《Life with a Dangerous Bride》 Chapter 1: The Abduction --James, Black Vehicle-- When did this all began? I had thought this line a few passing times, in a sense of denial kind of way. I was trying to play the hapless victim in my head, not understanding the how, when or why of the situation at hand. But it was only denial, I knew. I just didn''t think that I would be transferred into a new, unknown environment due to my actions. I was currently in a vehicle with padded, black seats. I don''t really know automobile very well, but I do know that these bulky vehicles with men wearing overly formal attire were all apart of the government. I have heard quite a few rumors involving these types of people, but I had assumed they were either baseless rumors, or they would be uninterested in someone like me. When they first came to pick me up, I admit I was a little apprehensive with joining them. I actually tried to pick a fight with them until they held a tranquilizer to my person. It must have been funny to a third party onlooker, seeing a rough guy being rather unruly only to become extremely docile and accommodating the very next moment. Thankfully they only limited their actions to threats of using excessive force if I showed noncompliance. Still, after my nerves settled, and being cooped up in the cabin next to them, I tried talking to them to see if I could glean some information, to no avail. The scenery kept passing by, we seemed to never stop moving, even passed by a few cities and towns. How long have we been driving? It''s not like the people who abducted me acted like statues, they just ignored my existence. One of the men had his phone out constantly, occasionally flicking his thumb upward. Hold on, is that...? I caught a glimpse in the reflection in the window as the darkening skies made seeing the inner reflections easier to see. He was reading a book online, the details of which I cannot discern. After I had exhausted all of which I could interact with within the cabin, I turned my gaze outward. Still not sufficiently entertaining but it was soothing enough looking at all the passing silhouettes of trees and buildings pass by to let my mind wander.Royal Road is the home of this novel. Visit there to read the original and support the author. I think back to my childhood, I spent most of my time in the orphanage. I don''t really remember my family before then. I was told that they had died in an accident. When I was transferred over to the orphanage, everyone treated me like family. After a few years of staying in St. Jermaine''s Orphanage, I had taken on the task of daily chores and role model for the smaller, newer orphans. I remember the times when running through the field with five of them chasing me and vice versa. Tiger Hunts we called it; sometimes I hunted them, sometimes they hunted me. Now that I am a little older, looking back, that wasn''t a very morally wholesome game. I think it all started when the younger kids that I played with mistook the stripes on my tail for that of a Tiger-kin. It was an unspoken rule in the orphanage to ask about each other''s race, besides you could generally tell by the tails and ears. I remember acting haughty of this and acted a little more aggressive. I think at one point, I had one of the caretakers convinced. How embarrassing. Embarrassing as the memories maybe,they were still some of my most precious memories. I think I even fooled myself for the longest while, but Tiger-kin ears are different than mine. I have forgotten what my original race was to begin with. Tabby-kin? Lynx-kin? Doesn''t matter. For all I know, I could be a mixed breed. But putting these thoughts and insecurities behind me was something I was good at, despite them cropping back from time to time. I dedicated myself to this identity, one of which got me into a few scraps to say the least. Remembering the fights from the early days, I remember losing a lot of them, then with sharpening my skills, I got really good, really fast. But before I knew it, no one was fighting any more, I was even called feral by a teacher at one point. I think that was right as I entered High School. Despite being an all boys school, no fights took place because of the looming reality that was closing in. I had to adapt or die. Or so it felt. I studied my tail off, where it hardly mattered previously, just to pass these tests to better adapt to the civilized society that was adulthood. My ending score on the final test was good enough to get me into a few colleges of some renown, but mostly local colleges were available. That was fine by me. I didn''t really have time to think about a Major. After the graduation ceremony we had little time to actually rest as we would have to either enter the workforce or go to college the following semester. Then again people with actually families could go back to those while they took their time. I couldn''t return to the orphanage to live but I did go back to celebrate and say goodbye, which I got to do before these fine men in black came. Which brings me back to my current predicament. With the graduation ceremony, the celebration, the tear jerking goodbye and then the abduction, it''s no wonder my eyelids are heavy. Stifling a yawn, I noticed that the silhouettes were harder to see now that it had gotten really dark, but my thoughts wandered some more. What does my future look like? Chapter 2: The Dormitory Forest --James, Mysterious Location(?)