Has it been a while? Definitely. Nearly 3 whole months. Not that I didn't need the break to find inspiration. It feels good coming back to this story--to David and Ky. I kind of missed them.

So without further ado...

-----------------------------------------

The kitchen was just as hot as the other rooms. David could almost feel the tile baking beneath his sneakers. Or it could have been his imagination.

He glanced around the room, noticing the dishes sitting in the sink, piled up and encrusted with food. He blanched, gagging at the subtle smell of sour food and stinking water.

But his stomach growled again and he dismissed the smell, hoping that the fridge would have been a safe haven for food untouched.

Stumbling across the floor, he knew he has to eat soon. Low blood sugar coupled with extreme emotional duress, the adrenaline that had pumped through his system earlier at the club wearing off, left him weak. He felt feeble, barely able to lift his feet to reach the fridge.

But somewhere in his mind, he knew this was an exaggeration. He wasn't that tired just yet. His mind was seeking an excuse to stop the search, to leave the strange events behind and curl up in bed. To forget Tab, forget the last few hours, the previous weeks, with sleep.

He wrapped his hand around the handle and yanked the fridge open.

Then he screamed, "Ky!"

##

In the bedroom where she was ruffling through Susannah's drawers, she heard his scream and dashed through the hallway. The thought flashed across her mind, barely slow enough for her to register, that he had screamed the nickname Tab had given her instead of screaming the pseudonym Skye.

She shrugged it aside, running into the kitchen to find David slumped on the floor, his back to a line of drawers. He held his head in his hands and cried.

"David," she said as her eyes scanned the room. "David," she said again, forcefully to get his attention. He looked up at her between his fingers. She could see the tears falling down his face.

"What?" She asked again.

He motioned towards the fridge and scooted away simultaneously. Turning his back on the door, he stared at the ceiling. His tears were dried up.

Ky approached the door, apprehension sizzling through her. She felt it like an electrical spark, moving from her fingers to her toes as she reached for the handle.

Yanking the door open, she cringed.

Stuffed between fallen shelves, a gallon of milk, and take-out containers was the body of Susannah Jones. Her skin was white, her eyes wide open in fear, and a purple bruise lined her neck.

Ky let the door handle slip from her grasp. It shut with sucking sound.

She turned to David, surprised to find him standing and staring at her. His face clear of tears.

"I figure they hid her body there so you wouldn't find her as soon. I don't think whoever it was thought we would go looking in the fridge." He had his hands in his pockets, the arms dangling free, casually. His jaw was set and his eyes hard.

"Her body is still warm at the core. I'd say it's only been an hour, maybe an hour and a half since she died. Whoever she was conspiring with found out that we were seeking Tab and killed her to keep her quiet."

"How is she still warm? She's in the fridge!" David exclaimed. "I mean, if she's been in there for an hour she's got to be cold all the way through, right? What if she's been in there longer than that? What if she's been in there for days?"

Ky glanced at the clock on the wall. It was after midnight and the night was passing quickly.

"Come on," she said, leaving the room. David followed, saying, "But what about my questions?"

"First," she said as she crossing the elegant living room, looking around one last time for possible clues, "I can sense heat, remember? I'm practically a walking thermometer. She's still warm at her core because of the way she was crammed in there. It would take longer than a few hours to cool her at the middle."

She picked up the letter she'd scanned earlier, back in its envelope, and handed it to David. He glanced at it, seeing nothing meaningful and shrugged.

"She hasn't been in there for days. She was alive earlier. Look at the date on the postmark."

He looked at the envelope again. It was stamped yesterday, in Washington D.C.

"Okay, so, it was stamped yesterday. So that means it had to have been delivered today, and that means she picked it up earlier."

"And she had to be alive to do that. So whoever killed her did it here. But it wasn't noisy. Strangulation usually isn't. But it's an intimate way to kill someone. You have to stand right behind them and hold them tight.

"Whoever it was, it was someone who knew her well, who'd been here before. They felt comfortable enough to shove her body in the fridge and leave it there to be discovered. If they've been here before, more than likely the doorman has an idea who it is."

She ran to the front door and hurried into the hall.

"Aren't we going to go out the way we came in?" David asked, trying to keep up with her.

"No need for that. I'll have to talk to the door man anyway. Might as well take the easy way down." She stood in front of the elevators, waiting when he caught up to her.

"So I'll get to see the Jedi mind trick in action again?"

"The what?"

He laughed. "Nevermind. I'll explain that to you when you explain Salioni the Red to me."

"Sounds fair enough."

The elevator dinged and together they stepped into the cab. Ky pushed the ground floor button and they descended, moving swiftly towards the unknown, but at least further away from the dead body in the fridge.

--------------------------------


What do you think? Don't forget to comment!!!

Have any of you been eagerly awaiting this? Seriously, I want to know! I'm sure most of the few people who were reading this have already forgotten about it. I can't blame you though. It has been over 2 months since I touched this. I've been focusing on my horror stories and a couple other novellas I'm working on.

And today I just stopped by to take a quick peek at this again since I hadn't in so long and I started reading part 10 and I got hooked into it. When I finished I felt like, "Hey, where's the rest? What happens next?"

So here we are. I want to know what happens next. Do you?

--------------------------------

David and Ky were blasted by the wave of heat pouring from inside.

"God, she must have the heat on full blast!" David exclaimed.

"If you can't handle the heat, get out of the kitchen, right?" Ky laughed. "C'mon." She gestured to the door and they stepped through, David right behind her.

The inside was cheery. The walls were covered in flowery wallpaper, chrome or silver pictures frames glinted, highlighting people and places. The furniture was arranged artfully, centering around a majestic fireplace.

The coffee table was littered with papers and photographs. A half full coffee cup sat atop a precariously balanced pile of letters. Ky leaned down and picked the cup up, moving it aside to read the first letter.

"What's that?" David asked her. He looked around suspiciously, darting to and fro across the room like a wannabe James Bond. Placing his back against a wall, he carefully leaned around it and peeked down the hallway. "Nothing here, " he called out.

"But there's something here," Ky said. "Look at this. She's got eviction letters, disconnection notices for her water, electricity, phone. You name it, she's going to lose it."

"What? She's got money, why would she be late on her payments?"

"I'm not psychic, David." Ky tossed him a sheepish smile, "Well, not much. I don't know why."

"Then I guess we have to find her." David walked away, heading down the hallway towards the other rooms.

"She's not here, David."

"How do you know that? I thought you said you weren't psychic, much."

"I can sense body heat, David, and the only warm bodies in this room are ours." She looked thoughtful for a moment. She put her hand on her chin and sat down on the couch. He stepped back into the room and watched her think. "But somebody knew I was coming. That's why it's so hot in here. I mean, no one keeps their thermostat cranked to," she glanced at the thermostat in the hallway, "85 degrees when they can't pay their electricity."

David looked from her to the hallway and back. "You can read that from here? Holy shit, you got a pair of eyes on you, don't you?"

He did the double take a few more times and Ky watched him, laughing. "So what does the heat have to do with someone knowing you were coming here?"

"In this heat is gets very hard to read body temperature. Usually I can identify where someone, or something, is at just by entering a building. But in here, it's so hot even the walls are baking. It jambles my...umm...I don't know what you'd call it. I don't want to say sixth sense, because it's not, it's a physical ability, like bats reading the air ahead of them with sonic waves."

"You mean radar?"

"Yeah, it's like my own personal radar. But in here it's working all screwy and everything is showing up hot. But it's not so hot that I can't tell no one else is here. It'd have to be over 90 degrees for me to lose my radar.

"So someone knows enough about me to know how to screw up my senses, but not enough to do it right."

"What kind of people would know about your abilities?" David walked around the room, touching pictures, knick knacks, opening drawers and cabinets. "And how does that help us find Tab?"

