Act IX

by Alexander Gordon

  Max yelled out in frustration then grabbed the girl’s hair, holding her head back while keeping the bread right in front of her mouth. She stared at him with wide eyes of fright while he struggled with his dwindling patience for the centaur.

  “Listen to me right now! I’m only feeding you because you were whining that you were hungry! That’s it! Now shut up and eat this or else you get nothing! Afterwards you’re going to work and help me do my chores and then you are leaving this place! You’re going to run far away to wherever you want, I don’t care where, just so long as you don’t stay here! That is all that’s happening here today! Now be quiet and eat!”

  “Yes, master,” Lelu squeaked before taking a bite of the bread.

  “I’m not your master!” Max exclaimed shaking his head. “We have no relationship of any kind! I’m just trying to get you out of here before my sisters come back, alright?”

  “I’m sorry,” Lelu whimpered as she slowly ate the food.

  Max sighed in aggravation as he stepped back and let the centaur feed, the girl slowly chewing the bread she held in both hands while watching him with watery eyes.

  “Thank you for the food,” she quietly said. “You… you promise you’re not fattening me up to eat me?”

  “I promise,” Max groaned holding his hands to his face.

  Lelu nodded and looked down to the only food she had gotten in days with worried eyes then glanced up to Max with curiosity.

  “If I’m not going to be your meal or your kill… does that mean you’re keeping me as your pet?”

  Max slowly lowered his hands and stared at the centaur in stunned silence with an awkward expression on his face.

  “What?” he carefully questioned.

  “You took me in after my mother died and chose to keep me to please you-”

  “No! You’ve got it all wrong again!”

  “So does that make me your pet? Am I just an animal for you to use in manual labor? A tool that you can use however you please? Is that my only purpose in life now?”

  “What the hell is wrong with you?” Max yelled out. “You’re not my pet, I’m not keeping you here for manual labor or anything like that! Stop thinking this is anything more than me just wanting to get rid of you!”

  He watched as Lelu just stared at him with an innocent expression on her face, the girl slowly taking another bite of her bread and chewing it with her tail swaying about behind her.

  “Are you hearing anything I’m telling you?” he asked with genuine concern.

  “Yes, master,” she timidly replied.

  “I’m not your master!” Max shouted in anger. He grabbed the knife and held it towards the surprised centaur, the girl quickly trotting backwards as he advanced on her with a frustrated glare. “Get it through your thick skull, I’m not your master and you’re not my pet! Finish your damned meal and then I’m putting you to work! After you’re done with that you’d better get the hell out of here or else I’ll really get mad! Do you hear me?”

  “Y-Yes,” Lelu squeaked in fright while staring at the blade. “I’m sorry. Please have mercy. Don’t throw me into that pot and stir my broiling corpse in with flavorings and-”

  “Stop suggesting I eat you!” Max barked out. “For someone who says they don’t want to be eaten you sure do talk about it a lot!”

  Lelu whimpered while leaning back from his knife, her terrified eyes going from the steel to him then back again while her legs wobbled below her. Max growled in frustration then marched back to the counter and began cutting up some bread for him to make a sandwich with.

  “Just shut up and eat your damned food,” he ordered while avoiding eye contact with her.

  Silence filled the kitchen as Max and Lelu had their lunch, with the boy quietly eating his sandwich with a glass of juice while Lelu slowly ate her bread on the other side of the room. A small cough was made by the centaur before she clasped a hand over her mouth, her eyes staring in fright at the young boy while she prayed she hadn’t angered him. Struggling to hold it in and then failing another cough was made. Max sighed and glanced over to see the centaur shutting her eyes tightly while apparently trying to hold in her voice.

  “What’s wrong now?” he tiredly asked.

  “Nothing,” Lelu insisted before coughing again.

  Max groaned in aggravation then took out a glass from the counter and walked towards the centaur, the girl pressing back against the wall while fearfully shaking her head.

