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.Recognition stopped him cold, and he pulled back before he had touched her.She had been gagged with her own headband; while he'd fed off her rapist she'd stealthily freed herself, huddled her torn clothing back on.Now she stared at him, expecting—more of the same treatment from him.He felt her thoughts pounding their way into his skull.He's going to kill me.He's going to rape me again and— and— and—He backed up a step, as his hunger complained mildly at him that he was cheating it of dessert.She stared at him, waiting for him to move on her, stared at the way he was just standing there—motionless, not coming at her—At first she didn't believe.Then—she made the wild jump from seeing him as another attacker, to seeing him as savior.Relief flooded her—she sobbed, and started to throw herself at him—OhGodohGodohGod—He couldn't tell if the thought was hers or his.He backpedaled away from her so fast that she sprawled facedown in the snow at his feet."Get out of here—" he snarled at her, holding himself in check by only the thinnest of margins.If she touches me, I'll kill her too— oh God, somebody, help me— I can't hold it back if she touches me—She made some kind of a sound.The hunger coiled to leap." Out! " he screamed at her, backing up until he ran into a tree trunk."Go! Run, you stupid bitch!"She stared, she scrambled to her feet—and she ran.He slid down the tree trunk and huddled on the cold, bare dirt at its roots.Snow fell on him, melting and dampening his hair—fell on the body beyond him, dusting it, then slowly coating it with a shroud of white.He fought with himself with his head on his knees and his arms wrapped around his legs until the hunger subsided, and he stopped shaking.***The cabby arrived as promised.He was a little surprised to actually find Dave waiting there, but the lure of another fifty at this time of night—Had been more than even Harv could resist.Oh God, now I'm picking up everything— even passing thoughts.Got to shut down.got to.He smiled stiffly, passed the cabby the promised fifty, and settled into the back seat of the cab.The cabdriver's greed nearly triggered the hunger again.He shut his eyes and savagely throttled down on it.If he hadn't fed so fully already—But he had, and it subsided within him with scarcely a struggle."Find what you wanted, mack?" the cabby asked conversationally."Yes," he replied."Yes, thanks.I did.Sometimes the only place you can find what you're looking for is in a park at night, I guess."Let him try and figure that one out.A fierce cloud of cigar smoke rose to fill the front of the cab as the driver pondered.Dave sat back and stared out the cab window beside him.The hunger coiled at the base of his spine, a sleeping serpent, no longer pushing him, and no longer opening him to the thoughts of others.He hadn't felt this—good—in years.I feel fantastic, he thought wonderingly.Like I could run a mile and never be winded.Like I could do an all-night gig and never need a break.And what did it cost? Two rapists and a junkie.People nobody will ever miss.Scum that the world will be better off without.The cops would probably thank him.Certainly that girl did.I could go on like this very easily.How many muggers are there in New York? How many junkies?How many perverts?What was so bad about exterminating vermin?I'd be doing the world a favor.He could do what the law couldn't.Serve the world and save himself.Like one of my old heroes in the comic books.It would be easy.I may not need Di's help after all—It would make the world a better place.And what was it Hidoro was talking about? Using my power to get into people's minds, to tilt them one way or another? To—His conscience supplied the word.The ugly word.To manipulate them.To use them.His conscience supplied something else.The frightened eyes of the rape victim.Her fear.And how her fear had tasted just as sweet as that of her abusers.How close he'd come to taking her, the innocent, after he'd disposed of the guilty.Bile rose in his throat.No.Oh God, no.If she hadn't run, I'd have killed her.I'd probably have raped her first myself, just to get the most out of her.It rang true.It rang with more truth than what he'd been telling himself.Snow continued to fall; it was coating the street and the sidewalks, lying along the branches of the trees.It made the city look pure and pristine.Dave bit his lip, and really looked at what he'd done tonight.I hurt those people; I made them hurt as much as I possibly could.I enjoyed it.He swallowed nausea.I'm no better than they are.It was just that I picked my victims a little more carefully.And what about the day when there's no mugger, no rapist around, and the hunger demands to be fed? That day would come, sooner or later.If I can't get this thing that's happened to me reversed— one day I'm not going to be able to stop myself in time.I'm going to take the innocent victim along with the scum.And from there—I'll probably move straight on to taking the innocent.There are so many more of them.And they're so much easier to hurt, to frighten.He clenched his jaw tightly against the sickness rising inside him.No.No.I won't let myself do that.This can't last much longer.Di will make her move one way or another soon.And after that—After that, I'll see this ended— no matter what.And no matter what it takes.