There was very little light above the stage, and the higher I got up the rig the dimmer it became.

I could hear the noises, a collection of scratching and growls that echoed back along the walkway. I got off the top of the ladder and stepped out.

It was difficult to see clearly across to the other side; there were so many ropes tied to the railing of the walkway interspersed with wires and floodlights that it cut off my view.

I squinted into the darkness, hoping that the shape of the creature would become clearer as my eyes adjusted. A slight movement caught my eye, the vibration of rope leading up to a lantern somewhere above my head and I followed the wire around, reaching out to where it was tied to the railing. I loosened the rope. The rig started to fall towards me until the truss was level with the walkway I was standing on, and spooked, the creature leapt forward, bounding down the truss towards me.

I reached back, pulling the pin from a coil of rope on the wall behind me and a second rig came whizzing down. The creature pounced, outstretching it's claws, but I fell back. My ass hit the walkway with a painful thud just as the rig came down onto the creature.

And it fell, disappearing out of view as it plummeted back down to the stage.

I heard the hum of Beckers weapon. And by the time I'd managed to scramble back onto my feet and lean over the railing to look down, the creature was already unconscious.

Becker glanced up, and even all this way above him I could see the annoyance in his expression.

'Anna,' he called up to me, unimpressed, 'when–'

'Hold on!' I interrupted in response. I circled back along the walkway and took a hold of a rope attached to the pulley system. 'I'm coming down!' I untied the end, wrapping the rope around my wrist as I climbed up onto the handrail then stepped off.

I landed back on the stage a few feet away from the unconscious creature and let go of the rope– and it promptly disappeared back up into the rig.

'I'm starting to think you have a death wish,' Becker informed me flatly.

'Starting?' I repeated in amusement.

He wasn't so pleased. 'When are you going to start carrying a gun?' he returned.

I didn't intend to reply. It wasn't the time or the place and there was still another creature here somewhere that we needed to take care off. I started to walk towards the edge of the stage.

I wasn't expecting Becker to sidestep and cut off my exit down the stairs at the front of the stage. I frowned.

He wasn't letting it go.

'I'm not,' I said, so that he had his answer.

He sighed. 'The thought of you out here without one–'

'Becker,' I cut in, 'literally everyone I've ever loved has been killed by a gun, how would you start to unpack that?'

'I get it,' he responded.

'You don't,' I returned. And I hadn't meant it to sound harsh. Truth was I'd never been able to bring myself to touch one, let alone pick it up.

'You have to be able to take care of yourself.'

Deadpan, I reached around beneath my coat and pulled out my jawbone knife again. 'This doesn't just open my mail, you know.'

'Doesn't look so non–lethal,' he commented.

I cocked my head. 'Since when…' I trailed off. I didn't know how to finish that statement without insulting him. And it was already too late. I didn't say anything else to try and cover it up and the longer I waited the more awkward it would have seemed anyway. 'I don't need a gun,' I repeated finally. 'And just because I can kill something with this, doesn't mean I will.'

And I could tell he wasn't happy about it, but probably not wanting to risk upsetting me, he gave a reluctant nod. 'Where's the other one.'

I paused for a moment in thought. 'You secured the roof top, right?'

He passed a look back to me that told me, of course, he hadn't.

I was almost out of breath by the time we reached the top of the staircase. Becker kicked the fire–exit door open and it flew back and slammed against the brickwork on the wall behind it.

The sunlight was so bright when I stepped out I had to lift a hand to shield my eyes.

'Where is it?' Becker moved to the edge of the roof and looked down. 'Anna, where is it?'

And I had to turn on the spot several times to make doubly, then triply sure it wasn't up there. It wasn't. 'It's gone.'

'We've lost it?' he clarified. 'Oh damnit! That's just… brilliant.'

I strode towards him, coming to a stop at his side in front of the wall and looking out over the street to the rooftops of the building opposite. 'It has to be here somewhere,' I returned. 'It doesn't know the territory, it won't go far, okay? It'll be looking for a vantage point.'

'Then lunch, right?'

'Right,' I agreed.

'So we need to find it before–'

'There!' I brought a broken window into focus on the building across the street. And realistically it wasn't a sure sign that the creature was there but I knew our chances were pretty good. 'Come on.'

The building was silent as we moved up through the levels to the office with the broken window.

Becker was first through the doorway. The creature was in a board room, standing atop a table, and staring out at the city beneath us.

There was a glass wall separating us from it. Becker stopped and raised his weapon, following every move the creature made.

'Should I shoot?' he asked after a prolonged silence.

I assumed he'd been waiting for my order, but I shook my head. 'The charge won't carry through the glass,' I replied. 'You'll have to wait.'

His head turned back over his shoulder to look back at me in disbelief. 'Seriously?' I frowned. 'For what?'

I didn't get the chance to answer. The creature saw us, and whilst Becker was still distracted, it pounced, leaping off the table and smashing through the glass in front of us.

It collided with Becker. He flew back into a table that toppled and fell on top of him. It was the only defence he had from the creature as it crashed down over him.

'Anna!'

It took me a second to realise what exactly Becker was trying to say. He managed to poke an arm out from under the table and point to the gun that had been knocked from his hand.

It was laid on the ground. I glanced down at it, wanting– not for the first time– to be able to grab it, even if only to pass it back to him. But there wasn't a single part of my body that moved.

It was the creatures malicious snarl that cleared my mind. An idea came into me, one that even beforehand I knew was entirely insane, but ignore that voice, hopped up onto the desk beside me and immediately leapt off it, tackling the creature to the ground.

I crashed down beneath it. The creature pawed at my face but I dodged it and tried to ignore the sound of its claws tearing through the carpet. I rocked back, bringing my legs up as I pulled my body weight over my shoulders and kicked, somehow managing to throw the mass of creature over my head.

I heard Becker snatching up the gun as I rolled over and braced a hand and a knee against the ground, waiting to see how the creature would retaliate. It didn't come at me like I'd expected, instead it charged right past us, back through the smashed glass wall towards the window. Just as it reached it Becker's weapon fired. The pulse hit the creature and its body went rigid.

'No!'

There was a moment of stillness, the creature tittered right on the edge of the threshold before it over-balanced and was gone.

I ran after it, stopping a pace or two from the edge and glanced down to the pavement on the street way below us. A pool of blood was starting to spread across the concrete.

Becker stopped beside me. 'Oh, no… I didn't mean to…'

'I know,' I returned. It was little consolation and it wouldn't change what had happened.

'I thought… it would have killed us. It nearly did.'

I turned, catching his eye as I glanced back at him over my shoulder. 'Yeah,' I agreed.