The New Prey

THE NEW PREY
By Fred Venturini


While the new prey coped with their new position on the food
chain, Julie was taking a bath.

Not just any bath, but a slow, deliberate, pampering bath that saw
pink currents of wax running down the sides of her scented candles, a
layer of bubbles as thick as whipped topping dangerously close to the
edge of the tub, and ripples of steam rising and clinging to the
bathroom mirror.

This particular bath was a pleasure she rarely afforded herself-time
was a scarce commodity with the combination of classes and work. Money
was equally as scarce, and lotions and candles were a leisure expense
she had a hard time fitting into her budget.

She had been seeing Adam for close to six months now, and they just
spent their first Christmas together. He got her an exquisite gift
basket from the Bath and Body Works, along with a pair of diamond
earrings. His generosity, combined with her time off for holiday break,
resulted in one of the more relaxing and enjoyable baths she'd ever
experienced.

Adam would be coming over any minute, but Julie was in no hurry. She
allowed herself to soak in the sweet, rose petal scents that permeated
the water and dangled oh-so-gently in the air. She imagined sweetening
herself into a delicious, naked confection that she would allow Adam to
ravage when he arrived.

The very thought of it might've aroused her, if not for her total
relaxation. She eased the back of her head against the foam pad at the
edge of the tub, and stretched until her feet peeked out of the bubbles
on the other end. The lower regions of her blonde hair turned dark as
they became wet and clung to her neck in thick strands. The
condensation from the bath, along with a few droplets of clean sweat
dribbled down her chin, then down her long, creamy neck and settled
into the mass of bubbles, which created luscious foam topping just
above her breasts, which were average in size, but above average in
firmness and overall quality. Adam often favored them.

Julie was in a place of total silence, total her-ness. The bubbles
emitted a crackling, static sound as they rotted away, but Julie barely
noticed.

She did, however, notice when the smoke alarm began a chirping.
Bleeeeep! The contrast of the total silence with the unrelenting
shrillness of the smoke detector made her jump, her eyes flicking to
their maximum wideness and her body causing a small tidal wave sending
a micro-tsunami of bubble-crested water onto the white, pink-trimmed
linoleum. She didn't immediately react. In fact, for a passing moment,
she deducted that the smoke alarm wasn't dependable anyway, that it was
a false alarm that would shut off by itself and her time was better
spent in the safety of her bath.

But God, the sound . . . it was unbearable, and it accompanied a
rather chilling mental picture of her boiling alive in her bathtub.
Julie decided it was better to be safe than sorry, and allowed her
slender body to slink out of the water and into a bathrobe. As she
reached for the doorknob, she stopped.

Adam, she thought. He's playing a prank!

He was known around campus for concocting clever candid-camera moments,
and she figured he'd activated the alarm with his silver, Zippo
lighter, hid in a dark corner, and then would jump out at her when she
attempted to deactivate it.

Julie decided to turn the tables. She allowed the robe to slip away,
revealing her glistening, perfect features. Opening the door with a
devilish smile on her face, she was met with darkness.

In the winter, time was molasses-paced, and the sun set early. There
was still light when she arrived home and went straight to her bath,
but in her half hour of pampering, the sun had vanished. Now, there was
total darkness and only one light was on in the entire house-the
kitchen light, which did nothing more but provide a dull lens that made
the total darkness of the living room, which rested just outside the
bathroom hall, into a shadowy darkness. She negotiated the small hall
by memory and feel, her wet body cold against the air that was
unaffected by the bathroom's warming steam.

She remained alert, ready for Adam to grab her, hoping he would
because a certain measure of fear was creeping up on her. It would pass
when he got over his childish prank. Then, they would make love on the
carpet in the living room, and he could then join her in finishing the
bath.

Entering the living room, the sound of the smoke alarm was even more
piercing, a siren's wail that made her wince. Julie was distracted from
her swelling uneasiness, groping the wall for the alarm, ready for
Adam, but more ready to end the fiasco he'd constructed for her.

She deactivated the alarm. His touch did not come. The silence was a
dead one.

She looked around the living room, waiting for him.

"Adam?" she said. "If this is a joke, it's completely turning me off.
Come on out." Julie gave him a second, and then walked across the room
with the intention of turning on the vanilla colored lamp that rested
on a glass end table near the couch. She could barely see it, but was
sure of its location and hungered to light the room.

