"Man, what is happening to me" Rio asked himself as he pierced a fork into neatly cut fresh raw meat on a white plate having his first mean of the morning.
After making some notes the previous day, Rio had paced around, unsure of what to do.
Against the government emergency broadcast, he had decided to wander outside retuning some minutes later after noticing that the streets of his neighborhood were totally devoid of life and that there were eyes warily watching from the windows.
"Well, I can't blame them, with me always focused on work, I never formed any relationship" Rio thought stabbing his fork a bit harshly into another piece of meat, his eyes flashing red with anger as the image of Raymond went in his head.
Calming himself and shrugging of thoughts of the old man, Rio thought to how he had returned from the garage and after being hit with a serious hunger pang learned to skin the and extract the flesh of direhog and now had a proper stock of them in his fridge.
Taking another bite of the red flesh, Rio sighed as he savored the meat and after swallowing it was filled with a feeling of both satisfaction and dissatisfaction.
Unfortunately, It wasn't that Rio had lost a taste for Direhog flesh but rather that it just didn't satisfy his craving.
Direhog flesh filled his belly but it did not satisfy his deep innate hinger, the hunger that had led to him consuming it the very first time.
This hunger had been silent, near untraceable the previous day, but this morning he had woken up to it having a significant place in his mind and now that he had confirmed he wouldn't feed on direhog flesh forever, he could only decide to face his fear.
"It's better to know if it is what I want now than to wait for my hunger to become uncontrollable and send me on a rampage."
Having this thought, Rio took his dish to the sink, grabbing a knife as he left the kitchen, hiding it underneath his black T shirt as he exited his house.
Rio eyes wondered to the busted door of his garage his nose wrinkling as he was hit with pungent smell from the dead corpses that littered it.
Looking away from the unsavory sight, Rio walked into the street, his gait unbothered by its silence even as the morning sun rose.
Rio stayed in a residential area heavily dominated by the much older generation, so it was no surprise to him that right from yesterday to this morning they had strictly adhered to the warnings of the government.
"This is why it's always up to the young generation to bring change, the old people see a single Direhog and decide to rather die in their houses than step a foot outside."
Though Rio was right that the sight of the Direhogs had tamed the spirits of the people of his neighborhood what he didn't know was that another major reason no one had dared to step out for even a second till now was because of the sight of the dozens of direhogs passing through the streets of the neighborhood the previous day when they came to kill him.
Walking for some seconds brought Rio before the door of the house to the left of left and without hesitation, he knocked on it.
"Mr. Gamblesdon, open up, it's me your neighbor" Rio said but after some seconds, he received no answer.
"Mr. Gamblesdon, I know your inside, open up, I could see you with your glasses watching me the previous evening." Rio called out once more and this time he received a reply.
"Go away, the government said for everyone to stay indoors"
"Yeah, I know that, but I just want to check something, don't worry I'll be quick"
"Young man didn't you hear me, go back to your house, I won't be open the door"
"Alright, in that case I'll be coming in on the count of three"
One! Two! Three! Four! Five! Six! boom!
Not sticking to his earlier words of counting to three Rio landed a heavy punch on the keyhole of the door, blasting it open but then rather than go into the house immediately, he took a step to the side hiding behind the wall and after some seconds frowned.
"Hmm no gunshots, you would think a cynic like Mr. Gamblesdon would have a gun"
Sensing no danger, Rio hastily moved into the house, ready to roll out of the way of any gunshot but in the end could only stare at Mr. Gamblesdon confused about whether to laugh or pity the man whose shot gun had jammed.
"You know I'm already in right" Rio said and he could help but sigh internally as Mr. Gamblesdon looked up at him shock, sincerely not noticing Rio walk in.
"Oh man" Rio groaned.
"Boy get out of here now before I…." Gamblesdon started but Rio walked up to him and with no difficulty seized his gun out of his hand.
Unsure whether it was his old age that was catching up to him, Gamblesdon looked at Rio who seemed to have teleported to his position and then he looked at his hands which couldn't even hold onto his gun for seconds.
"Me weapon" The old man started but Rio threw the gun behind him and then focused a stare on the old man.
"How is the family"
Immediately, Gamblesdon's clumsy look faded away, giving way to a hardened expression as she stared at Rio.
" What do you want with me wife and granddaughter."
"Nothing as long as you do what I say"
"Do you want to go to prison boy, the government will hunt you down for this"
Gamblesdon's mention of the government put some caution in Rio, but he had just killed a horde of Direhogs the previous day, his gut was on a whole other level.
"Stretch out your arm Mr. Gamblesdon," Rio said ignoring his threat and thankfully with the life of his family on the line the old man knew not to be troublesome.
"If you hurt me family, I swear I'll hunt you till I die boy"
"Sure" Rio muttered as he grabbed the old man's arms and before he could even react Rio took out the knife underneath his shirt and sliced a shallow cut into it.
"Argghh" Gamblesdon cried pulling his arms back in shock and fear, but Rio ignored him.
Unaware of the menacing sight he was displaying, Rio licked Gamblesdon's blood off the knife his actions inserting an everlasting fear of himself in the old man and while Gamblesdon's heart beat with terror, a disgusted expression claimed Rio's face as he spat out the man's blood with disgust.
Gamblesdon's blood was a far cry from the enjoyable taste of the of Direhog's and Rio couldn't help but give the man a disgusted stare.
Though Rio didn't know it, the disgust he felt for Gamblesdon didn't just stem from his bad tasting blood but also from the fact that he saw him as a creature below the Direhogs he had slaughtered.