Predator | 2

[this is the rewritten version of the second chapter. By far better than the last version, but still nowhere near perfect.]

The next morning started with an unbearable throbbing pain on April's body. With a blurry vision she vaguely recognized the dirty walls of the motel she was staying at.

Rapidly blinking her eyes to get rid of the blurriness, her hand shot up to her throbbing head.

April cursed under her breath. There was no way she could feel any worse than she was feeling in that moment. Her back cracked when she tried to straighten up from the bed.

The hardness of the mattress wasn't doing any good to her already aching back. At least, she thought, she should've had searched for another motel.

Three missed calls and two text messages from her brother. April groaned and hissed as she moved too quickly for her aching body.

She had to leave soon, if she planned to leave anytime soon. Luckily, she didn't bother to unpack her belongings. For one single night, it wouldn't have been worth it anyway, she thought.

Only a few shirts were randomly tossed on the bed when she was searching for something comfortable to wear. Truth is, she was too disgusted to even put her clothes into the wooden closet of the motel.

April quickly gathered her things- which wasn't much. She was quick to leave the filthy motel. Finally stepping outside the motel, she caught a breathe of fresh air.

Until then, she didn't realize how stuffy the motel actually was. She was surprised why the lack of oxygen hadn't choke her to death.

Her eyes fell upon her cheap car. She was searching for dells and damages- something she was expecting- but was relieved with her car being in a great shape.

God only knew what she would've done if there was even one single scratch on her car. She would've skinned the wolf alive, most probably.

April quickly jumped into her car as an ice cold breeze violently bit in her skin and made her shiver, even with the thick fabric of the jacket she was wearing.

She passed by at the forest and the vivid fragments of her memories from last night made her head throb painfully. April mentally noted to avoid the bar at any cost when she made her way back home.

She followed the road to the area Eric was living. Empty streets were decorated with bare trees, fallen leaves covering the ground in all possible shades of yellow and orange.

It wasn't exactly surprising that the area was empty. The towns populations, April was sure, must have been extremely low, she figured.

Anticipation was already running through her body like wild. She couldn't wait to see him again, after all these years. She was barely fifteen when he moved out to live on his own.

It was rushed and sudden, it took her and her parents including by a great surprise. But her brother was planning this for a really long time, he told her once.

From the outside, April decided, Eric's apartment looked fine, to say the least. Judging his apartment from the outside, she kind of knew that it was small, barely enough space for two person. She instantly jumped off of her car with her bag hanging over her shoulder.

April rushed into the building and fiercely knocked at his door once she found it. She heard the door slowly squeaking open with Eric cooly leaning against the doorframe.

Barely aware of her bag slipping down form her shoulder, she threw herself into the arms of he brother.

April was taken by a great amount of surprise when she received a bone crushing embrace from her brother- the same person who used to be a total wimp.

"You're choking me here," April managed to mumble into his chest. They pulled away, both faces wide with a smile. For years, April forcefully had to grow used to hear her brother's voice over the phone.

Eric placed a hand on over head, a grin slowly forming his lips. "How grown up you are now," he spoke, hovering over her with his frame.

"You, too. You weren't in a great shape the last time I saw you." Eric changed pretty much during the last few years.

Eric laughed as he quickly picked her bag from the ground. "Come in, it's cold outside." Eric dragged her into his apartment and April soon noticed the too modern looking living room for a alone living male who used to live in a messed up room when back at home for years ago.

And obviously, he never was someone with a good taste in decorations. April was deadly sure that this hadn't changed over these years- possibly never will.

"Someone helped you out, am I right?" Eric gave her a questioned look, obviously not understanding the meaning behind her words. "The decoration, I mean," she enlightened him and gestured at her surroundings.

Eric laughed and nodded. "That obvious?"

April frowned. "Your room was always a mess back home. I'm surprised that you aren't drowning in your own mess here."

Eric scoffed. "Anyway, how was your drive?" He asked as he set two drinks on the table and gestured her to take a seat on the couch.

"It was.. eventful," she muttered dryly with a wry smile hovering over her lips.

For the briefest moment she had an inner battle whether she should have told him what exactly happened or not. Her brother was a police officer in a neighboring town.

Maybe, just maybe he was in a position where he could easily arrest those hooligans. But she didn't want to push her hopes.

A frown formed on Eric's forehead. "What happened?" The concerned expression on his face was almost startling her. April bit her inner cheek, still deciding to tell him what happened or not.

"Well," she mumbled unsure. "I.. Do you know the pub named Rutherford?" Eric nodded. "I-," April began, searching for the right words to say.

How could she put her thoughts into decent sentences without making a fool of herself?

"I was there yesterday night. The people were.. weird." April frowned. She wasn't sure if weird was the right definition. Crazy. Insane, maybe, but definitely not weird.

