Excerpt: Spark

The Beast opened its eyes. The woman was sitting next to him, what expression was that on her face? Compassion! The Beast shuddered, such a contemptible emotion, a weakness in it servants. With lightning speed it ploughed a crushing blow into her face, once that would have killed a human. Before she could heal it was out the door, loping down the road. Blood, it could smell blood. Where? It sniffed the air, the woman appeared from the house, her face slowly repairing itself. That way. The Beast bolted, there. It jumped and howled with pleasure as it flew through the air. There was a delightful crunch as it landed upon its prey. It was a strong specimen, a man with the air of a warrior, it struggled valiantly, but the Beast was strong, and the pitiable animal beneath his feet was nothing but cattle to feed its eternal hunger. The animal’s face transitioned through a range of emotions, fear, anger, despair, pain. The Beast watched, indulging its schadenfreude. Laughter escaped the lips of the Beast as the animal writhed in pain, it pressed down with its foot, laughing again as it felt several ribs crack. By this time the wretched woman had caught up. The Beast hissed at her, but she neither advanced nor retreated. She simple sat down, she said something, something that tugged at something that wasn’t the Beast. The Beast resolved to ignore her, if he didn’t stop playing and indulge his hunger the animal would lose all its sustenance before it could gorge itself. Already the ground was stained crimson. The Beast crouched over the animal. The woman spoke again.

“Daniel”

The Beast paused, its fangs inches away from the animal’s neck.

“Daniel”

That meant something.

“Daniel”

It was his name. DanielBeast screamed, its claws dug gashes in the pavement. It wavered back and forth as it struggled with itself, alternating between overwhelming hunger and frustrated self-denial. With great effort DanielBeast twisted its lips to form words, a choked sound barely loud as a whisper
“My name is Daniel. I create my own reality. I will not be ruled by my desires.”
Daniel seized that thought, that mantra and repeated it
“My name is Daniel. I create my own reality. I will not be ruled by my desires.”
As his mind regained its former clarity so he added strength to his voice
“My name is Daniel. I create my own reality. I will not be ruled by my desires.”
“My name is Daniel. I create my own reality. I will not be ruled by my desires.”
“My name is Daniel. I create my own reality. I will not be ruled by my desires!”
As he shouted the mantra one last time he withdrew his fangs and stumbled back from the man. Words failed him. He’d frenzied while feeding before, before he learned how long it was safe to go without blood, or when he’d been forced by circumstance to refrain too long, but this was different. His legs finally gave way and he collapsed onto the ground, his mind a dizzying whirlwind of thoughts. One kept spinning around at the fore of his mind. That was too close.