The city streets were filled with people bustling about with their daily activities.
A young woman wormed her way through the crowds of people, desperation fueling her weary legs. She chanced a glance over her shoulder when she heard shouting.
"Come back, Komodo!"
"We only wanna play!"
"Yeah, just a little bit of fun!"
There was a chorus of laughter that followed.
Komodo was spurred on, ignoring the sharp stabs of pain that ate at her muscles and the burning of her oxygen-deprived lungs.
As she cut a corner sharply, she collided with something hard. The force of the impact knocked her down, tearing what little air she had in her throat. She sat on the pavement struggling for breath.
"Watch where yer goin'!" a deep, gravely male voice barked.
Komodo jumped in surprise and brought her dark brown eyes up to locate the owner of the voice.
A rather strange looking man was looming over her. The first thing she noticed was the three piercing wine-red eyes glaring down at her through a dark purple half-helmet with large spikes at the end that showed off several inches of spiked bleach-blonde hair, the bottom ended at his jaw-line and extended over his nose. The small amount of skin that could be seen was as white as a sheet of pristine paper. His lips were pulled back in a snarl, revealing a pointed lower snaggletooth and a pair of short fangs.
A quick once over revealed he was garbed in a skin-tight black body suit, showing off a rather muscular build, accompanied by an open jacket of the same color that ended just at the top of his hips with a red bandanna tied just below his right shoulder. He wore gloves with metal-plates on each knuckle and joint and full metal covering the digits to resemble claws along with arm-guards strapped to the lower part of his arms. The black boots sported three spikes on the toes and the right held a holster with a gun in it; his knees were covered by metal knee-pads. She could almost swear there was a tail plated in smooth metal lashing about behind him.
Despite the man's frightening physique, Komodo forced herself to her feet. The prospect of her pursuers capturing her was more horrifying.
She attempted to dart past the man, but he grabbed her by the upper part of her arm in a black leather-gloved hand. Fear shot through her at how strong it was. "H-hey-!"
She looked over her shoulder towards the group of five young men pushing their way through the crowd.
"The 'ell's yer problem, eh?! Can't apologize fer runnin' inta a guy?!"
"I-I'm sorry! Please! Let go!" she managed to say between forced breaths.
The anger had died down in the man's eyes to be replaced by curiosity. "What the 'ell's yer problem? Humans are scared of me, but not like this."
"Oh, please let me go!" Komodo pleaded, tugging her arm.
"Answer me why first."
The young woman sobbed softly and went limp with despair. "Please-!"
"Komodo!"
The man looked up at the group, who had halted several feet away.
One of the bolder ones stepped forward. His dark tanned face showed no fear, though a hint was evident in the cold, steel blue eyes. Komodo knew who it was immediately by the way he held himself. It was the leader of the group, Kaden.
The strange man and the nineteen-year-old glared each other down for a few moments before the latter spoke.
"Give her here."
"And why should I?"
"You're ruining our game!"
"I don't think she likes yer little 'game.'"
"Of course she does! Don't ya, Komodo?" He gave her a sly smile.
She whimpered and turned her head away.
"You little bitch, you belong to me!" the teenager growled, taking several steps forward.
"She don't belong ta anyone." the man replied coolly, removing the weapon from its holster with his free hand.
Kaden made to step forward again, but the man fired the weapon. The bullets landed inches from the teenager's feet, tearing through the concrete as if it were butter.
With a yelp, the teenager turned on his heels and rushed through his companions, yelling at them to follow, to which they did gladly.
The man snorted approvingly and re-holstered the gun. He then turned his attention back to Komodo.
She was staring at him, stunned. No one had ever stopped Kaden and his group from harassing her before.
"What?"
She quickly lowered her gaze, mumbling an apology.
"Eh."
She nearly lost her balance when the man released her arm. She watched as he tucked his thumbs in his belts and started walking off.
The young woman was still too stunned to call out to him, as she was wanting. She feared it would anger him. Instead, she turned her back to him and started off for the park.

Later in the day, Komodo was walking along an abandoned sidewalk dragging a stick behind her.
She looked up at small, three-story building off to her right. She passed by it every day. It appeared to be an apartment but she had never seen anyone going in or out of it. Fear always overrode her curiosity to peek in the windows of the first floor.
She was brought from her thoughts as she was roughly spun around.
Kaden's face, twisted in a vicious snarl, was mere inches from her own. "You really thought you'd get away from me, huh?"
Komodo gulped and hunched her shoulders. Staying quiet was the best reply when he was this angered.
He growled and brought the knuckles of one fist up to her cheek forcefully.
The blow made her knees buckle and she crumpled in a heap on the pavement.
Kaden landed several kicks to her chest and stomach, screaming at her all the while. Pain rocketed through her body; it shook with a coughing fit as it fought to refill her lungs. The final kick sent her skidding in to the building.
With the quick respite from the kicks, Komodo sucked in mouthfuls of air. She could taste something metallic on her tongue, it burned as it slid down her throat.
The sound of footsteps made her lift her head enough to see Kaden making his way towards her. She tried to make her eyes focus as they began to blur. She could barely make out the shining silver object in his hand.
A knife? I'm going to die...
She let her head drop in resignation and closed her eyes. The pain immobilized her and prevented her from moving even a muscle to save herself.
A sudden yelp forced her eyes open. Through her blurred vision, she could see a black shape holding what appeared to be Kaden. Her eyes closed again as darkness rushed in to greet her.