At First Blood

The rain fell softly as Mycal made his way through the thick of the forest. It was late. He was hungry. It had been a long time since he had last tasted human blood and his very soul was crying out for it.

Mycal was careful though. He rarely went into town. Instead he waited, crouched in the darkness, waiting for his prey. He chuckled as the rain fell harder. “Stupid mortals” he hissed. “Such easy targets”. He heard the distant footsteps  and drew back within the shadows of the tall trees.  He knew that time was on his side now.

Bailey rarely ever ventured out after dark alone. Just 2 months ago, she was walking with her friend when something lunged from the dark and dragged her back in to the woods surrounding her town. She could still hear the screams as her friend tried to get away. The body was discovered 2 days later, cast into the river bed like yesterdays trash. Bailey had heard rumors that there were suspicious marks on her neck and arm. No one ever determined what had killed her friend that night. All Bailey knew was that night something bad had been unleashed on her small, innocent town.

Bailey trudged down the side of the road, pulling her head further into her jacket. She hadn’t expected it to rain when she left. In fact, as she told her parents good-bye to head to the football game, the sun had been shining, the birds singing. When her father asked her if she wanted a ride home after the game, Bailey had surprised them both by saying that she would walk. It was only a couple of miles. The same route she took daily to school. Now though, as she pulled her cell phone out of her pocket, she wished she had said yes.



Mycal heard the footsteps getting closer. His lips curled back over his teeth. The time was now.



“Damnit” Bailey said. She couldn’t get a signal on her phone.  She shoved the phone back into her wet jacket and walked a little faster.  As she approached the spot where her friend disappeared 2 months ago, she slowed. Oblvious to the rain pelting her head, she knelt down on the side of the road. She closed her eyes as lightning flashed over head. She could still see Kat, her brown eyes wide with fear, her sneakers digging into the gravel. “Oh Kat” Bailey whispered as she ran her fingers across the muddy gravel. As thundered rumbled in the distance, Bailey opened her eyes, not sure if the moisture on her face was the rain or her tears. She pulled herself up and brushed as much of the mud off her jeans as she could and kept on walking. She could see the lights of town just ahead. Hopefully by the time she reached the café on the outskirts of town she could reach her dad to come and get her.

Mycal watched as the human drew closer. He snickered as he reveled in how oblvious she was to her surroundings. It would make it easier to eat. As she approached the location where Mycal was shrouded in evergreen bush, he prepared to make his move.

Bailey stopped. Of to her left she heard some thing rustling. She looked around, for the first time tonight, the rain had slowed and the air was still. “Probably an animal” she whispered to herself as she zipped up her jacket to her chin. She had taken no more then two steps when she felt cold hands encircle  her neck. The grip, like iron, was ice cold, yet burned the skin of her neck. Bailey drew in a breath, prepared to scream, fully aware that no one would hear her.  Another hand grasped her shoulder  and whipped her around. Bailey’s eyes flew open as she came face to face with Mycal. “Scream all you want Mortal” Bailey struggled in his grip. “Tonight, you take your last breath.”  As Mycal drew back his lips over his teeth, the moonlight glistened off  the rain that had fallen on his face. Bailey knew in that instant, that this was the monster who had killed Kat. Bailey struggled some more. Mycal tightened his grip. “Go ahead, fight. You will never get away” he laughed. He tightened his grip around her throat and pushed her up against the tree.  He ran the cold fingers of his free hand down her check. “I’ve seen you before. Your friend…she was a fighter too” Mycal drew back, preparing to feast on the girl before him. Suddenly headlights flashed, and in an instant, Bailey found herself crumpled on the wet ground. She looked around. He was gone. Her neck hurt, her shoulder hurt. The car approached and slowed down. The driver rolled down the window, it was Father Andrews. “Bailey? What are you doing out here in the rain? Let me give you a ride.” Bailey couldn’t move. Father Andrews got out of the car, “Baliey? What happened?” She looked at him. “I..I don’t know” she stammered.

Mycal watched as the girl was helped to the car by the man. “Damnit” he roared. The girl was the perfect victim. As the taillights of the car headed off into town, Mycal ran off, he knew what he was going to do. He would get the girl. And whomever else stood in his way.



A short time later, Father Andrews pulled into the drive. He eyed the darkening bruise on her neck. “Bailey…” he reached out to her. She drew away. “Thank you for the ride Father” she shut the car door behind her. As she approached the house, the door was open. She stopped. She heard Father Andrew’s footsteps behind her. “They never leave the door open” she whispered as she slowly approached the house.  She could see shards of glass glistening off the porch as she crept closer to the house. She heard Father Andrew take in a breath. She looked in the door, and there on the floor, lie the bodies of her mother and father. Blood covered the floor.  Bailey looked at Father Andrews. “They are dead”

As the rain began to fall again, this time harder than before and sirens rang in the distance, she vowed to stop at nothing to get the monster who killed her mother and father. Tonight, the sight of her parents blood on the floor, drove  Bailey to the very edge of madness.  Mycal laughed from afar. He knew that Bailey would soon be his.