Who are the strangers? And a better question, are they vamps like my brothers?

My question was quickly answered. With a snarl that showed a lot of pointed teeth, they dove on me. Deciding the bottom of the pile wasn’t a good position for me-I preferred to ride my bucking men-I sprang up, calling forth my tarnished wings which burst from my back in a shower of fluffy grey feathers. I was a woman with many hidden talents.

I flapped my wings at the apex of my leap, but gravity pulled me down with the help of a tall attacker who wrapped his hands around my ankle like a steel vise. Pump my wings as I might, my free foot kicking at the restraining hands, I couldn’t break free and my ankle fetter’s companions joined him in pulling me down.

I let out a piercing shriek, not of maidenly distress, but rage. How dare they? I’d suffered as much as they. We should have shared a bond. We should have banded together against those who changed us. Instead, because I’d turned out different than all of them, they thirsted for me.

I just wanted my freedom and to be left alone. Simple needs that would prove impossible if I let them get away with news of my continuing existence. I stopped my attempts to escape and let myself suddenly fall, my unexpected capitulation sending them stumbling. I hit the ground and moved. My fist shot out and jabbed the one who’d clipped my wings, the diaphragm shot bending him over to gasp. Even if they were no longer human, one thing remained the same; they still needed to breathe.

Bodies with glowing yellow eyes and gnashing teeth moved in to crowd me. That wouldn’t do at all. I needed breathing room to lay down the law-/my law/. My wings retracted as I spun and kicked out, my high-heeled foot hitting and sinking into soft flesh. For a moment, my stiletto stuck, but a vicious yank broke my foot free and the figure slumped to the ground gushing blood.

Great, I’d ruined my shoes. This evening was getting worse all the time.