The Things That Stir In The Night [1x1]

With every step the monster took, Isabella retreated further back into the cave, eyes scanning her surroundings to try and make a break for it. She was getting trapped, she knew it, but the only way out of the cave was the doorway that the beast was blocking. She locked eyes with the creature, but didn't attempt to invade its mind—that would only make it angrier.

She gave a lop–sided smile at the mention of playing with food. "Yeah? Well, so do I," she countered, screwing up her nose in another snarl.

She was practically readying herself to attack when the creature's demeanour suddenly changed. It sat down, started stuttering, apologising. Isabella regarded it with suspicion, squinting in the darkness of the cave to try and figure out if it was genuine. She let out a baffled laugh at the demon's claim. "How many monsters are there in this forest? And how many of them look exactly like you?"

She guessed that she did owe a bit of an explanation, though. Besides, it wasn't like it would make her any more or less likely to eat her. "I was trying to leave town," she explained, "and that lady stopped me, and chased me into the forest." She thought for a second, then sighed. "She wanted me to join some batty school."
 
The girl's explanation as to why she was in the forest made sense. She saw the woman corner the girl. She didn't like being chased and corner as much as the next person. Her serpentine eyes moved around a little as she thought about it. The woman tried to recruit her as well.... To this so-called school of the forest. It sounded suspicious, and highly unrealistic.

"She wanted me to join as well.... I don't think I'll fit in honestly. Besides, I have too many problems of my own to deal with. Who worries about school when one has a murderous, sadistic demon slithering around in their mind?" Tia asked as she turned around. She stepped back out into light, letting the sun show her body again. She wanted the sun to embrace her - she was beginning to feel a chill.

She let the words sit in the air for a moment before turned back to the girl. There didn't seem to be another way to explain herself. Especially if she didn't smell or look like a normal girl. She was different.... But she couldn't place how.

"Yes, you heard correctly. I... I am..... possessed. This other form is part of what the demon has done to me. I can change at will.... mostly. And because of the demon, I tend to.... Hunt.... Humans every once in a while. I don't know what happened - one moment, I was talking to the woman, and next thing I know, I'm laying down, in this form, and my body hurts like hell....

The woman turns out to be talking to me, and she flies away, calling out some girl's name... Isabella? Isabelle?" Tia asked as she put her head to the ground. She then turned her gaze to the girl. "Is that you? Can you tell me what happened? I'm not going to get a straight and honest answer from the voice in my head," Tia said with an irritated hiss.
 
The longer Isabella stood, the more her legs were starting to hurt. With a grunt, still holding the blanket, she let herself drop to the floor, sitting cross–legged on the damp cave rock. She didn't want to leave herself in a position that she couldn't run, but she was in so much pain that it was difficult to even stand. She leaned against the wall to her left, head pounding. She thought a little about the school, closing her eyes. It didn't seem too bad. She hadn't been to school in a long time, but she thought she remembered liking it, at least a little. But it wouldn't fit in her life anymore.

She listened to the creature's description of its life. She wrinkled her nose. It was a little...unbelievable, but she'd watched the girl transform, back in the clearing. Plus, pretty much everyone would tell you that the idea of Isabella existing was unbelievable, too. So she didn't have much choice, except to believe it.

But if the creature thought that just because it told its story, Isabella would spill hers, it had another thing coming. But it already knew her name, so she just sighed, and nodded. "Yeah. I'm Isabella." She closed her eyes for a moment, breathing in the silence and the dark. When she opened her eyes, she kept them fixed on the floor. "After you came, I went up a tree, and the lady started talking to you about the school. Then you..." she gestured up and down at the creature's body, "changed. She started flying, and you went up a tree to follow her. Then you spotted me, and tried to..." he sneered, baring tiny milk–teeth, "you tried to eat me." She paused for a second, brow furrowed, staring at the ground. "But I can't remember much about what happened after. I know you broke the branch I was on, and made me fall, but I don't know..."

Her hand came up to the lump forming on her forehead. In the faint light of the cave, it was already turning a cruel purple colour, with a lightning–bolt network of burst blood vessels connecting her temples.
 
The description of what happened seemed to follow up. It would make sense as to why she was laying on the forest floor with branches surrounding her, body aching like hell, and everyone looking at her like she was.... well, she didn't know what to say.

