• The lyrics of Fake it by Seether pulsed through my ears, tuning out everything around me. Cold fury carried me down the road towards the park only a mile from my house. The music was so loud that I did not hear the approach of my attackers until I had stumbled forward several feet from the impact of a large stick being whacked against my back. The song changed to Confrontation by Otep just as I whirled, facing my attackers. There were three of them. Ha! They would have to do better than that! I shed my black coat, and felt the ripple of strength that always came with the partial change. I stepped forward, meeting their challenge. The first one ran forward, pulling a knife from his belt. I shot him a grin, inviting him forward. I ducked his knife, throwing a solid punch to his stomach before dropping to a crouch and swiping his legs out from under him with a quick motion from my right leg. I jumped, getting out of reach as he swiped at me with his knife again. I pulled my own blade from the sheath at my back, sticking it in his chest before my feet touched ground. The other two charged me. I delivered a round house kick to the chest of one of them, following it through to deliver a swift kick to the groin on the other one. They both dropped. I clipped the chin of the first one with my steel-toe boot; the satisfactory crack of his neck breaking bringing a smile to my lips. I yanked my blade out of the chest of the first dead one, and slit the throat of the third one before he could even blink. The fight was over before the song concluded. I wiped my blade on the clothing of the second one – the least soaked in blood – and sheathed by blade, shrugging back into my jacket, and continuing on as if nothing had happened.
    I ignored the path that went through the park now, instead slipping into the black forest that surrounded the park. The fight, though short, required that I feed. It had been several days sense I’d fed anyway, and the hunger roared to life in me as the scents of the forest surrounded me.