Where the Dead Fear to Tread

The Devourer crouched carefully in a tree above the park as dusk turned to darkness. His muscles taught, his body unmoving; his form hidden. In the shadows his dark attire assisted his total emersion from the light. A blindfold of dark cloth is wrapped around his head, but he sees. The cloth billows in the breeze as the air rushes past him. He sees himself and all around him. His dark eyes levitate behind him, before traveling from the tree to the path below him, searching for prey.

He is selective about his food, and is often reminded of the grotesque nature of overindulgence. His eyes travel unnoticed past a fat woman in a tank top, her ass too large for her pants the top exposed and tanned, differing from her pale arms jutting from her tank top; indicating which area is more often exposed. She sits content and alone with a bag from McDonald’s. To overindulge off of filth disgusts the Devourer more than selective gluttony. So many of their Gods forbid the eating of pork. Ignoring their Gods the people became swine. Not fit for consumption. His eyes travel farther up the park’s path staying seven and a half feet from the ground, ensuring they are unnoticed by the park’s occupants. His eyes travel finding a jogger.

The man is fit and keeping a good pace with little effort, and with this observation the Devourer feels his hunger grow as the man moves along the path to his body. A light sweat builds on the man’s brow. He moves past the Devourer’s vision eyes dropping behind the man and begin to follow him. The man’s stride is strong endorphins entering his system giving him a runner’s high.

The eager eyes follow the man back toward the Devourer, from a low angle and look up watching closely for himself. When his eyes come upon his own dark shadow from the tree they rise. The eyes move above him in preparation to look straight down at ensuing encounter. The Devourer removes the blindfold from around his eyes keeping his eyelids closed as he jumps down in front of the man, stopping him completely. The man takes a moment to register the tall dark figure before him. Slowly The Devourer lifts his lids. The jogger’s gaze locks into the empty sockets. The stare holds him fixed unable to bring his eyes away and flee.

The Devourer waits for the briefest moment, allowing the man’s fear to trigger a dopamine rush. The mingling of pleasure and fear in the man’s system is a flavor the Devourer anticipates. Reaching forward he grabs the jogger’s tense shoulder, h his sharp nails extending into the jogger’s flesh, delving into the muscle tissue and drawing blood. The blood’s scent is pungent. A scent that alerting the Devourer that his meal is ready. The mingling of dopamine and endorphins is complete.

Watching himself from above he sees his mouth open wide, giving the jogger view of his two large fangs. Sinking his long fangs into the jogger’s neck tightly to avoid spilling his meal upon himself. Intently he watches himself drink the man’s blood, the visual of himself adding to his pleasure.

With a quick rhythm The Devourer swallows the man’s blood, and the jogger’s body begins to loose tension. The once strong muscles go limp in the grip of his attacker, a result of the blood loss and the Devourer’s saliva mixing into the man’s blood stream. Weakening him as more endorphins are triggered.

As the blood continues to mix the taste turns sour and the Devourer releases his prey. The jogger unable to stand under his own power falls limply to the ground. A small trickle of blood continues to stream down the neck of his worn body, before the wound begins to clot. Perhaps the man will survive perhaps not, it is of no consequence to the Devourer. Keeping his gaze locked upon himself from above he carefully reaffixes his blindfold to the lowered lids of his bare sockets. Taking out a white collapsible cane, and with a single violent motion flicks it open to reveal a single red stripe upon the end. With his rouse in place he leaves the man alone to whatever fate finds him, watching himself return home, fulfilled in the acquisition of his meal.