A figure staggered out of the shadow of the empty food court building, and I stiffened, but it was only Lihua. She nearly fell at my feet, gasping out words I could hardly understand, her Cantonese accent amplified by agitation.
“You must come. Audrey is breach. Her Lumi die. Come now, come now!” She tugged me toward the building, and I barely had time to grab Naomi and follow.
I could hear screams before I was even finished shading. Naomi went pale and wide-eyed, and I knew what they must sound like to her—something between the cry of a wounded animal and the screech of metal at the breaking point. It sounded terrifying and inhuman, and it was. To me, it was also depressingly familiar. I hoped the neighbors wouldn’t call the police again.
I snatched a plastic bag of blood from the frid
