Numb: A Sociopath in Love

Chapter 3 :D

Yep, it's starting to heat up :P Hope you enjoy this chapter; the next one's going to be real intense ;)

              “No, Edward, don’t leave me!!” The brunette screeched from the television, hurting my ears. I immediately muted it, wondering what the hell I was watching, and why I was.

            I rubbed at my face, still tired from the night out before. The demon that had gotten away had been on my mind all night, and I’d woken up this morning from a nightmare where Gabbie had been ripped apart by the demon. It puzzled me, that I’d felt frustrated that I couldn’t help her, so much that I’d stayed up since 5, examining the blood sample I had from last night.

            I’d scraped some off to stick onto a slide, and used my microscope to study the red blood cells. What I’d found had made me only more frustrated and confused.

            Sitting on the green couch, I drew out the slide from my pocket. The dried blood, more brown than red, glinted at me from behind the slide. I remembered the exact, denatured shape of the red blood cells I’d seen beneath the lens, a sure sign of ectoplasm. The clear, viscous fluid was produced by the host’s body once possessed, a way for the demon to slowly poison the human. It contained many hydrogen ions, making the pH of the blood too acidic for the haemoglobin in the red blood cells to attach to oxygen. The demon suppressed the body’s natural response to create more haemoglobin to bind to the hydrogen ions, and so eventually the tissues began to die from lack of oxygen. After a few days, the poison would do its job, and the host would die, the demon being expelled from the flesh. With new, inexperienced demons, they tended to kill off their host too fast, producing too much ectoplasm too quickly.

            The blood sample had neatly, orderly demolished red blood cells, about a ratio of 10 dead: 1 alive. This demon was in control of its host, or had been. Judging from the blood puddle size, it would be lucky to be alive right now. And since someone had injured it, it was being hunted, doubling its chances of being dead.

            I leaned back on the couch, blindly watching the brunette chick curl up in the forest, whimpering because she lost some weird-looking ginger guy. I went over the facts again in my head, about how there was another hunter in the vicinity. They’d known I was after them as well, which meant I would have to be on the look out for competition. I didn’t know if they were a rogue, but since they had been hunting in the city, I was willing to bet they were part of some organization. I thought about maybe dropping by Terry’s house. I knew he was interested in what I did as a hunter, even if he didn’t say it, and he wasn’t as annoying as anyone else. He’d probably be out of school by now –

            Thump thump thump. Sighing, I unmuted the TV, preferring that to the sound of Gabbie and Manny ‘having fun’. I gritted my teeth and turned up the volume as I heard grunting and moans, followed by more thumps. It eventually stopped, and I lowered the volume, glancing down at the sample. I decided on going over to visit Terry, and taking care of the bodies out near the cabin, anything to get out of the house.

            I got out the dolly from the garage, and packed some duct tape and extra garbage bags. It was near 4:00, so people would inevitably see me with my rotting cargo. I remembered Manny’s comment from last night, and had to agree with him. Most people in this town hadn’t liked Ramsey living here, hunting, and so they disliked me as well. I’d have to make it a quick trip, before I headed to Terry’s.

            The cabin looked eerie and abandoned against the tall, bare branches of the trees beside it, and I relaxed at the sight of it. It was familiar, much more so than the staring eyes of my ‘neighbours’ as they watched me tug the empty dolly by its rope down the street. I circle round the cabin, dragging the dolly to the back, over the lumps of fallen leaves. Reaching into my pocket, I got out my keys, and bent to unlock the-