"Death gave a few back." Gaia whispered, starling me awake. I shoot straight up, the only light in the room came from the moon outside. It was already nighttime. "They are not the same though." This eerie statement sent shivers down my spine. She was right, I could hear the thoughts of something that was not any animal I knew, and it seemed I could not hear human thoughts. What ever it was, it was hungry.
My sudden awakening woke up Brandie, "What?" She snapped, still half asleep. The dogs started barking and her eyes widen before rapidly shaking Arika awake. "Arika, what do you see out there."
Akira sleepily walked to the window and looked outside. "Dogs barking, a few cats hiding, and…" she trailed off, taking a few steps back. "Something running towards the house."
"Upstairs now!" I snapped, grabbing the gun and ammo from my duffle bag. "Wake everyone up and stay up there!" They ran as fast as they could upstairs, shouting everyone awake. Adrenaline pumped through my veins, the thing's thoughts fueling my sense of urgency. It did not have complex thoughts, but they were more demanding and intense than other animals. One thing was clear though, human was its main prey and it knew we were in this house. I made sure the gun was fully loaded and took it off the safety before running up the stairs, keeping the first step of the stairway in sight. The lack of electricity added to the horror of the situation, the only light coming from the front door and windows.
The others woke up fast and came to join me. The cheerleading girls were close to tears, while some of the guys did not believe what was happening. Ricardo was the first to voice his doubts, "You guys have been through a lot today, you probably mistook a dog or something." Evan placed a hand on Ricardo's shoulder, shaking his head. He saw it too.
There was banging against the door, clawing and unintelligible screeching. It was here. "We are safe inside." Evan said confidently when it became clear it was not strong enough to break the door down. Then I heard it think clearly.
"No…" I hissed, shock with confirming what I feared. "It can problem solve." This is what Death gave back, the remains of a human without a soul. No sooner then the words left my mouth was there a crash of the living room window. It stood on its hide legs, blood dripping from its body. It was horribly disformed, with limbs bend in contorted directions, and its mouth stretched unnaturally wide. The moonlight reflected against its sharp white teeth, teeth that belonged in a predator's mouth, not a primate's. It hopped back down on all fours and began running towards the stairs, feverish about spotting its prey. The cheerleaders screamed, and I pulled the trigger, missing. Evan grabbed the gun out of my hand. The thing was already half up the stairs. He shot. It collapsed, but did not give up, crawling slowly up the stairs now. Evan shot again, and it stopped moving.
Walking closer to inspect the thing, I could not hear anymore thoughts from it. It was dead. It could barely be recognized as a human, its skin leathery, its entire body hairless. The nails were long and sharp. Instead of eyes were simply empty sockets. It could not see, or at least in the conventional sense. "It's dead." I confirmed, everyone still frozen in fear. I looked towards the broken window, proof that this place was not safe. Something fluffy rubbed against my leg. A black cat had snuck in during the commotion. I reached down and picked it up, petting its soft fur to calm myself down. It purred in content, it too freaked out by the weird human and wanted comfort. "We should stay in the same room and lock the door." I said, "Does the master have an en suite?" Evan nodded and led the way to his room. Everyone followed quickly.
Inside the master bedroom was much better lit. the security of a door and no easy access windows helped me collect my thoughts. Everyone was staring at me, expecting answers. Answers I did not know. I mentally started cursing Gaia. Her presence filled my mind. "I said I watched nature, what it does is beyond my control." And just as quickly as she came, she left. No one else seemed to have heard her, confirming that only I could. Her waking me up about the creature made it clear she was no hallucination either.
"I don't feel any others right now…" I whispered, uncertain of exactly what they wanted from me, what they wanted to hear.
"What is that thing?" Blaine yelled, as if somehow it was my fault. Everyone was staying a bit of distance from me, scared of me.
"It was not human, I can not hear human thoughts." I hoped that would help relax some of them, "But it was not… not human. Animals do not have complex thoughts, or really a definitive language. This did. Granted nothing like what we can do, but words were very clear with it. Emotions were a lot more vivid and extreme." I petted the cat, scratching under its chin. It stretched upward in satisfaction, telling me exactly how and where it wanted attention. "One thing was clear. Humans are no longer top of the food chain."
Everyone was silent, scared to even move. The notion that there was something out there whose main diet was us was frightening in ways unexplainable.
"Is this what you meant by 'nature rebalancing'? Did you know?" Brett did not know how to process what was happening and needed something to blame. They all needed someone to blame it seemed.
"No, I only woke up when I felt it. An animal thought the rebalancing statement, and it seems to make the most sense." Sure, lets call Gaia an animal, makes things more believable.
Blaine was still unconvinced, growling, "You attract animals, that is how it knew we were here!"
Pursing my lips together, I did not know how to respond. "It was not thinking singular human…" it was the only thing I could think of, but I knew it was not attracted like other animals. It seemed too tunnel vision with its thought to of been attracted by my newfound ability. Gaia's words rushed through my head, added to my fear. She had said a few, not one. Focusing all my energy into the thoughts, I tried to see how far my ability could reach. At first, it could only extend to the yard, but with a willpower, it seemed to extend all the way to the city. I could feel two, both a distance from each other. Both feeding on humans. Everything I had eaten that day came rushing up and I ran towards the toilet.
Confusion lingered in the air when I could finally return. I looked at Evan. "How far away is the city?"
His emerald green eyes darkened. "About three miles."
"That's how far the closest one is. There is two of them, but they are a distance from each other, possibly meaning they are solo hunters. There could be more, but right now that seems to be the maximum range of my abilities. Neither of them seems to be aware of our presence and are hopefully occupied for the night. Apparently, there were two other survivors." No one knew how to respond to that. "I'll keep a close watch on them." Keeping awareness that far away was draining, but to survive the night it was necessary. They started planning a counterattack, asking a few questions here and there, but I was unable to pay much attention. Numbness was overcoming my body, my mind unable to comprehend everything going on. My awareness of everything was fading, the extreme focus on the two creatures was the only thing keeping me from completely losing touch with reality.
But I was probably already too far down the rabbit hole.