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How Not To Become Lunch: 49 - Don’t Get Marked by a Werewolf
Jack was, quite understandably, just about at the end of his wits. He had barely, just barely, managed to grab his spare clothes, rinse off and leap through the classroom door before the start of class.
He hadn’t even done a good job of that second item. He could still feel the thick slime of that hyena’s stomach slipping against his skin in several very uncomfortable places, not to mention the smell of it that he couldn’t manage to clean from his nose or the taste that simply refused to wash off his tongue. Though perhaps there was a small silver lining there, in that a human smelling of pred-puke at least wasn’t the most appetizing.
But he had finally made it to his desk, that moment of relief he’d been desperate for, where he’d finally be able to simply sit and relax. Their keen-eyed vampire teacher would be quick to thwart and punish any impromptu hunts that would disrupt her class, and a few math problems would be nothing compared to the pressure of constant predator attacks, and even less compared to the pressure of a predator’s actual stomach…
Yes, this class would have been quite the well-deserved breather. Except for one thing. The teacher wasn’t the only vampire in the room. He shared this period with Sarabeth. And by the time he’d made it to his seat, she had already taken hers just a few rows behind.
Or, rather, they had already taken her seat, since by now she was sporting the large, wriggling bulge which only a few centimeters within contained her freshly caught lunch, back to full size after the quick trip down the vampire’s gullet. And while in truth the constant gurgles and groans of her busy stomach weren’t much more than faint and common background noise, to Jack, in the quiet of the classroom, it was all he could hear.
And, of course, all he could think about as well.
Not only did every little squelch bring with it the latent sensation of slick walls against his skin, reminding him constantly just how close he’d come to stewing in a stomach while his predator sat casually in their class, but he was also keenly aware that it was no human melting away inside that bulge, and that he was the only person who knew. It only added to the bone-chilling fear, thinking about how easily and utterly a predator’s belly could steal a person from the world and reduce them to nothing but a lump of food, regardless of who or what they once were.
It came as a shock when the period finally ended, somehow both too soon and not soon enough. Ms. Hali dismissed them and other students began to pass by, including Sarabeth, who walked past without so much as a glance, though he swore he could still feel her eyes on him somehow.
Jack himself remained at his desk for a fair while, even as he felt more and more exposed in the increasingly empty room, grappling with the thought of standing, let alone stepping out into the halls again. But he knew he’d have to eventually. After all, his next class would be starting soon.
Luckily, before time forced him into action, a familiar face poked through the doorway.
“Jack?” came a call.
He looked up and met eyes with Ozzy, whose concerned expression shifted into a relieved smile.
“Oh, there you are,” the boy said, stepping inside and walking closer. “I was getting worried when I didn’t see you come out.”
“…Oh, hey Ozzy…” Jack replied. Ozzy’s frown returned at the tone of his friend’s voice.
“You alright?” he asked.
“I… I’m fine,” was Jack’s answer. The last thing he wanted was to have to relive his experience by talking about it. Besides, he didn’t want to be Sarabeth’s dinner. So he changed the subject. “How’s Zach?”
“He’ll be alright. The nurse said it was just a bit of food poisoning. They sent him home early, but he’ll probably be fine by tomorrow.”
“That’s good,” Jack said, still sounding dejected as ever. When only silence followed, and he showed no sign of leaving his chair, Ozzy asked:
“So… want me to walk you to your next class?”
“Yeah, thanks,” Jack replied, almost smiling as he let go of the fear of crossing the halls alone. With a bit of effort, he lifted himself from his seat, took a moment to check his wand by force of habit, and-
Jack’s eyes went wide.
“What is it?!” Ozzy asked.
“I- I don’t have my wand…” Jack muttered, too exhausted to sound as alarmed as he felt, but with plenty of distress in his tone. Ozzy glanced down at his friend’s hip, where his empty hands grasped, and felt enough alarm for the both of them.
“Wh-why not?” If he were in Jack’s position, he’d never go anywhere without his wand, he’d be terrified without it!
And Jack was terrified, realizing with a cold chill that he’d been wandless ever since the hyena had tackled him to the floor. Every moment since Sarabeth had sent him running, he’d been rushing through the halls totally defenseless, and he hadn’t even noticed.
“I must have- …left it somewhere,” he lied.
