From the Red Moon, Prologue

The rush of the chase. He loved it. She would, too, eventually. But not now. First-timers hated it.

Greenhorns. He snorted. Pitiful creatures. They screamed at the mere sight of blood. Adjusting his tie, he glanced at his companion.

"Solstice? This forest... will we find him here?" The woman flitted her fingers over the zipper on her pink sweater, her eyes darting into the pines. She had charcoal hair that reached the small of her back and skin, pale as light. Her eyes were the same color as her hair-- perhaps even darker. He suppressed a fang-bearing grin at her behavior and grunted. "He'll be here," he said, and snapped his head towards the left. He flipped away a few strands of dark brown hair from his face before looking at the woman and sighing in frustration. "Hurry up," he growled, before racing into the branches. She stumbled a bit, surprised at the sudden order, before following.

Feh. Stupid newbies; always slowing him down.

* * *

Crunch, crunch.

He ground the skull into the rock, white dust catching into the dips and holes. So slow... so painfully slow. A growl escaped his lips and he finally smashed the bone into the rock, fragments and remains of flesh bouncing off his bare skin. His hand bled, rivulets clinging against their final lifeline before falling onto the scattered wood chips, bone, and dirt. His eyes, catching sight of the moon, flashed.

Howl!

Howl out your heart! It commanded him, and he couldn't resist.

He didn't want to, anyway.

He grinned, hearing the wolves join in, and ripped another scream from his painfully clenching throat. Stepping over the remainders of his meal, he sped into the night, his body a pale blur.

Power!

More power than he had ever had before!

It consumed him, swallowed him until he was nothing-- no, everything. He cackled gleefully, eyes aglow with the light of madmen. He killed everyone who got in his way-- those damned torturers, and those fools who chased him... but now, nothing could stop him now... not even a god!

And he was right. He spotted his next victim, a young woman, perhaps twenty. He grinned, landing behind her with only the light scuffling of leaves signaling his arrival.

Foolish woman! Taking a walk in the forest at midnight!

She spun around, and he drank in the sight of her perfect black hair and eyes. Her skin was too pale to be Asian-- which was good. He hated Asians. "A-ah... hello." She smiled before she gasped. Foolish woman! He howled with laughter when she stepped back, taking in his appearance. Her eyes, wide with fright! How he'd love to play with her...

That's what he thought, until she slammed her fist against his throat.

He choked before he snarled and leaped back, landing on his feet and hands. He grunted, his eyes widening as the woman smirked at him, eyes bright with lust.

Blood lust.

"That's how it's done." An impossibly husky and masculine voice escaped the woman's light lips. He shuffled backwards, preparing to leap at his prey, but jolted when he noticed another presence behind him.

There was the woman, but she was noticeably less confident, her stature collapsing on itself. She nodded, and in an instant he was sent flying backwards by the woman(Was it a woman?)'s double.

"Good."

A crushing grip settled on his neck, long, sharpened nails digging in his skin. Blazing ember eyes bore into his, and the hand tightened. His keeper's muscles flexed under the black suit sleeve and the dark-haired stranger raised his lips in a snarl, preparing to speak the final words he would ever hear.

"Burn in Hell."

A crippled body, its head hanging by a slight sinewy thread of skin, was left to bathe in its own blood.

Even if a god could not defeat him, they weren't gods, anyways.

They would never allow themselves to be called something so lowly.

* * *
She collapsed on her knees, her jeans muddied, her arms shaking. She looked back at her companion and winced.

So normally... he killed the man without a second thought! They were supposed to capture him! So why? He snapped his neck, just like that, and left.

And she had helped him. She knocked the hybrid to his doom...

And oh, oh God! Oh, dear Lord, she had sinned. Nothing she could do could repent for her crimes... nothing! Nothing! She sobbed. What had she done? She had just watched as he died...

Burning tears slid down her cheeks, tickling her skin. But she ignored it. She had sinned. She, God's child, the perfect child, had killed. She had aided in Death.

A warm tongue slid against her tears and she fell back. Solstice-- the killer! The killer! Her mind screamed -- merely sat with an amused expression on his face. "You helped kill someone. You'll do it again. Stop brooding or I'll kill you, too." he said, nonchalance dripping off of every word. Her eyes widened. He did not care! He killed, and would gladly kill again-- gladly kill her. He was-- he was a murderer. Why didn't she realize it before? Oh Lord, she had to escape. She had to get away!

Her eyes blinked out more tears. They stung and blurred her vision, but she made no move to clear them from her face. How did it come to this? Solstice... he was a gruff man, beastly even when he was clad in his suit, but he seemed so kind! He had saved her... But now... now she saw him for what he was.

"Stop thinking that, Crow." He tilted his head, a lopsided grin on his face. "Have you forgotten why you joined in the first place? To... 'rid the world of evils', right?" He laughed at the words, the sound vicious, and stood, dusting off his pants. He narrowed his eyes as his grin grew wider, more ferocious. "You can't do that if you run away, Crow... because then you'll die. Instantly. And you can't do nothing once you're dead, Crow-y girl."

She shivered, knowing the man could read her every thought. She had joined to help others, to save others... not to kill them.

"Oh, well. It's your choice. So, you'll die by... blunt trauma. That okay?" He picked at a scab on his hand and scrunched his nose when it broke off. She flinched, biting her lip, and slowly moved her gaze from him, instead looking towards the forest. She measured the distance and the likely time it would take to reach cover... Thirteen meters, 3.9934 seconds.

But she knew she couldn't escape. Even with her speed, Solstice was far too quick.

"C'mon, Crow. For all those people you wanted to protect... will you live and help me, or die, failing in your-- mission?" Her gaze snapped back to him. He was carefully examining the scab he held in his fingers. She gulped and looked down. Seeing her clean hands --now filthy with invisible blood-- she couldn't help but remember what had happened on that day, the day that seemed years ago. Anise... remembering her younger sister, she bit her lip hard enough to draw blood. Could she really be so selfish? It... was for a greater cause, wasn't it? It had to be. It must be.

Any decision that would keep her alive must be right.

She glanced back up, and her mouth, parched dry, opened to relay her decision.

"I... I'll stay..." Her voice cracked, and she shook as she huddled into herself at Solstice's expression.

A rapacious glint flickered in his eyes as he grinned at her. He chuckled, the sound low and silent, compared to his normal laughter. She clutched her hands to her chest as she began to regret her choice, and tightened her grip as she heard his words.

"Welcome. Now that you've joined Noir, you'll never have the heart to leave...."

With that, this little life among throngs of others began.