Feral Passion

Feral Passion

By Avery Duncan

Copyright 2011 Avery Duncan

Smashwords Edition

Prologue

Feral Passion

Prologue

Kill.

Hide.

Destroy
.

The animals that I hunt, they lead an easy
life—far more easier than I want them to.

So I take. I take their lives, their souls,
their very essence from the world that they have tainted.

Humans had once been an honorable species,
treasured by the Creators as a mother would adore her children.
Slowly, time started to erode their minds, made them believe that
the humans were not enough. They hungered for something more,
something…superior.

With this hunger,
this 
need
, they created
the barbarians, the very reason the world was so corrupt. The
humans slowly fell in caste, slowly fell from the minds of the
Creators as the new race began to infect the world that had once
been pure.

They had created the bastards that had ruined
mankind.

Animals.  Abominations. Repulsive
creatures who didn't deserve what humans would call a soul, a
life.

First came the Archaeos, the first and all
powerful race that began to contaminate the human
world, degrading the lives of humans. They drew their
unearthly and unwanted powers from within the earth. One would call
them shifters, or maybe even were people—I would call them a
plague.

Soon enough, the Acutos came, the followers
of the night. Frightening and more menacing, quicker to kill the
superior human race. Life as all mankind knew it was forever
changed when the first of them came.

The races lived together at first, peaceful.
Fights and murders soon to break out, the Creators came up with an
idea.

An idea that would bring peace to the
races.

Pacchettos
 were assigned to certain regions,
reigning and controlling the races as best they could, peace
filling the land once more.

That is, until one of the leaders became
corrupt. He forced them to compliance, forced them to become
interracial. He made the Acutos and Archaeos come together in
mating, seeking power with a hunger that petrified the lives of
those who were under his control. He knew that together, the Acutos
and Archaeos were destined to be the greatest warriors man could
have made.

Destined to bring about a new era.

Instead? They overcame him, and a
new 
pacchetto
 was
assigned. There has been no change, the races pushed together by
even the newest leader.

What do I think of them?

Feeble monsters who have no right to partake
with humankind.

My goal in life?

To kill every single one of them—starting
with the weakest.

The females.

Chapter 1

"I
do
beg your pardon!" the appalled voice said from
above.

"I'm just saying…"

"No! I don't even want to hear it! Just…shut
up!"

Mary closed her eyes on a sigh.

Of course.

Kevin never knew when to stop, to take a
breath and think things through. And when everything came crumbling
down around him, he blamed her angrily for any advice she would try
to give.

"Can you please just calm down, at least for
a second?" she tried again, hopeful that there wouldn't be any more
dramatics.

"Why should I?" he asked, sounding
disgruntled. She could just imagine him crossing his arms over his
chest, lip sticking out in a pout.

"Oh, I don't know… Maybe because you aren't
bothering to listen, and the world is going to die if you don’t?"
The example she gave was mocking, but if only Kevin really knew how
serious she was.

A snort came, and then the sound of
rustling.

Once again, Mary wished she could see Kevin,
just long enough to bonk some sense into his head. Here she was,
standing below his…"form", pleading and trying to get some sense
into the man that was supposed to keep a whole race alive and
safe.

Was it too much to ask that he might take the
time to let her actually see him, instead of having her stand on a
plain white platform that screamed "boring" and "neat freak"?
Apparently, she thought, letting her head fall back, arms crossing
over her chest again.

"Explain to me your 'plan' then, Mary Waters.
Try and make me see the light in whatever you think will work,
because right now? I'm at the end of my wits and that beast is not
helping in the slightest!" Kevin ended with a bark of anger, and
she barely held back her flinch.

The "beast" in question was going to be put
to sleep soon enough, and it seemed that Kevin was all too ready to
do so.

"Kevin… I think that you should put the
different races into separate tribes. Just for a bit, to see how
things go—" he started to object, but she held up a hand in the
empty space, knowing that he would see it even though she couldn't
see him.

"Just
listen
," she grated, narrowing her eyes
upward.

A resounding sigh emitted.

"Thank you," she said, resorting to a more
calm voice. "Now, as I was saying. I know that you don't like
change. I really do understand that. But times are changing, the
youth is becoming more rowdy, and the people…need to be separated.
For a time," she amended, shutting her eyes against another
sigh.

“And how do you suggest we do this, oh
wise one?” She wished she could slap the sarcasm out of his voice.
Hell, she knew he didn’t want to change anything, but she
also
knew that
he
knew that this had been coming for a
while.

Not just because of “the beast”, as Kevin was
prone to calling him, but because the whole generation was. .
.torn. Broken and messed up, fighting and killing each other.

“We take them. Put them away from each other.
Watch what happens.” Mary flared out her hands in a suggestive
manner, knowing her answers were short and becoming slightly
irritated.

“And you think that this. . .would work?” he
asked, sounding slightly dumbfounded.

She paused, considering her answer.
Then she shrugged. “I think that this might
help
. I’m not saying ‘work’ and I honestly don’t
even expect the races to stay separated for that long. I just want
to try it, and deep down? I know you want to, too.”

