The new man, Bob, accepted Seti’s leadership without question. He was a Vietnam vet who’d become addicted to drugs and alcohol, and had developed a hatred for just about everything. Following the dark side was almost second nature to him.
Seti had fed him, cleaned him up, and introduced him to the group. Crissy had taken him in and given him sex. By morning, he would follow Seti and the group anywhere and do anything.
Looking as inconspicuous as possible, Seti stopped in the Dairy Mart for cigarettes and snack food, mostly Twinkies and hot dogs. An older man worked the counter. Seti sized him up and realized that he wouldn’t be much value, either as a victim or as a follower. Just another forgettable member of the human herd.
But then, just as he was leaving, he saw her. She had gorgeous red hair-not the carrot red kind, which he loathed, but the flaming red of an autumn sunset, and emerald green eyes that were just to die for. He felt his loins twitch as she entered the convenience store, and he tried hard not to stare. What was even better, she was pregnant and it looked like her due date was very soon.
He felt the growth on his neck burn him, and he winced in pain, trying to hide the contortions that the thing induced in his face.
“This one,” the monster said. “She’ll do just nicely. Her child can replace the one you killed.”
Yes, Seti thought. It would be two for the price of one. He licked his lips at the thought of the fun he could have with her.
He took his shopping bags and walked slowly to his car, hoping she would leave soon so he could follow her and see where she lived. He slid into the driver’s seat and lit a cigarette while he waited. He turned on the engine and played with the radio to make himself look inconspicuous. Moments later, his efforts were rewarded and she left the store.
She was wearing an attractive blue maternity dress and he guessed that she had just come from church. How quaint. He watched as she climbed into the passenger’s seat of a white SUV. A man was driving and a boy sat in the back seat. The boy gave him a piercing look as the SUV backed up and then drove off onto Farmington Road.
Again he felt the monster speaking to him, yet not really speaking. The boy was the one that got away, it explained. How perfect it would be to take his mother, and then later, to take him.
Seti thought it would be fun to take the whole family, then the demon reminded him that it was planning on taking the whole town. Seti was anxious to move this to the next level and get rid of the thing growing from his body, but the monster seemed more patient now that it had a foothold on the physical world. Still, Seti felt that he needed another victim soon, just to take out his own frustrations.
He followed the SUV at a respectable distance and noted when it turned left into the driveway of one of the raised ranch houses that had just been built. Yes, how perfect, he thought. Their back yard borders the woods. This one would be easy pickings.
“But not until the time is right,” the voice said sternly, punctuated with another red-hot pain that almost made Seti lose control of his car.
“Not when I’m driving!” he screamed. “You’ll kill us both.”
“No,” the voice said. “I’ll only kill you. I can’t be killed, remember.”
And Seti wondered, for the first time, if the thing would destroy him once it was finished with him, or if he really would earn great rewards.