The Predator's Loop

Chapter 7: Does it hurt when I kill you?

"So... What are you called?" She asked me meekly.

"Nyx," I told her as I rebuked myself for making a considerate conversation with a creature of a kind that destroyed our world.

She looked like she wanted to ask something but she pressed her lips together, not saying a word. She sat on the floor with her legs crossed and propped her elbows on her knees. Wiping her hands over her face, she sighed.

Hours passed and I debated if I must end her time for the day but my beast wanted to just sit down and wait until sunset. My eyes seemed to eye her throat over a train of thought about how I always scarred her wheatish, dusky skin every time I hunted her down. The temporary scar as my canines always cut through her skin, severing her arteries.

Did she ever feel the pain? She would feel the pain, wouldn't she?

"Does it hurt when I kill you?" I asked.

She gaped at me with wide eyes. Then, she looked quite muddled as she thought about it with her lips apart.

"I'm-" She paused, "I'm not sure... I think I don't feel the pain. But, it was a-"

She bit down her lip, "Yesterday when you left me alone... That was when it hurt."

It had me frowning and wondering if this mess was really a curse. What was the point if the prey didn't feel the pain? What was the motive behind this?

My jaguar stirred and purred, catching my attention. I felt her steady gaze on me. My eyes caught her off-guard as I took notice of her awe-struck gaze. She seemed embarrassed at her own attraction towards me and looked away. It just appalled me. Did she know what I was? Did she ever comprehend what I was capable of?

"Do you remember anything before this complication?"

She frowned as if gathering her memory and spoke in a low voice, "It seemed like an earthquake." She didn't articulate anything else.

"Except, it wasn't," I spoke, my voice resonating against the ancient stone.

"What do you mean?" She asked me.

"Two weeks earlier, there was an initiative to gather all the leaders of shifters. Shifters live within nature and they will do anything to protect that home. Anything. The day came and the clock ticked. We attacked, humans hardly knew what hit them. When we thought we wiped out the species, we encountered this disaster."

Her wide eyes filled with unshed tears held so much pain laced with shock. She looked like she couldn't breathe. She opened her mouth as if to say something only to gasp a soft painful wail.

I wouldn't stop talking. She had the right to know. "Only a few in double-digit numbers are alive and trying to survive this curse."

She dug her nails against the stone and bit down hard on her lip. The smell of fresh blood filled the air. Tears flowed from her eyes wetting her cheeks.

The sky was gaining an orange and blue hue. I could hear her heart speeding up. She was broken on the ground. I rose, towering over her. The sky was casting a dark shadow as the sun hide away quickly.

She made no effort to back away and I didn't like that fact very much.

"You don't want to go through yesterday's pain again," I told her but I noticed that she hardly caught my words.

I wrapped my fingers behind her neck and pulled her onto her feet. My beast seemed immersed in registering her scent, imprinting it in our minds. I didn't remark anything about it.

She looked like she was mentally gone. The sky was darkening and I felt perplexed about my purpose. Why was I killing her recursively? It felt as if somebody or something was playing us like puppets.

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"Well, something like this is a mix of two complex spells and cannot be cast by one mystic," Carlos explained. Our Pride Queen Regina and I carefully listened to every word out of his mouth.

"This is a complicated effect that can be achieved in two ways. One way could be with expert learning, perfection, and great power. The second way could be by terribly messing up the two spells and creating a convoluted situation like this," he shrugged with a sheepish grin. "Nin is a strong mystic but I can't possibly fathom her creating something like this. She couldn't have done this alone. Another mystic that we know is Ever who is always lost in her own world. She's someone who lost self-awareness a very long time ago!"

The Pride Queen stayed silent and I could see the cogs turning in her mind. She then uttered words that reflected my thoughts, "Are you sure there's just two mystics living on earth? I do agree that they almost went extinct after humans destroyed nature. Their source of power comes from life. The planet is yet to heal itself. I would think that this might be an impossible task for even those two considering the amount of negative energy that still surrounds life."

"How about... The Hidden One? I can tell that he's always watching," I spoke and they frowned at my suggestion.

"Possibly..." Carlos trailed off unable to utter a confirmation.

"He decided not to interfere in the matters of the world decades back. That would be quite improbable," Queen Regina spoke.

"There are a lot of factors at play here. A normal mystic wouldn't have the power to achieve this," I stated. "Carlos brought himself and his present mate out of the hunting loop by uttering the mating chant and binding her to him. But we aren't sure if that's the only solution.

"Every time the time resets, we hunt. The prey does not feel the pain when we hunt them. But they die a painful death when we don't. Each of us is bound to one prey. We find it impossible to kill another. I hope I covered every detail."

"Um, just one more thing. We're attracted to our prey," Carlos uneasily stated.

"Not true for every shifter," I gently objected. "Another point might be the fact that only a few shifters feel the desperate need to hunt and have their assigned prey. Similarly, only a few humans are stuck in this mess. The rest are clearly dead. Meanwhile, all of us are going through a universal loop of time- food and supplies reappearing every day."

"That sure is a lot of complication. I agree that it could be the work of the Hidden One," the Queen nodded firmly. "He must have a firm reason to do so. But to search for him would take ages. We need to figure this out somehow. Carlos, you're on it. Your duties will be taken care of by others. You need to try and figure this out."

"On it, Queen," Carlos responded.

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