Ozzy looked at his friend with concern. Jack seemed more than a little out of sorts, and very uncomfortable to have discovered he’d been going around school with his guard down. Ozzy wanted to ask just how in the world someone in Jack’s shoes could manage to forget something so life-threateningly important, but he chose to help ease his friend’s anxiety instead.
“Hey, don’t worry. Actually, I found an extra one on the floor on the way here,” he reached into his pocket. “I guess someone wasn’t as lucky as you and didn't make it to class.”
Jack reached out and took the length of wood from his friend’s hand, staring down at it for a moment. The wand was his… the one he’d dropped…
“…Hey, so um, we kinda have to get going,” Ozzy urged, trying to sound gentle.
“Right,” Jack replied, shaking himself a bit and taking a breath. Ozzy looked on, concerned, for a moment, before turning back toward the door.
The pair ventured out into the halls, sticking close together. Jack fell into his now practiced routine of scanning the crowds for hungry eyes and growling stomachs, but he felt so drained that he wondered constantly if he’d even be able to notice a predator on the prowl before they shoved his face down their throat. At least he could take some comfort in the fact that Ozzy was there to help him deal with any trouble that might cross their-
Something caught Jack’s attention, one of the students walking toward them. But she wasn’t a predator, she was human, and a terribly frightened looking one at that. She was familiar too, she and her two friends, but Jack couldn’t quite place her immediately. They grew closer, heading down the hall in opposite directions, and it wasn’t until they’d almost passed each other that he finally remembered.
That… that’s the girl that Fiona-
“Ahhhhh!!”
Jack flinched, jumping nearly a foot in the air as his heart skipped, his lungs seized, and the girl who’d been practically next to him suddenly disappeared with a rush of air, a terrified scream, and a flash of fur.
“Jack!” came Ozzy’s alarmed voice, followed by his hand a moment later as he grabbed his friend’s arm and pulled back.
As he retreated, Jack caught sight of one of the girl’s friends drawing her wand, but before he- or she- knew it there was another flash of fur, and a second predator leapt from the crowd to snatch the wooden implement from her hand. Dazed and surprised, the third and final human of the group grabbed the mage’s hand and hauled her away in fear.
The second predator, the one who’d snatched the wand, straightened and turned, revealing his face. Jack recognized this one immediately.
Arthur!
But before he had time to process much more than that, a sound derailed his thoughts.
*GULP*!
It was a loud, greedy, eager swallow, clearly audible over the bustle and alarm of the hall. Jack turned. And the moment his eyes fell onto the scene, they were locked.
“Wait, isn’t that…” Ozzy asked.
Fiona… Jack thought.
There she was, down on all-fours, her jaws wrapped around the human girl’s thighs, her own eyes rivetedly fixed on her meal. And even though her mouth was stretched full, the smile painted across her parted muzzle was clear to see.
*GULP*!
Jack watched as his friend’s body shuttered wildly, dragging her human meal across the floor with the strength of her gullet alone, down her throat, burying the girl up to her rump in the werewolf’s jaws.
“N-No!” the meal-to-be cried, clawing at the ground in vain with her clawless-fingers. “Stop! Let me go!”
The scene gripped Jack, flooding him with an onslaught of emotions too quick and numerous to process. His eyes darted in frantic little hops between the human-turned-meal, the large bulge she was making in Fiona’s chest, and the zealous look in Fiona’s eyes.
He’d seen that look before. It felt like an eternity ago, but really it had been just last week, when he’d tagged along on her homework assignment. When he watched her mark and devour that kid, right in front of him. She’d had that same look in her eyes when she’d finally tasted him, that overjoyed, impatient, hungry fire of predatory desire.
*GULP*!
“NO!” screamed her prey, but the werewolf paid the demand no mind. In fact, it might have even spurred her on. Jack could just make out the nearly overshadowed grumble her stomach made as its fresh meal began to slip inside, and he swore he could feel from just that muffled fragment of a noise just how eager her empty belly was to be filled by such a mouthwatering treat.
*GULP*!
The marked girl looked back in terror as she felt her navel slip into the firm grasp of Fiona’s tongue. Buried so deep inside the predator’s body, she brought her hands down instinctively to push away, but Fiona merely grabbed those hands and stuffed them down her gullet with another loud-
*GULP*!
“Help! Help!”
