Eponine stopped too. The jig was up.

She waited for a moment before calling, "I don't mean harm. I'm not hunting. I swear."

She made sure she was out of the shadows; her sickly skin made her face contrast with her inky surroundings. At least now the woman could see her.

"It's just nice…" she struggled to think of something to say, "Nice to walk… in the dark. Isn't it? It's almost magical. Nice magical, I mean. Like the stories." She was babbling and she knew it.