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what had just happened, no doubt
hardened by such encounters.
    ‘Please seek me out,’ she said. ‘I promise I
can reward you in kind.’
    ‘No, thank you,’ I said, pointing towards the
track back to the town. ‘Now hurry!’
    She picked up the remains of her coins and spat
at the recumbent man before making her exit. It was unfortunate that her choices
were so limited that she could not find alternate means to exist, and I could
not guarantee her permanent safety from this kind of human, not to mention my
own kind. Many of the newest members of my family hunted in these areas and
were more open to opportunity ; their interpretation of
‘degenerates’ slightly wider than the elders.
    The man’s head was bleeding and it was
consuming every thought, while every muscle in my body was contracting in
anticipation. He stood up unsteadily until he found his balance once more.
    Again he came, attempting to sink his thumbs
into my eyes but I was quick to snap his wrists. He yelped in pain.
    ‘You slimy turd! We could have gone halves with
her,’ he lied.
    I circled him. It was a tactic I enjoyed using
to further unsettle my victims. He looked cautiously
at me then.
    ‘I don’t want any more trouble,’ he said,
wincing from the pain, his hands dangling uselessly by his sides. But his eyes
said that he would do it all again if he were able enough.
    I threw him at a tree and heard his back snap.
It’s not how I liked to kill. It was more enjoyable to paralyse them with my
feeding and feel their heart slow. To feed on someone helpless took away a lot
of the enjoyment. Still it was perhaps more torturous and if anyone deserved such
treatment, it was this weasel.
    I stood over him and watched his fear-filled
eyes. Then I bent to draw from him his life.
     
    Lilah

 
    It was morning and time to leave.
For the second time in my life I was required to take a new direction. I was
yet to learn of the many times I would have to change course simply because I
was born different.
    Arianne stood at the gate to watch me go. She
was resolute, her face slightly harder, less well-meaning than I was used to.
    ‘Goodbye, Lilah. Don’t look back. You are obviously
meant for better things as perhaps am I. I will not
forget what you did.’ With those parting words, I headed down the wide road
between the rows of white clay and oak wood houses with their brown-orange
roofs, towards the hilly edge of town where the houses were thatched and
smaller. Beyond this was a world I had not seen.
    I had grown so tall this last year. My stone
coloured sheath was freshly laundered and lengthened to just cover my ankles.
Over this, I wore a grey pinafore to replace my novice garment. I clutched at
Arianne’s bag, which kept me closer to her and the place I was raised, while
fighting the urge to look back.
    I kept to Arianne’s directions towards her
former home, feeling much anxiety about meeting her family. She had been quite
secretive about them over the years, so much so I was unaware she had younger
sisters. Arianne had only ever talked about her brothers and their riding and
hunting activities. As she grew older she became distanced from her brothers
and it was at this time her parents had agreed to give her to the abbey.
    Outside the town, the pathways grew narrower,
just enough for a horse and cart. The day was hot and the straps of my satchel
began to rub my shoulder. I nibbled at the food but my stomach was churning,
suppressing any hunger. Occasionally I passed another traveller or tradesman
who, thankfully, rarely acknowledged my presence.
    It was late in the day and I realised that I
would soon have to rest for the evening. My legs had become weary and my body
still weak from the amount of healing skill I had used in previous weeks.
Shadows of trees fell across the pathway and I began to imagine the fearsome
grunts, growls and shrieks that came from deep within the forest were almost
upon me.
    The light was dimming quickly and I