Page 6 of Insatiable Hunger

“Alastair,” I called to the wolf as he broke from whatever trance haunted him. He casually stepped to my side as if nothing had happened. “Come on, let’s go.”

Together, we headed toward the gas station. I hesitated a moment before glancing back over my shoulder, uneasy as to what I might see. The forest remained as it was before, the unearthly red eyes absent. Alastair brushed past me as I held the door open, exhaling a sigh of relief.It was probably just an owl or something,I tried to reason with myself, to make sense of what I saw.Pull your shit together. There’s nothing out there in these woods that you should be scared of.

Chapter

Five

ALASKA

Alastair stepped through the door of the musty old gas station, his usual demeanor returned as Lazarus followed behind him wearing a weird expression. He looked at me, forcing a smile before weaving through the aisles. Cain’s grip across my waist tightened as he led me from the reach-in refrigerator to the checkout counter.

Sitting behind the counter was an older, rough looking man. He wore a weathered baseball hat and had a long, tangled, heavy gray beard that matched his short, disheveled hair and overgrown, bushy brows. His dried, wrinkled skin looked as though it had sat in the sun for years, clashing against his uncaring eyes. Unknown stains soaked the aged flannel shirt he wore buttoned beneath his faded overalls. He watched us closely with jaundiced eyes tucked beneath dark bags of exhaustion that hung from his sockets. Cain placed a case of beer on the counter, pulling his wallet from the back pocket of his jeans. He tossed a stack of bills across the counter at the man with no emotion.

“That’s for the beer and whatever that’ll give us.” He turned his head, motioning towards his car parked in front of the rusted gas pump.

The hillbilly reached his frail arm out, snatching the cash with dirty hands, grunting as his fat fingers slammed the keys of the old cash register. He glanced throughout the small store, eyeing each of us individually before settling back on Cain and myself. “ID?” Cain scoffed, retrieving his driver’s license, tossing the thin card across the counter at the man. His wrinkled fingers held the ID up as he examined it in contrast to Cain. He grunted, sliding the card back to him. “I’d be careful with that there dog of yours. Dangerous things be hidin’ in these woods.” He huffed, revealing his discolored teeth, a few of them missing as he retrieved some coins from the register.

I glanced back at Alastair, who was behaving perfectly well next to Lazarus as he scanned a newspaper. “He’s not a dog,” I snapped, turning to meet the old man’s eyes. “Besides, he can handle himself just fine.”

He stood still for a moment, making me feel uneasy, before moving his eyes back to the register. “You kids must be from out of town.” The statement felt heavy as he slapped the change across the counter.

Cain reached for the coins, grabbing the case of beer, rolling his eyes. “No shit.”

Ruby and Jinx approached the checkout counter beaming, their arms filled with various snacks and drinks. They pushed Cain and I apart as they unburdened themselves of the junk food, patiently waiting to pay. Jinx looked at Ruby.

“I think I grabbed the entire stock of licorice,” she signed. Ruby giggled.

“Nothing wrong with that,” she responded with her hands. She then leaned over, giving Jinx a sweet kiss. The man’s expression hardened as he carefully eyed Ruby and me. I could feel him glaring into our glowing irises, mine meeting his as I silently challenged his gaze. He forced his eyes away, totaling up their cost, Ruby paying as they gathered everything. The groupcollectively began to exit the gas station when the man suddenly shouted a warning from behind the counter, his words hitting me like a brick.

“Be careful out there. You never know what might be hiding in those trees.” Cain held the door for me, oblivious to the man’s warning, but I glanced back to see the hillbilly staring with dark eyes. “The habitants of New Bedeville don’t take kindly to strangers.” He pointed in my direction, his finger shaking. “Specially notyour kind.”

Chapter

Six

ALASKA

The small-town road had turned to a single lane as we veered deeper into the woods in the supposed direction of the cabin. Mountains had grown from simple hills, surrounding us in all directions, keeping us tucked well within their giant grasp. The old man’s warning echoed in my mind, leaving me uneasy as Cain drove the six of us further into the thick forest, far away from any sign of human life. Only faint glimpses of the moon could reach us as they lit our path.

Jinx had fallen asleep in Ruby’s lap as she stroked her ginger hair, playing with her magic. The rich, maroon embers flickered from her fingertips as they swirled in the air above, forming tiny little moths that fluttered against the roof of the car. Cain was too focused on driving to notice, but Lazarus watched as Ruby’s fiery insects twirled above their heads, forming a warm spectacle.

“You should really be careful with your magic,” I spoke quietly over my shoulder back to Ruby. Her glowing eyes met mine in the rearview mirror as she raised a brow.

“Not all of us are ashamed of our gifts—”

“I’m not ashamed,” I snapped, turning to face her.

“Easy.” Cain lightly rubbed my leg, his eyes fixated on the road ahead.

“Just hesitant.” Ruby’s expression remained hard. “Look at all that’s happened to our ancestors for openly doing the same as you,” I pointed out to her. “They were hunted down and murdered. Many were burned for simply possessing that same mindset.” Ruby pressed her lips together, unable or unwilling to argue her point. “Besides,” I flicked my finger as a tall, single pale blue flame burned from my fingertip, “I’m not exactly sure if I would call this ‘power’ a gift.”

“Ahhh, Ruby’s just bitter ‘cause her power isn’t as strong as yours,” Lazarus teased, trying to break the odd tension.

“I’m not bitter,” she hissed, her magic falling from the air like glitter. “Besides, how wouldyoueven know the extent of her power—”

“We’re here,” Cain shot through the car, interrupting our conversation.

Cain drove the car along a winding gravel path, the rough movements waking Jinx. I stared out the window, admiring the endless mountains. The forest grew strong and firm to our right while a feeble wooden railing stretched alongside the road to our left. The headlights slowly revealed the silhouette of a small, two-story wooden cabin in the distance. I leaned forward, squinting, my breath fogging the glass as I peered out into the darkness, watching as we slowly drove closer to the cabin. It was seeded deep within the wooded mountains, isolated from everything and everyone. An uneasiness slowly crept over me as Cain pulled closer and parked the car. The moon was high in the night sky, casting heavy shadows onto the empty cabin, soaking it in cold darkness.

---