Hunter

by S. J. Bryant

  "With me," Corvus called out louder so that the rest of the coven scattered across the roof would hear. In an instant they were standing by his side.

  "Before we go we need to settle something," Corvus said, looking over his coven. They were small and pitiful. They stared up at him with the hopeful, expectant eyes of children.

  "Whatever you wish master," Laticia spoke on behalf of them all.

  "Where were you?" Corvus asked quietly.

  "Master?" Laticia's face fell and her brows drew together.

  "On that night, five years ago, when I was taken. Where were you?"

  "We were too far away to hear you; we were hunting," Laticia responded.

  "Why?" Corvus glared at his coven. "Why would you be that far away when you should have been with me?"

  "Master, we're sorry for what happened. We went to hunt in a different direction that night."

  "Am I not leader of this coven?" Corvus asked. He looked at each of his coven in turn. He glared into their eyes and his gaze pierced straight through to their souls.

  His heart beat faster, and the anger which had built up inside him during his five years of captivity bubbled to the surface. He'd spent hundreds of sleepless nights running over what had happened and wondering where they'd been. He'd been forced to endure more pain and humiliation than he'd ever thought possible. It was their fault he had lost five years of his life.

  "Of course, Master," Laticia said, her head hanging low.

  "Then why weren't you hunting with ME!" Corvus spat the last word and pounded his fist down onto his chest.

  "We're sorry, Master. It won't happen again."

  "You're right it won't happen again. And if I get even a whiff of one of you betraying me or undermining my authority in any way," Corvus paused for emphasis. "You'll wish you were born human."

  "Yes master," Laticia whispered.

  "Am I understood?" Corvus yelled to the rest of the coven.

  "Yes master," they replied.

  "Good. Then tonight we hunt."

  He would let the matter lie for now, but he wouldn't forget. They should have been with him and he would find out why they weren't, if it was the last thing he ever did. For the moment though he was hungry. Now was the time to feed.

  He began a mad dash down the stairs. He leapt from one landing to the next with the agility of a hunting cat. His nostrils flared and he caught the individual scent of every beating heart for a mile around. He could almost taste them and the very thought pumped saliva into his mouth.

  He sniffed again, sorting through the different flavours. Some blood was hinted with spice, others were sweet. Some blood was so filled with grease and fat that even the smell made Corvus turn up his nose. There was one particular scent he was looking for. All lecheons had their favourite taste. Corvus's was so mainstream it was practically a stereotype. He liked the flavour of young women.

  Young ladies always had the same flavour. It was a heady mix of flowers and candy with just a hint of apple. To Corvus, it was delicious and he loved it.

  "There it is." Corvus whipped his head to the left and started down the road. His coven kept close behind. "I can practically feel it!"

  The coven sprinted down the street. Corvus led them left, then right, then right again. They ran down dark alleys, concealed by the shadows. Corvus leapt over a large rubbish bin and kept running. One by one his coven followed.

  "So close!" Corvus panted.

  The wind rushed past his hair and made his long cloak fan out behind him. It was a calf-length leather jacket which was made to fit. It clung closely to his skin but allowed him free movement. The exposed skin registered the cool breeze, a welcome change from the stale air of his cell.

  His boots slapped against the pavement. These concrete jungles were perfect for hunting. So many places to hide and so much food. The cattle walked around day after day, just begging to be feasted upon. Corvus relished in the stretch of his legs and arms as he pelted down the street. His muscles would soon recover from his time of incarceration and then he would be truly powerful once more.

  He ran around the final corner and the small alley opened up onto a bigger street. Dozens of people were walking along the footpath, but his vision narrowed on the one he wanted. Corvus drew a deep breath through his nostrils and savoured the flavour. It wafted over to him on the night air, teasing him.

  The lecheons hid in the shadows of the alley. Their prey drew closer. She was a young woman wearing a strapless black dress. Her brown hair was held high on her head, with small wisps floating down to frame her face. She walked in heels with practiced ease and hummed to herself. Her eyes were large, larger than most humans, probably the result of a mod. That was unfortunate; the mods always left a slightly metallic taste in the bloodstream.

