Keeping to the shadows, Brendan zoned in on his next target; a lad in his twenties, earphones plugging his ears, effectively making him oblivious to his surroundings.

It would be easy for Brendan to get close enough, ridiculously easy. Sometimes Brendan liked a challenge, but if an opportunity like this was presented to him then he certainly wasn't going to ignore it and search for something that gave him with a bit more of a chasing game.

No, if something was offered to Brendan on a plate, he would definitely take it.

Brendan was closing in on this unsuspecting fellow, and, checking no one was about, got into, what would be deemed as, this man's personal space.

From this closeness, Brendan saw blood pulsing under the skin of his neck and could smell the sweet scent that only blood had.

A hand wrapped around the side of the man's neck and he jumped, obviously startled at the touch.

The problem was that he didn't move quickly enough, and Brendan had already tilted his head to the side and sank his teeth into the skin.

Nothing could compare to this heavenly taste, not for Brendan. As he sucked and sucked, the thick blood seeped down Brendan's throat, somewhat reviving him to a full state of awareness.

Once he'd had all he needed, Brendan let go of the lad; pulling his teeth from him and tossing him to the side.

The back of Brendan's hand wiped the excess blood from around his lips and he proceeded to lick each finger clean.

Skulking away, Brendan checked the lad was out of sight and he was, hidden away in the depths of the shadows.

When the lad would return to consciousness, Brendan would be long gone and so would any recollection of what had just occurred.

Brendan was glad that this one hadn't been a noisy drink; he didn't think he would have been able to stand it; not whilst he was already irritated.

Brendan had a job to do when he returned; a necessary one and, truth be told, one that Brendan would enjoy doing.

Despite his agitation, a smirk appeared on Brendan's face.

(((x)))

Once back inside the abandoned warehouse- which was where Brendan kept his possessions and was somewhere ideal for him to stay, for now- he immediately went to make a call.

The sooner, the better, Brendan thought.

After two rings, the line picked up, but there was no answer.

"I know yer there, Danny." Brendan spoke calmly into the receiver. "An' listen Danny, I've got some news for ye: don't mess with Brendan Brady. It will not end well, for ye. And guess what? I've got somethin' that needs doin'… tomorrow."

Brendan waited for some form of response. He didn't have to wait long.

The worry was laced throughout Danny's words; he knew what Brendan was capable of, had seen it before. Even though Danny may think he was something of a 'bad man', compared to Brendan he was actually a saint. And that was saying something.

"What...what is it you want me to...do?"

"There's the spirit Danny boy." Brendan wished he could be doing this face to face; it was so much more fun. Maybe next time.

"I know yer been ignorin' me Danny an' yer know what, it's not gonna be happenin' anymore."

Brendan had been annoyed when Danny had begun dodging his calls. So he'd had to go and have a little chat with Danny and set him straight; make him learn that it was under Brendan's say so that Danny could stop doing jobs for him and not the other way around.

It had been the night before that Brendan had decided to follow Danny and coincidently it was also the evening Brendan was expecting a large shipping of cocaine. He had wanted to get Danny involved in this, make him, or more so his contacts, take the risk.

Not that there could really ever be any risk for Brendan. For starters, no one would ever be able to catch him, let alone trace him.

Still, Brendan had wanted Danny to be dealing with it, and because Brendan had so nicely let Danny in on this little import, Danny would have been giving Brendan some, no, most of the cut.

It just so happened that Danny had begun ringing some people who worked for him, supervising the same delivery of drugs that Brendan should have been in control of.

That told Brendan everything; Danny was trying to cut out Brendan-the middle man, so to speak- meaning that he would be getting a much larger share of the profits.

Well, not if Brendan had any say in it.

Brendan continued, "I want somethin' retrievin' from an alleyway."

It was in a dodgy area, not too far from the warehouse Brendan was staying.

He let Danny know the timings of collection and the whereabouts of the package. When Brendan explained it was under a bin, Danny had to ask how it had ended up there.