Tia raised her paw and scratched her shoulder a little. If she made the girl fall, then she's the reason the girl's hurt. "Hmmm.... I guess I'm the reason you're hurt..... S.... Sorry," Tia hissed awkwardly. It was a long while that Tia had to say sorry to anybody. With what she had to go through, saying 'sorry' didn't really come to mind when hunting animals or tearing out human throats. Especially not when you're on a rampage. And even when she was conscious, it still didn't feel appropriate - it wouldn't bring the person back no matter how much she said it.

Her tail flicked as she looked to the smaller female. "I hadn't eaten all morning. So I guess it was just doing what if felt to be right," Tia said with a sigh. Her stomach growled lowly, making Tia flinch in her spot. "Umm.... I'm still hungry. But my body hurts too much to go hunting."

Tia gave a disgruntled hiss as she got up on her feet. She walked past the girl and sighed, wishing she didn't hurt so much. She slowly laid back down, her eyes now trained on the girl.

"When I found you, I decided to take you here. The wolves like making prey out of small creatures. Not to be rude, but you would fit their bill... And now that you're hurt, you'd be the best prey they'd ever have. Not to mention anything else that would want to take a crack at you. Whether you like it or not, your best bet is to stay here. After you're better, then you can leave. Even so, where would you go? That strange winged woman knows you're trying to leave, and if she's determined, which I think she is, then she'll scout out the town's exits to track you down. How will you leave?" Tia asked with a tilted head.
 
Last edited:
Isabella didn't respond to the creature's apology. She kept her eyes shut, breathing shallowly, trying to manage the pain that was creeping through her head. Her eyes flinched open when it mentioned it was hungry, and she scowled. "You just gonna wait for me to fall asleep and eat me, then?" She muttered weakly, voice barely louder than a whisper, eyes falling shut again.

Her stand–offishness quickly faded as she felt the gnawing in her stomach, the dryness of her throat. She was in a rubbish situation, but from the sounds of it, the creature wasn't going to try and kill her. So, it would have to provide for her—at least a little. "Whatever you eat, I eat too," she said, "so just give me a cut. I don't need much."

She listened as the creature walked towards, and then passed her. She was too weak to turn to face it, so she just kept her eyes shut. Its opinions on her situation were tiring, and grim. She took a long breath. "I'll get a bus out of town," she said, "and she can't do anything to me if I stay in public. Maybe I'll find someone to look after me again." She sniffed at the thought, but seemed resigned to the need.
 
Tia flicked her tail at the girl's response. So she'll try the public approach? How long will that last? She didn't exactly look the most normal either. She wouldn't make it past the bus guards.

Not that she should care. It was tiresome enough to take care of herself and the damn demon within her, and here she was with a little girl. The things her human self did... And then the girl spoke again. Tia's head tilted to the side.

"Look after you?" Tia echoed. So this girl was alone as well? Seems like it. She hadn't said anything about a sister or partner... Or anything. Almost like herself. Tia found herself feeling this.... Sort of feeling. Like she could relate to this girl. If only they would be on more friendlier grounds....

Sounds in the distance made Tia lift her head up. She gave an absent hiss, eyes and ears focused on the sounds she heard outside. Prey? Of course prey. Anything that moved was her prey. Besides bears. And possibly wolves.
Getting up on shaking legs, Tia padded slowly to the mouth of the cave. Where was it coming from? She hissed softly as she scanned the area.

To her left. Somewhat heavy? But it was small. Smallish? She wouldn't know until she found out. She looked to the girl behind her and snorted. "Stay here," she said before she went off into the trees.

A short moment later, the forest was silent, give for the sounds that were previously heard. A braying sound. Like a deer. Awkward and uneven footfalls, like the creature was injured. Or was it just being cautious?

Soon, the creature was revealed: it was in fact a deer - a buck. It was stumbling a little, and soon the reason was made known when it turned around: a large bite mark to it's flank. The animal sniffed the air, eyes filled with nervousness. Was it being chased?

Suddenly, sharp hisses entered the air. The buck braced in panic, but before it could run again, Tia's huge body appeared from seemingly the sky. She landed on the deer's back, scratching and smacking it to make it bleed out more. She was thrown off, but she was quick to recover. She snarled, baring her fangs at it as she slowly approached it.

The buck lowered his head to wave his antlers at her, trying to deter the serpentine demon. But she was far from that - she was hungry. With a vicious snarl, Tia lunged at the beast to make it rear up, and that's when she stood on her hind legs to rake her claws across the buck's throat.

