Page 12 of Spooks & Specters

“Come on, Mamacita, open up. We just wanna help.”

Sure you do.“Leave me alone!” Isadora cried instead. “I called the police. They’re on their way.”

The banger by the passenger door snorted. “The pigs don’t come down here, lady.”

“Yo, ya shouldn’t be down here either. Sucks to be you.” The one on her hood smirked, then made kissy sounds at her.

No, it’s actually going to suck to be you.

A dark hunger swept through her and for a second, just a split second, the fake mask of terror she wore slipped. Her vision sharpened, which meant her true nature had peeked through her eyes. She more than likely looked like she had cataracts.

Many spiders had a crude form of color vision. It was usually based on green and ultraviolet hues. This extended their vision into the deep violet end of the spectrum—well beyond what humans could see.

Same for her. She was an arachne, a creature who could create strong webs, just like real spiders. There were only three arachnes in the entire world. They were that rare and deadly.

Her kind killed humans by poisoning them through their bites. In the paranormal world, it was rumored they fed upon human blood, and that they may or may not use a web to trap their prey.

Well, they had one part of that right.

The young man perched on her hood yelped, scrambled backwards, and hit the ground. He popped up, rubbing his ass, and pointed at Isadora. “Da fuq was that?”

She snickered but quickly slapped the terrified look back on her face.

“What was what?” the gangbanger at her driver’s door demanded.

“Her eyes did some crazy thang,” he yelled. “They had this white film over them.”

“You trippin’.” The banger at her doors stalked to where the other one stood and shook him roughly.

“Let me fuckin’ go. I ain’t trippin’. I know what I saw, man.” The young man who Isadora startled shoved the other banger back a couple of steps. “I’m outta here.”

“Pussy!” the banger yelled as the other one hurried off.

“Fuck this shit,” the one at the passenger door said. Pulling his gun from his waistband, he shot into the back window, shattering it.

No you did not!Isadore screamed, but it was not due to fear. It was going to take forever to get all that shattered glass out of her back seat. Then she was going to have to arrange for someone to replace the damn window. You’re going to pay for that.

Throwing open the driver’s door, Isadora fled the vehicle, aiming for the darkened alley.

“Get the bitch!”

I’ll show them bitch.

Footsteps sounded behind her. Isadora purposely kept her speed under control so she didn’t outdistance them. She passed a flickering light bulb in a random door that barely shed any light.She darted around bags of trash, the rank smell adding to the sickening ambience. She jumped a puddle, and graffiti flashed by as she ran. A minute later she heard one of the bangers cuss as he ran through the puddle. Little did he know that wasn’t his biggest concern.

Feed.

Feed.

Feed.

The words echoed in her head as her feet pounded the pavement. She loved the thrill of the hunt. Stupid humans thought they were the predators.

Oh, how the tables were about to be turned on them. From the sounds behind her, only two of the original three chased her. It appeared the one who ran away earlier had trulyabandoned his buddies.Lucky young man. He would live to see another day. Although, in this lifestyle, his days were most likely numbered anyway. Such was gang life.

But that wasn’t her problem. Humans died. It’s just what they did.

In the darkest part of the alley, Isadora stopped. Hunger rose steadily as her heart beat fiercely. Slowly she turned to face the two young men who stumbled to a halt several feet from her.

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