A Single Bite (Seer + Syl)

Devon sat in the corner as she usually did. It was her corner of the room. None of the other children ever found that corner interesting, and it wasn't. Just enough light hit that corner for someone to read or write by, leaving the area in a shadow. Devon was fine with this as she sat there with scraps of paper, drawing cartoons to whittle her time away. It was a pitiful existence, she thought blandly to herself as she added another line to a cartoon character's hair, but so was being an orphan in the first place.

She didn't know why her parents hadn't wanted her. She remembered the discussions, often loud and tearful, when she was younger. Complaints about restrictions on time, money, this, that, and the other thing. Devon hadn't understood it then, and now that the memories were so faded, she wouldn't have the chance to really piece it all together anyway. All that mattered was one thing: she had been given up. Some parents. She almost envied the kids whose parents were just gone; at least that meant that they weren't there by someone else's choice, left so that more adults could come in and pick and choose from them like they were pieces of meat.

Devon sighed. When the door opened, and a man walked in with one of the women from the agency, she barely spared them a glance. She didn't have a chance. She hadn't in all the other several dozen adoptions over the years. Adults were all so picky. They wanted a boy with this eye color and of this race and he had to be this tall . . . They only ever wanted the exotic children. Devon wasn't exotic. She was a plain girl, barely a teenager; pale skin, dark brown hair, bangs that hung in her hazel eyes, boring square glasses, and a little short in height to top it all off.

And this man wouldn't be any different. He'd probably want a boy, so they could do "manly" things together or something, Devon didn't really care. She didn't trouble herself with it. She kept her eyes on her sketches, not bothering to watch the man. Looking at the adults who came in always gave her that tiny little bit of hope in her stomach, and she wasn't going to give herself the opportunity to have her hope crushed down again.

Devon was just waiting for the man to leave, and was focused so much on her drawing that she didn't notice him walking over. All she wanted was for the clamor to stop, for the little kids to be quiet and quit begging, because that hadn't ever worked before. She had tried in her earliest years and only ever gotten a pat on the head for it. They would learn soon enough, if they weren't lucky enough to be adopted beforehand.

She jumped a little when she felt him tap on her shoulder. Instinctively, she turned to look at him, but dropped her gaze back to the table almost immediately thereafter. "Devon," she muttered when inquired about her name, keeping her eyes down on the table.

Although she didn't sound interested, Devon's stomach erupted in a storm of butterflies. Adults normally ignored any of the kids they didn't find interesting. The fact that this one --Jason, she thought he said-- was asking her name was a huge step in a positive direction. As soon as she caught herself thinking this, though, Devon forced the hopefulness back down. It wasn't good to let herself jump ahead when there was still the very real possibility he would lose interest and move on to a different kid.

Devon subconsciously drew her hand over her sketches. She didn't understand why Jason was so interested in them. The compliments made her blush and look off. While the other kids sometimes thought it was "cool" that she drew, none of them seemed to have the same insight on her work as Jason did. It was actually a little refreshing to find someone else who took a genuine interest in it--not that she would say it out loud, of course.

When he brought up the subject of adoption, though, Devon's mind drew a long blank. It almost seemed like time stopped for a minute or so as she attempted to figure out how to react. She wasn't even sure if she'd heard him correctly. Maybe he was talking about something else? No, that didn't make any sense, he had just asked her plainly if she wanted to be adopted.

"I . . ." She tried to speak, stopped, rethought her sentence, and made another attempt. "That would be . . . great. I guess." It was hard to contain a sudden burst of excitement, and in doing so she made herself sound nearly uninterested at all. She was trying as hard as she could to hold back a smile, and failing utterly. With the solid idea that somebody really wanted to adopt her for once, not being at least a little happy was impossible.

Devon gave a meek little nod and stood up, choosing not to let Jason help her up. She disliked physical contact as a general rule, but it was going to take awhile before she could trust him that well at all. She picked up the pages she was drawing on and held them to her chest, choosing not to fold them up in her pocket. This also gave her the chance to look down at the floor as she followed behind Jason and the receptionist, avoiding the gazes of the other kids and hiding the smile that had, despite her attempts, spread across her face.