It made a gurgling noise as it went back down, stumbling a few inches toward the cave before it fell over. Tia panted a few moments before letting out a savage hissing roar, the sound reverberating across the forest air. When she was done, she turned her head towards the girl.

Without a word, she snaked her tail around the buck's neck, and dragged it closer to the mouth of the cave. She sat a little ways from the girl, her weariness even more apparent as she tried to get her breath back.

"If you're hungry, you can go first. I'm to tired to eat at the moment," Tia said with a pant.
 
Isabella nodded sleepily. "Yeah. It's easy," she said. She opened her mouth to elaborate, but found that doing that was too tiring to think of. She had no trouble following the creature's command to stay where she was, and she only rarely opened her eyes to see what was happening. The sounds of a fight weren't enough to catch her attention.

It was only when the noise calmed down that she opened her eyes, and found herself looking at a deer carcass. She panted a little, a grin stretching across her face. She glanced at the creature, wary, and slowly shuffled on her knees towards the deer. She cast the blanket from her shoulders, and shuddered at the chill. She found a long cut near the deer's stomach, and in one movement, dug her fingers into the gash and tore the skin away. Ignoring the blood that spurted all over her already dirty clothes, she lifted the tender meat to her mouth and ate, ravenously. She didn't realise how hungry she was until she started, and when she was finally satisfied she was licking the blood off a broken rib.

She sighed, still holding the bone in her hand. She glanced over her shoulder at the creature, and mumbled, "thanks." She wiped her mouth with her sleeve and stood up shakily, taking a few steps back into the cave.
 
Tia watched as the girl walked over to the deer and eat her fill. Her tail flicked lazily while she watched, and Tia barely caught the smirk that crept at the corners of her mouth. So the girl wasn't lying when she said she could eat anything that came her way. That made things infinitely more easier in feeding her....

Wait... when was this a desicion? When did she just start taking care of little girls? Tia was not some heartbroken mother who wanted children, and her cave was not a daycare. She was still a child herself.... but even then, it didn't seem too hard. Tia's tongue slipped out of her mouth as she continued watching the girl eat. She was somewhat cute while she was stuffing her mouth with the deer meat.

.... Wow. Tia thought that this was cute? Good Lord she had become so twisted. She shook her head to dispel the thought - she'd rather be in the present at the moment.

Just when she was done being in her head, the girl was done eating her fill. She turned around and thanked her. Tia nodded her head. "You're welcome. That should hold us for a couple of days. I tend to eat the muscles and meat, and avoid the orgasm. I still haven't gotten used to eating them yet," Tia said with a small sigh.

She saw the girl get closer to her blanket, and with a sudden burst of speed, Tia leaped up and covered her body with the blanket. She hissed defensively, her tail rattling as she glared at the girl. She soon realized what she was doing, and forced herself to stop. Her hissed turned into a sort of choking sound, and she backed away with her head low to the ground.

"Ssssorry.... I didn't mean to scare you. J-just give me a moment."

Tia gently, but quickly took the clean blanket in her mouth, and tossed it over her shoulder. She padded to the back of the cave, where it was darkest, and disappeared from view. A couple of moments later, Tia came back out with another blanket - this one was older, but not very raggedy. It was definitely a bit dirtier, as there was fur and pawprints on a good portion of the blanket, but overall it was a decent blanket. She dropped the blanket down in front of the girl, then sat down on her haunches like a rabbit. Her larger stature compared to the girl was still easily known, but Tia wasn't aiming to intimidate anymore.

"I'm sorry.... That blanket means a lot to me. I don't want the scent to go away. At least, not so quickly," Tia admitted with a shameful hiss.
 
Isabella glanced sideways at the body. She wasn't used to kills lasting her. If she managed to get something big enough that it could potentially feed her more than once, it wasn't like she could carry it around. She always had to leave them. Now that she'd eaten, the pain in her body was starting to fade a little, though her head was still throbbing. "If you don't eat the organs, you're missing out on a lot," she said.

She turned to face the demon, but as she did it suddenly lunged forwards, hissing and growling at her. Isabella cried out, lifting the rib above her head to strike, when again the creature had a change of heart. It retreated to the dark part of the cave, and Isabella turned back to the deer. Moving quick, she grabbed its front leg and started to work at the skin and sinew holding the leg to the body. Managing to pull it away—it was already partially sliced off—she started to pull and bite the thin skin and meat from the bone. Soon, she had a long, bloody weapon.

