Apex Predators
Authors: Natalie Bennett
Apex
Predators
Apex Predators Book One
Natalie Bennett
Apex Predators is a work of fiction. All names,
characters, places and events portrayed in this book are either form the
Author’s imagination or used fictitiously. Any similarity to real persons
similar or dead, establishments, events or location is purely coincidental and
not intended by the Author. Please do not take offense to the content as it is
FICTION.
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be
reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including
photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the
prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief
quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses
permitted by copyright law.
Copyright © 2016 by Natalie Bennett
Dedication
This book is dedicated to everyone who believed in me and
encouraged me to never give up on writing.
Table of Contents
She stepped out of her MKZ and gently shut the door.
"This isn't so bad." Piper said getting out on the passenger side.
"If you say so." She looked at the run down motel and knew they
didn't have a choice. Her car had starting overheating a good few miles back,
which it shouldn't have; it was only four months old. She had pushed it to get
them this far.
The hot bright sun of Lexford, Osceola aimed down at them
like a laser beam. They were supposed to be in Beach City, probably still eight
hours away. What a great start to this impromptu girl’s heartbreak healing
vacation.
She had caught her fiancé with his ex again and really
called it off this time and Piper had been dumped for a younger girl. Which was
actually disturbing considering they were only twenty-three and Piper was hot.
She had long Jet black hair that almost went to her waist and light brown, hazel
colored eyes.
They were pretty much the same build, both about five
one-ish, and having been gym partners the last few months they now had a little
toning to their flat stomachs. They both had the same creamy skin and there
weren't many differences beyond that.
She had a chocolate brown hair that hit a little passed
mid back and brown eyes. She had an ample chest but Piper took the cake for
large chest. She had a nice little bottom from squats; Piper's was a little
smaller. They had some personality differences, as where Piper would charge in
guns blazing no questions asked she would actually like to know what she was
charging into beforehand. She actually liked to get to know guys whereas Piper
would just hit the sheets for a night of fun. They were both picky though, but
picky clearly didn't mean winner. They walked towards the lobby of the dingy
motel where a sign towered above read Stayhome Suites. That had to be a huge
joke the building was hideous and falling apart.
She pulled open the door and took in a small lobby that
only held a cracked leather chair, dirty fish tank and a brown rug that didn't
used to be brown. A heavy set man was behind the counter. He had a bald head
and a long beard. "How can I help you ladies?" He drawled.
"We need a room." She looked around for a
brochure or something but she didn't see anything. "Sure thing, how
long ya staying?"
That was an excellent question. "Actually my cars
having some issues, is there a shop or mechanic around here?" Please say
yes she mentally begged. "Jed will be in on Wednesday; he works at a shop
a few miles away and works here part time."
It was only Friday; they didn't have much of a choice
though there was nothing else around here. "Okay, well take a room until
then." She paid for the room and grabbed the key cards and they headed
back out the door.
As they were leaving he told them there was a restaurant
and a little gas station about fifteen minutes of walking distance up the road.
They were on the second story of the building so they made their way up
the ugly dark green painted stairs. "Well, here we go." She
slid the card and opened the door. "Ew, oh my god." Piper wrinkled
her nose and stepped back outside. The smell was pretty bad. It was like a
potent must and wet dog smell blowing around because of the air conditioner.
The whole room was way beyond needing remodeled. Old dark
blue carpet, a long brown dresser with a bubble TV, two beds, one with a box
spring falling apart, both covered in a very thin over washed floral blanket
and the bathroom sink was being held up by a large piece of wood. Yeah, the
sign was a riot.
"We should have slept in the car." She grumbled.
Only one light in the room worked and as she drew open the old faded curtains
to let light in that really showed how bad the room looked, they did a bedbug
check and the room passed. "Let’s go find this gas station and see if they
have some air freshener and cleaning stuff." Piper readily agreed, neither
of them wanted to be in this room. The gas station was in fact about a fifteen
minute walk up the barren road but when it was as hot as it was it felt like an
hour.
She was already in shorts and a tank top she couldn't
lose much more clothing. As they entered the gas station a girl who looked
about their age greeted them. "You guys clearly aren't from around here;
pretty girls don't hang here for long." She said it as a compliment
but she wasn't exactly ugly herself, she had a unique style thing going on for
her.
