Vampire Hunter D: Stolen Sunlight

Chapter 1

Leigh was trying to successfully lose herself in the back of the crowded flea market. She had agreed to come with her only two friends since it was their first day off at the same time in almost a month. Unfortunately for her, spots like that always gave her problems. Her friends thought she had anxiety issues when she was around a lot of people and she was happy to let them believe it. Trying to explain the real reason was difficult at best and she really liked Aimee and Tyne.

She could still see her two friends a few stalls over, but she had wandered further away from the bulk of people. She had always been 'blessed' with the ability to feel what other people were feeling. It wasn't exactly the same thing as reading minds but when people were excited or angry it may as well have been.

As she randomly looked around her, though, she found it might be her lucky day. The stall she wandered into was packed full of all the cheesy stuff she loved shuffling through. Most of it was usually junk but she enjoyed looking through the crystal jewelry, random books, and tarot card packs anyway.

It wasn't that she identified as a wiccan or anything, if anyone asked she would tell them she was agnostic, but there was always a pull to the unknown. Most days Aimee and Tyne would tease her about letting her inner goth out, but Leigh was alright with it. They liked her anyway. It was hard to find people as chill as the two of them. Leigh looked around for her two friends to find they were both already out of sight, but she wasn't in any hurry to try to find them. She decided it could wait until she looked around a little at least.

As she perused the various wares something shiny caught her eye and she turned to see a large basket full of stones and crystals. She smiled as she shifted to sort through them. There were the standard quartz crystals that were found in every place like that and a few other pretty variations but not a lot that she hadn't seen before.

She was totally absorbed in her search for a new trinket when she felt a hand on her shoulder. She dropped the stones in her hand and had to cover her own mouth to stifle her scream. She could usually feel people before they ever got close enough to touch her, even when she was distracted, so being surprised threw her off guard.

She almost knocked the woman over in her rush to see who it was. She had to take a couple of deep breaths before she was calm enough to apologize. "I am so sorry! I didn't hear you come up and you surprised me. I'll pick these up right away!"

She didn't even give the woman a chance to respond before she knelt down and started picking up the stones she had dropped. When she stood back up with her handful of stones she was surprised to see a warm smile on the woman's face.

"I am the one who should apologize for sneaking up on you. I'm sure you aren't used to it but thank you for cleaning that up. As thanks, would you care to see some of the things that I had kept back for my upcoming show in Austin? I make jewelry as well."

Leigh barely had a chance to understand what the woman was asking but once she mentioned jewelry it had her attention. It was hit or miss with handmade pieces, but if you found a real artist some could be fantastic. Leigh like to look at least. Most of the time the prices were ridiculously expensive for the good stuff, though.

"Thank you! I would really appreciate it. I want to apologize for the mess again." The stall owner had already gone behind all her items and Leigh could barely see her, but she could see her absently wave her hand over her shoulder in a shooing motion.

"No harm done. Ah, here we are. This is my latest piece and I think it would suit you. What do you think?"

Leigh was mesmerized. It was a pendant that looked to have a crystal base, but it was an unusual color. It was completely clear but also dark red. It almost looked like a ruby, but it was far too large.