It was hard to believe. Rare were the children who were adopted once they reached the age of maybe twelve years or so. Devon had reached the point where she was sure she would be stuck there until she was eighteen, at which point they would have just turned her out and told her to fend for herself because she was an adult. It wasn't a promising future.

But that was over with now. She didn't have to think about that anymore. Devon could feel joy-derived tears starting to well in her eyes, but she quickly blinked them back before anybody could see. The thought of finally having a real home, with someone who might actually care a little, was overwhelming. The ones who ran the adoption center might have described her as one of the most individual children they had, but it didn't stop her from being happy to finally leave.

Devon kept quiet throughout the legal processes, still trying to sort out her thoughts about everything that was happening. The initial burst of excitement was beginning to wear off just enough for nervousness to creep in. Jason seemed nice enough, but she wasn't sure yet, and she could only hope that he would continue the kind streak past his first impression. She knew better than to judge someone solely on the first five minutes of knowing them.

Once settled in the car, Devon had to pause for a minute to think of how to answer all of Jason's questions. She turned her drawings over in her lap and looked down at them. "Um . . . well, I like writing and reading, but they never really had any books," she said slowly. "And I guess green's my favorite color . . ." She rubbed her finger over a speck on the back of one of the papers, mentally cursing herself for being unable to talk with another human being.

It was strange, actually, really trying to talk with somebody else. Nobody took much interest in her, usually, and she was generally happy with it. The same way nobody found her that interesting, she didn't like most other people, either. It was easier to keep to herself.

Devon couldn't help smiling a little bit in amusement. "You don't have to do that much," she said quietly. "The room would probably be enough . . ." She had to admit to herself, though, the offer was a little nice, and more than she had expected. It was going to be difficult adjusting to actually having leeway where she lived. The adoption center didn't give a lot of options simply because they couldn't afford it; she was probably lucky to even be wearing a pair of actual jeans at the moment instead of something more uniform.

She continued staring down at the papers for awhile, unsure of what she was expected to say. She couldn't think of any questions to ask him, but the silence in itself was a bit stifling. She felt odd just being in his car--even though he was now her legal guardian. Devon caught herself thinking this and mentally berated herself. She was going to have to get used to the idea of treating him like a father.

Still, that was a hard thought to swallow, too. She wondered how much this would actually affect her life. She didn't really know what it was like to have real parents with different house rules and all. Sure, the center had had a good number of restrictions, but those were just blanket rules, nothing like how a parent would run anything. This would be different.

Devon found herself momentarily overwhelmed. There he went, asking questions again, and all focused on what she wanted to do. Did he always show so much concern for everyone, or was he making an extra attempt for his kid? It was hard to think about anyone going an extra mile for her at all, and while she secretly appreciated it, she had a problem with having the attention on her.

"I . . . actually don't know," she said slowly, gathering up her papers. She shuffled them into another neat pile. "I haven't done a lot of this stuff, so I really don't know what to think of it at all. Never been shopping or to amusement parks or anything like that, so . . . I don't know." She added a slight smile and added, "But I don't think you have to worry about the boyfriend thing. That's not really my interest."

She ran a hand back through one side of her bangs and slowly climbed out of the car. While maybe doing some other things would be fun later, right now she just wanted to adjust a little. A new house, new parental figure . . . a new life overall. It made her mind reel just thinking about it.

Relieved that, at least for a short while, she wouldn't be pressured into anything else, Devon allowed herself to relax slightly. She looked around the neat house, silently happy that it was so clean. Something else she had disliked about the adoption center was the tendency of younger children to be messy. While she didn't mind a little clutter, the messes they could make were usually unbearable. Jason seemed to be the opposite, which she appreciated.

"Alright," she said absently to what he was saying. She didn't know exactly what Jason would be doing at his computer that involved customers, but she dismissed it. Probably something technical that was beyond her knowledge. She wound up hoping that she wouldn't find some excuse to bother him, though, not wanting to be a burden at all.

She took a few steps off, looking further into the house. It made her feel small. It was all unfamiliar to her, and it felt like she was intruding upon someone else's territory. It just wouldn't quite register in her head that she now had every right to be here. That would come with time--she hoped.

Devon found herself absently trailing after Jason. She didn't know what else to do at that point. Wandering around the house on her own just felt awkward. But of course, there he went again making every offer conceivable, while Devon had no idea what she was supposed to do or say. She almost wished he would stop.