-- ¡°...have arrived¡± a voice fading into my consciousness. Did I fall asleep? I groggily lifted my head from the car door. It was miraculous that I lifted my head when I did because the car door popped open. Gingerly stepping out of the car I popped my back and stretched my stiff neck. Other than the horrible sleeping position I was in and the general queasiness that accompanies sleeping in a moving vehicle, I felt fine. It was after a bout of stretching and popping joints that I noticed I was completely surrounded by men in black, which would have given me a heart attack if not for the fact the memory started to catch up with me. It was clear they were just transporting me somewhere, I just didn''t know for what nefarious purpose. Looking around, it seemed we were parked at the back of a giant building with trees and other buildings nearby. From this angle though, it was difficult to know where I was given that there was no discernible landmark to even clue me in on the functionality of this facility. Where did these fiendish bastards take me? While I was starting to get tense again, another vehicle, black, pulled up next to the one I rode in. Stepping out was more men in black, a guy in a white lab coat and a geezer in a plaid dress uniform, quite tacky. Strangely I couldn''t identify his species by sight alone, as he only had two nubs left where ears should be. As the lab coat man and the geezer approached he snapped his fingers and one of the featureless thugs handed over a stack of papers. While marching over he gave a quick glance at the documents. ¡°Name: James, no family name, orphan?¡± He looks up but doesn''t pause long enough for a reply, ¡°Age: 18, Education: high school graduate. Species: Tiger-kin, and achievements: none noteworthy.¡± He looked back at me then back at the paper as he came to a halt just out of arms reach. Getting a better look at this lab coat wearing marauder, he seems to a bear-kin of some sort, not sure which since it''s only his black ears poking out of his black ponytail. He readjusted his glaces on his sharp face before looking me over. I felt my ears fold back a little. I do not like being under the gaze of this man. It''s been awhile since I threw down, I''d be happy to scrap with this man, I could take him... but we were surrounded by what seemed ten of his lackeys that were close to body builder proportions. I guess, I''ll let him live. I smirked to myself. He glanced at my tail and ears respectively, ¡°Ah, perhaps a Toyger? Lynx? Tabby, no, not enough orange fur.¡± He grasped his chin, ¡°Filthy mix-breed? Bah, matters not, you look close enough, plus we are out of time. Walk with me.¡± My smile dropped. He deduced I wasn''t a Tiger-kin... well not that I can actually prove I am or not, but my ears should be a dead give away... I was kind of forced into his pace but I didn''t have to like it. ¡°Who are you? Where are we? Why am I here?¡± I demanded. While walking behind the Lab coat man, he seemed pleased with my response as he nodded to himself, ¡°At least he has guts, no brains but guts.¡± He cleared his throat before addressing me, ¡°It seems fair you are privy to this situation. I am Markus Greyplain, Lead Population Engineer. Forty-seven years experience in my field. And this,¡± he motioned to the old geezer to his right, ¡°is Dean Jakob Rivers, and we are at his college, Azlon''s Pride University.¡± My mouth fell open. This, this is APU? ¡°The rear entrance to a dormitory anyway.¡± Ah... why? I tilted my head. Feeling my chance to speak again, ¡°Why are we here? Why the dorm? Population? Dean?¡± I felt ridiculous for the one word questions at the end, but my head was spinning, maybe a lingering effect from the motion sickness. Markus pushes open a door that looked an awful lot like a fire escape exit, while the dean spoke, ¡°Well,well young man. You barely scraped by on your test results I had to unreasonably-gladly grade an hour ago. You are fully qualified to be apart of APU''s family, though this is an expedient request from the government, your tuition shall be taken care of as long as you pass the classes.¡± The dean pulls a handkerchief from his blouse pocket to wipe away sweat, and mumbled, ¡°can''t believe my school gets targeted for a Pop-uff!¡± The dean seemed to receive a sharp elbow to the ribs. Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon. The dean gave a nasty glare before straightening up and smiled at me, ¡°I just ask you follow the guidelines, and welcome to Azlon''s pride. Glasses over there will fill you in the- no, I guess he won''t...¡± He shook his head, while turning to walk away from us and threw a key over his shoulder, ¡°Your room is 100, technically you didn''t have to be here for another three weeks, so this is orientation time for you. Your roommate will give you a tour. I guess the government really wants to keep tabs- goodbye for now, if you have any questions I''ll be at my office during more reasonable hours.¡± He mumbled the last bit as he walked off into the night. With a soft clank and squeal the door open behind me and I was ushered into the building before the door was promptly closed behind me. A soft thump at my feet made me look down to see a familiar camping bag. They even had my belongs prepacked. I turned around and realized I was alone. With another clanking sound that reassured me the door was shut, I heard the fading footsteps from the other side of the door. I am now alone, huh. Well, I guess the silent treatment kinda prepared me for this unceremonious abandonment, then again it is at an ungodly hour. Turning around, I faced a long hall way with a few doors on either side. I didn''t see the front entrance straight ahead so I assumed that it was around the bend. To my right was a stairwell and a plaque. Getting closer to the plaque it told me the basic layout of the building, this floor held all the room numbers that started with a one, the next floor contained all the rooms that started with a two and so on, so forth. Simple, but where is #100... Having no other choice I followed the windy hallway. It might just be me, but it seem that the tile beneath some of the doors was way colder than others. Beneath one such door was a puddle of water, seemed like a hazard. After wandering the hallway one way and back the other way because the room was no where to be found. I gave up and looked at the plaque in the stairwell again...
