Chapter XIX
It truly was a creature of nightmares. Brayden had elected to drive this time and Kevin was stuck having to turn back frequently to ensure the thing didn’t break its bonds too soon. The hideous beast behind him in the bed of the truck bared its teeth in a gruesome imitation of a smile, yet it was still tied up tight. Kevin shuddered and turned away.
The driver cast a look at his passenger before returning his focus to the road. “Where we dropping this beauty off again?” He asked to confirm their destination.
“The Alpine region.” Kevin grunted. He worked some words around in his mind. “This thing… it shouldn’t have been made. It’s not just that it’s the ultimate predator, it’s just how freaking intelligent it is. It knows what’s going on here. It understands what it’s supposed to do. It understands that it’s superior to us in every way, shape, and form.”
Brayden glanced at him out of the corner of his eye. “Know what else? I’d bet it has a liking for you. The thing can’t take it’s eyes off of ya!”
Kevin couldn’t help a snort of laughter at the ridiculous notion. “Yeah, right.” He rolled his eyes. “It’s probably just sizing me up like you would a steak at the store.”
“Speaking of steak, I could go for a food break sometime soon.” Brayden hummed. “We’ve been driving eight hours straight without much of a stop between gas stations and bathroom breaks. I need some real food right about now, none of that travel crap you’ve been giving me!” He warned as Kevin started reaching down to pull out yet another granola bar from their bag of supplies.
“I agree that we could use some food, but I’m reluctant to stop with the beast back there.” Kevin cautioned. “It seems content for now, but if it decides it’s bored while we’re off eating?” He shook his head.
“How about fast food then? I’ll go in, grab us some burgers, and you can watch the darling back there. I’ll park a bit away so that no curious person would notice our lovely companion here.” The big man wasn’t going to give up on a solid meal without a fight.
The show host laughed. “Alright then. Can you ask for a bit of raw meat too? Just to keep ‘our lovely companion’ satisfied as well.”
“You got it.” Brayden would face the awkwardness of having to explain his need for the raw meat if it would mean he got a hot meal out of it. “Do you have any change? I only have a fifty iron on me and I don’t think they’d like it if I tried to pay in a large amount.”
“I think I’ve got two twenty-fivers and a few ten coins.” Kevin dug around in his pocket and produced the money. “Here.”
-
The food break went well. Brayden convinced Kevin to be the one to feed the beast, which seemed pleased by his thoughtfulness, and made the host thoroughly wash his hands before even being allowed to touch the packaging on the burgers. They ate with the occasional joke or reminder that the other needed a new napkin and could almost have said that they were relaxed. Besides the fact that there was an intelligent killing machine waiting patiently next to them in the truck, of course.
Once both had finished and used the bathroom they set back out on the road. Brayden drove recklessly, but steadily, and they were making good time even if it was erring on the side of illegal. The triple moons were up in the sky at this late hour and Kevin felt himself starting to drift off to sleep.
Brayden watched his companion as Kevin dozed off. He looked so comfortable lying there against the side of the door, his arm resting on the two inches of space by the window, his head propped up by his hand. The driver smiled to himself. He had been about to ask the other man if he’d mind if the radio was turned on but decided he didn’t need it for now. Maybe he’d turn it on when Kevin dropped into a deeper state of rest.
-
The young man woke with a start. He didn’t open his eyes immediately and instead opted to check out what was going on with his other senses before he looked.
First, he noticed was that the engine was no longer running and the car was at rest. He no longer felt the vibrations nor heard the sounds that indicated travel.
Second, something stank rather awful. Kinda like raw meat that had been left to sit in the heat for too long.
Third, there was a soft rasping sound coming from just outside his window. Almost like something large was trying to breath but its fangs were getting in the way. Huh, that was a detailed thought for a noise. Wait, hold up. He’d heard that specific sound before.
Kevin started with a jerk. The one flaw of the perfect hunter was that if it got too close you could hear it breath. The perfect hunter that was supposed to be restrained in the back. It was right outside his window, staring in at him through the closed glass.
“Don’t move suddenly.” Brayden’s soft comment drew Kevin’s attention to the man. He had been slowly reaching to unbuckle the show host’s seat belt and now completed the task. “Come over to my side.”
Kevin cautiously back up until he felt his back press against Brayden’s chest. Mumbling an apology, he went to go forwards a few inches to give the man space, but the head security guard drew him back by wrapping one arm around his chest. The beast hadn’t moved, save for its eyes, which followed both their every move. No, just Kevin’s motions were noted. It didn’t care about Brayden.
“Kev… are you gifted?” Brayden whispered the question into the other man’s ear without any of the awkwardness that would usually accompany it.
“Not that I know of.” The younger man breathed back. “Then again, I don’t remember much of my life before I started working as the host for the Game, so I suppose it could be possible.” He thought he knew where Brayden was going with this. The beast might have this weird fascination with him because they had found that the experiments were drawn to gifted and abhumans. No one could figure why, only that they were. Another thing they had found was that a select few instinctively knew the locations of all the other hybrid beast at any given time and could always locate them. That had been the reason they had taken this particular predator out of the lab.
The reason they had taken it out of the lab.
“Did we make it to Alpine yet?” He could feel Brayden nod.
“Yeah. The thing broke free as soon as we crossed the border.”
Kevin cleared his throat and tried to speak loudly with a clear voice. “I want you to track down the other creatures similar in creation to yourself. Kill them or bring them back to the lab, whichever you can manage best.” Eh, he got close enough tone wise. His voice was a little high in pitch but it didn’t waver or shake as much as he was worried it might.
The beast blinked its pitch black eyes once before turning around and vanishing.