The creature had come back in that time, and Isabella spun around, holding the new bone in two hands. "You need to decide if you like me or not. Now. If you come at me again, I swear, I will use this." She shook the bone a little in her hands, clearly not accepting the blanket as a peace offering.
 
Tia didn't realize how she had startled the girl. She knew she was sign aggressive to a certain point - but she wasn't trying to for once. She was just.... It was hard to keep everything that was from the house as it was when she was out there in the forest. The scent of her mother was still on the blanket, and while she was willing to let the girl lay her head on the blanket when she was unconscious, letting her touch it with blood all over her was an entirely different thing.

So when she was met with a bloody deer leg as a weapon, she was taken aback a little. The girl told her to decide if she liked her or not. Tia hissed. "I'm sorry! I'm not used to visitors. And I already told you that the blanket means a lot to me... But -"

Her dialogue was interrupted when she felt the voice inside her head begin to stir. Oh no... A pang of energy made her flinch, and she put a paw to her head with a slow hiss.

'Did she just threaten you? Huh? Did she just. Threaten. You? Is that a challenge?' The demon questioned with a voice growing with lethal intent. Tia shivered in fear - this girl was about to get herself killed. She backed away a few feet, shaking her head with a growl.

'No! No she isn't! She's just speaking her mind. Don't do anything!'

'You said that she could stay so long as she didn't pose as a threat. If she had that in her possession while you sleep, who's to say that you won't have your head bashed in by nightfall?!' The demon snarled.

'Yeah right. Like you won't do anything before that happens,' Tia scoffed.

The demon sent an even stronger wave of energy at her. It almost choked her. 'That is not the POINT!'

Tia whimpered. Too much. She couldn't let this conversation go on for too long. 'Please! It was my fault! She doesn't understand my actions! As far as she knows, I might just eat her. Give her another chance!' Tia begged.

Silence. After a few moments, the demon spoke up again.

'.... Fine. She gets another chance. But if she lifts another finger that even suggests that she's a threat, I'm going to have to have a little talk with her,' the demon growled.

Tia cowered at the demon's words. She really needed to calm herself down around the girl, or else she'll be another victim to be killed by the demon. She panted heavily, and looked to the girl with a worried hiss.

"Look. I like you. You don't seem too bad. J-just put the bone down, please. Alright? I don't want you hurt. I'll try to tone myself down. I'm just... Protective of the things I care for," Tia said as she slowly moved toward the girl. "Come on. The blanket is for you."
 
Isabella bore her teeth. "Yeah? Well I'm not used to people much either, but I at least know that you generally either eat them, or you don't, and you usually decide what you're doing pretty quickly!" She shifted the bare bone in her hands. "There's just something wrong with you that you can't figure it out!"

The creature stopped talking to her, but it kept on whimpering and muttering and wincing. Isabella ground her teeth together and shouted, "hey! Hey! What the hell is going on with you?!" The creature started acting more and more random, not responding to Isabella at all, and she was just considering swinging the bone and ending this whole situation. But the creature suddenly snapped out of it, and tried to tell her that it was 'just protective'.

She sneered. "You're crazy," she spat. Despite how much she wanted to turn around and leave, the energy she'd gotten from eating was starting to fade a little, and the pain from the fall was starting to creep up on her. She wondered for a moment if she'd concussed herself. Trying to ignore the thought, she glanced at the blanket. "I don't want it," she said. She knew she needed to rest, but she wasn't about to do anything that would make the creature think that she trusted it. She sunk to the floor, her back against the cave wall, still clutching the bone to her chest.
 
Tia tried to speak to the girl again, but Isabella was pretty dominant with her small speech. The girl was right - Tia was giving too many mixed signals to be read properly, and most of her reactions were threatening in nature at best.

She hissed softly. She didn't know what to say. Her head dropped a little as she clicked her claws on the cold cave rock under her paws. And then the girl said the two words that stung her like a bee.

"You're crazy."

Tia flinched as she sat upright, tail curled around her body as she stared at the female in front of her. The demon declared her crazy a long while ago. Some of her victims said the same thing as well, before they died horribly. She'd call herself crazy on occasion. But no matter how many times the phase was thrown at her, it still hurt to hear it. It was no different when this girl said it to her. No. It actually was a bit different - Tia wanted to like this girl for some reason. But the girl said it without a care about her feelings. The sneer didn't help either.

