24Updated Chapter 1 - 6/18/16
Updated Chapter 2 - 6/18/16 - I moved the POV change from Jenny to the Hunter to a separate Chapter. Consequently, I gained a chapter.
I take all critique very seriously as I aim to improve my writing so there may be several revisions. Please do not hesitate in pointing out my errors. All reviews are returned.
They were just echoes in the beginning. At eight years old, she was too young to alienate that one brash voice that twisted around her own childish thoughts. Now, however…
Quiet now, Little Bird. Speak now and we will not survive. Just focus on me and I will ease the pain.
The words were almost deafening and caused her to twist uncomfortably in her bonds. The chains rested in her lap, the cuffs around her wrists guarded with various sigils to keep her subdued. There was little pain now but moments ago, when the hunter forced her towards a chair in the center of a warded circle, the beast inside rallied with alarming strength. Brilliant red welts peeked out beneath the iron as evidence from the struggle.
A searing heat coursed through her veins and caused her hands to convulse against her lap. Jenny recognized the demon's attempt to take over: the heat cresting behind her eyes and pulsing against the back of her throat. The type of oppressive heat that wrenched the oxygen from the lungs and stretched every sinew of her body taut enough to snap if she tried to fight.
She shifted in the chair and cast a pained look to her captor, his back bent over a worktable. Only the feeble rattle of the chains inspired a response from the hunter who cut a casual glance over his shoulder toward his newest acquisition.
"They can come off…just as soon as you tell me what happened in the woods." He regarded her coolly, a frigid smile quivering over his lips in a poor attempt at kindness. Jenny had seen that look before. An unlucky stranger who stumbled into her makeshift camp one evening had offered to keep her warm. He wore a similar smile that hung crooked on his face. With the demon's help she removed it.
The acute pain at her wrists was unbearable. Beads of sweat began to gather near her hairline and trail along the small of her back. What had happened? The last she remembered was the powdery snow against her bare feet before the familiar fever swept her senses. The trees and field all fell away, replaced by that dense darkness, that warm embrace.
Her captor grabbed the chains and latched them to a hook high above her head, forcing her arms and shoulders dangerously close to dislocation. He was muttering words she did not comprehend. The foreign sounds jabbed at her skin like tiny daggers. Then he grabbed her by the hair and forced her to supply an answer she could not know to a question she did not understand. "What happened?" he asked in a whisper so close she could feel the heat of his breath permeate her cheek and nostrils.
She pursed her lips and inhaled sharply then turned a placating gaze to the hunter, the words she hoped might help release her poised on her lips.
Not a word, Jenny. If he finds out it was me he...No. Let him think you're only tainted. Do not give in. For now.
The words fluttered from her lips with an exasperated sigh. Exhausted by the mental tug of war she dropped her head and muttered a defeated, "I can't."
Perhaps intrigued by the absence of her earlier ardor, the hunter stepped toward the circle and stood just at the border. His accusatory glare softened as it swept across her crestfallen form.
"You will tell me, in detail, what happened there in the woods. For your sake, I need to know the truth," he pleaded with her.
"Tell you what, I'll paint you a picture of what I saw. Then you will fill in the rest. Then, the chains come off. Deal?"
She remained motionless, as if she did not hear him. He waited for a reply or for a sign of life other than the rising of her chest and the pulse visible in her slender neck.
"OK, Little Miss Stoic. Have it your way. But I will still tell you the facts; however, the chains stay on."
She remained unchanged with her head bent over and her shoulders red from the strain. One would think she were sobbing, but no tears escaped her closed eyes.
"I'll ignore the fact that I found you covered in blood in the center of a massacre with not a scratch on you. I'll even pretend to not have noticed the condition in which the half dozen or so bodies were in, or the one you were feasting on. What confuses me the most," he stayed just at the edge of the circle and, with seemingly practiced precision, paced just out of reach, "is that you are barefoot. Standing in snow up to your knees. And wearing only this gown." He allowed his gaze to trace a brief sketch of her figure beneath the flimsy veil of cotton that hung past her knees. The gown was not of your typical hospital variety, but closed at the back and fitted around the waist. Though faded under the stains, a tiny pink and blue polka dot pattern was still visible along with two words over the left breast, "Powell County".
The shameless survey sent a shiver down her spine. What he said had to be true. The metallic taste of fresh blood lingered over her tongue while tiny remnants of meat worked their way out from between her teeth. A cursory glance to her nails revealed them to be spotless, however, so it wasn't likely her that killed those people.
"I can conclude you are not the timid and frail girl you appear to be." His smile widened now, a confident air rippling around him as he continued to pace in her peripheries.
"There is more to you, Little Miss," he gestured to the chains and the circle. "Just in case my deduction of you is correct," he spoke arrogantly, as if he already knew the answers to his questions.
Jenny tensed against the rigid chair back and waited, wide eyed, for the reassuring instructions from the beast. Her pale, green eyes followed the hunter around the circle until a soft, crooning voice from within whispered, Be still, my little bird. A hunter will only play safe for so long. Answer him honestly. I will make my introduction when I see fit. A newly found confidence flowed through her as she straightened in the chair and leveled a gaze on the hunter.
"My name is Jenny," she announced, pulling her shoulders back as far as the chains would permit. He turned a sidelong glance to her, a sudden twitch at the corner of his mouth where the smile began to fade. Apparently, he was expecting a more remarkable name.
He pinched the bridge of his nose and turned toward her. "Jenny, hmm? It's not everyday that I find a host protecting its parasite, Jenny. Tell me the name of the Demon." He spat the last word and adjusted his grip on something concealed behind his back. Her eyes, arrested by the suspicious movement, quivered before dropping to study her toes.
Once again, another question she could not answer. She latched to a memory that surfaced through the panic raging through her mind. She was only eight years old when first possessed by the demon and much younger when they first met: however, back then it was only an imaginary friend so names were often frivolous and cute. A seven year old Jenny had ran away from home on a whim. She couldn't recall the reason for her impromptu flight but she had only made it to the neighborhood park before collapsing in tears under the monkey bars. She could still remember the warm hand that cradled her own and led her back home. Her mother had smiled and ushered the child inside, closing the door on her friend. Her eyes remained focused on her feet as the pleasant memory tugged a smile to her lips.
The childish attempt to evade his questioning appeared to amuse him as he laughed and stepped across the intricate sigils on the floor. The hunter's boots appeared in front of her, tugging her gaze up over his thighs to swim momentarily in his soft, hazel orbs. Despite his rough features and sickly sweet smell, his eyes were kind. Jenny doubted he would believe her anyways.
The caked blood around her mouth cracked as a thin smile splintered her lips. "I've always called her Tully," she chirped before erupting into a fit of giggles that would unnerve even the most callous of men.
The large man sighed. "It's much worse than I imagined," he managed to say amid the din of her tittering. Taking a deep breath, he pulled a large ring the size of his palm out from behind his back and turned a small key into the center that allowed the two halves to snap apart.
From where she sat, she could identify the crudely carved sigils that lined the outside of the metal band. Her laughter died as he approached and peered down at her from over the bridge of his nose. "Jenny, you will be saved. Regardless of the costs. I will make you whole again."
The girl's eyes widened as she cut a glance from the collar to his stoic visage towering over her. "Please, hunter. Don't! She's my friend!" The cuffs binding her wrists began to hiss as she struggled in the chair. The beast inside her thrashed and howled before recoiling deeper into the sanctuary of its host. Jenny recognized the dying flutter from within and knew she was expected to take the torture alone. Hot tears filled her eyes. "Please don't leave me...Please don't go."
She heard the distant reply like dying embers in her mind, "I'll always be here."