"The people associated with drakon would know. Enemies, maybe. We've had problems with traitors before. I'm not going to forget Salioni the Red for a while."

"Who?"

"It's history, David. I'll tell you about it some other time. Right now let's find some information on Tab."

Together they searched through drawers and cabinets, moving their search from room to room. As they entered the last bedroom, used as an office with a desk, computer, and file cabinets, David's stomach growled.

"Oh, man, I haven't eaten all night." He grabbed his stomach and it growled again. "I'm going to go see if there's any info in the kitchen."

He staggered out the door, clutching the walls as he went, moaning about his hunger. Ky laughed as he went.

Alright, I know it's been a while since my last post. I've been working on other stories and I needed to take a break from this one. Now, I actually tried writing this a bit on paper--thinkin it would help me think--but it didn't. This story has consigned itself to type-period.

So.... let's see where we go today....

###

"David, there is a whole other world beneath the one you know." Ky turned to him, her eyes glowing purple in the streetlights.

They were walking the city streets, aimlessly it seemed, yet David knew that she was carefully guiding him to Tabitha's friend's house. He knew Skye was taking a circuitous route to alleviate his fears and let him regain his composure.

"There are things that exist only in your darkest imagination," she continued, "things that you would pray to your god to never exist, not even there--in your mind. But they do.

"Most of the mythology has been exaggerated certainly, but the basis of them, those ideas are true. Werewolves, vampirse, shape shifters--they all exist. They roam the streets, preying upon all mankind. They.."

"But what are you?" David asked her, point blank.

She stopped walking and faced him. He could see her mind turning behind her eyes, trying to decide if she could trust him. He started to talk, his mouth falling open to tell her that she could trust him, when she spoke first.

"I am a drakon. We are kin to dragons, such as has not been seen in thousands of years. Humanity has not been kind to them. We were created to be the guards for the dragons, to walk freely in both races. We hold two true forms-both our human skin and our dragon bodies. It is not perfect though." She snagged her coat in her hands, twisting it around. "We are given the ability to fly in both forms, and we must cover our smaller wings with thick long jackets."

"How did you do that thing back at the club? I didn't see it, but I felt it. This wave of heat boiled through the door and walls."

"We are weaponed with fire. Even in human form, I am mostly dragon, David. Don't ever forget that."

"Can I see your wings?"

Ky laughed, "Not now David. We are in public and it would be unseemly. Perhaps later I will show you. For now, we have other work to do."

"Fine." He grouched. "But what were those things at the club? You called them feeders."

"Feeders are the offspring of vampires and humans. Vampires are not like the vampires you see in movies and books today. They are immortal, given eternal life upon their 'turning' at the hands of a master vampire. However, they do not come back just pasty skinned with fangs. They are pale, indeed, but it is only from the lack of sun in their lives. They have fangs, to help them tear the skin of their victims open. But all their other plumbing works just as well. They can eat regular food, when they choose to, if it is necessary to maintain the facade of normalcy. They can only do this sparingly, perhaps once every few months. They will digest the food normally and excrete it as you would. We do not understand why, but when they digest normal food, they are given back the ability to procreate. A vampire can still get a hard one when it wants to," David laughed and she chuckled with him. "Yes, they can, David. However, they shoot blanks. Female vampires do not ovulate. However, if they eat a meal they are given sperm and eggs that can be procreated.

"When a male or female vampire eats a meal, and then has sex with a human, a child will be born. It is almost always this way. The birth is terribly hard and the woman who is pregnant with vampire offspring usually dies. A female vampire who bears a child survives every time. These children are feeders. They are not eternal, and they could be human if they truly desired it. They must eat regular food, they can procreate any time, and they can walk in the day if they so choose. But few do. Most are born with a need for blood, a need that is not necessary as it is for a vampire. They choose to drink the blood of innocents. They rarely step out in the sun, not from fear of death, but of a slight aversion. They feel a minor headache when in the sun, but no more. They know from who they are descended and they try to be more like their vampire parents.

"So they kill. They feed on people, then go home to eat a meal at home because they must eat human food as well. They hate their existence. They die of the same kinds of mortal wounds that human die from, but I choose to burn them. It is easiest. They have the strength of their kind, and they have killed my kind before."

She grew silent, pondering the lives of the other drakon in the city.

"So what we saw back there? The club of feeders? What was that?"

"Feeding grounds. They've grown bolder over the years and their number has increased greatly. We're not sure how. We've never seen a feeder actually mate with a human or a vampire before. They either die early or choose not to procreate. I think the increase is from feeders breeding with other feeders. They've started a few places like that over the years--places where humans will congregate and they can feed on them in the shadows. A vampire has dignity and morals, David, hard as that thought is. They do not kill en masse like the feeders do. We do not hunt vampires as long as they keep to the rules, and most do.

"But," she said, smiling as she glanced at the street sign, "that story is for another day. For now, we're here."

They turned and looked at the entrance to an expensive apartment building. A doorman stood in front of large glass double doors. He was dressed in red livery with bright gold buttons.

Only rich people, David thought.

"I don't think we'll be getting in that way," Ky said. "Do you remember what flood she lived on?"

"No. I've never been here before. Tab always said her friend lived in a house, and I didn't realize it was an apartment." He was still looking up at the building, unable to see where it ended. It was a tall building. Its size reminded him at once of all his poor history and inadequacy to love to a rich woman. He felt pathetically small standing there.

"It looks like some reconnaisance is in order. Stay here, David."

He stayed, and watched her walk quickly over to the door man. He couldn't hear the conversation, but he could tell she was asking the doorman a question. The doorman's face leaned down and then slowly cruised back up and he spoke, most likely answering her question. She smiled at him, and left. The doorman shook his head, his cap falling off. He bent down to pick it up, and then looked in the opposite direction of Ky and David. He did not turn around.

"He won't be watching us," she said. "Tab's friend is on the twenty-third floor. That balcony up there is hers. Are you ready?"

"For what? We can't get in, right? Why didn't you try your mind tricks on him like you did the bouncer at the club?"

"Where's the fun in that? You wanted to see my wings, right?" She took off her coat, and gripping it tight in her hands, she grabbed David around the waist. They were standing in a dark corner and at first all he could see where small nubs sticking up over her back.

"Going up? Hang on, David." He grabbed her as they lifted from the ground. He could see her wings spread out behind her and felt the breeze against his face as they flapped and pushed at the air. They were long, at least twice as long as her body laid out horizontally. They were thin and leathery, reminding him of bat's wings, and he wanted to reach out and touch one. He lifted a hand toward her wing and she stopped him.

"Don't do that, David. You'll screw up my flight. We're almost there."

He looked down at the dizzying height and nearly passed out. Her arm gripped tighter around him, it felt like a soft steel bar pressing into his ribs. He relished the feeling.

"We're here," she said as she gently lowered them onto the balcony. The lights were on inside and they peeked through the door.

She started to put on her jacket again, and David quickly reach between the jacket and her wings, running his hand down their length. They were compressed into what looked like long misshappen arms long her back. But they were still soft and felt paper thin.

"How do they hold you up?" He asked as he withdrew his hand.

She chuckled. "Learn about aerodynamics, my friend." She wrapped her hand around the balcony door's knob. It turned easily in her hands, and they heard the audible click of the lock sliding past the door.

"Ready?" She said to David.

"Yes."

She opened the door.

Here it is folks. Part 9 is in. I would say a different flavor, but it's not. It's the same story.

So.... here we go again.

*****

They left the building behind them as they entered the city streets.

Ky was still a few steps behind David, and he didn't quite understand why, but he did feel a lot more comfortable that way.

He kept his eyes to the ground, watching the lines in the sidewalk pass. People knocked into him occasionally, a shoulder here, an elbow there. He neither minded, nor noticed. He was oblivious to it all. His thoughts were on Tabitha and where she could be. And the woman behind him.

