Beasthood (The Hidden Blood Series) (9 page)

             
The sound of something rattling caught his attention. He looked down the row at the three occupied chairs to his right. 

A young woman with bright red hair and pale freckly skin was holding a small white object in her hand. She popped the cap open and tipped open a rugby shaped yellow capsule into her hand. She then put it in her mouth and drank it down with bottled water. He stared as she pressed the cap back on with a pop and the same rattling of pills filled the air as she placed it on her desk.

              He called to her, “Sunhild.”

             
She cocked her head up, surprised to hear him address her. She fluttered her long lashes. She was a pretty little thing. He felt a quiver in his pants but it was soon gone. He had almost mastered self control of the aggressive feelings of lust that was a gift and a curse of his kind -though around Jaz, he'd almost forgotten everything he'd learnt.

“
Yes, sir?”

“
What are those?” He pointed to the bottle of pills.

“
Just a supplement, sir. Cod liver oil.”

“
What is it, Driver?” Maria knew that look in his eye.

“
Did you check her handbag?”

“
Jaz’s? No. It’s with her suitcase in your room.”

“
Alf,” Driver turned to the young man, “Go get it.” The blonde boy left hastily and returned less than a minute later with the dark blue shoulder bag. Driver snatched it from him and zipped it open. He heard the rattling before he saw it. He held up the white bottle and read the prescription. 
100 Ferrous Fumarate 100mg tabs. Take TWO daily for anaemia.
“You’ve gotta be kiddin’ me.”

Maria gazed at him questioningly. He chucked the pills to her. She caught them spinning the bottle round in her French-manicured hands. She read the label down the length of her nose. Her eyes widened in surprise and then the worry was clear on her face. “Shit. Alf you've got to go in there now.”

“But she-”

“
Don’t argue! Take these with you.”

             
She was about to hand over the bottle when Driver put his hand out to stop her. “Wait,” He began. He watched the girl searchingly on the monitor. “First give her a steak. A
fresh
one.”

~
Chapter 10-
Feast~

Tuesday May 10
th
, 6:27 p.m. -
Jaz’s Cell.

             
She didn’t get up this time when the tray was placed on the floor. The door was hastily shut and it took her several minutes before she willed herself to move.

             
Her head began to spin as she sat up. She was beyond exhausted. Her mouth was dry. She'd drank from the taps of the sink in the tiny en-suite to quench her thirst, but not since yesterday. 

             
She felt the faint niggle of her bladder wishing to be emptied but ignored it. Luckily, she hadn’t needed to shit the whole time she’d been locked up.

Her stomach ached with hunger and neglect.

              It was the smell that enticed her to look; to lift herself up from the pillow with the last of her strength. She nearly wept when she saw what the cruel bastards had left for her.

             
A bloody, raw steak.

             
It looked like someone had hacked a cow apart and brought a slab of it for her. A trick. A game. They were mocking her. She cringed away from the bloody sight.

             
But the smell of it contradicted how she saw it.

             
It smelled… nice. Tasty even. Like the barbecue scent on a summer’s day. Her warped mind disgusted her and she forced the feeling out.

             
But then came the roar of ravenous hunger somewhere inside of her. It made her lurch and squirm in her sitting position. She stared wide eyed at the raw meat.

What’s wrong with me?

She took a deep breath but this only made the smell of meat lodge in her nose and throat. It was sensational. And she wanted it. Now the feeling didn’t just disgust her, it frightened her.

             
She wanted to jump to the other end of the bed by the headboard and force herself to sleep until they came and took it away. She prayed they’d take it away and never bring another back.

But she didn’t move away.

She was glued to her space halfway along the bed.

             
Against her will, her body moved closer. Her legs sidestepping whilst she slid along her bum with her hands as support. They were set in a claw shape, feeling their way to the edge of the bed. She tried to fight it; to take back control of these unknown hands and body but curiosity and hunger took over.

             
She reached the edge of the bed, swinging her legs round so she was facing the plate; the door in front, to her left.

             
The bloody, raw meat was tantalizing her; calling to her. She hated it and yearned for it all at once.

