One, two, three.. Shame on me..{open}

[Anonymous]

A rumbling two beat could be heard coming up the road. Sweat flecked the painted mare's neck as she lopped onward toward the town. The man that sat astride her back had a firm hand on the reins and a keen eye of the road. You could never be too cautious now-a-days. He saw the town drawing near and breathed a sigh of relief. He was finally going to be safe, but how long would that last?

He dismounted the Gypsy mare and patted her muscled neck and whispered something in her ear. She gave a small nicker, as if agreeing with him on something. The clothes that he wore were tattered and weather worn and in need of a good wash. The dirty white shirt he wore had cut off sleeves that exposed his built arms and the flax colored pants had a hole in the knees and a few grass stains. But the saddle that was strapped upon the mare's back was in good shape, and it looked almost new. He gripped her reins and led her toward a water trough and let her drink away. He searched around, black eyes darting from person to person, searching for danger.

The crowd that occupied the city made him restless and so he led the mare toward a clearing not far away. He untacked the mare and let her graze while he went in search of a river in which he could bath in. He walked slowly through the wooded area, careful not to make a sound. A deer ran across his path and the urge to give chase ripped through him, but he had to resist it, like he did with his other urges.

Once he found a small river he quickly undressed and jumped in. His guard was let down and for once he was relaxed...a perfect time for an ambush..

[Anonymous]

There was a gentle cracking of twigs from the line of trees just past the river. From between the shadows, that same deer approached, creeping meekly towards the water. She saw the man bathing there and seemed to be testing just how close she could get to him. Her black hoofs padded carefully across the grass, her deep eyes on his while she inched closer to the bank of the river. Then she timidly lowered her head, and drank the water, her small marble like eyes shutting in momentary relaxation.

And then, from the skirt of the trees, another rustle came. The deer's flanks twitched, the muscles in her lithe neck twitching as if she planned to look up, to throw her gaze behind and peer into the shadows between the trees... but it was already too late.

Something thin and quick, clad in a tattered black cloak swooped from the trees as if from a great acrobatic jump. Leather and flashes of silver were visible now and then, but not flesh. In fact, it seemed that whoever this was, had made every effort to keep every single ounce of their flesh hidden. The poor deer crumpled to its side, pushed suddenly down under the force of the creature's jump, hardly having time to blink before it was dead.

The silver of a zipper flashed for a moment, under the shadow of the hood that was drawn over the creature's face. Whatever it was, had both a drawn hood and a leather mask to hide its face. Its eyes though, were visible even under the shadow of the hood. They glowed hypnotic red, like two rotten apples from Eden's tree.

The mouth that opened from behind that horizontal zipper on that tight leather face-mask, was full of sharp jagged yellow teeth. The creature bit suddenly into the neck of the deer, holding the flailing thing still with powerful leather-clad claws. She drank only a moment or two, before lifting her head, her eyes on the man standing in the river, not a few feet away.

"What do we have here...?" her dark but unbelievably smooth voice asked, dripping with poise and a touch of sinister glee.