The alley smells of rusts and rain
Blood slid down my knuckles, warm despite the cold night air. Three bodies lay motionless at my feet no longer human, not entirely monster , Their blackened veins pulsed once… then stopped.
Too late.
I wiped my blade on my jacket just as a soft sound reached my ears.
Footsteps.
I froze.
No one should have been here. This district had been abandoned for years, sealed off after the first supernatural outbreak. Humans knew better than to wander into places like this.
Yet the footsteps were light. Careful. Alive.
I turned and saw her.
She stood at the mouth of the alley, rain soaking through her thin coat, dark hair clinging to her pale face. Her eyes widened when they met mine, reflecting the faint crimson glow still lingering around my weapon.
She should have screamed.
She didn't.
Instead, she took a step back, hand trembling as she clutched something to her chest.
"Don't come any closer," I said coldly. "This place isn't safe."
That was a lie.
I wasn't safe.
The curse beneath my skin stirred, responding to her presence. A low burn spread through my veins, sharp and familiar the warning sign.
She wasn't human.
Before I could move, the shadows behind her twisted.
A creature crawled out of the darkness, its limbs bending the wrong way, mouth splitting open far too wide. The smell of rot filled the air as it lunged toward her.
She screamed this time.
I didn't think.
My body moved on instinct.
In less than a second, I was between them.
The blade cut through flesh that wasn't flesh, bone that cracked like glass. Black blood sprayed across the pavement as the creature howled, collapsing at my feet.
Silence followed.
Heavy. Absolute.
She stared at me, chest heaving, eyes shining with fear, and something else.
Recognition.
"You…" her voice shook. "You can see them too."
I straightened, ignoring the pain tearing through my arm as the curse punished me for using my power again.
"Yes," I said quietly. "And that's exactly why you shouldn't be here."
She swallowed, rain mixing with tears on her cheeks.
"They're hunting me," she whispered. "Please… if you don't help me, I won't survive the night."
I looked into her eyes, and felt the curse surge violently, reacting to her words, her presence.
Helping her would change everything.
But walking away…
For the first time in years, my heart beat painfully in my chest.
"…What's your name?" I asked.
She hesitated, then answered softly,
"Luna."
Thunder rolled overhead.
And somewhere deep inside me, the curse laughed.