A/N: This was inspired by a prompt from maxkirin. His blog is amazing and full of fabulous writing prompts and advice so please go visit and give love. I give credit for the prompt and the title to him. Thank you for the inspiration.
His eyes shot open, pupils dilated in the darkness, his mouth was parted open revealing the glint of his sharpened fangs. He looked reminiscent of a shark who'd gotten a whiff of fresh blood nearby. He felt driven, electric, and alive; an animalistic instinct that all predators share. He didn't need to know what time it was; his body told him it was time to eat.
He sat up, yawning loudly then wiping the drool from his cheek. Long fingers ran through the fluffy white strands of his hair. He didn't bother to change his dark jeans and orange shirt as he stood and stretched, enjoying the rushing feeling in his veins as the mixture of hormones and chemicals surged through his blood as they did every night. Where he was going no one would care about his appearance. He shrugged on a high-collared, black leather jacket ready to begin.
His neck twisted at a horrible looking angle until it cracked and he opened the window above the fire escape outside, breathing in the night air surrounding this new city. It was always the biggest rush to taste the first night of a new place. Every town tasted different and this one piqued his curiosity intensely. What would the city of death taste like? He drooled again in the anticipation of thinking about it. He took a deep breath in, opening his senses, looking for the most concentrated area of the city. A few places popped up on his radar immediately. The usual bars and clubs, the hospital, and of course all the graveyards. He was more interested in the first options; graveyards always tasted stale and were his last resort. He preferred living people; they were ripe and almost bursting.
He was ready, excited, and his muscles tensed as he bounded out the window and skillfully scaled the black painted metal fire escape on the side of the building. He didn't make a single sound, unnaturally light on his feet as to not wake the residents. In his customary routine he stopped at every window on his floor. He always tested out his neighbors first, why else would he pick the oldest most run-down accommodations. They held the most run-down and depressed people. They were the tastiest, he always chose sadness over fear or worry. He preferred despair and hopelessness over anxiety and hatred. Emotions were like complex and diverse wines. No two people ever tasted the same. The concentrations were always different, always a new mixture; like songs. There may be some that are similar but it's impossible to replicate every note.
He quietly moved to the window next to his, his first victim. He grinned dangerously in the moonlight, the chemicals and pulses of his feast radiating out from the glass that he lightly scratched his fingers against. A young girl, his mouth watered. They were usually so full of emotions he could feed on them for weeks and he was eager to move in. The rush of ash blonde hair caught his eye before the dim light did and he ducked back quickly, scowling. She was awake. Dammit. He'd have to wait; he glared into the window from the side so she couldn't see him. Pigtails? How old was this bitch? He was sure she lived alone, but it didn't really matter, child or not she still had what he wanted.
Inside she walked across the room and he was able to see a little more of her. She definitely wasn't a kid, although from the size of her chest you wouldn't be able to notice; he quietly snickered. It was only because she was rifling through school papers that he realized she was old enough to be on her own. She looked delicious. Good thing she was right next door. He moved slightly to continue on his rounds, he didn't have time to sit and stare. He was almost to the next window when he realized that her eyes were fixed on where he had just been standing. He stopped, cautious; he certainly didn't want to be caught on his first night. It had only happened once, when he first started needing this food source.
Her forest green irises stared intently on the corner of her window that previously held her stalker. She hadn't seen him, he was sure of it, but she looked like she was certain of an intruder and was simply waiting for him to come out. They stayed locked in that position for a few minutes until she gave up, but not before flicking her eyes to the other side where he was currently before looking down at her schoolwork once more. He stepped back, suddenly aware that he was sweating. His mind must be playing tricks on him, it was impossible for her to have seen or heard him. Although not invisible, he had certain advantages in perception. Leaving no traces of his travels, silencing the sounds of his movement, moving faster than any human possible could, were only a few of the tricks up his sleeves. But she had looked right at him, not seeing him but in his direction, with a look on her face that beckoned him to come out. A game of hide and seek he didn't know he was playing, and he was stubbornly refusing to admit his hiding place after she'd clearly found him.
His scowl depened and he forwent the rest of the building in favor of scanning the rest of this strange district. His stomach rumbled and his cursed. He'd have to find something small tonight, the people here might not be as easy targets as he's used to.