1.Hunger

      I walk the streets among the mortals, cold winds whipping snow flakes into my face as I scour the street. I pick up a barrage of interesting scents.  I catch fear, anger, misery, lust, envy even. I can work with these, any of these. I'm starving. I feel particularly ravenous today. I want blood today. I need it. My body aches as the hunger intensifies. I want quick, easy prey.

      I pass a few homeless, huddled in a shanty in an ally. I focus, and soon I can read their minds. I typically do not read minds unless I intend to feed from memory or emotions, but I only want to eat one. I do not wish to put them all on alert. So I call out to one, the one who suffers most. I become mist, and I materialize behind their tent in the back of the alley, before vanishing again in wait. Soon, an old and crippled man emerges. He wanders the alley as I call to him.

      "Are you tired Henry? Do you hurt?"

      "Yes. I'm sick. I have been for a while. I-I think I'm dying. Who are you?"

      "I'm God, Henry.  I've heard your plights and seen your suffering. I come to make you whole, to bring you home, Henry." He staggers towards me and I materialize and kneel to his height.

     "I knew you would come. I knew you hadn't forgotten me. I prayed..." He falls to his knees and sobs. "I prayed every day for the past seven years. Even on the streets, I never lost faith in you." I scoop him up and hold him to me.

     "I would never forget you. I love all my children. Each is special." He hugs me and I grin. I run my talons through his hair, his head is down so he does not see what I really am. I lull him into a peaceful, blank state and he melts into my body. His anguish and misery travels through my finger tips and thrums into my veins. Delicious. I keep him tranced, while I finish. I lean into his neck, and I drink him dry in less than a minute. I hear his last thoughts in my mind, as his life fades.

      "I'm coming home Lorna. I'll see you again in the kingdom of God. I'll hold you once more in the golden streets. I'll never suffer again. I'll never be hungry..."

     "And neither will I." I drop him gently to the ground. "Thanks for your service, Henry." That relieved the worst of my hunger, but still it lingers. I feel unsatisfied, unsettled. I leave the alley and continue walking the busy street. I'm not sure exactly what I'm looking for, but I'll know when I find it I suppose.

        My body hums as I read the energy around me. I take it all in. The lustful glances of women as they take me in, eyes lingering south. I wink at them mischievously and their weak litt li e hearts thud faster. I don't want them though. I had a woman yesterday. I need something more. I don't even know what I want. I'm restless. I see men look up to me uncomfortably, they can sense it, but what no idea why they are put off by me. It's the body's natural response to danger. Street vendors emit their positive, hopeful aura as they present themselves to me as I pass in hopes to gain a customer. An old lady smiles softly at me, glasses falling down her nose as her husband wheels her into a baby boutique. I can feel her joy radiating. She's about to meet her first grandbaby. She can't believe at her age she survived cancer, to see her first grandchild. 

      "Oh!" I hear the old man exclaim in shock as the wheelchair catches on a large crack in concrete. I stand to watch the show for a moment, others have yet to notice. The woman is thrown onto her knees as the chair spills over. The old man trips in his angst to get to his wife. Nobody slows down. Nobody bats an eye.

       A quick flash of emerald green catches my eye and I watch as a young woman with green hair rushes to their aid. The man is back on his feet, and the woman lifts the grandma up, into her chair with ease.

      "Get off me. Freak." The ungrateful grandma scolds the woman. The woman lowers her head and saunters off. Not even dignifying the insult with a response.  I quickly tap into her thoughts and I quickly learned that she had spilled her lunch in fright as she ran to help the ingrates. Her belly growls and I stalk her from a distance as she retreats. This girl is interesting.  Her mind is utter chaos, her demeanor soft and helpful. 

        The light grey leggings she's wearing display a sizable, plump ass and thick legs as she bounds away. Her shoes are flat heeled boots that lace. A practical woman, I muse. A chunky cream sweater obscures the top half of her figure from view. She turns into a department store and I follow her in, quickly making myself invisible to the naked eye as I step behind her while she clocks in at the kiosk. Her hair raises and she whips back, looking through me in confusion. Green lined eyes wide. The action amuses me, and I brush her hair with the faintest touch. She squeals and does the motions one would after walking through a spider web.

      Composing herself, she gallops to the back and begins loading boxes onto the cart to stock. I watch her as she easily lifts the heavy boxes with little effort. A strong, sturdy little creature this. one. She rolls her cart out, stepping infront of it, pressing her full bottom into the door to hold it as she guides the cart through with her arms. She bounces on her feet behind the cart again in a show of victory. My grin widens. There is something about her that just draws you in.

      I watch her for hours, occassionally toying with her, enjoying the surprise I can elicit. She sticks dutifully, ignoring horny customers who heckle her and an asshole boss who has jumped her for as little as nothing. I contemplate what to do as I watch her. What do I need from her? What is it about her that I desire. Obviously, her body. There's something more though, something I cannot quite pinpoint. She snaps me back to reality as I hear her shuffle away. It is dark outside now as she clocks out to leave. I, of course, follow her home. It'll be a fun night for us.