Luhan could see his breath forming tiny little puffs in the dim light cast by the occasional streetlight. The freshly fallen snow crunched under his boots, and shimmered like glitter in the darkness. Luhan loved it when it snowed enough to cover rooftops like icing on a gingerbread house and bodies of water as one, untouched piece of pure white.

As a bitterly cold breeze blew across his face, he fixed the thick cashmere scarf more securely around his neck. He got sick easily enough as it was. He didn’t need to go and practically open his immune system up for a cold.

A small vibration and bright ringtone pulled his thoughts back to the world. He pulled out his phone from his pocket and quickly scanned the most recent text message.

9:57 P.M.

From: yixing

Make sure to get some animal crackers too

Luhan scoffed into his scarf and tucked his phone back into his coat pocket. Yixing was his dear friend and roommate, but sometimes the twenty four year old acted more like a child twenty years his junior

It was the same impulsive, childish kind of behavior that explained why Luhan was trekking through the snow so late at night. Yixing had gotten a hankering for omelettes and apple juice, both of which they were out of. Luhan had been quite firm and happy with staying in his spot on the couch, where it was warm and not snowing , but Yixing had been persistent. Persistent, as in, whined nonstop and threatened to never cook for Luhan again. That got Luhan’s into gear. Yixing’s cooking was no joke, and seeing as Luhan could barely crack and egg without spilling the yolk everywhere, he was taking no risks.

Besides, the nearby corner store was barely more than a five minute walk from their apartment. Of course, there was one or two dark alleys on the way there that made Luhan tighten his grip on his phone, thumb poised over the speed dial number for 911, but he managed to make it the store in one piece.

The gust of cold air that greeted him as he exited the warm, heated store was not pleasant, to say the least. Cursing his villainous roommate under his breath, Luhan fixed the top button of his black jacket, wishing he’d worn a heavier and thicker one in lieu of the slimmer, more fashionable one he’d gone with instead.

Nearby, an owl hooted lyrically. It was the only sound that pierced the otherwise dead silence of the night. If it weren’t for the lamppost on every other block, Luhan would barely be able to make out the outlines of parked cars and building walls.

Unconsciously, he picked up his pace. There was something about tonight that unnerved him, made his heart beat one or two quips faster. Maybe it was just the fact that he hadn’t noticed he was so cold that his gloveless fingers were starting to go numb at the tips. He barely registered the fact that he was gripping his phone so hard, his knuckles were white.

An unexpected sound from his phone nearly made him slip on the sidewalk and crack his head open when his legs suddenly locked up in fright.

Luhan pulled his scarf away from his mouth to calm his heavy breathing as he pulled out his phone.

10:13 P.M.

From: yixing

I’m starting the movie without u if u don’t hurry up

“Oh go yourself,” Luhan muttered under his breath, not bothering to respond to the message. He was cold, tired, hungry, and all he wanted to do was go home so Yixing could make himself a damn omelette. He really was too much of a pushover.

Luhan faintly realized that the owl had stopped hooting and the only sound on the entire block was just his breathing and the crunching sounds of his footfalls. He kept his eyes on the moonlight path ahead of him, eyes flitting to the side as he approached another alley.

Goddamnit Luhan, just relax, he calmed himself. He’d definitely watched one too many horror movies with his friends. And it didn’t help that just the other day, he’d read in the news that a girl had gone missing, with only a bloodied, ripped, piece of clothing left as evidence.

He mentally cursed himself for thinking about that now , out of all times. The dark walls of the alley loomed closer and closer, and Luhan could feel his hands getting sweatier.

Ok. Just walk. Keep walking.

His strides got longer and longer, until he passed the sketchy alley, which was more like a narrow pathway leading somewhere.

Luhan sighed in relief. His apartment was just up ahead.

He lifted his right hand out of his warm and comforting pocket to fix a strand of hair that had fallen in front of his eyes when suddenly, there was a icy, vice like grip on the wrist and another hand that came over Luhan’s mouth and muffled his immediate screams. He felt a rough tug and then the sensation of being dragged backwards; his other arm rendered completely useless and pinned to the side of his body by a strong arm that s around his bicep and connected with the hand over his mouth.

