Chapter Text
It was the middle of the night. Pitch black, no stars to guide the way, no moon to illuminate the dark city streets. This wasn't the best neighborhood. Everyone knew that. Everyone knew better than to be on these streets past sundown, in the part of town where the sidewalk turns into asphalt and the streetlights are so far apart they're practically nonexistent. The people who live here know better than to pay attention to the sounds they hear at night.
It started a few months ago, it was an uncharacteristically cold summer night when it first happened. The piercing screams in the dark, deafening silence of the grimy neighborhood. And when the morning came, they found the first body. It had been a young girl, only 17. She had been walking home from a friends house when the creature had attacked. It had been brutal. Claw marks down to the bone, large pieces of flesh torn off, so much blood the street would forever be stained with the horror that happened that night. There was barely enough of her left to be identified. After that night, the neighborhood seemed to grow colder. More detached. There was a tense, overwhelming air of terror all around that never seemed to disappear.
A few weeks after that first incident, it happened again. And again the next week. Until about 3 months after the first incident, when it happened again but this time it was... different. There was no screaming, no loud ear-piercing cries in the night, and most importantly; when they found the body of the teen boy in the alley the next morning, there was no blood. Absolutely none. Not a single drop left. This was a big, drastic shift from all the previous killings, which had all been disturbingly gruesome and bloody. No one understood what was happening. The only thing that everyone silently agreed on was that no one in this neighborhood was safe at night.
There had been no attacks in at least a month, so the young man thought it would be fine if he, very carefully and attentively of course, walked the mere 2 blocks from his work back to his apartment after finishing his night shift at 1:30 in the morning. It was a cold night, not really unusual for late September but for some reason the boy couldn't help but feel like tonight just felt... off. The air was uncomfortably stagnant, like time was frozen, and the very limited streetlights along his path home seemed so much dimmer than usual.
With his headphones in blasting the latest Twice track, the boy unfortunately didn't hear the low growl coming from the shadows behind him or the gentle echoing sound of footsteps that followed.
The creature lurking in the shadows watched the boy attentively, following behind him slowly. He knew the boy couldn't hear him, and he knew he could strike at any time but he likes the chase. He enjoys drawing it out, makes the kill taste almost sweeter in the end. But he gets bored too quickly. His short attention span really was always a problem. However, just as he's about to strike he hears the crackle of almost-silent footsteps. He hears them just a second too late though, and before he can react he's tackled to the ground.
As soon as his back hits the pavement, he's using all of his strength to kick whatever the fuck decided to attack him off. His feet make contact with a lean chest and he can hear the crack of at least one rib when he kicks out, his assailant flying off into the gravel on the other side of the narrow street.
He gets back on his feet with a growl and looks around. The boy must have ran at the sudden noise. He then makes his way toward the body laying on the ground across the street but before he can reach it there's a flash of movement and suddenly it's gone.
And as he's standing there, his confusion turns to recognition as the faint smell left in the air reaches his nose and it automatically wrinkles in disgust.
"Fucking vampires, what the hell?!"
Disappointed and hungry, he apprehensively walks away. He thinks to himself
'wow jisung, you really fucked it up this time, didn't you? no place to stay, no pack, AND no dinner.'
And then he realizes, no. This isn't his fault. He had dinner, he was ready, he was about to sink his teeth into that boy and feast. But then that stupid vampire had to come in and ruin it. Ugh. If he ever runs into that thing again it better watch out.