The city had its own kind of heartbeat. You could feel it in the hum of neon lights, in the bass lines of music that bled through club walls, in the impatient rhythm of footsteps on cracked sidewalks. It wasn't pretty, not really, but it was alive—louder, faster, hungrier than anyone who tried to tame it.
Nancy always said she didn't belong here. Too quiet for the noise, too careful for the chaos, too soft for a city that devoured softness without even chewing. But three years had a way of teaching you how to blend in. She'd learned how to keep her gaze steady, how to walk like she knew where she was going, how to ignore the shadows that stretched too long at night.
Tonight, though… tonight felt different.
She tugged her jacket tighter as she left the bar, the sharp tang of whiskey and cheap perfume still clinging to her clothes. Her shift had run late—again—and the thought of catching the subway at this hour made her skin prickle. The streets were mostly empty, the kind of empty that only made the silence feel louder.
Nancy kept moving, boots splashing in shallow puddles, breath fogging in the cool night air. She wasn't the type to imagine monsters lurking in dark alleys, but something about the way the city hushed around her made her chest tighten. She glanced behind her. Empty. Still, her pulse beat faster.
Her phone buzzed. A text from her roommate, Lila.
"You home yet? Don't take the long way. You know what happened last week."
Nancy frowned. She didn't want to think about last week. About the girl they'd found two blocks from here, lifeless eyes staring up at the same neon sky Nancy now walked under. The police called it an animal attack. Which was ridiculous. There weren't animals like that in the city. Not unless you counted the human kind.
Shoving her phone back into her pocket, Nancy picked up her pace.
That's when she felt it.
Eyes. Someone was watching her.
She didn't hear footsteps—at least, not at first. Just the prickling sensation between her shoulder blades, the certainty that she wasn't as alone as she wanted to believe.
Nancy cut down a side street, her shortcut home. The brick walls rose high on either side, graffiti curling in sharp colors across them. Halfway down the alley, she heard it—a low scrape, rubber against concrete. A footstep.
Her pulse jumped.
"Hey."
The voice stopped her cold. Deep. Rough. Way too close.
Nancy spun around.
He stood at the far end of the alley, half-hidden in shadow. Tall. Broad-shouldered. The kind of presence that felt too big for the narrow space. She couldn't make out his face fully, but his eyes… God, his eyes caught the faint glow of the streetlamp, black and burning, like fire trapped inside glass.
Nancy swallowed hard. "Do you need something?" Her voice came out steadier than she felt.
The stranger tilted his head, studying her like she was some kind of puzzle. Then he smiled—or maybe it was just the curl of his mouth. It wasn't friendly.
"You shouldn't walk alone at night."
Her stomach tightened. "Thanks for the advice." She turned back, quickening her pace.
But the air shifted behind her. A soft rush, like movement too fast to track. And when she glanced back—he wasn't at the far end of the alley anymore. He was closer. Much closer.
Nancy's breath caught. She stumbled a step backward. "What the hell—"
"Relax," he said, voice low, velvet with something dangerous in it. "I'm not here to hurt you."
Her laugh came sharp, nervous. "Yeah, because guys who say that are always trustworthy."
That earned her a real smile, sharp enough to cut. "Smart mouth."
The city seemed to fade around them. No traffic noise, no distant sirens, nothing but the faint drip of water from a pipe and the sound of her pulse thundering in her ears.
Nancy wanted to run. Every instinct screamed at her to run. But her body stayed rooted, locked in place by the weight of his gaze.
"What do you want?" she whispered.
The stranger stepped closer, the dim light finally catching his features. Strong jaw, a faint scar running along his cheekbone, lips curved in a way that was equal parts temptation and warning. He looked human. Almost. But his eyes told her otherwise. They weren't just dark—they were unnatural. Predatory.
"What I want…" He paused, voice trailing like smoke. "That depends on you."
Nancy's throat went dry. She didn't know if she was in danger, or if she was staring at the beginning of something else entirely.
Then, in the space of a heartbeat, his smile vanished. His head snapped toward the mouth of the alley, eyes narrowing, muscles tensing like a wild animal catching scent of another.
Nancy didn't move. Didn't breathe. She followed his gaze but saw nothing. Only empty streets, neon lights flickering in silence.
But whatever he sensed, it unsettled him. His eyes burned darker when they returned to her.
"Go home, Nancy," he said softly, as if he'd always known her name.
Her stomach dropped. "How—"
But before she could finish, he was gone. Just… gone. The space where he'd stood was empty, as if he'd melted into the night.
Nancy's heart hammered. She backed against the wall, trying to steady her breathing. What the hell just happened?
The city roared back to life around her—cars in the distance, a horn blaring, music from a bar down the block. Everything normal. Too normal.
But nothing felt normal anymore.
Because someone had been waiting in the shadows. Someone who knew her name. Someone who wasn't human.
And Nancy, against every shred of reason, knew this was only the beginning.