Stop.
She ordered.
What are you doing?!

So hungryyyyy,
snarled a primal voice deep within her.

Don’t you dare!
She screamed back.

             
But it did dare.

             
She slid off the bed onto the floor, crawling on her hands and knees very slowly. The plate was inches from her fingers. She breathed in deep, sampling the scent like a connoisseur of raw meat.

             
Before she had even processed the thought in her brain, she lowered her head until she was so close to the plate she could see all the detailed lines, veins and grooves in the red meat. She delicately slid out her tongue and licked the blood-soaked top of the meat.

             
The taste of it made her eyes close and her breath deepen with pleasure and satisfaction. It was like having all the tastiest of foods for the first time in months, in years.

             
She then snapped out of it, let her tongue roll down her chin and brushed her fingers against it with disgust and revulsion. She made a distraught and sickened moan at the same time.

“
Oh my god, yuk, yuk, yuk,” she groaned.

But it had tasted so good.

She gazed back down at the plate.

It took three minutes for her self-control to break.

              She snatched the meat from the plate holding the bloody steak in her hands and ripped a chunk out of it. She moaned with equal measures of pleasure and revulsion. It was a horrible experience. She couldn’t stop herself and yet at the same time she just didn’t want to.

             
Within a minute she had eaten the entire steak. The furious hunger was satisfied for now but the rage that came with the hunger wasn’t over.

             
She stared at the empty plate in silence. There was still a pool of blood on the plate. She tried to recoil from it but the hungry beast within her grabbed the plate and she licked it twice before her normal self broke through and fought back. She threw the plate hard against the door. It crashed against it with a loud smack and clattered to the floor, spraying it red. The plastic plate split in half from the impact.

                                                                      *

              At the other end of the hall, the door to the Surveillance Room swung open violently, knocking against the wall with a thud. Maria stormed out of the room followed closely by Driver.

“
Where do you think you’re going?”

             
She swiveled round just outside his bedroom door to scowl at him. “This has got to stop!” she spat.

             
Alf loomed in the doorway of the Surveillance Room. Driver sidestepped once, angled so he could see both him and Maria in his peripheral vision. “Alf, go inside and shut the door,” Driver rumbled.

             
He obeyed, giving Driver and Maria a mixed glance of concern and curiosity, before shutting the door behind him.

Maria fixed her steel grey eyes on Driver. “What is a matter with you? Why are you doing this?!” she hissed. “I’ve never seen you like this before.”

“I think you know why,” he retorted.

             
Maria scoffed. “You are the most disciplined man I have ever known!” She was the only person who could make that sound anything but a compliment, but Driver knew better. His slight, smug smile was gone before Maria saw it. “You're always careful, but
this
?!” she pointed angrily towards the locked door with the traumatized girl on the other side.  “You've never
ever
done this before, to anyone! None of us have. Certainly not this early. It's beyond irrational! You cannot change her just by clicking your fingers!” she clicked her fingers at the same time. “You're going way too fast!” she added, whispering loudly. Driver glowered at her, though the knowledge that the old woman had a point held some of the anger back from his eyes. Maria lowered her voice as she added, “She's only been here five minutes, she's practically a stranger, an outsider.”

“
She’s more than that to me,” he retorted, though the harshness had seeped away from his voice.

             
Maria bobbed her head in agreement, trying to choose her next words carefully. “I understand this whole ordeal must be…
strange
for you. But I need you to think like you always have. Rationally and
care
fully. You have to be
patient
. I know this has upset you - no doubt this whole thing has upset her- but things will work out, at their own pace.”

“
I'm not a cruel man, you know?”

             
Maria smiled gently. She wasn't sure if he needed her to reassure him of that fact, but she did so anyway, because it was true. At least in her eyes. “I know. And I understand why you're doing this. You want her to move on, to trust us and toughen up for what's to come. You don't want to be accused of being too soft on her, or giving her special treatment.

“
It must hurt you to see her look at you with so much hate. It hurts me too. But she will come around. And though I didn't agree with giving her raw meat, at first... perhaps... this will help her.

