by J. Q. Davis
“Alright, Sonny. What do you wanna do? You wanna fight over Tristen? Or not? Because either way, he made his decision. And it was me.”
“You are nothing but trash, Grace Watkins. You always have been. And sooner or later, Tristen is going to realize that,” she said as she pushed my shoulder.
I paused and straightened up. “Sonny, if you touch me again, you will regret it.” The tone in my voice surprised me. I was not sure where it came from, but it was from somewhere deep in my suddenly starving stomach. The usual hunger pain shot through me and my anger only seemed to have progressed. I realized then that I was famished.
“What are you gonna do, Grannypanty? You gonna beat my ass?” she mocked. I sized her up, waiting on her to make the first move. I hated confrontation, but something inside me was beginning to change. I was becoming more and more angry. And hungry. I was angry because I was so hungry. Her mini skirt and tank top was beginning to piss me off. Her strawberry blonde hair was pissing me off. Her sky high heels and long tan legs were just pissing me off.
“Well, do something!” she yelled as she shoved my shoulder again. Before she could move her hand away from me, I grabbed her wrist in one quick motion and twisted. She instantly bent down in pain. I didn’t let up. I twisted more and more as her body became rigid. I would have twisted more before she grabbed my hair with her free hand, pulling as hard as she could. I winced and let go of her.
I managed to pull away from her grip and jostled her away. Before I knew it, she ran and jumped in the air, landing on me and causing us both to tumble onto the ground. She straddled my body and began to throw punches and slap at the same time. I held my arms up over my face, blocking her.
“Sonny!” I could hear Tristen’s yell and see him run over to us. He attempted to pull Sonny off of me. Everyone around us was screaming “Fight! Fight!”
She clutched on to my hair again before Tristen finally grabbed a good hold on her and pulled her off. Only, she would not let go of my hair. This was a huge problem considering my hair was so precious to me. No one had ever tried to pull my hair off my head, and I certainly was not going to let it happen tonight.
As Tristen continued to pull, so did Sonny. I had every intention of slugging her right in jaw when suddenly her arm rested on my mouth. The scent of her skin reached my olfactory receptors. The moment I tasted raw meat and poor Fluffy flashed through my mind, and I could suddenly smell it. The irony, raw smell crept into my body. I had to have it. I needed it. I wanted it.
Without a second thought, I opened my mouth and clamped down onto Sonny’s arm. A horrifying scream escaped her throat as I bit down harder, feeling the blood begin to pool in my mouth.
Oh, the sweet blood. I instantly drank it down, only wanting more.
I bit down even harder, feeling her skin begin to tear. Her scream intensified into a louder and more pained shriek. Her body became limp and Tristen halted his attempt to pull her off. But I couldn’t stop. I needed to taste the raw meat. My stomach growled harshly, roaring at me as if telling me not to stop. I pulled harder and harder with my teeth, twisting my head in the process to get a better grip to rip and tear.
Finally with one last tug, a large piece of her fleshy tissue pulled away from the bone. I felt her tendons dangling from my chin as I chewed on her fresh meat. Some tendons were still connected to her arm and my instinct was to grab a hold of them and rip them away with my fingers, shoving what was left into my mouth as if it were spaghetti.
I could no longer hear her screams. All I could do was close my eyes and savor the taste of her raw flesh and succulent blood in my mouth. I chewed frantically, hoping to swallow it quickly and get back to the rest of her.
But when I opened my eyes, she was no longer there. Sonny was further away from me now. I looked around and everyone was standing still, not a word uttered. I glanced over at Phoebe, her hands covering her mouth in disbelief. Eric’s expression was unreadable, as if he was completely flabbergasted at what was happening and white as a ghost. I scanned the crowd for Tristen. He was standing further away now too, with Sonny hunched over at his feet. He, too, had a look of shock and disbelief.
Remorse immediately flowed through me, as I began to come back down to Earth and feel like I slightly quenched my thirst and craving.
What did I do? What was everyone thinking?