500-525 5th Floor
400-425 4th Floor
300-325 3rd Floor
201-225 2nd Floor
Looking down the plaque, I couldn''t understand what I was missing..
101-125 1st Floor
100 B1 Floor
200 B2 Floor
Then I realized my mistake... I was too caught up in the simplicity of the structure that my mind made some assumptions. Damn. Glad that it was lights out and the that this blunder would be a secret kept between me and whomever watched the security cameras. Pivoting to face the stairwell, I center my self on the top platform and leap to the next platform, gliding down all thirteen steps in a single bound. Sticking the landing with grace, hardly a sound was made even if I nearly screwed up the landing, need to perfect that. Realizing that my emotions went from self praising to self depreciation, I remind myself that I need to return to sleep soon. Instead of playing with the stairs, I lightly jog to the last platform that put me in the absurdly small hall that had only a single door on it reading #100 on the door plate. Letting out a sigh, I assumed the floor below me was exactly the same but with #200 instead. Seriously, how long did I search for this room? If I had a timepiece, I''m sure it would have been nearly half an hour at least. I am such an idiot. I placed the key into the locking mechanism and triggered the tumblers to unlock the door. Opening the heavy door, I marvel it''s thickness. The door was nearly as thick as my fist and seemed made of layered metal with a rubber seal on the outer edges of the door as if to attempt air tightness. I heard certain doors in restaurants were like this. I then shift my attention to the room beyond I could only freeze in awe. To put it simply, seemed they put a forest in a huge room. I stepped into the dark foreboding room and locked the door behind me. The first thing I did was march up the nearest tree and place a hand on it. A fake. It was some kind of light stone? Paper mach¨¦? Looking up The ''tree'' met the ceiling and it appeared that the ceiling had been painted to look like leaves. A soft glow that imitated moonlight shone through the painted leave... actually light, huh. Otherwise it would be pitch black even to my heightened senses. Looking around it seemed like endless pillars touching the ceiling to become the illusion of a forest. However the dirt beneath my shoes felt real. I was still hovering at the threshold and so I took my shoes off at the entrance and studied the wall. Despite having excellent vision at night, subtle differences in color was not discernible. I figured the only thing that broke the illusion of being in the forest was the large metal exit door. I can''t imagine every room being like this in the building, this room felt gigantic without even exploring it, no wonder the landing platform for this floor seemed steeper and further down. I leave my bag at the door along with my shoes, as I let my bare feet dig into the dirt, yep real. Hearing the far off chirping of ??insects, I could only guess that those were white noise recordings and not actual bugs. Strangely, it felt soothing. A few more steps forward and I breath all that I can through my nose while closing my eyes. Yep, a very earthy smell made it''s presence known, definitely dirt. With, something else... Smelling again, taking a deeper breath of that pleasant scent. The scent that mingled with the dirt was musky and kinda sweet at the time. The smelled kinda made my head a little light. Other than that pleasant smell and the scent of Earth, there was nothing else. I was told I had a roommate, so I will just sneak off and rest in a corner. I might not actually have a grass nest yet but that won''t stop me from enjoying the rest of my treasured sleep. Shame, but the dirt should be fine for one night. Scouting out a place within this forest, I spot a few pillars that were a little closer together than the rest. Looking at the indention of the dirt mound between the ''trees'', it seemed as if there was a grass nest here before. Washing my clothes will be a pain, but it was a worthy cost to sleep. Closing my eyes, I kind of smelled the faint traces of the that somewhat sweet musky scent. It didn''t really bother me so much, it definitely put my head in space where drifting to sleep was easier. And so I curled up into a ball, and let sleep claim me. Chapter 3: The Lack of Manners --James, APU Dorms-- ¡°Muh,¡± I felt the tickling consciousness trying to rouse me from the best of sleeps I''ve had in awhile. I felt the filtered light hit the back of my eyelids and the earthy fragrance fill my nostrils, ah it seems that I am still dreaming, dreaming of snoozing in a forest~. Cold. A shudder ripped through my spine as well as every hair stand on end upon my nape. Bolting up, I scan the surroundings. Nothing