Daybreak was yet to come; nonetheless, someone stirred in the fading darkness of the new day. Tired feet stumbled through a messy bedroom towards an even dirtier living room, headed for the kitchen.

Like clockwork, with memorized movements, hands tapped the counters and cabinets. It did not take long for a small light to glimmer in the room, the only one he wished to see. No one else had woken up yet in the building; the fifth floor was still to be assaulted by the noisy quarrels of the other tenants.

Every day, without fail, a joint was lighted. His eyes soon lidded more, and then he let himself fall onto a chair, allowing his thoughts to grow numb. He began to drift, wishing to evade the reality of his life.

He was calm, soothed by the substances he abused. That was why he flinched when a sudden noise echoed. Tensing, he stood a little, fearing what had sounded like a small bang. It had rumbled on the outer wall, so he feared that the shoddy building would finally collapse.

After a minute, he relaxed again. He let out a chuckled sigh, attributing the rumble to the trash trucks that always drove by in the early morning. Maybe that toxic couple had started their day by throwing something heavy.

He took another drag and decided to grab something from the fridge, knowing that eating would help him relax as well. With a slight turn, he faced the kitchen… and then froze. All his thoughts died out, much like the glimmer of the joint when it fell from his hand.

He stared blankly at those two green gleams. The shadow stood very still on the edge of the open window; he would swear he was seeing a statue, if not for what twirled lethargically behind it.

An eternity seemed to pass, yet it only took five seconds for the figure to move. Like a cat, it slid into the kitchen, its claws letting go of the window. Those black sharp antlers were huge, yet the shadow evaded hitting any furniture with uncanny precise movements. 

He wanted to run, but the only thing he managed to do while that thing crept towards the fridge was stare. What he was seeing was not doing his faded mind any favors, looking straight out of a nightmare. 

The devil never broke eye contact, even while opening the fridge. There was no emotion in that piercing stare; it was only when a sandwich was grabbed that those fangs peeked in an amused smirk.

Without word or lunge, the figure back stepped towards the window. In a second, it climbed onto the outer wall with its prize, crawling upwards and away without making a single noise. The following silence was deafening.

All ever slowly, the man glanced sideways at the open door of the fridge, then the window. The cold air of the morning hit him, giving his mind enough awareness to look down at his feet. Before his eyes rolled back, he noticed the forgotten joint. In some hours, he would begin fretting over his vision and its possible causes, unaware that what he had seen was very real.

A floor above, Samuel slid back into his room through his window. He patted his clothes and shook off the dust of the dirty outer wall. Then, he unwrapped the stolen sandwich, biting into it without much care for the scare he had given his neighbor.

He leaned there, looking into the outer street with a thoughtful expression. The suckers that had to wake up early for work were beginning to stride sadly into the city, a new day starting.

“Got work too…”

He had to admit it, he envied those fools. They did not know how good they had it in life; worst of all, what could come after it was a real gamble. The results were unforeseeable… unless pushed in the right direction.

He finished the small meal and put on his leather jacket. It was sad that the sandwich was the best he had eaten in decades. It was much sadder that he would not be able to savor some fine cooking, not until he had arranged and secured his ploys.

Once more, he began to tap onto the touchscreen of his phone, feeding his curiosity. Society had changed, and the regretful murmurs of hellish newcomers could not make it any justice. He had to be aware, and careful.

“Who could I prey on in these times?”

Humanity was prone to depravity and cruelty, that would never change. Although empathy was a growing sentiment in the crowds, selfishness and greed still plagued every country and land.

An evil soul was all too easy to find. Sadly, a kind spirit was what he most needed. Even if he corrupted them enough to send them to hell, their energy would still sustain him more than any other. He did not know much about heaven, but he was sure as hell that the beings that roamed in it were the finest of prey.

He kept pondering, knowing he could not target any meanspirited criminal. Soon, his eyes narrowed, spotting some men lurking in an alley. They soaked a fire they had lighted in a trash can for the night, to then walk away towards the edge of the neighborhood.

The homeless.

Now, some were mean bastards that caused their own misery, but many were simply nice people out of luck. Kicked by society, victims of their enforced circumstances. Naivety and good intentions could drag a human to hell on earth.

A sly smile grew slowly on his face, one of his fangs peeking maliciously. He pocketed his phone and grabbed some stuff to go out, knowing already where he would head to. His chosen prey would be easy to trick, needy and keen for help.

He closed his door and began to walk down the stairs towards the vestibule, ignoring the yells of that couple and the cries of a kid. With the most hopeful of grins, he almost skipped through the street, imagining already the taste of an unfortunate soul.

—————–

There were many to choose from.

Too many.

He eyed them all, but he barely had time to truly examine their features or judge their demeanor. The shelter was packed, and too many whispers and murmurs echoed. Some moved in groups, and it was not easy to pinpoint which of them were the lone ones.

