Prologue
Her high heels clicked on the hard cold cobblestones of the dark alley. The unpleasant sound echoed back and forth between the narrow stone fences along the sides of the road. Fog crept up from the ground and brushed her long legs that the thermal stockings didn’t give much warmth to.
She regretted taking this shortcut already.
But at the other end of this alley, a surprise birthday party was waiting for her. Well, not really much of a surprise since she knew about it. Her best friend had tipped her off by asking her to wear something nice for their girls’ night out.
She smiled to herself and tried to ignore the eerie ambiance surrounding her. She was turning eighteen.
Soon.
She heard the sound of flapping wings. This area was notorious for bats—one of those animals she didn’t care much for. It had to be an enormous bat by the sound of it. She looked up but saw nothing but the dark sky.
She put her head down and kept walking, pulling out her cell phone to call her friends. No signal. “I’m in the middle of the town, for God’s sake!” she cursed to no one in particular and picked up her pace.
Her footsteps echoed louder and louder in the dark alley. Or maybe it was just in her head.
But she wasn’t hearing her footsteps now. She was hearing someone else’s. She turned around, but there was nothing but a long, dark alley. Reaching the other end where she could see a dim light would be faster than going back.
She could see traffic and pedestrians in the distance. Seeing people made her feel a lot better. She kept walking.
Suddenly, the metallic stench of blood engulfed her. It was so overwhelming she had to gasp to draw in air. The shadow of a man stepped out in front of her, from . . . nowhere. He cast a glance at her with his flaming red eyes. And he smirked.
It was a smirk of victory and satisfaction as if he had just found a long lost treasure.
She froze. She wasn’t scared. She didn’t pass out. She just couldn’t move.
Then a cold blast of air invaded her. It felt like ants crawling all over her body. Her mind was numb. Something was clawing at her soul, seeping into every cell of her body, ripping the dignity out of her.
Every thought she had in her mind. All of her secrets. All aspects of her life. Everything was exposed.
All of her memories of her sweet childhood, of her friends, of her family were leaving her. Bit by bit. The pain in her heart was unbearable.
She was fully awake, lying on the cold cobblestones and watching the last drop of her innocence leaving her. She blinked. And then she saw it. In front and on top of her was the perfect picture of evil.