The night air was cool on my skin after a scorching hot day, giving me the chills. At least it was a clear night, though, and not as humid as it had been lately. I peered thoughtfully up at the half-moon.
I yawned and stretched, wondering if tonight was worth it or not. I could be at the bar, having a few shots of whisky and getting frisky with some men. Instead I was out in the cold wondering the streets known to inhabit my prey.
'I'd love a shot of rum or vodka right about now, to drive out that chill.'
Instead I kept my feet plodding and my eyes searching for signs. Most of my kind hated their prey. I noticed a man with amber eyes watching the moon hungrily. His female companion had the same wolfish gaze, but seemed to refuse to look at it. I paused to consider them, wondering what the transformation was like. It'd always looked painful.
The woman slugged the man's shoulder and indicated me nervously. I casually moved my jacket aside to show them the gun on my waist was coated in silver. The two talked a moment. It surprised me to see the woman led the man away; she was higher in rank, possibly his Maker and likely to be an alpha.
'Fascinating. I'd love to arrange to talk to them. Maybe ask them about their transformations, and that fabled tug of the moon I've heard werewolf hunters talk about.'
With a wistful sigh I moved onward. I wasn't going to stand there and wait for a vampire to spot me. I wasn't exactly packing the exploding bolts my counterparts carried, and I'd left all of my warding trinkets at home in case a coworker at the Deli noticed them.
'I'm already considered strange there. I don't want to be fired again for supposedly doing satanic rites.'
A soft moan brought my attention to just inside an ally, where a woman was leaning against the brick wall to let somebody suck at her neck. Disgust washed over me at the sight of a stream of blood coursing down the neck.
'Blood whores. And they call me a freak.'
Well, at least there was one less unwilling victim to be preyed on by the undead blood suckers. Still, I marked the location in my journal, and wrote a basic description of the whore and vamp. The vampire turned to see me and just stared in confusion.
"Aren't you hunter?"
"Don't hunt vampires. Or werewolves."
She blinked at me. "There's a demon in the bar across the street. Why are you watching?"
"Just jotting down your information. I wouldn't want a vampire hunter thinking you're taking blood from the unwilling."
"You don't care that I'm taking her blood?"
"She very clearly isn't. To each their own. Oh, this is werewolf territory. Saw an alpha walking it. I would avoid that if I were you. It's already half-moon."
"Fucking wolves think they own this city. Common, bitch. We're taking this to my place." She wrapped around the blood whore and vaulted to the roof tops.
So I turned my eyes to the bar across the street. It was booming with loud hip hop music.
'Wonderful. I get to go to the bar and can't drink much or flirt with men.'
As I headed inside to show my ID, a couple of girls made out behind me. I hurried inside, not really wanting to see that. By the time I got to the bar I'd already noticed something; there were no men. Moreover...none of the women in here cared. Since they were all with another woman, or watching other women.
'Please nobody hit on me. Oh god, I'm a prime target, aren't I? Sitting at the bar alone.'
I ordered a bloody marry in an attempt to scare most of them off, and to look normal. If I didn't drink I was too obvious. Unfortunately within ten minutes a woman sat down next to me. I felt myself fidget, hoping she wouldn't hit on me.
"Are you waiting for somebody?" She spoke to me. Wonderful.
I can't say I'm not into women. I don't know where the demon is yet. Oh great stars, why does this shit always happen to me?
"For me." A very smooth voice from behind sent shivers down my spine.
I turned around to see a very strong girl in tattered jeans and a leather biker jacket with cut-off sleeves. Her short hair was styled messy on purpose. I noticed her black eyes had no pupils.
'Damn. I bet she noticed what I was right away too. I hate it when they play with me.'
"Oh, I, uh - I'll be going then." The woman trying to flirt with me hurried away before this tough new comer could hurt her.
The stranger took her place. "You're too obvious."
"Whatever are you talking about?" I purred in false innocence.
"You didn't check out a single girl."