One half of her hair was red the other was black and
pulled into a sleek half up half down style. She was pale and had a tiny hoop
in her nose and brown eyes.
Then the girl added "Unless you’re Amy, but she’s a
whore so we don't count her."
It was clear the girl was friendly. "I'm Morgana or
Morgan and this is Piper." She gestured to her friend who cheerily waved.
"I'm Kira." She said smiling at them.
"So, what are you guys doing in the middle of nowhere
here?" She came around the counter. "My car started overheating which
is weird; I just got it like four months ago brand new. So, were at the little
motel up the road and came for some reinforcements." Kira laughed and
walked down one of the isles.
"You don't love the elegant suites?"
She followed her down the aisle she had gone down and saw
little air fresheners, fabreeze and cleaning products. "We love you much
more." Piper said as she snatched up almost every smell good she could fit
in her arms.
As they were paying for the small but doubled variety of
the smell goods and cleaning products Kira double bagged everything for them.
"I get off at seven, there's a little restaurant across the street they
have great pizza and they're actually clean. It’s like a mom and pop place. You
guys wanna meet me there?"
She looked at Piper who nodded. "Yeah sure,
here." She wrote down her cell number and slid it to her. They said
goodbye and left after that. The walk back seemed to take even longer but was
well worth it to get everything they got.
It was already going on five so they had work to do. They
stripped the flowered blankets off the beds and checked the cleanliness of the
sheets which were surprisingly new looking.
Piper got to hanging air fresheners on the air unit and
spraying the room down.
Why she did that she walked back to the bathroom area and
wanted to scream at how disgusting it was. The toilet was horrible and gags
worthy.The tub was peeling and the shower head was rusty.
She went bleach crazy, her eyes were burning with tears
and they were both coughing by the time she was done.
A black gaping hole in the wall above the toilet was really
starting to bother her so she grabbed two of the dingy faded white towels and
shoved them into it to plug it.
After that they drug their bags up and took turns rushing
through a shower. She put on another pair of shorts and a floral tank, Piper
dressed in a similar outfit. It was almost seven by now so they decided to head
up to the little restaurant and meet Kira.
The restaurant was called Pam and Dave’s and it was more of
a bar than a restaurant. They grabbed a back table and waited for Kira before
ordering. The place had a small crowd; a group of men was playing pool
and two girls sat off to the side watching them play.
They probably sat for ten minutes before Kira came
strolling in and broke into a grin when she saw them. "Are you guys ready
to order?" She asked sliding in. "Yeah, just waiting on you, do we
just go to the bar?" Kira nodded and stood to order for them.
"Peps and sausage?" She asked looking back. They
both nodded. She came back with shooters. She wasn't much of a drinker but it’s
not like she had anywhere to be.
"So, where were you guys heading?" Kira asked
after they drank the shots. "Beach City, we were supposed to be on a
mission of healing." Piper laughed. They quickly explained about their pig
ex's. "Men suck, I've had my share of losers to."
Kira sighed as a little lady brought their pizza to them
and they smiled and thanked her.
The pizza smelled delicious, it looked like a cheesy heaven
of pepperoni and sausage.
They each grabbed a slice and dug in. "Mmmmm, this is
really good." Piper moaned. She agreed around her own mouth full of pizza.
They ate and got to know each other some more.
Kira lived alone in a small ranch house her mother had
left her with her cat. She had moved here two years ago and never left.
After they finished eating they did a few more rounds and
then settled in for a game of pool. As they were playing she heard a loud fake
feminine laugh and looked across the room to where four large men sat. Large in
the sense of muscle not fat, one had an eye patch over his eye and a scarred
face but still had a very pretty red head tucked into his side.
Two looked like they were brothers with the same light
brown hair neatly styled and the fourth had black hair and brilliant blue eyes
she could see from where she stood. He had slight sexy stubble on his face;
they were all staring at them.
"They're not from around here, well the women aren't
I've seen the guys a few times, sexy right?" Kira said following her line
of sight. She nodded. They were pretty good looking even the one with the eye
patch. She forgot they were there as their night went on and the shots kept coming.
