The Chay Ong Casefiles, Volume One: Always Chasing Rainbows.

Chapter 7: Waking Up With Regrets

There was a full moon in the sky, illuminating sparse grass in a bare field. A man was tied to a chair, blindfolded and shivering in the night cold.

"What did he do?", asks a young man.

"He complained about his food ration. Said it was too little for him and his family", answered another.

"Where is his family?", asked the previous young man.

"His child has died from malnutrition. His wife had received two warnings previously, so she was sent for re-education."

A voice sounded from behind them.

"She is also dead. I was just there."

It was the voice of a young woman, with long dark hair and a stony gaze.

"So what do we do with this one?", asked the second young man.

"The order has come down from Brother Number One", says the young woman. She produces a pistol from her uniform and cocks it.

The bound man can hear the sound. Fresh urine runs down his leg and onto the sparse grass.

"Please! I love my country! I'm just so hun-"

The young woman lifts the pistol at the man's forehead.

The gun fires...

"Fuuuuuuuccckkkkk", Chay groaned as she felt her consciousness return to her. Her shoulders and back ached and her mouth felt incredibly dry.

She was also sleeping in an unusual bed.

In an unusual room.

In an apartment she wasn't familiar with.

......Oh Goddammit.

She had done it again. She had allowed the Hunger to grow unabated without realizing it, and in a desperate bit to get it under control she had climbed into a stranger's bed and....

....and it was with Crol, the guy who had let her crash at his apartment so she could survive the night.

She looked over her shoulder at the kobold-demon, who was snoring rather loudly into his pillow. His butt was stuck way up in the air and his junk was dangling from between his legs.

Yeesh, the guy must have some terrible sleep apnea...

She slipped out from under the sheets, silently tip-toeing out of the bedroom on her bare feet. They hadn't bothered to close the door, so there was no risk of potentially squeaky hinges to wake up Crol.

She walked to the bathroom and turned on the light.

Her skin was still a little flushed, and her hair was an absolute mess. It was embarrassing, in almost every possible way. The shower from the previous night had done it's job, but she was still sweaty.

She turned on the sink and drank a handful of water. It was actually relatively clean, compared to her hole in Imp City, and also relatively cool. It was probably the first bit of genuine pleasure she had experienced since her capsule had crashed into the sewer.

But the best part? She wasn't feeling any ancillary jealousy or desire. Whatever she had done with Crol last night, it had managed to get it out of her system. She did wish that she could actually go to bed with someone she actually liked , and without the psychotic desire to consume.

.....Did she dislike Crol?

She wasn't really sure. He had given her food twice the previous day, and he had allowed her to sleep at his apartment when she needed it. Granted, that was partly because she had payed for the first, and the possibility that she would have given him sex for the lat t er. But Crol wasn't necessarily ugly or anything (at least by Hell's standards)...and he apparently did enjoy the previous night....