Aurora, Canada: November 3rd 2003

Midnight the time when shadows hold dominion, the hands on the clock face giving birth to the small hours. She came to life then darkness had never been an enemy. The silver beams of the moon that spun over her cradle were her first companions.

Her eyes focused, a hand pulled through the short cap of raven hair. The mist slid away from her mind and she tossed the sheet off her body and pushed out of the warmth of the bed. Her gaze went to the window, the moon playing a game of hide and seek between the trees that surrounded her property. She heard it then; the long sorrowful howl that brought her out of the hall of dreams. The sound crawled up her spine and found a kindred spirit in the loneliness that ate at her soul.

Lily's hands encircled her body. A sudden shiver gripped her, not born of cold but of the need to find peace. She watched the moon patterned earth and sky while a soft sigh broke free. It was time to get ready for work. Her hours were reversed from the normal course of society. Nothing so strange in that, there were always those on the fringe that awoke when she did. A good thing to or she wouldn't have a job. A nighttime disk jockey at a local radio station wasn't much but the pay was decent, not that she could sleep anyway.

She rubbed at her face and strode away from the window. Her hand opened a dresser drawer, eyes still trying to focus on the room. Clothing was pulled haphazardly from the cherry wood and shrugged over her small hips and shoulders. Lily wore what was comfortable; there was no reason to impress her audience.

Had she stayed at the window another moment, perhaps she would have seen the sleek form slip away into the night. A beam of the moon's grace shimmered off dark fur as it passed out of sight. He knew that she wouldn't for she never did. He had no idea why he had come to take comfort in these late night almost meetings. There was something about her that drew him, and he called out to her letting the baying cry roll from his muzzle each night.

He could smell that she heard him, could feel the call reverberate through her flesh. He knew that she did not bear the curse, that there was nothing between them to tie and bind. Yet, of all his nightly rituals, this one seemed to grant him peace. Nothing shared but the night and the soft shudders of regrets for days slipped away through the greedy fingers of time.

A dark heavy leather jacket was pulled over her torso; the chill seeping from the doorway coiled about her body and her lips turned up. The weather biting at the world delighted Lily. The turning of the season was long underway. Her keys were snagged quickly from a small metal bowl just beside the door. She pulled it open with a snap eyes turned to the moon. Her feet echoed on the stone walkway, the sound oddly magnified  with the world around her quiet now. The lonely howl was gone, swallowed up  in the midst of darkness.

She kicked the bike to life and shattered the stillness with the heavy thump of the motor. The Indian was freedom packed into two wheels. Her face turned into the wind; as she gunned the silver machine, shot out of the garage and down the street. The bike could always blow her melancholy mood away, and her knees dropped tightly to the frame. Her head was tucked down between her shoulders, jacket keeping the teeth of the wind from shredding skin.

He padded quietly up to the front steps of her dwelling. The keen nose caught the scent of her in the air. He sat back on his haunches and inhaled again. Then the muzzle turned to the trail she had left, his nose wrinkled at the stink of gasoline and rubber and he shied away. A quick scrabble of his claws was heard on the cement before tumbled into the dark night.

After an exhilarating trot through the woods he burst out into a clearing full of tall grass. He hunkered down low and inhaled deeply, the rich thick scent of fallen leaves and earth boiled into blown wide nostrils. He lay down in the soft grass and rolled about in the tall blades. Moisture gleamed in his coat as he shook his head from side to side, then crept along the fence line until he found the spot he had sat in so many times before.

The narrow area was layered with crushed grass and it offered a perfect hiding spot. His ears keened as he turned them towards the small window in the back of the gas station. It was open all night and the man on duty invariably turned the radio to the right station. He listened quietly as the hour turned and the low syrupy voice of the DJ was replaced with hers. He dropped his head onto his paws and listened.

“Good eve, devoted listeners. This is Lilith and I’ll be taking your requests for the next few hours. Tell me your desire.”