HUNT, OR BE HUNTED

CHAPTER 46: THE FIGHT

He turned his head a little when he heard a sound behind him. Had someone caught him kissing Lisa? That wasn't such a big deal, was it?

"Hey, jerkface," Dave said before landing a hard punch to the side of Mason's face. Mason stumbled back, clutching his jaw.

"What the hell," Mason said, spitting out blood and saliva. He looked angry at first, but then his frown slowly turned into a smirk.

"I saw that. What the hell were you thinking, huh?" Dave shoved him, hard. "You wanted us to break up, didn't you? Huh? Is that what you wanted?" He shoved Mason again, harder.

"Take it easy," Mason put both hands out. The smug grin didn't disappear from his face. "It's not what it looks like."

"No. It is what it looks like, you a-hole. You kissed my girlfriend."

"Your ex," Mason rubbed his jawline. "You two broke up, remember?"

"You-" Dave swung back an arm, and was about to strike Mason when a hand took hold of his upper arm, blocking his attack. 

"Stop," Mason's smile had vanished. There was a sinister look in his eyes as he tightened his grip on Dave's arm. "You don't want me to hurt you."

"You think I'm afraid of you?" Dave raised his voice. He was obviously outraged. "You think you can hurt me?" his biceps flexed as he tried to pull away.

"I can, and I won't hesitate to do that," Mason said, clenching his teeth.

He could already feel it inside him. It was hungry. Hungry for blood. It wanted to sink its teeth into soft flesh, feel warm blood oozing down its throat. 

"Then try me." Somehow Dave had managed to free himself, probably when Mason was distracted by the overwhelming hunger that fogged his mind. "Come on, come at me," he threatened.

"Stop, Dave," Mason closed his eyes. No, he wasn't supposed to hurt human beings. He was only supposed to hurt those that were his kind. Kill the pantheras-that was what he was told to do. "Dave, no," he growled when his so-called best friend began to rain blow after blow of punches down on him. 

"What are you waiting for, huh? This is what you'll get for breaking us up!" Dave yelled.

Mason covered his head with his hands, curling into a helpless ball on the ground as the blows kept coming. He couldn't feel the pain, because all he had to concentrate on was to keep the beast inside him. Keep the monster from breaking out and killing people.

No. No. No.

Mason got up as if something had taken over his body, his mind. His hand shot out, wrapping around Dave's neck in a tight chokehold. He raised his arm, lifting his friend off the ground.

"Mason," Dave croaked, trying to pry the hand off his throat. "Let go."

"You should have listened," Mason could only see red. He could only feel anger, feel the urge to feed. "You should have just listened," his hand squeezed tighter, and tighter.

"Mas-" 

Dave made one last choking sound, and his head lolled back. Mason let out a deep breath, and released his grip. Dave slumped to a lifeless heap on the dusty ground.

"You should have just listened," Mason repeated the words, as he crouched over his friend. He bent down, his eyes focused on the bruised and exposed skin of the dead boy's throat.

So hungry...

The last thing Mason saw before the beast completely took over were Dave's dead eyes, staring straight into his soul, as if he was vowing for revenge.

 ###

"Look," Matt pointed. At first I thought it was just a pile of rubbish, but when I took a step closer, I knew it wasn't. The smell of fresh blood was sinister- I was hoping that the scent would not awaken the monster inside me. "Bloody hell," Matt said under his breath.

"That's bloody, all right," I said, walking slowly towards the dead body. Or whatever was left of it.

"What the hell happened here?" Matt's eyes were on the blood-spattered concrete wall of the alley.

"Whatever that happened here was not done by a human being," I concluded, judging from the claw marks and bite marks all over the victim. My stomach churned when I saw that all of the victim's organs had completely been eaten away. "An animal did this."

"You don't say," Matt shuddered as he glanced down at the badly disfigured body. "I hate to say this, but...things like this don't just happen."

"So...you're saying that an animal is on the loose," I said, beginning to step away as the smell became stronger by the second. 

"Not just an animal," Matt was crouching next to the body, a finger hovering over the victim's half-consumed neck. "Look at these marks. He was choked to death before being eaten."

"What marks?" I had to squint my eyes to see, but Matt was right. Visble dark, blue-black bruises covered whatever that was left of his throat. "You're saying..."

"Yes," Matt nodded. "One of us did this, Jared," he said, standing up. 

"How can you be sure?" 

"You know that feeling you get when you know you're right? Well, I have that feeling now."

"It could have been anything," I knew I was lying to myself with every word that came out of my mouth. "It could have been some wild animal. Not everything comes down to us, Matt."

"Well, in this town, everything comes down to us," Matt said. "Stop lying to yourself, man. You know one of us did this."

"But we're not supposed to hurt anyone," I said. "Except for those who hurt us."

"Yes, that's the rule that you made for your people," Matt looked at me. "Only those who take you as their master would obey you."

"What do you mean? There's another one of us out there that's killing people?"

"It has happened before," Matt said, and I recalled the man Raphael and Bane had killed. The incident that cost them their freedom. "And it will happen again."

"So what do we do?" I let out a sigh."We have to save Bane and Raphael. It's what matters. We don't have time for this nonsense."

"This nonsense...is what will help us get to Bane and Raphael," Matt said. "Like I said, things like this don't just happen."

"Why do I have the feeling you always know everything?" I began to walk away from the crime scene. Or feeding ground, from what I had just seen back there. 

Matt followed me, and there was a smile on his face. "We get the predator's scent, we find out whoever that was, and we get your friends back. The hard way."

"You know, you should be leader instead," I gave him a light nudge on the shoulder. 

"No, thank you," he clambered up the wall, and disappeared over the other side. 

I turned to take one last look at the body. The boy would not even stand a chance against people like us. Beasts like us. Especially one who was willing to kill for anything.

At the same time, police sirens began to wail in the distance. Someone had probably seen the dead body and reported it after running away screaming in fright.

Whoever did this wasn't just one of us. Whoever did this was pure evil, and hellbent on murdering innocent people. 

My ears perked up when I heard a movement above me. Someone, or something, was watching me, studying my every move. Not preparing to pick a fight, or attack, but just watching.

I knew it was the killer- I could sense its presence. It was as if it had set the dead body as a bait and was waiting for its prey.

And we had just walked directly into its open trap.