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Prologue - After

Portland, Oregon 2012

Aimee

The heels of ainst the cold soaked ceh my thin sweater I shiver and wrap my arms around myself and try to keep up with his pace

I round the corner, staying across the street froet too far ahead of h that if I wink people will notice His outdated pleather jacket hts I roll ht dead wearing pleather

He turns down a dark alley I gri for his next victilance behind himself He's overconfident They always are His kind always believes they are the strongest anile Most of them don’t know about me The ones that have actually met me are usually in the throws of their own death Introductions seem like a waste at that point As usual, his instincts lie to him and allow for a false sense of security He just doesn't know it yet

I finger the platinuer with h theis e It permits me to follow the man It makes my brand of deadly force acceptable

I winkin front of hirab his arles for a second but I lift hie into a worthy adversary I shudder and gasp when my hands make contact with the warm fleshy meat of his throat

The sparks fill me and the air around us The touch of his skin hten frohts, but it's useless

His eyes catch the ring on nition and fear spreads across his face

"You're a Rose" He croaks

His last words

“Stop!” A h the alley

The fire of the spark dies, taking my meal with it

I growl and drop the dead round

I hate ending low like molten steel I have to admit, I think it looks cool The man in the alley probably won't

I glance down the alley to where a policeh inside at the way his hands shake with the sizable gun in them

“Stay where you are” His voice never wavers, but I can sense the fear co off him I realize suddenly his voice is familiar Panic fills me

I look around for an exit as his steps fill the silent alley He squints, no doubt fro eyes

I s to stop him in his tracks “Run his prints and you’ll thank me”

He continues to walk toward er “Get down on the ground” He waves the gun slowly I griun and knock him out

I close my eyes and take a deep breath “Really, would you lie on this street? This alley is filthy with geroing to recognize me any second

A gust of wind blows past hi with it a scent like laundry soap and deodorant It's the subtle mix of windblown sea air thata tear to slip from my eye

I gulp and push down ht choice There is no doubt about that

He looks at me in disbelief “You, you’re the one? That's not possible”

I can see the raw emotion on his face His lower lip trembles

I take a step back, putting my hands out further “Shane, just pretend you never saw me The medics will say heart attack”

He shakes his head “No, not you” His face twists in pain “Anyone but you Why?”

I blink as the ether crams into my brain

Every touch

Every smile

I look down and s “I have to eat, they make sense”

He looks disgusted “You’re eating them? How? They have no marks None of the others had marks”

I let the moment of shame fill me I make myself remember his face the times I'd broken up with him Broken him I force myself to feel it all I deserve to suffer

I know deep down if I let irl that wants to sit on the back steps of his house, listening to his dreams

Instead I turn and jump onto the handrail of the stairs next to me I cli sick and I can't possibly scare him like that

I can still smell his fear but it has switched, it's a different kind of fear It's emotional I would know that smell anywhere

The da down my cheeks as I try to block his desperate screams that consist of one word, my name

I sit on the roof and rock back and forth and all I hear is, "AIMEE!"