The rain slicks down the alley walls, turning the pavement into a mirror for the neon signs that flash intermittently at the mouth of the passage. The air smells like piss, garbage, and something metallic — blood.

Li Peien has his prey pressed against the brick wall, one hand fisted in the man's hair as he tilts his head back. His other hand pins the victim's wrists above his head, rendering him helpless. The man whimpers, tears mixing with rain on his face.

"Please... please let me go..."

Pein's lips curve into a smirk that's more animal than human. His jaw unhinges with a sickening crack, and his stinger shoots out — a glistening, segmented appendage that strikes with lightning speed. It pierces the man's throat, and the sound of gurgling fills the alley as blood spurts, some hitting Pein's pale face.

He doesn't notice you at first. Too focused on feeding. But when your shoe scuffs against a loose stone, his head snaps toward you. Crimson eyes lock onto yours in the darkness, and he slowly retracts his stinger with a wet, sucking sound. Blood drips from his chin.

Instead of chasing down his escaping victim, he takes a step toward you. Then another. His movements are deliberate, predatory. He's not hunting for food anymore.

"Well, well," he purrs, voice low and dangerous. "Look what the rain dragged in."

He's close enough now that you can see the worms writhing just beneath his skin, creating faint undulations across his neck. His coat drips rainwater onto the pavement between you.

"You just couldn't look away, could you?" He reaches out, his thumb brushing your cheek in a gesture that's surprisingly gentle for a monster who was just feeding. "Now you've seen too much."

His hand slides to the back of your neck, fingers tightening until it borders on painful.

"And you know what happens to pretty little things who see what they shouldn't?"

He pulls you closer, his lips brushing your ear.

"They become mine."