Angela tucked her hair back behind her ears to keep it from blowing in her face and lowered her head against the wind that kept swirling around her kicking up papers and other debrie that had been callously tossed down the alley way.

Gingerly stepping around a puddle and missing seeing the next she let out a muttered curse as she shook her foot free of the sucking mud. Her left foot now making a squishing noise with each step. Angela pulled her jacket tighter and resumed her brisk walk hoping to make it home in time for her favorite show. Glancing at her watch at the next faint light she passed she saw that she probably wouldn't make it on time.

"Should have told them I couldn't work late." she muttered to herself. "What the hell was I thinking anyway?" Tucking a stray dark brown strand of hair back behind her ear once again, she picked up her paced listening to the sound of her footsteps bounce of the walls of the darkened buildings.

Normally Angela wouldn't consider working this late, but the office had been swamped lately and the word was out that they were looking to promote from within. At 27 and single it was hard to make ends meet on her current pay so she hoped that this show of "teamwork" would get her noticed. She didn't particulary care for her boss, a heavy set sweaty man who more often than not had food from breakfast or lunch in his moustache. She often caught him leering at the women in the office when he thought no one was looking.

A shadow above her almost caused her to scream at it's suddeness. She stared at the buildings and waited holding her breath. There it was again! Angela spotted the bat as it circled the light above a garage door. Realizing she needed to breathe she sucked in the damp night air and tried to laugh off her fear. A bat...just a bat. "Geez Angie girl grow up!" she admonished herself. "What's a little bat gonna do? Turn into a vampire and swoop down and give you a hickey you won't soon forget?" She chuckled at her own joke and kept an eye on the garage light as she passed by anyway.

Nearing the end of the alley she felt the lingering fear begin to melt away. Only a couple more blocks and she'd be home. Waiting at the light she noticed all the Halloween decorations in the store windows. "Gotta buy candy tomorrow or else I'll have unhappy trick or treaters," she thought. Angie loved this time of year. She was always one for a good scary movie or book.

In the middle of the street she stepped aside for two young men obviously out causing some early Halloween mischief. As they passed by she caught the eye of the one nearest her and instinctively put her hand on her purse. With a sudden swiftness that took her almost off guard the one who she had made eye contact with suddenly grabbed her purse and a tug of war ensued. Angela at 5'7" was not a frail little thing nor was she ready to give in to these two and have to go through the hassle of replacing everything and canceling credit cards! Anger and fear pulsated through her as she realised the second teen was trying to grab for her purse also.

A hand suddenly shot from behind her and momentarily she thought that a third had joined the first two and her stomach knotted. The hand however was a fist and it connected with a sickening thud into the first ruffians face causing a sudden gush of blood that spattered her coat. He staggered but let go leaving just the other half heartedly tugging on her purse before cursing and grabbing his stumbling friend they ran down towards the alley she had just exited.

Breathing heavily her heart beating like she had just run a mile Angela stood numbly in the street unsure of what to do next. She jumped at the touch of a hand on her elbow propelling her towards the curb. Shaking now that the ordeal was over she realized that the hand on her arm actually belonged to another person. She realised through the fog in her mind that someone was talking to her and she stared at the face the voice was coming from still not certain that she was safe.

From the alley where the two would be purse nappers had run she heard a sudden scream that seemed to be cut off suddenly and she turned as if to go back the way she had come but the hand held firm to her elbow and she looked up into dark brown eyes that had a look of concern as they held her gaze. "Are you okay miss? They didn't get away with anything don't worry," the gentleman refusing to let go stated. "My friend will see that they are brought to justice don't you worry," he continued.

The fog was slowly leaving her brain and Angela realised she hadn't seen a second rescuer but figured that in all the excitement it was quite likely there could have been a whole football team and she wouldn't have noticed. "I'm fine." she stated simply. "Your sure?" concerned eyes still refusing to let the gaze go. "Yes...yes...quite alright. Thank you....and thank your friend for me also..." Angie let her voice trail off disconcerted that he kept staring at her so intently.

A small pull from her arm and the stranger suddenly realeased his hold. Subcousiously she tucked her hair back behind her ears and refused to look at the man. Something about him made her want to continue to look into his eyes but Angela had always had a strong stubborn streak and she simply steeled herself against the urge to do so.

