Unprepared for the cold Aurea shivered. She felt the chill seeping into her bones and dug her nails into her fists. Well fist and gun.
Her grip felt loose but was actually tight, as she was clinging to the weapon in fear of dropping it because of her cold and clammy hand. And the cat.
It moved almost faster than Aurea could think and she felt it gaining every moment. Its was so much more terrifying to run from this creature than from a human with a gun. She had missed it, barely, maybe. It was angry now.
This creature, made for killing.
"Don't over think it."
She took a left. And turned her body towards the cat, holding the gun and spraying two bullets. This time the knockback only slightly jerked her arm as she was running.
She turned and ran on. A dumpster, a ladder, and another split way.
Aurea inhaled sharply and pressed her luck.
She scrambled up the ladder, hands slipping on the rungs, and reached the top of the wall. Going onto her hands and knees she took a moment to take in the area around her from her vantage point. She spotted four or five dead ends and made a note.
Except the thoughts were practically ripped out of her mind when the cat leapt at the wall and swatted at her, like a fly on a table.
It's sharp claws caught her sides, dipping into the skin briefly like hot metal in cool water.
A cry fell from her lips as she fell to the ground with a thud.
She lay there for half a second, before getting up and whipping out the gun at the sound of claws clattering up a wall.
Aurea gasped and scrambled away, ears failing to make the white noise of gunshots heard over her pounding heart.
Her footsteps echoed in her head as she ran, glancing over her shoulder every five seconds. She couldn't see it!
Aurea felt relief tugging at her heart but pushed it aside, there was no way she had lost it.
Aurea was no zoologist but she did know that all animals had a sharper sense of smell than humans. If it had gotten her scent then she wouldn't be able to lose it so easily, well, shouldn't. Unless that only applied to wolf like animals.
So where was it?
Metal on metal.
The sharp scrapes and thuds of a creature on roofs.
Her legs carried her faster, there was no way people didn't hear this. Was this normal?
She pulled out the gun, and searched with a careful eye, still running.
Black on red, black on silver.
The moon came out from behind the clouds and a curtain of dark was opened wide.
Barely illuminated roofs shone, everything else hidden by shadows climbing the walls, sitting on bays and terraces, sleeping in the ground.
All but one shadow, a jet of black, skating across the roof.
Growing bigger with every second.
Growing more fangs, longer claws, sharper teeth.
Why was she even in this situation?!
Her breathing hitched, heart thumping out of her chest, trying to beat it's way out of her ribcage. Her legs knocked together, each more desperate to get further than the other. Her eyes widened in terror, and mind screamed.
Aurea wasn't some brave heroine who heard the gunshots and rushed to help or call the police , or someone taught from a young age about how to fight. She wasn't a psycho with the cunning of a crazy man, she wasn't someone with the ability to survive things like this, and she wasn't someone with tremendous luck, or power. So as far as she was concerned she wasn't going to survive this.
Her chances were as short as her hair.
With one last shred of hope she looked behind her.
Her eyes trailed the roof, she didn't see anything.
"Hahahahaha!" footsteps beat against a roof, quickly approaching, "You'll never hit me! I'm far to graceful and agile for the likes of yo-"
A shot rang out, loud and clear followed by a very bored voice and a sigh.
"If you were as great as you claim to be then you wouldn't be such an easy target."
The steps stopped and Aurea looked up, a body was falling towards her.
She gasped, diving out of the way in fear of being crushed.
It landed with a thump and Aurea moved towards it, unaware of the fact that the person was still breathing.
She instantly moved back however at the sound of slow footsteps approaching.
She didn't have to be able to see to tell who it was.
The person pushed herself up onto her elbows, the silhouette struggling and hacking.
"Don't think I'm done just yet."
The woman, Aurea deducted, pulled out her gun, pointing it in her general direction .
How was it that everyone could see perfectly but her?
"Let me go, and I won't kill her."
A dark chuckle that rasped her ear and sent shivers down her spine in an unsettling manner.
"What power do you have right now?"
The woman waved around her gun before shooting a round, it flying away and hitting something random in the background. Aurea flinched and withdrew into herself, before taking a breath and facing the woman.
"You know," she could feel his dark smirk, "I could easily kill you. Right. Now. And if you kill her, I could do the same right after."
