Phoenix walked with confidence, like she owned that alley, because she'd heard that muggers were less likely to target such people, but inside she was nervous. It didn't happen often, but occasionally she had to work so late at the hospital that she missed the last bus home, and the only vehicle she owned, the truck she'd inherited from her father, was being rented out to a construction company, because it had been modified for construction jobs. Her father had been a site manager.
Rarely did those two events occur simultaneously and force her to walk home, but it had happened before. She hadn't been mugged yet, but every time it happened she felt like she was pushing her luck. She couldn't even call a friend, because it was halfway between midnight and dawn. They'd either be out partying, since it was the weekend, or working nightshifts for the overtime. She was almost out of the alley, and relief started seeping into her chest, but then the light went out.
Well, to be more precise, it was blocked. There was the tallest man she'd ever seen standing at the end of the alleyway, with several men behind him. Turning, she saw that they'd blocked the other side too. There was something strange about them. They were all blonde and exceedingly handsome. They could've been models. Phoenix was terrified now.
They all had a cruel predatory look on their faces, like a cat with a mouse, she was very much outnumbered, and they'd trapped her. She hid her fear carefully, and did as her father had always taught her. She walked up to the tallest, most muscled guy there, until they were virtually nose to nose, and sneered at him. "Get out of my way." The guy just smirked at her.
She brought her knee up as hard and fast as she could, but just before it could make contact with his 'sensitive area', his left hand shot out and stopped it, then in a move so fast that it was just a blur for Phoenix, he grabbed her, spun her around so she had her back to him, and whispered in her ear, "That might work with humans sweetie, but I'm sorry to say that I'm the big bad wolf." "Oh yeah? Well, if you recall, that asshole got killed by the lumberjack, and Little Red Riding Hood got away."
The man threw his head back and laughed loudly, as though he didn't care if he was drawing attention. "You've got a smart mouth. I'm going to enjoy shutting you up for good. Boys, why don't you show her what she's dealing with here?" The blonde men at the other end of the alley blurred out of focus and reappeared about a meter away. They were all grinning, clearly showing off the pair of fangs each of them had. One of them held a metal pipe. He bent it into a pretzel.
Phoenix knew her eyes had betrayed her surprise. "What are you?" "I'm sure you've heard of us. We're vampires. At least, that's what the humans call us. Actually, we're called Daemons, and it's not your blood we're interested in, although that's rather tasty too. We eat souls, and tonight yours is dinner." What happened next took all of them by surprise. Phoenix threw up her arms and cheered.
"Woo hoo! I knew it was real! I knew they existed! I mean, all those myths and legends had to come from somewhere, right? What else is real? Are there werewolves? How about unicorns?" The Daemons blinked and looked to their leader, confused. The tall Daemon just shook his head. "Humans. I will never understand your kind. Oh well. Supper time, boys." With that he opened his mouth wide and began to lower his teeth to her neck.