Page 43 of Mysterious Teacher : Arrival
Sonya remembered that first night in town, seeing Gerry accost that young woman. Decent...it was almost comical to hear Charlie refer to him that way.
“Thank you, Charlie.” She turned to go. “See you tomorrow.”
“Be careful out there,” he warned. “I don’t know what’s happening to this town, but there’s been a number of people disappearing lately. Wouldn’t want anything to happen to my lovely songbird.”
“Don’t worry about me,” she said. “I don’t hang around those seedy parts of town.” And she walked out.
She knew all about the missing people, mostly from the dock area. They were criminals; thieves, drug dealers, muggers...and worse. Yes, she knew all about them.
Nights when the hunger grew intolerable, she’d go out and roam the streets looking for the lowlife that no one would miss.
But of late, there was too much talk. She’d tried to expand her territory, to hunt farther and farther away, but she knew the end was coming soon. Despite loving her job and everyone at the lounge and restaurant, she would have to leave Los Angeles.
She tried to lay low for a few nights, putting off feeding for as long as she could. But the hunger beckoned her and a few nights later she went out with the intention of treating herself to a good meal in the city.
The streets were quiet. A cool chill had blown in from the Pacific, and many had chosen to snuggle up inside. Her body ached for some nourishment and just when she was about to give up on finding a good catch, she spotted him.
At the corner stood a nasty man who endlessly harassed passers-by. Sometimes he struck them with his open palm, and at other times kicked them all while shouting obscenities at them. As Sonya approached him, she witnessed him throwing a man down to the ground and kicking him repeatedly.
Yes, she thought.You’re the one.
“What’s wrong with you?”she shouted at him.
“Get away, little girl,” he said, his speech slurred. “I don’t need no nagging from another broad.”
“You’re hurting everyone who passes by here,” Sonya went on. “And you’re deliberately choosing people who are smaller and weaker than yourself.”
“Like you, little girl?”he said with a smirk.
“Don’t even try it,” she warned.
He lunged toward her as she backed up. He lunged again.
Come on, you creep. Keep coming. Keep coming.
She lured him to a quiet and isolated portion of the dock.
“Not a very wise move, little lady,” he said when he realized that they were all alone in a darkened corner of the dock area. “Not a very wise move at all. I have you all to myself now.”
Sonya smiled as she ran her index finger over her bottom lip. “And I haveyouall tomyself,” she said.
He frowned, seemingly sobering up slightly at her unexpected assessment of the situation. A moment later, he shook off his confusion and reached out to grab a hold of her arm.
“Now you’re mine,” Sonya said as she quickly pinned him to the wall and dug her sharp fangs into the soft skin of his neck.
“Naw...gra...ga...,” he gurgled as he slid down to a sitting position.
He fell silently as Sonya knelt over him and discreetly enjoyed his blood. No one would ever know.
However, when she rose the next morning, the man’s disappearance was in all the papers. Although he lived the lowlife in the docks district, he turned out to be the son of a prominent man in town, and that man wanted answers. He’d hired detectives and was determined to find out what had happened to his ‘little boy’.
The time had come sooner than Sonya had anticipated. She couldn’t put it off any longer.
“I hate to see you go,” Charlie had said on hearing her desire to move on. “But a talent like you...yeah, I knew I couldn’t keep you tied down to my tiny establishment for very long. I knew you would eventually move on to bigger and better things. You’re a star.”
Sonya smiled even though she had nowhere to go. There was no ‘bigger and better’ thing waiting for her.
Feeling sluggish and a little sad, she arrived at her small studio apartment to pack up her few belongings.
