George sat in front of the television and heard his stomach over the program. He was starving. It had been over a day since he ate last, and now, as he watched a cooking show, he was suffering from shakiness and a throbbing headache. Luckily, the pizza delivery man was on its way and his hunger was to be quenched. He flipped through the channels, but wasn't entertained by anything; his hunger was too much. George stood and went to the refrigerator, but there was nothing in it. He sighed heavily and listened to his stomach grumble once more, and after he pulled his cell phone from his pocket, he checked the arrival time for the sixth time in ten minutes.
"Checking your phone isn't going to help," his roommate, Michael said as he stepped into the kitchen and grabbed a glass of water, "it'll get here when it gets here." George nodded,
"Yeah, I'm aware of that Mike," he said sarcastically as he shut the fridge with a slam, "don't remind me." Michael reeled back,
"Easy, man," he said as he gulped down the water, "you're the one that decided not to eat last night." George shook his head,
"It's not that easy," he said as he leaned his head over the sink and tried to wet his mouth, "third shift does this to you." Michael shrugged,
"Whatever you say man," he said as he rinsed the glass and set it near the edge of the sink, "as long as I get some pizza out of this deal, I'm fine with however long you sleep."
"I'm sorry," George said, "I'm just really, really hungry."
"I understand," Michael said as he scratched the back of his head, "one time, I didn't eat for so long that I almost threw up."
"That's disgusting, Mike," George said, turning away from his friend, "besides, you don't know what this kind of hunger is like." Michael walked toward the living room and gestured for George to follow. They both sat down opposite one another, George with his back to the door, and his friend with his back to the kitchen, and Michael flipped through the channels before stopping on the cooking show that George had been watching.
"Really?" George asked, giving his friend an angry glance.
"What? It looks cool," Michael said as he turned up the volume, "look, they're making pizza." George rolled his eyes and tried to shut out the sound of the television chef, but the only other sound he could hear was the growling of his insides.
*ding dong!*
"Oh, thank God," George said as he sprung from his seat and bolted to the door. He threw it open to reveal a pizza man standing on the step, looking down at a receipt,
"Uh, is this twelve twenty James Road?" The man asked, looking from the receipt to George, who nodded and said,
"Yes, this is."
"Okay, well, that'll be eight fifty," the man said as he handed George the pizza. Michael came to the door and grabbed the food from Georges hands and ran off to the kitchen with it as George reached into his pockets to grab the money.
"I didn't order a drink?" He asked, grabbing his phone and checking his order.
"No sir," the delivery driver said, looking down at the receipt again, "not from what I can tell."
"Well, that's a shame," George said as he flipped through the bills, "because I am really thirsty." The driver stuttered for a moment before he said,
"If you'd like, I can run back to the store for you-"
"No, no, that won't be necessary," George said, cutting him off, "I suppose I'll just have to drink you instead." The driver paused and looked onward in humor, then fright as George grabbed the man and yanked him into the house. He kicked the door shut as he bared his fangs and bit down on the man's neck and lapped up the metallic, red fluid with ease. The man had passed out, but George drank as Michael came into the room and leaned himself against the wall with a piece of pizza in his hand,
"Won't they start to catch on?" He asked with a mouthful of food.
"No," George said as he took a moments break, "I'll wipe his memory before he leaves, just like always." Michael nodded,
"Well," he said, "as long as you don't ever use it on me and I get free pizza, you'll never have to worry about me."
"As it should be," George said as he dove in and lapped another mouth full, "as it should be."
YOU ARE READING
A Stormy Night: Stories to Read by Candlelight
Terror"What will you call this place, this town of death?" "I think we will call it...Raven." From demon possession to an evil beast out to get you and even a murderous flock of birds, this collection of short stories is sure to make you shiver and keep...
