A Fresh Start

He'd moved to get away from the memories that lay behind every street corner. The memories of blood, of fangs and of claws. That was all behind him now. His new life was...different. It was a city full of crime, but that was okay. It was human crime. Guns and flick-knives and drugs. No more candles, no more paper and dirt. It was just normal people who wanted money for nothing and everything for free.

But he still kept glancing out of the window. Not all of them had died. There were probably more of them out there. Creatures in the street where no creatures should be. That was how he saw it. A man, he could see the chest heaving. It was a man in a puddle of blood, appearing in the street. He didn't even try to resist the urge to sprint out there and help him. He had vowed not to expose himself to them the way he had once, but letting a man simply die, right outside his doorstep was one step too far.

He glanced around the street outside, just in case. It seemed fine. There was just a couple of people making a furtive drug deal in a nearby alley. He darted out to the man lying in the street and checked for a pulse. It was strong and steady, despite the heavy bleeding.