After what felt like an eternity of sheer silence, Sonny’s Minions ran over to aide her. I managed to stand up and begin to make my way through the crowd. As I power walked towards the front door, people backed away slowly, making a clearance for me to get through. I was pretty certain no one wanted to get close to me.
“Grace!”
I could hear Tristen call out my name, but I didn’t stop. What the hell could he possibly want? I needed to get away. I needed to get out of this house and away from everyone.
I picked up the pace, finding myself panicking before I finally reached the front door. I swung it open and ran out into the fresh air. No one was out on the lawn or driveway, probably because they were all watching the real life zombie movie take place. I wasn’t sure where I wanted to go, but it had to be anywhere but there.
Reaching the end of the driveway, I turned and headed down the street, away from where Marilyn was parked. I doubted Phoebe and Eric wanted to have anything to do with me after what they just witnessed.
“Grace!”
I heard Tristen’s voice again and his running footsteps and decided to slow my pace. I finally stopped and turned toward him.
He caught up to me quickly. “Grace! Are you okay?” he asked between catches of breath.
“No! I’m not okay! Tristen, did you not see what happened in there?” I asked, trying to hold back my tears.
“Yeah, I saw, you defended yourself.”
“What? You call that defending myself? I bit her, Tristen! I bit her arm!”
“I know, and she deserved it,” he stated.
I began pacing, pushing my hair out of my face. Words started spewing out of my mouth. “The raw meat was one thing. The cat was a different story. This…this is bad.”
“What? Raw meat? Cat? Grace, what are you talking about?” Tristen asked, confusion in his tone.
I stopped and faced him. I threw my arms in the air and could no longer hold back the tears. “I ate a cat! I ate a freaking cat, Tristen!”
I wasn’t exactly sure why I felt the need to reveal my having eaten a cat. But in that moment, I was scared. What I had just done to Sonny would be equivalent to having stabbed her with a knife. Except, the knife was in the shape of my teeth.
Tristen’s expression had bewilderment written all over it. I was almost certain he was wondering if what I had just said was that I’d eaten a cat. Or maybe he was wondering if I’d said I had beaten a mat. Surely whatever he was thinking included psychomanic.
The silence between us was deafening. “Well, say something,” I demanded.
Tristen walked towards me slowly. I exhaled deeply and looked away, knowing damn sure that this was going to be the beginning of the end.
When he reached me, he grabbed my hand and lifted it up to his heart. “Grace, did you just say that you ate a cat?”
Shame of that night skulked through me.
“Grace, listen to me,” he said as he gently grabbed my chin and swiveled my head in his direction. What could he possibly have to say?
“I don’t care.”
“You don’t care?” I asked in disbelief.
“No, I don’t care. Well…obviously I do care. You just told me you ate a cat. I mean, I guess that’s kind of…weird. And I’m sure you’re going to explain it to me. But I don’t care. Grace, there is something about you.
“Yeah, something completely crazy!” I exclaimed.
Tristen shook his head. “No. Something…unique and different. I can’t quite put my finger on it, but I like it. You are so different than everyone else. Than Sonny. You don’t care about what you wear. You don’t have a gang of clones foll
owing your every move, waiting patiently for you to tell them what to do. You’re you. You sit at the lake and think about things. You study hard and strive to do well in school. You watch horror movies and appreciate things that no one cares about anymore, like Halloween. I’m sure you can tell me something new about yourself and I will love it. Right now, tell me.”
“Um…” It was hard to concentrate on things that I liked at that moment. My focus was on how amazing Sonny’s arm tasted. “I…uh…I like comic books?” That came out as a question, because honestly I wasn’t sure if it was what Tristen wanted to hear.
“See, you like comic books! That’s awesome. So do I! Tell me something else,” he said, eagerly awaiting my response like a kid waiting to receive a Popsicle from his Mom.
“I…I like to watch cartoons right before I take a nap,” I confessed with a sudden need to explain this revelation. “It puts me to sleep,” I mumbled.
Tristen chuckled and his smile grew wide. “You see. I love that about you. Grace, whatever is happening, I want in. I want to help and listen and go through it with you.”
