Victoria Bragunier: The Dao of Dishwashing

Apex

Joshua Craig Stevenson

The fox-wolf hybrid ran into his apartment complex and walked up the stairs. Victor slammed the door of his room, sat down firmly on his bed, and fell back. He looked around his dorm room. The pictures of his friends and family all surrounded him, but all he could see were potential victims to this murderer. What if the murderer is after him? Then, he remembered. The bite marks. He grabbed a book he was given when he started his detective and psychology studies. A book about teeth. Every single person had a distinct bite mark, but it can be traced to species. As Victor flipped through the book, he was shocked. This killer had the teeth of crocodiles, wolves, and lions. Three of the most dangerous bites in the world. The killer had replaced his teeth with carnivore teeth.

Meanwhile, the police force gained an anonymous tip that the killer was in a small restaurant downtown. Asher, a friend of Victor’s, led the ambush. Asher and his force walked slowly into the restaurant. There, sitting in the booth, was a tall figure, wearing a black trench coat, and a gas mask, which was poorly sewn together. “Hello Asher,” said the figure. The tiger held up his hand to his fellow officers. They stood still, but kept their sights on the figure. Asher slowly walked towards the figure, and looked around. Many of the patrons and employees were dead. “I think I did a phenomenal paint job here. Did you know the color red makes us feel hungry? Our ancestors would kill something for food, and see all that red, so they associated red with food,” said the figure. He laughed a vicious, cold laugh. “But you’re not here to admire my work … you’re here because I asked you to be,” said the figure, leaning forward as Asher sat down. “And why would you do that? To turn yourself in?” asked Asher. The figure laughed again, this time, it was maniacal, and on the verge of insanity. “No! No, no no. I just wanted information. A Quid pro quo, if you will. I want information on Victor Greene. Give that to me, and I’ll tell you about myself. Make the investigation slightly easier,” said the figure. Asher growled, and nodded. “You want information? Fine,” said Asher. “Good. First question. Who is that little reindeer girl I see around him?” asked the figure. Asher clenched his fist. “No one,” said Asher, gritting his teeth. “It seems to me … Victor is in love. Just checking for his weaknesses. Now, you ask me,” said the figure. Asher sighed. “Why are you killing random people?” asked Asher. “Because every single person in the world has the best feature, even if they don’t know it. I take those features, and throw out mine, and replace them. For example … teeth, eyes … things like that. To save you the trouble of using up another question, I do it because it’s evolution. For hundreds of years, we have lived complacent with each other, hiding our best skills. All of these carnivores have thrown away what they are best at: Killing and surviving. So, I decided to evolve into what some call … an apex predator. My turn. Where is Victor?” said the figure. Asher’s eyes were widened with fear and disgust. “You’re not getting any more answers,” said Asher. He waved to his squad, and they closed in. “That wasn’t the deal, Asher. I’ll deal with you soon.” The figure jumped onto the table, and Asher flew back as he was kicked. The squad opened fire, and missed as the figure took a knife, and threw it at the face of one officer. The other officers closed in, only to be taken out one by one, as the figure moved gracefully and powerfully around his opponents. Then, all that was left was Asher. Asher reached for his pistol, only for the figure to stab his palm. Asher screamed in pain, howling. “WHO ARE YOU?” he screamed. The figure laughed harder than ever. He held up his hand, and ripped the gas mask from the sides, blood red eyes staring through the holes in the seams, and as it finally ripped off, he looked up at the flickering bright light of the restaurant. He smiled, rows of fangs shining in the light. He looked down at Asher, revealing his face. The figure was a deer, with little round bumps where his antlers would be. He placed his hand on one of the officer’s bodies, and lifted it to his face, and smeared the blood onto him, licking the blood off his palm. “My name is Adrian, and I … am the next step in evolution.”

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