Protected By the Wraith

Chapter 1

Wraith of Violence (Vie)

I wasn’t a creature of the night, but I certainly enjoyed the time between sunset and sunrise. Deviant behavior wasn’t limited to times of darkness, but the lack of illumination seemed to give humans more courage to do things they knew they shouldn’t.

Take tonight, for example. I’d crossed paths with a group of young ruffians using crude language and laughing. They were a prime example of human depravity. I could smell the pain of others clinging to them. They’d hurt someone only hours ago and were looking for their next victim.

I almost licked my lips. They were my favorite kind of human to eat.

“Whatcha lookin’ at, freak?” one of them said, stepping in my path.

I’d slowed as they got closer, which must’ve drawn their attention.

If they hadn’t been looking at me, I would’ve flicked out my long tongue like a snake to taste the air.

Humans tend to give me a second look because of my seven and a half foot height, but that wasn’t so outside the realm of normal to be considered grotesque.

My pale skin and white hair weren’t common either, but still within human coloring.

As long as I kept my tongue hidden, there was nothing to give away my monstrous origins to the casual observer.

Unless they ended up as dinner.

I stopped and let the young men make a half circle around me with a closed store at my back.

Far behind me, thumping music came from a nightclub.

There were a few people coming in and out of the late-night diner across the street from us.

This street was too busy for me to play with my food.

Maybe I could entice these young men into taking me to a more secluded spot.

“I’m only trying to find my friends,” I said, trying to seem pathetic, despite my size.

“We’ll be your friend, you old fag!” one of the boys said, grabbing his crotch with one hand and posturing as if he was holding a gun with the other hand. “But if you try to touch me, I’ll shove a gun up your ass!”

“He’s a big motherfucker!” another one of them said. “Do you like it up the ass, fag?”

The gay slurs were probably due to this area’s gay club and reputation for prostitution. At least it had a reputation for prostitution last year before I’d eaten several brutal pimps. The prostitutes left after that, not realizing they were actually safer now.

It looked like these homophobic young men would be as tasty as those pimps. My mouth was already salivating. All I needed was a little privacy to enjoy my next meal.

“P-p-please,” I stuttered, hunching my shoulders as if scared. “Please let me go.”

“Maybe you can go, maybe not,” one of the young men said. They looked like they ranged from around twenty to twenty-five years old. They were young to stink so strongly of violence and cruelty, but that’s how it was with humans sometimes.

“What’s a big fuckin’ fag like you doing around here?” another asked. “Looking to get beat, pervert?”

I could taste their growing glee and joy as they taunted me. Several of them made threatening movements at me, trying to make me flinch. Their speed was nothing compared to a wraith. They might as well have moved in slow motion. I pretended to recoil with fear to encourage them.

I debated my next move. How did I get them into the nearby alley? It was close. All they needed to do was take a few steps, then I could feast.

My excitement got the better of me, and I felt my magic flair before I could tamp it down. One of the boys hissed and backed off.

“What the fuck is wrong with your eyes?” he asked, pulling several of the boys with him. Any build in my power could cause my eyes to glow. Damn it, you’d think I was a young wraith of only five hundred to let that happen!

“Nothing,” I said, trying hard to sound pathetic and afraid even as I tugged at the hood of my sweatshirt. “It’s the street lights. You weren’t going to hurt me, were you? I have money, you can have it.”

“Naw, guys,” one of the boys said with a shake of his head. “There’s somethin’ fuckin’ wrong with this fag. I ain’t messing with whatever the fuck it is. Fuck it, let’s go!”

His word must’ve been law because the boys flowed past me, quick to leave me behind. Upset at missing a fine meal, I moved into a nearby shadow and shifted to my fully incorporeal mist form. Floating about ten feet above the ground, I followed them.

I would’ve given up the chase if they’d gone into the diner or club, but they ignored both, except to catcall several women as they passed.

I continued to follow as the group made their way to a dark strip mall where all the stores were closed. The parking lot only had a single car and most of the overhead lights weren’t working. It was empty and dark, my favorite type of hunting ground!

Excitement almost got the better of me again. One of my feet formed into solid flesh and banged into the hood of the car before I pulled it back into my mist form.

Where was my control? I must be hungrier than I thought.