I pulled my hand away from his chest, briefly wishing I wouldn’t have done that because I could no longer feel his heart beating. Not to mention, his solid chest on my finger tips. From what I could feel, he had to be hiding something good under his shirt.
“Tristen, you don’t understand.”
“Then tell me, Grace. Tell me and I will.”
“It’s complicated.”
“Well, start with the cat. So, you ate a cat? What, like did your mom accidentally run over it and you guys decided to cook it for dinner?” That would have sounded like sarcasm, but his facial expression was serious and seemed as though he was truly trying to understand.
“No!” I said in frustration.
“Then what? What happened?”
“I ate it! I saw it when I walked home from the mall. I killed it with my bare hands. And I ate it. Right there. Completely raw.”
His face changed. There was no expression now. I turned around, mortified at what I just revealed to him. Certainly he was done. I would guarantee that the moment I turned to face him again, he wouldn’t be there anymore. But I continued, hoping that I wasn’t speaking to the air.
“Something is wrong with me, Tristen. Something terrible. I can’t explain it. I’m hungry all the time. I just want to eat. My mouth waters at the thought of anything going into it. I wake up every morning feeling awful. I’m tired and weak and so hungry all the time. But the second I eat I feel better. I don’t know why I ate that cat, but at the moment, it was the best thing I have ever eaten. Until tonight. When I tasted Sonny’s blood, something inside me wanted more. I was just so…hungry!” I held back the urge to cry my eyes out. I cherished the moment, as it was the first time I was able to finally tell someone other than my mother what I was going through. A weight lifted off my shoulders, and I suddenly felt like I could breathe at last.
I felt Tristen’s hand on my shoulder. I closed my eyes, thanking God that he didn’t run away.
He pulled me around to face him. “Grace, you’re right, something is wrong. I don’t understand why you have this urge. But whatever it is, we will figure it out. I’m here and I’m not going anywhere.”
“Why? Why isn’t this making you run for the hills?” New Orleans didn’t have hills really, it was pretty flat, but I had always wanted to use that expression.
Before Tristen could answer, the sound of sirens in the distance interrupted. I couldn’t tell if they were police or an ambulance, but terror began to course its way through me.
A second later I see Phoebe and Eric running down the street in our direction. Behind them, drunken teenagers began scattering about, spewing out of Sonny’s enormous palace. My panic intensified as I recalled seeing Phoebe’s expression after I’d eaten a piece of Sonny’s arm. I knew the best friend I once had would be too terrified of me to keep that title.
I braced myself as Phoebe and Eric approached us, but relief washed over me when she ran straight into me with open arms. She hugged me tight, almost as if she hadn’t seen me in decades.
“Gracie! Are you okay?” she asked as she pulled away and assessed my face. I nodded. It was all I could do while I fought back the tears that began to accumulate when the thought of our precious friendship ending because of my stupid actions crossed my mind.
“Guys, they called the cops. We really need to get out of here,” said Eric.
Phoebe grabbed my shoulders and stepped back to get a better look at me. She knew in an instant what I was thinking. “G, we need to get you outta here. Sonny is gonna rat you out, and the cops are gonna want to take you away.”
“Was it that bad?” I asked, worry and panic deepening into my nerves.
“Let’s just say that Sonny will probably never be able to use her arm again, if she is even able to keep it,” Eric stated.
“Oh my God! Oh my God! What do I do?” I asked, desperately hoping someone could give me an answer.
Phoebe shook me once. “Grace, there is no time to think about what happened. We need to get you far away from here.” And with that, Phoebe handed me off to Tristen, and we ran towards the car.
As we headed back, the ambulance was already parked at the house and Sonny was coming out of the front door lying on a gurney. Thankfully, everyone was too busy watching Sonny being wheeled to the ambulance and no one was looking our way. We managed to get back to Marilyn without anyone stopping us. We piled in and drove off down the street.
My heart was racing a million miles a minute. My thoughts were scattered. Okay Grace, step back and get a bigger picture. What happened? Well, Tristen and I kissed. We kissed and danced and it was incredible. It was sweet and passionate and everything I thought it would be. His lips were soft, his touch was tender.
