Drac Ch14
#15 of Drac
Dienza sighed again. It had been two weeks now since he had seen Spiika. The wall of his bedroom across the mattress had become a sight he hated to see, it had been too easy to get accustomed to her sleeping beside him. He rolled back over. Still in his dirty work clothes, he'd walked straight in and laid himself down. He didn't cry this time, but the horrible feeling of loss hadn't faded. Spiika had left that very day a fortnight past, gone within an hour of that shower she had taken. All she would say was that she couldn't look at him the same way anymore. Maybe she'd be okay with it at some point, but it was more than she could handle now. All she had given was her promise that she would stay clean, but beyond that he had no idea. Dienza had respected her wishes and refrained from calling or sending any form of message, but it had not made the event any easier to deal with. Nereen had been sombre as well. Having gotten attached to the young micen Nate, she was sad and seemingly lost for things to do during the day now that he was gone. Another thing Dienza had felt guilty about. When Nate saw the hitman threatening Nereen, he had tried to act the hero. It had ended horribly, and the small pink smear still stained part of the kitchen counter near the corner.
Things were only good when Dienza was at work. Away from personal matters, immersed in his natural talents of leadership and getting things done. Nothing mattered but the job, getting each shipment out on time and prepping the way for the next day's orders. Karos had been thoroughly impressed, stating that the young leona had exceeded every expectation the man had for him. But as soon as he left the office and the distraction was gone, all he could think of was how badly he'd screwed up. Spiika, gone to who knows where. No other friends still close or alive. Even his mother had been forced to make up to people she would only refer to as former associates for the uncharacteristically brutal actions she had taken to keep herself and Dienza alive, and in the process had lost a pet she'd quickly grown fond of.
Nereen still wasn't home for the night. Dienza sat himself up and sighed. He ripped off his work shirt and stood before making his way slowly to the kitchen. As he entered from the hallway he froze. Four micen were on the counter, attempting to drag bread crusts from a plate Nereen had not moved to the pantry for them. Their escape hole was on the same side of the kitchen as he was. He had them trapped unless they were reckless enough to jump to the floor. The leona didn't waste the chance. He immediately placed himself between his prey and their escape. There were three females and one male, a male he recognized. 'Teo?' Dienza recalled the name. The micen that had held his mother's attention before she found Nate froze in place. The look on Dienza's face told the micen everything. There was not going to be an escape this time. No mercy, no pleasant mother figure to reel her son's cruelty into check. Dienza was low and he needed to find a high. 'Leona... please.' Teo began. 'Please let my friends go. If you must take me, my daughter still needs someone to take care of her...' 'Guess what little mouse? I don't care.' Dienza retorted, sweeping both of his hands together and snaring the four micen between them. They shivered and squeaked in fright, even Teo before he tried to put his brave face back on. 'Please!' He begged. 'This isn't fair!' 'Nothing in anyone's life is fair.' Dienza growled, carrying his catch back to his bedroom and sitting back against the bedhead. 'Not yours, not mine, not my mother's... Why should I bother to care about some micen just because they're under a certain age? What am I saving them from? Chances are they're gonna be cat chow in a matter of months anyway.' 'But... Why does it have to be that way?' Teo protested as Dienza lifted one of his companions in one hand, securing the other three against his belly. 'I don't know.' Dienza replied coldly. 'I didn't make the world.' Not a moment later he pushed the squirming micen between his lips, slurping loudly as her tail twitched uncontrollably in distress. He seemed to calm slightly as he enjoyed the flavour she had, sinking into a bliss that starkly contrasted to the sheer terror of his captives. As he ran his tongue over the small tender body, his lip curled into a small smile. A muffled squeak of terror sounded just before he slurped the tail inside and swallowed. 'Stop this!' Teo shouted. 'Only one thing's gonna shut you up huh?' Dienza scoffed. 'Fine. You go next. Maybe if I'm really generous, I'll let one of them go.' He nodded to the remaining two females as he lifted a struggling Teo to his mouth and set the micen onto his tongue. Teo was unwilling to comply and tried to round as soon as the leona took his finger away. The movement cost him his life, placing him halfway through Dienza's teeth as they closed. One of the women screamed as the sound of the crunch rang out. Dienza gave a small muffled laugh before slurping the bisected carcass into his mouth and gulping it down. 