  “Please, I’m sorry!” she begged with another cough. “Don’t slice my stomach open and fill your goblet with my innards, I implore you! I want to live! I want to live!”

  “What is wrong with you?” Max asked with genuine concern and a disgusted face. “I was only going to get you some water.”

  Lelu blinked and watched curiously as Max pointed over to a large urn in the corner of the room, the centaur looking over to it then back to him as he slowly shook his head in bewilderment at the girl’s eccentric behavior.

  “Water?”

  “Yes, water, to drink,” Max explained as he walked over to the urn. He took the lid off and scooped up some water into the cup. “It’s obvious you’re thirsty, and I don’t want you making those noises all day, so here.”

  Lelu stared at him with fear as he held the glass out for her. After seeing the centaur was too scared to take it he sighed and rolled his eyes.

  “It’s not poisoned or anything, it’s just water. Do you want it or not?”

  Hesitating at first Lelu slowly reached out and took the glass from him, carefully bringing it back and looking at the water with a curious eye. She didn’t drink it, rather just observed the liquid while appearing to be thinking carefully about something.

  “What?” Max wondered. “What’s wrong? Centaurs drink water, don’t they?”

  “Is it drugged?” Lelu worried, with Max then face palming. “Are you going to knock me out, strap my unconscious body to that table, and then peel off my flesh with a steel grater before I awake to see that you’ve withered me down to my bones?”

  “For the love of- no!” Max yelled out with a hand over his eyes.

  “You’re going to dig into me raw with a knife and fork then?” Lelu whimpered lowering her head. “I knew it. I’m going to become your lunch and maybe even your dinner as well. My breasts will be savagely chewed up and placed in your stomach with my rump and innards soon after, isn’t that right? Please, I’m too young to be devoured so viciously by-”

  “Are you insane?” Max cried out at her. “You keep thinking I’m going to eat you! Why? I told you again and again I’m not going to eat you, I’m not going to kill you, I just want you to leave! Why do you keep thinking I’m going to butcher you when I’m telling you to your face that I’m not going to? Do you want to be eaten? Is that it?”

  “No, of course I don’t,” Lelu sniveled in fright.

  “Then stop talking about it!” Max ordered sternly. “Now, drink the water!”

  Lelu promptly gulped it down and nodded quickly at him.

  “Eat your bread!”

  She quickly shoved the food into her mouth and swallowed it nearly whole before lowering her head while trembling.

  “That’s all you’re getting from me, understand?” Max demanded, with the centaur nodding again. “Now go out back and wait for me there, or if you prefer run away! I don’t care if you’re gone when I come out, you hear me?”

  Lelu gulped and nodded, hands shakily held together before her as she appeared scared to even move now. Max growled in annoyance then waved her off as if to chase away an animal.

  “Get out of here!”

  Lelu yelped and made a dash out of the kitchen in haste, her hooves clacking loudly as she vanished out of the room. A moment later she quickly ran back in and handed Max the glass she was still holding.

  “I’m sorry, please don’t eat me!” she cried out before scrambling to leave again.

  Max watched her go then sighed heavily.

  “W
hy am I doing this?” he muttered before heading back over to finish his lunch.

  Outside the cottage Lelu was shaking in fear while keeping herself pressed against the side of the building, the girl cowering with a nervous whine while she kept searching for any sign of the monsters that chased her there.

  “It’s okay, it’s okay,” she reminded herself between heavy breaths. “This is the home of monster hunters, those demons won’t come here for you. You’re safe… safe with… that hunter. Who is going to eat you soon, he’s going to… devour you any second now. Oh god, oh god… this is really happening. He’s going to tear off my clothes and roast me in his oven. He might even make a special dressing just for me and my delicious flesh. I’m going to be eaten alive, how could this happen to me?”

  As she shook with fright a slight smile seemed to force itself onto her face, her eyes twitching while appearing to lose focus. A slight blush came across her cheeks as she suddenly felt a strong conflicting emotion lighting up inside herself.