“
She now sees something is different. She’ll want questions and we’ll have the answers. Eventually she will learn to confide in us, even trust us. But it won’t happen over night.”

             
Driver leant against the Surveillance Room's door frame. The door to his bedroom was open and he gazed across the way towards Jaz’s door, contemplatingly. “If either of us go in now, it’ll make things worse.” Maria nodded in agreement, smiling faintly. “I’ll give her an hour. Then I’m taking these.” He held up the pills bottle and rattled it. 

“
Do it at your own risk,” Maria cautioned.

             
Driver flashed an unconcerned, teasing smile. “After you were so willing to go in? Kinda hypocritical don't ya think? Either that or are you just concerned for my welfare, Maz?” Maria raised an eyebrow. Only Driver got away with calling her that nickname. No one else would dare, not even Arik unless he was in a particularly daring mood. “Oh come on,” he protested jokingly when she continued to look at him with the same expression. “She has a lot of fire in her that’s for sure, but how much harm can she really do?”

“
The bloody nose you walked in with and the bruise that has only disappeared since yesterday tells me different,” she answered dryly.

             
For some messed up reason, he felt his chest swell with pride at the girl’s fighting spirit. “She’s not eaten for days; she can barely
stand
let alone
wrestle
. I think I can handle her.”

“
You seriously underestimate us Kormak women.”

~
Chapter 11-
Attack~

Tuesday May 10
th
, 7:13 p.m. -
Jaz’s Cell.

             
She was amazed by how clearly she heard the man’s approach before the  lock unlatched. The door was solid. Soundproof. At least it had been until this very moment.

             
Everything in the room seemed to react to her edginess. The air was full of static. She could feel it on her skin;
smell
it, even. It was the effect of her senses wound to the tightest notch.

The disgust she’d felt towards these evil creatures; for their horrible torture games- the idea that they probably enjoyed her horror and torment (she sensed they had cameras in the room; why else would they play these foul games if they couldn't watch?) – caused every limb of her body to explode with scorching fire like a live volcano.

Rage. Unlike anything she had ever felt before.

Powerful and deadly like a volcano, yet before he unlocked the door, she had felt strangely calm.

              The lock clicked.

She bolted to the bathroom.

Using the towel on the rail she wrapped it around her elbow and smashed the mirror. The sound wasn't loud to average human ears -though she wasn't trying to be quiet about it-, but for Driver, it was enough to make him force the door open in alarm. Within a second he was in the room. Fists clenched, dark eyes scanning.

There was a chilled silence.

She'd hidden behind the bathroom wall, pinned between the towel rail and the small fixed floor-standing cabinet. The sound of her cell door smacking against the wall and the shudder of the wood from the impact was deafening.

             
She held her breath.

             
He sniffed the air.

             
He knew where she was, but he waited.

             
She swallowed. The sound was loud and she cringed at her mistake.

             
His eyes pricked towards the outside wall he knew she was leaning against, on the other side.

             
She despised that man.

She didn’t know how but she knew it was him, even though she couldn’t and hadn’t seen him. She hated the very air he breathed.

Though she was scared, she allowed the rage to sweep over her and take control of her limbs. She clasped the shard of mirror in her hand; the small towel wrapped around her palm twice to protect it.

             
Within half a second she tore out of the tiny en suite, not gauging correctly the towering man’s position by the door. Her head nearly smacked into his elbow as he moved with surprise.

             
She almost made it to the door before he grabbed her by the shoulder. She lashed out, slicing the top of his arm.

             
He gasped and jumped back towards the bathroom archway in amazement. “What the-” he groaned, clutching his bleeding arm, just as she held up the shard ready to gouge his face. He swiftly reacted, locking his bloody hand around her wrist. Then grabbed her other flailing arm with his injured left arm; it burned as she unknowingly whacked her limb against it.

             
With one motion he swung her around and pinned her against the wall between the door and the end of the bed. She gasped as her spine slapped against the rock wall. The pain in her back made her bare her teeth and wince, but she wouldn’t let go of the mirror shard even now that the hand towel had unravelled and fallen to the floor mid-scuffle. “Let, go,” Driver commanded, though it was weakened by his loss of breath.