Samuel bit his lip, edging slowly towards the counter where people could drop off donations. His hands clenched strongly around the handles of the shopping bags he carried, full of cheap essentials and snacks.

He hated to need an excuse to lurk in this place, and that he had to waste his money to have one. It was much more irritating that he would surely have to do it repeatedly. He had tried to near some of these people out there without entering the shelter, but of course, he sensed immediately how they distrusted him.

They were typically avoided or abused if approached, so they were rarely incautious. In here, they could be sure that no one would shove razors in the food that was given, and that they would not be beaten or exploited after a few kind gestures.

Fuck, if I keep having to buy stuff to near them, I’ll end up having to fake being one of them. That would be a real pain in the-

“Uh, may I help you?”

Samuel blinked, finally escaping his hyper fixated thoughts. He turned his head to glare at the one who called him, but his piercing glare softened immediately. It was not only because he had been standing absentmindedly a few feet away from the counter without nearing it, but because he noted the guy’s features.

A young black man, with long ebony curly hair that reached his soft jawline; his bright ivory eyes were fixated on him in a gentle but inquiring manner. He was a little taller than him, and somehow, his posture was imposing even if his attitude was friendly. His clothes were informal but elegant; one could tell that they were expensive even if streetwise. He was definitely not homeless, and that meant…

“Ah!” Samuel stammered a bit, realizing how the guy was looking at him, hinting politely that the way in which he had been eyeing the homeless was questionable. “Dammit, my bad! G-got a lot on my mind!”

The young man smiled more, seeing him step closer with the bags in hand. When he examined what they contained there was no doubt that he worked in the shelter, his gratitude for the donations was quite evident.

“No problem, man.” Samuel scowled when that smile grew into a bright grin; he found such demeanor sickeningly sweet. “Hey, you are stressed by something, yet you still took some time to drop some stuff here. Got to give kudos to that.”

Samuel had no idea what the hell kudos meant, but he got the idea thanks to the way in which the guy nodded approvingly.

“Uh, yeah, sure.” He needed time, as much as possible near his potential targets. That was why he tried to make small talk to delay his leave, while relying on his ability to sense fear and sorrow to judge the ones around him. “Least I can do for these suck- Ah, luckless souls. It’s nothing, really. You deserve more praise for choosing a job as nasty as this.”

Those last words made the man frown, even if the smile remained. Samuel grew slightly nervous, because that warm gaze could somehow pierce as much as his cold demonic one. There came the carefully worded reproach.

“I wouldn’t say dealing with the homeless is nasty; I’ve been volunteering to help them for quite some time, so I can say the biggest annoyance is people making false assertions and causing further trouble for them.”

Samuel smiled too now, but in a very nervous manner. In any other moment, he would bark some smug retort, but the guy’s eager confidence and the closeness of his possible prey made him swallow it all. It honestly made him a flustered mess to be called out and not be able to react angrily.

“R-right! But of course! Damn my stupid mouth, I just blurt out nonsense sometimes…”

He wished to shout a slur and snap this dude’s neck, but he hid that emotion well. Those ivory eyes stopped piercing, giving him a gentle and kind stare again; his voice was as soft and relaxed as his posture.

“No, it’s okay; maybe I’m too on edge.” He brushed his long black hair, sighing. “You wouldn’t believe the kind of douches I see them deal with sometimes! Some people are mean as hell.”

Samuel had enough. He turned around to leave, in a motion that would have made his tail twirl sharply. With one last remark, he left the bags there and decided to come back when this fool was not around.

“Yes, you can never be too careful. Keep the good work and all that, this surely makes a difference in the world.”

He was sure that the uncomfortable conversation was over, but then he heard one last happy bright reply on his way out.

“Hopefully, it does, but I would still try if it doesn’t!” He waved him goodbye, something that irked him to no end. “Have a nice day, man, and thanks again!”

Samuel finally got out of sight, stepping into the street. He did not care about pushing a homeless man in his stride, fuming internally about the encounter that prevented him from finding a target.

Ugh, what a freak. That fucking smile is sappier than the ones of a million grandmothers combined. Such a stupid goody two shoes; must keep him away and focus on spotting someone who-

That trail of thought died out, another one striking him like a brick. He stood there like a fool, noticing his own stupidness.

That moron could put the benevolence of a nun to shame.

Young, healthy, and eager to please. One glance was enough to sense how pure his damn soul was. He irradiated sickening fervor, an aura that was yet to be broken by the constant disappointments of life.

He found the perfect target; maybe it was not as easy to corrupt, but surely more rewarding and fulfilling than a soul that had to resort to petty misdeeds in the past. One single grave sin moments before death would not taint the energy of a life as much.

A smirk grew on his face; this time, however, it was a frustrated one. He began to ploy his next visit to the shelter while he headed back to his den, deploring the idea of having to deal with that sickening charming man again.