But most other students were gone now. Not wanting to stick around to discover if the other werewolf was also interested in a late lunch. Even Jack had been tugged back a fair bit by Ozzy, whose nerve had all but demanded he make some distance.
But Jack himself just continued to stare. Stare at Fiona, his friend, as she proceeded to do what she was exceedingly well endowed to do: turn other humans like him into big, burbling, bellyfuls of squirming, living stew.
*GULP*! … *GULP*!
She was swallowing faster now, the building pleasure as her stomach expanded clearly fueling her fervor to pack her marked meal further into her waiting gut. She hadn’t even bothered to take the moment to stand up straight, still down on all-fours even as her prey’s shoulders slipped back with a squelch beyond the steamy slope of her tongue.
“No! Please!! No-!”
*GULP*!
Jack watched, wordless and frozen, as the girl’s face disappeared behind the red of Fiona’s maw, swallowed up by the slick flesh reaching up over her eyes and mouth until all that was left where the werewolf’s empty jaws, framing the entrance to her newly sealed gullet. And then her muzzle closed, with an emphatic little clack of her gleaming teeth, and her meal was complete.
The smile on her muzzle widened, and he thought he could just hear a low rumble, though whether that was a muffled murmur of satisfaction, or a stray noise escaping from her freshly stuffed gut, he couldn’t say. Either way, with her tail wagging proudly, she pushed herself up straight, her belly bouncing as it rose with her. She put one hand to its wriggling surface, and let out a small, mildly-concealed-
*urp*
She glanced around, probably searching for Arthur, judging by her expression, but her eyes came across another familiar face first.
“Jack?...” she said, still in her happy little haze. Then a bit of reality got through. “Jack! Oh- um- hi- Were you- um, were you there the whole time?” she asked, shock, embarrassment, and a flurry of other emotions dancing across her muzzle.
“…Did you not even notice me?” came his slow reply.
“I- I was tracking my prey with Arthur, and I…” that was the closest she could get to saying ‘no’. She’d been so absorbed in her hunt, following the lessons she’d been learning from her new class and her new friends, honing in completely on the scent of her meal.
“‘Your prey’…” he echoed. What was it about the way she used that word that dug under his skin? It wasn’t just the word itself, he could feel something behind it, it didn’t just comment on a human’s place in the food chain, it seemed completely divorced from the person it labeled, as if they weren’t human at all. It just felt so wrong coming from her mouth, it just didn’t feel like… “Fi… what’s happening with you?” he asked. One might say he wasn’t thinking, but truthfully he was, he was just too exhausted to add a filter to those thoughts.
“Wh- what do you mean?” The weight beginning to fill the air clashed with the airy joy bubbling from her gut, leaving her flustered and uncertain while trying to remain composed.
“You… you’re not acting… the same- you’re different, you’re changing.”
“Jack, what are you talking about?” she asked. She looked more concerned now, taking a step closer to him, if only to try and rein in what was currently a very public conversation. “What do you mean, ‘I’m changing’?”
Jack stayed where he was, holding his frayed, unswerving gaze. “I haven’t seen you all day,” he said, his words a muddy mix of desperation, frustration and sorrow.
“I…” She almost wanted to deny that, but a quick scan of her memory only confirmed his accusation. “…I’ve been… busy.”
“‘Busy’, busy while I’ve been- do you even know how many times I almost died today?!”
In her odd, post-feast state, Fiona couldn’t quite feel angry at his biting tone, but she couldn’t feel good anymore either, only stuck in awkward, conflicted silence as she groped for a response.
“You weren’t even there one time, Fi…”
That one hit her square in the heart, even through the haze. She took another step toward him.
“Jack, I’m… I’m sorry… but that doesn’t mean I don’t- It’s just since I got into this new class, I’ve been…”
“Busier?” he offered derisively, but she shook her head, trying to understand the thoughts inside even as she was grasping for words to express them. But while she floundered, Jack continued. “Happier?” he asked. “Hungrier?”
At that last word, her expression shifted.
“You’ve sure been eating lots of humans this week.”
“No I haven’t!” she replied, indignantly embarrassed.
“Yes you have! You’ve had one almost every day! And I know because I’ve had to sit next to you in history class every time and listen to you digest them!”
*gurgle*
She glanced down at the writhing bulge in her belly, filling her with pleasure even as it filled her with remorse. And then she glanced away, biting her lip.
