Ravenous

   It made me sick to look at it; I couldn’t tear my eyes away.

   It crept slowly forward, its leg clicked, it seemed to be looking everywhere at once but I didn’t know where its eyes were. Perhaps it didn’t have any, perhaps it could smell us, or even hear the rapid beat of my heart. It somehow seemed to know that we were close though as it appeared cautious as it crept closer to where Je

   That was when I saw Cade. He was kneeling at the edge of the woods, the knife clasped within his right hand as he pressed it against the ground. Shadows played over him, making him nearly imperceptible in the darkness of the woods. His eyes were narrowed, but an u

   I blinked, searching for him, but he was no longer visible in the shadows. My attention was drawn back to the thing still creeping toward where Je

   A strange squeal escaped the creature as Cade slammed into it. Terror flooded me, I couldn’t stay here; I couldn’t remain useless. I scurried swiftly back, moving as quickly as I could down the tree as I was filled with the need to get to Cade, to help him. He couldn’t take on that thing by himself, he simply couldn’t. I leapt out of the tree when I was still ten feet from the ground, my ankles protested the action but II didn’t care as I raced through the forest to him. I didn’t know what I was going to do, what I could possibly use against this thing but I didn’t care. I simply could not allow him to face this thing alone.

   I had lost sight of Cade when I plunged out of the tree, but as I plunged through some thick underbrush, he came into sight again. I was nearly brought up short, nearly undone by the sight that greeted me. I was struck by the fact that the battle had become oddly silent after the squeal. It had also become far more violent and bloody. I stumbled forward, nearly fell as Cade lifted the knife over his head and plunged it into the already staggering creature.

   It wasn’t the awful, bluish black blood that covered him and the creature, or even the tentacle that had emerged from the underbelly of the beast and now flopped on the ground, that caused me to halt. It was the utter calm façade that Cade still possessed. He did not seem winded, did not even seemed phased as the creature crumpled beneath him. He ripped the knife free and wiped the bloody blade on a handful of leaves he snagged from the ground.

   I remained unmoving, my breath caught in my chest as he finally lifted his gaze to me. He remained unmoving for a long moment, as still as stone as he watched me. I didn’t know what to do, what to say. I didn’t know what I had just witnessed, was uncertain as to who exactly this person standing across from me was. I’d known him nearly my whole life, even when we hadn’t spoken, he had always been a presence, always been a presence in my world. And now he was standing there, covered in blood and staring at me with a look that both broke my heart and terrified me. He looked so vulnerable, looked as if he desperately needed me to understand what had just happened, but I didn’t know how to. He looked primitive, he looked wild, and I was filled with the certainty that this would not be the last time he killed with such force and brutality.

   But then, it was a necessity of our lives now. I was just stu

   “Are you ok?” I managed to croak out in a tremulous voice. He nodded as he used his forearm to wipe some of the blood from his face. I found myself able to move again, able to breathe again as I caught sight of the gash on his upper arm. He had won the battle, but he had not walked away unscathed. “You’re hurt.”

   “It’s fine.”

   “You don’t know what kind of germs those things carry.”

   He turned his arm over, frowning at the blood that seeped from it. “It’s a shallow cut Bethany.” He used his good arm to keep me back. I frowned fiercely at him, shoving aside his good arm as I seized hold of his hand.

   “Don’t be a baby, let me see.”

   He sighed softly but relented to me as I pushed him toward a rock. He settled upon it as I gathered the meager stash of supplies we had left. There were no bandages but there was a small thing of antibiotic cream and I ripped up a shirt to use as a makeshift bandage. I felt his onyx eyes watching me as I knelt before him. He didn’t flinch, didn’t move away from my touch as I gently used the rag to clean the blood from the wound. He was right, it was shallow, but I still slathered cream on it in the hopes that it would prevent infection and kill any germs.

   “You’re good at that.”

   I managed a wan smile. “When you’re as clumsy as I am you learn a few tricks.”

   He chuckled softly, a soft sound I found I liked immeasurably as my grin widened and I sat back on my heels to admire his rare and fleeting smile. “I thought perhaps you were considering becoming a doctor.”

   “No, that was Aiden.”

   My amusement faded with the stark reminder of everything we had lost. Cade’s smile slipped away, a muscle in his cheek jumped slightly. “I see. And what did you want to do?”

   I frowned, my gaze drifted toward the forest line as I thought over his question. I’d never really known what I’d wanted to do, what I would become. I’d assumed I’d go to college, I’d even considered going away, but I’d never truly thought about what I would study there, what I would want to do for the rest of my life. I would never have the opportunity to find out either.

   “I don’t know,” I admitted.

   He was silent for a long moment as I wiped the excess cream and remaining blood from his arm. “Whatever it was I’m sure you would have been good at it.”

   I glanced at him from under lowered lashes trying to discern if he was kidding with me or not. He did not appear to be. He seemed to honestly believe that I would find something that I was actually good at. I wasn’t so sure. “And what about you? Were you going to go to college?”

   He shrugged absently as I tied the torn piece of shirt around his arm. I had to force myself not to linger over his soft skin, and hard muscles. Hard to force myself not to notice the flush the feel of his skin brought to my face and body. “Eventually.”

   “Where would you have gone and for what?”

    Those dark eyes flickered briefly over my face. “I hadn’t decided yet.” I sat back on my heels, studying him for a long moment. I had the feeling he wasn’t telling me something, that there was something he wasn’t revealing. I didn’t have a chance to question him further though as Je

   “Are you ok?” Je

   Cade pulled the sleeve of his shirt down, it only covered half of the rag wrapped wound. “Fine,” he muttered.

   Abby’s eyes were wide, her mouth open as she gasped at the dead creature just feet away. I couldn’t bring myself to look at the ruined remains. “How did you know about that hiding place?”

   Cade’s hand clasped briefly around mine before he rose slowly to his feet. “I spent a lot of time up here.” I was stu