As she reached for it, the silence was broken once more-this time by
the sound of something hard skittering on the glass table in rapid
patters. The sound made her draw her hand back as if she burned it on a
hot stove. She backpedaled until her back was against the wall, her
mind flashing back to her childhood dog, Linus, who made a similar
sound when he tried to run across her mother's linoleum kitchen floor.
But this sound was more sharp, hard, and rapid. There were no paws on
that glass table-it sounded more like claws.

"Ok Adam, the fun's over!" she yelled. Nothing. Silence. She could
hear her heart bumping inside of her cold, clammy flesh. She burned on
the inside with fear and adrenaline, yet her skin prickled on the
outside, cold, wet, and exposed. She refused to overreact, refused to
scream herself into a headache.

It was then she decided she had to go to kitchen, where there was
light, and therefore, safety. She took one step forward when she heard
something padding against the carpet, approaching lightning-quick, and
then felt something run across her foot. They were claws, after all-she
imagined a pincushion being rolled over the top of her foot, they were
so fine, small, and numerous, but she had no idea what they belonged
to-she only knew that in addition to the claws, there was fur, as she
sensed a swath of velvety fuzz against her shin as it prickled across
her foot.

She gasped with such intensity that she saw black dots against the
shadows. Tears welled up in her eyes as she ran to the closest light
she could-the bathroom.

Instinctually, she locked the door.

"Adam you bastard!" She wouldn't let herself scream, only holler in a
passionate scold. No overreacting. What was it that ran across her
foot? What was in the living room? 'Coon? Opossum? Huge rat? Maybe
Linus back from the dead? Icky things, yes, but nothing to lose herself
over. Nothing to give Adam something to make fun of her for. She heard
enough blonde jokes already.

There were small red dots on the top of her right foot-not bleeding,
just minute pricks that made her fear whatever was outside.

Perhaps Adam hadn't arrived yet. He was late. Something, some animal,
had snuck in the house, and now, she would wait in her bathroom until
he arrived, the strong Alpha-male that emptied mouse-traps and put the
family dogs to sleep, and he would turn on all the lights and eject
whatever was currently haunting her. So she had to wait.

But while she waited, she was left to stew over the question that now
purged on her logic-how did the smoke alarm get tripped?

She pondered it, wrapping herself in her robe. Then she looked down at
the bottom crack of the bathroom door and saw black fur peeking out
from beneath it.

Alarmed, she smacked the door hoping to frighten it away. The fur
disappeared, but the fear-fueled tears came in agonizing streams.
"Adam!" she pleaded. She sat on the toilet, rocking in her arms,
keeping a keen eye on the crack below the door.

Then, her attention turned to the small, picture-sized window well
above the stool, made more for ventilation than viewing. It would offer
a view of a gleaming streetlight and the driveway. Looking out the
window wouldn't make him arrive sooner, but it would ease her as she
could anticipate his arrival.

Then, the door shook with a thud. The narrow, full-length mirror
attached to it vibrated with the blow. Whatever struck the door was
stronger than a raccoon, and it sent Julie into a confused, terrified
frenzy.

High-pitched groans exploded from her, despite her efforts to bite
them back. The sore corners of her eyes, which continued to spit tears
down her now puffy cheeks, felt acidic. She scrambled, putting her
slippers on for more traction, hoping to leap onto the pink, fuzzy
toilet seat cover, making sure to step on the edges and not the center.
Her mother used to employ similar tactics in avoiding mice, and Julie
hoped that whatever was outside the door was similar in harmlessness
and that the evasive maneuvers would prove equally effective.

No more noises came. Almost two minutes passed in silence. Her tears
stopped, her breathing returned to normal. Julie then heard a noise
coming from outside-crunching gravel.

Adam!

Hope inflated her-within the hour, she'd be cuddled with him, laughing
about her horrific overreaction. Cupping the sides of her head, she
looked out the window with the intention of hurrying him along with a
few well-timed shrieks.

As far as the eye could see, they gathered, their fur shiny and black,
their mouths a perfect circle of three layers of spiraled teeth. They
indeed reminded her of her Pomeranian, Linus, in size, build, and fur,
but the eyes were a greenish-yellow, glittering under the streetlight
and their mouths were hideous. There had to be millions of them, lining
the subdivision block, crawling amongst and over themselves like a hive
full of bees. They looked hungry. Adam's car was in the driveway, but
he would not be coming in. Not tonight.

Julie released a scream that would've been eternal, if not for the
bathroom door collapsing behind her.