1 — Prey BloodIt waited to kill.On the sun-baked dry sand, hiding in the blades of the thin yellow grass, it laid. Waiting.Through its lacerating fur it could sense the vibrations being transmitted. Though they were still far off, the creature could sense it, distinctly and precisely. The rabbit sat in a reasonable distance from the creature, unaware it was about to meet its abrupt end. The creature's eyes glowed on its target, determining not only its direction and speed of movement, but also its weight. Every predator knew that weight was of cardinal importance when it came to their prey. The rabbit was fat. And so the creature readied itself. Giving chase meant a loss of energy that it was sure to replenish by the calorific value of that fat juicy rabbit. It knew it would have had to quit the attack if the prey was too small. But not this rabbit. This rabbit was fat.Moving its limbs cautiously, and avoiding sudden noises, the creature reduced the distance between itself and its

— The Gentleman in BlackLena rolled out of the bed, breathless, panting. She couldn't count how many times she'd had that nightmare. All over and over again, a recurring memory stalking her in her sleep like it was trying to show her something, tell her something. Lena wasn't interested in that. Especially when what she really wanted was to forget all about that day. It ruined everything for her. And so it felt cruel of the world to let her relive it every night.She looked over at Jude's side of the bed. Of course he wasn't there, what was she expecting? As she looked away, her eyes suddenly caught the shining glass of a bottle. His rum was still here? That was interesting. Maybe that was what she needed; a good dose of alcohol to help her forget her trauma.She rolled over to his side of the bed and grabbed the bottle by his nightstand. Reading the label that was on the largely printed ‘Olgsburg,’ she shrugged. The bottle was almost empty, Jude was sure to find out that someone had