Those people were still confusing her like hell. "Somehow, a few of them ended up in a serious fight," she tried to explain.

She chuckled madly. "Ended pretty gory. Nobody even cared. The people didn't look away, they rather watched and enjoyed."

April looked up, her brothers expression was motionless and his rough lips firmly pressed into a thin line. He was angry, April figured. Why, she couldn't tell.

"I think it was some place for illegal fights," she continued in a thoughtful tone. "And the bartender- he even seemed to be amused. He just grinned when I told him to call the police. Eric, he locked me up in the staff room." April's eyes fell on his clenched hands, then back to his reserved expression.

April had to admit, the memories still freaked her out like mad, but she was finally feeling safe. "I bet that prick thought I would call the police." She laughed humorless.

"And did you?" Eric asked out of sudden in a monotone voice, after being quiet for a pretty long time.

"Did I what?" April asked utterly confused. Her brother's attitude was awkward, to say the least.

"Did you call the police, I mean. Did you tell anyone?" Eric observed her with an intense expression she never witnessed crossing his face before.

"No, I didn't. Should I have called the police?" April asked frowning with mildly scrunched eyebrows.

The truth was, she wanted to call the police- at first - but decided against it. She figured it would be better to forget what happened. And god only knows if they would even believe her.

Those hooligans would definitely lie about what happened, April was damn sure about that. That would be her story against theirs- the result pretty clear.

They were in the majority, after all. April hardly believed the police would even bother listening to her version of the story.

"No," he answered briskly as he poured water into his glass, taking several mouthful sips. "It's good you didn't," he spoke and leaned back on the couch.

Aprils raised her eyebrows. "Why?"

With a thoughtful expression crossing his face, Eric rubbed neck. He avoided eye contact, probably to come up with a reasonable explanation.

"That place.. is pretty known for it's fights," he told her and sighed. "Calling the police wouldn't have helped much. They actually would've even ignored you."

April scrunched her eyebrows deeply together. What kind of freaky place is this? She wanted to say something, but he cut her off before even one single syllable could slip over her tongue.

"You are very fortunate that you didn't get hurt, you know?" His expression changed from concern into a much serious once.

"I got hurt!" April exclaimed. "How do you think I escaped from that filthy bar? The bartender surely didn't let me leave on his own free will."

Now it was Eric's turn to frown in utter confusion. "What do you mean by that?"

"What I mean by that? I mean, that I had to fucking use a window to get out of that hell of place." April couldn't quite decided which emotion was the more dominating one- fear or anger. A mixture of both, probably.

"I was damn lucky that he didn't get me; one second later and he would've done god knows what with me," she muttered and took a long sip of her drink to get rid of the dryness in her throat.

"But, that's not the best part. Most of my bruises I have thanks to a wolf," she explained and searched for a sign of surprise or shock on her brother's face- any wing that would gave her the feeling to stop babbling. But she found nothing. His expression was still very reserved.

"That stupid dog was on the middle of the road and I crashed against it," she murmured.

Finally, a sign of shock or surprise - April couldn't decide - crossed his face. " You killed it?" The tone of his voice sounded extremely disbelieving.

April scoffed. "Are you stupid?" She asked. "You should have seen the wolf. If anyone would have died then it would have been me."

"Understandable." Eric simply nodded. "Wolves are pretty common in this area. There are quite a lot of them living here," he explained.

"What do you mean? You mean, there is some kind of wolf pack living here?"

"Yes," he answered with a simple shrug.

"Great," April groaned frustrated. "Just great. Not only that it is enough that the people are complete pricks. No, this town is also the habitat of some stupid dogs," she mumbled as she tiredly rubbed her temples. "That's too much."

A cold shiver ran down her spine. If any of those wolves were just as big and scary as the one she encountered last night, she wouldn't be able to enjoy her stay. April was already scared enough of dogs.

"Don't act like a child," Eric scolded.

April shot him a deadly glare.

"Anyway, hungry?" He asked as he noticed her foul mood. He gestured her to follow him into the kitchen when she nodded in response.

The kitchen was small, not to her surprise. Though, it was surprising that the kitchen looked pretty much unused, judging by the thin sheet of dust.

Even the refrigerator was empty, if April excluded the half empty bottle of water.

"I think we will order pizza for tonight, you in for that?" He asked slightly embarrassed while rubbing his neck- a habit he copied from their father.

"Sure, why not." She shrugged simply.

* * * * *

April's stomach felt like exploding, to say the least. The first meal after twenty-four hours. She and Eric were both sinking deeper into the couch with a satisfied stomach and watching some random TV show together.

"Come, I'll show you your room," Eric spoke as he noticed her heavy eyelids form the lack of sleep. He titled his head into the direction with April following close behind.

The room was small, smaller than her's back at home. It didn't surprise her, considering he was living in a quite small apartment after all.

