Posted by PK on November 11, 2001 at 18:11:17:
Amanda nodded. "Fair enough. Just nip up to the cabin, will you? Change the record. I put
the speakers outside but the console's still in there."
"What do you want?"
"Led Zep.' In Through the Out Door'."
Belinda complied, and brought out more beer and wine besides. She was going to need it
and she was pretty sure everybody else would. She handed Amanda a glass of beer, the
Huntress put it down on the table, precariously near to the roast, she had a large serrated
knife in her other hand. Not going to just tear into her with your sharp teeth? Amanda looked
up and smiled. How does she DO that? We're bonding, she thought. Serving drinks to the
rest of the mob was just as much fun as she'd thought it would be. She was polite in the
extreme, stopping just a razor edge short of obsequious. The mockery worked better the
more it was understated. The subtle knife slips in unseen. The crew were defensive, the
clothes they huddled in were no defense at all against claws, but she needed no armour. As
acolyte of She Who Must Be Obeyed or her next victim, either way she was untouchable,
immune. She returned to the table.
Amanda was slicing pieces of Carol onto plates. Belinda could see the skin separate easily,
the half-bloody meat within.
"See anything you like?"
Belinda's visual cortex did a backflip. She couldn't quite decide what she was seeing. A
woman with tiger makeup ( a little smudged now) or some Thing that passed for human in
daylight. Daylight that was fading. She inspected Carol's body. Legs or arms? "Upper left
arm," she said. "I'll take it on the bone."
Amanda took Carol's arm off at the shoulder and cut again just above the elbow. "There you
go." She gave Belinda the joint, still warm, not too hot to hold.
Eat it like corn on the cob?
"Don't worry, I'll hand out the rest..."
Belinda watched Amanda hand out plates of rare woman meat to the film crew. She watched
her watching their reactions. One of the techs just sat and stared at it. Somebody else
dropped the plate and staggered away, retching. Almost absent-mindedly she bit into Carol's
biceps. Another double-take, her mind reeled as she realised what she had done. A tsunami
rushed through her adrenal system, for a whole minute she fought the wave and then learned
to ride it. Her heart thumped, momentary tachycardia settling into another stable state, a
higher gear. She chewed and swallowed. The meat was rich and juicy, full of flavour. You
don't get this from the supermarket...the sensation of power flooding her came again, sharper
and stronger. Vampires and werewolves. Animals. People. It all came together. Riding the
tiger, she had fallen off the back, lost the reins...no, that wasn't quite right. But what was?
The wind gusted gently and shook the trees. Badger? The Wind in the Willows? Her skin
prickled. Not willows, she protested. It didn't help. She washed down the warm woman flesh
with a deep draught of beer from Amanda's glass on reflex. Then she realised.
"Timothy Tailor's," Amanda said. "Don't guzzle. Nectar is less precious. Not that I grudge it,
of course."
Belinda took another deliberate pull at the glass and wiped her mouth before handing it back.
"What's next?"
Amanda made a moue. "Do you think it's time I revealed the plot?"
"Which would be what?"
"Do try to keep up. The film. Revenge of the Spit Muffin. That's only a working title, of
course. Any better ideas?"
"Eat your pussy before it gets cold."
Amanda smiled. "Been there, done that while you were otherwise occupied. This is calf.
Elegant, don't you think? Still, I like it. I think I'll have that carved on my tombstone."
Something struck Belinda's rational mind from the subconscious that had been patiently
interpreting while her superego was out to lunch. It was like a dash of water in the face. "You
switched the cameras back on."
"Something like that. They were never really off. They record as well as transmit."
"But you didn't..." know that. Silly. Of course she did. Part of the show. Never show all your
cards. Everything was part of the plan. How else would she...
"No, I just improvise a little earlier than you expect. Nobody expects..."
"The Spanish Inquisition." Belinda giggled, then she started to laugh. She fell over and
laughed until she choked.
"Oh come on," Amanda said, smirking just a bit. "It wasn't that funny."