I crouched over the corpse below me. The body was still warm, a fresh kill. I smelled the metallic sent of the human's blood. Her hair was messy and her clothes were torn. I sipped up what blood I could, filling, not knowing when my next kill would be. I heard a twig snap and stood up. I knew someone was there. So I pulled the victim card.

I wiped what blood on my face off then started screaming and sat half laying down on my back. Sure enough, a man came running into the gap where I was with the body. He sprinted over and instantly saw the corpse. He shielded my eyes and held me close, unaware I was the one who killed her. Or, at least thats what I hoped.

"Over here! We got another one!" He yelled.

Three more men came over to where we were. The man next to me helped me up as I faked a horror-struck look and made my legs tremble to sell the act.

"Thats the fifth attack in the past three days!" One of the other man exclaimed.

"We need to find this shadow before it makes it's way into the town." Another sighed.
"Hunter, Cabe, take her to the village. And take the corpse to be identified. Mark and I will do a sweep of the area"

The one that seemed to be Cabe picked up the bloody body, making sure to do his best to not get to much on his uniform. He looked completely disgusting as he laid the dead girl over his broad shoulder. Hunter turned to me as the other two walked off.

"Im hunter, and this is Cabe. Irene, was it? Can you walk?"
I nodded.

"Y-yes. I think so."

We walked for a while, Hunter holding my hand, then my wrist, then eventually he let go. After a few more minutes he started talking.

"So Irene, where do you come from?" He asked.

"I-I don't remember..."I tried in response.

"Memory loss? Real bummer. We have a witch in the village, she can to get your memories back."
A witch could probably easily identify me as a shadow.

"No!" I screamed causing both of them to look at me.
"Well, I mean, no thank you, my memories are bound to return. Let's give it some time."
Hunter nodded and continued down the path.
I sighed mentally, happy that they hadn't seen that I was a shadow yet.

We walked silently to the village. I could sense both the men on edge. Hunter kept his sword drawn the whole time and had made sure I was close the whole trip. Soon, torch-lit gates came into view. As the three of us approach, the gate opened. A fully armored guard greeted us.

"Another one I see. And who is this young lady right here?" She asked gesturing to me.
I was surprised to find a woman in the ranks. But I shook my head and answered shyly.

"My name is Irene. It's nice to meet you miss." I bowed my head a little. She took of he helmet and tucked it under her arm.

"Please, call me Rose. You seem very tired. Were you in the forest? Bless your soul. And- wait. Where are the other two?"

"They're looking for the shadow." Cabe said glumly. "Now if you excuse me, Im going to take this body down to the temple." He walked of still mumbling "Ugh. Shadow attack are the worse. Bloody bites and stuff ugh"

I watched him disappear in and out if the lamps that lit the streets. He was who I would have to worry about the most. He will soon question me being here.

"Don't mind Cabe. He's just a big grump" Hunter said, laughing as he put a hand on my shoulder. "Now come on, lets go get you to my house. You must me exhausted and hungry!"

"You got that right!" I giggled, even though I knew perfectly well that although I could eat human food, it wouldn't sustain me and I was already full from my recent meal.

Nevertheless, we soon arrived at a white-toned brick house. It had a red roof and windows that allowed you to just see in, not that much was revealed in the dark. Hunter opened the door and turned on a light. He headed to another room where he struck a fire in the fireplace. Now the house was lit and we could see what we were doing.

He had me drink some water, but I refused the food, which seemed to confuse him but he shrugged it off and just ate his meal. Then he led me to an extra bedroom, apparently it belonged to his sister before she left. She had already moved in with her fiancé.

I had never used a bed before. Heck, I didn't even know what it was called at first. But I just sat in the bed until he left.

"Goodnight Irene" he said.

I didn't respond, not really knowing what goodnight meant. Once he left, I carefully lifted the fabric that covered the bed. I had seen people in bed before. So I just pulled the sheets over me. I surprised by the warmth that they provided, and how soft the "bed" was. I didn't fall asleep easily. I was nocturnal, as most shadows were ,and used to the ground of outside and the air currents rushing over me. But I did managed to get a few hours of sleep before Hunter woke me up.

"Hello Irene. Good morning. How did you sleep?" He asked from my bedside.
I groaned a little.

"Sorry, im not a morning person." I said tiredly, sitting up
"I slept well. The bed was very comfortable. Thank you for allowing me to use it."

"No problem" he smiled.

"So now what?" I asked

"Umm let's go get some breakfast, sha'll we?"

I nodded and smiled. I got up and followed him to where we had eaten last night. I ate a little food, just to make him think I was human, but I knew I would need to make another kill within the week. But would it be him? No, no, not him. I could just choose someone at random. But if I knew them they would probably not run off if I approached them. So that left me with Cabe and Rose. But Rose seemed really nice. Cabe would be my best bet.

If I made an attempt to get to know him, then no one would suspect me of being a shadow or killing him. As I finished of these thoughts, Hunter suddenly pulled me aside just as a carriage and horses sped by. He held me close until the end of the carriage passed.

"Irene, are you okay!?" He asked seemingly worried.

"Y-yeah, im fine."

He opened ad closed his mouth a few times, as if to say something.
"Let's just continue" he sighed.

"Umm, Hunter? Where are we going?" I asked, suddenly worried.

"Well, I'll be going to check up with the other ShadowHunters. You'll be going with Rose to do....I don't know, whatever you girls do."

