Cannibal (Book One of A Bloodline's Saga)

Still Need To See You

Flesh discarded by heat

The smell of burning meat

This is never ending, this is never ending 

 Altered Perceptions

By the time we arrived home I'm still smiling about the tour with Luke, Mum and Cam having a mumbled conversation of their own while Lucy touches base with some of her friends on the phone. 

Departing from the car, we make our way into our cabins before Mum and Cam state they are going to call it a day and will call in when dinner comes around. So leaving me and Lucy to scab around the cupboards for something to eat for lunch, I end up making a sandwich and head to my room. 

Deciding to catch up on some sleep, I'm woken moments later to Lucy coming in declaring that someone is on the phone and wants to talk to me. Asking who it is, she only shrugs her shoulders and mumbles something about it not being Hannah.

"Hello?" 

"Hey it's Luke, you doing anything at the moment?" 

"Ah no, we just got back, why's that?" 

"I guess I just need to see you." 

Blushing at his response, I end up making plans to meet him in the woods near the cabins I'm staying at, him agreeing then hanging up. 

Making my way to Lucy, I hand her back the phone and fill her in on what's happening, her face expressionless up until she mentions what is she supposed to do when Mum comes calling for me. 

"Well I will be back before they wake up and besides, I won't be straying far from here considering I don't really know anywhere else and Luke isn't the type to get me in trouble." I inform with hope heavy in the back of my throat.

"Alright, well have fun and see you later I guess." she sighs after confirming everything is in order then taking off after sending Luke one last text informing him I'm coming, though when I exit the cabin I'm greeted by his goofy grin.

"Now I'm starting to think you're stalking me." I joke dryly yet Luke looks serious, his russet eyes large and peering right through my soul.

"Well obviously." only he can't hold his serious face for long when I give him a look that breaks his, an olive skinned hand running through his mocha locks. 

God he's handsome as f**k, maybe it was fate that Jake left me the way he did. To make room for this f*****g God in my life who also happened to save me from a lifetime of depression. 

"Okay you got me; I was actually on my way over when I called you, well your sister. Sorry about that."

"Don't worry; I'll be getting a new phone soon anyway." 

"Ah about that."

We halt our destination halfway through the long walk already still ahead of us, then pulls something out of his pocket and places it into my hand.

"It's one of my old ones I used to have before I upgraded." he half-smiles when I can't seem to tug my gawking gaze off of the new looking iPhone in my grasp.

"You don't have to do thi-" 

"Well I do because I don't want to keep calling your sister all the time. Besides, I'm sure you will need it for the future." he intrudes across me, my arms acting on their own accord as they throw themselves around his neck, my face buried into the side of it and feel him lose balance a little bit.

"You're welcome." he chuckles after the millionth muffled thank you from me. 

"You have no idea, like I would have to have saved for months just for me to get a new one." I complain, him laughing and placing a hand on my shoulder.

"Oh I know." he replies, my eyes rolling when I slap his hand from my shoulder. 

"No use being a smartass about it." I giggle then focus on not being a complete flirt. 

Walking further along the familiar looking track, déjà vu playing heavily through my mind as I recall being here before, then come to a halt at the same bench I made for myself the morning I bumped into Luke. Well he bumped into me, but who's remembering? 

"Shall we?" he offers while pointing to the snow free bench. 

"Don't mind if I do." I comment and plonk my butt down, feeling the slight dampness of the wood seep through both underwear and jeans. Great. 

Casting my eyes over the familiar leather jacket I always catch him in, that's if he isn't in uniform, skinny black jeans for the first time ever as well as his Converse. 

His hair's spiked up in all different directions thanks to the wind and watch as he pulls a bag from behind his back, then offers me a drink with his free hand lighting the cigarette in his gob.

Looking at the can, I observe the label of whisky, a kind I have never tried then crack it open and having the smell hit me like a ton of bricks.

"s**t this smells strong." I pipe up while he's already gulping his down, no problems.

"It was once upon a time for me." he owns up with a grin coming into play. 

"Oh god, here we go." I murmur into my can and an eye roll. 

Before we can go on it starts to spit on us, both of us looking up simultaneously to view the rain drop on our faces then turn back to look at each other with looks of "what should we do".

