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Maybe this was my purpose. I’d tried running away, but life kept fucking me over instead of delivering a happily ever after.
I straightened and scanned the store. The shelves of second-hand junk were silent, and no heads showed above them, no feet moved below.
Random Relics was empty. The door hadn’t jangled anyway. This early, customers were unlikely.
I wiped my hands on my denim shorts.
Coffee. I needed coffee and a walk in the sun. Needed to feel the heat, be in the light then I’d feel strong. A fucking warrior of light.
Ha.
I knew just what I needed. I remembered seeing it on the round rack down the second aisle. I navigated through the shop then flipped through the rack.
Nothing wrong with my memory. I tugged the T-shirt off the hanger and dragged it over my head before walking over to the mirror. The Avengers.
If you were going to kick ass, dress for it.
Even decorated in smiley faces, my bag weighed heavy with the postcard inside it. I’d be lying if I didn’t admit to doubt and fear, but I was no longer running; I was hunting.
I stepped out into the street.
The sun shone in my eyes, the heat of it anointing me as if I stood a chance.
Way down the road a yellow school bus moved towards me while somewhere high above, a helicopter droned. The buzz of life calmed me, and as I locked the old glass door, the bold letters of the T-shirt reflected back at me. My lips tugged back in a smile.
I had this.
“Hello, destiny.”
And then the world went bang—
CHAPTER3
The Cucitrice
I pushedthrough the horde of humans flowing around me as they ran from the bomb. There were screams. There was blood. There were body parts. A copter, flipped by the shockwave, went spiraling down. A roar and plume of smoke dominated the horizon.
Thank God the school bus hadn’t been in the blast zone.
Neme, my red wolf, kept pace, weaving in-between the fleeing humans. A hybrid of nightmare-and-dream, the wolf was invisible unless you were someone like me, or she wanted to be seen.
I ran my fingertips through Neme’s thick coat, the feel of the silky fur grounding me as we moved deeper into the heart of the carnage.
I walked past a woman bleeding against a wall—in shock but alive. Neme brushed up against my legs and licked the tips of my fingers.
“I know, baby. I know.”
The nightmares were coming.
I coughed. Thick dust coated my nostrils and scratched my throat. I picked up my pace, black stilettos tapping through the debris. This human I wore had a lovely sense of fashion that reminded me of Coco Chanel. If anyone took the time to notice, they might have thought I looked out of place, but being here was not of my choosing. Instincts compelled me down the next alley, some man drawing me like a bloodhound. I was here because of my calling.
I stepped over a man bleeding out and gurgling for breath. He’d die soon. The dead found peace. I was interested in the living. I moved further down the street, compulsion tugging like a dog on a leash.
Stitch him.
Mark him.
Nothing would stop me until I’d drawn the symbol in nightmare on his skin. Then he’d have a calling too. He’d become a crusader. He’d destroy nightmare and dream creatures the Incident had set loose. He’d become stronger, faster, harder to kill.