Aurea's mind immediately flashed to a set of cards in her hand. A set of diamonds, she stared at her opponent, a shadow in the dark, a form with a sharp grin. Laying down in front of him two pairs of aces. He was gambling her life?
The woman was silent before throwing the gun down. It skidded along to the right before the noise died down.
Aurea turned around and faced the leader, expecting him to take the woman captive because she was obviously beaten and had surrendered. Instead she got the first glimpse of his face.
A small frown of disgust was his mouth, his eyebrows drawn down, red hair wild like a lion's mane pulled back into a ponytail. Small lines were etched near his mouth and brows, as if used so much in scorn that they were stuck there from the ripe age of 16.
He was young, handsome with chiseled features from what she could tell but half of his face was covered by shades.
They must let him see in the dark, as most people would not choose to wear them even if they needed to mask their identity at this time of night.
Still their presence felt necessary for another reason.
He held the gun out long in his arm, pointing it down not with a maniacal glee or hatred, but with disgust and scorn.
There wasn't a second of hesitation, a moment's glance.
The bullet lodged it's way into her head.
Aurea flinched on impact.
He just shot her. No look of remorse even crossed his face as the shadows hid him in the dark once again.
Her breath caught in her throat, what? Was- was this normal? How could he just-?
He moved from behind her and walked over to the corpse.
Her heart thudded in time with every step he took.
Swiftly his arm reached out and snatched something from near the face.
"Here, you'll need this. I already lied about you knowing my identity, and you've already probably seen me so you might as well."
He tossed something at her. In her hand she held something small, that she assumed would help her see in the dark.
Aurea's hands shook as she opened up the glasses. She needed to see better, but… her head turned towards the limp body.
A feral cry jumped from the shadows. Aurea screamed and clamped her hand over her mouth.
The creature built for hunting. The predator that brings death. The untamed killer.
The panther jumped at the man, shifting over the body of the poor animals friend.
It snapped its jaws at the man's throat going straight for the kill. After all had someone killed your friend wouldn't you be angry.
Fists met its teeth though and the gleaming shards flew from its mouth.
"How did he do that, I knew he was strong but…"
As his hands pulled back Aurea saw metal lacing his fingers. Fist cuffs were illegal,how did he manage to get his hands on some? More importantly how was he going to win this fight?
The cat swiped at him blindly. The poor man attempted to block it with his arm but only succeeded in getting said arm cut up. He kicked the cat in the chest and swung for its head, missing it.
Aurea unfolded the glasses. There was, she gulped, no time to think about the body. The owner. Her stomach rebelled but she quickly moved before anything bad could happen.
She attempted to jam them onto her face, only succeeding in stabbing her eye. She hissed but slid them on and watched the fight unfold. How to help…
The cat let out a flurry of swipes at the man, hitting his chest once and face twice. His shades flew off.
Aurea leaned in attempting to get a glimpse of his face but he let out a livid cry and punched the cat's lungs repeatedly.
The two rolled around continuously, whilst Aurea turned to her thoughts.
The gun? No it'd be too easy to miss and hit the man. Joining was stupid, suicidal, and would probably manage to just make her get in his way. She needed a clear opening to help, one that wouldn't result in her accidentally killing someone.
The cat was on top of the man now, taking many vicious swipes, while he barely dodged each claw.
Aha! Aurea's eyes scanned once again. Cardboard boxes? No. Tennis racket? Too rusty. Pillow sheets? Funny, no. Trash can lid? She was running out of time it'd have to do.
As quickly as she could she ran over to the overflowing cans, swiped a lid, turned, and threw it at the cat as best she could.
It barely nicked its ears.
Aurea forgot that frisbee was and never would be her favorite game.
Said ears perked at the light touch and clattering of the lid. It quickly turned its head towards her, lept off the man, and charged at her instead.
Aurea hadn't planned this far ahead. Turning back over to the cans she ran, grabbed the second lid, and slid into the cans barely shielding her body before the full weight of the cat hit the lid.
Her lungs suffered the brunt of the impact, as she was practically pushed into the can behind her. Her breath being gone meant she couldn't even scream from the pain of her ribcage being crushed. Hot and salty tears ran down her face as the cat swiped at her shield, its hind legs holding itself up, open for attack.
Metal on metal.
Seizing probably her only chance Aurea took both of her legs and kicked at them with all her might.
