The bats flew in seeming chaos, although they were perfectly synched to their echolocation, hunting big bugs and using the dark as cover. Tom observed them and smiled, getting into the driver’s seat of his big, black and chrome 1980s Cadillac to cruise the streets for prey. Listening to booming, raucous rock music, Tom swept along the highway to the main drag of Proctor, a town in the next county.
Parking a half mile or so from where he was going, he observed the buzzed and drunken nightlife denizens walking to the next bar or back to their cars to make out. He saw one that he liked already, a lonely guy trying to check his phone who looked a little drunk, wavering a little. Tom preferred them not to be filled with so much alcohol, but he was edgy and wanted the first kill out of the way. The guy was muscular and decent looking, but he couldn’t tell how much he’d fight. There weren’t many people on the street, but Tom did a quick check, chirping out a sound that gave him the shape of the alley. Fuck it, he was hungry.
He went to a random car and asked the guy if he could help him with the door, it was stuck. The guy looked up confused and that’s when Tom knew it was time, he leapt up and put the guy in a quick headlock, dragging him quickly into the alley just off the street behind the closed toy store on the corner. There was a dumpster he wanted to get behind, but the shock had moved through the dull cushion of alcohol and the guy’s adrenalin was now surging and he was fighting back with serious strength behind him. It was a messy move, not smart, but Tom decided to go for it, he was fucking hungry, and moved his mouth to the guy’s neck to tear it open. The guy kept swinging his head, though, so he couldn’t get a good lock. He decided to try the wrist, it was slower but at least might give him a good wound to slow the guy down. Tom launched his face at the wrist at the wrong moment, the guy was bringing it up to punch him at the same time and connected; Tom went sprawling off of him into the alley.
When he got up, the guy was running, although thankfully not yelling for help, blessed be for masculine pride. This was already a disaster, so it required swift and daring moves. Tom launched himself directly at the guy’s back, grabbing hold of him just before the entrance to the street. Before anything else could happen he jammed his teeth into the guy’s neck and rigorously wrenched his mouth across, tearing open the veins and skin, a propulsive spurt of blood his reward. He couldn’t help himself, he put his mouth on the neck and sucked and swallowed the lode. Energy coursed through him as the man’s life filled his belly.
There wasn’t much time, he took his mouth off and quickly jammed the back of the guy’s shirt over the wound to stanch the flow. Tom only had fifteen minutes or so before he started to swoon, get lethargic, he needed to clean up the scene before he lost his gusto. Dragging the guy to the dumpster, he heaved it open and was throwing the still-dying body into it when he sensed eyes on him. Turning quickly, the body over his shoulder, about to be tossed away, he locked eyes with a slight, nerdy guy standing near a car, keys still in his hand.
Tom finished what he was doing quickly and turned back to the guy, who was opening his car door, looking back nervously as he made his getaway. Tom used everything he had and ran to the car, getting there just as the door closed and he heard the lock click. No time to think, Tom pounded on the window as hard as he could as the man in the car frantically tried to start his car, which whined as the engine didn’t catch. One last smash and the glass gave way, showering the man with shards as he screamed. Tom grabbed the guy by the neck, his own hands covered in blood, and pulled his head to the window and reached in to tear him open with his teeth. The guy started to scream, but the life sapped out of him pretty quick and the shock shut him up.
Tom reached in to fiddle with the lock and shoved the guy to the passenger’s side. He got in and turned the car on, feeling the glass cutting his ass. He wondered if he had time to get the other body. Eh, he could come back for it later, best to get the fuck out and clean up the scene. He drove up into the neighborhood, away from where cops might see him driving with a broken driver’s seat window, glass still falling away. The body was twitching next to him. Dammit, one of his favorite parts was feeling the life ebb as he sucked, the climax. Oh well, he was still high from his first meal, this was just a clean-up job anyway. Still, it irked him that he couldn’t enjoy his feast.
He looked around for a clearing with trees. After gathering some sticks, he dipped a few of them into the gas tank, and then lit them on top of the body, making sure to leave a trail of gas anywhere he might have touched something:, the door, the wheel. Then he set it ablaze and started walking back to his car. He’d probably have time now to get the other body into his trunk, but it might be smarter to just set a dumpster fire. He wanted to get back home and rest. Tomorrow was another night.
October 1, 2022