Prologue

Prologue

1985

The darkness was being intermittently interrupted by the blinking of a malfunctioning streetlight as Carol proceeded home from her first evening as a bartender.  She had been promised a lift home by the landlord but after a full shift of his leering, pawing and unsubtle innuendos she resolved walking home was the safest option.  She knew the area well although she would not normally wander through it after nightfall.

The streetlight blinked again illuminating her watch.  Just after midnight she sighed.  Berating herself for not taking a taxi and bemoaning the fact she now worked for an aging lecherous lothario she quickened her pace to hasten the journey to the sanctuary of her home.   She turned to check behind her and caught the cast of a shadow in the streetlight as it blinked off, her heart froze for an instant making her pulse beat that little faster but as the light blinked back on no one was there.  Her relief was palpable as she walked further through another passage of darkness.

 The man had been wandering the streets looking for someone inebriated or alone.  He had just about given up hope of finding something to feed from in this part of the town, debating with himself whether he should risk a busy and more populated area.  He caught the scent of her before her shadow was cast on the paving, she was heading north of his position past the closed offices that had once brought prosperity to the area, now closed with no security guards or camera’s on duty.  He knew she wouldn’t hear him approach her until it was too late.

They had followed the trial for several nights only to lose him among the built up areas of the town.  Their new equipment was still basic only indicating a radius of where he would be, not the exact location, finding that was Amelia’s task. Amelia had joined them a few minutes early bringing them to this street in the hope that her vantage point from the Ether Plane had been correct.   They waited patiently for the moment at which to strike, Amelia checking every few seconds that he was still heading their way.  It was then that she saw the girl walking towards them, was that why he was here, was he stalking the young girl.

Carol checked over her shoulder again, her adrenalin still flowing and her senses heightened, making the hairs on the back of her neck stand up.  She was certain she caught a glimpse of him behind her, straining her ears she wasn’t able to hear any footsteps, she nervously laughed at herself for being so jumpy.
  A junction was only a few yards ahead of her, it took an alternate route to her neighbourhood but would add a further five minutes to her journey.  She purposefully marched on as every sound, every perceived movement elicited a response to her already attuned senses.
She hurried to the corner at least on this road the street lights seemed to be fully operable.  As she turned the corner she felt a hand close over her mouth, her eyes widened as the fear took hold.  She could feel the strength in his body as his arms pulled her back into the darkness of the road she had exited. She tried to scream then a sound that she could only describe as Whoosh went past her ear.  The hand suddenly released its hold, she ran not daring to look back.
Hugh returned his weapon to its holster just inside his jacket, Abe collecting the clothes that lay discarded on the ground.

“Amelia we could never have done this without you” Hugh said as he watched the girl run down the road.

“She didn’t know how close that was” Abe said, “another couple of seconds and we would have lost her, leaving the police with another unexplained death”.

“I guess being dead does have some benefits” Amelia laughed as she hugged them both.