THE MOMENT
"She sure looks human to me...," Alan chuckled to himself as he admired the view. His lithe, pale, naked target sat on the edge of the lake shore enjoying the waves. She had long jet-black hair and seemed lost in thought. "...it's a real shame," he decided. Despite her almost supernatural attractiveness, Alan had a job to do. He had no idea who she was; but, it didn't matter. Someone was willing to pay three times his normal rate to ensure he paid her a visit.
The client, Chip, explained that the target would be on vacation by the lake and it was a rush job to capitalize on the fact that she would be alone. Alan usually preferred to take his contracts a little slower but he was a professional and the client found his magic number. And, it was as simple a job as he could ask for. Chip had not specified any methods or even clean-up. He only wanted the woman dead and it didn't matter how. Alan was free to clean up his own tracks as he saw fit; but, there was no need to make it look like an accident. They were the only two people around for miles and he could simply stroll over there and strangle her.
He thought about it; but, Chip warned Alan that she wasn't human. That was fine by him, he had a few surprises of his own; even if he didn't know how he could do the things he could. He felt a growing hunger and decided to do things the easy way. The faster he was done the sooner he could get something to eat. He knelt to put his hand on the ground.
"Do your thing, Stabby," he grinned at the tattoo on his hand. The small black scorpion came to life and walked off his skin onto the sand. Then, it scuttled toward the woman. Alan watched the scorpion till it made it half-way, and he was surprised to see it turn around and return to him. "Hey, what are you doing?" he asked as the scorpion crawled back onto his hand.
"Venom's no good. Good luck," Stabby replied. Then, he sunk back into Alan's hand to become a tattoo again. Alan sighed. Over the years since he first got the tattoo, Alan learned to trust Stabby's insight. But, he wished the arachnid knew how to elaborate better.
"Knife it is," he shrugged. Despite them being the only ones out there, he still wanted to avoid the sound of gunshots. He had a gun for self-defense, but he didn't own a silencer; he'd never needed it. He pulled out his hunting knife and began the quiet trek to try and sneak up on the woman. The lake shore was pretty bare and he was out in the open; but, the target had her back to him. As long as he moved quickly without making any noise he was okay. Even if she spotted him, he was pretty confident he could run her down.
"Why am I so hungry?" Alan wondered to himself as he crossed the sand. It seemed like every step he took only made him hungrier. He was starting to weigh his options for lunch after he finished this kill. Finally, he was close enough to close the gap with a lunge. As he settled himself to pounce his stomach let out a loud growl; the woman whipped around to face him.
Alan sat crouched with his eyes focused on her holding a large knife ready to stab. There was a very limited number of ways that could be interpreted and none of them were good. Despite that, the woman gave Alan a broad grin.
"Finally!" she said. She stood and took a step towards him. Her response set alarm bells off in Alan's head; she wasn't the least bit afraid of him. And worse, she seemed to be expecting him. But, the most confusing thing was that his hunger all but vanished. In its place, he felt the vague satisfaction that he would be eating soon. It was the same kind of feeling he had any time he spotted a waiter bringing his food.
"What do you mean, 'Finally'?" Alan asked as he took a step back and drew his gun. He couldn't worry about being quiet anymore; he needed to defend himself.
"I'm practically wasting away from hunger," she said as she continued to move towards him.
BANG Alan fired straight at her head. He watched the single bullet go through it leaving only a faint ripple as if he'd fired at the lake itself. He kept squeezing the trigger hoping any one of the bullets made a difference. But, she reached him by the time it clicked empty. She reached up to put her hand on the gun and Alan let it go.
"NO!" he shouted as he flung Stabby at her. She moved fast enough to catch the black scorpion in her hand; then, she surrounded it in a bubble of water before tossing it into the lake behind her.
"How delicious...," Majicka grinned as she grabbed his hand. Alan felt a sudden, intense drowsiness wash over his body. His knees buckled and he fought to keep his eyes open. It was a losing battle and he heard her one more time before he lost consciousness. "...Chip finally got my order right."