Chapter Two
Just Desserts
Beer of all kinds were coursing through his system. They flowed next to the shots of Jack and the Vodka he had partaken of sometime before as Adam stumbled down the street. Not that he knew where this street was. Of course he knew it was one of the more urban streets than the ones he was used to, but that was okay. Hell, even the fact the Briar had left him to walk home was okay. It was all good. She would get it when he got home. Where ever home was.
"S'upid bit'h Don' know wha' sheesh missin'!" he slurred, slamming his shoulder into the brick wall near an alley. The darkness of the alley confused Adam's unfocused brain. Yet sure of himself in the way only drunks can be he carried on into the darkness.
Clang. Adam snapped his head in the direction of the trash can that had suddenly fallen over. His brain blurred and fogged by the liquids flowing through his body, he stumbled towards the can and the deep shadow moving behind it. A dark figure had risen slowly from the piles of trash, holding onto a book it had seemingly scavenged from the trash.
"Damn hobo's." he grunted out. Taking another look, Adam saw something was off. This looked like no hobo he had ever seen before. It was much too tall and hold on a second... "Is that a cloak?" muttering to himself, Adam squinted at the figure. Reaching slowly into his back pocket he slowly pulled out the pocket knife he kept there. Silently, as much as a drunk man can be, he walked towards the creature. The closer he got the less it looked like any any bum he had ever seen. "Wha' the hell?" he whispered. The figure continued to dig through the trash can, pulling at the bags and searching through the collected garbage in them. As Adam crept, half stumbled towards the figure, it pulled a small box of books from the trash muttering to itself. It began looking through them, tossing some to the ground, while shoving others in it's cloak. Closer and closer he crept, but still it remained totally unaware of Adam's presence.
Finally, bravery fueled by the liquid courage in his veins, Adam brandished his knife, yelling.
"Ey! You! What in the sam hell do ya think you're doing?"
The dark cloaked figure whipped around, the hood turning to face him. Solid red eyes stared out at him from the darkness. Narrowing, they pinpointed him and a snarl tore through the alley. The knife clattered to the floor, as Adam stumbled backwards. Scared beyond belief, he turned on his heels and ran as fast as his rubbery legs could take him to the end of the alley. Behind him he still heard the snarl and the creature tearing off after him. This was all the fuel he needed to make it to the street beyond.
He only turned once to glance behind him, only to see the figure gone. Finally at the area where the alley met the street, Adam stopped. He turned, now amazingly sober. Nothing from the alley came out at him, nothing tore at him or stalked him. Perhaps it had all been some waking nightmare fueled by a good night with the good spirits.
Heaving a sigh of relief, he gasped to himself. "What the hell was thaAHHHHHHHH!" Claws slammed into his shoulders, black as the night that surrounded them. Looking skywards, Adam saw those red eyes staring down at him from the side of the building he was settled against. The creature was hanging upside down from the ledge of the buildings windows. A snarl as animalistic as any creature that had filled the minds and hearts of humanity since the dawn of time came from the things throat. Before he could cry out again he was torn from the street and disappeared into the darkness.