{Prologue} Street Shadow

She ran.1

She knew she there was no chance she could escape them, but she ran anyway. Her heart pounded in her ears, almost blocking out the whispering sounds of her pursuers, almost hampering the sounds of the vile laughter, almost erasing their eager calls; almost, but not quite.2

A shadow appeared briefly to her left, disappearing so suddenly her terror-stricken mind caused her to panic and push her already aching muscles to run faster. They were just toying with her, wearing her out so she would be helpless when the time came and they took her like they had taken her friends. A muffled cry gurgled weakly in her raw throat at the thought. No, she had to get away; she had to escape them before…3

Almost by a miracle, she saw the flash of red and her instincts screamed of a waiting ambush. She skidded on the concrete as she impulsively darted down the closest alleyway, her exhausted senses telling her much too late that she had not avoided the trap at all; she had run right into it.4

The alley began to narrow almost immediately, the towering walls on either side, crumbling from abandonment and decorated everywhere with old gang graffiti, reminded her of the confines of a prison, or more accurately, a tomb. Garbage long forgotten lay strewn and forgotten on the asphalt, tuffs of grass and weeds growing between the worn cracks, making her passage on already shaky legs more difficult a feat. But as the high wooden-slate dead end came into view, it no longer seemed to matter.5

Panic overwhelming her she slid to a stop, misjudging her balance greatly. Pain racked her body as she flew into the rickety wall, her bare legs and arms scraped open from the rough wood. Like a stricken animal she froze where she was, almost glued to the wall, her heart the only thing she could hear pulsing in her head, her breathing the only thing her gradually fading mind was conscience of. Until they came.6

She was beyond terror now; she knew there was no escaping her fate. They had her trapped; forever.7

Numbly, she turned to face them as they crept into the alleyway, their crazed laughter drifting like echoes on the wind. Feeling left her fatigued body, the last of her energy long since depleted from the tiring chase. She had used every trick she knew to loose them, every twist and turn she had learned during her life on the streets, everything and anything she could think of to throw them off her trail. Yet it had all been for nothing. They had her and she knew there was nothing she could do to save herself.8

A flash of red, a soft, haunting cackle of madness and a fleeting shadow was all that marked their coming. As silent as the night that had created them they came for her, just as she knew they would. Slowly they crept, feeding off her horror, her pain, reveling in the discouragement of their prey. It was too much; the final thread of sanity snapped and she screamed.9

The shadows lunged, ivory fangs and claws flashing in the moonlight, maddened red eyes flashing in the darkness of their deformed figures. They tore and bit, making no sound in their attack as they sliced through her like a heated knife through butter. Then they dropped back, blocking off any chance of escape she had left. Losing feeling throughout her body and blood fast, she fell to her hands and knees, her clothing soaked in the thick red liquid that flowed from her wounds. Her eyes began to dim as her mind slowly shut down.10

I’m sorry…11

Her scream echoed beneath the clear, star-strewn sky, forgotten and alone, as the maddened creatures moved in for the final blow, and began to feed.12