Tia sighed. Great. She caught the deer to show her that she wasn't planning on harming her, but if this kept going, then it won't mean a thing. And she supposed it didn't.
Isabella then rejected her offer on the blanket. If only snakes could cry, she'd have shed a tear or two. No. No weakness. She couldn't show how hurt she was anyway. It would only be an exploit for Isabella to use.

With a hissing sigh, Tia dejectedly took the blanket with her mouth, throwing it on her back while she took it to a darker part of the cave. She laid it down before laying herself on the blanket, and curled up in a ball. After a few seconds she lifted her head to see the girl sitting upright, resting herself on the cave walls while still holding the bone in her hand.

Tia shook her head. No chance on making friends today.

'Friends? Did you forget what you are now? A demon child. A monster. A killer. You can't have friends. It's impossible. Stop being weak,' the demon scolded.

Tia tightened her body at the demon's words. Was it true? She was destined to be forever alone with this evil entity inside her? To never have a companion to help her through her life? Was she not worthy anymore? The questions made Tia even more despondent, but her tiredness wad overwhelming. She eventually fell asleep, despite her depressing thoughts.

~~~
Tia managed to wake up in the middle of the night. It was cooler during the night, so Tia often wrapped herself in a blanket. She shivered at the same time her stomach growled - must be time to eat now. Her gaze turned to the girl, who must've been asleep. She sighed and got on her paws. Slowly, as yo not wake the other girl, Tia laid her blanket on top of her body. Not completely of course - just enough to keep her warm somewhat. Continuing on, Tia went to the deer carcass and feasted on it as quietly as she could. When she was full, she padded all the way to her dark room, leaving the girl completely to herself.


One Week Later
A week went by, and Tia had healed from her brush with that horrid winged female. Thanks to the continuous prodding thoughts of the demon, Tia had shifted from her original feelings of curiosity of the woman to a strong dislike of her. If it wasn't for her, she wouldn't have been aching for nearly half a week.

Brushing it aside, Tia concerned herself to the girl in her presence. She had stayed even after a week. She didn't understand why, but she did. It made her a little bit... happy. She couldn't understand why, but it did. Was she still hurt? She couldn't tell. She was too afraid to ask straight up.

Even so, Tia had woken up one day. Also due to the demon's words, she became unsure about the intentions of the girl, so she had stayed in her demon form the entire week. It was a rare thing that happened, but she did so when she felt threatened.

So on this day, the deer carcass had been dragged to a location far from her territory, where scavengers wouldn't be uselessly killed for trespassing. When she came back, she was hungry, and a bit cranky. The demon was really talkative over these last several days, and when she was like this she often wanted to take out her frustrations on something.... Or someone. She sometimes had an inkling of an urge to try Isabella, to see how fun she would be when she was fighting for her life. But she quickly shoved those thoughts down. A part of her wanted to make it work somehow, so she kept herself down to a more mellow version of herself - of course, there were times that she couldn't help her sudden rush of instincts and various urges.

Tia had the feeling that she was pushing this girl further away from her without even trying. Such was her fate.
 
Every day, Isabella carried the long bone, and every night, she slept with it tucked under her body. As the days went on, and the creature—her name was Tia—didn't attack her, she felt she could let her guard down a little in the day. But as the sky got dark, and Tia started to mumble and hiss to herself, deep in that cave, Isabella just couldn't bring herself to put the weapon aside. And she never slept with the blanket, no matter how many times she magically woke up with it around her.

The lump on her head had gone down, and she felt okay most of the time. There was one time that she chased a rabbit and ended up fainting, but that had been near the start of the week. She knew that she probably would have been okay to leave, but the idea of escaping the town when Ms Baccay was looking for her was unbearable. She didn't know if she'd be able to escape from her a second time. So, she decided to ride it out with Tia, until she knew that she'd be alright to give it a go.

When Tia left to take the deer's body away, Isabella wandered around the nearby territory, idly picking the meat from a rib. Deer was nice, but it wasn't cutting it. She could eat just about any animal, but she felt healthiest with human meat. She came back to the cave just as Tia did, giving her a slight nod. "Is deer all you eat?" She asked, hoping the answer would be no.
 
