Escaping Christian

Prologue: Her Freedom

"You should buy that and follow me. Yes?"

"Okay." He murmured like a lost puppy.

Like the gentle woman I am, I offered my arm to him and led him - as my good friend Nate would say - astray. Because that's what I do apparently. I lead people astray. I was the energetic, flighty, impulsive soul that did whatever I pleased. Quote, unquote a certain someone I dare not speak of said to me once upon a time. I shook the thought of him away and continued through the crowd.

I rarely affiliated myself with humans when I fed. I wasn't a complete monster, I just... Preferred to feed from humans whilst Evie and Amy preferred the blood of animals. Animals sometimes were my main source but what else am I supposed to feed on here? Camels?

No way Josè. They tasted vile.

My eyes scanned the crowd as it did every day and every night. Sometimes, but not all the time, I felt like someone or something was watching me. Call me paranoid, but I had to watch my back nowadays. I didn't know what predator I was going to encounter now that I'd entered this supernatural world. A few years ago, I met a werepanther. A freakin' werepanther. He caught up with me in Moscow near Chernobyl. They say that place is inhabitable because of the nuclear disaster? Absolute crap. Werepanther's cover every inch of it. Good for them for finding a home I say. He's a nice, shy guy too. Joe. We talk from time to time and he visited me last year but we both have important things to be getting on with.

Like feeding.

"Where are we going?" The man attached to my arm asked me in a dream like state.

"Around the corner. Quick question, do you have a girlfriend?" I met his eye.

He shook his head as we neared the narrow, shadowed alley way and replied, "No."

"Wife?"

"No."

"Boyfriend?"

"Nope."

I raised a brow. "Then who are you buying that tapestry for?"

"My mother. She's getting a cucumber facial scrub at the hotel. We do this every year."

I pursed my lips to hide my smile and swiped the sweat from my head with relief. "Oh. Well... That's just great. Okay, I want you to be as quiet as possible please and thank you."

With a calming breath, I exposed my fangs, felt the throbbing of my empty veins along my neck and cheeks and allowed my gaze to darken as I sunk my teeth into the side of his neck. I felt his skin break beneath my fangs, his blood poured carefully into my mouth.

Oh, sweet, sweet nectar.

Two and a half weeks and I was on my last dregs. I'd been in the middle of the desert for most of that time.

One crabapple, two crabapples...

It was dangerous of me as it, well, resulted to me suckling on an innocent human in public but it came with the job... Sort of.

Four crabapples... Four and half crabapples...

And release.

I inhaled the smoggy hot air, completely satisfied, quenched of my unfortunate thirst and looked the pale man in his eyes before biting the tips of my finger tips to heal his neck. And as I did so, I made him look me in the eye once more: "You had a wonderful day out finding that beautifully useless tapestry, you won't remember me at all or what happened in this alleyway. Okay? Take a hot bath when you get back too, and maybe, well, find yourself a nice girl. Go on vacation with her instead of your mother next time. Have a good day."