Though, it was worrisome why he needed a two-bedroom at all, when he was living alone. April knew that she wouldn't like the answer to that question.

Her room didn't look like a guest room, not even the slightest bit. It was too decorated- to personal looking for a simple bedroom.

The brown colored walls remembered her of her own bedroom she helped to decorate at her parent's home. April shot her brother a questioning look and he immediately knew what confused her mind.

"You know, you can always think about that," he told her with such a hopeful look that it almost startled her.

"You really want me to move in with you, huh?" She mumbled half-distracted as briefly considered his offer. Eric gave her a welcoming smile and nodded quickly.

"You like it?"

"Yeah," she whispered as she drifted her gaze across the room. "It's perfect," she murmured, mostly to herself. She could tell that the walls were freshly painted as she caught a faint smell of color in the bedroom.

Even the bed, closet- everything looked brand new. Eric knew that she loathed to live with her parents under the same roof, but moving in was a huge step she was afraid of taking.

She always thought about having her own place, paying the rent with her own money. Living her life on her own. "Eric," she began as she took a deep breath, "As much as I appreciate the effort you put in this room, I didn't come here to stay forever," she tried to explain.

"I know," Eric simply answered with a nonchalant shrug. "But you can always consider it."

"I suppose," she mumbled absently.

Once again, Eric's expression was pretty much motionless. But she knew that her brother was quite disappointed with the decision she made, that much she knew even though he didn't give away much.

"Do you truly want to return home?" He asked bluntly

Did she? Of course not. She couldn't even call this hell home. But April couldn't just move in, she was not spontaneous. Things like moving in was too much of a sudden change for her.

"I don't know, Eric." April found herself whispering doubtfully as her gaze drifted once again over the room he prepared for her.

"Just think about it. You life here will be better, I promise. I wish I could have taken you away from that place sooner. Moving away was by far the best decision I've ever made and I'm sure it will also be the best decision you will made," he told her honestly. "That's, of course, if you decide to move in after all," Eric added shortly after.

Even thought he tried to convince her, April knew that he meant every word. The only thing that was still holding her back was the fear to the unknown.

She nervously bit her inner cheeks. Maybe, it would be worth a thought. Maybe, she just should start doing a lot of things different in her life.

And maybe, she should do something daring for once- to go with the flow and let her feelings decide only once instead of her brain.

Just like Eric did back then, when he suddenly decided that he had enough of all this shit.

"And what if you have a girlfriend?" April asked to brighten the tight mood. "I will only bother you two." She raised both of her eyebrows in a mocking manner.

Eric grinned. "Nah, I wouldn't allow her to stay over night, don't worry."

April scoffed and rolled her eyes. "Idiot," she muttered with a small smile hovering over her lips. "I will think about it," she finally said after moments of uncomfortable silence.

"Great!" Eric beamed. "Give this place a chance. I know you'll like it here. Goodnight, April."

"Night," she answered as Eric quietly closed the door and left her with nothing but silence around her.

Great, she thought.

Now she just had raised her brothers hopes. He would be even more disappointed if she decided against his idea of moving in.

A heavy sighed escaped her lips. She would have to look for a proper job if she decided to stay. Something she wasn't exactly looking forward to.

April unpacked her stuff and placed her favorite books she brought with her on the dark colored wooden desk. She looked at her phone- eight missed calls in the last half an hour.

Every single call either from her father or her mother. Of course, who else?

She groaned annoyed and placed her phone on the nightstand beside her queen sized bed.

She really had no intention to speak with her parents. They were the reason she left after all and she did not intend to ruin her mood by talking or hearing their voices. It would only intensive the throbbing in her head.

April humbled towards the bathroom and was surprised of the sight that awaited her- Eric really prepared everything for her arrival. She almost felt guilty.

Then she realized, he never planned to let her stay here briefly. Eric really prepared everything for a proper move in. And he didn't tell her one single thing about it. That prick.

She didn't know how she would tell him if she decided to go back. It would be pretty hard, April was sure.

The fact that he put so much effort in everything only for her to go back home made her so damn guilty. She was scared.

The last thing she wanted to do was to disappoint her brother Eric after seeing him again after all these years.

April sunk into the soft mattress of the bed, releasing a relieved sigh. The bed was comfortable, the exact opposite of the lame excuse of bed she had to sleep on in the motel.

It only made her bruised back ache in a worse pain than before. She snuggled deeper under the warm blanket and smelled at it- a soft scent of a mixture of flowers and vanilla, she decided.

She smelled it again, utterly enjoying the scent of flowers- until she heard howls.

Instantly, pure surprise made her to rip her eyes wide open. She glanced towards the window, instinctly, but she couldn't see anything from the position she was in.

But she knew that the howls were from wolves. And, she knew that they were near, not even afraid of trespassing human territory.

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