Star shifted the canvas bag from one shoulder to the other, her footsteps sounding hollow and empty on the boards as she walked. The last security light she had passed had not been working, and though the darkness didn't usually bother her, for some reason tonight it did. She paused for a moment, pretending to adjust the drop of her long skirt but really listening out for the soft footfalls she thought had been following her. She straightened up.
'Wake up, Star,' she mumbled to herself. It's just an echo, she thought. As it had been so often during her recent escapades, the pier was empty. But why did she hear footsteps treading softly behind her?
Tozier had seen her off, bleary eyed and worried at the back door of his tattoo parlour.
'Let me walk you there at least. I don't like the thought of you heading up to Hudson's Bluff on that creep's motorcycle, let alone you out there on your own going to meet him,' he'd said, almost comical in his over-large, striped boxers.
'Please,' Star had said, waving his concerns aside with one hand. 'I used to sleep out there on my own. The Boardwalk is my home, the night is my friend. Nothing bad will happen.' Star had grinned then, almost believing it herself as she took the bag from her friend. 'Don't worry about me. I'm a tough cookie, made to survive.' She blew him a kiss and slung the bag over her shoulder, shooing him back to bed with a flick of her hand as she rounded the corner and slipped out of his sight.
Now, almost blinded by the black night, she found her heart beating hard in her throat as her ears picked up the sound of every grain of sand blowing across the wooden boards, the creak of the Boardwalk as it sighed and settled into place beneath her feet. The ocean pushed and pulled below, a sound that was as familiar as her own pulse.
But there was another sound. The tread of someone else behind her. But each time Star turned around, shadow lay upon shadow and she could make out nothing in the darkness. Which was almost as bad as seeing something.
Star measured her steps, counting them equally in her head to give her something other than her irrational fear to focus on. She had only six hundred and fifty steps to go to reach the carousel, if she could trust her own judgement.
'Mon ami,' came a rich, velvety voice that made her skin crawl. Star froze, unable to turn on the spot to face the man who spoke. 'You left so suddenly, we didn't have the chance to get to know each other properly. I feel you had an unfair – representation – of our hospitality. You still require somewhere to stay, no?' His hand slid up her arm, leaving a trail of goosebumps in its wake.
'I have somewhere to stay now, thank you,' Star said curtly, hoping her voice didn't tremble as much as she thought it did. Niko pressed on her arm, turning Star around to face him. He was grinning and his sharp, white teeth were almost luminous in his tanned face.
'But only we can help you with your situation. Find you somewhere a little more permanent.' Niko's wide hand travelled further along Star's arm, reaching her shoulder and gently pushing back her thick curls and tucking them behind her ear, caressing her cheek. Star stepped back immediately, her eyes fierce and guarded.
'Don't touch me,' she growled.
'So defiant,' Niko chuckled. 'I like it. Too often your kind are sucked in by our beauty. Compliant and willing. It is not often a girl runs from me. None who live to tell the tale anyway, I can assure you of that, bella.'
'Well there's a first time for everything.' Star took a succession of steps back, jamming one hand deep into the bag still on her shoulder.
'Star,' he purred, his baritone voice rich and smooth. 'You're so beautiful. Come to me, my precious, and I will show you how to shine.' Niko opened his arms wide, inviting her with his liquid brown eyes and perfectly chiselled features.
'Get away from me,' Star intoned, enunciating each word carefully and slowly, in case her meaning should be unclear.
'I don't think you quite are understanding me. Perhaps something is being lost in translation, hmm?' Niko closed the gap with one step, grabbing at Star's arm. The girl struggled, trying to take a step back to pull away from him, but Niko was strong. He took a step forward and grabbed at her other arm, thick fingertips digging hard into her warm flesh. 'No one runs away from me.' His eyes, black in the darkness now, glittered dangerously as his features elongated in that animalistic fashion that she recognised from Dwayne and the other boys. An involuntary cry left her lips, which made Niko smile sadistically. As quick as a snake, his hand had struck to wind itself in her thick hair, yanking her head back painfully making Star cry out louder.
Instantly, visions of her daddy kicked in. Flickering like an old movie in her mind, Star saw Hank towering over a dark haired little girl, raining blow after blow on her bowed head… his bare foot kicking ten bells of shit out of the hunched frame of a teenager too terrified to do anything but shield her face so she could at least go to school on Monday… his thick fingers tangling in her dark hair as his other fist belted down to blacken her eye and split her lip…
'NO!' she screamed, ripping the hand from her hair and a hunk of dark strands in the process. 'Don't you dare touch me you fucking shit sucking vampire!' Niko's laugh rolled as ambivalently as the ocean waves.
