Chapter 6: Hunger

The icy skin of the serpent subtly pressed against my neck. With a deep yet melodious voice it whispered into my ear.

“This, little girl, is only the first phase.” It let out a laugh. “When you realize your life has been ruined, you’ll know you’ve matured.”

And just as it had come, it disappeared.

Nausea overwhelmed me. I opened the toilet and threw up everything my stomach contained. At the bottom I saw a fingernail floating there. I took it out, disgusted. I couldn’t believe I had actually eaten a man.

But the tender flesh of that being had taken root in my mind—a deep desire to repeat that perfect dish. To tear apart skin so soft and juicy, to pierce it and reach the layer of fat that worked like the perfect seasoning for red meat.

My body grew excited the more I thought about it. My legs trembled as if a storm of overflowing feelings had fused together, ending in the most satisfying act a woman in her fertile stage could experience.

I noticed I was sweating far too much, so I went out to the schoolyard. In any case, there were still a few minutes left before recess started.

Sitting there, I could see hundreds of boys and girls passing by, just as young as I was.
But I no longer looked at them the same way.

“How are you handling it?”

A familiar voice echoed inside my head.

“I’m Iris.”

My heart stopped for a second.

“Iris!” I shouted out loud.

Everyone turned to look at me. I lowered my head.

“I can hear you. There’s no need to shout so loudly.”

“Where are you?”

“In a nearby place…” she sounded discouraged. “But we can’t meet yet.”

“Why?”

“First you must complete your transformation. Otherwise you might lose control.”

“Lose control?”

“Did you already have that vision?”

I remembered that place where… I did that…

“It wasn’t just a vision. What you saw was real.”

“I ate a man.”

Silence lingered for several seconds. So long that it became uncomfortable.

“You are officially initiated,” she said in a mocking tone. “Now all that’s left is to awaken your other senses. Just remember to focus your prey.”

“Focus my prey?” I said, confused. “What do you mean?”

Iris seemed unable to keep speaking.

“I must go. I’ll contact you later.”

I stopped hearing her voice, and sadness returned to me. For her, for myself, and for what I had become.

A monster.

Leaving school, I ran into an old friend. Her school had been affected by viral issues, so they had given everyone a week off. She had come to visit her cousins who lived in this city. I hadn’t seen her in years.

“Did you go see that movie?”

I answered with complete lack of enthusiasm, but I stayed polite. I didn’t want to tell her what had happened to me.
I don’t think she would have believed me anyway.

In the end we went to her house.

Her aunt served us iced tea—exactly what I needed. The heat was about to kill me.

Drifting through memories of the past, time became painless. We spent hours talking, and I began to feel better.

We had finished the iced tea, but the conversation had been so pleasant that we wanted to keep going. She stood up and said she would go buy something else to drink and eat.

“I won’t be long.”

Alone again, as usual, I sat on the sofa staring out the window to see if something interesting might happen. But the most interesting thing was inside, right next to me.

A boy—her cousin—with short hair and green eyes shyly sat down at the other end of the sofa.

“I– I’m Henry.”

“Me, Cloe.”

Both uncomfortable, we tried to talk, but we interrupted each other on the first attempt.

“S–sorry, you first.”

“Ah, no. I just wanted to know if you still played anything,” I said while moving the glass on the table. “It’s just that it looks like Miriam might take a while.”

He quickly went to his room and brought back a dusty box. From it he pulled a deck of cards full of colors and numbers.

He explained the rules briefly.

“Oh, I think I get it now,” I said while making a move.

When I tried to draw another card from the deck, our hands brushed by accident. And that made me question my mental state.

A bit of saliva slipped from my mouth, which I had to hide with my hands. My eyes couldn’t stop staring at him with the urge to jump on top of him.

I froze for a moment.

My hands filled with overwhelming energy, and my jaw grew tighter and tighter. I could no longer endure this desire to devour him.

I stood up.

And prepared to attack him.

Behind me, a voice was heard.

“I’m back!”