He laughed as the impending arms which disappeared into the figure at his back pressed further into his chest. “And what could you possibly do for me? I’ve had enough as it is for one day. Leave me in-”

“I assure you, I have the greatest intentions for you young one, but you must trust me in this offer.” The woman’s voice was so sweet and soothing that it sent waves of strange pleasure soaring down his spin. Her breath hit his neck, wrapping it like a cocoon which trailed out and around his throat like smoke being slowly drifted by the essence of time. He wasn’t sure what unwelcome force had his mind in a tangle, but he could have sworn the vicious end of cupid’s arrow had landed dead in his heart. H-He was feeling love for this unknown woman?

He pushed through the tasteless display of emotions pulling at the loose ends of his sanity and spoke the most basic of questions that was scratching at the back of his throat. “What the hell is going on?”

“You mustn’t concern yourself with too much my child. Just this simple choice is all. After that, the answer’s will come…”

He paused taking a deep breath to help calm his nerves, and let his body relax in the woman’s embrace. “Not much of a choice, get my **** kicked or have my pain erased, but I guess it’s still a choice right?”

He felt the woman nod just brushing the ends of his hair with possibly her own. He welcomed the chill it sent down his neck. He could feel through his clothes that her body was strangely cold and judging from what he could see from her hand, one of the brightest shades of white he had ever seen. He wondered how someone could be so incredibly strong, yet seem so calm and meek.

“Yes, it is your choice. You always have a choice child, just like you chose to walk down this alley and into my arms. But I’ll say once again, your choice must be of haste, my hunger grows with every moment.”

The second mentioning of the word hunger sent a violent gust of fear and uncertainty into his mind. Blackness was filling his thoughts and the only thing keeping it at bay was a small thread of sanity that he had retained through this brutal evening. He was almost certain she would pierce him at any moment with something sharp, sucking away the life he had once come to enjoy and cherish, but yet he knew there was still a choice.

“If you can really take my pain away, what will I become?” he finally asked through a shaken unsteady voice.

“There is nothing to fear. The pain is little and lasts for a moment, then you will become what most have only dreamed, but yet have not earned the right to be. You will be as I am.”

Then a voice born from the darkness arose from the shadows. It’s origin was masked in a part of the alley the street lights did not seem to touch. It was an old voice, one so ancient he thought he could hear the dust it must have collected over the years. Though it bore a maturity as deep as the oceans, it was yet the voice of a man no earlier than twenty five and no later than thirty. “Dear sister, what are you doing to this poor man?”

“Reiner…why are you here?” The woman almost sounded alarmed of his presence. The grip around his body increased and those arms that seemed so solid and unbreakable dug deeper into his innards.

“Oh, I think you know,” he could almost see an evil smile spread across Reiner’s face even though he’d never seen the man in his life, “Didn’t your mother ever teach you not to play with your food Sister? Let him go for now.”

“But-”

“That’s an order.” Reiner hadn’t raised his voice until then, and it was enough to send chills down the spines of even the bravest of men.

Her arms slowly loosened and fell away from his chest leaving him with the greatest urge to run he had ever had in his life, but he knew they would catch him before he took two steps. He backed away slowly and turned to look at the owner of those powerful arms, but she was nowhere to be found.

“What the?” He said utterly bewildered.

“We are still here my boy,” Reiner spoke once again through the darkness, “but we cannot allow you to see us. Please don’t try and run, it would be unwise. Now back to business…”

The woman spoke once again, and her voice was now masked by the darkness as well, “Yes, if business is what you’d call it. Now what’s so important that you had to ruin a perfectly good meal?”

“You know as well as I do that this is the man we’ve been searching for. I’d been watching him all day…I was beginning to get bored, and then who decided to kidnap my little friend? You, dear Sister, have some balls.”

“What do you mean the man we’ve been searching for? You couldn’t possibly mean…” There was a great pause. “Reiner, you must forgive me. I had no idea.”

Reiner sighed sympathetically, “It’s quite alright my dear. I’m just glad I caught you before you did something unwise.”

He listened to the mysterious man and woman’s conversation and could hardly contain mass of questions that surfaced in his gut. Who were they and what were they planning? So he decided to ask the newest and most intriguing questions of all, “Why have you been searching for me? What am I really to you psychos?”

Reiner gave a small laugh and spoke in a tone as grand as the mystery surrounding himself, “My boy…tonight is the night our lord will rise once more, and it’s through you he will do so.”