Crueltea

That was terrible. I'm not sorry.

Image found on Pinterest.

Caleb grimaced. Was all tea this bitter and nasty? If so, why did so many people seem to like it?

Maybe that’s why they watered it down with cream and sugar. He was never really one for sweets —meat was more his thing— but if it made this stuff any easier to drink he’d drown it in both.

As he ladled several spoonfuls of sugar into his cup and filled it to the brim with cream, the woman across the table from him cocked her head with a smile. “So what do you think?”

“It’s a bit…bitter? And it makes my mouth dry.”

“Mmm, some black teas can be like that. Assam in particular if it’s oversteeped. Keemun and Yunnan are considerably more forgiving, but I didn’t have any on-hand and I had a lot to do in the kitchen, and I might have left the kettle on a bit too long—”

Caleb tuned the woman —Molly, her name was— out as he stirred the tea and waited impatiently for the moon to rise. He’d spent the last few weeks befriending her, spending time with her and pretending to take an interest in her hobbies. It was what he did; he got close to people, he made friends with them, and once the full moon rose, he hunted them.

He could have sated his hunger on animal flesh, preying on livestock or wild game like deer, but hunting humans kept the beast quiet for longer. Made it easier to control.

Plus, it was just more fun.

Molly had made it particularly easy on him. Normally he’d have to force his way into his prey’s home, which wasn’t exactly hard as a monstrous wolf, but this time? This time he was already inside. She wouldn’t be able to run.

The beast needed to be fed, and feed it he would.

While she prattled on he took a sip of the now practically-white tea. Still bad. In fact, the more he drank it seemed to get worse. Not only was his mouth dry, but his tongue and throat burned. Only a bit at first, but now it was like they were on fire. That wasn’t normal. That couldn’t be normal.

When the room began to spin and he felt his throat tightening, making it hard to breathe, he knew.

Poison.

Caleb tried to bolt but his legs buckled, unable to hold his weight. With how weak he felt, he probably couldn’t even crawl to the door if he’d tried. He could barely breathe, and that burning seemed to be spreading through his whole body now, not just his mouth.

“What did you put in this?” he wheezed. “It’s not just tea. What else is in here?”

Molly’s grin widened as she rose from her seat, pulling out a knife with a bright, silvery glint.

“…Wolfsbane.”

She knelt down next to Caleb, who could only stare helplessly as she pulled back his head, bringing the knife to his throat.

“For my sister. You killed her a month ago.”

With one quick slice, Caleb’s cruelty was brought to an end.