1
Amy feels the shadow pass over her as she sleeps, a cold darkness penetrating her soul. Her consciousness stirs behind her closed eyes. Usually when he enters the room, Amy keeps her eyes shut. Trying to block out as much as possible.
But this shadow is different.
It isn’t her brother.
And it doesn’t instill fear.
Amy opens her eyes, but nobody is there, just the outlines of shapes in her bedroom. The shadow has departed. And with it, so has her fears. It is as if the shadow has lifted all the bad feelings from inside her and left with them.
No, it is more than that.
She doesn’t have any feelings left.
Every emotion has been stripped away.
Amy lies in the darkness recalling memories. Her mum cutting up a melon on a summer’s day and serving pieces to all the family. Her dad carrying her on his shoulders as they walked through a Christmas parade. Her brother entering her room at night and forcing her to have sex with him.
Where she used to feel happiness or terror, now she is numb. She thinks clinically about how her brother has been abusing her for over a year. Not abusing. Raping. With the threat that if she ever tells their parents, he will kill her.
Amy is fourteen. Her brother is eighteen. He is a lot bigger and stronger than she is. But it isn’t just the physical threat. Until now, she has been filled with guilt and humiliation. That somehow his actions are her fault. That if she ever tells her parents, it will rip her family apart. But that was before the shadow passed over her.
She no longer feels afraid.
Or humiliated.
Or guilty.
Amy steps out of bed, oblivious to the cold air. Under her pajamas, goosebumps run up her skin. She is aware of the sensation but it doesn’t carry any deeper feeling. Without turning on the light, Amy zombie-walks out of the room.
She goes down to the kitchen, picks the sharpest knife from the rack, makes her way back upstairs. The rest of the family are fast asleep. Amy guesses it is three or four in the morning. She pauses outside her brother’s room.
It is only a brief hesitation, Amy opening the door and entering. Her brother stirs in bed. Amy doesn’t panic, simply waits until her eyes are fully adjusted. Her brother has turned onto his back, leaving his chest partially exposed.
Biology lessons come back to Amy. Without any emotion clouding her judgement, she is able to clearly recall everything she’s learnt, knows where the heart is located. Amy steps forward and thrusts the knife with all her force into her brother’s heart.
Her brother’s eyes blink open in shock, his body convulsing. Amy watches dispassionately until the silent seizures stop. And then she walks across the hallway to her own bedroom.
As she slips back into bed, something flickers in her peripheral vision. She looks over to the window, but there is no movement behind the curtains. The shadow has come and gone. Amy knows there will be no sign that it was ever there. But she doesn’t mind. She is able to sleep well now.
Luc moves out of the house’s shadow, stalks away from the empty suburban street. He avoids streetlamps, hoodie covering his face, hiding his haunted good looks. Just in case anyone is awake at four in the morning. But he is the lone figure.
As always.
Luc turns the corner, reaches the car. It is a nondescript Ford that he picked up in the last city, Luc keeping a low profile wherever he goes. He turns on the ignition, making sure he doesn’t rev the engine. He doesn’t want to wake anyone.
But he needs to get out of town fast.
Because he is buzzing with energy.
Filled to the brim with emotions.
Luc cruises out of Wichita, trying not to press down hard on the accelerator as he passes the suburban houses and picket fences. Waiting until he is on a country road and then dialing up the speed.
The adrenalin rush is starting to hit. As soon as he is far enough away from the scene, he needs to park up or he will go crazy and crash. His heart is already racing. Luc’s eyes darting from the speedometer to the road ahead, on the lookout for a turning.
He spots a track, leading into woodland. Luc focuses, using his remaining self-control, turns into the wood. He bumps along the old track, comes to a stop by a disused farmhouse. Luc has a sixth sense for safe havens, especially once his senses are heightened.
Luc gets out of the car, leaving the door open as he stumbles towards the derelict building. He wants to smash down the remaining walls, to tear up the trees. Rage roaring through Luc as he feels the fury of a young girl raped repeatedly by her brother.
Inside the old farmhouse, Luc finds a cobweb-covered table and chairs. Luc picking them up and smashing them against the wall until they are broken and splintered. He drops the chair leg in his hand, the anger subsiding. It is time for the tears.
Luc curls up in the corner, starts to sob. He feels every sorrow of the girl, tears streaming down his face. He hears her voice, the girl asking herself why her brother abuses her. Luc knows the answer. Because humans are cruel, that is why. But still the emotions keep flooding through his veins.
Guilt, shame, humiliation.
Luc absorbs it all.
He lives off it.
Like Dracula, but feeding off people’s emotions rather than their blood.
Luc can’t help it.
It is who he is.
The surge is starting to wear off. Luc regaining control. Still with emotions swirling through him, but in steady eddies of energy. Luc is alive.
He stands up, dusts himself off, walks back out to the car. Luc is alert but not hyper. He reverses along the track in a perfectly straight line, turns back onto the main road and continues west.
Luc doesn’t have an exact route, but knows he has to keep moving. Never staying in the same place as he drives from state to state across the USA. He can’t risk ever being caught. Though if you ask him, he is doing people a favor.
Take the young girl whose emotions he’s just taken. She will no longer be living in fear, won’t have any more sadness inside her. Ok, she won’t be feeling anything, but at least her bastard of a brother won’t ever rape her again.
And in return, Luc has got his fill of emotion for another week. The girl was a good choice, supplying him with a bigger dosage than usual. Though he can feel female teenage hormones kicking in.
Luc turns on the radio, switches between stations until he finds a tune he likes. Or more what the girl would like. Luc singing along to Ariana Grande as he heads out of Kansas and onto his next destination.
