Crave - Teresa Mummert Page 0,22

of my pants, I got out to see what was wrong. I cautiously rounded the front of his battered car and spotted the white tail deer lying motionless off on the shoulder. “You okay?” I asked the driver. He nodded as he took off his baseball cap and scratched his head as he inspected the damage to his grill. An impact with a deer this size could easily total a car. I stepped in behind him getting a closer look.

Snorting and shrieking sounded behind me and I jumped at the sound. “Shit,” I yelled as I clutched my chest, willing my heart to slow.

“It’s still kickin’,” he yelled. I grabbed for my gun to put it out of its misery, but quickly remembered the lack of bullets. The man circled his car and reached in the drivers’ side to hit the trunk release button. He made his way to the back and dug around for a moment, reappearing with a rifle. My heart raced at the sight of him wielding the weapon and marching toward me. He took aim and caught the doe right above the eye, the pleas for his pain to be ended finally answered. I struggled to catch my breath. He walked over the deer and inspected the carcass that now lay motionless.

“She ain’t gut busted,” he called to me over his shoulder, pleased as punch with himself. He slid his arms under the deer and hoisted it up. Walking back by me and dropping it in his trunk with a thud. He looked over his vehicle waiting for approval.

“Huntin’ season came early,” I said trying to sound cheerful for him. He smiled approvingly.

“Thank ya’ ma’am. I think she’ll drive,” he said patting the roof of his car and ducked into the drivers’ seat. I nodded and made my way back to my car.

I flicked my cigarette butt that had burnt clear to the filter and grabbed for my pack from my pocket. I lit another cigarette and took a deep breath, laughing at myself for startling so easily. I clicked off my flashers and put the car in drive, slowly crawling up the hollow. Dangerous Mood blared through my speakers as I made my way toward York New Salem. As I sat at the only intersection in town, I let my mind think of Elijah again.

I hated myself for missing him. I was seething mad, I wanted to kill him, but a warm feeling flowed through me as I pictured his face. I turned into the gas station and put the car in park.

I took a deep breath and let myself think about what had happened last night. I saw us laughing, holding hands, and running through the rain as if there was nothing to fear. I felt the passion as he slid me against the tree and kissed me. Then I felt the sickening feeling that washed over me as he bit into my flesh. I had trusted him to protect me. That wasn’t like me. I stayed pretty guarded toward others, especially after my brother was killed. The one person I had let in turned out to be a monster.

I bit my lip and fought back the tears as I remembered how helpless I had felt last night. I was sure I was going to die. And there was nothing I could do to protect myself but pretend to be dead. I pictured the suffering deer who could do nothing but gasp for air. Her life was snuffed out without a second thought. I was no different and yet I’d been spared. I cranked the radio and threw my car into reverse. If I were going to die, I would, at least, give those leeches one hell of a fight.

I made my way toward Route Thirty as I dug through my purse and pulled out my wallet. I dumped the contents and gathered the bills to see how much cash I had to spend. I had fifty-seven dollars to my name. That would have to do. I turned off onto the bypass and sang along to Dead or Alive, screaming out my frustrations.

The parking lot at the Shoot and Scoot was packed. Business for these kinds of stores boomed after the existence of vampires was realized.

I parked at the far corner of the lot and made my way inside. The clientele was extremely diverse. Middle-aged hunters and young mothers stockpiled weapons and ammunition. I wandered through the aisles listening to random bits of conversations