"It's okay. Really," she said, awkwardly folding her arms across her chest. "I'm not really hungry right now. I just kinda . . . want to get used to everything, y'know?" She left it at that, thinking to ask him to stop making offers would come across as rude. That was the last impression she wanted to make.

She looked around the kitchen, again surprised by how clean everything seemed to be. She was starting to become afraid of even walking on the floor by this point. Or touching anything. This notion, though ridiculous, somehow added onto the already-present stress, and she bit the inside of her lip.

Devon decided to say nothing to reassure Jason he was okay. It was better to keep quiet, she thought. She went off to tentatively wander through the rest of the house, thinking she should familiarize herself with the place as soon as she could. She found herself almost walking on tiptoe, not wanting to disturb anything in the house--regardless of whether she could lay claim to part of it or not.

She wandered out of the kitchen toward the back of the house to look at the empty bedrooms. She checked out one, then the other, seeing no significant difference between the two. In the second she paused to look out the window. She guessed, judging by the late-morning sun's direction, that the window faced toward the sunrise. She contemplated whether that would make any difference in her choice. Waking up to the sunrise every morning sounded both pleasant and dissatisfying.

As she stared out the window, elbows propped on the windowsill, she drifted back into thought again. She vaguely missed the adoption center, but not for any good reason. It was such a change from the center to a real home that she almost missed the simplicity. At the same time, though, she knew she would eventually get used to it, and she wouldn't go back no matter what. She'd just hoped that adoption would be a little less . . . unsettling. It was hard to think of Jason ever being a father figure as well. He was nice and all, but she barely knew him. Hopefully acceptance of that would come with time as well.

Devon amused herself for a few hours sitting against the wall, doodling again on the pages she had brought home. Normally, one wouldn't expect a young girl to be amused by the same thing for hours. However, time spent at the adoption center meant that one method of entertainment was generally pretty good. She wasn't picky. Besides, she felt no desire to ask Jason for anything. As always, she didn't want to bother anybody else.

She looked up at the unexpected intrusion, subconsciously turning over her pages again. She had lost all track of time herself. "Um . . . well, kinda, yeah," she answered him at length. In all actuality, her stomach had been growling in protest for about an hour, but she had ignored it. Again, she hated to ask for anything in a house that just didn't feel like hers.

Figuring that her response was good enough, and hoping no more questions would be asked, Devon returned to her doodles. She was torn between wanting to be left alone and just wanting to adjust to everything. The feelings didn't go too well together even though she knew she'd move past it eventually. She gave a mental sigh, wondering if everyone had this much difficulty with adjusting or if she was just the strange one.

ONE YEAR LATER


Jason and Devon got close as time passed by. By the end of the first year, they truly were like father and daughter and most couldn't believe they weren't related. Jason took her out shopping, took her to theaters, art museums, and was even planning on funding her art career. He had taken her to art classes and her talent was quickly beginning to be sharpened. Everything seemed to be going just great. They didn't argue, and they hardly had anything to fight over. They had what seemed to be a perfect mutual agreement.

Things began to change however...

It began on a relatively warm and rainy Friday evening. Jason had gone out that night with a couple of friends for the sake of a good time at a new bar that had opened up. He had let Devon spend the night at friend's place so she wouldn't be alone. At first, Jason didn't have much fun. Social gatherings like this bored him a little. He loved being with his friends, but not getting drunk with them. That's when he met the stunning girl all the males in the club were drooling over. She stood an impressive 6'1 with beautiful curves and a lean body. Her crimson lips seemed so kissable and her dark green eyes alluring in their mystery. Dark curls bounced around her pale heart shaped face and cascaded over her shoulders. Even her breasts were perfect. Of course Jason stared. How could not stare at the angel?

She seemed to eye him as well but maybe that was just his imagination. Of course it had to be his imagination. Why would such a heavenly girl be interested him? He didn't have much to offer, yet she did waltz towards him. She gave a smile and caressed his cheek with cold yet elegant piano fingers with nails painted red. She gave him a wink before she began to mingle with the crowd once more. His friends nudged him forward with laughs of excitement and encouragement. He couldn't let the fox get away, could he?

