Prey (2 page)

The upset driver aggressively made his way toward Zavior, shouting out obscenities. “What the hell’s your problem, moron?! Get the hell out of the road, jerk off!”

Zavior continues his discussion with Trent, paying the hostile driver no mind.

The fuming man yells, “Hey, psycho, I’m talking to you!”

The driver reaches out to grab Zavior’s shoulder. Just as his hand is about to connect Zavior turns around and stares directly into the driver’s narrowed eyes. The driver freezes up instantly.

“Shut your monkey ass up!” commanded Zavior, his eyes totally black. “From this point on, you don’t speak unless you’re told to. You’ll do what you’re told, when you’re told, how you’re told. Now get back in the car and stay there until I say otherwise.”

The once verbal driver has been turned into a shell of his former self. His face, once filled with anger and annoyance, is now as blank as a sheet of printing paper. Seemingly under a trance, the tamed driver gets back into his car with no resistance and silently waits for Zavior to issue his next command.

Zavior turns his attention back to Trent. “Look, Trent, you know I respect you. I’m not trying to boss you around or anything like that. I just want us to make the deadline.”

“I get—” Trent is interrupted by the blare of incoming sirens. Zavior and Trent look up the street and observe four police sedans speeding in their direction. Trent removes his sunglasses and tosses them to the ground, smirking with evil intent.

Already knowing what’s on Trent’s mind, Zavior tries to convince his partner to leave with him before the situation escalates. “Trent, no! We don’t have time for this!”

Trent ignores Zavior and focuses only on the approaching police cruisers. Trent’s eyes glaze over black and then turn searing red. A menacing air takes over.

Zavior tries again to calm Trent by stepping in front of him, pressing his hands firmly into Trent’s chest. “Trent, don’t do this! We weren’t sent here for this!”

Unfortunately, Zavior’s words fall onto deaf ears. Trent sidesteps Zavior and walks out into the middle of the street. He appears to be engaging the incoming officers.

Zavior calls off his efforts and makes his way back to the awaiting car he’s procured. He opens the backdoor and takes a seat. Reapplying his sunglasses, Zavior leans back into the comfortable leather upholstery of the fancy coupe and takes in a deep breath, releasing it slowly.

Standing at what they consider to be a safe distance away from the danger zone, onlookers watch as the police approach the man they believe is responsible for destroying the cafe and killing everyone inside it.

As the police cruisers near, Trent simultaneously lowers his head and lifts his arms, outstretching them so they’re evenly leveled with his shoulders. After holding this position for a brief number of seconds, Trent lifts his head up and makes it apparent to all those watching that he’s far from being human.

Trent has summoned the dark forces that dwell within him and in doing so shades of his true identity begin to emerge through his human disguise. His skin begins to dehydrate and crack severely in a matter of seconds. Purplish-veins protrude throughout his face, neck and hands. His eyes burn with such intensity that a low-level of steam starts to emit from their dark-reddish hue.

When the squad cars are less than half a block away, Trent thrusts his hands forward, his palms facing the incoming cruisers. No one watching the spectacle knew what he was doing originally, but then the police sedans suddenly crash into what seemed to be an invisible barrier which was only meters away from where Trent was standing.

The cruisers impact with such force they’re nearly crumpled in half. With one car, two officers are ejected through its windshield; their broken bodies sprawled out over the smashed hood. And in spite of the incapacitated state of the injured officers, Trent is far from being done. He swiftly raises his hands above his head, causing all four vehicles to explode violently.

The powerful explosions lift each car several inches off the ground. The sound of twisting metal in addition to the powerful roar of the flames was deafening. A number of parts from the cars have taken to the air like rockets, only to return to the ground like small meteor fragments.

Deeply enjoying the mayhem he’s brought forth, Trent’s yearning for more bedlam has fully freed his inner demon. His fingernails have grown long and sharp and his hands and fingers have become elongated. Foam build ups have formed in both corners of his chapped lips. His teeth have turned razor sharp and an uncontrollable drool ran from his mouth, down his chin. Trent’s urge to kill has taken complete control.

