A Feast

Strangely, as I navigated the dungeon, I didn't encounter any more knights, which was disappointing.

The sound of cheering made me head towards a certain direction. I finally make it to the first floor and I look out the window.

Before me is a mass of people standing before a platform with a guy holding a giant axe. In front of him is a block with a bloody basket. From where I am I can't see the heads, but I know what's happening.

'What a waste of good food.'

I hear footsteps and I instantly try to hide my long body behind a counter, but a majority of it sticks out.

The door opens, and three knights walk past, either not caring that they see my body, or they can't see it.

Before the door closes, I slip out, knowing the bloodbath I left behind would raise some alarms.

Outside, I don't bother appreciating the sunlight or the fresh air as I realize, that I'm not actually breathing.

I find shelter in a nearby house that has no one in it at the moment. I decide to wait until nighttime, if there is, to start anything.

I'm still close enough to the crowd and the execution event that I can hear their cheers.

With nothing happening, I further explore the house I'm in to make sure that I will remain uninterrupted. Entering a room, I decide that with the way the house is rundown, and the room has cobwebs, there's no way someone lives here.

Walking more into the room, I notice a mirror to my right on a desk. Looking into it, I see a sinister mask with yellow eyes looking back at me with a giant furry body and huge claws.

Positive that I had some time to myself, I settle in, trying my best to ignore the hunger within my body as I assess myself.

I didn't need to breathe, which every living thing needed to do. I definitely needed to eat, I wasn't going to experiment to find out whether I needed to or not.

Furthermore, I had more strength than humans, and they couldn't see me. The former deacon said I classified as a demon, but I wasn't exactly. I remember dying and being a ghost, no matter how short it was. Maybe I was more like a ghost instead of a demon.

Besides the insistent feeling of hunger, there was only a void that I was feeling. Like I had a missing part of me. Looking at my stomach, I could see a hole that I touch. Where there should be blood, I was instead hollow inside. Hmmm. Hollow. That was a good way to describe myself. 

Sounds from the event outside turn my attention to it. I hear a man address the crowd.

"Due to unforeseen circumstances, apparently the man from the church, who failed to kill the demon as it took the lives of three of our own, has killed himself while in our custody.

We all knew the church was a lot of things, but shameless is unexpected. On an unrelated note, curfew will now be in effect. You are to stay in your homes until sunrise. Knights will patrol our streets to ensure our safety, as we ask you to cooperate until this is all over. Thank you."

I could tell he walked away as the crowd went into an uproar, refusing to explain further. I would make the same choice.

No doubt he was informed of the mess I left in the prison and put everyone under curfew for their safety as they investigated.

Too bad for them, the odds were still in my favor.

After a couple of minutes, the crowd got tired and dispersed. Looking outside the window, I saw that I had maybe an hour at most until sundown. Sitting on the bed, it breaks but I don't get harmed as I remain there, waiting.

Five hours later...

I stand up, content with how dark it is now. When it first got dark, I was going to leave, but then I thought it would be easier if everyone went ahead and ate their dinner. Then they would be getting ready for bed and lazy.

Exiting the house, I begin my night at the first house I encounter, easily dodging the knights as their clanking armor gave away their positions. Despite my large new body, I manage to climb into the house through the window. Walking to the door, I inspect their lock and see the design flaw in it before continuing to creep around the house.

Inside, there's only a single male, much to my disappointment. I get over it quickly as I remember there was a whole town before me. Approaching the guy, I watch the rise and fall of his chest as he sleeps.

Without wasting any more time because of the long night ahead of me, I use a claw and slice it across his neck. He wakes up, choking on his blood as he looks around the room in fear. Stumbling out of bed, he tries to make his last moments by making it outside.

Right before he makes it to the door, my tail snakes out and wraps itself around his leg, making him fall as I pull him back towards the bed. His struggles die down as soon, his ghost emerges which I grab out the air.

He screams for help, but none can hear him as I silence him by chomping on his ethereal form. Compared to the warm feeling that swept through my body when I ate Michael, this guy was a letdown. The only thing he did was relieve my hunger for one second before it returned.

Leaving the guy's house, I causally walk next door. Coming up to the door, I gently push on it to reveal that it's locked. Still applying a bit of pressure to the door, there's enough of a gap for my tail to slide in and take off the lock.

Closing the door behind me and locking it again, just in case someone tries to escape. Wandering around the little house, the first room I come across is a woman sleeping in a bed by herself. Repeating the same thing I've done before; I swipe my claw across her neck, but she manages to let out a loud noise.

Cringing, I hold her mouth closed as she flails against me, pounding against my arm and hand. With each passing second, her hits get weaker until they stop entirely. Snatching her ghost out of the air, because she slightly annoyed me, I immediately eat her ghost, making sure to chew.

As her ghost provides a slight relief in my hunger, a noise from the door frame snaps my attention to it.

"Mom?"

A little girl holding a doll while rubbing her eyes stands looking in my direction confused. Of course, there was a kid, there was always a kid. She makes no attempt to run as I approach her small figure. In life, I could be considered a murderer, a serial killer even, but I most certainly wasn't a monster.

So as the girl's ghost slid down my jaws, I didn't feel the least bit sorry for her. She provided usefulness as fuel to quell my hunger. Plus, I made sure she didn't feel any pain when I ended her. Leaving her alive for what I was planning on doing would be the villainous thing.

Checking the rest of the house and finding no one else, I continue my feast at every home, making sure to eat any knights I encounter as well.