Tales From Twistwood

We Must Feed

 I saw only darkness as I ran through the woods. No trees, no buildings, no nothing. There was only darkness. I could feel the spread of the leaves beneath my feet. I could hear the whistle of the wind in my ears, and taste the metallic taste of blood in my mouth. But I could not see.

Other voices whispered in the ears along with the wind. My brethren, they ran alongside me in the forest. The sounds of the night were overpowered by the sound of many feet running across the landscape.

Finally, we reached our destination. We halted at the door to the house. Light pierced into my eyes as a bulb flickered in front of the building. It was much too bright, and we were blinded by it. However, it soon stopped flickering, and we were left in the darkness once again.

I took the first step towards the door. I was the only one that was yet to completely change, and the only one that could get inside. My brethren were counting on me. They needed to feed.

Soon enough, the door bent to my will. It was gone away into the darkness, and we could enter the house. My brethren started to whisper louder, exited at the thought of food. I heard their voices thank me through the complete black of the night. They called me by name, even though names no longer meant anything. Now, we functioned as one. We were one being, the dark being, moving through the night like a shadow.

Quiet as a whisper, we entered the house. There was no one to be seen, but we wouldn't be fooled. We could smell the pungent odor of human flesh embedded everywhere. On the counters, the floors, everywhere.

Our feet padded into the hallway, and down the hallway into a bedroom. There, a lone figure slept. A woman, clothed in only a nightgown, was tossing and turning on the sheets of the bed. In her sleep, she cried out. We were not surprised. Our presence often caused humans to have night terrors. She would wake, soon. She would wake, covered in perspiration, wondering what she had dreamt about that caused her restless sleep.

Then, we would strike.

We waited patiently in the small room. The woman rose slowly in her bed, and looked around the room. She was awake now. Her legs shuffled over the side of the bed, and she got up and looked around again. She didn't notice us waiting there. It was no wonder - we were dark, and her eyes had not yet adjusted.

The first of us ran forward before the woman could see what we were. She screamed as my brethren's teeth clamped onto her leg. The rest of us came forward like a flood. I could feel the darkness start to spread once again. The coarse black hair on my body grew longer, my bones started to crack, I began to cry out in pain just as our dinner did. My body slumped forwards. This had never happened before. Before, I just fed in my normal body. But now I was stronger, more lithe and agile. My teeth were razor-sharp, my ears long and pointed. The pupils of my eyes narrowed to slits.

I fed on the last of the woman, sinking my teeth into ripped-apart flesh. It was squishy and dripping blood. As a newer member, I had to feed on the remains. Her blood soaked my teeth, invigorated my being. I swallowed a chunk of her skin whole. It was delicious. She was delicious. I wanted more.

So we left her house. We started to slink around her neighborhood, sniffing for more food. It never ended, not at night. Soon, there would be no more food. And then we would move on.

After all, we must feed. We must feed to survive.