"Wanna come back to mine? I'm sure Lucy won't lag on me to Mum and Cam. Besides, I think she likes you considering after every guy that has spoken to me including Jake, she has always called them a fuckwit straight after they have walked off." I come clean to him as if it's most prized information.

"Well I'll take that as my good looks kicking in." he jokes, earning a nudge to the arm and eye roll. 

"Don't flatter yourself Mr Luke, don't flatter yourself." I shoot back in a smooth yet casual way, well as casual as one might be when sprinting through the woods. 

Laughing it off and lastly making it back to my cabin, I burst through the door and regret it seconds later when I catch Lucy half-naked with a dude on our couch. 

"Holy s**t, now you definitely can't tell Mum I'm inviting Luke over." I smirk while Lucy screams, the guy I now recognise as Rory skittering away for his clothes. 

"Jesus Emily, can't you be normal and go to your room or something!" she shouts when she refuses to look me in the eye, Luke thankfully not in the room with poor old Rory almost dying of embarrassment. 

"How ya going Rory?" I beam over my devilish grin, his face brightening once again to a beet red at the sight of me. 

Covering his gently tanned skin in the right places so he's able to compose himself at least, I grin at the messy mop of roan hair he has going on and lime green eyes darting for the nearest exit.

"YOUR ROOM E-" 

"That's where I was heading until I saw this! All I'm saying though, I'm off the hook in-" 

"GO AWAY!" Lucy rounds, a devilish laughter sounding in the back of my throat before I'm in my room and slamming the door, Luke doubling over in hysterics as he too tries to compose himself. 

"Well, that was interesting." he sighs after a long time of recovering, my face hurting from the constant grinning at the images of my sister being caught in the act. Her face was f*****g priceless and I'd give my left tit to see it again. 

"Tell me about it. I thought he lived all the way in Melbourne, but here he is." I agree with shock still evident in my voice, though it's short lived when I hear Luke clear his throat. 

"Sorry, you okay?" I quiz, yet my question is answered when I'm shown my half-empty can. 

"Oh, thank you." I beam and take the can from him, downing the rest then demanding another one with a beam.

Call it the nerves taking over, I usually wouldn't touch a drink though find myself begging for more, an experience I haven't since the night Jake and I got together, even then I don't recall it being this intense.

"So what time do I have to get going?" Luke asks halfway through him picking the next song to play. 

"Whenever my parents announce they're coming over to suggest something for dinner." I reply with his head nodding in a way is if to say "fair enough" and taking another swig of his can. 

"I just wanted to say thank you for being so nice to me, I don't think I'd be enjoying this trip if it hadn't of been for you." I admit as he smiles down from his position of where he is sitting, and patting the bed for me to sit next to him. 

"It's because you were nice to me, that and I find you attractive." he blurts no matter how casual he tries playing it off.

I'm now gawking at him in shock, though he's now looking away to have a lengthy sip of his can and watching his fingers tap to the beat of music, coming from his phone.

This has to be in my head, maybe the knock I was given has triggered some weird thing in my brain and now I'm hallucinating. I really hope I'm not, because this feels all too real for me and something I refuse to let go of. 

"You okay, did I say something wrong?" 

"No, I just, you find me attractive?" 

He laughs before grabbing my hand and bringing it to his lips, the tip of his tongue touching the back of my hand then comes the soft cushioning of his lips.

I swear he just tasted me, like I'm more turned on than shocked which means it's something my body must like.

"Of course I do, and I think you feel the same way?" 

I don't reply with words, my lips on his and it's something I find myself enjoying instantly. In all honesty, I don't think I enjoyed kissing Jake this much, as I do with Luke. 

He is quick to return the kiss, our cans now on the nightstand and our bodies tangled on the bed. Even my hair's wrapped in his fingers and descending towards his face. 

Pulling away so our heads are only inches from touching, his hands begin a soothing touch up and down until my head is resting on his chest. 

"I don't want you to go." I murmur when I now focus on the rhythmic beat of his heart. 

"I won't until I have to. Who knows, I might even be back tomorrow." he assures me though I flinch while he touches the spot I was struck.

Whatever it was that knocked me out, it felt f*****g solid.

"What happened, did I hurt you?" he demands as I get up and move off of him. 