around me but the... fake trees... ah, it wasn''t a dream. It seems the chirping of bugs had the harmony of early morning bird calls mixed into the sound tape. The light over head was more intense to represent sunlight in the forest. Everything was much clearer. I would admire the beauty but every fiber of my existence wailed for survival. Looking around some more I saw nothing that warrant my senses doing this to me. It felt as though sweat was dripping out of every pour with every tiny muscle on high reflex alert. I slowly scan my surroundings as I stood up. Gradually I made my way to the door, looking for the invisible enemy that would kill me. When I was in arms reach of the door, did I trust my back to it. Letting my hand find the handle on it''s own, I slipped through the threshold. Once the door was latched shut behind me, did I breathe. I buckled to my knees while outside the room. Every muscle relaxing at once was too much to remain standing. I thought I was going to die, but nothing was there... Taking a few minutes to steady myself, I let my bare feet support me on the gritty tile. Ah, I''m still barefoot. No choice, no choice, I know I there is nothing there, and nothing is out to get me, but I need to risk it for my shoes. Shoes mean civilization. They remind man that he is not beast. Ah, there. Strengthened resolve, that''s all I need. With a very heavy heart I slipped the door open as quietly as possible before throwing myself back in the room. At the entrance, I spot my shoes right in arms reach which made my heart soar to the moon, only for it to come crashing down. Where is my camping bag? It was literally everything I own. Cautiously looking around, I saw my bag near where I rested the previous few hours. Walking slowly over to the bag, I had not felt that same terrifying presence from just a minute ago. All this sweat is really making it very clear that this room is practically freezing, how did I even fall asleep? Bending over to fetch the bag, my back straightened up, and every muscle fiber was alert again. Seriously. Slowly, I turned around and I saw the crux of my situation mere feet away. A stunning beauty was staring at me. Her stature was roughly the same as mine, maybe slightly smaller. She had long, straight black hair topped with orange and black ears that were slightly rounded instead of angular tipped, like mine. Her eyes shone with a gold brilliance that seem to cut through me, and it sent shivers of fear down my spine. Please, blink! I beg of you. I shuddered. She did have a cute face kind of small but a little wide at the cheeks, if only that stare didn''t terrify me. Her physique was well built from what I could see clad in sweats that was embellished with the APU logo. The baggy clothes would look cute if not for those eyes. Stop staring, Imma have a stroke! She did not stop staring. I sighed in defeat. She angled her body and started coming closer but in a roundabout kind of way, it made me involuntary take a step angled away from her. Step after step, I realized after the intense staring that we wound up trading places. She blinked, with that short amount of time, my muscles relaxed and alerted themselves once more. That created enough of a jolt to force me into another step. Me taking an extra quick step while we were circling each other made it seem as though I was chasing her in a circle. If not for the change in the glint in her eyes after she walked away, still staring, I would not feel this massive relief. After she disappeared behind a tree, that is when I fell to my rump and sighed to my hearts content, so much so that a strange sound escaped my throat. That sweet musky smell was back in full force giving me that light feeling in my head. Weird, I feel slightly euphoric. The smell faded after awhile, and I sat there as I tried to coax my heart from behind my ears to settle back in its birdcage. The thumping from my ear drums was bothersome. Seriously, who taught her manners? Doesn''t she know it is rude to stare.Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on the original website. --Sera, APU Dorms-- After I cut I contact from this stranger by concealing myself behind a ''tree'', I heard a weird sound coming from him between sighs. What is this? What is happening here? I head to the hidden shower room where I also stashed the rest of my stuff. After I closed the room off, I sat down. ¡°What should I do? Kill him for entering my room unannounced? Hear him out? Ooh.¡± As I talked to myself, the last note sounded a little strange to me. Then I heard it, some buzzing sound that wasn''t recorded in the speakers. It''s rattling in the drawers... my phone! I opened a drawer and found the phone I left on the charger. Who is it at this strange time in the... the Dean?
