Bereft [UPDATED VERSION]

Prologue - The Creature

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BEREFT

BOOK ONE of THE PRIDE HEXALOGY

BOOK ONE of THE BEREFT SERIES

The UPDATED VERSION here on Wattpad. This version is different from the other version still available on the site.

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#Book Contents: Violence, death, murder, and the usage of strong language. There are no graphic depictions of gore or intimacy. Heterosexual romance.

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Prologue - The Creature

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A monster stood watching the world pass him by.

He didn't much resemble what most people might expect a monster to look like. There were no horns, no claws, only the plain face of a man half-hidden in the falling shadows. His hair was unwashed, untidy. Dirt and dust lined the folds of his cotton shirt and torn jeans, and the rubber of his sneakers had started to peel from the canvas tops.

Two unremarkable hands swayed at his sides. They'd twitch every so often like pale spiders.

For all that he appeared human, though, the monster was still a monster, and it could be seen in the sudden glint of red against black in his eyes and the open mouth of sharp, waiting teeth.

The creature breathed in, the sound like a snake's rattle rising from his chest as he sucked down pollution and chewed. Oil. Grease. Bitter salt and rusted iron.

He breathed again, the air hissing through his teeth. Rot. Decay. Like the smell of a bloated fruit splattered upon the pavement. Sweet. Too sweet.

"Don't ya know," rasped a bearded man sprawled on a broken bench, paper bag and bottle in hand. It couldn't be said if the man actually saw the monster or not. "Verweald is where ya come to die! Dreamers to sinners, dreamers to sinners."

The creature ignored him as he walked. Strange eyes in a plain face raised upward, following the walls of steel and glass toward the sky. The stars shone only as vague glints knifing through a thick blanket of smog, and the light smeared against the buildings like running paint.

"Drek," he hissed into the heat. "Xieht aht torntultad an drek."

Cracks appeared on the sidewalk beneath his feet.

The humans going about their business took no notice of him. They rushed on their way, chatting and laughing or staring at the slim rectangles in their hands. They vibrated with such noise and intensity, the creature's stillness barely registered in their distracted eyes. A man bumped into him and continued without a word.