"Thank you again," she said with a dismissive note. "It's quite alright, always willing to help a lady in trouble. Do you live near by? Will you be alright?" dark eyes with a glint in them now had captured her again. "Yes just a couple of blocks is all." Angie stepped back and away hoping to end the conversation and just get home in one piece and forget this whole night. She felt her knees still trembling and locked them tight so that the stranger would see that she was perfectly fine and leave her to go rescue someone else.

The sound of sirens in the distance brought a momentary frown to the strangers face and he stepped closer to her saying, "If it's only a few blocks perhaps I should walk you the rest of the way." Angela not wanting to deal with police reports and court dates gave in with a sigh and turned away from the street noticing how tall the man next to her was.

She stole a sideways glance and saw that he seemed to be dressed well....nothing flashy, more like a businessman just going home from work. "A perfectly ordinary guy," she thought to herself but after the events of tonight was she in no way going to let her guard down!

The first half a block they walked in silence and she nearly jumped when finally it was broken by his deep voice. "Have to give you credit back there...umm...don't know your name yet miss...my name's Evan by the way." "Angela," she tried to keep from only whispering. "Nice name Angela....like I said have to give you credit...you were holding your own pretty good back there." dark eyes smiled down at her. "Thanks, just instinct mixed with stubborness I guess." she allowed herself to smile back.

The rest of the way home was a blur but she remembered Evan asking her out the following evening when they reached her front stoop and although she hesitated she remembered being caught in that gaze of his and said yes.

Letting herself into her apartment she found Muffs sitting beside his bowl with an accusing look on his face. Scooping him up and telling him the details of her night she filled his bowl and stroked his satiny black fur saving the best for last. "Mommy met a nice man tonight sweetie and Mommy is going to go out on a date!" Muffs continued to ignore her and eat but Angie didn't care. Heading off to her bedroom she collasped onto the bed exhaustion finally overtaking her, the final thought in her mind of that muffled scream in the alley.

The next day Angie barely kept focused on work wishing the hours to fly by but instead they seemed to drag. When finally 5:30 came she hurried out the door this time calling a cab still leery of walking home after last night.

Angie angonized over what to wear for an hour and finally settled on a dark blue suit she had bought to wear on interviews and had stayed inside her closet since landing her job at the accounting firm. Glancing in the mirror she tried to picture what Evan would think of her in it. It hugged her body which was nicely shaped. Angela tried to jog at least 3 times a week and on the weekends she spent Saturday mornings at the gym. The slight slit up the side of the skirt showed her long legs and she pushed her hair up and pinned it so that her neck which one boyfriend had said was graceful showed. After a long glance and the customary sticking her tongue out at her reflection Angela decided that it was the best she was going to achieve.

Evan was supposed to meet her at 8 o'clock on her front steps and she noticed that it was almost time. She carefully scratched Muffs ears careful not to get cat hair on her suit and said "Wish me luck sweetie." as she let herself out the door and made her way downstairs.

Evan was already waiting and the first thing she noticed was the look of approval in his eyes as he looked at her. Angie felt the heat rushing to her cheeks and was thankful that it was dark outside. "Right on time!" he smiled. "Rude not to be." she replied hoping that it sounded light and casual and not at all flippant, which, as she heard herself say it she was sure now that it was.

"How do you feel about mexican?" Evan asked opening the door to a black Nissan that forced the notion she already had that he must be a businessman of some sort. "Love it!" Sliding in she noticed it still had that new car smell. As Evan got in she noticed he was wearing a black shirt with no tie and black slacks. It suited him she thought.

Evan pulled away and glanced over to her saying, "You look nice tonight Angela." She flushed and mummered a "Thank you." glad again of the darkness. "So tell me what do you do?" he queried. "I work for an accounting firm on 3rd, hopefully I'll get into management soon." She rushed through the statement hoping that like so many before him he wouldn't think it a boring dead end job. "Really? After I saw you last night I sort of had it in my head that your job was somewhat more physical....Sorry didn't mean to bring up last night Angela." he apologized. "It's okay...it's just one of those things that happens and unfortunately I was in the wrong place at the wrong time." "Well accounting sounds interesting, don't have the head for it myself...is accounting what you've always wanted to do?" "I guess so." Angela murmmerd. "It's something I was always pretty good at, so it just seemed logical to make a career out of it." "Seems logical," Evan nodded with a smile.

