Ch. 1: Lost in the Lights

He watched them make their way through the crowd from the shadows of the alley he stood in. They blanketed him, surrounding him and hiding him from the rest of the world as the tourist couple stumbled their way to the next bar. Dominic watched silently, not so much as moving his eyes to them. Instead he used his peripherals, so as not to draw attention to himself. Natural instinct alerted prey when it thought it was being stalked, and Dominic had learned over the years to never stare directly at his targets. Granted the instincts of these two at the time were about as sharp as marshmallows, but it never hurt to be careful. He didn't need them becoming unnerved and running off. As they passed by, he counted to ten before shedding the blanket of shadows he called home and wandering after them, his hands in his pockets and his head down beneath his red hood. He wore his shirt open, the warm summer night air felt good on his bare skin. The heat generated from the mass of bodies in the red light district would've made him a sweaty mess if he hadn't shed his lower layer earlier in the night. As he made his way through the throngs of bodies, Dominic watched his targets stumble into a night club. A large pink, fluorescent sign hung above. Tubes of light weaved and curled to form the words, "Rabbit's Foot." Dominic smiled beneath the cover of his hood, luck most certainly wasn't on their side tonight.

Why was he stalking this happy, 20s-ish looking couple? They hadn't done him any wrong, they simply were enjoying what he could only imagine to be their honeymoon. They lacked a care in the world, other than where their next drink would come from. Dominic was hungry though, both for food, and for a different sort of sustenance. His dark passenger, the source of his inner desires for violence and bloodshed, hadn't been fed in weeks. It was growing stronger and stronger, he needed to satisfy it before it became unbearable and took over. The woman, a lengthy brunette with long, skinny legs and the sweetest ass Dominic had seen in a long time, pulled down her mini skirt just a bit more, covering the supple curves that peeked out with every step she took. The man was shorter than her, he wore clothes that were obviously meant to look out of his pay grade, but were actually just well made knockoffs. The rolex on his watch however, was real enough. The woman's jewelry and that watch would satisfy one hunger, while their bodies would satisfy the other. Dominic licked his lips before ducking his head into the club after them, the game it appears, was afoot.

The man, named Boyd, and the girl, who's name was Alison, made their way to a table on the side of the club. Alison sat down and Boyd gave her an affectionate peck on the cheek before heading off to the bar counter to get the two of them drinks. He clearly stated that the scotch was for him before ordering Alison's fruit martini. He clearly would have felt silly to order her drink before his own, for the sake of his "manly pride". He sighed as he leaned against the counter and waited for his drinks. Meanwhile, Alison watched as Boyd walked off to get their drinks. She looked over to the dance floor and saw all the single people. She thought about those times of her life, back then all she wanted to do was find a nice guy and settle down, but she hadn't realized how fun being single was at the time. She loved Boyd very much, they had been together almost a year before getting married, she missed the single life though, and she knew now it was long behind her.

The hollow made its way through the city. It was hungry, and it sensed a large concentration of human souls in the distance. It was either something with a ton of spiritual pressure, or a large gathering of weak souls. Either way it was a tasty meal to be had. As it crawled along through the alleyways it found a couple of humans in the wrong place at the wrong time, it made quick work of eating them. But they were weak and few in number, hardly satisfying the Hollow. It set it sights on the club even further, beginning to ignore lonesome humans as it passed by them, it wanted the gourmet meal, not the appetizers.

Hollow:

Dominic entered the club and scanned the crowd, immediately spotting the male moving through the dancing mosh pit of people and towards the bar area. He followed the man's path backwards and found the tall brunette sitting alone at the table. There were two ways he could play this out, neither really being better than the other. A simple choice of preference really and Dominic decided to go with the up close and personal approach. He watched Boyd order the drinks at the bar before making his way through the crowded dance floor over to Alison. He could've went up to Boyd, made small talk with the man, tried to befriend him momentarily.

He'd only need to talk to him long enough to convince him to go out back with him, but all that talking would've taken time. Not to mention Dominic lacked any form of money to pay for the man's drinks. This was easier, hitting on his woman. The male instinct would kick into overdrive when Boyd returned. Human, especially drunk ones, were such territorial creatures. Some animal instincts just didn't die out through evolution, Dominic was an obvious example of that.

