Faithful Rebecca - Excerpt

Saturday morning. Where had the boundless energy gone, the insatiable animal appetite? She was sapped of all energy, all strength. Yet she would not succumb to this lethargy. She could not allow fear or doubt into her mind. She was determined to go through with her plan. Tonight, she would force herself to meet Sagana and Howard beneath the arch in Washington Square. She had waited so long for this. Nothing else counted. Her world was narrow, but it was hers. She would try to enlist Howard as an ally against Sagana. Or perhaps she wouldn't bother. Perhaps she would turn against him as well. And upon Sagana, there was no doubt she'd wreak revenge.

What kind of revenge? How? All day she lay listlessly in bed. She had no ideas and she was unable to rouse herself. But when the sun set she shivered and came alive. Her nostrils expanded as she inhaled the odor - present even inside her stuffy apartment - of the nighttime. Jumping up, she was now all nerve endings, ready, ready … Daytime had been the calm before the storm. With the nighttime she was the storm itself.

Dressing in an instant, she threw on yesterday's clothes. Red pants and a white T-shirt, both too large for her. Her short hair didn't need to be combed.

Sagana would weep. Sagana would be powerless. She'd be lost and subdued, broken in spirit, broken at last. And Howard would understand that he was just a boy, powerless against Rebecca.

Rebecca raced down the filthy flights of stairs. Soaring along the streets, seeing and absorbing nothing, she was immune to the life and spirit of the city. She was moving fast. Nothing, nothing would interfere as she decisively neared her pray.