Silence.

Mary looked at the ground, hiding her
impatience.

Every. Single.
Time
.

“When. . .” He coughed. “When do you think we
should. . .initiate all of this?”

Mary could just imagine him right now. Hands
twisting, colorless hair a mess, pacing around in agitation, eyes
flicking everywhere and anywhere. The sight of him, she would never
know.

Nor did she want to.

He kept himself separated from everyone
else, preferring to stay locked up in the Above, while
leaving
her
to do all of the
foot work.

His way of communicating with her? Dream
invasions. Just as it was right now. Everything around her was
white and boring, clean to the point of sparkling. The sky was a
dull gray, if it could be called that. Trees were colorless and
looked to be made out of glass.

The only sign of life was the quiet swan, who
swam in the only pond, by the only tree. How boring, she thought.
Kevin must really be insane, to live like this and be pleased. But,
seeing as he was a bi-polar couch potato, she wasn’t all that
surprised.

“Mary? Answer me, I’m close to just waking
you up.”

She stopped the glare and the groan,
answering with a deadpan, dread filled, “After the summer
solstice.”

Chapter 2

When Mary woke, it was only to a pounding
headache and a sense of dread that killed her appetite for the day.
She wished that the races could have continued to get along, that
they could have stayed friendly and happy, without the violence and
killing.

Sitting up, she rubbed her forehead and
sighed.

Nothing was ever easy, though, so why
should nature be anything different? The people weren’t just going
to fix themselves, and neither was Kevin, it seemed. When did he
ever, though?
She
was left to
deal with the anger, the fighting, the arguments, the rude
attitudes, and everything in between.

Grabbing onto her blanket and pulling it
around her shoulders, she stood up from the bed on wobbly legs,
wishing that it weren’t so cold in the house that she was being
forced to stay in.

The mirror placed against the wall made her
cringe when she looked into it. Her dark hair was around her face,
eyes drowsy yet emotionless. Her shoulders, which were normally
straight and proud, were slumped with exhaustion and fatigue.

The entire arrangement with the races was
really starting to get to her, she thought, groaning. How was she
going to go about separating them? Mary didn’t want to deal with
the fighting, the anger, and all the other junk that the animals
were prone to do.

Looking away from her image in the mirror,
Mary padded her way into the bathroom, dazed and completely out of
it.

Shower. Wash. Dry. She went through the steps
slowly, feeling a tightness around her body that was quickly
becoming annoying.

Mary thought of the meeting that she
would have to arrange, the protection she might need to hire, and,
once
again
, the
arguing.

Why the hell can’t Kevin just hunker
his ass on down here, and take care of
his
people himself? Was that too much to ask? He
looked down on them, she knew he did. So why was he always looking
for her to carry out the crap that needed to be done?

Scowling into her closet, she picked out her
outfit for the day. Mary was definitely going to have to talk to
the chief about all of this, and then the person who was causing
all of this trouble.

Not that he would listen to her though, she
thought. Her eyes rolled as she got into her clothing, the soft
fabrics sliding against her skin, the only solace she had at the
moment.

Mary knew it was wrong to purposely not think
of things that would change the lives of many—for better or for
worse. After everything she had thought of, this was the only way
to finally have peace.

She got out her phone, closing her eyes
briefly as she thought about what was going to happen after the
call. It was only early March, and the solstice wasn’t till June,
but that didn’t mean it would be an easy ride till then.

“It’s Waters,” she said into the phone once
the caller had answered.

“Hey, I was just about to call you. Did you
hear about Jared?” the voice asked quizzically.

Her shoulders slumped. “Oh, god. What
did he do now?”
Please don’t be murder,
please. . .

“He got put into the hospital.”

That had her sitting up straighter. “Wait,
what?” Her eyes widened, and her hand flew to her chest.

“Yeah, some lady was crossing the
street. Classic; some dumbass wasn’t watching where he was going
and the car was flying down the street. Jared just happened to be
there—and I mean
right there
because he had enough time to grab the lady and shove her.
Instead of her getting hit, he took the blow and got his leg blown
out.”

What. . . She couldn’t think of anything to
say—at all. He had saved someone? Of his own free will? Mary felt a
stirring of hope; maybe he wouldn’t have to be put down. She felt
herself smiling, despite the fact that Jared was in the
hospital.

“That’s wonderful,” she exclaimed, fully
meaning the emotion.

“That’s. . .what? Are you high?”

She shook her head, then remembered that he
couldn’t see it and said, “No, but that means there is a chance
that he won’t have to be. . .” She trailed off, grimacing.

“Oh, I get you. Yeah, that part is great. But
what did you call for?”

“We need to set up a meeting.” The light air
in her voice drained out as she thought about what was going to
happen.

The other end of the line went silent, and
she could have cursed as she finally realized just how bad this was
going to get.

“About what.”

She bit her lip, considering what to say.
Mary didn’t want the word to spread and everyone to start. .
.rebelling. That wasn’t what they needed right now.

“Separation,” she finally said, quietly.

“And what do you mean by that.”