  When the woman stepped past the alley Corvus's hand shot out and grabbed hold of her wrist. He whipped her into the darkness of the backstreet and away from any witnesses. He wrapped her close to his body. He drew in deeply through his nostrils with his face buried in her neck. The smell of her blood was too much. It begged him to feed on her, to suck her dry.

  The humans brought it on themselves. If they didn't taste so darn good he might have been satisfied with the synthetic stuff. But the synthetic stuff could never compare to this; this heaven of aromas.

  Before the woman could cry out for help, Corvus's hands wrapped around her mouth. He buried his face in her hair and inhaled. His long leach tongue extended out from between his teeth. He drew it slowly up the woman's neck, leaving a trail of saliva.

  She shivered and squirmed against him. Tears trickled down her cheeks and pooled against Corvus's hand. He took his time to feel her warmth, to taste her. The heady flavour soared over his tongue and down his throat.

  His coven stood back and watched. They waited with barely controlled anticipation. Corvus could smell their desire. He could feel their eyes watching him, filled with jealousy. He smiled.

  He couldn't stand the wait any longer. Her drew back and lunged for the woman's neck. His teeth tore into her throat, sending blood dribbling down her neck. A stray spurt splattered the alley like crude graffiti.

  His hand muffled her screams as he latched onto her and refused to let go. He kept his eyes open. Usually he would have closed them and allowed himself to become completely lost in the flavour. But at that moment he couldn't risk it. He had no idea what his coven were planning. It wasn't worth it.

  His eyes flicked between each member of his coven. They stared at him with envy but they daren't move. A few of their tongues lolled out and the leaches at the ends opened their own mouths and gnashed their teeth.

  The corners of Corvus's mouth turned up. Let them stare. Let them remember who their leader was. It was his right to feed and if they were lucky enough to get some leftovers then it was only because of his generosity. Let them see and let them learn.

  The woman's blood was warm. The strapless dress and lifted up hair made it especially easy for him to reach her neck. It was like she'd gone out that night dressed especially for him. Her pale, creamy neck shone in the limited moonlight and begged to be feasted upon. Corvus was only too happy to oblige.

  The warm liquid slid down his throat. It coated his mouth and his teeth and flowed down to his stomach leaving his whole body feeling warm and whole. The flowery, candy smell transformed into taste. His entire mouth was filled with the sensation. It was so good after his years of captivity, years of having to survive on synthetic blood, that he barely noticed the metallic tang of her mod. This was heaven.

  As he continued to feed, he felt her losing strength. She stopped struggling against his arms, and then she stopped trying to scream. In the end, her legs gave out and Corvus lowered both her and himself onto the pavement. He bent over her and continued to suck at her neck. Her face and body was even paler now that she was drained of blood. Her eyes were wide and unseeing.

  Corvus kept his senses alert, ready in case one of his coven should decide to attack
him. Even though his coven had gone out of their way to save him, he couldn't trust them. Even as he enjoyed the feast he kept his muscles tense and his ears strained. If he was attacked he would be ready.

  He sucked until the very end. Until there wasn't a single drop of blood left in the young woman. She looked shrunken now that she was empty of all fluids. It was a stark difference to the lively girl who had been bouncing down the street, humming, only a few minutes earlier.

  Corvus reluctantly pulled back his tongue and lifted his mouth from the girl's neck. He stared down at her, her face locked in his memory. How had his species survived so long feeding on animals when there was this heaven only a few solar systems over? He licked his lips. The heady fragrance still filled his nose and mouth. If he was lucky it would stay with him for a few days, then he could really enjoy it.

  "We're done here," he said. He didn't bother to look at his coven as he backed away from the woman and ran down the alley, back to their hideout.

  CHAPTER SIX

  "What happened?" Nova asked.

