Once upon a time, she had worn the night like a comforting shroud, safe in the shadows, and free.
But something had happened between then and now, and that thing had changed the very fiber of who Shimata, Yuuko had known herself to be.
It had started simply enough. The lure of a full meal and a comfortable night in a plush hotel room had proven entirely too enticing for her to pass up.
It had seemed so easy at the time. Do a blood a test. Fill out some forms. Get your free vouchers for room and food.
Easy.
But like so many promising things, this too had been far too good to be true.
Yuu had known she'd erred when after the blood test, the doctors started to mutter in hushed voices. Next she knew, rather than being released with her dues in hand, they had wrestled her down. Sedated her.
By the time she woke again, nothing in her body felt like it belonged to her.
Hungry. She was so very hungry. Yuuko had never been a stranger to the sharp pangs that food deprivation left in it's wake, but these... These were different. These were more than she could ever remember before.
Anytime a white lab-coated individual entered her room, it was with the offer of food. Food that, by any reasonable standard, would have been delightful. Steaks of the highest quality. Veggies bright, glistening, and roasted to perfection. Luxurious cakes that probably cost more than the girl could have drummed up inside of a week.
And yet, it all repulsed her. Each new scent buffeted her senses, twisting her gut into knot after excruciating knot.
Sometimes, the coffee tasted alright. But not with milk or sugar. Never with anything else.
Finally, by day five, the pangs were maddening. Like something inside her was clawing out to the surface, demanding acknowledgement.
What happened next came in rapid succession. She'd been dressing. Just putting on her old clothes, ready to tell these idiot doctors where they could stuff it.
A nurse had come in, and seeing her, tried to dissuade her.
In the ensuing scuffle, the nurse had jabbed her hand on a scalpel she'd grabbed for defense.
That was the scent. That was what the howling angry monster inside was clawing to get at.
In a moment's time, she'd sunk her teeth into the nurse's arm, bitten away, and taken a chunk of flesh. Horrified, Yuu swallowed before she could stop herself.
The beast inside felt stronger now. Her shoulderblades itched and stung like fire.
Next, a gutteral scream from parched, chapped lips. The shattering of glass, and something that glowed red. When she finally bothered to look down, she was decending fast towards the ground.
Instinct overrode her and whatever it was that had errupted from her shoulderblades, seemed to slow her descent.
Hungry... Hungry! HUNGRY!!! Her mind screamed as whatever it was on her back seemed to recede. It was just after sundown and the scents of vitality threatened to choke her with their decadence.
Yuu wandered for some time until she came up on a rather lavish looking building. People surrounded it. Some drunk. Some out having a smoke. Most in groups.
One man stuck out, standing against the wall alone.
"Food for meeeeee." the voice screeched in an unhuman sing-songy tone.
Her body moved on autopilot.
Seduce.
Mislead.
DEVOUR.
The first two parts happened with ease, and soon, You found herself pressed against a wall. The man had her thigh hiked on his hip.
One movement, and then blood rained over her as she looked down at bloodied fingers.
"Eat. Eat! EAT!." She moved to take her prize, never knowing what she was, or that what she was was to be feared and hunted. (edited)
