I

I quickly run down the stairs and out to the streets. Take off my coat. Let my skin breathe after a long suffocating day. It’s too bright in the day. Too bright. Big-eye-in-the-sky watches me and I cannot hunt. It’s night, and a great night to hunt.

 

I leap to the rooftop and I search for my prey. The prey that will make waiting worth it. I run, jump, the thick fog covering the city hides me from my prey. But I can see them, I am a hunter, I hunt, I see.

 

The smells of the night city are hitting my nose, the smog, the alcohol, the tobacco, the blood. Another hunter found its prey, it is my turn. I run on the rooftops of the wealthy villas, the poorest slums, the shops, the factories, the places-where-prey-goes-to-pay-to-mate.

 

I do not care about who becomes my prey, they just need to look tasty. They have to have lots of feelings, the feelings always make the flesh taste so much better.

I spot a man walking on the street. Old man. Tough meat. Not a problem. Looks of experience. Walks on cane. Easy prey. I make my move.

 

II

Empty street. Leap. Blood pumping through body. Run after it. Unaware prey. Lunge at it. Teeth sunk in heavy cloth. Bite off. Not meat. Claws dig into my kill. Thrown off. Hard rocky ground. Hurts.

 

It turns. Bright emerald glint in eye. Fear. It picks up its cane to strike. Dodge. Leap on roof. Observe. Tough prey. Will be delicious. Strike again. Bite into arm. Stream of warm blood. Delicious excitement. Land on ground. Tire it out. 

 

It strikes with cane. Dodge. Hit. Hurts. How? Impossible. Confusion. Prey disappears. Jump away. Look for safety. Cane hits stomach. Hurts. Hard ground. Heavy breathing. Emerald eyes staring at me. Over.

 

“You should pick your marks better,” the man says “why did you attack me?”

 

Heavy breathing. Try to speak. “Prey… caught… almost…” Hazy vision. Bright emerald.

 

“I won’t be your prey tonight. But if you want to hunt that bad… it’s worth a try I guess.”

 

Blurry sky, Moon dims. Slip away. 

 

III

I wake up sitting in a comfortable chair. The dim light of a candle on the table reveals two figures hunched over on either side of a bar counter. A man and a woman. The woman glances at me and smiles. Her eyes have the same emerald glint as the man that…

 

She walks over to me with a warm smile but I instinctively recoil away. 

 

“Oh my, don’t you worry, little kitten. Nobody here is going to hurt you, even though you did a number on old Silas back there.”, the woman says, now walking over with some caution.

 

“The bite hurt, though I guess we’re even after the beating ya got, eh?” the man at the counter said with a hearty laugh.

 

“I am Florence, and that’s Silas back there. I own this little cafe here, and try to help people like you”, she said, setting down a cup on the table in front of me, “drink this it should calm you down a bit.”

I take a drink of the warm herbal tea, a pleasant calm enters my mind. The claws on my hands slowly turn back into fingernails, and the fur disappears gradually, showing pale skin.

My vision gets less hazy and the urge to hunt subsides.

 

“Well, do you have any questions?” She asks.

 

“What’s in this? Will it..”

 

She cuts me off. “Just herbal tea, calms down the nerves, nothing to be scared of.”

 

“Why did I change, then?”

 

“Don’t knock the power of a good cup of tea! And also, this place is not entirely ordinary. We don’t really have the time to go over all that right now, maybe another day.”

 

She continues. “As I see it, you have two options. Either you come here every few days, and I help you calm down your… tendencies. Or…” she mutters something under her breath, “...or I bring you to my friend, a friend who could help you use your… power. No promises she will take you in, though.”

 

“Who is this friend?”

 

“She tries to help the people of the city in her own ways. She and her group travel the place, trying to resolve the issues of people like you, and if that doesn’t work… remove them from the city by other means, and that is where she might want you..”

 

“If I don’t go to your friend, do I have to stop hunting?”

 

She nods.

 

“Take me to her…”

 

She nods. “All in due time, now rest. And don’t even think about running off, you won’t get so lucky again.

 

I take small sips of the herbal tea, and soon drift off into sleep, uncertain and scared but in some way comforted by the atmosphere.