The night brought a cool reprieve from the sweltering heat of the day. With the herd no longer prisoners to their central air conditioning, they began their nightly migration to the downtown watering holes that they called restaurants, clubs, and bars. There, the herd sought to fulfill their hierarchy of needs with food, drinks, and mating, oblivious to the dangers that gathering around the water hole brings, the predators…
Ashley walked slowly down L Street, stopping at the corner of 15th to wait for the light to shift. Others waited to cross the street with her, and Ashley couldn’t help but find it haunting the hold they had over her. It made her feel weak, as if seeing them and feeling their warmth caused the rest of the world to fade away.
The Kindred called it hunger and Ashley knew that was bullshit as it went so much deeper than simple hunger. Ashley knew if the guy to her left hadn’t eaten all day he wouldn’t drag the litter girl to her right into an alley to sate his hunger, and she did not know how to feel having considered doing just that. No, it was more than hunger…
The Herd erupted in movement, signaling to Ashley that it was time to cross. She slid the phone halfway from her pocket as her finger shifted to power the device on. Ashley glanced at the clock, anxious to sate her addiction, and crossed the street heading to the MIX.
Ashley stopped outside of the club, sliding her phone halfway out of her jeans. With a press of her finger the liquid crystal display lit up and she glanced at the time. The Herd instinctively side-stepped around the wolf in the middle of the flock, unconsciously feeling something was off. Ashley felt anxious, deep down she wanted to get the evening started so her addiction could be sate, but on the surface she just wanted the girl’s night to kick off and the fun to commence.
“You shouldn’t be long Catherine…” Ashley said softly as she tucked the phone back into her pocket. She couldn’t help but wonder how the Shadows fed. She highly doubted that they fucked their food as much as the Succubus or snatched kids through sewer drains like the Haunts. She glanced up to the sign for the MIX, and stretched like a lion about the begin its stalking approach of the gazelle.