…And then Sonny caught us. She pushed me. I warned her. She pulled my hair. And I bit her. And it tasted remarkable. Fluffy had nothing on what Sonny Westwood tasted like. It was bitter and sweet. It was moist and warm. It was succulent and better than anything I could ever imagine eating in my life. Her fleshy tissue melted in my mouth. And the texture of her raw meat was supple and really reminded me of Mom’s beef stew, only more flavorful.
I closed my eyes and thought of that moment I tasted this, suddenly feeling the craving for more.
“Grace, are you okay?” Tristen asked, interrupting my train of thought.
I glanced over at him and nodded. I peeked at the rearview mirror and saw Eric’s eyes were switching between me and the road. Phoebe turned to me as if to say something, but refrained for the moment. I felt the awkwardness in the air, and decided someone had to say something.
“I’m sorry.”
Tristen immediately laid his hands on mine. “Grace you don’t have to be sorry.”
“Yeah, that bitch deserved it,” Phoebe added.
“Well, you have to admit…it was pretty harsh though,” Eric chimed in.
Phoebe whipped her head toward Eric. “Eric, she did what she had to do. Sonny wouldn’t let go of her.”
“Yeah babe, but she nearly bit her arm clear off. How in the world could anyone even do that? Man, she must have some strong teeth.”
I knew someone in our group would protest to what I did. Phoebe was my best friend, and although I briefly thought that our friendship would end because of my actions, deep inside I knew she would defend me. And Tristen had already exclaimed that he was in this no matter what.
He squeezed my hand as if to comfort me before saying, “Dude, you never know what your body can do when it’s in survival mode.”
“Yeah, but then she…ate it,” Eric said in disgust. Everyone grew silent. I looked down at Tristen’s hand as I opened mine and interlaced our fingers.
“Grace, why did you eat it?” Phoebe asked.
I looked up at her. Her eyes were filled with concern and genuine curiosity. I knew she was as scared as I was. But would anyone in this car understand that in that momen
t, Sonny’s smell was enticing? I had no other option than to taste her. My mind wouldn’t allow me to do anything else.
“I…I don’t know. It just…it smelled so…I just wanted to taste it. I don’t know Phoebe. It just tasted so good,” I admitted.
“What did it taste like?” Tristen asked, intrigued.
I didn’t look at him. “It tasted sweet. And soft. And really, really good.”
Everyone grew silent again; I was guessing to let what I’d just said seep in. It wasn’t everyday someone would talk about what human flesh tasted like.
“Where are we going?” I asked hoping to change the subject. Part of me wanted to go home so that I can eat something Mom had left over. Hunger was beginning to course through me again.
“We are going back to my place. We can’t take Grace home because if the cops wanna ask questions, that is probably the first place they’ll go,” Eric answered. I sunk back in my seat, realizing that he hadn’t spoken directly to me since we drove away from Sonny’s house. He was growing skeptical of me.
Chapter 13
The Couch
The rest of the ride was silent. Tristen kept hold of my hand. Phoebe, who normally had no issues ever speaking to me, remained speechless. I could see the tension in her shoulders the whole ride.
We pulled up to an apartment complex with a sign out front labeling it “Coldwater Creek”. We were about twenty minutes from my house. Seeing as no one really knew Eric at the party since he didn’t attend our school, this was probably the safest place to be.
We unloaded out of the car and headed up the stairs. Once on the third floor, Eric unlocked his door and let us in. It was a tiny apartment with the usual drab eggshell-colored walls and beige carpets. There was a small couch in the living room. A glass coffee table sat in between the couch and TV. An Xbox console rested on the floor next to it with discs scattered around it. To the right was the kitchen. A refrigerator that seemed like it could only hold eggs and a carton of milk stood in the corner with a stove that only had two burners next to it. Past the kitchen and living room was a door that I assumed was the single bedroom and bathroom. It became known to me that this must have been what was called a bachelor pad, seeing as there were a couple of empty beer bottles lying around and no type of interior design. It seemed like this was just the place he slept and hung out with his buddies playing video games on occasion. Phoebe’s kind of guy. She was more into the guy himself instead of what he had to show for himself.