“
No!” she barked. The muscles around his eyes tightened in challenge. She tried to slice at him again but his grip was solid. She then squirmed, kicking out. He stood back. She kicked at air.

“
Let. Go.” The warning was ominous in his deep voice.

She didn’t respond but didn’t let go. He fixed his eyes on her and slowly squeezed the wrist of the hand clasping the shard. His grip was at first uncomfortable, then painful, then excruciating, then unbearable. Her own hold tightened around the shard in response.  The glass cutting into her flesh and his iron grip was too much for her and she cried out.

When he saw the blood trickle down her palm he loosened his grasp a little. At the same time she let go of the mirror shard and it fell to the floor, smashing like a glass raindrop.

             
They stared at each other. Driver still held her there though he reined in the strength of his grip, sure that he'd already hurt her enough.

             
She was panting, trying to be brave as the pain in her palm stung and throbbed. Tears that she couldn’t hold back any longer trailed down her hard face. She glared at Driver with furious eyes. He watched her with a cocktail of emotions. Surprise, shock, guilt, anger, disbelief.

             
He stared at her bloody hand.

How could she do that to herself? Is she crazy?

              He watched her heaving chest, and heard her hammering heart.

I’ve traumatized her. She’ll never forgive me.

             
The pain in his arm escalated.

So what? The bitch cut you up!

I deserve it.

Oh grow a pair.

             
Her fierce eyes regarded him stubbornly.

Christ, she’s beautiful when she’s all wild and fiery.
His frown hardened.

Shut the hell up!

             
She saw all the conflicting emotions on his face but she didn’t try to understand them. She didn’t want to understand him, or know him. Period.

             
“We better get that looked at,” he began in a low, soothing voice, focusing on her slashed palm.

             
She wanted to scream at him. “You fed me raw meat,” she said slowly, shakily. She was on the edge of losing control. The words were far from disbelief now; it was a statement, infested with acid.

             
He blinked, then lowered her bloody hand by her side. But he still didn’t let go. “I didn’t make you eat it,” he replied.

             
It was true in the physical sense, but he had known that the moment she smelt the raw meat she’d have had no choice.  She saw that in his face. It confirmed what she’d already suspected, though she couldn’t explain or understand how it was even possible. “You knew. Somehow you
knew
I wouldn’t be able to-to…
not
eat it. I don’t know what you did, but I couldn’t… “

“
Stop?”

             
She shot him a venomous look though a glimmer of fear shone across her eyes. He bobbed his head in understanding.

She couldn’t speak anymore. The adrenaline was making her limbs quiver. She tried to hold them still.

He could see her shivering but didn’t make any attempt to show his concern. She would only recoil from him. He felt a sinking in his chest but somewhere deep inside, Maz’s words had stuck with him. He just needed to be patient. She would trust him…in time. Right now though, it was hard to believe.

“
Come in here.” He held out his arm, encouraging her to step into his room- though she didn’t know it was his. He wasn’t sure how she’d feel about that. “I have a first aid kit in here. Let me clean your hand up before it gets infected.” She stayed dead still. “I won’t hurt you,” he said sincerely.

             
She didn’t believe him. How could she when her wrist was in agony and her hand had nearly been cut in half? And lets not forget how she wound up in here. It was his fault. He was a violent animal. Worse than an animal. A monster.

She’d never been so terrified or angered by anyone in her life.

              He held her gaze. Trying to reassure her. She didn’t buy it. It was the only battle she felt she could win unless he dragged her in there himself. She watched him with hard, stubborn eyes. He could see the retaliation glaring back at him and the challenge allured, annoyed and upset him. He stared at her and she stared back for a long, icy minute.

It had been a complicated and strange few days. Now it was about to get worse, he realized, as the sounds of familiar footsteps came speedily down the hallway. He sighed in irritation, cutting off eye contact with Jaz and scowling at a spot on the floor. He muttered something under his breath that she couldn’t make out and she stared at his reaction with curiosity.

Then the icy fingers of dread trailed down her spine.

He'd heard something...no... someone.