A month passed.
December arrived with strings of colorful lights and tinsel wrapped around lampposts. Dallas didn't do Christmas quietly. Every storefront glowed with decorations, every street corner played carols, every tree sparkled with thousands of bulbs that caught and held Lily's vampiric vision.
She'd never cared much for Christmas or any holiday really. Religion felt meaningless when you'd lost everyone you loved by eighteen. Praying to something that hadn't bothered to answer or help her felt pointless.
But standing in the downtown square, staring up at the massive tree covered in lights, she found herself appreciating the beauty of it. Not the religious aspects, but the stillness. The way the world paused and put on its best face. The way strangers smiled at each other, the way children laughed, the way everything glittered. It was a time when people could put aside their differences and at least pretend to care about each other for a little while.
Texas didn't normally get snow, not here at least, but the lights created their own kind of magic. Red and green and gold reflecting off glass ornaments the size of beach balls. Each one caught her enhanced vision, fracturing into a thousand tiny sparkles.
Lily lost track of time, just staring. Letting the hum of happy voices wash over her.
"...think she's okay?"
"Looks sick to me."
"Maybe drunk?"
"She's been standing there for twenty minutes."
"Not moving, just staring, it's kind of creepy."
Lily snapped back to awareness. A couple had stopped a few feet away, whispering and pointing. The woman clutched her purse tighter. The man had his phone half-raised like he might call for emergency services.
Lily forced a smile and waved.
"Just admiring the lights," she called out in a friendly voice, "beautiful night."
The couple exchanged glances, then hurried away. Their whispered conversation continued but Lily caught fragments anyway. High. Junkie. Should we call someone?
She looked down at her hands. Pale. Too pale.
Her reflection in a nearby shop window confirmed what she'd been ignoring. Skin like parchment. Dark circles under her eyes. Lips bloodless.
She looked exactly like what she was. A corpse walking around pretending to be alive.
Time to feed.
The hunger had been building for days. This time she hadn't fought it, hadn't tried to pretend she could ignore it or distract herself. Fighting only made it worse, made the beast inside more dangerous. She'd learned that lesson.
If she didn't feed tonight, someone innocent could ultimately pay the price if she lost control of herself.
Lily turned away from the Christmas tree and continued walking through downtown. Her second hunt.
This time, she would try to do things differently.
***
Lily pressed herself into the shadow between two buildings, watching the street corner fifty feet away. The cold brick behind her didn't register. Nothing registered except the two men and the conversation she could hear as clearly as if she stood next to them.
"...can't trust him anymore, man. He's gonna talk."
"You don't know that. My cousin's always been solid man. Maybe he just needs time to—"
"Time? You serious right now? We're looking at life if he opens his mouth. Life."
The taller of the two men paced, hands shoved deep in his jacket pockets. The shorter one leaned against a parked car, shaking his head.
Lily's throat burned as her eyes tracked each movement the men made. The impulse to dash across the street crossed her mind but she ignored it, for now she was still in charge.
She waited like a lioness hidden in the tall grass of a savanna.
"What do you want to do then?"
The shorter man sounded tired. Defeated.
"Take care of it."
The tall one stopped pacing.
"Before he gets the chance to squeal. We make it clean and quick. Problem solved."
"Jesus Christ, you're talking about—"
"I'm talking about not spending the rest of my life in a cage."
The tall man grabbed his companion's shoulder.
"It's him or us, homie. You understand that, right? Him or us."
Silence stretched between them. Lily counted five heartbeats. Ten.
"When?"
"I'll set it up. Wait for my call."
The shorter man nodded slowly, then got into his car that he had been leaning against and drove away without another word. The engine roared down the empty street until he turned a corner and disappeared.
The tall man pulled out his phone, scrolled through something, then pocketed it again. He lit a cigarette and took a long drag before heading in the opposite direction.
Lily straightened. Two different paths. Two different choices.
The shorter one had been reluctant. Needed convincing. Probably wouldn't go through with it on his own but he'd agreed anyway. That made him complicit. Made him guilty. It didn't take a genius detective to figure out what these two were planning.
The tall one though. He'd suggested it and pushed for it. He was the driving force, the one who would pull the trigger or do the stabbing or whatever method he chose.
Both deserved what came next.
But feeding on both felt wrong. Excessive. Gluttonous.
Her sire's words repeated themselves in her mind.
Killing truly evil humans is safer than innocent people.
He'd said that like it made everything okay. Like choosing evil victims somehow balanced the scales.
She didn't agree with that philosophy entirely. Murder was still murder, even if the victim deserved it. But she understood the practicality. Police didn't look as hard for dead criminals. Families didn't mourn as deeply. The world didn't care when the monsters eliminated each other.
Still. Two felt like too much.
They were people. Living, breathing humans who woke up this morning and would expect to wake up tomorrow. They had lives, histories, hopes. Even if those hopes included murdering someone else.
The tall man walked quickly, confident. His cigarette glowed orange in the darkness.
Lily made her choice.
She stepped out of the shadows and began to follow.
Her footsteps made no sound. That was still strange. She'd tested it several times over the past month. Walked across gravel, broken glass, dried leaves. Nothing. Complete silence no matter what surface she crossed.
Vampire perk number five, she'd mentally catalogued it. Right after enhanced strength and before the ability to see perfectly in total darkness.
The man turned left down a side street. Lily maintained her distance, keeping to the darkest patches.
The street narrowed. There were fewer lights here and no other people around. Perfect.
The man flicked his cigarette into the gutter and checked his phone again. His thumb scrolled rapidly. Texting someone probably. Making those awful arrangements.
Lily's hunger flared. The beast inside her stirred, impatient. Soon, it whispered. Soon.
Not yet. Control. If she was going to succeed at tonight's experiment then she had to maintain self-control.
She was about to strike when the man pocketed his phone again and resumed walking.
Three more blocks.
Two.
One.
He stopped in front of a rundown apartment building and started digging for his keys.
Lily moved fast, closing the distance like a blur.
Forty feet.
Thirty.
Twenty.
He inserted the key into the lock.
Ten feet.
It turned the tumblers with a soft click audible only to her ears.
Lily caught him by the back of his neck before he could step inside.
She covered his mouth to muffle his surprise outrage and dragged him quickly to the left side of the building. There was a small, dark side lot that would be perfect for what came next.
She removed her hand and the man immediately confronted her. She shoved him hard against the side of the building, pinning him in place with one arm that he couldn't seem to budge no matter how hard he struggled.
"Who the hell are you?"
"Someone who overheard your conversation."
She kept her voice calm. Level.
"About taking care of problems."
"You a cop?"
"No."
"Then what the fuck do you want?"
Lily smiled.
"I want to see if I can spare your life."