98% ????????10:22?????????? 4G Message From: APU Dean 9:30 You have a new roommate, show him around. No fighting. Reply? Back ????????Home ????????Window
Clutching at my phone, I realize the gravity of the situation... I need a shower. Locking the vault like door, I then disrobe and walk toward the shower, releasing the built up pressure of water jets. Given the time of day, the water was already warm. So I stepped in the path of soothing water and pondered of the events to come. Why do I get a roommate now? Why is it a boy? Has this college always had coed roommate systems? Was he Tiger-kin as well? I wonder which breed? Bengal? Sumatran? Amur, like me? I let the warm water wash over me as I later myself up thinking of the intruder. Let''s see, same height, maybe taller, a little thin. Did he not get enough to eat? Striped tail and ears with light orange and black color scheme. What I found interesting though was the fact that his hair seemed to resemble the same pattern almost. He seemed to be a carrot-top with black interspersed in it. Now that is unique. Aside from his physique he seems good looking enough, with an angular face and sharp yellow eyes. Just a little on the thin side though... Thinking about our first encounter, I let the suds wash of my body. We had circled each other for little while, almost like a little courting ritual. I felt my cheeks flare a little. It''s not like I meant to do it, I was trying to size him up is all. Seriously, who taught him manners? Doesn''t he know it is rude to tempt a girl on the first meeting. After I shut off the water, I reached for a towel and started to dry myself off. All the while blow drying my hair, I glanced in the mirror and poked my belly. It''s been a couple days, time to feed again. Slipping on the college sweats that I purchased in the Spring, I immediately slipped out the door to find my... visitor. Well, rounding the ''tree'' would have put me back in sight of him, but he wasn''t there. I could still sense his presence in the room. Hmm, should I let myself come out brazenly and have him know I''m coming for him? Nah. So, I crouched a little and started stalking around the ''trees''. Didn''t take long for me to find him in the confines of the room, but it did surprise me a little to see him with his back to me. He seemed to be studying the painting on the wall and ceiling, the artists really have done well with making it seem like a forest in here. As I gazed at him from behind a ''tree'', I noticed that he seemed to have rigid movements as he turned around. Oh? Is he looking for me? I had to suppress a giggle as I hid. Though the fun was soon over as his eyes locked onto mine. Unflinching, unblinking. He seemed rather tense, but neither of us moved a muscle. I don''t know how long we stood like that, but when I noticed that his muscles started to twitch in a direction, I called out, ¡°Ah, seems like I was caught.¡± Nice one... ¡°I guess I should introduce myself, my name is Sera Dayerga. I''m a 2nd Year here, I''m guessing you''ll be a 1st Year here starting in a couple of weeks?¡± I hadn''t realized that I started walking but before I knew it, I was nearly in arms reach. Yeah, a little scrawny. He let out a voice that sounded a little deep despite his stature, ¡°My name is James. I don''t really have a last name though.¡± He seemed a little tense, but he gave a smile. ¡°I hope we can get along.¡± No last name... He then shifted his weight unto his other foot, ¡°So, uh, this room? Why are there trees in here?¡± I quickly glance at one of the ''trees'', breaking eye contact for a moment, ¡°Ah, well, from how I understood it, each dormitory is specially built to represent a biome that appeals to the animals within us, or so APU reasons. This room obvious is bigger than all the rooms above us, given that tigers in real life would have vast territories.¡± I placed my hand on a nearby ''tree'', ¡°These trees aren''t real, and are made from etched marble. I heard some high class artisans were employed for the artworks in most of the rooms. The reason we don''t do real trees is because of health, sanitary, and cleanliness reasons. Imagine all the bugs when you sleep.¡± I shuddered. I then drew a circle in the dirt with my foot. ¡°The dirt is the only thing that''s real in this room, don''t worry though, it''s clean.¡± He seemed to be in awe of our surroundings, ¡°High class artisans? Marble? Wouldn''t that be super expensive?¡± ¡°Well, I''m not sure on the specifics, who knows, maybe they were alumni?¡± I posed a reason. ¡°Anyway, since you are new here, I''m supposed to show you around. However, we got weeks to do that, so today is a lazy day¡± I declared. The puzzled look on his face was precious. ¡°It would be anyway, but it is grass changing day as well as meal delivery. No need to leave the room, but we will be plenty busy.