As the year progressed, Devon quickly grew more accustomed to her new life. Jason's home was soon just as much hers, as she saw it, and Jason himself became more of a father figure to her. She got along with him better than she would have imagined getting along with anybody. She never tried to argue, or even did anything that might start an argument. She didn't even seem to have any of the stereotypical "rebellious teenager" traits as time advanced. She was perfectly happy to keep to herself, uninterested in any activities that could in the least bit get her in trouble.

As she was also exposed to more outside the adoption center, her interests also broadened. She held absolutely no interest in shopping, clothes, or boys, but found herself intrigued by new authors, risk-taking activities (within good reason, of course; she knew not to do anything that would get her killed or otherwise) and, perhaps influenced by Jason, technology--most notably games. While she managed to get along well with a couple of kids her age, she was perfectly happy to pursue her own interests without interference from them.

Sitting in her friend's home this evening, though, she found herself bored. She lay over the edge of the bed, wondering vaguely what Jason was up to at the time. Her friend's ongoing gossip of what happened with other people failed to be of interest, and so she let her mind wander why keeping up the facade of actually listening. Devon couldn't help feeling a little proud of Jason for getting out of the house, but at the same time, she didn't see what was fun about a bar. Getting drunk with friends seemed . . . undignified and uninteresting.

Another year had gone by since then and Jason had begun to go out regularly at night. He wouldn't admit it, but he actually liked the girl that he had met that one night at the bar. There was something about her that was just so intoxicating. He could never clear his mind of thoughts of her. All day he would think about her and wait in trepidation for night to fall. He knew he should pay less attention to a woman and more attention to his daughter, but the thought of having a lover was just too enticing a prize.

Tonight was one such night he had gone out to meet with his midnight lover. He found her name was Lorena and she was around his age. She liked electronics though she wasn't that good with them. She wasn't afraid to learn, and she seemed so interested in him. Another wonderful thing, she was an intellectual person. Jason thought things couldn't get any better. Maybe he could ask her to marry him. He would do that another time. Tonight he would just be with her.

They had met up as usual and gone to a movie after their little dinner. As usual, she hardly touched her food but he was too absorbed in her to notice. She was such a mind boggling beauty in and out. Then she had invited him to her house. That was something she hadn't done before. He was more than willing to abide her whim. He drove her home and was surprised to find it was mansion. She was rich. He followed her inside without a care. His daughter wasn't even on his mind. He only saw Lorena. If only he could have noticed the danger he was thrusting himself into.

Into the lion’s den he walked, hand in hand with the lioness hiding her canines. Her rose red lips fogged his mind and her beauty his only sun. She pulled him up to her candle lit room and tugged at his shirt. She leaned in close to him, nibbling on his ear and kissing his throat. All the more to tease your trapped fly. He kissed her in return and pulled her closer to him. She pushed him onto the bed and captured him under her. The trap had snapped shut, and yet he still had no clue of the danger.

She kissed him and turned his head away. She pulled open his shirt and nuzzled him tenderly. His body shivered and his mind was lost. Her fangs extended below her lips and she traced his jugular. With one last kiss, she pierced his throat and began to drink. Jason let out a cry of pain and surprise. His body tensed and he looked down as far as he could see to find blood seeping from his throat. His heart beat had gone into overdrive and he tried to push her away from him, but to no avail. She was much stronger than a weak little human. With each gulp of blood, his life was ebbing away and the slower and weaker his fight against her became to the point where he could hardly move against her. He was cold and numb. He wanted it all to just be over.

She pulled away and licked the excess blood before she looked him in the face with a smile and kissed his cheek. “You were a wonderful play thing. I had fun with you so I’ll spare you death. Open your mouth,” she whispered sweetly, but her voice was coated in death. He didn’t listen. He kept his mouth shut. “Open your mouth,” she said a little colder and again he refused. She lifted her hand up to his face and pulled his mouth open. She slit her wrist open and forced the blood to drip down his throat. He tried to move but he had no strength left for it. He felt the warm metallic liquid drip down his throat and tears swelled in his eyes. He hadn’t wanted this.

Within seconds, his body was being sliced with pain. He screamed out and his body tensed and twitched like he was having a seizure and in a way, he was. His body felt like he was on fire and there was no substance on Earth that could put the flame out. Tears streaked his face and his body would not respond to his commands. In the background he could hear Lorena laughing coldly.