Where did she come from, he thought. I don't know, but she scares me, he answered.

His mind kept coming back to the balcony door. It had been open when he walked into the living room. There was something there, something wrong, but he just... couldn't.... what was it that hit him as odd. . . The thought seemed to be creeping up on him, catching up to his thought processes. He pictured the balcony door, the living room with the table and couch, the hallway, the front door.. It wasn't the balcony door, it was the front door.

"David."

He jumped a foot off the sidewalk. He'd paused while he was thinking, as the front door came into his mind.

The chain on the front door had been locked.

"Why'd you stop walking?" She asked.

"Ummm.. nothing." He looked at her again. She had the same heavy coat on. It was thick and her shape was indistuingishable underneath it. I wonder what's beneath that jacket?

"I was just thinking about where Tabitha might have gone. She liked to frequent this club on Ninth street. It's called "Downtown Showdown". I think if we're going to start anywhere, we should start there."

"Let's go then," she said, taking the lead.

They walked on a few more blocks, and Ky asked him about the club.

"It's a club for rich people, mostly. You practically have to show a bank statment to get in." He laughed at his own joke. Ky's lip did not move. "She liked getting together with her wealthier friends, and she never felt hassled there. The people there were her own."

"Is it hard?"

"Is what hard?" He asked.

"Being with someone- loving someone- who has money, when you come from a poor background." She said.

"Oh." He looked at his feet again as he walked, afraid of looking at her, of what she might see in his eyes. He wondered briefly, How much did I tell her about me?

"It can be. I've never been one to believe that love has classes- love is indiscriminate. But it is hard. My father worked hard every day to provide for me and my sisters, and my mother never worked a day in her life- not for money at least. The life I was raised in was a hard one. If the crops failed, we didn't eat. If they were good, abundant even, I had a good present to look forward to, for my birthday or christmas. I still remember working every summer in the fields. And I love Tabitha, but she can't understand how hard it is to work for everything you've got, to struggle when things aren't going right."

He stopped talking, the memories of his childhood and home plaguing him. "It was so hard sometimes."

"I can understand hard work," Ky said.

He glanced up at her, expecting her to be looking at him, but she wasn't. She was looking straight ahead, like the conversation was just something to pass the time. It felt like more than that to him.

He looked down at his fingernails, afraid to still see the dirt embedded deep in them. There was no dirt in them. This time.

"Life is hard. We struggle, and work hard, because it makes us stronger. The people who don't struggle- who haven't been through those lean times- are weak. They don't last. Not like we do." She turned to him now, the corners of her mouth tilted up in the ghost of a smile. "Tabitha has had to work hard. Maybe not the kind of work you've had to do, keeping a roof over you rhead and food in your belly, but she has had to work."

She looked back to the street again. They were standing at a street corner and a few blocks to the right was the club. She paused there. Ky felt the need to say something else, to explain that Tabitha could understand hard work too.

"Tabitha probably understands hard work better than most people. She's done it for the worst and best of reasons- her survival."

David was surprised. "What?"

"The club is down the street. Get a move on." The edge was back in her voice, a rusty blade in her throat. "Move it, David."

He did. They quickly made their way down the street. He tried to log that part of their conversation away. Remember this; don't forget it dammit. Ask her or Tabitha about it if we . . . when we find her.

There was a long line at the door, stretching down nearly half a block.

"It's pretty busy for a week night," Ky said.

"Yeah, well, rich people don't have to get up early in the morning, do they? Besides," he said, indicating the line of people they walked past, "these people aren't rich, they're the posers who want to get in the club and score a rich date."

Ky laughed as they reached the bouncer. He was a large man, about 6'2" with a broad chest and a shining bald head. She laughed again. Do all bouncers have to shave their heads? She thought.

She attempted to walk past him, expecting it when the hand reached out to stop her.

"Look," the bouncer said, the sunglasses turning towards her, "you can't get in. We're already packed for the night." A few people in the head of the line groaned.

"No, it's okay. I know the owner." She reached for the sweet spot in his mind, and pushed gently.

He took off his glasses and peered at her. He assessed her, from her feet to her head, stopping a moment on her breasts. He winked at her, and let her slide past.

David looked at the guy, amazed as he walked by.

As they entered the club, he caught up to her and whispered, "What did you do to him?"

"Nothing," she smiled. "All men are susceptible to a nice body and a pretty face, right?"

He didn't buy it. His nerves tingled through his body as he contemplated it.

They walked around the partition, and Ky stopped. David bumped into her.

"What is it?" he asked.

She shushed him, shaking her head as he opened his mouth to speak again.

"They're here," she said. "Can't you smell them?" She'd forgotten who she was talking to as the thirst whistled through her veins and her fire rushed up.

David felt the temperature change, rising impossibly in this air conditioned club. Beads of sweat spotted his forehead.

She snarled, sharp canine teeth protruding from her mouth. Her eyes glowed in the dark, a soft burning red. He blinked again, not believing what he was seeing.

"The club is full of them."

"What?"

"Feeders."

She growled, a low angry sound. An animal growl.

She's not human, David thought. Out loud he said, unable to stop himself, "What are you?"

She turned to him, eyes blazing now, and said, "Find a place to hide. An enclosed room. Go now."

He didn't hesitate. He ran.

It was her time now. She walked forward, each step echoing on the cement floor. A few strobes lights danced around her, highlighting her.

People walked around her, smiling, laughing, unaware of the danger they were in. She could see in the dark corners, only shadows to the average eye, where a feeder had a mouth planted on the neck or arm of a human, blood covering its face and the victims clothes.

She could smell them. The stench filled her nose, bringing vomit to her throat and tears to her eyes. A few wandered at the dance floor, a nervous look in their eyes as they smelled her but could not see her yet. They were covered in makeup, just a few green veins visible through the dark biege tint.

The hunt thrummed through her body, the fire burning to be let loose. She knew she would have to do it. She'd left her sword in her cave, thinking David would being to suspect something.

She reached the center of the dance floor, the entire club turning to watch her. Every eye upon her, except the human ones. She counted quickly, determing the human loss would not be much. But this congregation of feeders had to be stopped. A few human lives lost was a small price to pay to remind the feeders of their place. If they began to congregate here, where else did they have feeding troughs like this? The thought frightened her, but it excited her as well. Perhaps this is what Tabitha stumbled upon? Did these feeders kill her?

The fire raged up, tearing away at her throat, scalding her tongue and lips as it was freed. The tables, chairs, drapes, artwork, everything caught fire almost at once, as she turned allowing her flame full access.

Feeders were ablaze everything. Running around madly, some picked up chairs and threw them at her. But the chairs burned to ashes before they reached her. Everything they threw, in their last attempts at survival, disappeared in a cloud of smoke and ash.

A few ran for the doors, but she quickly turned towards them and cut off their exits.

The club burned. The fire burned out and stopped. It would be a while before she could use it again, before it was back to full capacity.

The last of the humans ran around, some already dead and lying on the floor, others dying on their feet.

She left through the flames, walking down the hallway David had run down. She found him in an office, a heavy metal door protecting him.

He grabbed her jacket, and shook her, screaming, "WHAT ARE YOU? WHAT IS GOING ON?"

She almost chuckled, his shaking was unable to move her. She grabbed his arms and led him through the exit door in hallway.

They stepped into the cool night air, and David fell to his knees in alleyway.

"Oh, God, all those people." He felt sick to his stomach. He put his face in his hands, trying to keep the contents of his stomach down. He failed, and threw up, barely able to keep it off his clothes.

She stood there patiently, on guard. Waiting. Retribution would come, and swiftly. They would have to leave quickly. She did remember the first time she witnessed a mass killing, and understood his reaction. It is sickening to the stomach.

"Why? How? What..." David tried to form sentences, to put his jumbling thoughts into cohesive ideas. "What are you?" He said at last.

