Hunting You, Hunting Me (Watty Awards 2012)

Chapter 19

Not edited.

All rights reserved, © 2012

RECAP FROM CHAPTER 17:

I try to get onto my knees but end up flat on the ground instead. I grind my fangs together to numb the sensation of my organs twisting inside of me. Hearing a crack and feeling violent pain in my legs, I look back and see them breaking in several spots. My bones are pulled out of their sockets and begin to shorten, lengthen and change their shape.  I hunch over in agony as my bones rupture through my skin and rearrange themselves.  The wounds heal as quickly as they are formed, giving me a moment of peace. This is when I become aware of gut-wrenching screams in the background, and realize that they are my own.

My entire body is shaking and it feels like my muscles are being torn apart and pulled from my bones. My body has taken a life of its own, cracking, popping and moving on its own accord. I open my mouth to scream but the only sound that now escapes is an animalistic growl.  My heart thumps in my ribcage, which seems to be re-aligning inside my body. A tingling feeling spreads across my skin as my bony limbs begin to bulge with muscle and just when I am glad the torture is over, a series of harrowing cracks erupt, causing me to pass out.

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Chapter 19

Unknown POV.

It is safe for me to leave Estela. She is well hidden and asleep, and it doesn’t look like she is going to go anywhere, especially with a storm approaching.  I don’t want to leave her but I have no choice. Werewolves have needs too, and I need to eat. It has almost been a week since I last ate a full meal. Mainly because I was running out of money and whatever little money I possessed, I had used to top up the gas tank of the cars that I had stolen. 

I walk through the forest in hunting mode.  My senses are heightened and all I can think about is finding food. Unfortunately, the impending storm has chased away most of my prey, which makes things harder for me. Eventually, I catch the whiff of a delicious aroma that my brain identifies as rabbit. The scent leads me to a burrow that conceals a rabbit’s nest. Relieved, I wait until the rabbit ventures out and when it does, I pounce on it. It takes me only fifteen minutes to polish it off. Just like wolves, werewolves have voracious appetites. We can go for days without eating and when we do eat, we can eat twenty pounds of meat at a time. That’s about eighty hamburger patties. Which is why, the rabbit does nothing for my hunger.  I am so hungry I can eat a deer. Seriously.  How do you think the term ‘wolf it down’ originated?

 I run, I sniff, and I hunt. And, when the storm rages on the forest, I wait patiently for it to end.  And my patience pays off.  For when the sun emerges again, the deer step out to satiate their own hunger and that is when I strike.  Normally, I would prefer fish n’ chips or a cheeseburger, but I have been in my wolf form for four days now and my animal instincts are taking over.

I approach the deer as they graze, completely oblivious to the danger that surrounds them. After observing them for a while, I single out the weakest member. Four years of running and hiding have really honed my skills and I am so stealthy that I am practically invisible. Sorry Bambi. And then, I attack.  All forty-two of my sharp teeth dig into the rump, piercing, shearing and crunching bones. The deer is gravely injured and fading quickly, but I still snap its neck to put an end to its suffering. 

When I look up, I am alone with my kill.  Sinking my teeth into the deer flesh I devour most of it, which takes at least four hours. Leaving the carcass for the coyotes, I walk towards the sound of water and find a little brook to drink from. With my belly full, I sprawl out on the damp grass for a snooze.