***"Well," Jason drawled lazily from the couch beside the door."The prodigal returns.Out helping old ladies across the street, Davey-boy?"Dave smiled, and moved into the light from the overhead fixture."Hardly," he said dryly.He let his eyes meet Jason's, slowly—and gave a little mental shove.Not much.Not enough to challenge.But enough so that the blond lead knew.Jason sat straight up, as if he'd been shocked awake." What in—" he began.Dave's smile widened.Jason's eyes narrowed for a moment, and he looked Dave over appraisingly."Well," he said, and began to chuckle."Well, well.Been busy tonight, have we?"Dave folded his arms across his chest and sauntered over to the couch."Could be," he replied enigmatically, examining the fingernails of his right hand with studious care."It would appear," said a lightly accented voice behind him, "that the little lamb has developed teeth."Dave controlled his expression, told the chill walking down his backbone to go away, and turned to face Hidoro."Shall we say instead that the little lamb has discovered he never was a lamb at all?" He tilted his head to one side, and narrowed his eyes down to slits.Which makes them harder to read, monster."There's a story somebody told me when I was a kid," he continued."It was about a lion that got raised by sheep.The little guy grew up thinking he was a sheep.Then one day the sheep were attacked, and he found out what he really was."Hidoro nodded, seemingly pleased."And so you have discovered that you are not, after all, a sheep?"He yawned; that, he didn't have to fake.Dawn was very close, and he was beginning to feel it, to feel how much the night had taken out of him in terms of mental exhaustion, despite all his newfound energy."I guess that about sums it up," he replied.And you obviously never heard that story— or you'd know what the ending really is.How what attacked the flock was a wolf pack.And how the little lion defended his flock and killed the entire pack.I hope my remembering that story is an omen, you bastard.He yawned again."Now, if you've got no objection—""How many did you take, David?" That was Jeffries, coming up from behind like the silent snake he was [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]
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.Recognition stopped him cold, and he pulled back before he had touched her.She had been gagged with her own headband; while he'd fed off her rapist she'd stealthily freed herself, huddled her torn clothing back on.Now she stared at him, expecting—more of the same treatment from him.He felt her thoughts pounding their way into his skull.He's going to kill me.He's going to rape me again and— and— and—He backed up a step, as his hunger complained mildly at him that he was cheating it of dessert.She stared at him, waiting for him to move on her, stared at the way he was just standing there—motionless, not coming at her—At first she didn't believe.Then—she made the wild jump from seeing him as another attacker, to seeing him as savior.Relief flooded her—she sobbed, and started to throw herself at him—OhGodohGodohGod—He couldn't tell if the thought was hers or his.He backpedaled away from her so fast that she sprawled facedown in the snow at his feet."Get out of here—" he snarled at her, holding himself in check by only the thinnest of margins.If she touches me, I'll kill her too— oh God, somebody, help me— I can't hold it back if she touches me—She made some kind of a sound.The hunger coiled to leap." Out! " he screamed at her, backing up until he ran into a tree trunk."Go! Run, you stupid bitch!"She stared, she scrambled to her feet—and she ran.He slid down the tree trunk and huddled on the cold, bare dirt at its roots.Snow fell on him, melting and dampening his hair—fell on the body beyond him, dusting it, then slowly coating it with a shroud of white.He fought with himself with his head on his knees and his arms wrapped around his legs until the hunger subsided, and he stopped shaking.***The cabby arrived as promised.He was a little surprised to actually find Dave waiting there, but the lure of another fifty at this time of night—Had been more than even Harv could resist.Oh God, now I'm picking up everything— even passing thoughts.Got to shut down.got to.He smiled stiffly, passed the cabby the promised fifty, and settled into the back seat of the cab.The cabdriver's greed nearly triggered the hunger again.He shut his eyes and savagely throttled down on it.If he hadn't fed so fully already—But he had, and it subsided within him with scarcely a struggle."Find what you wanted, mack?" the cabby asked conversationally."Yes," he replied."Yes, thanks.I did.Sometimes the only place you can find what you're looking for is in a park at night, I guess."Let