Jay

January 2

7:25 PM

Malls during vacations were havens for teenagers who wanted to grow up too fast, and that was, of course, the reason I was there, hunting. My mouth watered as I waded through dozens of girls, my reaction having nothing at all to do with what they were (or weren't) wearing. As I passed each girl, I inhaled shallowly, filtering for someone whose chemical perfume didn't induce me to gag.

Although I didn't play with my food, I did intend to enjoy it. Another group of girls shuffled past me, their Ugg boots rarely leaving the ground, safe beneath the layers of scented lotions they had slathered themselves in earlier. A couple of them eyed him with glittering eyes.

Hunting used to be so much easier, when only the wealthy wore perfume. Now, even guys wore it, I mused as I past by a bunch of football players laughing and eating pizza together in the food court.

My nose was beginning to burn when I scented a clean, fresh scent. I swung around and began stalking the appetizing aroma; it led me to a pretty blond girl who was leaning against a wall, talking on the phone.

I sidled up beside her and caught her eye, sending her a slow, inviting smile. She winked at me and told whomever she was talking to that they "were on in five."

She ended the call and slipped the phone into her back pocket, sending me an alluring smile. "Hi, I'm Daphne, what's your name?"

"Hello, Daphne, are you in a rush? Or do you have a moment to…talk?" I lowered my voice, making it more compelling than I usually would so we could get on with it before whomever was on the other end came looking for her. The last thing I needed was another mess like last time. I still hadn't found the beautiful girl who had come home before I could clean up the mess. I hated sloppy work.

"Oh, I'm sure I could give you a little while." She fluttered her eyelashes, but with the missing girl so close to my mind, I didn't find her at all attractive. I took her hand anyway and lead her to the small, shadowy area I had already scoped out for dinner.

Daphne looked around skeptically, her heart speeding up a little bit. "Behind a dumpster? Because I don't think-"

My eyes smoldered into hers, "Don't think," I ordered, wiping her mind as I plunged my fangs into her neck. She collapsed without another sound.

Her blood was so sweet and pure it took me a few gulps to realize that something tasted slightly…off in the aftertaste. I sucked down another gulp and tried to filter through it. My brain grew fuzzy and my hands and feet went numb. What the hell? Am I drugged?

I pushed her away from me and examined my hands, the numbness rapidly spread up my arms and legs. My heart raced as I tried to figure out what to do, which only made the drug spread faster.

I collapsed on the side and focused on slowing my heart rate, taking deep breaths and closed my eyes, calming my mind. My heart gradually stopped racing as I opened my eyes to see if her body was hidden well enough. When I could stand I was going to have to take a sample of her blood to test. I didn't want to get caught by this again. And the question remained of why her blood was knocking me out. Was this the group of vampire hunters who had burned down Hunter's house around us? I hoped so, I was already hunting them down, and they owed me a new suit and a blood slave.

My vision grew blurry and my heart sped up again, this time uncontrollably. As black spots clouded my vision and my head sagged I saw two pairs of shoes approach, the smaller of them headed to the girl while the bigger one, a male knelt by my side, my nose was too numb to judge what species they were and my throat wasn't cooperating.

"Sorry, mate," the male said, sounding vaguely familiar even though I couldn't place where I'd heard that voice before. "I couldn't detect it either." Even through the water that seemed to be blocking my ears, he didn't sound apologetic at all.

As he reached down to grab me, the world spiraled away.