed outside.

"Have you noticed this old house on the other side of the road? The one three houses on the right? We live on the left, this house is on the right."

"The one with white walls and planks?"

Jackson nodded. Stephanie took a few deep breaths and said:

"You're so pretty sweetheart. Please look after yourself and stay away from that house and Alexander."

Mary got scared. What are they talking about? Who is Alexander?

"I don't think I understand... Why? What did he do?"

"Come here" Jackson pointed at the space between him and his mom. The girl sat there. He wrapped his arm around her and leaned over to her ear.

"Listen to me Mary. Professor Alexander Casmid is a bad person. He used to be a college professor, but got fired a year ago. There are some speculations. I don't want to tell you those, they're mostly gossip. What I know for a fact tho is that a year ago a girl around your age went missing. The police never found her body or anything that could lead to her. The last person who saw her alive was Alexander, when she entered his house for a private literature lesson. She never left this house, Mary. Everyone knows it. That's why he got fired. Even though they never found her body, Casmid was a main suspect."

Mary got scared even more. She hugged Jackson and he hugged her back.

"Was it him outside?"

"I don't know, but I really wouldn't think so. He barely leaves the house after he got fired. It was probably just a squirrel."

"Don't worry. You'll probably go to our local school so you can go to the left, next to our house. You don't have to pass this house. As long as he hasn't initiated any form of contant you're safe." Stephanie tried comforting her.

Mary hugged Jackson even harder. A cold shiver ran down her entire body. She got dizzy.

"What's wrong?" He asked.

"He saw me already yesterday and waved at me."