He takes his monstrous eyes off the burning cars and trains them on the innocent citizens who were frantically running as far away from him as fast as they could. Ready to add more bodies to his murder list, Trent lowers his arm and prepares to raise them in the same manner he did before. Only this time he’s thwarted by Zavior, who calls out to him in a commanding voice that could easily be heard over the pandemonium of the fleeing crowd.

“That’s enough, Trent!”

Barely able to articulate his words over the steady flow of saliva pulsating out of his mouth, Trent replies, “Just having a little fun, brother. You do remember what fun is, don’t you?”

“I’m always up for fun, and once we take care of business we’ll have the rest of eternity to do just that. But until then, I need you to stay focused on the task at hand.”

“I’m totally focused. These humans are nothing more than pests. Wretched creatures that must be killed every now and then when their numbers become too great.”

“I agree,” said Zavior, eyeing Trent from the backseat of the Lexus. “But these insects aren’t our priority right now. Our mission is to capture the girl. We’ll have plenty of time to kill the humans after we’ve concluded our task. I promise you that.”

Trent turns to Zavior, a horrifying grin on his grotesque face. “I’m going to hold you to that, Zavior.”

Zavior responds with a nod and grin. “But in order for me to keep that promise, Trent, you have to follow my lead. We can’t have this type of setback occurring every time we stop. I need you to control yourself. Can you do that for your big brother?”

A sense of calm falls upon Trent. His skin rehydrates, the purplish veins subside and his hands and fingernails return to their regular size. His teeth file back down and his eyes return to their normal shade. In short, he’s gone from being a hideous creature to resuming the human disguise he donned prior to the uproar.

“Sure, Zavior,” Trent replied. “Anything you say. You’re the one in charge, right?”

“That’s all I ask of you, Trent.”

Trent walks over to the Lexus and stands at Zavior’s door, bending down to view his brother through the lowered window. “But once our mission’s complete, we start doing the type of stuff we were made to do.”

“Absolutely,” Zavior confirmed, smiling. “But first we need pay a visit to Jade Harris.”

CHAPTER 3

On an unseasonably warm day in Terre Haute, IN, Jade Harris is power walking through the jammed-packed parking lot of Indiana State University. Once she clears the parking lot and makes her way to the freshly-cut campus grass, she maintains a steady pace toward her first class, but when she glances at her watch she’s suddenly motivated to increase her rate of speed from power-walking to a full-out run, her ponytail bouncing with each step.

Beads of sweat trickle down her brow as she rushes across the sleepy college campus. It would’ve probably seemed odd on any other day to see a university parking lot filled to capacity with student vehicles but not see a single student anywhere in sight. But it is the very reason why there aren’t any students in sight that has Jade in a hurry to reach her first class.

Today is the first day for final exams.

It takes her only a minute and forty-four seconds to make it from the far end of the parking lot to the door of her U.S. History class—a pretty impressive feat given that the two locations are on opposite sides of the campus.

Regardless of her valiant effort, Jade is still fifteen minutes late for class and the door has already been closed. Jade knows that when the door is closed it usually means anyone caught on the outside of it isn’t allowed to enter the class during that particular session. She takes a moment to weigh her options before deciding it’d be best for her to at least try and take the biggest test of the semester and risk probable embarrassment as opposed to not trying at all.

She steadies her breathing and proceeds to delicately push the door open and close it just as cautiously. She figured that by showing regard for her classmates’ concentration, the teacher would possibly show her some leniency and allow her to stay. At least that’s what she’s hoping for anyway.

She heads straight to the nearest vacant desk and takes a seat before the teacher has a chance to tell her to leave.

A gradual calm falls over her as she comes to rest at a desk, but sadly, it’s a feeling that dissipates quicker than it came. Jade realizes that all of the test papers are sitting on the teacher’s desk. Jade takes a deep breath and heads up to the teacher’s desk.

Her teacher is a short, frail man named Dr. Ian Martin. Dr. Martin is a cranky old man who should’ve retired from teaching years ago, but his love for dishing out as much homework as possible and giving more tests than any other teacher on campus has kept him an active professor on the faculty.