  She stood inside a circle of yellow tape with Inspector Briggles. The alley was spattered with blood and lying on the cold ground was a pale, white corpse.

  "The victim, a Miss Ruby Bellows, was expected home at eleven pm. When she didn't show her boyfriend called her work, but they said she'd left hours ago. The body was found at six this morning by a man on his way to work."

  "And you're sure it was the same lecheon coven?"

  "No doubt about it. She's been completely drained just like the others."

  Nova nodded and strode to the woman's body. She had a single set of teeth marks on her neck.

  "Why was she only bitten once?" Nova asked.

  "Perhaps I can answer that." An older man stepped forward. His eyes were a startling blue and he carried a tattered book under his arm.

  "Is that an actual book?" Nova's eyebrows shot straight up.

  "Yes, I've been investigating lecheon ancient history. Some of it isn't on the Cloud, or if it is it's classified."

  "I see. And who are you?" Nova asked.

  "This is our lecheon expert, Doctor Dunwood," Inspector Briggles said as he studied his notepad.

  "Okay. So doctor, why does she only have one bite mark? The guards at the prison had many."

  "Ah, quite true. After reading up on lecheon culture it seems to me that this particular victim was probably bitten by Corvus alone. I suspect it was probably some kind of victory feast after escaping from prison. I understand that lecheons feel that the artificial blood tastes nothing like the real stuff. Perhaps Corvus was desperate for a taste?"

  "And it is known that young women were Corvus's preference," Inspector Briggles cut in.

  "Preference?" Nova asked.

  "Oh yes, much like you might prefer chips while I prefer steak. The lecheons each have their food preferences," Dunwood said.

  "Charming," Nova said. "What else can you tell me about the lecheons?"

  "Only general things really," said Dunwood. "I know they've been feeding on humans for a lot longer than we've known about them. One of their stranded ships initiated the vampire myths in early Earth history."

  "I don't need myths, doctor; I need to know how to kill them," Nova said.

  "Oh, our force does not condone the killing of lecheons," Inspector Briggles stepped in. "Our purpose in hiring you was to capture the criminals and return them to jail."

  Nova turned her violet eyes to the inspector and stared straight through him. "I'm sorry, did I say kill? Of course, I meant capture." Nova smiled with her mouth but her eyes remained emotionless.

  "Of course," said Doctor Dunwood. "I'm afraid I can't tell you much more than you already know. The lecheons are sensitive to wood, as you would have seen at the prison. They can heal much faster than humans and have a higher pain threshold. They are quite impervious to metal, so standard weapons are useless. You'll be able to do some damage with plasma weapons and if you manage to set them on fire, they'll probably die."

  "Probably?"

  "It's all theoretical. Obviously we can't perform experiments to test any of this."

  "Obviously." Nova turned back to the crime scene. "Look." She pointed to a patch of ground.

  Inspector Briggles knelt beside her. "It's just some dirt," he said.

  "Not just any dirt." Nova pinched a sample between her fingers and held it up to the light. "It's sand. Very fine sand," she said.

  "Sand?" Briggles said. "There aren't any beaches near here."

  "Exactly." Nova brushed the sand off her palm. "Briggles, I need a list of all glass manufacturers and any other warehouses that might have sand."

  "Of course, I'll have it sent straight to you." Briggles took a couple of steps away, before pulling out his communicator and relaying her request to head office.

  "Doctor Dunwood," Nova said, standing up. "Is it true that lecheons are sensitive to sunlight?"

  "Yes, that's right," the doctor said. "It's their eyes. The lecheon home planet is much darker than most of the human colonies. To them, our lights and sun are too bright; while to us it's almost as if they can see in the dark."

  "Excellent," Nova said.

  "It won't kill them though. They just won't be able to see very well."

  "At this point I'll take whatever I can get."

  "The list has been forwarded to you," Briggles announced.

  "Good," Nova said, nodding. "Let me know if anything else pops up." She ducked under the yellow tape and marched away from the crime scene.

