Runaway Devil

I awoke cold. The wind brushed along my skin with fingers like ice. The soft, recently disturbed, the soil around me felt like it was pulling me into the earth. I gasped a shaky breath into my resisting lungs. My spine felt twisted and starched like I had been lying there too long.

My brow furrowed as I peeked an eye open. The moon stared back at me, bathing the night with her light. I heard a gruff grunt to my right and found Balan lying there, seemingly having just woken up. I arched my back and rolled my shoulders. Sitting up, I looked towards Balan, scanning him for injuries. I shuffled up next to him and ran my palms over his body, looking for any wet spots that could be blood or lacerations. I let out a relieved breath when I found none. He did smell of smoke, though.

He peeled his eyes open and immediately started panting, his hot breath fanning over my face. He was shaken up but otherwise looked fine. I closed my eyes and rested my forehead on his cheek. He leaned into me, both of us supporting each other's weight. I reassured myself one more time that he was okay before I got up.

The night was still young, the moon not even directly above us yet. I stretched my back with my arms above my head, multiple joints cracking. "Human bodies are a marvel sometimes, but goddamn they're fragile." I scowled at nobody. I rolled my neck, feeling refreshed with the night air. The breeze picked up, and I stood there, feeling it wash over me. I looked around, listening to the night, almost like I was looking for something.

I felt a tightness in my side like I had been freshly stitched up. I lifted my bloody shirt, which was covered in dirt and soot, and found a new patch of tissue. The new scar tissue shined in the moonlight. I ran my fingertips over my face, my jaw had completely reconfigured. I ran my tongue over my teeth, they were all accounted for.

Balan stood next to me, waiting for me to take the lead. I looked down at him from the corner of my eye and smiled. It took a lot to heal, even with the revitalization it brought. I was hungry. "Feeling like a hunt?" He looked up at me with his grinning mouth, his tongue lolling out the side of his powerful jaws. I grinned back and slipped my shoes off.

I took off, leaving almost no tracks, tapping into my surroundings. The brush disappeared around me. The air slashed at my face, whipping my hair about me. I caught the scent of groundhogs, rabbits, and squirrels. I passed on all of them, my mouth watered for larger prey. I came to a dead stop and took a deep breath. I closed my eyes and felt the air, standing deathly still.

The largest prey in these parts were deer, and I just found a whole herd of them. My mouth watered, bathing my tongue in saliva, my jaw already felt heavy with need. Balan caught the scent and we split up, hunting together like a pack. We used the strength of all to take down prey, especially if they are in large numbers.

We silently sped through the thick woods, the rustling of the wind through the trees masking any noise. I started to slow when we're close. Not five feet in front of me is a fawn, looking for food beneath a bush. I stooped my head low, crouching, getting ready to lunge. Its family is not far, I would have to be completely silent as to not startle them all, and lose dinner.

I let my talons come forward, and I opened my mouth to accommodate my fangs. My sharpened teeth are larger and heavier than human teeth, so my human jaw is stressed when my true form peeks through. Saliva dripped from them, readying my mouth for violent action. I felt primal, truly a wild animal. I relished in it and felt the sharp excitement of the hunt.

I lunged, going straight for the neck. I sank my teeth in, wrapping my body around the fawn, digging my talons into its body. It was dead almost instantly. It stumbled and fell to the ground, only rustling a nearby shrub. It didn't even have time to whimper before death took it. I left it there to drain as I stalked the rest of them. Balan took down a teenager, barely a buck, who had wandered a bit too far from the herd.

By then, the parents had noticed it was becoming too quiet. They lifted their muzzles, startled by the smell of blood. They quickly looked around for their children, silently panicking as they stood stone still. Their hearts beating wildly in their chest, they began to understand they were under attack.

A proud buck stood towards the outskirts of the small clearing, his doe not far. Another female stood a little way away, almost a fully matured doe. Balan had his eye set on the straggling doe. I smirked, feeling my heavy teeth behind my lips. That meant I got the buck and the doe, what a treat.

I prowled, easing into my wild side, and loved every second of it. They were just about to run, their hearts skipping a beat before pumping harder. They were about to take their first panicked steps when we descended upon them. It was all teeth, claws, and hooves. They had a wild look in their eyes but were no match for my own.

Their warm blood steamed in the chill night air, and I was reminded of the boy in the field. The way his innards spilled so easily from his body cavity mimicked that of a prey animal.

I took the doe's legs out, dealing a fatal blow to her underbelly. The buck almost slipped through my fingers, but he just wasn't fast enough. I latched onto his hindquarters, hanging off like a lion after a buffalo. He bucked violently as I sank my teeth into his back, hitting the spine. I recoiled and got a better angle, snapping my jaws closed, effectively snapping his spine. He collapsed with a wail and lay still. He was heaving, wheezing, fighting for breath.

I stood over him, panting, letting the adrenaline wash over me. I watched the life drain from his eyes, the panic left and was replaced with a deep nothingness. I grasped one of his antlers and hefted him up, dragging his body back to the clearing.

Balan had already collected his kills, and my fawn. They were all piled together in the clearing, a steaming mass of meat and blood. I heaved the buck onto the pile and retrieved the doe. She had bled out while I killed her buck. They were all together now, one big, happy family.

Balan sat back, excited, but knew better than to go for the first bite. Alpha always eats first, which was not up for debate. I knelt next to the buck, silently thanked him, and ripped into his shoulder. His meat was warm and thick, they were a strong family. I chewed with a full mouth and gave Balan permission to dig in. We ate like kings that night.

After we polished off their bones, we discarded their skin and some of their organs. Balan had a liking for hearts, but I could never get past the texture of organ meat. It stuck to my teeth too much for me to enjoy.

We walked back to where we had woken up, allowing plenty of time for digestion. I hadn't eaten in days, sometimes I forget how often the human body needed food. It was irritating how much up-keep they needed. Constantly having to go to the bathroom, eating, drinking, and they needed so much damn sleep.

I gnawed on the young buck's antler and picked up my shoes. And just as I gnawed on the bone, something gnawed at me behind my consciousness. That man. That thing. I had felt something like it before, but he held power. A power that was entirely new to me.

He healed us, he cradled us in his fire and let us rest in the heat. It disturbed me deeply how easily he subdued me. Granted, I was already weakened, but he still shouldn't have been able to do that. I assumed he was the one who put me in the woods. He was the one who disturbed the topsoil, creating a makeshift nest for us.

A shiver ran down my spine. I was vulnerable and hadn't had a choice in the matter. I knew that we were alive because of him, but when I see him again, I won't hesitate. Something that powerful was a threat. And he had wings. He could be either Angel or Demon or something utterly new. He looked mostly man. Most Demons had various species within themselves.

Regardless of what he was, we needed to kill him and move on. Find another place to settle down, or maybe it was time to disappear completely, live in the woods as animals. He was a supernatural creature, not of the human realm, and that meant trouble for both of us.

He was an enigma that I would have to contemplate. The only thing I was certain of was my dedication to keeping Balan and myself safe. We had worked too fucking hard for what we had. We had avoided prosecution for years, and I was not about to let this thing take it from us.

The antler snapped under the pressure of my bite, and I let the pieces fall into the soft soil beneath my feet.