Alice Henderson - Voracious

“I beg your pardon?”

“Like your watch or a piece of jewelry.”

“What, are you robbing me now, too?”

“Seriously.”

After a pause, during which he scrutinized her, he said, “Okay.” He reached into his pocket and pulled out a half dollar. “My grandpa gave it to me. Good luck charm.”

She grasped the coin tightly and let images come to her.

An older man with a kind face sitting in a blanket-covered chair telling a story…

Steve and the woman she’d seen before in the vision from his couch, kissing passionately…

Steve hiking along a road in the dark, leg in agony…

Steve arriving back at the scene of the fire with backup…

This was Steve. She handed the coin back.

“Mind telling me why that was necessary?”

“The creature can-” Madeline began, but was cut off by Noah.

“The creature’s scratches can be poisonous. But it doesn’t look like he infected you.”

Madeline looked at Noah in bewilderment.

Steve sighed. “Well, big thanks for small miracles.” Then he looked at Madeline with concern. “But that thing-twelve rounds right into his chest and head. No effect but to stun him. You need to get away from here, Madeline. Get in your car right now and get the hell away.”

His words chilled her as the three stood out in the shadowed parking lot. Once again she felt vulnerable, uncertain. Ironically, thinking the creature was right there in the diner with them had almost been preferable to having no idea where it actually was. It could be waiting anywhere, hoping to catch her alone. She shuddered against the chill of the evening.

“Let’s get back inside,” she said.

The other two nodded, and they turned their backs to the night, returning to the diner and its cheerful plastic flowers.

Their food had gone cold.

After they ate, and after much debate in the parking lot, Steve went back to his cabin, and Noah and Madeline returned to their own. Noah had tried to convince Steve not to get involved, though the ranger was already in it to some extent, as he had to write up a report about his car. “The other rangers seemed to think it was a grizzly,” he had explained. “They’ve been known to take a gunshot and keep moving.”

“What do you think?” Noah had asked, keeping mum about the true nature of the creature.

Steve had shaken his head. “I don’t know. But whatever it is, it’s no damn grizzly. It’s something otherworldly. And something lethal.”

Noah had nodded, and Madeline and he said no more. Steve said some armed rangers were doing sweeps of the area to see what they could turn up.

Back at their cabin in Apgar, Madeline went through the ritual of checking windows and doors about six times. She was still hungry, even after their cold, slimy omelets, which were definitely not “great” as Noah had claimed before. Neither had eaten much of theirs, deciding to pick up something else on the way home.

Noah had gotten them sandwiches at the little camp store. Madeline believed hers was tuna salad but wasn’t entirely convinced. Noah’s, on the other hand, was clearly ham, or possibly turkey. They munched on the flabby white bread, which was soaked with a white, tangy, unnamed sandwich dressing, and chewed at the wilted lettuce bits. It wasn’t the best meal she’d ever had, but it was at least better than the grease-laden omelet.

Already the bruises on Noah’s face had faded, and she could only see them because she knew where to look. The cuts on his neck and stomach had completely closed, and the gash on his leg was nothing more than the faintest red line.

“Your healing powers are amazing.”

He nodded. “One of the benefits.” He grimaced at the food. “This isn’t very satisfying. What a bad night for food. Nothing seems to taste very good.” After a moment, his face brightened. “Say! What if we rob one of those metal bear lockers that campers are required to put their food in?”

She stared at him in wonder, sandwich wilting in her hand, the tuna dripping onto the table, looking for an easy route back to the sea.

“Hey, it’s dark. We could be sneaky! There are probably hot dogs, Cheetos, you name it!”

She raised an eyebrow. “Do you really want to be awakened by little Billy wailing at six in the morning because someone with clearly sketchy morality has absconded his Cheetos?”

Noah frowned, harrumphed, then bit into his soggy sandwich. “I guess not,” he mumbled.

She chewed on hers awhile longer, finished it, and licked her fingers. “Well, I’m ready for those Cheetos now.”

Noah stared back at her.

“Well?” She crossed her legs and looked at him impatiently.

“No, no,” Noah said, waving a dismissive hand at her. “I’m a reformed man now. Can’t stoop to having ‘sketchy morality. ’ ”

“Me and my big mouth.” She looked down at her hands. “And I was already looking forward to Day-Glo orange fingers.”

He looked away, chin up, a superior gleam in his eye. “As attractive as that sounds, you will not be able to corrupt me.”

“Shoot.”

He looked at her then, closely and intensely, his smile fading completely. “It’s amazing you can be high-spirited in such serious danger.”

She gave a slight shrug. “Sometimes you have to be or you’d go crazy. At this point, I guess I’m too exhausted to be terrified.”

He nodded. “I know what you mean.” He smiled again. “Thanks. I haven’t laughed in a long time.”

She nodded. “Me, neither. What an intense couple of days this has been.”

“I’ll say.”

She regarded him with interest. “This must be normal for you, living your life on the run, always in danger.”

He looked away, out of the window. “I suppose I am on the move a lot. But I kind of like the danger.”

She laughed. “Are you kidding? I’m so stressed out I keep catching myself clenching my teeth. You actually like this?”

He looked back at her, eyes glittering. “A little bit,” he admitted. “Though I don’t appreciate being hunted.”

She thought of the creature out there, prowling, perhaps even now back on their trail.

“Nor do I,” she responded.

“Well, I don’t think you have to worry about that anymore.”

Her brow crinkled. “You mean you think he’s given up now? Before, you wouldn’t agree. What changed your mind?”

“I wouldn’t say he’s given up, but I think if he was dead set on killing you, he’d have tried by now.”

“Tried?” she snorted. “I think he already has… dragging me down in the freezing water, chasing me down the mountain in the dead of night, almost getting me barbecued in that meadow-”

“Maybe he wasn’t trying to drown you in the river. Maybe he was frantic and clutched on to you in panic.”

She stared at him in wonder.

“I mean,” he added quickly, “his MO is to eat people, not drown them.”

“I guess you have a point,” she conceded, though she felt sick at the thought of the river and that thing’s claws holding her fast underwater.

“Sorry if I upset you.”

“No, no,” she said, shaking her head. “I’m just shaken up, I guess.”

“Understandably.” He leaned over and held her, a comforting hug that made her feel some solace. She was glad he was there. Resting her head on his shoulder, she realized how good he smelled. He noticed her breathing him in and smiled.

“Well, I guess we should clean this stuff up,” she said, pulling away.

He still smiled, straightening up. “I’ll do it.”

She stood up, and he instantly rose to his feet, moving so quickly she didn’t see him do it.

His eyes glittered with energy. They stood only a foot apart. The tension hung between them, palpable, lingering. He reached out and touched her arm, caressing down from her shoulder to her wrist, then back up, across her collarbone to her bare neck, his hand warm against her skin there.