Chapter3

The two goons dragged me down the dark hallway.

The heavy steel door slammed shut. The deadbolt locked from the outside.

I was trapped.

I stayed curled on the floor, shivering violently. I slowly opened my eyes.

The room was lit by a single, buzzing fluorescent tube.

In the corner, a pile of dirty plush toys sat next to a metal table.

The table was covered in heavy tools. Pliers. Hammers. A hacksaw.

"My toy."

Bobby stood under the flickering light.

His shirt was soaked in sweat. His belly hung completely over his belt.

He was breathing heavily through his mouth.

Thump. Thump. Thump.

His heartbeat echoed in the small room.

My venom glands swelled beneath my jaw. The hunger was blinding.

'Swallow. Restrain yourself, Serena.'

We do not eat the innocent. We only gorge on the sinful.

Bobby was technically mentally disabled. A man-child.

If he was just a fat, stupid observer who didn't actually hurt anyone, his heart would be useless to me.

I needed proof that this pig's hands were dirty.

"Please..." I whispered. "Please don't hurt me."

His small, piggish eyes roamed up and down my clothing.

He started to laugh.

"Daddy says I get to break the toys," Bobby grunted.

He took a heavy step forward. The floorboards groaned.

"Take the clothes off. Now. Play the game." Bobby reached down and unbuckled his belt.

"I'm scared," I whimpered. "Have you... have you played this game with other girls before?"

Bobby paused. A dopey, proud smile spread across his fat face.

"Lots of girls," He clapped his meaty hands together.

"Oh?" I whispered. I let my voice tremble perfectly. "What happened to them? Where are they?"

"They always cry! They scream and scratch! They don't want to play nice with Bobby!"

When he turned around, he was holding a mallet..

A spiked steel mallet.

The steel grids were clogged with bits of blonde hair and dried scalp.

"What did you do when they cried, Bobby?" I asked quietly.

"I hit them," Bobby breathed heavily. He stroked the bloody mallet. "I hit the blonde one right on the head. Crack! Just like an egg!"

He laughed hysterically. Drool flew from his mouth.

"She stopped crying. She went to sleep.

But Daddy lied! Daddy said they're fun to take apart.

But after I hit her with the hammer, she just bled everywhere. She broke too fast!"

He walked back toward me.

He raised the massive, spiked mallet above his head. His eyes were completely black with sadistic lust.

"You better not break too fast." he whispered.

Complete silence swallowed the room.

I stopped crying. My hands dropped to my sides.

I slowly pushed myself off the filthy floor.

Bobby stopped walking. He blinked.

"Take the clothes off," he demanded, confused by my sudden change in posture.

I looked up into his sweaty, ugly face.

My mouth stretched open wide .

"What the fuck..." Bobby whispered

My cheap jeans ripped apart at the seams.

The sound of my leg bones breaking '

My legs fused together, stretching instantly into a massive, heavily muscled serpent tail.

I didn't shed my human skin. Not yet. I was only nineteen.

The curse required me to wait until the midnight of my twentieth birthday to molt and become truly beautiful.

But right now? I didn't care about beauty. I just needed the food.

My human fingernails elongated into sleek, razor-sharp black talons.

"No! No! I'm a good boy!" Bobby wailed. He pissed his pants. A dark stain spread across his trousers.

He scrambled backward, raising the mallet.

He was too slow.

I lunged.

My black talons easily punched straight through his thick, fat chest.

"ARRRRGHHH!" Bobby screamed. Blood spewed violently from his lips.

I grabbed his sternum and ripped it wide open.

My fingers felt the heat. I wrapped my talons around a massive, thumping muscle.

His heart.

It was still twitching. Heavy.

I brought it to my mouth '

Thick, boiling blood burst against my tongue.

I chewed the tough, corrupted muscle. It tasted like raw grease.

When I finally swallowed the last bite, the heat hit my stomach like a furnace.

I let out a long, shuddering sigh of pure ecstasy.

The agonizing, clawing hunger in my gut was instantly gone.

It was replaced by a wild, intoxicating rush of raw, crackling power.

I looked down at my hands.

My skin was still dry. Patches of cheap foundation peeled around my neck.

But I had the strength of a god running through my veins.

My serpent tail slowly melted away, splitting back into two skinny human legs.

My black talons shortened back into ragged fingernails.

I licked the blood off my lips.

Then, I heard it.

Click. Clack.

Footsteps in the hallway.

"Bobby? You done yet? The old man is getting impatient. Don't hog the merchandise."

Julian.

My ears twitched. My smile faded into a cold, calculating line.

I could have ripped the door open and taken his heart right now.

But I need his heart in my 20th birthday..

I needed a ride home.

I immediately dropped to the floor.

I dragged myself into the corner, pressing my back against the wall. I smeared Bobby's blood across my own face and legs, making myself look like a terrified survivor.

Julian pushed the door open.

"Jesus, Bobby."

Julian froze.

His eyes locked onto Bobby's massive, lifeless body on the mattress. The chest cavity was ripped completely open. The heart was gone.

"What... what the fuck..." Julian breathed.

He took a large step back. The color drained from his arrogant face.

He grabbed a pistol

"Julian!" I screamed.

Julian whipped his gun toward me.

He stared at me trembling in the corner.

I looked absolutely pathetic.

"Serena...?" he choked out. "What happened to him? Who did this?!"

"A monster!" I sobbed, pointing a shaking finger at the air vents. "It... it came out of the shadows! It was huge! It had black scales! It just grabbed him and... and tore his chest open!"

Julian looked up at the ceiling. He was terrified. He was a mafia boy. He shot people for a living. He didn't know how to fight a monster.

"It grabbed his heart!" I cried. "It ate it! And then it squeezed back into the pipes! Julian, please, don't leave me here! It's going to come back for me!"

I crawled across the bloody floor toward him.

"I'll do anything," I whispered, making my voice tremble with ultimate desperation. "Please, just take me out of here. Take me home."

Julian backed up slightly.

"Home? Are you crazy?" Julian snapped. " I'm not taking you anywhere. You're dead weight."

I cried, shaking my head violently. "I lied to you at the bar! I was just running away from my mother! My family... my family owns an estate. Near the Blackwater Swamp."

"We're rich, Julian. So rich. My mother hides millions in cash under the floorboards."

I watched his eyes flicker at the word 'millions'. The fear started to recede. The greed took over.

"And..." I let out a soft, broken breath. "I shouldn't tell you this... but I have a beautiful sister there."

I looked deep into his eyes. I wove a subtle, hypnotic rhythm into my voice.

"If you think I'm just an ugly stray, Julian... you haven't seen her. She is breathtaking and has never been touched by a man."

Julian stared at me.

His ego won the battle. He thought he had outsmarted everyone.

He slowly lowered his gun.

A cruel, greedy smirk crawled back onto his handsome face.

"An estate near the swamp, huh?" Julian muttered.

He grabbed my arm and roughly yanked me to my feet

"Alright, sweetheart. You're gonna give me the exact directions.

But if you're lying, I'll put a bullet in your head."

"I promise," I whimpered.

"Let's get out the back door before Old Vito sees this mess," Julian said.

He gripped my arm tightly and dragged me into the dark hallway.

He didn't look back at Bobby’s corpse.

And because he was walking in front of me, he couldn't see my face.

He couldn't see my bloody lips curling into a massive, terrifying smile.

Yes, Julian.

Put me in the car.

Drive me into the dark woods.

He thought he was going to steal a fortune .

He had no idea he was delivering himself to ancient predators.

I couldn't wait to see the look on Prince Charming's face when he knew the truth..