Killer

• Emily Ricketts, Grade 7
• Short Story
• 2011

I can hear their subtle heart beats, the blood pulsing through their hearts, their body. The wet sound accompanied by each beat. My mind frame changed. I was in hunt mode. They weren’t humans to me anymore, they were prey. I calculated the distance between us. They were ruthless criminals, I made sure. I did not want to inflict any pain on the innocent. One small leap and I would be on them, their warm skin under my crushing grip, their blood flowing through me, quenching the fire in my throat. The warm blood pooling in my mouth as they desperately tried to escape. Their screams silenced as I drained their bodies of life… “Focus,” I whispered to myself almost inaudibly, enough that they did not know I was there.
I leapt forward, grabbing the man closest to me, and hurtled him to the ground. I landed on top of him, just as he registered what was happening. He began to scream, but it was too late for him, I sunk my sharp teeth into his soft neck. His blood wasn’t as good as others; he clearly had a life around drugs. It tasted dirty, contaminated. But I hadn’t hunted for days, and this was as good as anything. All of two seconds had passed.
The other human, a woman of about 30, was gaping in shock. She had no chance. I shot forward and grabbed her, just after I’d drained her partner, and emptied her body too. I was a cold-blooded killer, and this was my way of life. Not that I minded much. I heard sirens in the distance, and realized that they were heading in my direction. ‘Bloody hell.’ I breathed, as the gathering sirens grew closer. Then I giggled at myself over the irony. Blood was all I thought, every second of the day. Even after I had had enough blood to satisfy the fire in my throat, it was still there, in the back of my mind.
The two bodies were lying there, completely unresponsive, a mess of blood stained into the alleyway, and I knew I had to dispose of them. I positioned them over my shoulder and took off to an open field. I ran through a forest, and the trees whipped against my exposed, pale skin. Each twig felt like needles piercing my flesh, but it didn’t bother me; I was indestructible.
The forest was thinning, and the sun slowly began to make its ascent into the sky. I reached the opening, and paused for a moment to take in the silence of the morning. It wouldn’t be this way for long. I felt around in my pocket and fished out a box of matches. Throwing the bodies to the ground, I lit the match and tossed it on top of them. Their bodies smoked up in flames…