Tia saw Isabella come back from what appeared to be her own little walk. That was fine - she wasn't going to stop her from walking around, unless there was a type of danger lurking around that she couldn't risk anyone to even be seen by.

Her head perked up when Isabella asked a question. Was deer all she ate? Well....

"Umm... no. I tend to eat nearly anything else. But my tastes are towards fowl and rodents. Those I can eat whole," Tia said as she walked towards the spot where the deer was placed before. She used her back legs to scrape the icky forest debris away from the mouth of the cave. Cleaning the cave of anything that could attract intruders - no matter what - was imperative to Tia. She couldn't give any scavengers or hunting predators any reason to come to her only source of solitude. She was sure that only trouble would come of it.

While she was scraping the ground, Tia was thinking of the different creatures she and Isabella could hunt. "Oh! I know this open field that this flock of wild turkey often travel through. They run fast though, so it's a challenge to catch them. Or maybe we can try our luck with rabbits! They pose an even bigger challenge for me," Tia said with an excited flick of her tail.
 
Isabella pouted at the answer. She was hoping that Tia would reveal that she only ate non–humans when she was desperate for food, since they only really ate the deer because it was there when she was too hurt to try get anything else. She crouched near the cave's mouth, using the long bone to draw shapes in the loose dirt. Isabella tried not to eat smaller things, even when she really needed to. They were difficult to have, since she had to dig the bones out of anything she ate. She watched Tia scratch at the cave floor, still idly drawing in the dirt.

She considered Tia's offer, tilting her head from side to side as she thought. While it did sound pretty fun to chase something stupid, she could tell that she'd just end up tiring herself out, and then who knew how long until she could hunt something that she really wanted? She glanced at Tia in the corner of her eye, and said, "what about something a little bigger?" She paused for a second, not entirely sure how her offer would be taken. Tia was a lot more nice than she looked, and if she didn't eat humans regularly, she might be a little reluctant. Still, she continued, "something a little more...people–ish?" Isabella watched Tia to gauge her reaction, knowing that even if Tia didn't want to do it, she would have to find a way to get a taste of what she wanted, one way or another.
 
"Something bigger? Well... that could be fun. I like throwing my strength around sometimes. What kind of -"

"...more... people-ish?"

Tia nearly tripped on her own paws when she heard that last sentence. Her claws clicked on the forest floor, and she lowered her head with a low hiss. Isabella ate humans?
Was that why she never really left? She wasn't strong enough to leave? Where humans the only way that she'd be totally strong enough to do anything? Even so.... The thought of actively going out to hunt humans.... She couldn't remember when she actually did that. Coerced, maybe. Forced, definitely. Willingly going out of her way to hunt them?

"So that's what you're hungry for? People?" Tia asked. She tried to keep her calm. All this time, this girl had a taste for humans. Perhaps it was best that she stayed in this beast form. If she was in her normal form, she'd most definitely be at risk for being eaten. And this girl wanted to yell at Tia for the possibility of being eaten by her?

Piss off.

Now the thought made Tia angry. She lifted her head to focus her serpentine eyes on her, tail rattling as she tried to collect her thoughts. She searched her mind for the demon and their betraying words, but this time, for once, it was silent. Leaving her with her own thoughts huh? Hmph.

Maybe it wanted her to lose control. It was tempting. But no. She couldn't. Taking deep breaths, Tia shook her head and pawed at it for a few moments, before she snorted and looked to Isabella.

"How long have you been hungry for it?" Tia asked as she approached the girl.
 
Isabella watched Tia flinch. Immediately, she got to her feet, preparing to run in case Tia took a lot of offence from it. Though she didn't have any business doing that; Isabella could tell from experience that she wasn't a stranger to a bit of human meat. She spun the bone between her two hands, a nervous tick she'd developed over the week.

She nodded at the question. "Yeah. It is," she said. She could hear the faint rattling that she'd come to associate with action, and she took a few steps back, out of the cave, keeping her eyes on the creature. The seconds stretched on, and she convinced herself that she was going to need to run, when Tia finally relaxed. Isabella didn't do the same, still holding the bone tightly.

She pursed her lips, thinking. She shrugged. "I noticed it properly yesterday," she said, "But that means I've probably already gone too long without it—just like how by the time you're feeling thirsty, you're already really dehydrated." Noticing that Tia was coming closer, Isabella took a few more tiny steps back, not forgetting the creature's initial reaction. "The deer was fine; it stopped me from starving. But I can't live off it."
 
