The woman turned, startled by a noise, seeing nothing, she turned and resumed walking along the alley.
Damn. He thought, she had nearly seen him all because of a stupid bottle. He peered around the corner of the alley and, seeing she had resumed her journey, crept around the corner and resumed following her. He had been waiting for this for a long time, letting his appetite grow until it nearly overwhelmed him. As he crept down the alley, his heartbeat slowed down until it no longer thumped in his ears. He could literally feel the adrenaline as it coursed through his body.
The woman turned a corner at the end of the alley and crossed the street it led on to.
Right, now the tricky bit. He peered both ways down the street, he saw nothing to his left, looked to his right, nothing again. He started to panic, his heart rate rising again. Then he saw it, a glimpse of lace disappearing down an alley on the opposite side of the road, about a hundred yards to his right. He crossed the road and crept up to the alley, pausing at its mouth. Peering around the wall, he saw his prey about halfway down the alley. He set off after her, keeping to the shadows.
After a few minutes, the basket the woman was holding broke, spilling its load of meats and cheese across the alley. Perfect. As the woman busied herself gathering the goods, cursing under her breath, he took his chance. In one movement he stepped out of his hiding place, grabbed her throat, pinned her against the wall and held his other hand over her mouth before a scream escape her throat.
"right, my pretty, tonight me and you are going to have a little fun, then I will feast." The look of terror in the woman's eyes was intoxicating, the need to feed overpowering. He would make this last as long as possible, drawing it out till the end.
"heh heh heh," he stared into those eyes, wide with terror, and slowly, oh so slowly, drew his knife. The blade positively gleamed in the darkness, it was that sharp. He ran the blade along her throat watching as her eyes started to swell with tears, she knew what was coming, and it aroused him. He felt the tingle down his spine, the shiver in his muscles that signified the kill was near.
Everything was in high quality,....time seemed to slow. The beads of sweat on her forehead glistened like diamonds, the smells of the alley were strong in his nostrils, dirt, piss, sweat, vomit, blood. They all swam through his nose, even the sounds were heightened, the slight whisper of the wind,. The womans heavy breathing, the sound of a foot against pottery, the distant calling of a cat....
Foot?! Suddenly he felt more than heard someone land behind him, he span, his right hand coming up, the dagger pointing towards the intestines of his attackers. But the blow never connected, the attackers hand shot out, grabbing his wrist and quickly turning it 180, snapping it. The knife fell from dead fingers, and his face turned white, the pain was incredible. He brought up his left hand, trying to break the hold, but again his attacker moved faster, grabbing his left arm before it was even half way to his wrist, and again, snapped it. Now the man had no hands and the woman slumped to the ground. The mysterious attacker grabbed the man by his shirt and pulled him up, slamming u=him against the wall of the alley.
The stranger leaned in close, and said, in a voice that sounded older than the grave "if I were you, I'd scream about now." Then he brought his other hand up, fingers held rigid like a blade, and slashed the nails across the man's throat. Blood fountained out of the gaping wound, across the strangers chest and face. As the blood drained from the man's body, he stopped struggling, until the stranger released his body and it fell to the floor. Then it turned and saw the woman just getting up.
"thank you" she said, relief evident in her voice, "you saved me."
The stranger leaned forwards and she got her first look at his face, it was pale, almost white, and had two bright, almost lupine eyes. And a set of very large, very sharp, fangs.
"Saved you? Who says I saved you?" his tone was mocking, "you're the main course!"
Her scream split the night, until it was violently and suddenly cut off.