A Plague of Shadows

CHAPTER FOUR-2

MINA STOOD FROZEN, peering down the small lane she found herself in, until the darkness resolved into a value study in shades of grey. Unsure of whether to go forward or go back, she didn't move. She couldn't hear any more gunshots. Nor could she hear footsteps or screaming. She couldn't even hear the skitter of normal city critters in their nocturnal scavenging.

She closed her eyes and opened up her sixth sense, reaching out for the others. But she couldn't hear them: the heavy tones of a funereal dirge filled her blood. She shook her head to clear it. But the sound remained. Her human ears picked up a soft hiccoughing from the nearest rooftop.

She tipped her head, shrinking from the sound, not wanting to believe what her ears heard, when footsteps behind her interrupted her concentration.

Mina spun around, dagger in hand, as a voice reached her out of the darkness.

"There you are." The words held a remnant of a long-ago Irish lilt. Still, it took Mina a second to process, her fingers tight on the hilt of her blade.

"Astrid. You scared me half to death."

Astrid stepped out of the shadows, an eyebrow arched at the irony of that.

"You know what I mean." Mina slid the dagger into its sheath. "Where are the others?"

"We got separated, out looking for you." Astrid shrugged a shoulder. "They're in this warren of alleyways somewhere." Astrid's gaze travelled up the wall to her left, across the narrow patch of sky, then down the other side, gun still in her hand. "And now that I've found you, we should find them," she continued, her voice lowered. Her feet shifted, preparing to turn back the way she'd come.

But in that second, Mina's heart dropped into her stomach as a whoop cascaded through the alley and a shadow coalesced behind Astrid. A set of razor-sharp talons went into the woman's back, coming out the front where Mina could see them glistening.

"Gargoyle," Mina whispered, as Astrid's warm blood sprayed over her face, another taloned hand tearing into the woman's throat. Mina grabbed her gun, despite her shaking hands. Her aim was wild though, and she only hit the creature's shoulder. But it pulled its claws out of Astrid, and advanced towards her instead, blood dripping from its hands. Mina forced herself to take a calming breath before firing again, being more careful with her aim this time. The creature snarled at her as the bullet tore into its right pectoral, still wide of the heart, but that was enough to cause it to retreat into the darkness.

Mina slid to a crouch beside the other woman, pressing her hand to her bleeding torso. Warm blood seeped over her fingers, but even in the weak light, she could see that there was no life left in the woman's eyes. She might have healed from the multiple stabs to the abdomen, but not from having her head half ripped off.

A skittering of shadows passed over her head, and Mina pressed herself back into the wall, under the overhang of darkness cast by the building, wiping her bloody hand on her bloody jeans. The deathly tune grew louder.

"They're dead." Mina's lips formed the words though barely a sound escaped her. She didn't move for long minutes, waiting for the dirge to fade into the night. Then she slumped against the cold, brick wall, and slid down to rest on the grimy asphalt of the dank alley.

All tension drained from her sore muscles, and she felt empty. She let her head flop sideways, to where a shadow flitted at the edge of her vision. But there was nothing there, no vampires, no gargoyles, just a fog of fear and the burden of death. She pressed her eyes closed, willing away the image of Astrid being rent through by the gargoyle, her blood gushing out of her. She rubbed her fists into her eyelids, pushing away the memory of the stake sliding so easily into Luca's chest, his heart popping under the slight pressure. She opened her eyes and rubbed her hands on her jeans, blocking out the smell of blood oozing between her fingers. But it was no good. The memories were imprinted on her senses, on her muscles, on her nerves.

She tilted her head back, gazing up at the sliver of sky, as wracking sobs reached up from her gut and passed through her raw throat. She brought a fist to her mouth, biting it to choke off the sound, pulling it away as she tasted Astrid's blood on her lips. A pang of unwanted hunger shot through her.

She looked at her bloody hands, mottled grey in the shadowed alley. She'd killed a man...vampire...thing. Luca, I sought him out and killed him. She'd killed him with the hands she now let fall onto the icy damp asphalt, not caring what else might be mixed with the blood. It wasn't the same as shooting a creature with a gun, separated by however small a distance. Or even stabbing a gargoyle intent on ripping her throat out. She'd intended to kill him, and she had. And it hadn't change anything, she thought as a whooping sound echoed in the night, underscoring this realization. And Astrid is dead now because of me.

Because I'm a killer. A cold-blooded hunter. Worse, a parasite that lives by siphoning life from others. Her stomach clenched at the thought of feeding, her nostrils filled with the odour of blood. She ran her tongue across the teeth between her canines.

What kind of monster am I? Mina let her head hang and spoke to the shadows. "I'm a vampire. A killer."

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