"ShadowHunters?" I question.

"Yeah. Cabe, Mark, Celeste j, Adam, Oliver and I all are assigned to a special unit dedicated to keeping the town safe from shadows. But recently there have been alot of kills by what must be a very experienced shadow. They have left no trace and have yet to even be seen. In fact, you're lucky. They must've nearly missed you, the body was still fresh when we found you. But we've been getting closer and closer with each search."

I nodded grimly. On one hand, I was proud that I was tripping up a team of six people that specialize in finding those like me, but on one hand, they were getting closer. I shook those thoughts from my head as we arrived at a red-bricked house. Many plants could be seen inside of windows and out front. Hunter knocked on the door. Almost immediately Rose opened the door.

"Hello Irene, I trust you slept well?" She asked. I nodded and smiled.

Hunter waved a small goodbye to me as entered the house. He had a small conversation with Rose as I explored the house. As I looked around I saw a small box. I opened the lid. Inside lay a necklace. It was gold with a blue gem as a charm.

Something about it seem to call to me. What exactly I didn't know. It felt almost as if.....it was a part of me.... I lifted it up to the light to get a better look of it.

As the door to the house shut, signaling that they were done talking, I shoved the piece of jewelry in my pocket and placed the box back where I found it. I turned to face Rose who was just entering the room. She clapped her hands together.

"Well, lets get going sha'll we?" She asked.
I was starting to see that I may be dragged to random places all the time.

"Going where exactly?" I asked.

"Oh to the tailor of course! I have a friend there that will be up for just the task! Ohh, I cant wait for the Light Festival!" She squealed.

"Light Festival?" Again, I was clueless on such a modern topic.

"You've never heard of the Light Festival!?" She exclaimed looking as if she might explode.

"Uhhh.....no?" I tried, shrinking away from her unblinking eyes.

"Well, how do I explain the Light Festival? Im not a witch or anything, so I can't elaborate on the topic, but once a year, about this time, dark magic becomes stronger and evil spirits become restless. So we have the witches set up simple protective spells ,and we light candles, lamps, whatever we can and have a party to keep away any evil beings. Make sense?"

I nodded. Seemed like a simple concept. But I would have to be careful. Extremely careful. Once false move and I would be killed.

"But may I ask why we need a tailor?" I questioned.

"Why, to get you a dress of course! No offense, but the clothes you're wearing are filthy and hardly suited for dancing!"

I looked at my stained clothes that had dried blood, grass stains and dirt smudges. I didn't really know what Rose meant by Dress or tailor. Well, Tailor I had an idea of, but what was a dress?

I simply smiled shyly then agreed with her previous statement before following her out of the house. We walked around the town for a while before stopping outside a large building. Rise walked inside and up to the counter.

"I would like to see Jena please" she said.

"Jena!" The girl behind the counter called "Someone is demanding for you!"

"Just a minute!" A voice called, followed by a thud and yelling. Then from behind a curtain, emerges a beautiful lady. She had blonde hair and bright blue eyes. She leaned over and hugged Rose, them turned to me.

"And who is this cutie!?" She asked.
I opened mouth to speak only to be cut off by Rose.

"This is Irene. She is new and from out of town. She needs a dress for the Festival. Think you could help us?"

"Oh, Rose, you know i'd do anything for you right?" She smiled. "Here you two, follow me to the back."

Rose followed her behind the curtain. I hesitated. Everyone seemed so nice. Did I have to kill someone? I decided to worry about this later, at another time, and followed the others.

~•~ ~•~ ~•~
(Hunter's POV)

I entered the building and headed to the back room, where the others all waited. I closed the door behind me them sat down.

"Sorry for being late. I had to assist Irene to Rose's house." I said uneasy.

"Irene? So that's the little missy's name?" Adam asked.

"Yes, yes, that is her name" I restated.

"She sounds nice, I hope I can meet her sometime!" Celeste said.

"Speaking of the girl, we need to ask her some questions. Like if she saw anyone that could've been a shadow." Cabe said.

"But can't shadows have an animal form?" Mark asked.

"Oh yes, but only one animal. And they can choose one and only one. They can go whole lives without choosing one though. So we may have no lead there." Oliver pointed out.

"But, if she does give us a description of a figure or gives us an animal, then we're one step closer." Adam remarked.
"On a more grim topic, Celeste, has the body been identified yet?"

"Yes. It was Lila, the old blacksmith's daughter. When her father and brother identified her, they were devastated and demanded justice." She answered.

"And they shall get Justice!" I declared. "We will find and kill this Shadow. They have taken to many of our civilians. Tomorrow, before the festival, we should check the forest again, one last time, just to be sure."

"Very well then. Is that is all to be said, this meeting is dismissed. I will discuss what has been found out with Miss Henya. Oh and Hunter, let Irene know that Miss Henya will likely want to see her." Adam said as the others and I got up to leave.

I nodded. Then headed out of the room. I had the rest of the day to relax, not that I could do that much knowing that a blood-thirsty monster is lurking around. Why had Lila gone out into the forest? She knew it was dangerous. Unless maybe she was killed and they taken there?

But Irene was still a mystery. She happened to be with the body near the time of attack, didn't know where she came from or who she was other than her name. And she seemed to have trouble remembering what simple modern things were called. I shook my head and sighed, relaxing my whole body and pushing those thoughts out of my head, but something about Irene just didn't want to leave me alone.