The attempted calls to Star that remained, for now, unanswered didn’t matter.
Nothing mattered to the demons of Sin City, still needing to feed. In turn, nothing mattered to Tyler, who continued to hunt as best he could. Prey was scarce for all of the night’s children.
The dry season had fallen on the American Serengeti.
Every hunt was an important one now. Every moment spent not feeding on the weaker was a moment of defeat. And if too many lost moments stacked up, the game was over.
But in the night, when the dry dark fell upon the sands and neon lights
When the predators came out
When the hunters and the hunted played their ancient game
When, if you stared hard enough, long enough in to the shadows, you might just see them move
…the rituals continued.
Sliding from shadow to dark place, a ghost of a man slipped unnoticed by all human eyes. He grinned wildly, the thrill of the hunt, the night air, and the chaos below made him feel so alive.
That was a feeling he did not take for granted anymore.
He paused momentarily, his eyes closed so that his inner senses could pick up on the subtle nuances of his environment. Thirty foot away, something moved. What ever it was that moved, it didn’t give off any body heat that was discernable to the young reincarnate. That meant only one thing.
Bright fangs flashed in the neon light from across the street. Two hunters crossing paths.
“We just have to play a little more quietly, won’t we?”
In the shadows, one hunter triumphed over the other. Tyler would return home satisfied.
Now if only he could find his girlfriend. Maybe there would be more satisfaction waiting for him in the night.