'Hmm...' The leona lifted both micen up in front of his face and examined them both. The one in his left hand was a grey furred woman with white patches and silver hair. Her body had a shape that would look well at home in a nightclub, worn, wrapped in simple tattered rags and she looked to be at least two years old. She had definitely had a good run. The other was much younger, maybe not even at the generally accepted age of nine months that was considered the age of accountability for micen. Most leonas would let this one go by default, but Dienza was not most leonas. The girl had a better spread of tone and body fat than her older companion, far closer to the ideal body image. Brown fur, pretty black stripes running down her back and her limbs and short ginger hair. Any aspiring micen suitor would be lucky to have her. Unfortunately, in a leona's eyes on a micen, these traits simply translated as delicious. The girl was trying her hardest not to cry and mostly failing, the woman had essentially given up. Maybe she expected Dienza to follow general leona trends, but then again she might not even know of such things. The only other leona any of these micen were likely to have encountered was Nereen, and she was hardly typical of leonas either. Even in the exact opposite way to her son. 'Hmm... I wonder if experience adds to your flavour.' He smirked, tilting the woman slightly. 'Or if the fresher food will be the better?' He turned his gaze on the girl. Neither of them responded, making it apparent there wasn't much fun to be had here. 'Alright, fine then. I don't really know so I guess this is a learning exercise. I'll just eat you both and compare.' 'What?!' The girl broke her silence. 'B-but you said you'd let one of us go!' 'Actually I said maybe.' Dienza replied, grinning slowly. He turned back to the grey furred woman and lifted her a little higher. 'So, you first?' 'Fine.' The woman replied, masking the trembling of her voice rather well. 'There's no stopping you.' She closed her eyes and made no further attempt to resist or even acknowledge him. 'Thatta girl.' Dienza laughed. 'Happy place.' He tilted his head back and lowered her into his open maw feet first, dropping her the last few inches and closing his jaws around her. His head stayed back, resting on the rail of his bedhead as he slurped and took note of the subtleties of her flavour to compare with the younger micen soon to follow. His tongue forced her into the roof of his mouth where her drool soaked fur gave her only one direction to slip. Between that and gravity, escape was impossible even if she had tried. Dienza pressed the younger micen girl to his neck just as he swallowed, hearing her cry out in shock before descending into a soft sobbing accompanied by shivering that wracked her body. He giggled slightly before setting her down on his belly. His hand rested atop her, keeping her inches from where her companions were now lying in a pit of digestive death. She looked up at her captor, still streaming tears as she watched him lick his lips thoughtfully. When he was satisfied with his conclusion, he lifted her by her tail and opened his mouth once again. The girl started hyperventilating at the sight, sheer terror gripping her in a frenzied panic that crippled her beyond even managing to scream. Her terror wracked form shivered and squirmed between his tongue and palate as he swished her around. Eventually even Dienza grew tired of the game. He'd never denied it, but this kind of cruelty had an odd way of relaxing him and improving his mood. He wasn't sure if it was just him or whether it was a leona thing in general. In any case, he was alone with these micen and nobody would stop him from doing whatever the hell he wanted. He tilted his head back and opened his mouth, teasing his prey with the tiny possibility of climbing free. The terror that had crippled her gave a little and she scrambled immediately. Unfortunately her haste was her doom, as her drool soaked limbs were too quick to try and grab anything she could and she slipped almost directly into his throat. Dienza swallowed by reflex, his throat crushing the girl's body halfway before she could scream. He closed his mouth and gulped again and this time she was gone. He felt her struggle all the way down, before shuffling down the bed and rolling onto his side. He ignored the pleas and thumps on his stomach walls for the few minutes they lasted. With an almost full belly and an improved mood for the time being, he slipped into a light nap.
The front door closing woke Dienza back up and he looked at his clock. It had been two hours. It didn't matter, it was Friday so he didn't have to protect his sleep schedule for the weekend. He rose to hs feet, yawning himself awake and then shuffled out to the kitchen. Nereen stood silently at the counter, staring at the corner. A large bottle of whiskey had been sat down in the middle and she met his gaze as he stepped up and nodded a simple greeting. 'All done.' She said quietly. 'What?' He asked. 'Antony... considers me squared now. No more working off the cost of a new hitman.' Nereen sighed and then turned towards one of the cabinets. She took out two glasses and sat them down. 'Ma... I'm so sorry.' Dienza almost whispered. 'Stop it.' She snapped. 'It's done.' 'What did... you have to do? All this time?' Dienza asked, dreading the answer. 'You can ask that again later.' Nereen replied. 'Once you've considered whether you really want to know. In the meantime, you and I are going to drink.' 'Drink?' He pondered. Generally neither of them drank. It was an expensive luxury that neither of them deemed necessary, on top of which both of them had seen too many people they knew destroy their lives with alcohol and other substances. 'Just this one night.' She told him. 'You've been moping for two solid weeks. I've had to relive a life I thought I was finished with. One night of self pity. One night of letting ourselves hit rock bottom together. And then...' She took a deep breath as a single tear rolled down one of her cheeks. 'And then Dienza, we both have to start climbing back up. Deal?' 'Together...' He repeated, smiling even as one of his own tears crested his eye. 'Deal.'