Queen of Pentacles

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Winn spared the Rambo-wannabe jr a look of disbelief.

"I said I was looking for a comic book...for a little girl," she stressed at the end.

The teenager, though younger than her by a few years, puffed out his chest and folded his arms in response to her incredulous tone.

"Take this one anyway," he grumbled.

"Might save your life," Mr. Army-Fatigues added ominously from Rambo Jr.'s side posed in the exact same authoritative way.

Winn sighed in defeat and rolled up the comic book whose title page cried Vampires Everywhere! in bloody lettering before stuffing it into a side pocket on her backpack. "Whatever."

She swept a quick cursory glance over the two teenagers. They continued to sneer arrogantly down at her and she quickly realized what a mistake it was coming into the comic book shop. "I think I'll just get her a doll or something instead."

"You do that," Army-Fatigues scoffed.

"But I'd wait until sun up. Around here the freaks come out at night," he warned.

Winn could feel the beginnings of a headache coming on. "Riiiight. You two have a nice day. I'll be going now." She immediately spun on her heel and began rushing towards the exit.

As she made her way up the aisle between the rows of comics displays, she passed another new customer with his hands in his pockets and a frown on his young face. A wave of an unname-able emotion swept over her and nearly made her stop short.

Oh, no, she thought uneasily. It's happening again, isn't it?

A nervous sweat began to dot her forehead and she had to force herself not to look back...and failed as she threw a quick glance at the teen who she passed. Army-Fatigues was patting the newcomer's shoulder while Rambo Jr moved to shield them from view.

Forcing herself to keep moving as she merged with the crowd on the boardwalk, she realized she could identify the emotion that had swept over her.

It was grief.

"Poor kid," she mumbled under her breath.

This wasn't the time she'd had a weird moment of emphatic incitement to a passing stranger. Over the last few months other weird stuff seemed to be happening to her more and more. For example, she was drawn to "The Murder Capital of The World" for some inexplicable reason.

She didn't know why she was here in Santa Carla, but it's not like she had a whole lot else going on. Then again, she had pieces of an idea of why because apparently she was having prophetic dreams now. At least, she hoped they were prophetic...and also dreaded.

The fluttering of leathery wings caught her attention above the din of the boardwalk.

This time she did stop short, causing someone to bump into her with a muttered curse. She mumbled an apology and started moving slowly through foot traffic. Narrowed eyes started scanning the darkened spaces between streetlights.

Where is that stupid flying rat that's trying to ruin my life? she wondered darkly.

The flow of people on the boardwalk led her past the rides and food stands until movement caught her eye in the distance.

She sucked in a surprised breath and she began to follow the little bat black gliding through the long shadows cast by the carnival lights. Something deep in her gut knew that the appearance of the small creature had to mean that something was about to happen! Whether or not that something was good or bad...

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