Hunter, the Demon's Bride

Humming to himself, Hunter bobbed his head to the tune playing on his headphones. His hands were submerged in the soapy water of the sink, a sponge and dirty plate in hand. It was a tap on the shoulder that brought him out of his focus. Turning around, the young man pulled one of his headphones off, giving his mother his full attention.

The woman in the dress and apron, like him, had raven black hair and pale skin. But unlike her son, she was tall, curvaceous, and had gray eyes. Hunter's short height, lanky build, and brown eyes could be attributed to his father.

"It's getting late. Why don't you head up to your room? I'll finish up the dishes," she said, hands on her hips and her pregnant belly sticking forward.

Hunter turned and grabbed a towel, drying his hands. "Sure thing, Mom. Good night." He turned and gave her a quick hug, turning to pad barefoot to the second floor of their suburban two-story home. Dinner was good, but then again, Hunter had been the one to cook it. It just would've been nicer had his father not needed to stay late at the office.

The young man stepped into his room, locking the door behind him and collapsing face-first onto his bed. A book on horticulture sat atop it. It wasn't a textbook despite Hunter's major in college, just some light reading. His room had three bookshelves and a TV that was rarely used, though his desktop computer saw plenty of use. Yeah, he was a bookworm. If it wasn't a physical copy, it was on Kindle or a story-posting website like Fictionpress for him.

Reaching up, the young man slipped his red-framed glasses off, running his hand through his short raven locks. He was still dressed in his skinny jeans and black long-sleeve shirt from work earlier. As he got up to change into his PJs, he spotted his reflection in the window. A small smile came to his face as he walked up to get a better look. His features were delicate and boyish, while his body was thin and kind of lanky. He wasn't that tall, only 5'4", with a penis that he'd never measured but was fairly certain was quite small for his age of nineteen. He'd been teased by guys, but his prettyboy looks, interest in flowers, and studious nature led to him having a surprising number of female friends. Sadly, he'd never had a girlfriend. They all just assumed he was gay or just thought of him as the 'safe guy friend' type rather than boyfriend material...

It was just as he was about to turn away from his window that he spotted something. It was something black that darted across the neighbor's lawn, but upon doing a double-take, he saw it was just a rat that looked to be scurrying across his house's driveway. Huh, odd to see a rat out in broad moonlight... The full moon was leaving it wide op... en...

Hunter couldn't believe his eyes. A black figure descended from the roof of the garage, pouncing on the rat. Hunter had to rub his eyes to make sure he was seeing it right. A black mist arose from the corpse of the now-dead rodent, which the black figure sucked into its mouth by leaning down over its kill on all fours. Hunter had to be seeing things... right? He leaned in closer, trying to get a better look...

And then the monster turned, white glowing eyes staring straight at him from the driveway.

Hunter gasped, closing the curtains and scrambling backwards, stumbling onto his bed and leaning back onto his palms. His breath was coming out in gasps, heart hammering in his chest. What the hell was that? Some kind of mutated bear or cryptid? Was it a trick of the full moon light? Someone running around in a costume? And that black mist...