Tall, dark buildings loomed over the urban jungle, making the small city as crowded as ever. Situated between two, an alleyway sat practically under the buildings. It was dim, and littered with rubbish. It proved to be a haven for rats and unwanted smells.
Two blue orbs bored into grey, and a meek voice sounded "I'm hungry".
"I know, Celeste"
A mass of matted hair, stained an indistinguishable colour, looked up to the one in the brown ragged jacket. A tug at his sleeve made him look down again. "Please, Kyle"
Kyle, who had the same hair of his six year old sister, sighed. The dark circles under his eyes were almost black, and his tall but malnourished frame didn't represent the fact that he was nearly sixteen.
"I suppose we can eat the soup now" he said, getting the dented can labelled "Potato and Leek" out of his pocket. Using his bare hands, the can was open in seconds and handed to his sister. She sat down on the concrete ground, both hands wrapped round the tin tightly as if it would shatter into a million pieces. Kyle joined her on the floor, smiling weakly.
"Make sure you eat it all, it's been a while since we had any food. Watch the sharp sides."
Nodding, Celeste took a long gulp o the cold meal, devouring nearly half in a matter of seconds. She extended her arms to her brother.
"Now you" Her eyes once again went to his, soft blue to piercing grey.
"No. You need it more than me, I'll be fine for little longer" His empty stomach said otherwise, but the will to keep his sister just a little bit less starving made him ignore it.
"You're sick, I know you are. Please Kyle, please please please-"
"Alright alright, a little, but promise you'll eat the rest" He took the can from her and took a short sip. The substance barely anything off the edge of his seemingly unlimited hunger. Handing the can back to Celeste, she drank the rest as promised.
After a few moments, rain began to fall. Lightly spitting out of the sky and influenced dark clouds to cover the fully luminous moon. Kyle looked up, and noticed that almost complete darkness surrounded them.
"Time for bed now I think, we can find more food in the morning" He took his sister's hand and led her to their make-shift bed. This consisted of a thick piece of cardboard laid diagonal to the brick wall that protected them from common sight. Newspaper covered the ground, slightly soggy and blotched from the elements. Celeste laid down and watched her brother take his usual place.
Kyle stood slanted, with his back against the wall. All his senses were honed in, keen on protecting his sibling from the night.
"You never sleep" Celeste whispered to herself, before drifting off to the sounds of the rain lightly hitting the card above her.
The grey eyed one watched his sister sleep, and felt a small weight lift off his shoulders. He hunched himself over, before vicious coughs racked his entire body. It took a full minute, until he manage to rid himself of them by punching the wall behind him. The pain distracted him from the plague that seemed to have overtaken his body.
"Why us, why her? She's done nothing wrong"
He didn't like sleep. It wasn't safe.
His fingers followed the trail of scars left on his arm, which leaded up to his shoulder. His heart missed a beat, as he fought the urge to let his head nod into sleep. Another cough made his chest strain for breath, and exhausted his body. Eventually, somewhere in the late night, he fell asleep against the brick wall that supported him.
A momentous bang startled both Kyle and Celeste awake, the latter immediately crawled up to her brother, trembling.
Two large shadows appeared on the alley's wall, illuminated by the moon's light. It was still night.
"I fell asleep" Kyle inwardly kicked himself for allowing him to be so weak. He kept his hands behind his back, and allowed his acute hearing to track the shadow's movements. In almost no time at all, two figures appeared from the corner. Both were large, burly men. One sporting a skin-head, and the other long black hair. They didn't seem to have pleasant intentions at all.
"Here're the little buggars" One said, smiling with the few teeth he had. They both began to walk up to the sibling duo, fists clenched.
Kyle pulled Celeste behind him, and gave the men a menacing stare.
"Come one step closer to me, and I'll cut your fucking faces off" He snarled, all focus on the two in front of him. Celeste kept close, hands holding the jacket front of her tightly.
"You're 'avin a laugh" Said the black-haired one, taking another step closer. "I'll knock you straight out you little punk. Might have to keep the other one for a bit long-" He was cut off as a chunk of his cheek was ripped out.
Kyle panted heavily with a mix of adrenaline, fear and rage. His arms were out beside him, revealing long, wolf-like claws protruding as if they were fingernails. His hair had become noticeably thicker, and his canines peeked out just a little. Not exactly a new-moon transformation, but close enough to be just as deadly.
The black-haired man screeched, as he lurched round and lunged as Kyle. Standing his ground, he aimed for the neck this time. Futile it proved, as he was pinned against the wall in a deathlock. Celeste managed to dive out the way just in time, taking refuge in her den.
"Stop it!" She screamed, tears streaming down her face creating clear stripes on her cheeks. Again it proved futile, as Kyle was punched in the gut. Doubled over, he hissed as he was pushed into the wall again. His eyes saw stars, as it not only hit the brick, but another fist which made him fly a few meters.
The skinhead began to approach Celeste, as the other kept his foot on Kyle's head, forcing him into the ground. Sharp pieces of gravel grated against one side of his face, making it bleed raw. Celeste screamed again, and clutched her head as her own mutated power managed to break free.
The large man fell to his knees, hands pounding his head in agonising pain as it felt like a thousand shards of glass were cutting his brain. The other man stared horrified at his partner, and then diverted his attention to the young girl. Kyle felt the immense pressure on his head relieve, but was met with more pain as he clutched his stomach. Blood had soaked his clothing, and was running down his neck at the large cut on his cheek. When he tried to get up, his left leg proved to be uncommitted.
"Celeste!" He inwardly screeched, seemingly unable to have the mental capacity to speak.
His sister pushed as far into the wall as possible, still clutching her head, when a sudden calmness flooded her mind.
"Celeste." It said, a soothing voiced filled her ears making her cease movement. "I'm here to help"
The voice she heard came seemingly out of no where, before two other figures barreled into the narrow alley. One was tall, the other short. One gritted his teeth at the attackers, and the other focused all his attention on the small girl in front of him. Both had came to their aid.