Chapter one

Lun Marshall stepped out of the building where he worked and looked up at the cloudy New York sky with a grimace. It was going to rain in less than twenty minutes, so she hurried to find her car, which was parked two blocks away.

He had found it impossible to park in the company's parking lots that day. All the workers at Tyler & Co seemed to have predicted that it would be an excellent day, as Tyler, the factory owner, had arranged for another parking lot to be opened for the use of the rest of the workers. This one was normally used for storage of goods and their respective trucks, but it was Friday, and trucks only ran Monday through Thursday.

The company's beautiful new clock read ten minutes after her arrival. And there stood Tyler, waiting for her, looking immaculate and aggressive. She had listened to his terse words before he nodded softly and left for his office. If that hadn't already been the beginning of a long day enduring the rude looks from her boss, her sister Paulina had made it worse by sending her a text message telling her the pantry was empty, and she wouldn't be in until nightfall. That was the bad thing about working overtime in a pub, where men got drunk until they hit the floor. Literally. It was seven o'clock in the evening, but from that dark sky full of thick clouds it looked like nine o'clock. There was a soft rumble and a breeze with the unmistakable smell of a storm reached her. She had to hurry.

 

In that industrial park, there were a couple of restaurants that made take-out food. It had been three weeks since her partner Elizabeth had shown up with a white bag that smelled delicious. Chicken in sauce, she had said. And it seemed to be quite inexpensive. Turning slightly to the left, he saw that on the same street where he had parked, there was one of those stores. It was still open. Lun smiled and hurried over there, thinking that maybe his day could get better... partially.

 

Both she and her sister lived at home with their parents. Both had been killed in a car accident. Apparently, their bodies had been charred by a loud explosion between the two vehicles, as no remains were found to bury. The truck that collided with their parents' car ended up the same or worse. The driver had also not survived and his remains had not been found either, although there was never a family to claim them. Both Lux and her sister Paulina had found themselves in a terrible depression. She still remembered her father's kind face smiling at her and stroking her blond hair like his. Her eyes were dark blue with hints of gray, just like Lux's. Many said Lun was the female form of her father.

 

Before, she and Paulina had a close bond. They had always played together, had even agreed to dress alike, something that had made her mother laugh.

Now they could barely stand each other. Loneliness throbbed between them like a freshly opened wound. Looking at her sister was not easy. Paulina was the same image as her mother, and closing that dark chapter of her life was taking too much work.

Their parents died when Lun was nineteen and Paulina was twenty-one. They were not related to any of their relatives, so they both had to get by with no help other than the state and a distant uncle who had agreed to send them money...but nothing else. Apparently, she had not had an intimate relationship with her parents.

 

When Lun entered the restaurant, a dark-haired man with jet eyes greeted her with a friendly smile. 

"Good evening, miss, how can I help you?" he asked in a friendly but jovial tone; with an accent she could describe as Irish.

"I wanted to take some food with me, can you give me a menu? Please."

The man bent down and handed her a black card that read "Home Plates" in silver letters. He smiled and nodded at her, pointing to a counter where there were many casseroles. All that great variety of dishes made Lun's stomach jump, who was eager to fill the huge emptiness he had had since first thing in the morning. Also, as if the store wanted to make sure that customers would buy, an intense smell of food flooded her nostrils, belonging to the kitchens.

"If I may, my dear, I can recommend our best specialties. This week we are cooking dishes from different countries. Today our chef has European food."

 

"Sure" Lun followed the man.

In front of her was displayed a large potato omelet that had a small flag stuck in it with a toothpick. The flag was that of Spain. Lun had heard very good things about Spanish cuisine. Next to it was another smaller, transparent omelet with a flag of France and next to it, others with different flags and different ingredients. There was also some kind of filling with meat that said "haggis" on it.

"This is an omelet made with potatoes and eggs from Spain. It sells like gold and cloth," he leaned closer to whisper to her as he kept pressing his finger to the display where he pointed to the food. Lun caught the glint in the vendor's eye "both the potatoes and the eggs come from the south of Spain, for me, my favorites. Do you know where the best potatoes come from? From Murcia".

 

Lun frowned. She didn't know where Murcia was, let alone if the best potatoes were from there. She just wanted to fill her stomach and sleep peacefully.

