"The Hunted" by Vera L Scudder

The Hunted

"You're going to die tonight."

Her voice was casual, matter of fact. Her deep brown eyes never wavered from mine; her painted lips twitched with the beginnings of a smile. Her long, pale fingers stroked the back of my hand almost soothingly.

"The only question that remains is will you be alive tomorrow night."

I drew my hand out of hers and shoved my chair away from the table. "Lady, you're crazy," I declared angrily, getting to my feet.

"A shame really," she observed wistfully, studying her folded hands. "I would have given you eternity." She shook herself out of her strangely dreamy state and turned her attention back to me. Her eyes were coldly intense now, filled with a steely determination. "Go ahead, my brave soldier. You can run but you can't hide."

I left her there, utterly furious. How dare she?! I was twenty years old, well over six feet tall and had about a hundred pounds on her. That crazy woman couldn't have been more than eighteen and was barely over five feet tall. For her to so calmly declare she was going to kill me without a gun in her hand was maddeningly ludicrous.

I wondered briefly how she had known I was a soldier but quickly dismissed the thought. I lived in a military town, wore a military haircut and possessed that indefinable something that practically shouts 'soldier'. All of my friends possessed this quality that bound us together and set us apart from everyone else.

I had met her in the bar earlier. She had been charming, flirting so casually she seemed almost unaware of doing so. With her big brown eyes and cloud of long dark hair, she had seemed so innocent, so lost in the noisy bar. I had been drawn to her, hypnotized by the promise in her eyes. It was just my luck that she had turned out to be a lunatic.

I got in my car and peeled out of the parking lot, seething. I was angry at her for her insane declaration and angry at myself for being drawn in by her.

I stopped at the liquor store around the corner from my apartment and bought a case of beer. I thought I'd just get good and drunk and forget about the pretty girl with her hypnotic eyes.

I soon got home and ordered a pizza. I flopped down on the couch, popped the top of the first beer and turned the television on. By the time the pizza arrived, I was calming down enough to begin to wonder how I was going to tell my buddies about this one without looking like a fool. I could already hear their jeers and mocking laughter in my head as I opened the door for the delivery guy.

I had finished the pizza and was sprawled on the couch when I became aware of a presence in the apartment. I heard the stereo in my bedroom come on, playing some classical number with lots of violins and sprang to my feet, gazing around wild eyed. The windows were all closed and the door was still locked so there was no way someone could have gotten in.

The door to the bedroom opened slowly and the girl from the bar stepped into the opening. She was still wearing that little red dress she had on in the bar but now she had a sultry, seductive air that had been absent during our earlier encounter. There was something dark about her now that both attracted and repelled me as she stood posing in the doorway.

"Now. Let's try this again, my brave soldier," she said and I saw the sharp fangs in her mouth as she spoke.

That's when I finally realized that she was right. I was going to die tonight.