Author's corner: Before any body jumps out of their skin and loses their Heaven sent sense, keep in mind that these are mystical creatures. They are supposed to look weird. K?

Smiles and sunshine

Torque

Eternity woke with the pain in her shoulder being worse than it had ever been. She looked up and there were two cubs holding her in place as a female sewed her shoulder up. It was by far the most agonizing pain she'd ever felt. She looked up at the heavens as she was sure she was being punished for every death she'd ever caused.

"She's awake," Sean said aloud.

Maria looked down to the young woman, "I know it hurts, but if you flash panther it may help."

Eternity flashed into her panther form and the young woman was right, it did help. It just didn't take that stinging out of being sewn up with no damned anesthesia. She tried to remember how she ended up here but truth be told she was drawing a big ass blank. She couldn't ask them any questions because she was concentrating on blocking the pain and she wasn't sure they weren't trying to kill her.

Relax, the female purred, no one here wants to hurt you.

Where am I? Eternity asked.

The Inferno, the voice cooed, we just don't want you get a nasty infection.

From what?

A male answered that time, from that gash in your shoulder that I very distinctively remember telling you may get worse before it got better.

If it were possible she would've rolled her eyes. She couldn't have concentrated on much else but the pain throbbing in her shoulder was becoming quite unbearable.

If you don't slow your breathing you're going to bleed out, Maria told the young woman, slow your respiration. That's it. Easy, easy.

John walked in just as Sean reported that he could feel the young cat's heart rate drop.

"John, what are we going to do?" Maria asked. "She's going to die if this wound stays open but if I keep stitching her heart rate is going to continue to drop."

John sighed, what the hell? He wanted absolutely nothing to do with this little creature and now he stood the chance to save her life. Shit! How did he always get himself into shit like this?!

"Stand back," John commanded. Maria looked a little hesitant to leave her patient's side, "Maria, trust me. Okay?" Maria conceded nodding slightly. She walked over to the other side of the young lady and held her paw. She looked at her brother and he knew she wasn't going any further back than that. Sighing hard, he touched the injury and closed his eyes. The entire room basked in a warm glow radiating from John's power. Eternity had never felt anything even remotely close this in her life. She knew she should be scared nearly to death but somehow she got the feeling that these people didn't bring her all the way up here just to stitch her up and then kill her. Mystically the wound on Eternity's shoulder began to close as if it were being stitched from the inside.

Eternity tried to get up on her paws only to be stopped by John, "Ah, ah, ah, there little gattina." Maria smiled, that's what he called her. It was the Italian word for kitten. John had a soft spot in his heart for the girl after all. "You're shoulder still needs to heal. All we did was stitch."

"Flash human," Maria suggested.

Eternity did as she suggested screaming out in a mortifying cry as she did. The pain in her shoulder was far worse as a human than it was as an animal. Eternity's back arched off the table she was lying on as she let out a bellowing cry.

"Relax," John grabbed her snapping his fingers quickly to dress her as she didn't get a chance to dress herself in the midst of the pain. "Relax." He said again. He nodded at Maria as she prepared to inject the girl with a sedative. Once the girl had relaxed he looked down at her, "You sure you gave her enough?"

Sean perked up as he took girl's pulse, "I think she gave her enough to sedate a damned elephant."

Maria smiled, "She's a growing panther, what did you expect?"

-

Randy sat across from Melina in the Starbucks down the street from John's Inferno nightclub. Melina had paged him about six times in the last ten minutes ranting and raving about some panther chick that was extremely hostile and dangerous. Randy knew she couldn't possibly be talking about the chick that John had stashed at his club but he didn't see the harm in going to be sure.

"Melina," Randy reached for her hand.

"Randall," Melina sat down without acknowledging Randy's outstretched hand.

"What do you want Melina?"

"Have you seen her?" Melina produced a picture of a beautiful Asian girl. The girl was about five feet nine inches in height with creamy skin. Her slanted amethyst eyes were complimented by high cheek bones. In this particular picture she was standing on one leg with the opposite arm resting on her head. Her head was leaned against her biceps and she had a slight smirk on her face. It was one the best 'come and get me' looks he had seen in all of his two hundred plus years on this planet.

"I have,"

Melina practically leaped out of her chair, "Where?"

Randy rolled his eyes, "And what do I owe you? Not a got damned thing that's what!"

Melina narrowed her midnight eyes, "Are you kidding me? I am a--,"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, female master vampire," Randy whirled his finger lamely, "Whoop-de-fuckin'-doo."

Melina's entire face turned read, "Randall."

"Look Melina, I know you. I have known you most of my life. And I know that if you're looking for this girl it's not so you all can go to the local nail salon and get pedicures together. I'll be damned if I'll help you carry out that girl's death sentence."

Melina hissed at him showing four strong inches of battle fang, Randy smirked, "You don't scare me Melina." She hissed again, this time he could see as her fangs grew in length. Randy just stared at her, the blue in his eyes grew harder and harder to see as his irises grew in size. "You can come at me, but really," he said as his irises returned to their normal size and the blue in his eyes had been replaced by gold. "Do you want to fuck with me Melina?"

"She's a murderess." Her eyes narrowed as she stood, "You have brought death to yourself." She smiled, "You are going to die by her hand," she bent down to nick his earlobe, "and you're too stupid to see it."

"If I die, this must be one helluva of a bitch you're hunting down."

Melina turned to back to Randy, "Never underestimate your opponent."

Randy sat back in his chair, now I wonder what the fuck she meant by that? I'm going to have to let John know about this.

­-

Meanwhile, David was perched in window of Eternity's room in the form of a panther kitten. He hated having to fit his 318 pound body in the form of something that maybe weighed 2 pounds but it was worth it to watch the young Cena kitten wash the excess blood of the pantera's shoulder. Her back was strong and her arms were built with sinewy muscle. Her waist was small and though she was sitting up he could tell how well shaped her rear end was. He had already seen enough of her legs in his fantasies to have to see them but her voice. The low hypnotic cadence of her voice was making him wish to hell he was in human form. He could tell that she was still majorly drugged by the way she dragged her words out but that half goofed grin on her face was too sexy for words. Too bad he had to kill her.

"Where are you from?" Maria asked her.

"I was born in Naha, the capital of Okinawa."

"You're Japanese?" Maria was incredulous.

"My father is Sicilian."

Maria nodded, "I see." She bit her lip, "Are you one of Artemis' Huntresses?"

Eternity shook her head vigorously, "No. I can't stand the bitch if you want to know the truth."

David smiled to himself; well at least they had one thing in common.

"I just love the thrill of the hunt and the rush of the kill," Eternity shrugged. "So, I told the bitch goddess that I would help keep these vermin Hellcats at bay until she could get someone here to take over."

Maria didn't quite know how to take it so she said, "Well that's generous of you."

Eternity looked over her shoulder to peek at her laceration, "its fun."

Maria didn't know what to think of this woman, this young woman who couldn't have been much older than her professing that death was fun. But David on the other hand though he had died and gone to psychotic heaven. A woman that was beautiful, sexy and loved the adrenaline rush of a kill, he felt himself growing infatuated with the woman known as Kali.

He would have her, she would be the perfect woman to come home and ravage after his savage side had been sated. He could imagine fucking her blind as she screamed blood curdling scream after another. She would be his if he had to kill everybody in this fucking club to get her.

Then those haunting words of Melina's popped into his head, "She's the devil incarnate you know?"

"Fine, you find her and judge her. And then, kill her."

The fuck was he going to do?