Page 18 of Shadow Seeking

I leanedagainst the brick building, trying to remember where my security box key was. I was hungry, and needed to eat, but even though I’d hid the key in a seldom-used park, it hadn’t been there when I went back to find it. I didn’t dare hide it in the flophouse I was crashing at, because everybody there was a potential thief.

Now, my stomach rumbled and I wiped my eyes, feeling the hunger headache so strong that I couldn’t ignore it. I’d have to steal something to eat, or beg, and I hated begging.

I stared up at the summer night, grateful it was warm enough to stay outside into the late evening. I’d been on the streets for six months, and even though it was filled with pushers and pimps, it was safer than hanging out at the flop house.

I looked around, wondering if I could beg some money from anybody. There was a park near by, tucked into the city streets, that was seldom used, and too private for my own comfort, but there might be somebody there I could ask.

I jogged over to the entrance and ducked inside the iron archway. An iron fence surrounded the park, and while it was kept up, the place had always had a spooky feeling to me.

As I wandered through the park, I saw a few potential marks, though at this hour most people were at home, hidden away from the night.

A man and his sweetheart hurried through the park, but they didn’t look well off and I decided to leave them alone. To my right, a business man briskly crossed through the grass. He met my eyes, his gaze hostile and patronizing. To my left, a large white dog—or what I thought was a dog—peed against a tree.

And then I saw him. A man sitting on a park bench. He didn’t seem to be afraid, nor did he look particularly dangerous, even though this part of town was sketchy, at best. A lot of people came up missing in this neighborhood, or dead. But it was near where I slept, so I tended to stay on my own turf.

I slowly approached the man on the bench. “Mister?” I asked, giving him as innocent of a look as I could. I was still fourteen, and I could pull off the puppy-dog eyes.

He glanced up at me. “What do you want?”

“Can you spare some change so I can get something to eat?” I asked. I kept my hands where he could see them, so he wouldn’t think I was out to rob him.

He scanned me up and down. “Why aren’t you at home, girl?”

“I don’t have a home,” I said.

He seemed to be about to say something, but then he stopped and reached in his pocket. He pulled out a twenty-dollar bill and handed it to me. “Here. Make sure that goes to food.”

“I don’t use drugs,” I said, reaching for it. “Thanks?—”

I’d no more taken hold of it, when he grabbed my wrist and pulled it to his nose, smelling my pulse. His eyes gleamed at that point, and I realized he was a vampire.

“No—” I started to plead, but he let go.

“You should be careful, little girl. You’re not as tough as you think you are. Now go find some food and get out of this park. It’s dangerous, especially after dark.” He turned on his heel, and swiftly moved away, moving at that blur speed that only vampires could.

I slid the twenty in my pocket, shaking. I might be part demon, but all that meant—at the time—was that I was stronger than most people, and I could pick up on things more than the average person. I turned to leave, when the business manstepped out from behind a tree to block my way. His briefcase was on the ground beside him, and he was staring at me, hunger in his eyes. But there was something else there, something dangerous, and the hunger was its cue.

I glanced around, aware that the park had cleared out. The only one there beside the man and me was the dog, and it was sitting patiently near the tree. I quickly calculated how much time it would take me to get out on the streets, but that depended on whether he was faster than I was.

Turning, I began to sprint, racing toward the iron gates, but the man was right after me, and he could run as fast as I could. I tried to dart out of the way, zigzagging, but his heavy breath kept up with me, and the next moment, he leaped, pulling me down behind a large bush.

I let out a shriek, but screaming in this part of town did nothing. I twisted, desperate to fight him off, but he was heavy and strong, and he backhanded me across the face.

Dizzy from the blow, I froze, trying to make sense of what was happening as he grabbed my hands and slammed me to the ground, straddling me as I began to struggle again.

“No, no, stop—I’ll give you all my money!” But inside, I knew he wasn’t out for money.

“I don’t want your money, little girl. You know what I want.”

The gleam in his eyes grew darker, and I felt an anger welling up that I hadn’t felt since I heard my mother had died. The anger flooded my body, and—as he began to rip the buttons on my blouse—I let out a growl that echoed from deep in my soul. The growl spread through me, rising like a snake, and I gave a huge shove, springing up to a sitting position even as he tried to hold me down.

“What the hell—” He stared at me a moment, his expression uncertain.

The sound of his voice, a tone that said he was offended by my show of strength, poured more energy into my body and I slammed forward, knocking him to the ground. Our positions were reversed.

A thought that I should run flickered through my mind, but my rage was too strong and the thought vanished. I reared back on my knees. Something was shifting inside—twisting free from a place where I’d kept it chained, unaware till now that it even existed.

“You want to play, Mister?” My voice was ragged, and I suddenly saw that the nails on my hands had become long and talon-like. I felt like my face was contorting, changing shape, but I couldn’t think clearly. All I knew was that he had attacked me, and I wanted him dead. I could smell his fear now, and it was like an aphrodisiac.

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