Buried In The Past (6/7) By Joe Hakim

(1/7), (2/7), (3/7), (4/7), (5/7), (6/7), (7/7).

"We weren't the only ones in the forest that night, Jason. There was something else. And when you left, it came for me." He's crying now, scared out of his mind. "This is bullshit, you trying to tell me that you're a ghost or a vampire or some shit? Is that what you're telling me?" "Something like that," I say. "But I hate the word 'vampire' to be honest. It doesn't really describe what I am, and it conjures up images of doomed, beautiful creatures that secretly run the world, like the ones you get in the Anne Rice novels and Buffy the Vampire Slayer."

"But vampires and shit like that don't exist, they're not real." "Well, you're right in a way. Thanks to advances in forensic technology and things like DNA testing, my kind are struggling to survive. Like most major species facing extinction, a change in environment has almost wiped us out. I think the one who made me was one of the last. Sad, but there you go." "This is fuckin' shit, you're one of Mike's relatives or summat - you're just fuckin' with me head."

"Believe what you like, Jason, it doesn't really matter now. Anyway, I'd love to keep chatting and catch up with you, but it's time to eat. Excuse me while I slip into something more comfortable," I say, and then I begin the metamorphosis. My jaw unlocks with a loud clicking noise, and my mouth drops open like a snake's. My teeth begin to elongate, jutting out - more like tusks than fangs. Jason is mute with terror. He tries to scream but nothing comes out. As I move towards him, my nostrils fill with the bitter scent of shit as he soils himself.

I leap on him and lock my mouth onto him, piercing his chest with my teeth. His ribs crack and I hear a small whine of air escaping as my teeth puncture his lungs. Over the years I've spent a lot of time hiding from the sun in public libraries, so I've looked at a lot of books to try and find out exactly what I am. Everything has drawn a blank so far, but I think the process I use to devour my prey is similar to the ones used by big spiders. I inject my victim with some sort of digestive enzyme which liquefies the internal organs, and then I suck up the goo that's left behind.

Jason's body shakes and then his eyes roll back into his head as his insides melt. His bones break, crunched up as I draw the fluid back in. The whole process takes no more than twenty minutes. I hardly spill any blood, and all that's left of him when I finish is a pulpy bag of broken bones. As soon as I'm done, I revert back into my human form. There's not much time left before his wife and children return, so I scoop the remnants of Jason into a carrier bag. The adrenaline that Jason's heart pumped around his body has given me a boost, a high. I exit through the back door and leap over the back fence.

Continued...Next Page (7/7)

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