RdMyNaNoNo!

... So you wanna RdMyNaNo (read my NaNo novel)? Here's an excerpt for ya!

The story so far: Jackie Hyde is a mysterious former-human who feeds on blood and nurses a primal hatred of men. She has been proven to be a deadly force on the battlefield, where she can indulge in her appetites without jeopardizing residents of The Keep, her home for the past eleven years. Recognizing her as a legendary creature from their homeland, two men have managed to not just capture her, but somehow tame her, and make her human...

Jackie’s mind was still reeling, three days later. That she currently suffered from a sore bottom and aching muscles did indeed seem to indicate that she might, in fact, be human. Hadn’t she participated in campaign after bloody campaign, shredding opponents to ribbons from dawn to dusk, without feeling even a twinge the next day? Yet now, every single muscle screamed in protest as she tried valiantly to stay on the galloping horse without having to actually touch the person around whom her arms had been ordered to encircle.

Every time they stopped to camp for the night, it was all she could do to not succumb to the pull of gravity - how on earth could humans survive in such weak bodies? she asked herself - yet compelled was she to obey every order hollered at her: Timah, find the firewoods. Timah, takes out my boot. Timah, rubs down the horses. Timah, digs the toilet for I. Timah this. Timah that. And Jackie was powerless to stop “Timah” from doing as she was told, despite the mangled language and thick accent; so long as she understood the order, it had to be obeyed, even if every step, every stroke, every scoop put her body that much closer to the point of complete and utter collapse.

At least they didn’t order her to cook anymore. Not after that disastrous first night. Jackie smiled at the memory.

Wiyoto had waved her to the larder, pointed at the fireplace, and barked “Make we dinners!” as soon as they stopped for the night in a well-stocked hideaway cunningly hidden deep in a gap in the mountainside. An hour later, he and Lesmana stared in dismay at the concoction in their bowls: a gooey gelatinous green mass made from the mixture of a handful of the contents of every single jar in the larder: rice, oats, salt, tobacco leaves, dehydrated mango, and about ten extremely flavorful spices, cooked in a little water. Having never, to her knowledge, eaten anything except blood and guts, how was she to know how human food supposed to be cooked, let alone taste?

It was probably then that her captors started to realize Timah might not be such a prize catch after all.

A furious argument soon erupted between them, and while they were at it, Jackie observed every nuance of their gestures, listened to their strange words, and studied their fighting styles. Just because she was trapped didn’t mean she couldn’t still hope to escape this spell that bound her to these men, didn’t mean she couldn’t still plan for what she would do once free, and certainly didn’t mean she couldn’t still indulge in imagining the rip of flesh, the gush of blood, the scream of terror, first Wiyoto, then Lesmana, he was the weaker one, he would provide her with so much to drink in… Then came a flurry of hands and feet, a loud yell, and Wiyoto found himself on the ground. Both he and Lesmana looked discomfited at the reversal of roles, and hurriedly looked away, one scurrying away, the other stalking off in a huff. Both of them went to bed hungry that night.

And ever since then, each would eye the other warily, talking only when needed, keeping a healthy distance between them even as they were bound by the desperate need to increase the ever closing gap between them and their pursuers, while Jackie howled with laughter, knowing that half her battle was already won.

Now to figure out how to get that damn nail out of her neck.

... and this also serves as a (late!) participation in this week's 3WW #CX [hope gravity nuance] ... as soon as I saw the words I knew exactly which scene they would fit ... took way too long putting it together, couldn't keep my internal editor off, not when I knew I intended to share it... you don't want to know how long it took to produce these additional 599 words! But hey, it brings my total (as at 2:10 am) to 7,519. Every little bit counts!