Sonata was beginning to realize just how difficult it was to kill people for a living. She had to not only find a suitable candidate and corner them, but she also had to take her time and make sure they understood what was going on so they would be properly terrified. On top of that, she had to do it incognito, because exposing what she was up to would bring the whole world down on her head. Sonata considered humans a lower form of life, but they held an enormous numbers advantage over sirens.
She spent the morning in bed, watching horror movies on her laptop and trying to expend as little energy as possible. The movies provided a distraction, and she hoped maybe a few ideas. A primary theme seemed to be running away from monsters. Sonata wasn't human, but she looked like one. And, curse her sexy spandex-clad ass, that could distract from her goal of inflicting total, paralyzing fear.
To get ideas for that, perhaps she could go to the dark web and look up snuff films. Sonata may have been called an idiot, but she was smart enough to realize that she didn't know how to set up the connection to those places though virtual private networks and onion routers, and that trying to do so would probably bring her to the attention of federal agents.
So she would just have to teach herself how to inflict pain and terror on people, and recognized that it would probably involve some trial and error. Fortunately, there were a lot of people out there. Probably more than she could eat. Ha, probably more than Dagi could eat!
Speaking of, Adagio opened the door. “What are you doing?”
“What do you mean?”
“Oh, just the bloodcurdling screams that I keep hearing from in here.” Adagio laid on the sarcasm.
“It's just a movie,” said Sonata. “This one’s by Rob Zombie.” She held up the DVD cover and grinned. “He kind of looks like you.”
Adagio slammed the door. In the old days, she probably would have beaten the crap out Sonata for that. Now none of them could summon the energy. All the more reason for Sonata to get her power back.
She decided that maybe she should kidnap someone first before going to work on them. That would give her ample time to get them good and scared before the bloodletting. But then where was she supposed to take them? A secure, private location obviously. Sonata thought of her fitness studio but dismissed it immediately. It was downtown, too public. What about one of the houses Adagio was currently showing to her realty customers? Maybe if Sonata had bothered to care what Adagio was doing enough to know where the houses were.
She grimaced. The hunger wasn't physical, not in her stomach, but it was coming back. After that glorious moment two days ago, after getting a taste of power, she never wanted to be so hungry again. She had to have someone. Now.
Getting up, she went out the door and got in her car, taking the laptop with her in a backpack. If she couldn’t find anyone or if she had to wait, she wanted to have something to do.
That’s as far as her planning went, though. She had no clue what to do next, and was vaguely aware that setting out aimlessly was not a good idea. But she was desperate. She would do anything to keep from going back to the weakness she used to feel.
Five minutes later, she was in the heart of Canterlot. There were too many people around and the late afternoon sun offered no concealment.
“Cocksucker,” she grumbled. That didn’t make any sense in context and that troubled her for a moment until she remembered she had bigger problems.
Sonata passed by the school and did a double take. It was summer, no one was there. No one, that is, but a lone teenager just leaving the building.
She turned into the parking lot. The kid was skinny and wore glasses. Sonata vaguely remembered his name might have been Microchip, but didn’t care to put much thought into it. He was alone.
His head was down, texting or something on his phone and didn’t notice until she’d stopped her car right next to him. He looked up as she got out of the car.
Chip raised his hands and started to back away. “I don’t know what you want, but-”
She slugged him across the face. She could practically hear his brain rattling inside his skull from the impact. Her fist broke his glasses and he went down.
Sonata grabbed him by the collar while he was still stunned. She paused to pick up his phone and the pieces of his glasses so as not to leave evidence and dragged him to the back of her car. She popped the trunk and stuffed him in, shutting the lid.
Well, that was step one. Sonata glanced around and got back in the car. Now she just had to find a good place to torture and kill him.
Well, okay, eat, torture and kill. No, not that order. Torture, kill, then eat. Or maybe do all three simultaneously? That would quicken her satisfaction and maybe enhance his level of horror.
