Picture 2
Jen DeSantis’ Picture Choice: 1
Title: Prey
“That one,” she says, nuzzling against his shoulder.
Her catlike eyes flit across the room and settle on a young thing, no more than twenty.
“Too easy,” he huffs.
“I want it,” she croons.
He sighs. Petulant as always, Kerrigan would not be thwarted tonight. She’s eager for a hunt, but Aldo suspects she wants to play with their quarry more than actually finish the deed. No worry. He is more than happy to seal the deal at the end of the night. He feels a moment of pity for the young niblet they are about to pursue, but then smiles coldly. Her night, he muses, will not be nearly as entertaining as his and Kerrigan’s.
The couple rises in unison, Kerrigan slipping her hand into Aldo’s as they move fluidly out onto the open air dance floor. All around them, bodies pulsate to the electronic beat, but they walk without any sense of rush or urgency.
Together, Aldo and Kerrigan make an impressive pair. Couples stop gyrating to turn and look at them. Kerrigan’s eyes are half-closed and a small smile plays on her lips. Her anticipation glows on her face. Though they do not dance, they seem to move as one across the dance floor.
Their prey hasn’t noticed them moving toward her. The crowd parts for them naturally, wanting to watch them move but unconsciously pulling away from them. They are ethereal and hypnotic, but they are dangerous in a way the human mind cannot fathom. There is a natural need to stare, and an equally undeniable urge to back away.
When they reach her, the girl with the long orange hair and delicate freckles strewn like a dusting of snow on her arms, they surround her silently. As if part of the dance, they sway and encircle her with their arms, holding tight to each other’s hands. Their bodies form a net around her, but she is too stunned to even move. She stands, frozen, ensnared though she has not yet understood her situation.
Aldo and Kerrigan move to the beat, stepping in closer to the girl. She is cut off from those she came with, but she doesn’t make a move. She stares, wide-eyed, at the beautiful couple who have chosen her to dance with. She doesn’t know whether to move with them or simply let them have their dance. To move might disrupt their careful rhythm, and so she stays still as they press ever closer to her.
Kerrigan puts her hands on the girl’s hips. She gasps at the sensation. The hands are ice cold, almost burning her skin beneath the silk of her dress. But there’s more than the cold. She feels a vibration of energy flowing through the woman’s hands. Kerrigan gently pulls the girl back against her body and she begins to move in sync with them. Aldo snakes his arms in and around both women and they are all moving together as one.
Kerrigan and Aldo smile serenely, but the girl is clearly in ecstasy. Her eyes are closed and her face it tilted up toward the sky. She moves with them, feeling their strange bodies move with hers. In the back of her mind, she feels a flurry of panic: that natural urge to run from the strange creatures surrounding her. But the feel of their bodies and the energy flowing through their touch send those weak thoughts scurrying from her mind.
Over her shoulder, Kerrigan smiles at Aldo. It is time.
“Come with us,” Kerrigan whispers, her lips inches from the girl’s ear.
She nods wordlessly, and the three move as one toward the exit. The crowd parts for them again. Some even stop and stare at the young girl walking between the couple, so out of place and plain compared to the two strange creatures. A moment of worry for her may even cross some of their minds, but it is fleeting and the energy of the music sweep them up again.
Out of the club, the quiet of the night envelops them quickly. They are moving faster now than they should be, but the girl is still completely docile. A few quick turns and they are in a dark, wooded corner of a parking lot. No lights shine on them and they turn in unison toward the helpless girl.
As their eyes shine unnaturally in the dark, the panic returns tenfold. She looks around, dazed, and realizes she is far away from the club and her friends.
“How? Why?”
She struggles to form words and the pair cock their heads in unison, smiling wider at their confused prey.
“You came with us,” Kerrigan croons. “Always. They always come with us, don’t they, Aldo?”
“Well, you are very convincing, my love,” he replies.
“Who are you?”
“Wrong question,” Aldo says, his smile growing wider and his eyes glowing unnaturally.
“W-what?” the girl asks.
“He said wrong question. You don’t care who we are. Not really. You want to know what we are.”
The girl looks from Kerrigan to Aldo and then back again. She opens her mouth to scream, but Aldo puts a finger on her lips. Suddenly, she knows that no sound can escape her throat. She backs up, but there are too many trees behind her.
As Aldo and Kerrigan move in for their feast, the girl lets out a strangled cry that barely cuts through the night air. It is over before it starts, but the pair linger with their prey for most of the night. In the morning, she will be found and they will be long gone, off to find another happy hunting ground for their strange, macabre dance.
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Jennifer DeSantis is a Horror and Paranormal Author. She lives near Philly with her family. Tweet her at @JenD_Author
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Now this is my kind of tale, loved it
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