Thankfully, the boys were too distracted by something to notice my mistake. They were all walking rapidly across the empty parking lot. Where were they going?

Looking past them gave me the answer.

A lovely petite woman was leaning over, trying to lock a stubborn shop door. Her long black hair hung loosely around her shoulders, hiding her face. All she was wearing was a tight pair of jeans and a long sleeve shirt despite the damp, chilly, San Diego night.

I was caught for a moment by the graceful sweep of her back and the generous round globes perfectly outlined by her worn jeans. My hands itched to reform and touch her.

No! I was a wraith. We fed on humans. I specialized in feeding off tyrants, tormentors, and bullies. My place in this world wasn’t to admire a beautiful woman.

“Hey pretty!” one of the boys yelled.

She turned with a gasp. The boys crossed the last bit of distance in a rush, and I followed. Soon they had her surrounded, similar to what they’d done to me earlier.

“Go away!” she said, standing tall and gripping the strap of her oversized purse as if she was getting ready to use it as a weapon. She was trying to sound strong and confident, but I could taste her overwhelming fear.

Normally, things either tasted good or bland. Pain tasted good. Fear could taste good, but not as good as pain. Happiness, contentment, satisfaction, love, and all the other emotions tasted bland to me. One of my brothers described it as water. The taste of nothing.

For the first time, I tasted sour.

Confused, I floated closer. The sourness was coming from her. It was horrible in my mouth. Then one of the boys took a step closer, and she started to panic. That tasted like rot.

If I’d been in my corporeal form, I would’ve gagged from the taste.

No, this wouldn’t do. I couldn’t let this continue. I had to make it stop.

Sliding between her and the threat, I faced the boys and became solid.

Everyone screamed.

I was used to screams. Waves of sweet, sweet fear came off the boys. It would’ve been lovely except for the growing smell of panic coming from her. Could I make that stop?

I turned to face the woman. She looked up at me, her hair falling back to give me a good look at her round, soft face. Big, expressive brown eyes stared up at me with abject terror.

She opened her mouth to scream but nothing came out. She was so scared she couldn’t make a sound. My mouth flooded with a rotten taste so bad I might have gagged a little.

“Please stop being afraid,” I begged. Of course that didn’t work. I’d forgotten to pitch my voice. The moment she heard my deep, inhuman voice, her back collided with the door behind her, violently shaking the glass. That gave me an idea. “You should go back inside.”

That was about the time one of the boys had gathered up the courage to stab something into my back. I jerked and hissed. It didn’t hurt much, but I was annoyed. This was my favorite hoodie, and he’d just put a hole in it!

Reaching past her, I turned the key and pulled the door open. Using a firm grip on her upper arm, I guided her into the colorful store.

“Stay,” I ordered, before closing the door behind her. Then I turned to face the young men.

“Finally,” I said, letting go of my magic. “I’m starving!”

Willow

My legs buckled under me. I fell to my knees, my eyes focused through the glass door on the figure in the dark hoodie. When he’d appeared in front of me, I thought I was imagining things. That my fear was causing me to hallucinate. Then he’d spoken and touched me, and I realized it was all real.

Real and monstrous!

Not only had he materialized out of nothing, but his eyes glowed!

Then he’d grabbed my arm, and I’d felt a strange warmth radiate through me.

Before I could process anything, he’d pushed me into the store and closed the door.

It wasn’t locked so the gangbangers could’ve walked right in.

Except he stood there, a barrier between me and them.

When he turned, I could see a knife handle sticking out of my savior’s back. Someone had stabbed him when he’d been looking after me!

“Finally,” he said in that inhuman voice. “I’m starving.”

That voice helped shake me out of my stupor. It was six men against one. Even if he had glowing eyes, that wasn’t fair odds.

“Help,” I whispered. “We need help.”

How dumb was I? I needed to call for help, not sit here talking to thin air! I wasn’t a big fan of the cops, but sometimes you needed bullies with guns to go after other bullies.

I slapped my hands down on my jeans pockets, but they were empty. I looked out the door to see my purse laying on the ground. Damn it, my phone was in there!

The shop had a landline, I could use that!

Before I could stumble to my feet, my savior launched himself at his closest opponent. He moved so fast his outline seemed to blur.

The man screamed for help, struggling under the hooded figure as they both went down to the ground.