'Blood is much tastier than shit, I can assure you. But I'm tired of playing games. Your boyfriend has a lot to answer for, and taking your life will be a good place to start, mi bella. A shame to waste such beauty. Alas, I am but a slave to my instincts.'
'As am I,' cried Star, dragging the short blade out of the bag that Tozier had given her. He'd stuffed it down the side of the clothes, making sure she knew it was there before he'd let her leave.
'Let's hope you'll never need to use it,' he'd said seriously, running his thumb along the blade to show her how sharp it was, before sliding it inside the bundle of dresses, skirts and tops. But she whipped it out now. It was wide but short, serrated along one edge with a gentle curve like a bowie knife. But it was made of solid silver. Chris had given it to Tozier on the date of their first anniversary, a beautiful piece of metal work which had been more of a display piece rather than functional. But Tozier loved his blades, so he'd sharpened it with all the others in his collection.
The smooth metal caught the fury in Star's eyes as she flicked it up and caught Niko's chin with the sinfully sharp edge. She knew Niko was just like David, so the dark blood that blossomed along the thin slice in his flesh surprised her for some reason. Star hadn't given much thought about them having blood that was so human-like.
Niko rubbed his hand across the small cut and contemplated the blood on his hand before laughing. 'Oh, so you want to play it like that?' He lifted his hand to his nose, nostrils flaring in delight at the scent. His long, thin tongue extended lizard-like to lick the blood from his palm. 'Mmm… I bet your blood is much sweeter than mine.'
'Don't come any closer,' Star warned, holding the knife out warily in front.
'You can't hurt me,' Niko said, reaching out for her again. Star feigned a stab to the right, swiping up her fallen bag with her other hand and making a run for it as she lunged to the left. Niko, though he had flicked to the right to catch Star for a split second, soon corrected himself with lightning speed and made a break for it, hot on her heels. Though the terrified girl ran as fast as she could, boosted by the adrenaline pulsing through her veins, Star was just no match for Niko's inhuman speed. The man chuckled as though he was enjoying this little charade, his long fingers entangling in her loose, flowing hair again as it streamed behind her like a ribbon. He wound his fist into her already tangled curls and yanked her back. But Star, feeling her hair catch in his hand, swung her arm up, jabbing blindly with the knife and almost retching at the crunch she felt as it slid cleanly between his ribs.
Niko cursed in Italian as the silver blade pierced his flesh. It stung instantly, the edges of the cut burning. But his grip only tightened on Star's hair as she tried desperately to twist away from him. She swept blindly again with the knife, striking lucky as she somehow managed to drag the short blade across his stomach, from hip to hip, making Niko bellow in pain like a wounded animal. His whole abdomen felt as though it were on fire and he bent over a little to try and relieve the ache.
'Argh, you bitch!' he cursed. 'What is that? Silver? Clever little trick, but it won't save you now!' His other hand swung up to clutch at her throat, his fingers squeezing painfully.
'Yes – it – will,' Star gasped, lifting the knife now to slice easily through the hair Niko still held, leaving him with a fistful of brown strands. He blinked, surprised, letting his grip slacken for a moment which meant Star could wrench his other hand from her neck and run again.
Her bare feet pounded on the wooden pier like the blood pulsing in her ears and her heart pumping in her chest. Star could see the brightly painted carousel already, the wooden horses frozen in the act of prancing, speared through their middles by their twisted, golden poles. Desperate eyes raced from side to side, scanning the darkness for David and his bike. Surely it was past four by now? The heavy, thudding sound of Niko storming close behind her made Star run faster than she ever had. But she tripped on something. Her own feet perhaps, the muscles in her thighs already burning with the effort of running and tensed by the adrenaline coursing through her body. Star flew through the air for a moment, tumbling down onto her front and skinning her knees painfully on the rough pier as she put her hands out to save herself from falling on her face and the silver knife skittered across the floor just a few inches out of her reach.
Panting with exhaustion she closed her eyes in defeat as Niko wrapped one arm around her waist and jerked her head up with one hand under her chin, exposing her throat. She could feel his breath cool on her skin, sense his excitement as she imagined his dark, wild features alight with pleasure as he opened his mouth to bite deep into her hot, pulsing vein.
'You're late, Star.' The gravelly, familiar drawl had never been so welcome as it was then.
Her eyes snapped open and there, sat astride his motorcycle like a dark knight on his steed, was David. 'Get the fuck off of her,' he growled fiercely at Niko, glaring down at the other man as he crouched behind the kneeling girl. 'She is mine.'