"Gabby, don't talk to strangers," Mama scolded, pulling me away from the man I was trying to have a conversation with.
I wasn't sorry for talking to the nice man. He was very tall and had a nice smile. "Is your name Gabby?" he asked me gently.
"It's really Gabrielle Nightshade, but I like to be called Gabby," I informed him matter-of-factly.
"Gabby," my mama hissed. "Don't talk to strangers!" I tore my hand away from hers. I just wanted to have a nice talk with the friendly man.
"What's your name?" I asked the man.
"My name is James Brown," he said with a smile. His teeth were very white, and so was his skin. "I'm glad to meet you, Gabby."
"I'm glad to meet you too, Mr. Brown," I replied respectfully. See, Mama, I wanted to say. I'm being respectful. Now you can't get mad at me for talking to strangers 'cause I'm being polite, just like you taught me.
"Please, call me James," he laughed. I liked the sound of his laugh. It was as happy as his smile. "Would you like to go get ice cream with me?"
"Gabrielle, no," Mama said flatly.
I ignored her. Instead, I broke away from her hand, not looking at her angry face, and grabbed James's hand. It was very cold, but I didn't really care. I knew Mama would be very angry when I got back, but I liked James, and if he was willing to buy me ice cream, I would go with him.
"Please don't worry, Mrs. Nightshade, Gabby will be very safe with me," James assured her. He bent down to my level, and I could see that his eyes were black. "How old are you, Gabby?"
"I'm seven," I said proudly. Something that looked like sadness went across James's face for a minute, but then he smiled happily again.
"Seven, wow, you're a big girl," James gushed. I smiled happily.
"How old are you, James?" I asked. James's smile got hard and flat.
"I'm twenty-five," he said. His voice sounded funny, but when he spoke next, he sounded completely normal. "What's your favorite kind of ice cream?"
"I like chocolate," I told him.
"Well, then, chocolate you will get," James decided. He turned to the lady behind the counter. "One chocolate in a cone, please."
She handed me the ice cream, which I eagerly dug into. James watched me eat while making casual, polite conversation. "Don't you want ice cream, too?" I asked him, noticing I was the only one eating.
"No, I'll eat later." Something that looked almost evil flashed in James's eyes, but it was gone in a second, and I guessed I'd imagined it. "What grade are you in?" he asked, and the conversation continued.
I finished my ice cream, and James grabbed my hand in his cold one, but instead of leading me out the front door and into the sunlight that had just burst out of the clouds, he led me back, out a door into an alley that had no light.
"I'm scared, James," I whimpered, looking into the darkness. Something moved in the darkness, and I screamed for a second, only to have James clamp down on my mouth.
"Shut up, little girl," he growled. I whined against his hand. Where was nice James? Suddenly, his black eyes glowed, even in the dark. He opened his mouth wide, and moved it down to my neck. I started to kick against James's grip, but he was holding me too tightly.
"Don't talk to strangers, Gabby," Mama said in my head before his teeth touched my neck. I screamed again, then fell back into something dark.