“And then there’s her!” Jack continued.
Fiona looked back to see he’d stepped forward to aim a trembling finger straight at her distended gut.
“You didn’t even eat her because you were hungry. You marked her this morning just because you wanted to taste another marked human.”
“Jack, no, you don’t-” Eyes wide, Fiona took the final two steps forward to close the distance between them, her hand outreached to grasp almost pleadingly for his shoulder. But the meal in her belly knocked furiously against her stomach walls, stretching them further, pressing her wriggling bulge right into Jack’s chest as it gave a noisy-
*squelch*!
Jack recoiled in instinctive horror and thrust the threatening stomach away. They both stumbled back, each nearly losing their balance, forcing a break between their eyes.
When Jack looked back up, what he saw finally gave his frantic, fraying mind a moment of pause. Fiona’s eyes were wide and still, her muzzle tucked into a deep frown, her previously outstretched hand held back against her chest. He felt his own remorse bubbling up through his anger, and it only just began to show in his eyes before he turned and walked off at a quick pace, hands clasped together.
Ozzy, stunned and speechless, glanced back and forth between the two of them, before he realized he’d better follow.
Fiona watched the two boys leave, still rooted to the ground herself, until she felt a familiar touch on her shoulder.
“Everything will be alright, Fi,” came Arthur’s voice from her side. She glanced toward him, feeling some comfort in his presence, but then glanced back down the hall.
She didn’t know what to feel. But she hoped he was right. She really did.
…
From the second their shared history class had ended, Jack had started walking and hadn’t stopped. He’d jumped up from his seat, where he’d been pinned all period, unable to even look at Fiona, but equally unable to block out the chorus of continuous gurgling and muffled cries that was the digestion of her latest human lunch.
Yes, he’d bolted from that spot the moment he could, and he’d fled. He’d fled the room, he’d fled the school; he’d met his mom outside, but when she’d asked him what was wrong, all he’d been able to say was “I don’t want to talk about it,” and continued to walk.
He hadn’t told her anything about the recent predator attacks, or his rising troubles with Fiona. He hadn’t wanted her to worry. And he certainly wasn’t about to try explaining things now. It was almost all he’d had in him to simply hold himself silently together until he’d finally reached home, walked through the door, and walked into the privacy of his room.
And then he’d collapsed on his bed. And he hadn’t moved since.
Slowly, in the quiet, still peace, his tangled, tense mind began to unwind, and a few distinct thoughts and feelings became recognizable.
He was angry at Fiona, angry that she’d abandoned him, angry that she couldn’t see it. He was angry at Arthur, angry at that silent, looming presence he could feel over them. But most of all, he was angry at himself, angry that he couldn’t protect himself, that he had to keep up his guard around every predator in sight, that he was forced to put Fiona in a position where she had to protect him in the first place, forced to push that burden onto their friendship. And above everything else, he was angry for what he’d said, for what he’d done, right to her face, in front of everyone in the middle of school.
And he was sad, because he wished Fiona was there with him now, like she’d been on his first weekend back in town. They’d been so happy then…
*knock* *knock* *knock*
Jack rolled over in his bed to face the door as he heard his mother call his name.
“Jack?”
“…Yeah, mom?” he responded as kindly as he could. His mood was foul and tired, but he didn’t want to take any of that out on her.
“You have a visitor, honey.”
“A visi-” The thought that it might be Fiona crossed his mind and cut off his words. Had she actually come over? He felt a surge of conflicting feelings; he’d been wishing it a moment ago, but did he actually want to see her right now?
“It’s one of the other kids from Survivors Anonymous.”
Well, that took off the pressure of seeing Fiona and her belly again.
Survivors Anonymous was the marked-human support group he’d visited over the weekend, but the next meeting wasn’t for another few days. Who would be coming to his house from there? Who would even know where he lived? Maybe it was Sebastian? He’d sent the initial invite, but what would he want? And why come in person this time?
Jack might have just as soon left those questions unanswered, but if one of the other marked kids had come all the way to his house, they probably had a good reason, and it wouldn’t be good to keep them waiting out there. So, he dragged himself out of bed, still fully dressed, and plodded unenthusiastically to his bedroom door.