"Better now? Good. We have to leave. Can you think of any where else Tabitha frequented?" She asked.

"Not until you answer my question. What are you?"

She sighed. She needed his help to find out what happened to Tabs, and she was rather proud he didn't just have a breakdown. Usually humans just had a nervous breakdown, their mind melting at the impossibility of the circumstances. Tabs was the only person Ky had met who had witnessed the hunt who didn't end up in a mental ward.

There was something else. Something she couldn't quite figure out. He didn't feel like a human to her mind. It was a familiar sensation, but one she just could not identify. She chalked it up to nerves and an overzealousness to trust him. He was just a human, that's all. And a tough human at that.

"Get up, and I'll explain what I can along the way. Where else should we look?"

David stood up, his knees shaking a bit. She held his shoulder and steadied him.

"I don't know. This is the only club she ever mentioned. She sometimes would get together with friends at Susannah Jones's place. She lives over on Rockford street. It's about a ten minute drive from here."

"Well, the night is young." Ky said, walking ahead of David towards the street. "You have questions, and I have time to answer a few." She looked back over her shoulder, the same predatory look in her eyes that she'd had in the club. "Just a few. Choose them wisely."

David felt a whoosh of hot air come from the club behind him and sprinted to catch up with her.

It's late. It's 1.35am in OK. My husband is tentatively sleeping next to me. Sometimes he rolls over if I bump something, sometimes he'll just snore a little. I think it's kind of cute. ;)

But now as I sit here, adjusting the keyboard straddling my legs, I decide.. OK. Time for 8.

It's kind of strange, seeing this new blog background. I've grown familiar with the other one, and this one is alien to me. But I'm exhilarated by trying something new and it's just so pretty. Cool? Neat-o? Eh. Whatever.

This probably won't be long. My supply of caffeine has run out unless I make a fridge run. Which I'm not. I could make coffee, but I really don't want to be up all night.


New readers and old.. here we go.

*****

David was staanding at the sink. He'd accumulated another two sink fulls of dishes in the day. His mind was wandering, a lilting stroll that meandered from thought to thought.

Wow, those are a lot of dishes for one guy in one day.

Eh, so what if I didn't rinse EVERY glass? I wanted to get a new one instead.

Tabs would be chewing my butt out if she saw this mess. There's a pizza box around the living room somewhere.. how did I lose it?

Oh, Tabs...

He washed the glass in his hand again for the third or fourth time. He rinsed it, and set it in the container to drain.The dish washer needed repairs, and Tab was "going to call it in," he finished, speaking aloud.

I wonder if she'll...

"David."

A saucer fell to his feet. He jumped back, his shoulder bumping into the refridgerator.

"How... ho.... how'd you get in here so quietly?" he asked.

"I have my ways." She answered, the slightest smirk appearing on her lips. "Are you ready?"

"Sure, just let me finish up here." He turned back to the sink and dumped the saucer he'd dropped into the water. Another good thing about Tabitha, she didn't trust anyone to use the good china.

"No. We must leave now." Her fingers gripped his arm, the nails digging slightly into his arm. They were sharp, razor sharp. He thought, although his mind recognized this as ridiculous, that if she wanted to, she could slice him open with just a finger. His arm bruised under her hand.

"Ow! Okay, okay. We'll leave now."

She released him, and he rubbed his arm, expecting to feel the slick, slimy grease of blood on his skin. All he could feel was skin, a little dry. I should drink more water, the thought crossing and leaving his mind as quickly as a non-stop subway train passes a station. As quickly as the razor blade nails had entered and exited as well.

He grabbed his coat and they left, the sink was still three-fourths full of water, soapy suds refracting the artificial light throughout the room. The door slammed shut and four of the bubbles sitting complacently on the water popped.

"Why the rush, Skye?" David asked, expecting her to not answer.

"I'm not a day person, David." She said, looking back over her shoulder as they stepped into the elevator. "I prefer to do my hunting at night."

"What do you mean- hunting?" He asked again.

He could see her face reflected in the steel elevator walls. It was contorted, an unperfect image that seemed more accurate than the look in her face. She was sedate, calm, almost laughable, the way her eyes had crinckled up, like she was having a laugh at his expense.

But her eyes were stone hard, frozen cold in an expression rife with hate or rage. Maybe madness.

She caught him still staring at her. He could tell her mind was somewhere else and had come back suddenly, as though whipped back to conscious thought by a muscle toting guard. She glared at him, the image of her eyes flaring red stuck in his mind, but only for a few seconds.

The moment of tenseness passed and he briefed a sigh of relief when the elevator doors open. He ducked out quickly, leaving her a few steps behind.

****

Okay, wow, I know that is ultra short. I'll write more first thing in the morning after two cups of coffee and some toast.

Okay, for most of the old readers coming to this one, you already know what's going on.

This is a story I'm writing here, just for entertainment and practice purposes, and comments are appreciated. Let me know if you like it- point out spelling or grammar errors, or if a certain part just doesn't make sense.

Part 8 is coming today. If you have any questions, email me or leave a comment and stay tuned for the answers.

Shanna

"Tabitha, why are you running away from me? What's wrong?" Ky yelled after her friend, her swaying blonde hair was all Ky could see.

Ky was chasing Tabitha down a dark hallway. None of the fixtures were recognizable. She felt lost, but somehow knew where she was going.

Tabitha kept running, about ten feet ahead of her. Ky thought she could take one large leap and grab her shirt.

"Tabs? Tabs, what's wrong?" she cried out.

Tabs stopped. She didn't slow down, she didn't fall or lean forward. Ky couldn't hear any heavy breathing like she'd been running.

Ky stopped running, slowing down. She was an arm's length behind Tabitha.

Still, Tabitha did not turn around.

Over Tab's shoulder, Ky could see the dim outline of a door in the murky light. It looked like a heavy duty metal door, the kind used to lock people out . . . or in. A steel door knob stuck out, and she could barely make out the keyhole in it.

She stretched a hand to touch Tab's shoulder. Her head started to turn towards Ky.

She came to with a roar, and a small burst of flame.

Ky stood up fast, shifting almost unconsciously to human form. She shook a little, the dream fresh in her mind.

She closed her eyes and counted to ten. She let the frustration and fear wash over her in waves. It was always bad when dragons dreamed. She refused to give into her feelings of premonition and fright.

"We'll find Tabs tonight and she'll be okay. I just..." she spoke aloud to herself.

Just what? her conscience quipped. Just imagined it? Hallucinated seeing her dead body? Did you dream that too?

"Yes. Something. I . . . I can't give up hope. She's been my only friend in so long."

Yes, well, sometimes we have to face the hard facts of life. Your friend is dead. You'll have to deal with that now.

"I know," Ky whispered in the dark.

So, head over to her apartment. Use David to help track down where she was last seen. You can't save her, but you can punish her murderers. The voice sounded gleeful, like a child going to a candy store with a new twenty dollar bill. We can punish her murderers.

"Yes," Ky said, her voice strong and unwavering now. "We will."

She changed her clothing. She had taken serious damage in the sunlight that morning, and had been unable to keep a grip on some of her clothing during her transformation. It was lost, sent back to the black material that made up matter, energy, light, dark- everything.

She learned long ago to be careful with her magic, and use it wisely. She had to keep a strong grip on it at all times. She could lose a piece of herself in the transformation if she was not careful.

She laughed grimly at the holes in the shirt and pants as she stripped. There were large circular patches missing, displaying pink flesh. Perfect circles. Just gone. Disappeared. The edges were not frayed or ragged. A smooth cut.

Shaking off the unease she felt at her lapse in control, she replaced the destroyed shirt and pants with a clean black blouse and jeans. She laced up her black boots, and donned her jacket. It's leathery cool texture soothing to her lightly sore skin.

The soreness would be fully gone by morning, but she relished in the fire this pain brought to the fore. It hurt more, keeping it burning so bright inside, but it was exquisite in its agony.