"N-no, I, um, I was attacked the night I heard Jake confessing to his parents that he wanted to leave, only before I saw them leave or say anything else, I was knocked out." I explain in a small voice, my eyes avoiding his until he clears his throat. 

Here we go...

"So you don't know who or what attacked you?" 

"No."

"Well do you know if Jake got away?" 

Silence. 

"I guess because if they saw what happened to me than they would have made a run for it." 

"Are you sure because what if they're still out there?"

"Look, I was found in the same place I was knocked out and Jake and his parents were gone. If they wanted to take me with Jake and his parents, then I wouldn't be here." 

More silence. 

"Okay, I'm sorry I pushed it, it's just aren't your parents going to do anything about it?" he questions gently after letting me simmer down a little.

"Well apparently Cam is bringing up a few of his mates to track down the person that attacked me as well as find Jake and sort him out for what he did to me." I explain, Luke taking it in before his arms are around me. 

"Don't stress, I'm sure something will come up it's just a matter of what considering there will be no traces of the guy. Unless they camp out there themselves and see if the person will try and attack them." he suggests, though we both blow it off as useless due it could have been just a random attack by some junkie who needed a fix, and tried to mug me but found that even my phone was a useless piece of s**t. 

So, sorry to disappoint you there mate, but I don't own anything of value.

"I know, look I think he just wants to punch something for letting them get the slip over him and putting me in harm's way when I was the one that went out there, seeking it without realising it."

"No it's not that, there shouldn't be anything like that up here because that is our job to also keep danger away from the residents here. I mean that's why my Dad hired me in the first place, not only to keep an eye on the residents but the new comers as well and make sure they get back to their places safely." 

A pause in the conversation occurs when we make out voices as well as the front door opening, Luke automatically rushing under the bed before hearing Mum and Cam's voices coming up the hallway. 

Grabbing my new phone, I begin to look occupied before they come waltzing in still conversing about whatever it was prior to being interrupted. 

"Oh, so your phone's working again, I thought you ditched it because it wasn't working? I swore I even witnessed you throw it in the bin in one of your rages." Mum points out while noticing the new device in my hand. 

"Well you wouldn't believe it but when you and Cam were asleep, I went to a phone shop repair place down here and they had a surprisingly cheap array of phones to choose from, so I picked this up for fifty bucks. But don't worry; I still have more of my money I saved up for this trip." I assure them as Cam readies to open his mouth. 

"So you went by yourself?" 

"No, Lucy came with me." 

"Did she? Lucy!" 

My heart is officially racing a million beats per second while Lucy comes waltzing into the room, alert and also a little nervous as to why she has been summoned. 

"Did you go down the street with Emily today and help her get a cheap phone?" 

"Ah-"

"Don't look at her, look at me."

"Yes."

"You are so lucky Emily." Mum jokes when Lucy's dismissed and commence talk about how now, I don't have to worry about saving up for a new one. 

Informed that McDonalds is on the list of things for dinner tonight, we suss out the other eateries first before declaring that McDonalds won the election, and drive back to the golden M. 

After going through the drive-thru and ordering what we want, we drive back home and for the first time ever, have dinner at our cabin due to the TV set up is better. 

So watching TV shows Cam usually watches back at home, we scoff down our dinner and have a small conversation about the trip, and how everything is turning out better than what they thought regardless of what has happened. 

Not long after Mum and Cam announce they're leaving for bed. So saying goodnight, we wait for them to enter in the cabin so we're able to text Luke and Rory to summon them back. Only I have a feeling Luke might not make it back considering he does have work tomorrow. 

Though I'm met with surprise when Luke comes tapping on my window, a grin breaking across my face as I unlock it and let him in.

"Sorry I took so long, were you about to go to sleep?" he asks in a quiet voice before coming over and giving me a hug.

"No, how could I knowing you were coming back?" I question with a beam, his facial expression now matching mine then starts kicking his shoes off, his heavy looking coat and leather jacket s***h hoodie he sports around all of the time, hitting the floor along with my jacket I forgot to pick up. 

Moving over I pat the spot next to me while following his form to where I invited him to, his expression one of uncertainty due to not knowing if this is such a good idea.

"Trust me, only sleeping." I inform with hands up in surrender, his worries or whatever it was that seemed to be bugging him has now disappeared and replaced with one of agreement, and observing as he eventually climbs into bed.