"Someone double-crossed me. Called the police and led me down there. S'alright though, I got 'em, made it clear no-one messes with me."

Danny understood the not-so hidden threat behind those words- Brendan was going to mess with whoever Danny sent to collect this package.

Knocking Danny out of his thoughts, Brendan finished, "Be sure to send someone, Danny, else I'm comin' fer ye."

(((x)))

There was plenty of time for Brendan to lie in wait when he arrived down that alleyway the following evening. He had the encounter all planned out in his head.

When the lad Danny would send came, Brendan would allow him to walk down the alley, but not to let him attempt to get anywhere close to the bin that the parcel was 'supposed' to be under. Brendan would scan the area; make sure there was nobody sniffing about. And then he'd make his move.

The lad wouldn't know what'd hit him.

There was no need for Brendan to kill him, just knock him about a bit; send a message to Danny- that if he tried to get one over on Brendan Brady again, he'd be sorry.

On the other hand if Danny didn't send anyone, then Brendan could have his fun with Danny tonight.

At the moment, Brendan was crouching in the darkness, on a higher level than the ground; upon a rickety ledge that stuck out at an odd angle, but it was a place Brendan wouldn't be seen if someone looked up.

In the finish, Brendan had been there for an hour before a lad made an appearance. He came at the time that Brendan had wanted, so Brendan needn't have come so early.

There was no way Brendan could see what the lad looked like, his head was tilted down. But Brendan could tell that he was making a job of just walking down the alleyway.

They'd be here all night if he didn't get a move on.

Brendan decided to have a little fun and hopefully make the lad speed up. He broke off some chunks of wood from the ledge he was crouching on and bounced them off the opposite wall.

The echo certainly had the desired effect, Brendan saw the man look over his shoulder and his legs moved quicker.

Now it was time for Brendan to jump down. He did so landing lightly on his feet, not making a sound and just sauntered down the alleyway after the man. The man though was still walking at a very slow pace only halfway down, so Brendan caught up with him easily.

There was a light flickering on the opposing wall and, if it could be helped, Brendan didn't want to be seen, so he moved over to where he would block the light from his face.

Above, the noise of a helicopter rang in Brendan's ears. It was quite close to the ground and so disturbed the alleyway.

Leaves were whirled into the air, dust became unsettled and new scents were thrown at Brendan.

One in particular stood out. The one of this man in front of him; the man that was now looking at him.

It was a good thing Brendan had a high level of restraint; this lad's scent was mouth-watering. More delicious than anything he'd ever smelt. Brendan was able to keep his feet fixed to the ground though, and held his breath to assist the resistance.

Brendan flicked his eyes across to the lad. This was the first time Brendan was able to see his face and the man's eyes were conveying fear right back to him.

Tilting his head to the side, Brendan noticed the man retreat back a couple of steps and he knew that although they were quite close, the lad would not be able to tell what Brendan looked like because of the poor lighting, but he would see Brendan's outline.

It may have been too dark for humans, however it wasn't for Brendan. He could see the features of the man's face perfectly. And he knew he would remember them from now on, mesmerising as they were.

Brendan was so captivated, he didn't realise until it was too late that the helicopter was circling back around. And Brendan lost all focus: of the lad, of restraint and of all thoughts of the plan. Although any of those thoughts had disappeared as soon as his nose had smelt the appetizing aroma.

Out of character, Brendan was startled when the man that had been stood before him made a run for it; brushing past Brendan and racing up the alleyway eons faster than when he had come down it.

At the point Brendan did realise he should follow the man, he'd already legged it out of the alleyway and into the light and the view of other people, so, in order to follow, Brendan would have to keep to the shadows.

Thank you for reading and I hope you liked it :)

If you haven't already, it would be ideal for you to read my other story Captivated By His Predator which follws Ste's POV (kind of) within this story.

Thanks to the reviewers of Captivated By His Prey, you encouraged me to write this quickly :)

Feel free to leave any questions and/or cmments and I'll answer them for you.

Bye Bye Lovelies xxx

-SwearByStendan-