No sooner had she crossed the threshold than she smelled a scent of freedom. Coupled, after a few seconds, with a scent of anarchy.
The streets were devastated, most of the cars in a sorry state. I got out, careful to lock the door. Walking to the main driveway, I found the road cracked. Car parts, weapons, or whatever, were scattered everywhere. The smell of gunpowder hung in the air. London was nothing but a vast wasteland.
Yumiel didn't know where to put her feet. She walked back up the street towards the city center, carefully watching her step. At the end, a three-way intersection, she saw the Carrefour building completely devastated, collapsed in on itself. She chose the left fork to reach the city center, but her instinct stopped her short.
Turning towards the middle, her instinct was new. Or rather, the sensation was new; she felt her blood race. Motionless for a few moments, total silence. Yumiel could hear a pin drop; her senses were at their peak. Every creak, every spark, she perceived it. And in that silence… a scream, clearly a woman about a kilometer away on the middle street.
Yumiel's body moved instinctively. Her speed was incredible. Reaching 50 km/h, it took her only a few minutes to reach the place where the screams had been heard. She knew she had arrived when her shoes lay in a pool of dried blood.
At the sight of all that blood, her body reacted, a sort of prompting her to take a sip. But the blood was dry; it must have been more than twelve hours old. She closed her eyes and concentrated. She could smell the scent of someone injured behind her, the vibrations of rats gnawing at the houses nearby.
Only after sifting through all the vibrations and smells did she find where he was. He must have been between one and three. The building he had barricaded himself in was a house attached to the others.
Yumiel hesitated but decided to go in. Opening the door softly, she made absolutely no noise, continuing down the hall to the living room. All the lights were off. But, to her, it was as if it were daytime. Once inside the living room, crouching to appear less conspicuous, she didn't have to look far. A ball was moving on the sofa. As if two people were snuggling together.
For Yumiel, it was certain: this was her prey. Kill them? No, she wasn't necessarily looking to kill them, but she was determined to take their blood. Approaching slowly and surely, the two orbs became more visible until she saw a father and his daughter huddled together in total darkness. He hadn't detected her presence at all.
Yumiel hesitated, in fact, the child made her hesitate. Her instinct, her whole body screamed, "I'm hungry." After several seconds of staring at them, she refused to be a complete monster. She just wanted blood, nothing more. Resolute, she stood up and flipped on the light.
The light appeared. The father's first sight was a young adult standing before them, staring at them with bright red eyes. His daughter, seized by panic, screamed.
« AHHHHH… ! »
She barely had time to scream before Yumiel put his hand over her mouth to silence her. Yumiel moved so fast that her father didn't have time to react or say anything. In less than a second, he found himself nose to nose, less than 70 cm from Yumiel.
« If I were you, I wouldn't do that! »
Yumiel held his daughter tightly. He didn't know it, but she had a strong urge to break her neck and then his.
« Let go of my daughter, take whatever you want, but please leave us alone."
« If I let go of you, you stop shouting!»
Yumiel felt his daughter's warm, wet tears running down his hand; she was crying. But he understood, nodding his head several times.
(Yumiel retires from the main.)
His crying daughter huddled against her father.
« What do you want ? »
« First I heard shouting. Was that you or someone else?»
Her father wrapped his arms around his daughter.
«That was my daughter; her mother died recently, and as you must have seen, the street is covered in blood; it brought back sad memories for her.»
Yumiel did not ask for any further details.
« Listen, I'm only asking for one thing: blood.»
« You want blood? How much?»
Her body was crying out for liters. But if she drank liters, it would kill them both.
"One liter"
Losing a liter of blood is dangerous for an adult, but in this case, there were two of them. The father thought for a long time before looking at his daughter. Yumiel waited patiently for his answer.
« Okay, we don't have a choice anyway. May I ask you for some food in exchange? We're currently running out of food. Going out is dangerous for us.»
« All right.»
«So how's it going, you're going to bite us.»
« Well… »
Yumiel's fur stood on end. Her instinct warned her of danger.
« Well ? »
"Chut"
After a few moments, a tremendous crash erupted in the street, car alarms blared, followed by the smell of burning. Yumiel sharpened her senses and detected the fire about 30 meters away. The problem was that the fire was going to spread. For Yumiel, reaching this house wasn't a problem, but for the father and daughter, it was.
« We have to move now, the house is going to catch fire!»
Perplexed, they followed Yumiel outside. It was in front of the exit door that Yumiel sensed a presence. Outside, crouching, waiting patiently.
« Stay here, there's someone outside.»
« What if the building catches fire?»
« Would you rather die outside? Or wait here?»
The father took his daughter's hand. He squeezed it. Well, he nodded. To Yumiel.
As he went outside, Yumiel noticed a man standing still, waiting for the fire to spread. Seeing Yumiel in the distance, he approached, and Yumiel did the same. They stopped about ten meters apart.
« I see that my plan is a success. »
Yumiel didn't need to ask since she was almost certain he had started the fire intentionally.
« What do you want and what are you looking for? »
Colt in hand. Waiting for his answer. The man saw Yumiel's Colt and made a surprised face before walking away. To an angry one.
« Ah, you're just a poor human, and as for me, I'm the hunter! »