The sun... it’s... it doesn't just go down. No. It drops. Like it’s being pushed. One second the sky is... I don't know, purple? Bruised? And then—bam. Gone. Everything is just... gone. And then the shadows come out. The shadows start... they start walking.

Locks. I have to... the locks. One. Two. The bolt is heavy. Too heavy. My hands—look at them—they’re shaking. Again. It’s stupid. It’s so, so stupid. This piece of iron isn't gonna do anything. If they want in, they’re getting in. But I bolt it anyway. I bolt it so I don't... so I don't lose my mind. It’s a lie. A big, cold, metal lie.

The sirens. God, the sirens. High. Screeching. Like a... like a needle. Right in my brain. Inside. Get inside. Now. The "Choir." That’s what we call it. The Death Choir.

I hear them. Outside. Running. Feet hitting the street—fast, fast, fast. Someone’s sneakers are squeaking. Someone’s... someone’s crying? I think? Or maybe it’s just the wind. No. It’s a person. A ghost. Everyone is a ghost after six. After the light dies.

I’m at the window. Just a crack. Just a tiny, tiny sliver. Mom always said... she said "Maria, don't look. If you don't look, maybe they don't see."

Liar. She was such a liar. They always see. They can smell... they smell the fear. They smell the looking.

The lights. Flicker. Flicker. Gone. That’s how you know. The air gets... thick? No, not thick. It’s... it’s heavy. Like copper. Like old blood. Like wet fur and... and something dead.

Down the alley. There.

Something moved.

Not a man. No, no, no. Too fast. Too... smooth. Like a shadow just... stood up. It didn't have bones. It just flowed. I couldn't see the face. Thank God. No face. But the eyes... those gold dots. Just staring. Staring at nothing. Staring at me? Maybe.

My heart... it’s doing the thing. Thump. Thump-thump. Stuttering. Like it’s trying to hide. Like it’s too scared to even beat right.

It’s their city. It’s their city and we’re just... we’re just the mice. The mice waiting for the cat.

Just one night, I’m saying it. Whispering. Like a prayer. Just tonight. Just tonight. Please. But the air is... it’s sharp. It’s different. My skin is crawling. It’s itching. Like someone is breathing... right there. On my neck. But I’m alone. I’m alone.

Then the howl.

Deep. So deep my bones... my actual bones vibrated.

They’re starting. They’re starting and I... I don't think I can breathe.

I... I backed away. One step. Then... then another. My legs—they felt like... like water? No, like lead. Heavy water. I don't know. My breath was... it was coming out in these little... jagged... puffs. Huff. Huff. I could see it. In the dark. The cold—it’s always so, so cold when they... when they’re out there. Why? Why is it so cold?

I sat. The bed. The springs... they—they made a sound. A squeak. Just a tiny, tiny creak. I froze. I—I actually stopped. I stopped breathing. Everything stopped. Stupid. Maria, you’re so stupid. It’s just a bed. But... but in the dark? Everything is a—a trap. Everything is a... a way to die.

My hands. Look at them. Just... just look. Shaking. Like leaves. I shoved them... I shoved them under my legs. Sit on them. Squash it. Squash the shaking. Just... just be still. Be a stone. Stones don't get eaten.

Outside... it was—it was changing. The city. You can hear it. Not cars. No. A hum. A low... vrrr... vrrr... vibrating in my teeth. It’s them. It’s... it’s the Beasts. They’re... they’re taking the air. They’re breathing it all up.

I tried—I tried to think about... about the office. The papers. The boring, grey... the lights that never flicker. It felt like—like a lie. Like a story someone told me once. Did I... did I go to work today? I—I don't remember. It doesn't matter. None of it... none of it matters when the sun is gone.

Then—a scratch.

On the roof. Right... right above me.

I jumped. My heart—it—it hit my ribs. Hard. Thump. Like it wanted out. Scritch. Scritch-scratch. Claws. Long... heavy... dragging.

Don't look up. Don't look up. Don't look up. I stared at the rug. A thread. A blue thread. Blue. Blue. It’s—it’s cotton. It’s safe. Just... just look at the blue, Maria.

Then the scream.

Not a Beast. A—a person. Somewhere... out there. High. Sharp. And then—snap. Nothing. Just... just silence. The silence is... it’s worse. It’s so heavy. Like—like a blanket made of... of lead. I can't... I can't breathe under it.

The itching. It—it started again. Under my skin. My blood... it was... buzzing. Like—like a radio? No, like... like bees. A million tiny bees in my veins. Thrum. Thrum. Thrum. It was matching... it was matching the city. Why? Why is my blood... why is it doing that?