¡± I flashed him a smile. I guess I need to show him how to do proper dorm maintenance. Chapter 4: The Chores Okay, so she tells me her name and even answer my inquiries. Why am I still so tense? The ''trees'' have secret compartments? That is so cool. Must act as the handle. Hmm, the tense, scary atmosphere from earlier is now gone. Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings. So, that fragrance was her after all. She is right, it is comforting, though almost stimulating. Wow, she isn''t staring at me for once. I definitely need her to tell me where stuff is in this room. I''m pretty sure she is watching me from somewhere in the room. Haha, when nature calls, miracles happen. So many bottles. Okay...Hmm... Geez, I have never seen so many different soaps in my life. The last part almost sounded demanding... Ah, that explains it. Chapter 5: The Meal --James, APU Dorms-- I had dragged the really heavy sacks across the room, maneuvering around the ''trees''. Well it seemed one sack was heavier than the other two. Oh, it seems I made a trail in the dirt with the heavy sack. I saw an unusual sight when I looked back at the trail, it was of a giddy Sera practically jumping up and down while stalking me. Well, her sight was focused solely on what I was holding. ¡°Open it, open it, open it.¡± She crept a little closer. Seeing her this happy, made me feel a little excited as well, so I obliged her. I bent down and examined the three bags. Two of them were identical burlap sacks with the laundry emblem on them, much like the one the Bear-kin took. Both with tags on them, one with my name on it, the other with Sera''s. The last burlap sack, which was the primary of focus of Sera''s attention, had a logo that resembled a nondescript piece of meat on it. Loosening the draw strings and peeling pack the sack, I was greeted with a black bag. My view of the black plastic bag was obstructed when Sera''s hand was placed upon it. She curled a finger and poked a claw into the film before cutting the bag down the middle length-wise. With the contents exposed to the air, the heavy smell of iron filled my nostrils. It didn''t smell bad, on the contrary, it awoken a hunger inside of me. I looked up in time to Sera do a little dance before she nearly shoved me to the side. ¡°Help me drag this over to that tree.¡± Her voice sounded excited. With her grabbing one corner, and I on the other, we dragged the bag with a carcass in it a short distance away. It didn''t seem necessary to haul it off such a short distance, but it did stir up the hunger even more, for unknown reasons. Opening the bag wider, I get a proper look at the carcass. It looked to be a giant set of ribs with maybe a hindquarter attached to it, maybe belonging to a cow? Sera said not another word before cutting her claws in between some ribs and carefully removing a slice. She dangled it above her head before settling it in her waiting jaws. She let out a squeal while closing her eyes in delight. It was then she notice me transfixed on her face, ¡°What, is something on my face? Come on stop staring and eat, you definitely need to.¡± She grabbed another sliver of meat between the ribs and eyed it. ¡°Here, eat up. No need to hold back.¡± ¡°Oh, uh, sorry, I''ve never eaten raw meat before. Also, it looked like you were enjoying yourself so much.¡± I admitted. ¡°Never- You never ate raw meat?¡± She looked at me incredulously. She then took the sliver of meat delicately held between her claws and enclosed it in a fist before trying to stuff it in my mouth. Well, it felt like she was trying to punch me, but the bloody piece of meat found its way into my mouth all the same. ¡°There, how is it?¡± It wasn''t an explosion of flavor like I was expecting, but the hunger that was being stirred up by the little dragging ritual seemed to only be satiated by this. Satiated seemed to be the wrong word, no it deepened a craving for this delicious meat. I understood it didn''t taste better than being cooked, but for some reason, it just scratched that itch that I didn''t know I had. Looking back at Sera, I realized I didn''t answer her yet, ¡°As we used to say, ''That tasted like another.''¡± I smiled awkwardly. Help support creative writers by finding and reading their stories on the original site. She just beamed at me, ¡°Don''t need my permission, dig in.