Jade’s nervousness about obtaining the crabby old teacher’s sympathy isn’t without merit. It’s no secret that over the years the only thing that has diminished as much as Dr. Martin’s patience was his hair. Nonetheless, Jade takes a stab at trying to reach Dr. Martin’s charitable side and politely asks him for a test copy.

“I’m sorry I’m late, Dr. Martin,” she stated softly. “I was up studying for this test all night. I was so caught up in reading my history book that I dozed off before I could set my alarm. May I please have an exam?”

The old man gives Jade a sour look before reaching across his desk and pulling a single test form from a large stack. “You’re lucky this is the only time I can recall you ever coming to my classroom late,” said Dr. Martin as he handed Jade the exam.

Relieved she’ll be able to take the test, Jade makes her way back to her seat and begins answering away. After starting the exam close to twenty minutes behind everyone else Jade still manages to finish her test first.

Jade slips her arms through her backpack straps and pulls them up over her shoulders. She proudly marches her exam sheet up to Dr. Martin’s desk and sets it face down. The grumpy instructor is shocked to see that of all the people in his class she was the one to complete his infamous test first.

Jade walks out of the hardest class she’s had all semester with brimming confidence. She knows she passed her test and she’s glad she’ll never have to see Dr. Martin’s crabby face or hear his boring lectures ever again.

Following a few other exams from her remaining classes, the end of the school day has finally arrived. Jade’s now heading back to her car with her hopes highly set on enjoying the rest of this beautiful day.

By this time the campus is no longer barren. The number of students visible in and around the school grounds has greatly increased and is buzzing with life. Accompanying Jade on her walk to the parking lot is her closet friend, Marie Owens. The two had originally met at the beginning of the school year at freshman orientation and have been inseparable ever since.

Marie’s energetic and outgoing personality is a perfect fit with Jade’s more focused and goal-oriented way of thinking. And while Marie’s attractiveness borderlines the stereotypical, blonde-haired, glamorous type, Jade’s beauty is a lot less flamboyant. But there’s no denying the fact that Jade is still a very attractive young woman. With dark, flowing hair, a soft glowing complexion and charcoal-gray eyes, Jade definitely was a beauty to behold.

“So how do you think you did this semester?” Marie asked.

“If I can avoid getting anything lower than a C on any of my finals, I’ll finish the semester with a B.”

“Again? This’ll be the second semester in a row you finished with a B average.”

“I don’t know what’s wrong with me. For some reason I can’t reach a 4.0 to save my life. It’s always an inch out of my reach.”

“Oh, shut up, Jade.” Marie played. “Do you know what I had to resort to this semester just to keep my GPA from slipping even further down the drain? I had to kiss some serious ass to avoid failing most of my classes. I even had to flirt with my biology teacher. Do you know how hard it is to flirt with someone who eats sardines for breakfast and lunch every day and still keep a straight face every time you talk to them?”

“Afraid not.”

“It’s not easy,” Marie asserted. “Now I had to do all of that crap just to keep a C average so my parents won’t cut me off. So if you think I’m about to stand here and listen to you complain about having a B, you’ve got another thing coming.”

“Alright, alright, calm down,” Jade laughed. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to throw it in your face. I know you worked hard for that C.”

“You damn right I did.”

The chatty friends continue to joke and laugh as they make their final approach to the student parking area. Marie wraps an arm around her best friend’s shoulders. “God, I can’t believe next year we’re going to be sophomores. We’re getting old, Jade. Can you believe we’re going to be turning twenty in a few months?”

“I know…but technically you’ll be hitting your twentieth birthday months before I hit mine.”

Before Marie has a chance to respond to Jade’s comedic observation, her concentration is broken by the powerful roar of an approaching vehicle’s engine.

A cherry-colored Corvette recklessly swerves into the student parking lot, recklessly speeding through the crammed lot until it comes to a screeching halt after passing an empty space. The rear tires spin rapidly as the sleek sports car reverses into the open slot.