He approached Alison, his hands still in his pockets, but his hood had fallen off when he entered the club. Blonde hair fell to his shoulders as he flashed his grey-green eyes in Alison's direction. This sounds pretty cliche, but I couldn't help but notice you from across the room. Can I possibly buy you a drink? Or at the very least get a dance, you're just far too lovely that if I didn't at least ask for a dance I'd be kicking myself later. Dominic asked, flashing a row of pearly white teeth. It was amazing how simple it was to keep up proper dental hygiene even while living on the streets. People were simply disgusting.

Alison saw Dominic approaching from afar. He was attractive, charming, she would've normally given him a chance to prove himself, if she was single, but those days were behind her. "I appreciate your offer but I'm afraid I am recently married." she said as she raised her hand to show him her ring. She was a bit happy he had approached her though, it was always a small self esteem boost, and it was good to know that she was still eye candy for all those hungry guys out there. She knew she had plenty of options and opportunities out there, but she had picked Boyd. Why? She guessed she just saw him as different from most guys, the majority weren't interested in anything serious, just wanted sex, if they did get something serious it was for the sake of getting laid regularly and not having to try too hard for it. Boyd was different, she could tell that there was no ulterior motive behind his affections, and for that he had won her over.

As the bartender finished up their drinks, Boyd looked over at Alison. It seemed a man had approached her. Boyd's first instinct was to walk over and get the guy away from her, but they were married now, things were different. He trusted her and knew she would send the man on his way. Boyd turned his attention back to the counter and payed for the drinks, which were double the price he expected them to be, fucking clubs.

The hollow at last found the building that housed all the souls. Now that it was closer it was clear that it was just a large amount of them in one area, as opposed to a strong source. It was a little upsetting, but a large amount of weak souls was still a good meal. The hollow made it's way through a wall and found itself in one of the hallways, the sound of the music echoing through them. A tall man was nearby, whom the hollow killed almost instantly. The party was just beginning for the Hollow as it's flocked together like sheep to a wolf.

Dominic searched the woman's face as she spoke and for a moment he didn't think he'd find it until she finished her a second. There it was, a slight shimmer in the eye; desire. Dominic smiled inwardly, but laid on some charm to make it seem like he was still interested. Ah, but Madame aren't we all? Dominic said, raising his hand to reveal an obsidian band around his ring finger. It was a wedding ring he had taken from his latest victim and hadn't had the time to sell. Not to mention he actually kind of liked the look of the thing, so he wasn't in any hurry to part with it. Besides, it came in handy in exactly this kind of situation. You obviously have me mistaken for a man looking for something more than friendly conversation and a good dance partner. I myself am married to the most beautiful woman I have ever met. We usually go out together to go dancing but she's sick in bed tonight unfortunately. You have my word I'm simply looking for a beautiful dance partner for the night and nothing more. Your husband is more than welcome to join us, the more the merrier as they say, eh? He gave her a friendly wink.

As he waited for her response, the hairs on the back of Dominic's neck stood up on end. He looked around the room quickly, scanning it without actually moving his head. There was no point in freaking out the girl and scaring her away, not when he was this close. But a deep fear ran through Dominic at that time, something feral and on the most basic level it felt instinctual, as if a large predator had entered his space. Suddenly he wasn't the apex predator in the room and it deeply unnerved him. Unfortunately for Dominic, his hunger quickly took over any fear or uncertainty he was feeling and Dominic focused on the lovely brunette again.

Alison looked at his ring and raised her eyebrow. It seemed awfully weird to go to a club by yourself when you're happily married. She looked over at Boyd who was busy arguing with the bartender, probably about prices, one of the most annoying things he did, everywhere they went he always got upset over prices and started yelling at the salesman, it always embarrassed her. "I guess one dance wont hurt, but it'll have to be quick." she said as she stood up from the table. "Actually, would you excuse me for a moment?" she said as she walked over to the exit, leading her into the halls. She was making her way for the restroom, such bad timing really.

As boyd yelled at the bartender, he didn't even notice the love of his life leave the room. In the halls the hollow was eating everything it could find, attempting to empty them before moving on to the main course. It watched as a lovely woman entered the halls. Her brightly colored clothing attracting it's attention almost immediately. It went over to her and smelled her. She had more reiryoku than most of the other humans, not a lot, but still more. It loomed over the unexpecting woman, before pouncing on her, slamming her into the ground with a strength that likely crushed most of the bones in her body. It made quick work of it's prey, and she was delicious, but it was still hungry. It was nice to have a new face for it's collection though, it did indeed love such pretty faces.