  “He’s… going to eat me,” she quietly purred before shaking her head and returning to her terrified state. “Oh god, what do I do?”

  The backdoor opened with a creek, prompting Lelu to jump with a scream before quickly backing away. Max walked out with a dull expression on his face and an axe resting over his shoulder, the blade causing Lelu to turn pale as she dropped to her knees with a shaky whine.

  “Seriously, you’re still here?” Max tiredly questioned. “Why won’t you just run away?”

  “Please don’t chop me up into bite sized pieces,” Lelu whimpered.

  “I’m not chopping you up at all!” Max barked out. “Do you not listen to me? Now get up, time to get to work.”

  Lelu stumbled to her feet as Max walked past her, the centaur slowly following after with her head hung low and hands held together. The two made their way over to the side of the building where piles of wood were stacked next to the building near a large stump.

  “Alright, let’s get this over with,” Max sighed rubbing his face in aggravation while eyeing the wood he still had to prepare, then noticed Lelu kneeling down next to the stump and lowering her head onto it.

  “I’m ready,” she mourned with tears dripping from her cheeks.

  “What are you doing now?” Max groaned.

  “I’m being beheaded, isn’t that right?” Lelu sorrowfully lamented. “You’re going to slice my head off and mount it on your wall as your newest trophy, and then roast my body over an open fire so that my flesh can be consumed by-”

  “I’M NOT EATING YOU!” Max yelled out as loud as he could. Lelu jumped and looked to him with a squeak as the boy struggled to hold onto the last of his patience with the centaur. “What the hell is wrong with you? I said it before, and I’ll say it one last time! I’m not eating you! I don’t even want to kill you in case you haven’t noticed, I want you to get the hell away from me and never come back! Do you not understand that? Is none of this getting through to you?”

  Taking a few heavy breaths to calm down somewhat he then watched as Lelu stared at him with a curious expression and a slowly wagging tail. After a while of silence Max growled in growing frustration.

  “You’re not listening to a word I’m saying, are you? You’re just thinking about me cooking you over a fire, aren’t you?”

  “Well, actually,” Lelu sheepishly replied looking down. “In a boiling cauldron to be precise.”

  “Are you mentally ill? Why do you keep thinking I’m going to cook and eat you? Do you actually want that?”

  “Of course I don’t!” Lelu defended with a look that was anything but scared at him, something he quickly took notice of.

  “Why are you smiling?” he asked, seeing an awkward smile on her face along with a glazed look in her eyes. It was then he noticed how the centaur was acting, a slight aroused murmur coming from her mouth while she shakily held a hand to her cheek. It was as if she was undecided on being happy or scared at the thought.

  “I’m not… smiling,” Lelu insisted before shaking her head and looking down in shame.

  “Are all centaurs crazy like you are?” Max wondered.

  “I’m not crazy! Why would you assume that?”

  Max eyed her over carefully, seeing her struggling with holding in her voice while trying to calm herself. Glancing down to his axe for a moment he then walked closer and held the blade towards her neck, the girl’s eyes snapping to him instantly in shock as he forced a stern look at her.

  “On second thought,” he mused. “I think I’d rather just kill and eat you now. Put an end to this whole bothersome scenario altogether.”

  “No, please don’t,” she whimpered fearfully.

  “Shut up. You’re nothing but a pain. Get your neck down on that stump and accept your fate.”

  “No…”

  “Off with your head, and then I’m going to… um… tear your clothes off and broil your juicy looking body.”

  “No…” Lelu breathed out as her eyes began to lose focus.

  “Should I eat you with a salad or bread rolls, I’m not sure,” Max deliberated while watching her closely. “Maybe neither, your boobs alone will serve as nice appetizers for the main course.”

  “No…” Lelu whispered as a faint smile came across her face.

