Chapter 36
The rat had had a taste of human flesh and it liked it. Its prey, the human tied up in the corner, didn’t realize it was there. If he did, he made no notice. He either didn’t care any more or was just too tired to call out or put up a struggle. Strange how the others had slashed him so many times and then just left him there in his own stink and filth.
Maybe they were returning to finish him off, so he knew that he had to get at the creature before the others returned. To the rat, we humans are creatures, nothing more than something to be despised, but caution needed to be taken. They could strike out and harm or kill him if he became careless.
It was just then that the man noticed him.
"Get the fuck away from me. Go on, get out of here. Get away.” Jake cried out. He wasn’t really sure if the animal was there or if it was just one of his hallucinations, but he didn’t want to take any chances. He remembered the last encounter with it. His ankle was swollen and becoming inflamed from infection where he had been bitten. He started to kick and buck trying to scare the animal away.
The rat stopped for a moment, making sure that no one was coming to see what was going on. No one came and so he advanced again. The smell of blood was driving him to distraction. It smelled so good that he had to get at the man. His thirst for human flesh and blood was becoming unbearable.
He lunged and struck poor Jake in the chest. Jake screamed and started rolling trying to shake the creature off. At first the rat started to slide, but he dug his claws into Jake’s side and sunk his razor sharp incisors into his stomach.
Jake let out a howl of pain. With all of his thrashing about, he managed to loosen the rope around his legs enough that he kicked it free. He staggered up and began running blindly about the darkened room. The rat kept his teeth firmly implanted within the meat. It was so dark in there that Jake really couldn’t see two feet in front of him. His hands were still tied behind his back and so he couldn’t protect himself from running into anything that might be in the room.
It only took a moment, but must have seemed like an eternity with a rat clamped onto your gut, when Jake ran into a work bench, dislodging the vermin and knocking the wind out of himself. Some thing fell off the table and smashed to the floor with a crash.
The door to the shed opened and standing there was Clem. The rat scurried away from Jake and hid behind some garbage that was strewn about the floor. He wasn’t seen by this second human. He would bide his time and get another shot at the captive person.
"What the fuck are you doin’.”
Jake was too winded to speak. His stomach felt like it was on fire. Blood soaked through his shirt and dripped onto the dirt floor. He was slipping into a state of shock. He started to shiver and tremble.
"I asked you what you was doin”
Jake turned but said nothing. Clem came over to him and kicked him in the ribs. Jake heard something snap, and he curled up screaming. Clem kicked him again.
"You dumb piece of shit. You broke pappy’s bottle of screech. You wait ‘til he gets back to you. You’s gonna be sorry for comin’ around here botherin’ us.”
Jake thought he was going to get stomped on again and so he closed his eyes and braced for the next blow. It never came. The next thing he heard was the door slamming shut and being locked from the other side, once again leaving him in the dark. Jake tried to get up again, but when he moved, pain shot up from the broken rib. He was living in Hell, each moment getting worse by the second. What else could happen to him, he wondered. He was sweating, and it was dripping in his eyes, causing them to sting. He moaned and closed them tightly to get it to stop.
Jake wasn’t a religious man. He never had been, but he began to pray to God to release him from his torment. "Oh Lord. Please, Lord, hear my prayer. I may have done some things I’ve regretted in the past. But nothing could warrant such treatment as this. Please deliver me from this nightmare that I am in, I beseech you.”
It seems that Jake had totally forgotten the countless number of times he had hurt or killed people. Some would consider Jake no better than a mad dog and he was getting what he deserved. Others would have thought that he was a victim of circumstances and didn’t deserve what was happening to him. Whatever people thought didn’t really matter. He was suffering unbelievably and no one seemed to be coming to his aid. He began to weep quietly, desperation overcoming him like a black shroud.
The rat was not more than four feet away from Jake. He was twitching a little. Blood matted his fur. He licked at it, enjoying its essence. He turned his attention back to the matter at hand. He was becoming crazed with the smell of and amount of blood that was about. He made a tittering sound, excitement getting the better of him.
It was time to finish what he had started. He was not only hungry, but he had grown to hate the human. He wanted to rip pieces from him, rip and tear into him until nothing remained but a pile of flesh and blood. Then he could gorge himself until his appetite was satisfied. Nothing would stop it now. Once again he crept closer and closer, preparing to savage the creature lying against the wall.
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