Chapter 1: Light Amid Shadows

My hand brushed against the woman’s face, my gaze boring into her. She had strawberry blonde hair, a cute round face, and ocean-blue eyes.

Her breath hitched as my palm met her warm cheek. I had no doubt my unusually cold hands came as a surprise to her.

What had such a tiny, unprotected woman been doing in a musty alleyway like this? Well, it didn’t matter. Made things convenient for me, anyway.

“I— I uhh,” she said eloquently. “Wha-who are you?”

Of all the questions she could have asked, screamed, or simply just run away in terror, she asked me such a simple thing?

“You won’t remember anyway.” Then I metaphysically dove into her soul.

I immediately got to work looking for her sins. In her Soulspace, I wouldn’t have to worry about time in the outside world, so I always liked to go slow— be careful with it. Amazingly, this woman’s soul was bright. I’d never seen anyone other than children have such bright souls before. It made it difficult to locate her sins so I could feed off them.

Almost wanting to turn my head away from the brightness, I forced myself to stay on task. This was my mark for today, and trying to find another would be hard on me; I was starving. Everywhere I brought my sight, anywhere I touched throughout her being, I couldn’t find anything: not a single lie told, trinket stolen, bug killed.

If I didn’t understand humanity as well as I did, I’d assume this woman was some kind of sin-free saint. Instead, even with the pangs of hunger clawing away at me, I kept up the search. She had to have had something, any tiny mistake.

I kept going backward in her Soulspace, to earlier and earlier times. If she somehow had the mental discipline as an adult to avoid sin, surely she could not have been near as steadfast in her youth. I trailed through her high school years, looking for excessive partying, teen jealousy, promiscuity, or anything even remotely close to a sin.

Then I went back farther, to her childhood. What child didn’t tell a lie to her parents, or maybe steal candy from a friend? This one, apparently.

My hunger grew, and I knew that if I didn’t find something soon, I’d have to abandon the attempt— something that’d never happened to me, something that I believed impossible.

There! At the very deepest place in her soul, the smallest, most minuscule shade of gray. I dove upon it like a starving wolf, consuming the sin in its entirety.

Flashes of the memory shot through my mind, a little girl yelling at her friend, trying to hurt her feelings on purpose. But, that was it. The simplest childhood spat. After that, there was nothing, leaving me unsatiated.

Pulling away from the woman’s soul with a gasp, I doubled over, hand pressed into my stomach. That hadn’t been enough. Not nearly enough.

“Oh goodness! Are you okay?” The young woman asked me, quick to put her hands on my shoulders and look into my eyes.

This… this woman had no sense! She was alone, in an alleyway, with a man who towered over her, and yet she held no fear? Or maybe her concern overcame whatever fear there might have been.

I pushed her arms away. “Just fine. You should get out of here, it’s dangerous for someone like you.”

She smiled at me, nearly as blindingly bright as her soul itself. “I’m not worried, I’ve got a big, protective guy right next to me!”

That… I— her words made me double-take, checking the alley for anyone else. But my eyes told me the same thing my supernatural senses did; there was no one here but the two of us.

I honestly didn’t know what to say. So far, today has just been… baffling. “It’s not too smart to trust some random stranger in a dark alley, especially since I followed you in here.” I shook my head. With a soul as pure as hers, it’d be a shame if something happened to her. “Look, let me walk you home,” I insisted.

“Okay!” she agreed immediately with cheer on her face. “I love getting to make new friends.”

This… was an angel playing a prank on me or something? I dismissed the thought immediately, the heavens had been gone for far too long for such a thing to be possible. She really was just a human, if a strange one.

As we walked out from the alley, turning left at the corner, the young woman followed just a bit behind and to the side of me. She kept her hands entwined behind her back, her steps had to be a bit faster to keep up with mine.

“My apartment is the other way, but we can go this way if you want!” she assured me.

I had to stop myself from facepalming. “No, that’s...” I sighed. “Which way?”

She pointed, and I followed. But she quickly skipped back to my side again, still leading the way while pointing out turns, but otherwise, she seemed content to walk side by side. She liked to babble nonsense, but I did my best to tune her out.

It had gotten quite late, sometime in the early morning, and the sun hadn’t risen yet. So, I kept an eye out, scanning the roads for anyone out of place.

“… and anyway that’s how—“

I interrupted whatever babbling she’d been doing up until this moment. “Why were you out this late anyway?” Not that it was my business. Whatever this silly mortal had been up to would usually never concern me. But then, my mind drifted back to that moment I breached her soul. She was… unique if nothing else.

“Oh, my friends told me to meet them there so I could lend them some more money.”

I gaped at the woman.

“Oh yeah, and then they traded some items, but they did it under a big coat, so I don’t really know what the items were, to be honest.”

This woman. Was she insane? I could feel my eye twitching. “These ‘friends’ of yours, do you lend them money often?”

“Oh yeah, of course! My friends are so funny, always misplacing their paychecks and other things like that.” She waved the excuses off, like it was no more important than a quick favor.

“And do they ever pay you back?” I already knew the answer, but I was hoping to shock some sense into this poor thing.

“Uhh.” She put her finger on her chin, looking up at the night sky. “I guess they haven’t really?” Her face contorted for just a moment, and I hoped I’d get to see some anger from her for once. But then her features smoothed out, a pleasant smile adorning her face. “That’s okay though! I’m sure they will sometime. And if they don’t, they probably needed it more than me, anyway.”

I scoffed. There was no helping this woman; it wouldn’t even be worth trying. I’d walk her home tonight, as promised, and then I’d forget this ever happened.

“Ah!” she exclaimed. “We’re here!”

Looking up at the building, I noticed she’d dragged me to a not-so-great area of town. The complex had peeling paint on the walls and crumbling brick on the sides. The metal stairs on the outside looked beat up, and someone had painted graffiti across a few of the doors.

I sighed. “Is this where you live?” Of course this was where she lived. I wasn’t sure why I’d even asked that.

“Yep!” she confirmed, just as chipper as ever. “Um, do you need a place to stay tonight? I only have one sleeping bag, but I don’t mind letting you use it if you have nowhere to go.”

This went beyond simple kindness. This poor woman was going to get herself killed. Or worse.

“No,” I shook my head. I still hadn’t had a proper meal. Between my hunger and exasperation, I was about all fed up with this situation.

I turned to leave, but before I could, the woman latched onto my arm.

Turning my head behind me, she rapidly spoke up. “Um, if you don’t mind, could you tell me how I can reach you?”

I nearly snarled at the unpleasant contact, but I somehow managed to keep it to just an annoyed tone. “Why?”

She visibly flinched back, looking hurt. “I’d hate to lose a friend.” Her grip on my sleeve relaxed until she fully let go.

Seeing her sad, hurt face, I let out another sigh. Don’t say I couldn’t be nice when the situation called for it. In the end, it wouldn’t matter anyway. No mortal ever remembered meeting me, and she wouldn’t be the exception. I quickly rattled off an address before once again walking away. It’d be enough to get her to stop harassing me, at least— even if it was pointless.

This time, she didn’t try to stop me. For some reason, leaving like that made me feel strangely empty and unfulfilled. Must be because I’d yet to have a decent meal; time to go find some sinners.