It was nighttime – the only time she ever really felt at ease. At night, she was in control. There was no worrying about how to act or what others would think; it was just her doing what she did best.
Pale concrete paths snaked through the park, around trees and picnic tables. The main one passed right beside the bench she was sitting on. It was a cool night, and a breeze blew gently through her hair. The only light came from the windows of houses bordering the park. But even these were almost completely obscured by trees.
Anna looked up at the sky. It was velvety-black, the moon only a sliver in the darkness. She was waiting, but not for anyone in particular. Over the years, it’d been her experience that certain kinds of people liked to come to parks at night, and it was one of those people that she was hoping to find. And even though she was in the very center of the park, she was almost impossible to see.
It wouldn’t be much longer now, she knew. And as she finished the thought, she heard the faint sound of footsteps coming along the path. She turned expectantly, a slight smile on her lips.
A gangly boy in his late teens was coming towards her. He had on a dark trenchcoat, billowing out slightly behind him. With his dark clothes and the lack of light, he’d be hard for most people to see. But not Anna. She had very good night vision – perfect, in fact. She grinned to herself; he’d do nicely.
When he was close enough, she shifted slightly on the bench, making herself more visible. The kid started a little, surprised.
“What are you doing out so late?” he asked casually, almost as if he knew her.
“I might ask you the same thing.” she replied sweetly, tilting her head up to get a better look at him.
Despite her slight build, Anna was incredibly strong; several times stronger than any human. She could easily overpower this skinny kid. But she didn’t. There would be too much of a struggle, and she just hated struggles. Besides, she knew an easier way to get what she wanted.
“I just decided to take a walk.” the kid said, sitting down next to her. “I mean, it’s such a beautiful night. The stars are shining…”
Anna smiled into the darkness at this. There were almost no stars out tonight; while waiting here, she’d counted only six. But she let it pass.
“You just needed to get out of the house?” she asked gently – sympathetically. She’d had this conversation hundreds of times before and knew exactly where it was going.
“Yeah,” he said. “My parents are driving me nuts.”
“I know exactly how you feel.” Anna lied.
She hadn’t had parents for so long, it was difficult for her to remember what it was like at all. And she certainly didn’t remember if they drove her nuts. Still, she knew it was the thing to say. It worked – it always did. It never ceased to amaze her how far a little sympathy could go.
He turned to face her, opening up about what exactly was bothering him. But Anna didn’t pay any attention; she was already moving onto the next part of her plan. As she stared into his eyes, gold flecks started to appear in her own.
“I mean, they never listen to me.” the boy started. “Like today. I came home a little late, and when I…tried to…explain…that…” he trailed off.
He stared into her eyes, his mind becoming blank. She knew he didn’t remember what he was going to say, or what they’d been talking about in the first place. And if she did this right, he wouldn’t even remember her. As she continued to stare at him, the gold in her eyes became more and more prominent, until her irises were consumed by it.
The boy’s eyes slowly began to close, and Anna could see that he was completely in her grasp. She smiled sweetly at him, even though he was no longer looking at her. She took her time, knowing there was no rush.
She looked fondly at the boy; he seemed so nice. And human contact was so rare for her. But even as she thought about how nice he might be, her incisors became longer, thinner. She grinned at him one last time, revealing long white fangs. It turned what would have been a very nice smile into something so much more sinister.
Slowly she leaned into him, no longer looking quite so helpless. Her slender fingers slowly reached up to the boy’s head. She gently eased it back, exposing his perfect neck. She turned his head away – both to get a better angle and to avoid having to face him. Then, when everything was just the way she wanted it, she opened her mouth and lunged toward his neck, biting him. Hard.
She hit her target perfectly, feeling the warm blood gushing through her mouth. It was a wonderful sensation that she could never adequately describe – in the unlikely event she ever had to. And it filled her up in a way that food no longer could.
When she’d had her fill, she pulled slowly away. As she looked down at the boy’s neck, she could see two small, red puncture marks where she’d bitten him. A drop of blood trickled about an inch from one, but that was it. Already, the wounds were starting to heal. Within just a few short hours, they’d be completely gone, leaving no evidence of her nighttime excursion.
Anna stood up and turned to face the boy. Carefully, she eased him down so he was laying on the bench. She’d taken quite a bit of blood from him, but not nearly enough to kill him. Just enough to make him feel, well…drained. Killing this boy was the last thing she’d want. No, he’d wake up in an hour or two, and she didn’t want him to be too uncomfortable when he did.
She started to walk away, but turned for one last look. He was laying on the bench, looking almost peaceful. She might have thought he was asleep if she didn’t know better. But, enough of that. Now that she’d done what she came for, it was time to leave before anyone else showed up. As Anna walked casually away, the only noise was the sound of a tune being quietly whistled in the dark.
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When Anna woke up the next morning, she checked the paper. One of the first things she did wherever she went was to get a newspaper subscription. She read every paper that came out the morning after she went hunting. She liked to know what was going on where she lived. More importantly, she needed to know how concerned people were about the strange things that happened at night. Whenever she felt people were starting to pay too much attention, she knew it was time to move on.
Anna was only a little surprised to find that this one had actually made it into the paper; her last attack had also been reported. The story was on page 6, halfway down and said simply:
19-year-old James Flint was found on a park bench early this morning. When he awoke, he was confused and disoriented, with no memory of what he had been doing. Upon his arrival at the hospital, his blood-pressure was found to be low, which doctors speculate may have been the cause of Flint’s confused state. This is the ninth reported case.
Anna read this with a mixture of guilt and relief. The relief came from the fact that this may have been the ninth reported case, but not the ninth attack; she’d done it so much more often than that. After all, she’d been in this city for three months now. Obviously, people weren’t reporting this, probably since there never was much to report. How could they report what they didn’t remember? Not that this bothered Anna in the slightest; she’d like everybody to forget. It made things a lot easier for her.
Anna’s guilt, on the other hand, came from remembering what she’d actually done; she’d attacked someone. She tried to put it out of her mind – he was fine, wasn’t he? He was alive and, as usual, didn’t even know what had happened. He’d be perfectly alright, she told herself. She decided not to think about it anymore – just pretend that nothing had happened and go on like she always did.87Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡkbSLUJ4CLA
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