He opened it to find his mother’s worried yet encouraging face, and he tried his best to mask his distress for her sake as he passed by with a fake smile and headed on down the stairs. He reached the front door and took hold of the handle, taking a moment to brace himself as best he could for social interaction.
*click* *creeeeeak*
…Jack’s eyes focused, then widened slightly as his heart suddenly doubled its pace. He blinked and his mouth fell open just a touch. Then he nearly blushed as he rushed to compose himself again. Standing in front of him was a girl, about his age, wearing a beautiful, flowing, red dress, with large, timid eyes and her hands clasped somewhat nervously at her waist.
“R-Ruby?” he muttered. Memories of that day at Survivors Anonymous leapt back to mind. She glanced away, trying to hide a little smile, and maybe even blushing a bit- though he couldn’t quite see. He wasn’t sure what that reaction was for, until she replied.
“…Hello, Jack,” she said, looking back at him and giving a little, fleeting wave. He felt an odd little rush, hearing her say his name, and couldn’t help feeling a spark of joy at the simple knowledge that she’d remembered it all these days later. Suddenly, her reaction from a moment ago felt all too familiar.
Despite everything that had happened that day, Jack’s lips crept up into the smallest of smiles.
“I, um, I got your address from Sebastian. I hope you don’t mind,” she told him.
“No, I… I’m happy to see you’re okay.”
She had to visibly fight down a large grin at that; and watching led to a noticeable burning at the tips of Jack’s ears- he just hoped it wasn’t noticeable to her. An awkward yet strangely enjoyable silence took hold for just a moment, but it was broken by a new voice.
“Wasn’t there something you wanted to ask him?” The words were deep, nearly gravelly, but surprisingly gentle and kind.
Jack noticed for the first time the man standing behind her. He was tall and thick, but with soft eyes and a polite smile, sprinkled with little hints of excitement and pride. Jack had just enough time to put together that this must be Ruby’s father, before she spoke again and completely captivated his attention once more.
“I’ve…” she looked away, unable to meet his eyes, but pressed on with her words, “…I’ve sort of been thinking about what you said… about you… since the thing last weekend. …About how you were… brave enough to risk being around predators so you could be with someone you care about, and well… I… I wanted to come here, in person, to ask you…
“After the meeting this weekend,” she forced herself to look at him now, “Do you think maybe you’d want to hang out with me… like a date?”
They were both clearly red in the face now, no hiding it. In the following moment of silence, their mouths were both utterly flat, strained lines of awkward tension.
Jack had been in a frog’s throat, but he’d never before felt so much like he had a frog in his. The only thing that finally forced him to speak was the realization that she might very well take his silence as a no!
“I- I- um- yes. I’d-” he took a breath “-I’d like that.” He rubbed the back of his neck, far too flushed, flustered, and awkward to stay still.
She wrung her hands, but as she did, she grew one of the biggest, prettiest smiles Jack had ever seen- the biggest she’d worn in quite a while. And Jack began to smile with her. They basked together in that awkward warmth for a moment as a small bit of their tension melted away.
That’s when a new voice chimed in.
“Well, isn’t that so sweet.” Jack twisted his head around to find his mom hovering behind him. How long had she been there!? Evidently, long enough. “To come all this way for that,” she mused, clearly touched. “Would you two like to come inside?”
Ruby tensed up again and glanced back at her dad, she’d barely been brave enough to ask him out, she was not mentally prepared to go into his house! What would she even say to him at this point?! That question was as far ahead as she’d thought!
Jack started a similar train of thought, touching on things like the comic books and underwear which may or may not be littered around his room. Luckily, both kids were spared this horribly awkward fate.
“Very kind of you ma’am,” Ruby’s father replied, “but we really only had time for a quick word. Some other time, though, I’m sure.”
“Oh, alright then. Well, have a safe trip back home,” Mrs. Eten said with a smile.
Ruby took a glance from her father and then looked up at Jack one more time, that pure, happy smile returning to her face.
“Bye, Jack, see you Sunday.”
“See you Sunday,” he replied, smiling right back.
And with that she turned away with her father and headed away from the house. As they went, Jack could just barely make out one last exchange as his mom closed the door:
“I’m so proud of my little girl.”
“Ssshhh! Dad, quiet! He can still hear you!”
*click*
Even with the door closed, Jack still stood there for a moment, staring at nothing with that huge grin still plastered on his lips.
I have a date…