WebNovelYarrk35.00%

35

Tucson, Arizona.

Night of November 3.

Sunrise: 6:29 a.m.

You never wanted to come back to Tucson. It's been a black spot on your personal map for years. But here you are.

You have to avoid the good neighborhoods—the big stucco houses on their little plots of land, with their raked-out front yards and blue recycling bins. For a few minutes, a black-and-white Mustang with a thin blue line Punisher decal on the hood creeps behind you in first gear. You can't tell if it's an actual police car or some kind of patriot group, but you cut through a park where they can't follow. There's a public bathroom there where you might be able to clean up a little. The mirror is cracked and someone shit in the urinal, but the water works.

You spend a few minutes scraping trash off, then look around for either threats or opportunities. You're so hungry now you keep snarling involuntarily, your lips curling back over white gums. You watch your face in the mirror until you're sure you can control yourself. But you need to feed soon, and though this park bathroom is the perfect place for someone to stumble into and do drugs, no one's around. Where are all the junkies? It's not like this is a nice park.

That's when you recognize where you are. This abandoned building was the lair of Lampago—one of your sire's enemies, though you didn't learn her name until after your Embrace. A shapeshifting monstrosity, she was apparently destroyed by hunters as the Second Inquisition rose to power and began their dreadful crusade against all vampires.