Apex Predators

I found this in a file from a couple of years ago…the beginning of a novella perhaps?

Cropped blonde hair peeked out from beneath Sam’s snug beanie cap, framing her rosy cheeks. The chilly New Mexico wind bit her as she walked down Central toward The Frontier Restaurant. All she wanted was a breakfast burrito so packed with fiery green chile it would warm her from within.

As she passed the ski shop she paused, a familiar face catching her eye. There in the window was a poster of Jane, youthful skin and sad eyes staring back at her through the glass. The word MISSING was stamped across the top of the photo, and Sam scoffed at the laziness of the word. Women rarely go missing, they are more often plucked from their warm beds by absolute monsters or flee their cages while the guards sleep off a bender. Walking down a dark highway barefoot and carrying her sleeping child over her shoulder, Jane was nothing short of a warrior. She had since traded her highlighted blonde locks for a mostly shaved head, the remaining hair a flash of bright pink like a horse’s mane. Jane had a magical smile, and a shimmering diamond nose ring decorating a once bruised face.

A fire rose inside Sam as she thought back on the day she found Jane sitting outside the gas station, her pregnant belly stretching her tiny tank top to the edge of its capacity. An adorable two-year-old sat not far away, wrapped in a scratchy blanket eating a hot dog. Sam remembered the fear she had felt when she was in a similar position and invited Jane to move in with her. The two had since become inseparable, and the tiny one had blossomed into a bubbly child who went through books like wildfire over a drought-stricken Malibu hill. Any minute they would be blessed with a little boy, and spent their evenings in bed discussing how they would raise the perfect little feminist.

Sam had often fantasized about taking a quick jaunt to California to find Jane’s ex. Was it possible to trip and accidentally spill a tiny bit of antifreeze into a stranger’s drink, then drive away without anyone knowing? The dark daydreams often consumed Sam, as she had now replaced her fantasies of launching her ex, Greg, out a window with those of hunting down the beast who pushed Jane and her sweet child out of a moving car.

Not all men are predators, but somehow all women are prey.

Everyone who knew Sam had very strict instructions to clear her search history if anything ever happened to her. Keywords like “accidental gas leak” and “apple seed cyanide” would prove to be problematic for any family members in charge of her e-waste.

A growl rose from Sam’s belly and she abandoned her dark visions, remembering her current mission. First things first, set fire to her insides, and bring the little one a cinnamon roll so big her eyes would nearly pop out of her head. Plotting the destruction of beasts could wait an hour.

As she stood in line at the counter, she caught a couple in her peripheral vision. The man was holding the woman’s elbow in an all-too-familiar manner, whisper-screaming in her ear as she turned away from him with her eyes closed. Sam couldn’t make out what he was saying, but it didn’t matter. Body language speaks louder than words, and she had to consciously tell herself to loosen her grip on the pepper spray in her pocket.

“Can I help you?” The bubbly woman covered in tattoos called out from behind the register.

“Uh, yeah, can I have a breakfast burrito with green chile, a black coffee, and two cinnamon rolls to go, please?”

After paying, Sam turned to check in on the couple but they were gone. She searched around the restaurant, looking for the woman but there was no sign of them. Vanished into thin air…MISSING. Sam shook her head, frustrated with the state of the world.

Grabbing the to-go bag and stepping into the chilly wind once again, Sam almost didn’t detect the vibrating phone in her pocket.

“Hey, Jane, I’m on my way back…” she began before slamming into a massive wall of a human and nearly dropping everything.

Sam looked up to see a strangely familiar face glaring back at her. Jet black hair and a full beard accented one of the biggest heads she had ever seen, yet she couldn’t remember ever meeting this giant.

“What luck,” he smiled, placing a hand on each of Sam’s shoulders. A shiver ran up her spine and she felt the bile begin to crawl from her chest.

Sam could hear Jane’s voice coming through the phone, but she was frozen in time and unable to respond. The voice sounded a million miles away.

The man had familiar eyes, a pair Sam had come to love as though she had birthed them herself. Those deep brown windows framed by feathery lashes were currently playing with her animal figurines and eagerly awaiting her tasty treat.

“So,” he continued. “Would you care to tell me where my wife is or should I drag you by your hair to the nearest police station?”