"How about you choose a normal bar and we can do a play over?"
"Who told a hunter I was here?"
"A very hungry vampire with a pretty whore."
"Loyalty, huh? I found that whore for her."
"Not my problem." I finished my drink. "Are we going to do this or not?"
The demon laughed cruelly. "What are you talking about? I've already won."
I blinked at her confusion. Then I blinked again. My vision was...fuzzy.
Shit.
"That's just plain dirty." I went to stand, but whatever she'd laced the drink with was quick. I stumbled.
"Whoa. Don't start drinking at home first," She told me loudly as people laughed. The demon steadied me, then pulled me close as if we were lovers. I reached for my gun, but it wasn't there. "Now, now, did you think I'd let you keep that?"
'How...?'
My vision doubled. I blinked back the stars in my eyes. Before we'd left the bar I'd drifted into darkness.
I woke up very slowly to utter darkness, lying on something soft and comfortable. My head felt as if it were trying to split open. I went to grab it - and felt chains bite at my wrists. I began to thrash. The very slightest movement caused waves of dizzying nausea, forcing me to stop.
"I see you're awake." A voice laughed from somewhere in the room.
My heart raced at the idea of being this creature's prisoner in the dark. I was chained and alone, wherever my captor had decided to put me. Swallowing hard, I held very, very still in an attempt to locate the sound of any movement. I heard glass shuffling around to my left. A drawer opened from behind me. A few heartbeats later it closed quietly.
"I suspect you have quite the headache after last night."
"So just stop talking." I groaned; sound was painful right now.
"If you're going to be rude I could turn on a light." The angry hiss in her voice made me recoil.
'Wonderful. I pissed a demon off while chained up in the dark. Any more genius ideas Cen?'
Something cold and wet against my skin made me jerk away. "Easy there, you big baby. It's just alcohol." It was eerie as hell to realize she was nowhere near me. She was using magic to do this, so I couldn't find a way to reach her.
"Why are you putting alcohol on my arm?"
She didn't answer. Instead she simply carried on. I gave a yelp of surprise when a needle went in my arm. I felt liquid flow through. A moment of burning in the veins passed quickly. She gave me two more of these.
"What are you doing?"
"Now after that headache of yours is gone we'll proceed."
"Proceed with what?"
No answer. Focusing hard, I held my breath and listened. Then I swore.
'She left me in the dark! God damn it!'
All I could do was wait for my head to ease. Before it had, I'd drifted off again. My eyes opened again to that same darkness and a crawling hunger I didn't need right now.
'How does one wake up horny after being kidnapped by a creature of powerful, ancient evil? Damn. Maybe I am a freak after all.'
The room flooded with a dark, foreboding feeling. The hair rose on the nape of my neck.
I wasn't at all surprised to hear a familiar voice purr out "Good evening my little human. You slept well, I take it?"
"Wonderfully. Now, if you don't mind I'd like a bath. Mind helping a girl out? Turning on a light, or perhaps releasing me from these chains. Both would be marvelous."
"You certainly kept your head and whit. That's just fine. Now, you just lay right there. I'll finish what we started and let you out of those chains."
'Seriously? She's going to let me go? Wow. I should ask more often.'
No sooner did the thought pass through my mind and a strange feeling started to edge its way into corners of my awareness. My head began first to spin.
Then a slow, strange...fullness filled it. There was no other way to explain it - it felt like something was filling in the corners of my brain like water through the cracks. It seeped through me, this feeling. Overflowing. Words and images I didn't understand poured into my thoughts too quickly for me to even fully comprehend their presence.
'WHAT IS IT DOING???'
"STOP!!" I shouted - a little unnerved at how hard it was to speak. In fact, I wanted to thrash, to struggle, to hurt the demon. But the rest of me refused to move - it wouldn't even blink. "GET THE FUCK OUT OF MY HEAD!!"
A jolt of shock and surprise filtered through me, but I didn't understand where it came from. It wasn't me but it...was?