him try and figure that one out.A fierce cloud of cigar smoke rose to fill the front of the cab as the driver pondered.Dave sat back and stared out the cab window beside him.The hunger coiled at the base of his spine, a sleeping serpent, no longer pushing him, and no longer opening him to the thoughts of others.He hadn't felt this—good—in years.I feel fantastic, he thought wonderingly.Like I could run a mile and never be winded.Like I could do an all-night gig and never need a break.And what did it cost? Two rapists and a junkie.People nobody will ever miss.Scum that the world will be better off without.The cops would probably thank him.Certainly that girl did.I could go on like this very easily.How many muggers are there in New York? How many junkies?How many perverts?What was so bad about exterminating vermin?I'd be doing the world a favor.He could do what the law couldn't.Serve the world and save himself.Like one of my old heroes in the comic books.It would be easy.I may not need Di's help after all—It would make the world a better place.And what was it Hidoro was talking about? Using my power to get into people's minds, to tilt them one way or another? To—His conscience supplied the word.The ugly word.To manipulate them.To use them.His conscience supplied something else.The frightened eyes of the rape victim.Her fear.And how her fear had tasted just as sweet as that of her abusers.How close he'd come to taking her, the innocent, after he'd disposed of the guilty.Bile rose in his throat.No.Oh God, no.If she hadn't run, I'd have killed her.I'd probably have raped her first myself, just to get the most out of her.It rang true.It rang with more truth than what he'd been telling himself.Snow continued to fall; it was coating the street and the sidewalks, lying along the branches of the trees.It made the city look pure and pristine.Dave bit his lip, and really looked at what he'd done tonight.I hurt those people; I made them hurt as much as I possibly could.I enjoyed it.He swallowed nausea.I'm no better than they are.It was just that I picked my victims a little more carefully.And what about the day when there's no mugger, no rapist around, and the hunger demands to be fed? That day would come, sooner or later.If I can't get this thing that's happened to me reversed— one day I'm not going to be able to stop myself in time.I'm going to take the innocent victim along with the scum.And from there—I'll probably move straight on to taking the innocent.There are so many more of them.And they're so much easier to hurt, to frighten.He clenched his jaw tightly against the sickness rising inside him.No.No.I won't let myself do that.This can't last much longer.Di will make her move one way or another soon.And after that—After that, I'll see this ended— no matter what.And no matter what it takes.***"Well," Jason drawled lazily from the couch beside the door."The prodigal returns.Out helping old ladies across the street, Davey-boy?"Dave smiled, and moved into the light from the overhead fixture."Hardly," he said dryly.He let his eyes meet Jason's, slowly—and gave a little mental shove.Not much.Not enough to challenge.But enough so that the blond lead knew.Jason sat straight up, as if he'd been shocked awake." What in—" he began.Dave's smile widened.Jason's eyes narrowed for a moment, and he looked Dave over appraisingly."Well," he said, and began to chuckle."Well, well.Been busy tonight, have we?"Dave folded his arms across his chest and sauntered over to the couch."Could be," he replied enigmatically, examining the fingernails of his right hand with studious care."It would appear," said a lightly accented voice behind him, "that the little lamb has developed teeth."Dave controlled his expression, told the chill walking down his backbone to go away, and turned to face Hidoro."Shall we say instead that the little lamb has discovered he never was a lamb at all?" He tilted his head to one side, and narrowed his eyes down to slits.Which makes them harder to read, monster."There's a story somebody told me when I was a kid," he continued."It was about a lion that got raised by sheep.The little guy grew up thinking he was a sheep.Then one day the sheep were attacked, and he found out what he really was."Hidoro nodded, seemingly pleased."And so you have discovered that you are not, after all, a sheep?"He yawned; that, he didn't have to fake.Dawn was very close, and he was beginning to feel it, to feel how much the night had taken out of him in terms of mental exhaustion, despite all his newfound energy."I guess that about sums it up," he replied.And you obviously never heard that story— or you'd know what the ending really is.How what attacked the flock was a wolf pack.And how the little lion defended his flock and killed the entire pack.I hope my remembering that story is an omen, you bastard.He yawned again."Now, if you've got no objection—""How many did you take, David?" That was Jeffries, coming up from behind like the silent snake he was [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]