An Endless Hunger [SAMPLE]

I

Through the years, all those nameless, bloodless bodies had been swallowed by the night, their beautiful features contorted in a final grimace of pain and regret. Some struggled before their death, spewing threats and curses. Others prayed silently as their minds searched for closure to an otherwise unexciting existence. Some found relief in death. They were my least favorite.

The very pretty ones I kept for a while until their nagging grew tiresome. I kept them caged up, beneath the floor. When I was most ennuyé, I played with them. Like everything else, however, my games soon bored me. In fact, the entire process was becoming quite tedious.

⁂

It was Friday, November something. I could not remember.

The sky groaned under the weight of the storm. Heavy rain was falling. Beneath jagged arcs of lightning, flickering streetlights threatened to withdraw their meager illumination. Each individual bead of water sparkled like a well-cut diamond before meeting the filthy pavement. I floated in that sea of scintillating light until the world was like an old Noir film, black and white. Droplets made their way down my face as I stood silently, an eternal being without direction or purpose. 

Alone.

I felt the hunger stir within my hollowness. I felt the need, stronger than sex, rise inside me—red hot and burning. I could feel in my ancient bones the desire to return to ash, to crumble into dust. I was a walking collection of memories and cruelty, nothing more than a wreck of my former self. The idealistic child who once carried my birth name was destroyed long ago. With each death-each exquisite, gurgled scream—his hope for Man had vanished.

From the corner of my eye, I saw what I had been waiting for. The cab screeched to a stop. Slamming the car door, the girl alighted. Her tangled, shoulder-length hair was plastered against her pale skin. She wore a long coat that briskly soaked up the gutter water as she stepped into a deep puddle. Cursing, she attempted to make herself presentable but gave up quickly, wagering I wouldn't care when the clothes came off.

I could smell the trepidation along her skin, bubbling just beneath the surface. In spite of the cold, sweat beaded between her breasts. Her hands trembled as she switched the black duffel bag from one hand to the other.

She looked in my direction. "Hello?"

The distinct click of her heels thrilled me as she walked in my direction. Anna's voice was like the sound of very fine crystal when you toasted somebody's good health. Perfect.

"Are you Michael?" she asked, voice cracking.

I nodded.

"Then I'm your girl," she said, wiping the rain from her eyes.

My silence made her doubt.

"Are you just going to stand there?"

The fact that she didn't run was proof that she did not see a monster. What did she see? I wondered.