Catastrophe by D. Andrew Campbell

Author:D. Andrew Campbell [Campbell, D. Andrew]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Paranormal | Urban Fantasy
Published: 2019-01-04T05:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

In the deepening dark of the night, the water almost appears to be a parking lot in the night. It’s a smooth, flat expanse of earth devoid of any trees or growth. The only clues separating it from abandoned pavement are the lack of cars and streetlights, and the reflection of the nearly full moon off its gently rippling water. It’s a beautiful sight to witness, and I wish I had more time to take it in.

As I cross one of the many paved running paths I’ve noticed in the park, a movement off to my left nips at my attention. It’s a person, a jogger, running away and off down the trail. An instinctive urge to take off and follow them for my next meal kicks up as I watch the form move, but then something in the form and stride slows me down. The jogger is a woman. A young woman who’d I guess to be in her early twenties, and she looks incredibly fit.

That’s not who I want as a source of food. It has nothing to do with being afraid of the struggle or even a sexist view that women shouldn’t be fed upon. I’ve used females as a source of meals many times in the past, and it hasn’t bothered me. But young girls? And especially athletic girls who seem to be happy or have their life together? Attacking a person like that just seems…weird. Like it’d be attacking a version of myself. If it can at all be avoided, then it is. I have enough mental anguish in my life without adding this kind of anxiety to it.

With a small, almost imperceptible, sigh of jealousy as I watch the girl jog happily away down the path I keep my eyes on her until she disappears over a small hill.

“Oh, what could my life have been like?” I wonder and then try to shake the melancholy away as best as I can. But then instead of erasing the image of the girl, I realize I can use her. Why not imitate her until I’m able to locate more suitable prey. A person out jogging here is fairly inconspicuous, and it’s probably a better disguise for me than just creeping around in the woods and hoping to not be seen.

Pulling my sweatshirt’s hood up over my head, I take off in the same direction in which I had watched the girl disappear earlier. Keeping my pace slow and steady, I sweep the area with my eyes looking for anybody that might work for what I need. But instead of my eyes alerting me to something of interest, it’s my nose instead.

After jogging for several minutes without incident down the trail, the wind brings with it the faint scent of something unusual. I can’t immediately place it aside from knowing that it’s connected to a person, and it’s intriguing. Even after all this time with my abilities, I still can’t always figure out how my own brain is working.

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