They pulled up at a small neighborhood restaurant and Evan walked around and opened her door. She noticed that it was just the sort of small family run business like so many in the city and hoped that the food was good.

An elderly man showed them to a table right away and left them with water filled glasses and menus. Angie debated on whether or not to go ahead and order as much food as her stomach was urging her to do or to order a small meal and hope her stomach wouldn't betray her the rest of the night.

A nice looking dark haired woman approached the table and asked if they would like cocktails. Evan looked at her quizically and Angie nodded yes, after all what was a dinner date without drinks. "Two bloody mary's", he stated looking for approval from her. The waitress nodded and went to retrieve their order while Angela desperately searched her mind for something to talk about.

This was the part of the date where Angela seemed to fail miserably. She hated trying to think of interesting and casual things to talk about, it just wasn't her! All through school she barely socialized. Always self conscious people seemed to pick up on her unease and often after a first meeting left her alone.

"Sooooo Evan.....what do you do?" She hoped that that question would fill in at least several minutes of the night. "I guess you could say I do social work," he replied with no inclination to expound further. "Sounds interesting," she replied weakly, knowing that this was another of those first date last date scenarios she had become used to. "I guess it is", he smiled and thanked the waitress who had returned with their drinks.

After ordering a full meal deciding "what the hell might as well get a decent dinner out of the ordeal," Angela ate and answered the questions Evan threw at her. Where did she grow up? Was she an only child? Where did she go to college? Before she knew it they were sitting back laughing and talking like old friends.

As Evan drove her home Angie felt happier than she had in a long time. As they neared her street her stomach began to knot up because soon it would be the moment of truth....would he ask to see her again?

Angela rolled over and stretched throwing her arms over the still sleeping figure next to her. Evan muttered and rolled over wrapping his arms around her. "Come on sleepy head time to get up," she poked him playfully. "Ah Ange! Just a few more minutes...feels to good right now to get up." "Nope!" she insisted. "Today's to important! No sleeping in!" "Important huh?" he grinned playfully biting on her ear. "Can't think of anything to important to get me up right now..." "You can't huh?" she playfully kicked at him. "Nope!" he grinned catching her in his famous gaze. "Just our one year anniversary is all."

"You idiot!" She smacked playfully at him. "Happy Anniversary. We'll celebrate after work." Angela slipped out of bed and hurried into the shower. Evan joined her shortly and soon they were out the door and onto the street.

No longer was Angela an accountant. She had decided to join Evan and work beside him patroling the streets. Social work was rewarding and it gave her a new outlook on life. No longer did she feel so insecure about herself.

Soon they spotted a two men outside a bar. Evan nodded to her and they split up waiting in the shadows. After a few minutes they noticed a couple passing by and the men began taunting the woman. The couple hastened their pace but the men fell in behind.

Evan and Angie moved to follow waiting for an opportune moment. One of the men reached out and grabbed the woman while another grabbed her partner. The woman tried to scream but a hand over her mouth made it only a muffled cry. Evan nodded to Angie who headed back and around the block at a quick pace while Evan grabbed the man closest to him and hit him with a quick jab to the stomach. After the man had doubled over he then quickly grabbed the second and threw him into the side of the building.

Like most gutter rats the two scattered running into Angelas new position. Grabbing the first one who rounded the corner she threw him against the wall her eyes ebon her strength doubled as she sank her teeth into his neck. Tearing into flesh she tasted life giving food. The heat from his blood warming her mouth like mothers milk. The man struggled only briefly and fell limply to the sidewalk. Angie fell onto him ripping and tearing flesh from bone, both in excitement and revenge.

Evan kept the couple where the men had left them making small talk. "I hope your both okay?" Don't worry they won't get away with it....my friend will see them brought to justice."

Angela smiled hearing his familiar phrase and turned to find the second man trembling and crouching beside the wall not far from his friend, fear in his eyes as she advanced towards him a feral smile on her bloodied lips.

End