I stood up. I didn't... I didn't mean to. My legs just... they moved. Back to the window. No. Maria, no. Stay away. But I... I couldn't stop. I pulled the curtain. Just a sliver. Just a—a tiny peek.

The street. It wasn't empty.

Shadows. Dancing. No, not dancing... swirling. Like—like ink. Black ink in water.

There was... there was one. Under the light. The broken one. It was... big. Heavy. It looked like—like it was made of... of smoke? Smoke and... and knives. I—I can’t describe it. My brain... it’s—it’s broken. It won't work. It just wants to... to shut down.

It stopped. The Beast.

It tilted its head. Left. Right. Like—like a dog? No. Something—something wrong. It was... it was sniffing. Sniff. Sniff. I could... I think I could hear it. Through the glass. My lungs... they just... they quit. I was a statue. A shaking, stupid statue.

Don't look up. Please. Please, please, please... The eyes. Gold. Two gold holes in the dark. Looking. For what? The Hunt. That’s what—that’s what they call it. But it’s not... it’s just killing.

The buzzing in my arms... it was—it was hot now. Burning. Like... like I was on fire inside.

Run. My head said it.

But I... I was stuck.

Then... a noise. A bin? A trash can. Clatter. Bang. A man. A man was... he was running. Why? Why was he out? He was—he was tripping. Stumbling. His coat... it was flapping. Like a—a broken wing. He was screaming but... no sound. Just gasps. Gasp. Gasp. The Beast... it—it didn't run. It just... vanished. One second it was there, then—poof. A smudge.

The man... he fell.

I bit my lip. Hard. I tasted it. Copper. Blood. My blood. I—I put my hands on the glass. Cold. So cold. "No," I said. Or maybe I just thought it? "No... run... please... run..."

But... it’s always... it’s always too late.

The shadow... it—it fell on him. Like a... like a curtain.

I had to—I had to close my eyes. I had to.

But I didn't. I—I just... I just watched.

It... it didn't even make a sound. The Beast. It was just... there. One second the man was—he was trying to get up, his hands scraping the asphalt, and the next... the next he was just... gone. Covered. Under that... that heavy, shifting blackness.

I—I should’ve turned away. I know. I know I should’ve. But my eyes—they felt... stuck. Glued to the glass.

I saw a hand. The man’s hand. It reached out. Just for a second. Fingers... twitching. Like—like he was trying to grab the air. To hold onto something. Then... snap. I heard it. I swear I heard it through the walls. The sound of... of a dry branch breaking? No. Not a branch. Bone. It was bone.

I—I felt a gag. In my throat. Sick. I felt so... so sick.

But my blood... it wasn't sick. It was... it was screaming. Not like the man. Different. Like it was—it was waking up? The buzzing... it turned into a roar. A—a fire. In my chest. Right here. It burned. It burned so much I almost—I almost screamed myself.

What is happening to me? Am I... am I dying too?

The Beast... it—it pulled back. Slow. Real slow. It—it wasn't eating. It was... it was looking at him. Like he was a... a broken toy. And then—it turned.

Its head. It swung around. Fast.

The gold eyes. They—they locked. Right... right on my window. Right on me.

I—I froze. I couldn't even—my heart just... it quit. It stopped. I was—I was a ghost. I had to be. He can’t... he can’t see me through the curtain. He can’t.

But he did. I know he did.

The Beast... it tilted its head. That—that dog-move again. And then... it growled. A sound so low it—it wasn't even a sound. It was a... a pressure. In my skull.

I—I backed away. For real this time. I tripped. Over the bed? Yeah. The bed. I hit the floor. Hard. Thud. My elbow—it—it hurt. But I didn't care. I just... I crawled. On my hands and knees. Away. Away from the window. Into the corner.

He’s coming. He’s coming for me. He saw. He saw the looking.

I huddled there. Small. Trying to be... nothing. Just—just dust. Just a shadow in the corner of a room in a city that forgot how to be human.

The buzzing in my wrists... it was—it was like... like lightning. Under the skin. Blue? Was it blue? I looked down at my arms.

I—I couldn't tell. It was too dark. But I could feel it. Pulse. Pulse. Pulse. And then... a new sound.

Not from the roof. Not from the street.

From... from the front door.

Scritch.

Just one. Tiny. Scratch.

I—I stopped breathing. I—I think I actually died for a second.

The scratch. It—it was... it was so quiet. Quiet like a... a secret. A secret that wants to kill you. I was on the floor. The carpet—it—it smelled like dust and... and old fear. I couldn't move. My legs... they weren't mine anymore.

Don't open it. Please don't open it.

The buzzing—the bees in my blood—they—they went... wild. It wasn't just a hum now. It was a... a scream. Inside my veins. My skin felt... tight. Like it was going to... to rip? Yeah. Rip open.

Scritch. Again.