¡± I tried mimicking her in cutting out the meat between the ribs. The sliver I retracted from the carcass wasn''t as long or as thick as the ones extracted by Sera, but they were just as fulfilling as the first bite. Looking at my hands, they were absolutely covered in blood. The skin around my fingertips was fully covered. Nearing the last of the rib meat had being consumed, Sera had quickly snatched up the last, much to my disappointment. Seeing as that the battle for the ribs had proven to be lost, I looked onto the haunch that were included. Hmm, I can figure this one out. I didn''t wait to have Sera show me how to take a portion of meat away from this. So, at first I tried cutting into the haunch with my claws, but it gave a bit more resistance than I initially assumed, so I placed another hand on the meat before ripping a chunk with the other. A little enthusiastically, I brought the meat to my lips and took a bite. Strangely, this meat was more bland than that of the rib meat, but felt just as satisfying. After I grabbed another chunk in the same manner, I looked at the strange sound coming from Sera''s direction. She was trying to stifle a giggle while looking at me. This prompted me to look down at myself an I saw that in my somewhat brutal feasting, I made quite the mess. I suppose my only saving grace was that my shirt was already red, the shorts are ruined though. Nothing to do about it now. Resigned in defeat I place the meat into my mouth and felt a little dribble of blood on my chin. I paused before I would take another chunk in a brutal manner, so instead I watched Sera. She seemed to trace over the lines that striated the muscle, seemingly without much resistance. Also, I just noticed her claws were sharper than mine. Yeah, let''s go with that. She then lifted a strip and let it dangle for a moment before slipping it into her mouth. Seeing her so clean, aside from her fingertips, really irked me. I''ve never picked a carcass apart, but how can she do it with such finesse? Ignoring the smug looked aimed at me, I just rip another chunk. Biting into this particular chunk made me realize that my stomach probably can''t handle more than what was in my hand. So I slowly chewed through the remainder of the meat in my hand, all the while I just watched Sera beautifully dismantle the corpse in front of her before devouring each piece. I have to say, while the cutting was slow at the start, it was efficient. She seemed to eat through the meat more quickly than I did, in more volume as well, while keeping her clothes clean at the same time. I had half a mind to just toss a little blood in her direction. It didn''t take long until she realized I was watching her eat, ¡°What? Stop watching me and eat.¡± I shook my head a little, ¡°I, uh, I can''t eat anymore. I''m full.¡± ¡°Full? Already?¡± She held another strip another of meat, ¡°You need to eat more, this is supposed to last us for a couple of days. Also, you need to eat more, you are so skinny.¡± She eyed me again. I glanced down at myself I couldn''t help but mutter, ¡°I''m not that skinny.¡± I placed my hand on the what remained of the haunch. With a strained will, I forced myself to rip another chunk and bring it to my mouth once more. I can already tell my stomach is going to kill me. I glanced over Sera again only to see that she was now staring at me intently. I guess it was payback for watching her eat. I slipped the meat between my lips. It felt weird to eat without the need nor will to eat. While doing this it seemed to take an eternity to choke down the handful I had grabbed. My stomach has yet to get to that painful state but I imagined that it would come with any bite now. I looked over to Sera, whom had stopped gorging herself and had continued to watch me. She seemed content in encouraging me to eat more, even to hand a strip of meat into my bloody hands. Looking at her then back at the meat then back at her, I sighed. Throwing the meat into my mouth again, I chewed slowly. Oh, there it is. I felt as though my guts were stretching to there limits, and have started to protest. ¡°I don''t think I had eaten this much meat before.¡± She seemed to come to the same conclusion, ¡°You were done a disservice growing up, did your parents not give you enough to eat?¡± I mulled over her words for a moment, she seemed fixated on my physique . ¡°Well, the orphanage had to order meat from suppliers so they cooked it to kill off the bacteria. And given that there were at least ten children at any given time, they probably cut portions so everyone could eat. That being said, I never went to bed hungry and I am rather thankful to the sisters at the orphanage.¡± I saw that my words seemed to wipe the faint smile from her lips, she seemed lost in thought for a little bit before she stared at me with a resolve behind her gaze, ¡°You need to eat more.¡±