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The following story is written by forum member Flying Sheep.

A small red car went speeding down a long highway road, the engine roaring louder than it had a right to, the headlights glaring into the darkness of the night. The woman driving the little convertible had a crazed look on her face, hair flailing wildly, laughing in an almost maniacal manner. There was a small girl in the backseat, tied up in ropes, squirming like a worm. The highway was close to empty, and the few people the car blazed past didn’t seem to care. The car approached an exit lane, but instead of slowing down, the car found another boost of speed. The driver attempted to steer the car around the corner, and succeeded, yet launched the car into a large oak tree. The woman driving was sling-shotted out of the front seat, and imprisoned in the branches of the oak. The small girl tried to get free, but all she could manage was a scream...

Annika stared up at the graffiti covered ceiling. The girl sitting next to her, emulating her every move, also stared at the ceiling. Annika, with a look of despair on her face, slowed arched her head down, to stare at the small package in her lap, poorly wrapped in crinkly brown paper. She hated the very idea of having to interact with someone, but she needed money desperately.

Another man entered the small, urban youth church, and slowly walked towards where a young girl was sitting by herself, scanning the church quickly for anything that could interrupt the exchange, or pose a possible threat. Small candles flickered and waved as he walked past, following the advance of the man. The man’s clothes were torn, and covered in dirt, and his torn shoes scuffed the wood on the church floor. The man glanced up at the girl, whom he was sure was his contact, watching her, as she appeared to turn slightly to her left, and appeared to speak incomprehensible words to something that wasn’t visible to his eye.

Annika quickly glanced inside the package, checking that everything was still in there. She didn’t need this going wrong because the package was broken or something was misplaced. She heard scraping footsteps on the floor, and the wood creaking and groaning under the weight of the man who was slowly, but surely, heading towards her. Annika stood up, the girl next to her did so too, leaving the brown package where she stood, where she knew the man could get it. She knew the man would keep his promise, leaving the money in a carton hidden behind a bin outside. She knew men like him were too desperate for what she had. It hadn’t taken her that long to get it, and it wasn’t relatively hard, but it was a challenge for bums like these it seemed.

As Annika walked out down the church isle towards the exit, she passed the man, who didn’t seem to notice the girl following Annika, but gave Annika a glance which she hadn’t seen in a long while. It was a look of concern, and it took Annika by surprise. She never expected such a look, especially from some random bum like this man.

The small ice cream carton was sitting there, on its side, behind the bin, and looked just as if some person had attempted to bin it, but missed. It was well placed, Annika noted, and this bum obviously had some experience. She checked no-one was looking, despite no-one was around the courtyard of the small youth church, and took the carton, noting the weight. She carefully pried open the lid, saw the money, and checked it was real. After biting a few coins, and closely examining a few notes, she deduced this was real money, so she placed the lid back on, and darted down a small, dark alley, littered with beer bottles, needles and cigarette butts. There were homeless people slumped against the dirty brick walls, breathing too slowly to be sleeping regularly. Annika was disgusted, but not surprised. She hated the human race, they were selfish, horrible, disgusting slobs, and they were incapable of getting anything right. Annika hated being human, and she considered herself to not be human. She was too perfect for that, despite her physical body was human.

She could not help that she was human. She still had to live as a human, and survive as a human, but she would do anything, give anything, to not be human.

She darted her way down more dark alleys, filled with more bums, the alleys littered with the sad remains of these homeless losers. She eventually came to a small hole in the wall, that most people couldn’t get in, and crawled inside. It was a tight squeeze, always was, always will be, but it provided her with a small, yet safe home. The walls were reasonably clean, and painted in a clean pink colour. The small pile of sheets and cloths in one corner served as a crude bed, a small stack of wood held her few possessions.

Annika threw the carton of money onto the floor, and crawled onto her bed and curled up, in deep thought. Why had that man looked at her like that earlier? The last time she received a look of someone who cared was before her mother went psycho, kidnapped her and got killed when she was a small child. The girl who had been silently following her phased through the wall, and sat down next to Annika, resting a comforting hand on Annika’s head.

Annika heard a grainy voice outside, that sounded to be calling to her. Something didn’t feel right to her, and she just ignored the voice. The girl sitting next to her looked concerned, and stood up and phased through the wall, outside. She came back in, and gestured outside. Annika just looked at her, and nodded, anxious, not knowing what to expect. She got down onto her knees, and stuck her head out of the hole, and saw the man she had received the money from. She guessed this man must of followed her, and she cursed herself for being so careless.

She could tell so much about a person by their eyes. Their motives, their secrets, their lives, she could get it all. She looked up into the man’s eyes, and gasped. His eyes were pitch black, almost like an empty void. She didn’t understand, the man’s eyes weren’t black before. She wanted to turn away, but the eyes were mystifying, they were drawing her in. But the longer she sat there, the longer she felt that man looking into her very soul. She had never felt anything like it.

Using a massive amount of will, she managed to pull away, feeling dizzy, yet confused. She noticed the girl who had just phased through the wall, but ignored her. Annika crawled out of the hole and stood up, standing taller than the man, but meeting him eye to eye. She had to know more about this man. He wasn’t a normal human, what she just experienced wasn’t of human origin. She knew something was behind this, and she had to know what.