No. No. No, no, no, no,nononononono.

Luhan’s nerves were fried as he went into overdrive. This couldn’t be happening. His eyesight was blurry and everything was watery from the tears that welled up but had yet to fall. Despite the shock and cold that had his legs stiff as a board, he dug his heels into the ground, trying to do his best to slow down whatever awful demise that was sure to await him.

His attacker rounded a corner, and Luhan barely saw the edge of the alleyway entrance when he made a break for it, tugging his left arm out of its cage by his side. A strangled, desperate, almost animalistic sound died in Luhan’s throat as he lunged for the open sidewalk, arm swinging around to just barely grip the edge of the alley wall before there was a rough jerk that disoriented him for a few seconds.

The back of Luhan’s head made contact with the cold brick wall. He whimpered from the quick shot of pain he felt, knowing that it would bruise. It was then, with his right arm pinned against the wall by that steely grip on his wrist, and his entire body pressed up against the wall, that he saw his attacker for the first time.

His eyes. They were illuminated by the glowy moonlight and faint yellow shadow from the lamp across the street. Luhan noticed with a - inducing heart rate that his eyes were a deep red but bright enough that he could see the resemblance in color to blood.

Messy blonde hair with dark roots. Luhan faintly registered the fact that it had started lightly snowing again, the white specks dusting the stranger’s hair and clinging to his eyelashes.

He looked almost… ethereal. In a crude, sharp, dangerous way. Luhan felt a shiver go up and down his spine and the man smirked, barely lifting his upper lip up, but enough for Luhan to see something glint in the dull light.

A tooth. A fang. The edge was sharpened to a delicate point.

Luhan began to panic again. His body shook with fear, legs scrambling to back up away from the man, but finding nothing but firm wall as the thing pressed up closer against the shorter man.

It leaned in close to Luhan’s ear and his heavy breathing was strained with barely- there whimpers of help. His voice seemed to be frozen in his throat as he struggled to make out words for help. For Yixing. Anyone.

“Y- Yi- xing! Yi-!” His feeble cries were suddenly cut off when the thing nuzzled its way to his neck, its nose leaving a burning, frozen path that seemed to sear into Luhan’s skin. An ice cold hand came up to roughly rip off Luhan’s scarf, and yanked the neck of his coat to one side, exposing the soft, pale skin underneath. He shuddered violently when he felt the pangs of the winter air hit the skin.

“Don’t cry, little deer,” came a smooth, low voice. Luhan turned his head in attempt to get away from the voice, and unknowingly exposing his neck even more. He hadn’t even noticed there were tears coming down his face as he stared down at the ground, eyes unfocused.

It seemed so cruel that this would be how he’d die. Alone, in an alley. All alone and cold and nobody there to even see him to the next life. It was so unfair. He would die scared and frightened and nobody was there to help him.

“You smell,” Luhan barely heard the sinuous voice through the rushing in his ears, “absolutely delicious .” And then there was a small, warm feeling of something dragging across the veins on the side of his neck before a gentle pressure dipped down on the surface of his skin. And then the pain.

Noises gurgled and died in Luhan’s throat as his eyes clouded with tears. It hurt so bad. It hurt so much and the pain overcame everything else in his mind, leaving him blank and damn near to passing out. It felt like there was a burning sensation on his neck, like someone had left a piping hot iron there to sit. It came in waves and didn’t stop, turning his legs to mush.

Luhan was held up by whatever it was that was in front of him. It only stopped once, to fix its fangs and re-position them on Luhan’s neck.

His eyes were getting heavy, and everything in front of him was starting to swim. Luhan managed to glance back at the blonde head of hair that was literally the life out of him. It raised up, as if noticing the brunette’s focus on it, and Luhan saw a wide smudge of crimson on its lips and when they curved into a smile, he saw two glinting canines, looking almost cruel.

He fell into darkness.