Wet season always floods the lands with poor luck. But this wet season? The rains unearthed a monster…
Furious water rains down on the earth, stabbing trees and saturating bushes. The long since forgotten forest floor floods quickly from the weeping skies. Thunder slams the atmosphere with warning, and the wind howls a broken cry. Lightning crackles and fizzles overhead, arching from the violent clouds down to the sodded earth. The strike of energy forces itself under the soil and into the decayed bodies buried within the land.
A fox, a deer, and a young woman are struck with life. The rotten, decomposed aspects of the bodies regenerate. Skin nits itself back together, bones grow whole, and blood blooms. Hearts that have grown still bead. This has been a storm to wake the dead.
Trapped under lays of dirt and rain, the young woman’s twitches with movement. Her hands claw at the layers of soil as her live body once more clings for air. The skies seem to hear her unspoken pleas because the rain quiets until it is nothing more than a drizzle. Clouds slowly dissipate. The sun peaks from behind the clouds, and heat warms the water. Slowly, so aggravatingly slow, the mud shifts, allowing the freshly livened creatures a breath of air.
Gasping, the young woman cries a soundless cry. Tears of thanks kiss the floor. But the moment is disrupted with a needy growl of her stomach.
She is struck with a need. Her dry throat demands water. And her empty stomach and salivating mouth demand food. Hungry. She is hungry.
Drooling, her attention is drawn to the animal at her feet. A deer’s legs twitch, and a snort is huffed.
Hungry. She is very hungry.
Her mouth hangs open as her teeth grow heavy. A blink, and she is admiring the animal from a short distance. A blink, and her muscles tense as they launch themselves at their meal.
Her teeth tear through the skin at the jugular. A burst of energy sings through her as a bitter copper fills her mouth. Gulping greedily, she smiles as tears run freely down her cheeks. More and more. She drinks until blood stops flowing. Annoyed, she bits down hard, pulling the muscles and tendons and skin clean from the deer. Chewing, she pushes the deer away and notices the fox nipping at her ankles. Each snap of the fox cuts into her skin and pulls blood from her body. Picking up the pest, she holds the wiggling animal by the back of the neck. Her lips turn up into a satisfied smirk.
“There, there,” she coos at the animal before she uses both hands to snap its neck. A little whimper breaks from the creature. Laughing, she digs into the fox like a gluttonous pig.
As the heat dissipates from the fox and the blood slows to a trickle, the woman grows more annoyed that the little animal failed to fill her with more satisfaction. She needs more. The rush of heat flushing her skin and the angry growl her stomach produces confirm her assessment.
Discarding the fox like one does a wrapper, she stands on wobbling legs. Her muscles scream and shake as she puts her newly corporeal body to work. But her hunger drives her forward. Moving like a fawn through the forest, she follows the path to town, a smirk on her face as she goes.
She will be well fed soon enough. Well fed indeed.