"Hmm..."

Tia thought hard about it. The sheer fact that she was with a literal man eater was irking. She flicked her tail as she sat down, her head lowered as she thought about her choices. She could let the girl go on her own, but something could happen along the way. She could also keep her here..... No, that wouldn't work. The distrust would only deepen if she forced her here. The only logical way would be to accompany her into town.

But she wouldn't be any better having her starve either.

'Come on now. You know you love it when we sink our fangs into a person's neck. And besides, she's not the only one who's craving human flesh,' the hissing voice said.

Oh, now it decides to speak up. Wonderful.

'No. I'd rather not. I can't get into it,' Tia thought back.

'But that's when you're the most fun - when you're insatiable for the sight of death. Feeling the life drain out of their body as you sink their fangs into some lowlife who probably deserved to die. No not. Bad things happen to good people after all,' the demon hissed in a chuckle.

Then, out of nowhere, the demon decided to silently send its... 'special cravings'. Tia felt her body grow weird, and her tail thumped on the ground as she tried to ignore it. Damnit! Why did it have to do that? The demon always did this when it wanted Tia to hunt humans, rather than to just take over and do it themselves. It was always this weird urge to sink her fangs into something firm. Animals somehow never cut it - she found out the hard way that it was supposed to be specifically for humans. Her body slowly developed this tingling feeling, and she twitched a little. Her mouth suddenly leaked venom-laced saliva, which dropped near her paws and Isabella's feet.

Tia gasped and jumped away from the girl.

'Alright already! I'll go. Just stop making me drool like a damn dog. It's embarassing even when nobody's around,' Tia said with a small groan.

The demon stopped its influences, giving Tia a chance to breathe. She felt herself desiring to hunt something with more.... thought processes than a simple deer. Her pupils narrowed a little as a hiss crawled out of Tia's mouth. She gave an inward sigh. She feared getting overboard, but she couldn't say 'no'. Not to the demon. She looked to the girl and flicked her tongue out as she spoke.

"Yes," Tia drawled with a low hiss, "we can go hunting. I'm in the mood for something fun to hunt anyway," she hissed as she began to walk in the direction that the town was in.
 
Isabella was getting tired of the long pauses. It seemed like, for half of the day, Tia would just zone out. Usually, it would pass quick enough and she'd be back to her version of normal, but this time, she quickly started to react to something, her rattling tail smacking off the ground, her mouth dripping with spit.

Gross.

Isabella took a few steps back, eyeing the spit on the ground, furrowing her brow at Tia. "Hey, Tia? What's going on with you?" Her voice was more mean than she meant it to be, but she didn't apologise. Quickly after that, the zone–out passed, and Tia had evidently made her decision on what they were doing. Isabella breathed a sign of relief, and her heart started to thump in her chest, knowing that the thrill of the hunt was within touching distance. She had to jog lightly to keep up with Tia's long strides, but her excitement for meat was enough to keep her going.

They walked through the forest for a few minutes before Isabella thought of something. She had her own way of taking prey down, and she was going to guess that her way was not the same as Tia's. She hesitated, then asked, "how do you hunt people?"
 
The travel to the town was going to take a while. While running, it would take Tia about ten minutes to get from town to her cave, but that was when she was in this form. Walking was a bit longer. Nonetheless, the distance would only serve to rile up both Tia's and Isabella's appetites.

Tia turned her head slightly as Isabella asked a question about her hunting methods. Her eyes slits narrowed as she thought about it, and a small smirk appeared on the corner of her mouth.

"Well. It depends on who I'm going after. If I'm going after an adult, I tend to take my time in the hunt. Children tend to make me go faster, since they're more skittish when they sense danger. They also are a bit boring, since they more often than not become paralyzed with fear when they see something like me."

The serpentine creature looked up at the sky as she thought about it a little more. She hissed out a chuckle. But then she shook her head and looked down to Isabella again. "But my hunts take time. My hunting grounds lie within an abandoned building, where young adult punks tend to deal their businesses. It also is a place where unsavory people do.... whatever it is they do, whether it be drinking, gambling, or other adult things that I don't care for. Problem is, I haven't hunted there in a while, so I can't tell if their habits have dropped or not. Not to mention how there might be rumors about people dying in that building."
 
Last edited:
Back
Top