The wooded mountains rising behind the school caught her eye. The forest would do nicely, especially as it got darker.
She followed progressively narrower roads out into the wilderness until the path dead-ended. Night hadn’t quite fallen, but surrounded by trees it was dark enough that Sonata was confident that they weren’t being observed.
The moon wasn’t up yet, but she could see Chip by the trunk light when she popped the lid. He stared at her and blinked slowly. “Well?”
“Well what?” said Sonata.
“Whatever you’re going to do, you might as well get it over with.”
He’d resigned himself. There was no fear, just weariness.
“What the fuck’s wrong with you?” Sonata demanded. “Are you depressed or something?”
“I’m the nerd nobody likes. My one shot at maybe getting some respect was running sound at the battle of the bands, until you ruined that. Even after you were gone, I made a convenient scapegoat for what went wrong. Pills and therapy didn’t do anything, maybe because of residual magic in the air or something. There’s no way to fix that. Or me.”
“I don’t believe this.” Sonata turned around, hand on her face.
Chip sat up and looked around. He sighed. “Well, if you aren’t going to suck my life force or whatever, I guess I’ll call a ride.” He picked up his cell phone from the floor of the trunk and put in a complicated unlock code.
Sonata suddenly had an idea. “You’re pretty good with tech, right?”
Surprised, Chip looked up, but then dropped his eyes again. “I guess.”
Sonata went around to the front of the car and grabbed out her laptop. “I want you to make my computer secure so the NSA can’t find me.”
Chip stared at her for several seconds. “Why?”
“I thought you didn’t care.”
Chip shrugged listlessly. He manipulated his phone for a moment and linked it with WiFi to the computer. After a few minutes, he’d downloaded a few programs and configured them. “I installed a multilayer routing routine and an encrypted VPN. There’s a readme file on the desktop. But you didn’t bring me all the way out here just to do that.”
“No, I was-” Sonata stopped short and cocked her head. Someone was coming. She turned, scanning the darkening woods. A man in a green uniform and Smokey Bear hat came out of the trees.
“Hello?” He walked over to them. “The park’s closed this late at night.”
“She kidnapped me,” Chip stated.
The park ranger’s hand dropped to the pistol at his side. “Wait a second, you’re Sonata Dusk!” The worry blooming in his emotion was beautiful.
Sonata grabbed him by the throat and felt his panic wash over her. The ranger jerked out his gun, but she grabbed his arm. He struggled, but she put some force behind her choking. Then, she crushed his wrist.
The fragments of bone shifting around beneath the skin felt like a bag of rocks. Or at least that’s what Sonata thought. She’d never felt a bag of rocks before.
The ranger managed to get a scream out through his constricted throat. His limp fingers let go of the gun and Sonata caught it. She glanced at it briefly. She’d never handled one before. Touching the tip of the barrel to his chest, though, sent his fear spiking even higher.
Sonata could hardly wait, but surely she could eke out a little more. She traced the muzzle of the gun down over his shirt, below the belt. Yep, that did it. She smiled and pulled the trigger.
His scream was louder than the shot. The ranger was crying and hanging limp in her grasp now. Sonata raised the gun and adjusted his head so he would watch her lick the blood off the barrel. The taste hit her mouth like a tidal wave, washing over her, filling her up. In the back of her mind, she recalled some safety precaution about not sucking on guns, but it was hard to stop.
Until, the feelings pouring from the man abruptly ceased. He had passed out, his eyes rolled back and head hanging limp.
“What the fuck?” Sonata slammed her knee into the bloody injury down below, but it only produced a hitch in the man’s breathing.
Utterly nonplussed, Sonata shook her head. “I can’t believe this.” She shook him. “Wake up!” No response. Anger rising, she put the gun to his head and pulled the trigger. A mist of blood splashed on her face.
Pissed, she turned around. Chip stared at her, wide-eyed. Sonata read the emotion on his face. Disgust.
She shot him, too.