Chapter 4 - INSTINCT 4.

Everette:

I sit on Farah's bedroom windowsill as she sleeps. She really shouldn't have left her window open. Who knows what sort of evil creature is lurking out there? Then again, none could be as depraved as me. That thought brings a smirk to my face.

The poor girl accidentally ran across the devil and here I am thinking that she needs to close her bloody window.

It's amusing, watching her toss and turn, knowing that I'm the reason for her restless night. I don't need to be able to read her mind to know that she's dreaming about me.

The air is thick with her arousal as she wraps her legs in the sheets until she's tangled up beyond belief. The sight is alluring, and I almost get to my feet so that I can close the distance between myself and the sleeping girl.

Leaning back, I twirl my signet ring on my finger as I consider how best to enjoy her.

The possibilities seem infinite. I could invade her dreams, have her pining for my bite, even yearning for her own death, but then I wouldn't get to taste the fear in her blood, something I crave almost as much as the blood itself.

I could wake her now with a surprise attack to her neck. She'd struggle, of course. She'd probably even scream. She'd definitely die though, and that would be a waste. I won't be satisfied with only one bite, even if that bite does bleed her dry.

I could lay my claim, take just one bite and leave, only to return tomorrow and the next day and the day after that. Except I'm not convinced that I could. All the self-control in the world would not be enough to have me leaving this room after biting her.

It's almost laughable. I've never put so much thought into how to eat my prey before.

Climbing down from the sill, I cross the threshold, the last barrier between us, as I enter her room. The humans wouldn't be able to get a decent night's sleep if they knew that the monsters they fear aren't restricted from entering their homes. Stupid humans and their myths designed specifically to make them let their guards down.

I make my way towards her bed before perching down on the edge next to the sleeping girl. Taking her wrist in my hand, I feel her pulse with my fingers. In her sleep, she foolishly curls her body towards me, now at ease.

Humans are the only prey on the planet that fail to recognise their predator. It's as if they are drawn to danger. Perhaps it's simply evolution. I am everything she probably wants in a mate, except like the female praying mantis, I'll be her destruction.

She moves again, wrapping an arm around my waist. Farah has me surrounded by her body, her head next to my thigh on one side and her knees on the other. She looks so innocent, curled in the foetal position, completely unaware that her life is at risk at this very moment. Silly child.

I stay longer than I should, watching her sleep, all the while keeping my fingers trained on her pulse. I don't move. I sit as still as a statue until I can't take it anymore.

It's almost sunrise when I release her wrist and go to leave, but the still sleeping girl reaches out to me and grabs my arm, whimpering underneath her breath.

It would be all too easy to stay. It would be even easier to put her in my car and take her to my house. People would worry about her for all of a week or two. They'd cry when her corpse was found, but it would all be forgotten quickly.

Everyone is forgotten eventually.

But that's not a fate I think I want for her. The idea of her being forgotten feels unsettling, wrong somehow, although I can't explain why.

I take one last look at the still sleeping girl and climb back onto the windowsill, escaping through the open window into the night before jumping down to the shrubbery below.