Around eleven the three of them made their way to the motel. Kira couldn't
drive in her state so she was staying with them by default.
They made their way up the stairs and fell into the room.
Kira settled on her soft pink felt blanket she had covered her bed in and Piper
hopped onto her own purple one on her bed. They flipped the TV on and started
watching some late night comedy stand up.
It wasn't long before the sound of moaning drowned out the
television. They all looked at one another and laughed. It was coming from the
room that would be directly around the corner from them. Their bathroom had to
be on the flip side of the other rooms because the hole was like a microphone
booming from that direction.
"There's more than one." Piper whispered like it
was a secret. There was definitely more than one woman in there. "Gross,
at this motel, on these beds? No way." Kira shook her head in disgust.
She had to agree that was pretty trashy and her car had
been the only one here when they got back so this had to be a late night booty
call going down. As they sat timing the action the moans stopped, they didn't
hear anything for a split second before loud screams rang through the air. Not
sounding anything like the good kind.
Someone was yelling no and stop and then it was just one woman
left screaming out for help. "We have to do something!" She yelled.
As soon as the sentence left her mouth the screaming came to a halt. She was
immediately concerned.
They were all very sober now and looking at one another.
They went back to the bathroom. It was deathly silent now. They heard a
sound on the other side of the wall and then the towels were shoved through.
A hand popped through a second later and they screamed. She
grabbed it and bent it back only to hear a snarl and it be pulled back through.
Something heavy hit the wall after that.
She knew these walls were nothing but thin pieces of
painted wood. "Let’s get the hell out of here!" Piper yelled. They
slammed the bathroom door shut and she grabbed her keys and her phone. She
looked through the peephole and held up her hand to her friends.
The eye patch guy was standing with his back to their door.
This couldn't be a coincidence, Piper ran and dug through her bag and came back
with a switch blade. She stood to the side of her and they counted to
three silently.
She flung the door open and Piper didn't hesitate slamming
the blade into the man as he turned. He let out a yelp of pain and Kira roughly
shoved him out of their way.
They ran at break neck speed to her car and she hit the
unlock button before they reached it.
They piled in and she hit the locks just as the eye patch
man grabbed her door and yanked. She started the car and threw it in reverse.
The hotel employee from earlier ran out from the lobby
and began yelling at the eye patch man and they watched as the eye patch man
reached out and snapped his neck like he was a twig.
"Drive!" Kira yelled the same time Piper yelled
"Go!" She didn't need to be told twice she floored it. The Lincoln
shot forward kicking up dust and dirt from the parking lot, "Call the
police!" She yelled checking her mirrors and as she expected a set of
headlights was shining brightly in the dark behind them.
Kira pulled her phone out and dialed emergency. Piper was
in the back watching out the back window. She looked at her cars
thermometer and saw it steadily rising, she turned her heat on full blast and
it stopped moving. "Shit!" She yelled and jerked her wheel as someone
ran out in front of her car.
The car went off road into the open plain of nothingness
that surrounded them. "He's from their group, go!" Piper yelled from
the back. She pressed her foot to the pedal and they shot off again.
She had no idea what was out here so she flipped her
brights on, glancing at her meter she saw it had started rising again. She knew
if she kept moving it should be okay for just a little while. "I don't
fucking know!" Kira yelled into her phone. She cursed a few seconds later.
"They're sending cops now; I just lost the call with
the operator." They weren't even on the main road how would the cops help
them now?
"Come on baby." She muttered to her car knowing
she was pushing it. Piper kept watch out the back window why Kira redialed the
operator.
"No signals out here." Kira said checking all of
their phones. She didn't see the lights behind them anymore but that didn't
mean they still weren't being followed she knew her tail and headlights had to
be like a fiery beacon in the darkness of the night.
The car suddenly smashed into something hard and stopped
moving. She held the pedal down but that only resulted in her bumper smashing
in and her car blinking and beeping at her it was overheating.
It cut off a second after that. "What do we
do?!" Kira asked. She started her car again and threw it in reverse, it
cut off and she started it once again. She got it to move forward but it
promptly cut back off. She could hear a loud engine in the distance growing
closer. "We haul ass!" Piper yelled from the back seat. Her friend
was right, they had to get out and run and they had to do it now.