The stair creaked under Julia’s foot. She winced; then glanced back up the stairway to the dark of the upper landing. No one was there. Breathing a sigh of relief, she made her way down the rest of the steps and entered the kitchen. That stingy old hag always rationed the orphans so poorly, and then kept heaps for herself. Whilst the woman was snoring away, however, the fridge was left unguarded.

Julia looked smugly at the white door of the icy container as she silently approached it. Her stomach had been growling so loudly she was surprised it hadn’t woken the other children in the room. She opened the door, yellow light flooding out onto the tiles of the kitchen floor. Gods be praised, there was a lot to eat.

Her eyes widened slaveringly as she took it all in. Hastily, she began piling up several particularly juicy looking items. Just as her arms were getting full, she stopped. What was that? She turned around frantically. She swore she’d seen something out of the corner of her eye. A dark blur. A brief flash and then nothing.

She frowned. It was more than likely just her nerves getting the better of her. Being caught, after all, would spell doom for her. Not wanting to take any more chances, she hurriedly closed the fridge door and gathered up her misappropriated goods. It was a warm night, and the spaces between the toes of her bare feet had grown clammy in her anxiety. She made her way carefully up the stairs and back to her room, easing the door shut as quietly as possible, not wanting to wake either the Directress or the other orphans.

She couldn’t help but chuckle a little as she slid under her covers, food in hand. She’d managed to take a nice hunk of meat – of what variety she couldn’t say – along with a few fruits and a slice of cake. She felt about in the dark beside her bed for a torch and brought it under the sheets. By torchlight she gazed at her feast, rubbing her hands in anticipation.

Her ears pricked. She’d heard something. Almost like, a panting breath. The hairs on her neck stood on end. A shadow fell upon her. In a panic, she shut off her torchlight. She lay as low as possible but somehow it didn’t feel low enough. She clutched her torch to her chest. Her breathing seemed suddenly very loud. Holding it in for a moment, she listened. Sure enough, a faint panting could be heard. But, was it coming from the window?

Moving as slowly as she possibly could, Julia came to the edge of her sheet and carefully peaked out. Her breath caught in her throat. A large figure was crouching on the windowsill, the light of the shining moon visible behind it. She was stunned, not by its presence, but by its beauty.

Hair, silver like stars, fell down to sharp shoulders coated in black – darker than the midnight sky outside. Slanted eyes of crimson embedded in a smooth, pale face whose edges were sharp – its chin and ears pointed. Sleek was the word she might have used for this entity, but it felt too much as if such a description would understate the magnificence of its appearance.

She found herself entranced by the curvature of its thin lips and the abyssal pits of its pupil set amidst the bloody red seas of its eyes. She thought she could see an endless expanse within them, as though they were portals into another world entirely.

Forgetting about the need to be quiet or the food she’d taken such pains to bring back to the room, Julia got up from the bed and approached the creature. Male or female she could not tell, only that its allure was universal.

The enchanting figure breathed out slowly. Its voice was husky and yet melodious.

“Hello, dear.”

Julia could only blink in response to the greeting. It stepped down from the windowsill and approached her. It was a good head or two taller and as it drew close, she turned her gaze upwards to meet its eyes. It placed its hand on her cheek. Its palm was cold to the touch, but she took little notice of this, her eyes still transfixed upon its face.

It leaned in and she closed her eyes as its lips met hers. They too were cold and from her they drew warmth, she felt a rise in herself and she leaned in, wanting to taste the deathly pale lips of the creature. Her mouth was numbed by the cold. She didn’t feel the blood that ran from where its teeth had inserted themselves into the flesh of her lips until the hot liquid poured over her chin.

Her eyes rolled back in her head and her knees weakened. Her arms flopped to her sides as the life from them vanished, drawn to the incision points of the creature’s hungrily awaiting maw. Somehow her mind was filled with an astounding ecstasy, even as her vision darkened and her body grew cold.

Gradually her skin dried. Her hazy mind craved water, but she couldn’t move; she could hardly think anymore. Her gaze fell drearily to where her feet should have been, but she saw only a rapidly growing pile of sand, falling from what remained of her lower torso. Her eyes rolled upwards once more and met the captivating stare of the creature. She saw no malice in them, in fact they filled her icy body with the illusion of warm.

She tried to smile back at it, but her lips could not move either. Oh well. She supposed this was what she got for sneaking out in the middle of the night.

***

As the last of the girl’s corpse became dust, it wiped at the corner of its mouth. It clambered onto the windowsill and soured into the night air by its wings of shadow. As it flew silently over the grimy rooftops, it heard a distant scream.