A dangerous look crossed her eyes, setting to blaze small fires in their depths.

"The hunt is on," she murmured into the night as she departed, the dark dream forgotten. For now.

copyright 2007 Shanna Wynne. All rights reserved.

"Sounds like you guys have a great relationship" Ky said when David finished.

"Yeah, she's great. She means the world to me."

"I can tell." Ky set down her coffee cup, its contents long past drained. "I need to leave David."

"Oh... okay." David took a deep swig from his cup, finishing it off.

"I'll be back tomorrow night, early evening. Can you be here waiting for me?"

"Sure, why?" he asked.

"We're going to look for her together."

"I'll be here."

"Good, David. I'm counting on it." Ky said as she took a step towards the balcony. She remembered at the last second her current situation.

She turned back to David, planting a Oh I'm such a silly woman look on her face. She giggled, tittering a bit to add to his confusion. "Heh, the door is that way."

She walked to and through the door, making a grandiose exit. David still sat on the couch, perplexed by her behavior.

He heard the door close, shut firmly against the outside. He stood up and walked to it, peering through the peephole, watching her back disappear down the hallway.

Something about the jacket bothered him, but he couldn't quite put his mind on it. Every time he tried it slipped away from him.

He shrugged, letting the feeling pass.

He walked to the balcony door, which still hung open, allowing the cooler air of the city into the warm apartment. The horizon was turning a light blue and pink, the sun only fifteen minutes or so from rising.

Winter still clung to the morning air, despite the coming of spring. Goosebumps pringled his skin and a shiver rolled down his spine.

He laughed aloud. He was standing on the balcony. In his boxers.

Yep, time to send me to the loony-bin.

He stepped inside, closed the doors, and went straight back to bed.

Tab's apartment was on the fifth floor and Ky bounded down the stairs in quick leaps. The elevator was slow in comparison to her speed.

She landed on the last floor, kneeling down for the briefest of seconds. She quickly contemplated her route home, mapping it in her mind.

Duck out the side door, the exit one here. It leads into a dimly lit alley way, but still too bright. With the sun rising, I'll be seen. Run to the street and head over two blocks. The alley way there had a broken light. Then fly up high and east fast.

With route in mind, she ran, the soles of her barely touching the ground.

She slammed the emergency exit door aside, and behind her she heard the alarm start to wail. She ignored it.

She passed a few homeless people in the alley, crouched down between the dumpsters and brick walls. When they saw her, saw the change coming over her face- her skin changing to a deep golden hue, her eyes flashing fire- they turned away, pulling a dirty newspaper or tattered blanket over their eyes.

She looked fierce, angry, and vengeful to whomever saw her.

By the time she reached the darker alleyway, the sun was cropping the horizon. Half of its golden, burning eye staring over the edge of the world.

She ripped her coat off and dropped it. It would be useless now. She had others at home. She began the change while her wings extended behind her, lifting her up towards the sky.

Higher, she screamed in her mind, higher!

Anyone glancing up at the early morning sky that morning would claim they saw a small glowing ball of fire rising towards space. Some said it was an unidentified flying object, those particular people stating it had obviously absconded with a few more homeless people or children from their beds.

If David had lingered at the balcony for just another moment, he would have seen it too.

The sunlight burned Ky. It was agony on her skin. She was in complete dragon form now, her human-skin was more susceptible to the sun and a hindrance to her now. She flew back to her cave, heading east faster than she'd flown to the city.

She flew up and high, well above the cloud line. She could only catch brief glimpses of the land below, but she knew she'd made a regrettable mistake by staying at Tab's apartment so long, talking to David. She hadn't learned anything useful in her search, and she'd let a few more people die by not hunting that night.

She roared into the rising sun, spilling her frustration to the world. People below, leaving their homes for work or walking to their barns to milk their cows - whatever task might have driven them out of bed at such an early hour - thought it was a sonic boom, a military jet that was flying far afield.

She landed on the rocky outcropping to her cave and dove in, knocking asunder her few belongings, and rolling to a stop in the back, atop her bed of straw.

She sighed long and deep, and a blue haze alighted over her, barely noticeable in the dimly lit cave. The sunlight would not reach her back here, she knew that, but still she scooted back until her scales touched the wall behind her.

She folded her wings over her body, and the blue haze that had spiced the air with its prescence descended down, touching and feeling along her scales, seeking the burned skin and torn muscles. She'd damaged her body to fly back at such break neck speeds, and was lucky she hadn't permanently crippled herself.

She settled into a deep sleep, and breathed softly, whimpering in small bursts of pain.

The day passed slowly, each second before the sun reached its zenith and shined directly down upon her mountain top was agony. She felt it like small claws in her skin, despite the healing spell she'd begun before she slumbered.

When the sun passed its zenith, settling down in the western part of the sky, she truly fell into a healing sleep.

#5

"I think the better question would be who are you?" Ky asked.

He was standing about six feet away from her, across the living room. He was tall, as she'd expected, and he looked like he did in the photograph. Dark hair and green eyes, but he looked worried or stressed. There were dark wreaths of bruise underneath his eyes, like he hadn't slept well in a while or he'd been in a fight. She didn't know which, but he looked tired.

He was also standing there in only his boxers. Ky almost felt like giggling. She found this scene rather amusing. Here she was, a hunter of the dark city, and there he was, a man in his boxers. She squashed the urge, and asked him the important question.

"Where is Tabitha?"

"How do you know Tab? And who are you?" he asked again.

"I'm a friend of Tab's, and we've been friends far longer than you've been lovers."

"What's your name? Wait, how did you get in here? Why is the balcony door open?" If he his mind had been sleeping before, it was coming to full wakefulness now.

"My name is Skye. Tabitha gave me a key, and I love the view from her balcony." Ky never used her given name with strangers. It was an old tradition- knowing the true name of something or someone was giving them power over you. Tabitha was the only human to know her true name. Thinking about that brought memories to her mind of sitting in this room with Tabs and Tabs telling her the name she usually gave out was an awkward one, and so Tabs had renamed her Skye, because it was where she lived and close to her true name, so she'd never forget to answer to it.

"Shit, I miss her," she muttered under her breath.

"What was that?" he asked, still looking at her with a perplexed frown on his face.

"Nothing. You still haven't answered any of my questions. Who are you? What are you doing here? Tabs doesn't usually let her boyfriends stay in her apartment." Which was true, but thinly true. Ky had walked in on Tabs a few times with a male friend in the apartment, but it was rare.

"My name is David Brendon. I moved in with Tab about a month ago, and I haven't seen her in a couple of days now. Have you?" He looked sincerely worried when he asked, his eyes glinting down at her (wait, when did he get that close to me? she thought) with hope starting to spark in them. His mouth curled up at the corners, not enough to be a smile, but at the least a beginning of one.

"Please, tell me, have you seen her? I've been so worried. She means everything to me."

"I haven't seen her either," Ky said. "It's been a few months since I've talked to her, so I came by to see if she'd mind some conversation. When was the last time you saw her? Exactly when?"

He sat down on the couch, and his head flopped back. "Two and a half days ago. It was Saturday night, around ten o'clock. I was already in bed and reading a book, and she came in to tell me she was going out to meet a friend. I asked her who and where, but she was mum about the details. She'd had this friend she'd spoken of occasionally, but in the barest of ways and she never talked much about her. That's all I knew- that it was a her. Anyway, she left and I haven't seen her since. I got worried when she didn't come home that evening, but I figured she'd be home in the morning and I just went to sleep. She wasn't back when I woke up and she didn't come home all day Sunday. I tried calling her cell phone, but she didn't answer. I left I don't know how many messages. I was starting to get frantic. I called the police, but they said she had to be missing for forty eight hours."