With a meowl the cat slipped down and hit the ground with a thud. It snapped back at the sound of her attempting to scramble away, opening it's jaws wide it snapped them shut taking away a layer of her skin in it's jagged, jacked up teeth in the process.
Aurea screamed and kicked the creature in the head, quickly she pulled herself up. She stood above the cat now, her body fizzled with adrenaline. Her mind was shut off, and ,lacking a moral compass, she did the one thing that made sense.
Quick as a flash she raised the lid and slammed it into creatures head.
Again,
and again
and again
and again.
Until she dropped down onto the floor, the lid leaving her hands with a clatter.
She covered her ears and sat silently as her mind became clear again.
Red met silver.
Her eyes flicked over to the lid.
Her breathing became dry and heavy, her chest felt constricted, her mind was screaming. She just killed something.
Aurea brought her shaking hands in front of her.
Blood stained those fingertips.
She hadn't had time to think, it was the only option.
No it wasn't, a distraction was all she needed to be. Killing wasn't apart of the job.
The thoughts in her head quarreled, screaming at each other and all she could do was listen, broken as she felt.
She had no control over her mind.
She turned her head looking away from the Panthers dead body.
Suddenly someone was at her side. They picked her up, she screamed and began pushing them away before she came to her senses.
"Calm down. You're fine. It's not like you killed a person."
Aurea covered her face. Murder is still murder.
Suddenly she was tossed over his shoulder and they, well he, began a quiet walk to somewhere.
Deep gasps of breath, hands trembling, chest heaving, Aurea's more prevalent sane thoughts filled her mind. Had it been hours, minutes?
Aurea frowned at the man's method of carrying her but left it, even if her unsteady breathing was hindered more by it, the only other options were too intimate. His grip on her legs was strong but she still became uneasy when she swung a bit.
After a few minutes of shaky breaths and uncomfortable feelings she spoke up.
"You can put me down now."
Her legs were released and she slid off his shoulder easily. His hands took her waist and set her down. She looked up at him but let out a long breath. His shades were still on.
"If you were wondering yes killing people is normal around here."
Aurea sucked in a breath.
"My group tends not to kill though, it's too messy, and…" A pause as he gripped her shoulder when she wavered. "Tonight's circumstances were... special."
She raised her brows, how so?
"Well," wait she had thought out loud? "That's confidential and I will probably have to explain some other time."
Aurea hoped they never met some other time.
"You should be going home. I will contact my group about the corpses."
Aurea stumbled at the word.
He looked at her, with a patronizing smirk.
"I think I'll have to walk you home. Or carry you."
"No I'm fine."
The words left her lips quickly, quick enough to probably tell him she was shaken up, but calmly enough to hide the fact that he somewhat scared her.
He didn't falter though and began steering her out of the alleyway.
Aurea was too tired to protest.
They walked along the sidewalk for a bit, a small stinging feeling nipping at her right leg.
Soon though the feeling began to burn and she began to limp, her pain completely obvious under the streetlights.
The adrenaline was starting to wear off and Aurea began to feel the aftereffects of the fight.
Her chest felt bruised and ached with each intake of cold air, her leg was almost being dragged at this point, and she began to violently shiver. Apparently you need more than just a tank top and pajama pants on outside during winter.
"Here."
A coat was slapped on her back, the outside black leather with an orange and white stripe, the inside made of a fuzzy black material.
"Next time don't leave the house in something as ridiculous as those clothes."
"These were a gift."
The sharp edge in her tone was defensive.
"Still you should have taken in the weather before you left your house."
"I had a jacket when I left believe it or not but I lost it when you first found me."
Aurea sighed, her dad now had no coat.
"Oh well my apologies."
He didn't sound at all sorry.
Once again he swiftly picked her up, swung her over his shoulder, and continued walking all in one motion, leaving her little time for protest.
Aurea choked for a second before pushing herself up onto her elbows, her chest heaving slightly. He could have at least given her a warning.
She felt him stiffen,
"You're digging your elbows into my back."
Aurea wasn't sure about whether or not she wanted to apologize or antagonize him more.
"I'm doing this for you, you know. You're not in the best condition to walk right now, so please, refrain from hurting me more."
She had forgotten he was also in the fight.
Fine. Aurea dropped her elbows and hung limp against his back.
There wasn't a thank you and she didn't expect one. Only a small air of understanding and unease between the two.
That was until a voice called.
