A terrified scream pierces through the scorching air of São Vicente, Cape Verde.
A young woman—no older than twenty—stands frozen.
Her ebony skin glistens in the sun, her dark hair styled with exquisite care.
Her elegant clothes shimmer with delicate fabrics and embedded gemstones, a clear sign of noble status.
The fruit basket she was carrying crashes to the ground as she stares in horror at a corpse.
A creature that barely resembles a human.
Feathered fuchsia wings burst from its shoulders.
A massive hole gapes through its torso, from back to chest.
Black, sticky liquid pools beneath it.
Four more bodies lie nearby—one demonic, the others human women.
But the girl is too far from the village.
No one can hear her.
The bustling marketplace drowns out her cries.
She wants to run.
She wants to scream again.
But her body refuses to move, paralyzed by a vision her mind simply cannot comprehend.