He laughed, a deep sardonic one. "When I told them the situation they said more than likely she went out with a friend to a bar or club, met a guy, went home with him and now she's avoiding coming home or answering the phone because she feels guilty. They told me she'd probably come home late that night or early Monday morning. She'd have to change to go to work, right? Well, I got a little pissed off at them for being so...." He struggled for the right word.

"Nonchalant?" Ky offered.

"Yes, nonchalant. They acted like her disappearance meant nothing. I tried to tell them that she wasn't that kinda person. She didn't go to clubs or bars and pick up guys. We met at the public library. They wouldn't listen though. So I asked if I called back on Monday evening and said she still hadn't shown up and if she'd missed work that day would they start an investigation? They said call and see, but forty eight hours have to have passed by the time they begin their investigation.

"So I called them tonight at ten o'clock, on the dime, and they said they would start the investigation in the morning. I was shocked. When I got upset, they said they had less manpower at night and it would be pointless to start now. I swear this city is going to hell on a one way train. No stops, no getting off, no way of turning back. We're all just gonna fry."

He sighed and closed his eyes as he laid back, his story told.

Ky started to ask him questions. "She didn't say anything about who she was meeting with or where? Nothing at all?"

"No. Not a word. When I walked out here and saw you here," he opened his eyes and looked at her, singling her out in an empty room, "I thought you were the mysterious friend. I was hoping you were here to tell me something- anything. At this point, I would be happier knowing she was avoiding me cause she did cheat on me, or hell, even if she wanted to leave me, as long as she was okay."

"No," she said. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be, it's not your fault. It's mine for letting her be so damn secretive. I should never have let her leave without telling me who or where at the least. Dammit!" He leaned forward and put his face in his hands. He sniffled, for just a second, and Ky turned away. His last word had broken on a sob and she could tell he was fighting down the tears. Looks like Tabs finally found a guy who was both sensitive and caring and strong, or at least, appearing to be strong, she thought.

Still facing away, she decided to distract him from his misery for a moment. "Do you want some coffee?"

"Sure," he answered in a quiet mumble. Her ears picked it up, but another person would've had to ask him to repeat himself.

She went into the kitchen, turning on the light and bustling around. She cleaned up for a minute, giving him time to regain his composure. "So, tell me about how you and Tabs met. You must have been dating a while for you to care so much, but I don't remember Tabs mentioning a guy at all the last time I talked to her."

"Well, I was in the public library about four months ago to do some research for my thesis. I'm studying for my doctorate in ancient history, mythology, that sort of thing. Anyway, she was standing there . . ."

Kat made coffee and sat down to listen. She wasn't much of a story teller herself, but she enjoyed listening.

#4

She landed on Tabitha's balcony. Tabitha lived in a well to do neighborhood, and had an expensive apartment just a story down from the penthouse in a medium sized high rise. It overlooked the park area and most of downtown. It was a breathtaking view that she and Tabitha had admired many nights while sitting out here and enjoying a few drinks.

She felt wistfully nostalgic for those old times. Tabitha had become busy with her life, and they hadn't had a lot of time for each other in recent years. While Tabitha had remained single in pursuit of her career, she still had the needs of most women and would form a relationship with a man now and then. They were mostly brief affairs, and Ky had always felt sorry for Tab. It seemed she could never decide what she really wanted from life, so she just spent her time working harder than most, and staying late at the office.

Ky shook her head, ridding these wasteful and useless thoughts; thinking about the past would do her no good and she knew that.

Tab kept a hidden key in a magnetic box inside the gutter that hungover the balcony. Ky hovered for a moment and grabbed it, and used the key to open the door.

The apartment wasn't entirely dark. There were a few lamps sitting on tables and wall lights that were left on. Tab had a fear of coming home to it being completely dark and she was willing to pay the extra money for peace of mind.

Ky wandered slowly around, looking at various things. She hadn't been over in a few months and things had changed a little. Tab had put a television set in the living room. She'd used to adamantly claim that television made people ignorant and stupid, and she had refused to have one. There was a new couch, made of black leather. Ky found this really surprising. Tab had abhorred leather furniture, she said it was guady and unnecessary.

A set of keys was sitting on the kitchen counter, ominous in its implications. Dirty dishes sat in the kitchen sink, and gave off a slight smell. They were old dirty dishes. The counters had some food messes spilled on them, splashes of sauce and crumbs of bread and cereal. As she walked into the hallway, she noticed pieces of clothing- a shirt, socks, a pair of underwear. Men's underwear, boxer briefs. Certainly not something Tab would wear. Tab believed women were supposed to wear lacy panties and bras, preferably in matching set. Ky almost chuckled aloud at the thought, remembering the day Tab had told her that with all the regalness of a queen explaining how things were done to an heiress.

She heard a sound, coming from the bedroom ahead and to her right. She chastized herself. She should've been paying better attention and she woud've heard it immediately upon entering the apartment.

She crept up silently as she always did when stalking prey. She had not made a noise since unlocking and opening the door, and that had been an understated muffle.

The door was open, not all the way, but enough for her to peer through. Someone was lying on the bed, but she could tell that it was not Tabitha. All of the lights were off and it was nearly pitch black in there. Tab always kept at least one dimmed light on when she slept. And the figure was tall, much taller than her petite friend, and broad chested.

It rolled over and she could tell it was a man, sleeping quite peacefully. He had a quiet look about him, and seemed nonthreatening. Ky knew better than to trust appearances however, and she backed away as quietly as she came. She quickly peeked into the other rooms and did not see anything else out of the ordinary.

But Tab was not here.

She felt frustrated and upset. She debated whether or not to go back in there, wake the man who was sleeping in Tab's bed, and threaten to rip his jaw off if he didn't tell her what happened to Tab and what the hell he was doing here in the first place.

She walked back to the balcony, fuming in her mind, and noticed something she hadn't before.

A silver frame sat on a side table next to the door; she had walked right past it when she came in. There was nothing else on the table, just the frame.

It was a picture of Tab and the man in her bed, standing in front of the Ferris Wheel at the pier amusement park, and they were both smiling. He had his arm wrapped around her and her arm was wrapped around him. Perhaps, she mused to herself, Tab had finally found herself a man worth keeping. Although, she thought, it was weird of Tab to continue dating and to let a man move in with her, who didn't wash dishes or pick up after himself. Tabitha was obsessive compulsive about how clean her apartment had to be. She remembered the time she'd spilled some wine on the floor and Tabitha had had a fit of epic proportions.

Again, her mind had lapsed and drifted off into better memories, and she missed the sound of footsteps behind her. They were soft and subtle, and the average human would have never heard them. If she had been paying attention to her surroundings, she would have, but she felt comfortable here and had let down her guard, despite the circumstances.

"Who are you?" a deep voice asked from behind her.

Ky looked up in shock, almost afraid to turn around. She knew who it had to be, but she couldn't believe she'd fallen off guard two times in the same evening. In the same hour, even! Much less that this human had managed to get the drop on her.

She was grateful she'd put her jacket back on when she'd entered rather than drop it over the balcony edge as she would normally have done.

She turned around to confront him.

copyright 2007 Shanna Wynne, all rights reserved.

#3

Hello anyone reading this. I've had a couple questions about the different between pt 1 and pt 2. Most asked (okay, let's lay it out straight here. I've had all but 2 questions and I think 2 readers, so I'll just be honest)... Both asked if the first part was a dream.

No, pt 1 isn't a dream, it's supposed to be the night before. She did her job, saved that woman, went home and slept through the day. Pt. 2 begins when she's waking up just after nightfall.

Now, between when part 1 was written and part 2 written, there's about 8 or 9 months of space, so I think I lost the thread of where I planned to take that story long ago. Pt 1 is like the first seam in a quilt or shirt or pillow or other sewing project that got set aside. Because it's a new project, the shape is undetermined and changes as the sewer changes it. I don't start out with plans and outlines in my stories, I just sit down and write. The story unveils itself to me through the keyboard and my fingers. So it's just as new to me as to any readers out there.

