Hush Little Baby ...

The yearning for something raw, coarse. The wild instincts clawed at his insides like nails against a freshly painted wall. He could feel his hands twitching, his legs hurting at the knees from his refusal to run free. But he ignored these obvious signs, like he’d ignored them for so many years. Only now, he knew deep within something had to be done about them.

-x-x-x-x-x-

Drake looked up from his packing, peering over the suitcase lid at the petite woman at his door.

“You’re sure you want to go? Tonight you can stay. Its 31^st.”

“‘Those who leave have a reason more powerful than the one to stay.’”

“The Chosen?”

“The storyteller’s secret.”

“So I’m not enough reason?”

Drake sighed, exasperated at her adamant ways. But for all the show he put up, she was the only woman he’d ever loved. And would ever love. He wasn’t capable of love. He tended to be overly … possessive.

“Mom, I love you. But I can’t stay. I don’t want to hurt you.”

“I don’t understand. Tell me, how will you hurt me?”

Drake shook his head. “You wouldn’t. Understand. Even if I told you. You couldn’t trust me, even if you wanted to.”

“Which one is this now?”

“The story of my life – Drake Lawrence”

The woman let loose a bubbly laugh, reminding Drake of their days with his dad. It hadn’t been a heartbreaking death or a remorseful divorce. They’d simply decided it was best they live apart for a few years. Because of Drake. And his unusual ways.

The woman walked in now, looking around at the bare room. The walls stripped of their ghoulish human-cum-wolfs posters that she’d loved. She trailed her fingers across the scraping paint, at the clotted red here and there. He’d called it art, but her husband had refused to accept it. She couldn’t continue to live with a man who doubted their son.

“Did you find an apartment?”

“Yes. And it is not an apartment, mom. I told you. It is a shared bungalow.”

“Who’s sharing it with you? Have you met her?”

“Yes, I spoke with him. Yesterday. The girl is his sister.”

The woman smiled, hopeful. “You like her?”

Drake’s head snapped up, reddening at the cheeks. “NO.”

The woman nodded, still smiling. For a moment, Drake wondered if she could really do that thing she claimed. If so, could she see the picture he’d painted of the girl in red? His hands twitched and he buried them in the pile of clothes left to fold on his bed.

Half an hour later, his suitcase packed and farewells bid to the only person who cared for him, he lugged the brown weight to a nearby cab. Leaning an arm on the hood, he rapped the window, awakening the sleeping driver.

“Brisbane?” The man looked around, then at the clock flashing on his dashboard. 4:13 p.m.

“Lunch break.”

“Oh come on. I need to be there before sunset. I’ll pay you extra.”

The driver waved a hand, motioning him to stack his luggage in the trunk. At 5:20, they still had a considerable distance to travel. Drake shifted uncomfortably in his seat. At this time of the month with sunset just around the corner, he didn’t know if could afford to delay it any further.

Keeping pace with his raging thoughts, he decided it was best if he walked the remaining distance. “You can stop here. I’ll walk the rest of the way. Nice weather.”

The driver looked incredulously at him, then back at the dashboard. Blowing out a smoke ring, he shook his head of shagged hair furiously. “You’ll reach. Before time.” Drake nodded absently, urging the driver to ‘press down on the accelerator’ every five minutes.

By 6:23, Drake was heaving onto the cobblestone pavement, supporting himself with the edge of the open passenger door. If someone were to see him then, they would think he was just suffering a food poisoning.

But his bloodied face and the still driver said it all.

-x-x-x-x-x-

Brisbane was every inch the suburb Drake had imagined. A walk around the neighborhood had confirmed his suspicions. There wasn’t another soul for miles and all houses next to his were either locked up or up for sale. He wondered what had driven him to choose this particular town, but when he did recall, he wished he hadn’t given it a thought.

Walking back to the impressive mansion of a house, Drake wondered what it felt like to grow up with a sibling. His had run away and blamed it on him. He imagined growing up with one, learning to share … he’d somehow always been efficient at sharing.

A yellow post-it called his attention to the vast but scarcely furnished living area. He walked over to it, tugging it free from a nook between the wall and cabinet.

‘WELCOME HOME! Make yourself comfortable. I’m Ava and I assume you and Noah have spoken. That’s all I can fit on this note. The last room down the hall is yours. See you later!’

He smiled at the sloppy handwriting on the note, just until realization hit him. He remembered Noah’s smiling voice when he’d said Ava was excited to have someone living with them. With no further description, he’d assumed Ava was older, around his age. But the smiley at the note and the poor cursive characteristic of a kid made his blood run cold.

He couldn’t be trusted around children.

After an unnecessarily long shower, Drake systematically opened his bags, pulled out the heavy-duty metal chains, and sat down on the polished floorboards. Clasping one end around his wrist, he circled himself around the chain, locking the other end to the barred window. When he was sure he’d secured himself, he shifted around, finding a spot where the moonlight couldn’t penetrate through the drawn shutters. He rested his head against the hard wall, his mind unwillingly recollecting every time his father had done it for him.

The eager noises woke him from his disturbed sleep. He sat up, wincing when something sharp pricked his back. Second later, he felt warmth seep down his back, but he didn’t feel the pain. No, he felt it, but his growing restlessness and desires overpowered everything. They were so close, he could smell them.

"Noah, Nooooaahhh, he's here, he's here. Can I please go say hi? Just a hi. I won't disturb him."

“A, he might be tired. He’s come a long way.” Before he could protest further, the young girl was already running down the hall, giggling excitedly as she called out for Drake. She knocked politely on the door, before banging it open happily and stepped inside, Noah right behind her.

Drake looked up at them groggily, hoping his eyes conveyed his apologies. He didn’t want to do this. Noah gripped the little girl’s arm, who stared in fascination at the disoriented man in front of her.

“I’m Ava. It’s so nice to meet you. Noah said you have a little sister, just like me.”

Drake nodded, barely able to focus on her words. His mind flashed pictures of heavy chains strewn around a room, of a young girl giggling gleefully as Drake staggered to her. Him clutching her frail body in his arms. Yelling at himself to stop, but being unable to. The sudden terror on her face. Much like on Ava’s.

“I did. Have a sister. But a very, very, bad man took her away. He bit her off and ate her raw.”

Ava’s terrified face morphed, tears running uncontrollably down her face. She was hysteric, clawing with her fragile hands at his face, scraping skin off with her sharp nails. Drake shook her body, screaming in pain and frustration. His body twitched, his eyes flashing between amber and uncanny blue. Noah stared quietly from the corner of the room, where he’d retired to when Drake stared speaking, explaining her fate in detail to the little girl.

He didn’t want to do this either, but unlike Drake, he could control himself. He would wait for the prey to come to him. It always came to him.

He’d ensured that when he’d first bitten Drake, years ago, in their garage.

-x-x-x-x-x-

A week later –

“Was she ours?” Noah looked up questioningly at Drake, who was staring at the checked tiles of the kidney-shaped pool. The water gave them an eerie, undulating look, making the water seem shallower than it was.

“What do you mean?” Noah seemed to ponder over it for a second, then blinked at Drake. “Oh. Yeah. But not mom’s.”

Drake nodded absently. When he looked up, Noah was smiling at him softly. Somehow, Drake knew what he was going to say and smiled back at him.

“You know, mom always loved you best. Because you brought home the food.”