  ***

  "Cal, what do you make of Briggles's list?" Nova asked. She sat inside Crusader enjoying a large pile of chips. Doctor Dunwood had made her hungry with his talk of food.

  "As you can imagine there aren't many places near here still using sand," Cal said, hovering by her side.

  Crusader's front screen flashed to a bird's eye image of the city. Three red dots lit up showing where sand could have come from.

  "Are they all still in operation?" Nova asked.

  "These two are," Cal said and two of the red dots turned blue. "But the third one has been out of use for two years."

  "Then that's where they are," Nova said, popping a chip into her mouth.

  "Are you certain?" Cal asked.

  "Yes. The sand had blood on top of it, but there was also some underneath it, which says to me that it was deposited during the girl's murder."

  "Do you think the lecheons were carrying sand?" Cal asked.

  "More likely it was caught on one of their shoes and the tumult with the girl shook it lose."

  "What's your plan?"

  "I'm going in, just as soon as I finish these chips."

  "Should you ask the police to accompany you?"

  "Don't worry. I'm not going in to attack them. This is purely research."

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  Nova crept around the side of the large warehouse. The street was abandoned; most manufacturing had moved off-world to the Resources District. The metal walls were corrugated and covered with rust. Graffiti created splashes of colour in the otherwise grey district.

  Footprints dotted the ground around the warehouse, but the area was eerily silent. The only noise was the wind howling through an abandoned warehouse and somewhere a metal door was banging back and forth in the breeze.

  Clang. Clang. Clang.

  There were no other people in sight. It was a ghost town, at least during the day. The ragged piles of cloth piled against the side of the warehouse suggested that at night time the area became a refuge for the homeless. Just like serial killers, lecheons made easy meals of the homeless and lonely, as no one noticed when they disappeared.

  The map of the warehouses had been uploaded to Nova's mental chip and the image displayed clearly in front of her mind's eye. It looked harmless enough. Footprints led up to a closed metal door. Nova stood on the tips of her toes to peer through a dirt-stained window. The upper panes lay shattered on the ground by her feet. She couldn't make anything o
ut through the gloom inside.

  Nova held her gun at the ready. The lecheons might be able to heal faster than her but she was sure a few well-aimed plasma blasts would slow them down. She laid a hand on the swinging metal door and pushed it inwards. It swung open with a creak.

  Clang.

  Nova jumped and her heart leapt up into her throat. Her shoulders, arms and back tensed and she whirled towards the noise. Her breath caught in her throat.

  It was the door in the distance, swinging in the breeze.

  She let her breath out slowly and turned back to the black interior of the warehouse. She forced her muscles to relax and flexed her hand as it clutched her gun. It was just the wind. If there were lecheons here she'd teach them a thing or two and then bring them straight to Inspector Briggles.

  Nova waited just inside the door with bated breath. There was no noise from inside. If the lecheons had been in the path of the light they didn't let Nova hear.

  She stepped further into the doorway with her gun level. Her eyes peered into the darkness but she couldn't make anything out.

  Nova fumbled with the side of her gun until a beam of light shone out from the top of the barrel.

  She swung the weapon left and right. Sure enough, the floor of the warehouse was covered with sand. There were piles of it, almost as if an entire beach had been tipped into the building. Scattered amongst the sand were crates and boxes. Most of them had had their lids forced open and their contents spread across the floor.

  Pools of dried blood stained some of the sand red. Spatters and droplets spread out from the warehouse door, creating morose patterns on the ground.

  She peered up into the rafters. Metal beams held the roof in place, rusted and dented. Deep shadows filled the crevices where the roof met the walls. She shone her light into the recesses, but there was still no sign of any lecheons.

  Nova lowered her weapon. The lecheons had definitely been here at some time but there was no sign of them now. She scoured the building for some clue as to where they'd gone. They couldn't have gone hunting during the day, they would be asleep somewhere, and all evidence pointed to this warehouse.