Mostly this blog story is kinda practice for me. Helps me get into the habit of writing each day. Of course, I skipped yesterday- slap me on the hands with a ruler, please- but I'll try not to keep skipping anymore.

So, all said and done. Here we go.

* * * * * * * *

The upper stairwell of the floor was empty. It led to another heavy steel door, light shining from behind the cracks. She leaned against the door and listened.

She could hear the barest scurrying sounds and whispers behind it. She grasped the doorknob in her hand and twisted it slowly.

The door squeaked with alarm.

She yanked it open in the blink of an eye, desperate to catch whatever stood hide behind it.

A lightbulb, hanging from the ceiling swayed back and forth. It was another stairwell, presumably the one that led to the floors in the building.

The swinging light, dangling from it's wires, cast shadows and spread light throughout the room.

There was nothing here.

She walked around the wall partitioning this set of the stairs from the next, expecting to find her friend's attackers cowering in fear or preparing to ambush her. She readied herself.

But again there was nothing there.

She couldn't hear any more sounds. No shoes running rapidly down the stairs, no doors opening or closing. Just complete silence.

Disgusted by her incompetence to catch whomever had been making the noises she'd heard earlier, she ran back up the stairs to the roof.

She walked to where her friend's body had lain. It was gone. There were no blood stains on the tarred floor, no pieces of flesh, no flecks of bone, no shards of teeth. Nothing.

She knelt down and scoured the ground, her hands running at first gently, then roughly over the surface. There had to be something here. She'd seen the body, smelled it's death, heard her screams.

But there was nothing there.

Kyserean was frantic. She looked around, desperate for any signs of the struggle. She paced back and forth, running all around the rooftop.

She stopped, wearied with worry and scared- really scared for the first time in a very long time. Could she be going mad? Could the madness plaguing her kind finally be showing it's demonic face in her mind? Has it eaten away at her sanity already?

She felt out of control, upset, angry, but most of all confused. She was too weak to fly home. The fear that permeated her mind was playing havoc with her abilities.

Suddenly truly grateful for the coat she'd had specially fitted, she walked back to the stairwell, still empty of any sound or person, and made her way to the next floor where she took an elevator down.

Leaving the building through the double glass doors and passing a questioning night guard at the desk, she joined the passerbys in the streets, the city's night people- an insomniac society that crawled over the city's dark houses and late night businesses, purchasing stolen goods from black market vendors, dirty women from the streets, drugs to make them forget their waking days, or just a companion to stave off the encroaching loneliness of their lives.

If she had truly gone mad, these were the people she belonged with.
She drifted, allowing the crowds to guide her through the streets, going whichever way the people in front of her went. She walked into a few porno theaters, unaware of where she was going, and quickly walked out again, keeping close behind a new set of guides.

Questions ran through her mind like wildfire, spreading a painful blaze with each inadequate answer. Did she just have a nightmare? Was she just worn out from her nightly hunts, did she need a break? She'd been warned the job could get wearisome after a time, and indeed it had begun to feel more like a burden rather than the satisfying killing spree it had once been. There were many other hunters lined up for this city. They kept reserves, someone always on call to take over for whichever guardian began to lapse. Perhaps her days of hunting were at an end.

She found the idea of leaving the city laughable. Here she had grown up, here she had made her first kill; this place was her home, the only home she'd known. She would not- could not- give that up.

She'd stopped her meandering while her thoughts traced the possibilities. She looked up into the night sky, and stared at the stars for a while, the people brushing her body as they walked passed. She could smell her prey close by, but it did not excite her as it should have- as it always had. There was something wrong with her, she knew it well enough.

She took a deep breath, enjoying the slight chill in the air as it bite into her lungs. Yes, there is something wrong with her, but she was not going mad. She would not walk that path.

"First," she decided, speaking to herself aloud while people passing her gave her quick glance and then turned away, muttering about the crazies in the streets at night, "I will find Tabitha."

She took off immediately for the first dark alley, and removed her jacket. She peered around, piercing through the shadows with her sharp vision. Seeing no one, she spread her wings and took off for the stars.

She headed north, towards the upper richer end of the city, and her friend's apartment.

#2

"KYSEREAN!"

The cave was dark, but moonlight filtering through a few open skylights allowed a dim perception of the objects strewn about. A large desk shoved against one wall; an old fashioned typewriter perched upon it; a large boulder- almost chair sized- sat in front; a leather jacket lay across it; books piled everywhere; a few candles and battery powered lanterns mingled amongst the books. A solitary stainless steel frame was braced against a wall, clothes on hangers draping down.

This was not a damp, moldy explorers cave but a home.

HER home.

In the back, where no light would enter, where the darkest shadows lie, she slept.
Until that piercing scream broke the still air.

An eye opened, glinting even in the dark, catlike pupils dilating. It moved. She moved. Hunkering up and stretching her limbs, her wings reached out touching each side of the cave simultaneously, the dragon was awake.

It. . . She shook her head. As it - she- awoke, remembering the prying cry of that scream that had disturbed her dreams, the scales flashed, not a blinding light but a dim, bluish glow, not even bright enough to scare away the shadows. The claws began to shrink, their color changed from a dark black blue to light, pale fingers. The nails, however, were still black. And sharp. The body, already thin and lithe, flattened and shortened, the legs coming closer to the arms and formed fingers. The back claws already becoming toes with black nails. The touch, strong ankles became soft and delicate looking, nonetheless they hid a superior strength. The wings pulled in, lost some of their expansive width, and closed in tight to the newly pink and fresh back. The crest on the dragons head became long, rich red hair- one of only two remaining signs of her true heritage. The blue light surrounding her face pulsed and faded away, leaving a stubby nose, high cheek bones, and arcing eyebrows. Her eyes were the last to change- they retained their catlike pupils for several minutes. The surrounding iris was green, a vivid emerald shade. It changed with her mood, sometimes a lighter green apple when she was in a jovial mood, and a dark hunter green when she was angry, or on the prowl. As now.

She looked around herself, listening for the scream again. She gathered her implements. Her sword, her coat, and her boots. She jabbed the extra knife she carried in to it's hidden sheath in her right boot. She checked to be sure that she was indeed fully clothed. She'd forgotten to check one night and had rushed out, eager for a fight, only to find that her clothes had not morphed back with her after her slumber. Despite her open vulnerability, she'd dispatched several of her prey that night with ruthless glee. Or perhaps it was because of her mistake.

Either way, they were dead and she'd gone home satisfied.

She ran out of the cave and jumped, holding her jacket in her arms, and spread her wings and flew quickly towards the city.

"KYSEREAN!"

The scream blasted her hard in her mind. It distracted her from her flight, and she fell, her wings wrapping around her from the pain. It took a second to recover. She breathed in and out quickly, letting the pain go, and spread her wings again. None too soon, as the rocks below were becoming dangerously easy to see.

She flew hard towards the city, the picture the scream left in her mind bright before her eyes. The roof of a skyscraper, flashing neons signs leaving reflections on the victim's face. Terror captured on her face as though in a picture.

Dammit, she cursed herself. I don't have much time. She pushed herself harder, siphoning each bit of speed she could out of her wings. Harder, faster, have to get there NOW!

Seven and a half minutes later, surely a new record for her semi-human form, she reached the building. She landed on the roof, scanning the area for the woman. She ran as she spotted a lump of some kind on the ground.

"Oh, God, oh God no, no." She cried as she reached the body.

The body was on it's side, it's hair hiding it's face, the arm bent backwards in a horrific angle.

She gentle pulled it over, careful to bend the arm back to the front. The sound of the broken bones rubbing against each other tortured her ears. The hair fell away, showing a blood streaked face, half ripped away. It's thrown was gone. The eye left in it's socket stared up at her, accusing her, branding her with it's death.