  “And then I’ll… I’ll…” Max said before trailing off, seeing the centaur staring at the axe’s blade with a blush forming on her cheeks and a twitching eye. She appeared to purr lustfully at the mere sight of the tool that would be used to end her life, something that struck Max as more than a little odd. Waiting for the girl to come back to her senses he stood there with a puzzled look on his face for a few minutes, after which Lelu blinked then slowly turned her gaze up to him as she realized he wasn’t making a move.

  “Uh…” she quietly said before falling silent.

  “Holy shoot,” Max spoke in both awe and bewilderment. “You actually want to be killed and eaten, don’t you?”

  “N… no?” Lelu unsurely replied.

  “What the heck is wrong with you?” Max asked lowering the axe. “You seriously want to be killed and digested by someone?”

  “N-No! Of c-course not!” Lelu stammered shaking her head. “Why would anyone want to have such a horrific thing happen to them? Not me! Certainly not me! I don’t want to die!”

  Max just stared at the centaur with a blank expression while she trembled before him, the girl rambling nonsensical babble with a nervous frown on her face. After she got absolutely nothing through to him she paused with a hoarse whine, realizing that her indecipherable ranting was doing nothing to convince him otherwise.

  “You want to be cooked and devoured, don’t you?” Max plainly asked her.

  “Um… maybe?”

  “Are all centaurs as messed up as you are?”

  “Don’t be absurd!” Lelu snapped at him with a flustered huff. “My kind do not find any enjoyment or have even the slightest desire to be someone’s dinner! The very idea is insulting and quite disturbing to be honest!”

  “So it’s just you that wants to be roasted over a fire?”

  “Yes!” Lelu asserted crossing her arms stubbornly. She blinked then screamed and shook her hands defensively before her. “I mean no! I don’t want that either! I swear! The very idea of being someone’s meal is frightening and awful and… and… and…”

  “And?” Max repeated with a raised eyebrow.

  “And…” Lelu said before slowly slumping down and looking away while holding her arms close. “Um… it’s… sort of…”

  “Why in Eden would you want something like that to happen to you? Don’t you understand you’ll be dead if someone cooks and eats you?”

  “I know,” Lelu whimpered with tears starting to form. “I… I know that just as well as you do.”

  “Then why do you want that?”

  Lelu trembled with eyes shut tight then turned to him with a remorseful frown.

  “The truth is… I have a rather troubling
condition.”

  “It sure seems that way,” Max commented with a nod.

  “I don’t like to admit it, but… I’m… I’m limquar del medsian.”

  “I have no idea what that means,” Max said shaking his head.

  “In your tongue it means… messed up in the head,” Lelu explained lowering her head in shame. Max looked at her in wonder as she hid behind her hands. “And that’s putting the phrase nicely.”

  “You really do have a mental illness?”

  “I didn’t mean for this to happen to me!” Lelu pleaded at him. “How was I supposed to have known it would happen? I didn’t know! Nobody warned me!”

  “Wait, what are you talking about? Warn you of what?”

  “I liked to read,” Lelu whimpered. “When I was little I liked to read everything I could find. I spent every day I could in our library, learning about our history, our world, our lives. I loved knowing more about our people. I loved it so much I couldn’t stop, couldn’t stop at all. I read everything I could get my hands on.”

  “That should have made you smarter, not crazier,” Max reasoned with a shrug.

  “And then I read a book that was further in the back of our library,” Lelu recalled with a grave tone. “It was filled with stories about the evils that lurked in the world. Tales of centaurs fighting for their lives, speaking about the dangers they faced, telling how they met their end in truly grisly manners. I mean it was dark. So dark and vivid with the most gruesome details that could be written in a book. I could almost feel the blood soaking the pages as I turned them one by one to venture further into the mind of hell itself!”

  “What the heck were you reading?” Max asked with genuine curiosity.

  “It was a fantasy book read by my older kin,” Lelu answered. “Not all the tales in it were true, some were fabricated while others were merely embellished by our people. When I told my mother about it she assured me it was something that was only written as entertainment for mature centaurs.”