It looked good, no one could argue with that. It was hot and gave off a soft white smoke, fogging up the glass a bit. Not only that, but it was golden, freshly made. Unable to help herself, she asked him to cut it in half for her to take home.

Lun ended up taking two steaks made in wine, the potato omelet and some sort of stew that would be his lunch tomorrow. After paying, she headed for the door.

It was raining. And hard. Drops of water were hitting the cars and the asphalt. And she didn't have an umbrella, nor did she want to stay out until it let up. The traffic in New York was ridiculous, always with miles-long lines that made her late getting home.

 

She ran out and pressed the food against her chest as she entered the parking lot through the back door, feeling the wall to guide her through the darkness. A thump behind her startled her. She turned quickly, but saw no one: was there no attendant? She could hear the crackle of light bulbs breaking, and every time she passed a light, it went out behind her. Likewise, she definitely understood why Tyler forbade the workers to go in there. The conditions were terrible. Climbing into her old car, she left the food on the passenger seat and ran a hand over her face, trying to wipe off the water droplets and smeared makeup. She looked in the rearview mirror and began to pull her long hair back as she cursed her bad appearance. As she combed her hair, a shadow behind her crossed quickly.

 

She turned around and saw that all the lights were off, except for the emergency lights. A few guards made their way toward the booth while muttering among themselves. Many drivers got out of their cars, shouting and complaining. Apparently, the large door that allowed the cars to exit was broken.

 

"Gentlemen!" one of the guards shouted, "we're out of power because of the storm! We'll have to wait for it to come back on. Please calm down and..."

 

"What?" shouted a woman with a slight southern accent. "I have things to do, I can't stay here until the power comes back on! I want to talk to Tyler immediately."

 

A tall, athletic, young security guard approached the woman who had yelled. He spoke to her in a low voice, trying to calm the atmosphere. All the drivers were shouting and horns were blaring. Lux got out of the car and walked toward the booth, where a single light bulb was on and barely illuminated.

 

Her footsteps echoed against the asphalt floor, the cold numbed her whole body and she was angry. After the money it had cost her, all the food would end up cold. A woman appeared at her side and from the body language she seemed to be much angrier than she was. The security guard looked her up and down, his eyes strangely unfocused as he listened intently to the woman, who suddenly started speaking in another language.

"Excuse me," Lun asked. "Do you know how long it will take before we can get out of here? Isn't there any emergency exit?"

"I'm sorry, miss, but the emergency exit is closed, it can only be opened with electric current. The windows are too small for us to get out of them and the garage door doesn't work either. We believe that in half an hour everything will be fixed" the calm voice of the security guard failed to dampen the spirits of the woman standing next to him.

"That's not my problem!" she shouted angrily, blurting out an expletive in another language. "I demand to get out of here immediately!".

A thud echoed throughout the parking lot. The woman didn't seem to notice, but Lun tensed.

"Please, help me!" someone shouted.

The parking lot fell into a grim, terrified silence.

All the drivers looked around, wondering where that voice had come from. The security guard approached the two women and grabbed them with his large hands. The entire parking lot was completely and utterly silent. The only thing that could be heard was the rain falling outside and hitting the ground hard, the passing cars and.... the growl of an enraged animal. Or hungry.

The drivers' footsteps echoed on the wet pavement. With the flashlights they had taken out of their trunks, they were heading towards the area where that animal growl had been heard. Lun stood on tiptoe, trying to see something through all the people in front of him.

There was a man lying on the ground and a large, thick, dark puddle around him.

Lun grimaced as she saw the huge, deep wound the man had. She put a hand to her mouth, trying to control the sudden urge to vomit despite not having eaten anything since first thing in the morning. That mortal wound was still dripping blood, soaking everything and also leaving a smell of copper and rusty iron in the air.

The man's chest had a large furrow of broken skin and tendons, a torn shirt and... bites all over his body.

"My God..." whispered one man.

"Call an ambulance and the police!".

At that moment... a huge, hairy, clawed hand appeared from the ceiling and grabbed the man who had given the order. He threw him against the other wall, which was many feet away, and there was a crunch of broken bones and a shriek before silence again blanketed the entire parking lot. A huge muscular wolf-like monster climbed up the wall, jaws gaping and howling.

Chaos ensued.