"Cosette!! Rapidement! ils nous prendront s'ils nous trouvent!!" Pierre shouted into the night, catching the girl by the arm as she dashed past the alley way. "Hush, hush!"

He cupped his dirty, grimy hand over her mouth to quell how loud her breathing was. The two children shuffled back into the shadows, praying that the beast lurking just around the bricks could not already hear their rapid heartbeats.

"Petits amis! Où êtes-vous? I'm not going to hurt you! Juste te vider de toute vie." It sounded like a woman, but it wasn't.

"Vite, vite!" Pierre pulled back under a defunct fruit stand, waving for Cosette to follow. They could hear the creature approach, her shallow footsteps against the cobblestones. The drag of her long gown against the gravel.

"Little friends, I can hear you," the monster spoke in a sweet, soothing voice, her bright red eyes peeking around the corner.

Before the two children could react, the woman appeared at the base of the stall, her red eyes charged with a bloodlust that neither of them had ever bore witness.

"You can't move fast enough!" She giggled, ripping Cosette by the leg out from under the stall. Pierre darted out, trying to pull the girl away along with him when he sprinted toward the dimly lit street. Only to run into another monster with the same red eyes.

"trop lent, little boy."