Introduction.
Desert Night, 2000
The moon hangs cold and silver over the desolate stretch of desert. Sand shifts in the breeze, carrying the scent of blood and dust. Broken glass glitters like tiny stars in the darkness around two battered bodies sprawled in the dirt.
Mr. Longbaugh stirs weakly, his breathing ragged. Blood spills from the gaping wounds in his side, staining his hands as he clutches his torso. Beside him, Mr. Parker lies motionless, his face a mask of bruises and dirt. He is barely conscious, his eyes half-closed, lips moving in the faintest murmur of pain.
They are alone, abandoned, and fading fast.
A pair of black boots crunches through the gravel, approaching slowly. The figure that steps into the moonlight is striking, a tall woman with dark eyes and skin so pale it almost glows. Her black hair flows like a river down her shoulders, framing a face both beautiful and terrifying. She moves with an unnatural grace, each step silent and predatory.
Elena bends down, her eyes glinting as they scan the two dying men.
Elena in a low, smooth voice she says, “So... this is how it ends for you? Two men left for the vultures, breathing their last breaths in the dirt?”
Longbaugh’s head turns slightly, a flicker of defiance sparking in his eyes. He’s too weak to speak, but the look on his face says everything: he isn’t ready to die.
Elena watches him with something almost like amusement.
“You both have spirit, I’ll give you that. But even the strongest don’t last long out here.”
She leans closer “Unless... they find another way.”
Parker’s eyes flutter open. He sees her, but can barely comprehend what he’s looking at.
Mr. Parker asked weakly.
“What... are you?”
She smiles, revealing teeth that are just a little too sharp. Her eyes flash, showing a hunger, a raw and ancient power simmering just beneath her composed exterior.
“I am... an opportunity.”
Longbaugh grits his teeth, struggling to push himself up, but his body won’t obey. His voice is hoarse, barely audible.
“If you’re going to kill us... do it.”
Elena laughs softly. “No, no. Death would be a waste, and waste is something I can’t abide.”
Pauses and studies him. “But there is another choice, a different kind of life. One that doesn’t end when the sun rises.”
The men exchange a glance, each reading the other’s exhaustion, the shared understanding that they don’t want to die, even if they have no idea what this “different life” might mean.
Mr. Longbaugh barely a whisper.
“Why us?”
“Because I see what others can’t. I see the strength in broken things, and you two... you’re beautifully broken.”
She leans close, whispering. “Choose this, and you’ll never be weak again. You’ll have power, freedom, and the thrill of the hunt. No rules, no limitations.”
She extends her hand to Longbaugh, her pale fingers outstretched in a delicate, deadly invitation.
Longbaugh stares at it for a long moment. Then, despite every instinct telling him to run, he takes her hand. Her grip is like iron, cold and comforting.
She turns to Parker, her gaze unyielding.
“And you?”
Parker hesitates, looking from her face to Longbaugh’s bloodied one, then back to her. He’s barely holding onto consciousness, but his hand reaches up, weakly grasping hers.
Elena pulls both men to their feet, her strength impossibly solid. As she brings them close, her voice drops to a whisper.
“Then close your eyes... and let the darkness in.”
She leans in, her lips brushing against the side of Longbaugh’s neck, then Parker’s. There’s a flash of teeth, a sharp, electric sting, and then
Darkness. Silence.
~~~~~~
When they awaken, their wounds are gone. The world around them is sharper, colder, every sound and scent intensifies to a near-overwhelming degree. They are changed, reborn under the cold gaze of the moon. They feel Elena’s presence hovering nearby, watching them with satisfaction.
“Welcome to your new life, gentlemen. This is only the beginning.”
Longbaugh and Parker exchange a glance, feeling the unfamiliar power coursing through their veins, the strange hunger gnawing at their core.
They’ve survived. But they’ve lost their humanity in the process.
And as they follow Elena toward the lights of a distant bar, the infamous Titty Twister, they have no idea what they’re about to become.
