After the ordeals for which I was paid I left to venture on to my abode, though despite the fruits of my daily labor, I had not the funds available to pay for transport, and so must journey the short distance by foot as is the usual for my quaint life in this small city. As I strolled along under the stars that cast the only light over this quiet, frosty lane, suddenly a twig across the walk from where I stood snapped. I peek into the trees to see naught but the silence under the moon. Though through the last of my foggy walk I cannot shake the aura in my mind of a small creature stalking me through the dewy trees of the forest yonder. Upon that final pace before stopping at my door, I am stopped in my tracks, by a hand upon my shoulder.

I turn to see a fair maiden's countenance behind me, smiling serenely. Her vestments are gaudy in shades of crimson and umber, and her face extraordinarily pale. I open my mouth to greet her, when her mouth opens, revealing a beastly maw of sharp teeth like stalagmites.

A vampyr!

A second passes and I find my mortal form frozen, my respirations ceasing in the frigid night air. The creature’s smile widens, though no warmth touches her pallid cheeks. Her eyes are shade too dark to be entirely mortal.

“Forgive the fright,” she murmurs, her voice soft like the embers of a dying cigarette. “I had hoped to speak with you before you vanished behind that door.”

My hand, trembling despite my every attempt to quell my own fear, reaches into the pocket of my overcoat, fondling the key of which can unlock the entryway to my abode. “If conversation was your aim,” I manage, “there were gentler means to announce yourself.”

The fine maiden tilts her head, amusement crossing her delicate features. “Gentleness is a luxury I cannot always afford.”

Just then, a gale of undeniable force sweeps the street around us, carrying on its back the scent of ammonia and leaves dampened by the autumnal rain. She steps back, granting me space, though her gaze does not waver from where it is fixed upon my face. “I have watched you walk this road many nights,” she says. “You tread it as though you expect danger at every turn.”

“Perhaps,” I reply, “because danger has finally obliged me.”

Her smile fades. For the first time, something like sorrow flickers across her features. “If I meant you harm,” she whispers, “you would not be standing.”

The key grows cold in my hand. “Then what do you want?”

She lifts a gloved finger and directs it towards the edge of the forest.

“Not all shadows tonight are mine.”