♡ ⸻ ˚ ❛ Closed starter for @fateboundfang ❛ ˚ ⸻ ♡
The month of December had always carried something almost magical about it.
Human-made magic, really. Strings of warm lights, shop windows glowing late into the night, the illusion of harmony that came with winter and shared traditions.
But there was nothing harmonious about this particular night.
At least not for her.
And certainly not for the two barely conscious bodies sprawled on the cold pavement behind her.
Fresh bite marks stained their necks, blood still dark and wet against their skin. She didn’t need to crouch down or inspect them closely to know what had happened. She wasn’t new to this… Someone had fed, quick and careless. And for whatever reason, had decided to leave them behind. Either they would bleed out… or survive, if help arrived in time.
Luckily for them, she had.
She hadn’t wasted a second dialing 911, reporting blood in a shady back alley and distant screams.
A small lie, necessary, and it would at least keep her from having to explain or expose the actual truth.
Needless to say, she didn’t stay to watch the aftermath.
Instead, she followed the trail.
Tiny droplets of blood dotted the ground ahead, faint but noticeable. Whoever had fed hadn’t been as careful as they thought. But after a few streets, the trail thinned… then vanished entirely, as if it had never been there at all.
That should have been the end of it.
She could still feel something.
Her senses tickled the way they always did when something wasn’t right. And the farther she moved toward the edge of the city, the stronger that feeling became.
She slowed her steps as the realization settled in. There was a vampire nearby, of that she was certain. But not a fledgling, not newly turned, this presence felt old.
That was enough to set her nerves on edge.
The tension spiked when something shattered in the distance. The sharp sound echoed through the quiet streets, pulling her to a stop. She turned instinctively, heart beating just a little faster now.
“Hello?” she called out, the word leaving her more cautiously than she liked.
Still, the feeling remained persistent, like unseen eyes fixed on her back. Her hand slipped into her purse without conscious thought, fingers closing tightly around the wooden stake hidden there.
By now, she’d entered the abandoned stretch of the city, where grand villas stood empty and forgotten, their luxury long since swallowed by emptiness and neglect. Buzzing streetlights flickered overhead. Somewhere far off, a car sped past, but the sound felt distant, irrelevant.
All she could focus on was the certainty that she wasn’t alone.