"No, no, no. Tabitha, no. Oh, Tabitha. I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry." She kept murmuring over and over to the corpse as she ran her fingers through it's hair.

She'd lost all thought of the hunt, Tabitha's killer gone from her mind for a moment in her grief. Tabitha had been her only real mortal friend. She'd actually spent time with Tabitha, and had even gone to see a movie with her. The only sense of normalcy she'd ever experienced in her life. And it had been thanks to this woman, who was lying dead in her arms.

The grief ripped through her in waves, each seeming to batter her a little less. Quickly, the wave of grief was replaced with anger, with seething rage that threatened to boil out of her in flame.

She couldn't calm it down, the fire would come this time regardless of her will, so she turned her face towards the sky, and screamed agonizingly, the fire singing her hair as it always did, and evaporating the tears that seeped from her eyes.

Once it had been released, the fire was tranquil; it'd lost it's strength for the moment. She looked back at her dead friend's face. She leaned down and kissed her forehead, and shut her remaining eye. She paused for a moment and concentrated, holding a hand over her friend's shattered skull and face. Slowly the pieces came together again, skin pulled up and seemed to be sewn back together, the eye that had been dangling by it's nerve clumsily jerked back to it's natural place.

She could not bring her friend back, but she could at least let her be remembered for her beauty, and not let the ravages wrought by that beast torture her in her death.

She placed her head on the tarred roof's floor, carefully to not disturb the work she'd just finished. It wouldn't hold forever, but it didn't have to. It'd hold long enough, and then it would be undone by decay despite her greatest efforts.

She reached down and closed the corpse's eyes, and then stood up. She took one last look at her friend, and then turned away. She picked up her coat from where she'd dropped it, and took a deep, deep breath.

She could smell the creature. It left a scent trail that stunk in her nose, that no amount of cheap toilet cologne it wore could cover.

She yanked the door to the stairwell open, ripping the locks off the inner wall and the door off the hinges. She looked at the door she held in her hand, and threw it to the side. It bounced and clattered.

The stairwell was dark. It almost reminded her of her cave, with it's homey shadows and lightless corners. But that smell taunted her. She stepped in but stopped. Her hand on the doorjamb, her head tilted to the side as though she wanted to look back over her shoulder one last time. She didn't. She gritted her teeth, and grinned maliciously in the last glint of the light.

She walked across the landing, and stepped down into the dark.


*****

Okay, that stretched on a little longer than I intended. Hope it's okay. Tell me what you think.

#1

I actually started this story back in August or July of 2006, I think. I went back through my blogs and found it. I can't believe I wrote this- well, I can, but I had forgotten the twist I'd been going with and am really interested in picking it back up. So later today I'll add a new section and I'm going to write a new section in a new blog, everyday. (Who knows, maybe it will become a blovel- a blog novel, get it?? hahaha.. I am so funny) Anyway, tell me what you think.

******

Standing there listening to her mp3 player, oblivious for the moment to everything around her, she could almost believe that everything would be okay. That there weren't monsters that prowled the streets at night, eagerly awaiting a chance at a passing human, starving for blood. The same anxiety and fear she felt every night she went out sat in her chest like a lead weight. Her adrenaline was pumping madly, her heart at once racing and pounding in her ears, yet still and stone cold. Her fingers twitched at her side, hungry for the grip of her sword.

Her hearing was incredible, and could focus on the music in her earphones and hear everything moving on the ground below. She could hear animals rustling the trash cans in the dark alley to her side and people walking, driving, talking in the well lit streets of the city. She was waiting for the right moment to strike.

There, in the alley, she heard it. An indrawn breath, the first soft beginnings of a scream for help then cut off. Silence.

Dropping to a crouch, she perched on the edge of the roof, peering into the darkness below. She could see almost as clearly as though it was a gray cloudy day, when a few years ago it would be like daylight for her. A bad knock on the head had damaged her vision. She could see the white legs of what she assumed to be a woman, lying next to a dumpster. A dark figure was huddled close to the woman's torso.

Waiting no longer, she jumped. Her coat flew up behind her, though it made no sound to alert her prey. She landed with a soft thump a few feet behind him with barely a change in her stride. She reached over her shoulder and gripped the pommel of her sword.

"Hey," she whispered. The thing, manlike in it's size and shape stood up, turning away from the woman on the ground. It was bald, and it's skin white and paper thin. She could see blue and black veins threading it's face and skull. The clothes it wore were filthy, covered in dirt, shit, and stained with blood. It gave off a terrible rotting smell. It's eyes, staring at her with barely contained rage, had black pupils and irises; the usual whites of the eyes were so lined with red and black veins that it appeared almost totally black. It opened it's mouth and growled, a low, threatening sound that would make anything's hair stand on end. Except her.

She faced it squarely, drawing her sword from it's sheath. It advanced on her while she stood her ground, taking strength from her dominant position, rooted to the earth. It gave one last growl followed by an inhuman scream full of hate and anger and fear. It knew who she was, and was terrified of her.

It approached, it's mouth hanging wide and emanating a horrible smell of death and decay. Most of it's teeth were rotten away, but the ones it'd managed to keep so far were obviously sharp and angular. Soon, it wouldn't need them anymore.

She listened to it's hunting sounds, letting them fuel her rage. It attacked, leaping forward and at the last second changing tactics from directly attacking her to ducking down, attempting to grab her legs and force her to the ground. She moved nimbly out of it's grasp, and when it fell forward past her she simply struck it down in one slice of her sword. It's upper and lower body hit the cement in two separate pieces. However, it was still writhing on the ground. It's upper body began pulling itself towards her, still trying to kill her.

Knowing that killing this thing would require fire, she reached deep within herself, feeling for her inner fire that was constantly burning, always trying to consume her. She kept it in strict control, releasing it only when needed. As she let loose her reigns on the fire, she felt it building up inside her chest, struggling to break free and cause chaos and destruction. Turning toward the thing's pieces, she released the fire upon it, feeling it singe her face and hair. Always it tried to turn itself back on her, but beyond a discomfort with the heat, she was immune to any fire, including her own.

After just a few seconds, she fought for control again, pulling the fire back and putting it in it's place. The pieces were just a black stain on the ground now. Sheathing her sword and shutting off her mp3 player, she approached the woman's body, and saw that she was unharmed, but knocked out. Seeing she was ultimately okay, she had been about to leave her there, but heard the discussion of a few homeless men further away down the alley, out of sight as yet but they were heading this direction and would come upon the woman's body still unconscious. She didn't want the men to have the chance to take advantage of her and have that on her conscience.

Grabbing one of the woman's hands, she lifted her easily and carried her to the street. It was very late night and aside from the usual night crowd, only a few people were wandering around nearby. She dropped the body by a shopkeep's locked door underneath a street light. She would wake in a few minutes, she could already hear the woman's breathing and heartbeat picking up their paces.

Walking quickly away, she reached a dark corner on the street. Another alley way. She stepped into the shadows, continuing to watch the woman from her hidden vantage point. She could sense the rising sun already. It was only an hour or so away. After a few minutes and she could see the woman moving, and sitting up with a frightened look on her face, she felt she was free of her obligations to her and began to leave.

Turning away from the street, walking deeper into the dark alley, she took off her coat. The early morning air felt cool and crisp on her skin. Her top, cut to allow her as much free movement as possible, bared most of her back to the sky. She stopped, and felt the breezing blowing across her face. Tilting her face to the sky, she unfurled her wings, spreading them wide behind her. They were leathery and thin, but incredibly strong, able to lift her weight in human form and much larger in her other form. They stretched out a good five feet either way behind her.

Holding her jacket close to her body, she lifted her wings, and in one smooth motion had taken off the ground and was now flying towards home.

copyright 2007 Shanna Wynne, all rights reserved