I walked quickly down the street wishing my steps could dodge the droplets of water that rained down on me. The rain fell down my long black hair and plastered the strands against my face. All was quiet and calm. Not a soul was out in such dreary weather.
At least not an uncorrupted soul.
I passed by one of the half dozen alleys that lay along my path. A hand shot out and grabbed my arm.
"Hey!" I yelled as I was dragged into the shadows.
My captor swung me to my left and my back slammed against the wall of one of the buildings. I looked up. My heart stopped. In front of me stood the two thugs from yesterday, and three more of their friends. Their leader stood in front of the group and leered at me.
"Look what the cat dragged in. A drowned rat," he joked. His minions laughed. I narrowed my eyes. My arm reached behind me. "Oh no you don't."
The minion thug from yesterday lunged forward and grabbed my arm. He twisted my arm behind my back and fumbled for my gun. I felt it torn from my holster. He shoved me back against the wall and stepped back to stand beside his leader. The man handed my gun to his boss.
The leader admired my pistol. "A cute little toy." He aimed the barrel at my head and grinned. "How about I try some target practice on you today?"
"That'd teach her to do it on us," his minion spoke up.
The man chuckled and lowered the gun. "Yeah, it would, but that'd be too good for her." His eyes roamed over my body. He drew his tongue across his lips. "But I think I've got a better idea." He stepped forward and used the barrel to lift my chin. His face hovered a few inches from mine. I could smell the stench of his breath. "How about you treat us all to a fun night?"
"And if I refuse?" I questioned him.
He tapped the barrel twice against my chin. "I don't think you're gonna refuse. Not when-" I didn't hear the rest of his words. My eyes caught sight of something above us.
A large shadow.
The shadow dropped from the gray sky and landed between the two rear thugs. They leapt in opposite directions and tried to draw their guns on the intruder. The shadow, clothed in a blood-red overcoat, grabbed one of them by the throat and hurled him out of the alley and onto the street. The other thug fired off a few rounds at the shadow. The shadow spun around and grabbed the top half of his face. It threw him into the opposite building. The man smashed his face into brick and slumped to ground. A blood smear was left on the brick.
The other two thugs pulled their guns and fired at will. Their fearless leader slipped behind me and wrapped one of his arms around my throat. He pressed my gun against my temple and stepped backwards deeper into the alley. The creature looked over its shoulder. Its eyes were as white as fresh snow moon. Only a shadow of its pupil was visible. The face was deformed by a long snout, and long gray fur trailed down its back like a mane. The little skin that was visible was grayish-black and covered in shorter fur of the same color. The hands that hung by its sides were long and ended in white, sharp nails that more closely resembled claws.
The creature narrowed those bright eyes and lunged at the two men in front of us. It swung two punches. Each connected with the gut of one of the men. The force of the punches threw the men off their feet and into the wall I'd just leaned against. My captor pulled faster and tugged me farther away from the creature.
That is, until the creature turned those illuminated eyes on us. The thug froze and pressed the gun harder against my temple.
"D-don't come any closer! I-I swear I'll shoot her!" he warned the thing.
The creature straightened to his full six-foot height. Its shadow fell over us. Those white eyes glared down at the thug. The claws at its sides twitched and balled into fists. The thug who held me quivered. The finger on the trigger shook.
"Stay back!" he screamed. We stumbled backwards deeper into the darkness. The barrel trembled against my temple. "Stay back or-"
His threat remained forever unfinished. The creature stood ten feet away, and the next moment it was beside us. One of its clawed hands grasped the gun and tore it out of the man's hand.
Correction: he tore the gun and the thug's hand away from my temple. The thug screamed in pain and terror. He stumbled back and clutched at the bloody stump where his hand was just moments before. Blood poured onto the ground and mingled with the falling rain. The creature lunged at him. I couldn't see past the thing's overcoat, but I could hear the thug's garbled scream.
The scream died away. The monster straightened. I watched with wide eyes as the thug dropped backwards to the ground. He lay there with his arms spread out on either side of him. The deep imprints of fingers lay around his throat. His lifeless eyes stared up at the falling rain.
The creature glanced over its shoulder at me. My pulse quickened. I stumbled backwards until my back hit the building behind me. The creature turned and strode over to me. It set its palms against the wall on either side of my head and leaned down. Its white eyes studied my face.
My reflection in those beautiful eyes stared back at me. I could see my eyes were wide and wondering. The rain ran down my cheeks like crystal-clear teardrops.
The creature reached out and cupped my cheek in one hand. It tilted its head to one side and a soft purr-like growl rumbled deep from its throat.
A terrible howl echoed down the alley. The creature swung to its right and we both looked into the darkness. A shadow flew from the depths of the alley and crashed into the creature. They tumbled nearer to the mouth and flew apart. The shadow faced the creature, and for the first time I saw that it, too, was some sort of dog creature. Its red eyes glared at the first creature and it drew back its long fangs in a snarl.
The first creature roared and lunged at its opponents. The shadow met the challenge with a leap of its own, and they collided in midair. Their punches and kicks were blurs. They dodged and momentarily fell back high up the walls of the opposing buildings. The creatures pushed off the walls and left deep, round impressions in their wake.
The first creature outmaneuvered the second one and threw him deep into the alley. Predator followed prey, and I lost sight of them in the shadows. My ears followed the sounds of their battle as they crashed into each other and the sides of the alley. I pushed off the wall and stumbled towards the noises.
A new noise came to my ears. Police sirens. The fight in the shadows broke off. The noise ceased. I stooped and scooped up my gun from beside the torn arm. The cold metal clasped between my hands told me this was no nightmare.
I heard a man cry out in pain. The voice sounded familiar. I stepped deeper into the darkness and aimed my gun at the shadows.
"Leila."
I swiveled around and pointed my gun to my left and the ground. Behind an overturned trash can sat Red. He clutched his gut. A long gash of blood beneath his hand coated his shirt. My eyes widened. I lowered my gun and knelt in front of him. I couldn't take my eyes off the blood. He gave me a weak smile.
"Funny meeting you here," he choked out.
"What happened?" I whispered.
He coughed. "When you didn't come home I came out to look for you. I walked into this alley and I guess I got caught in the middle of a nasty fight. Some thing in an overcoat sliced my stomach."
"We need to get you to the hospital," I told him.
He leaned forward and grimaced, but shook his head. "I'll be fine. It's just a flesh wound."
I frowned. "It's not just a flesh wound. You're bleeding all over yourself."
"Some of the blood came from that thing's claws," he assured me. He struggled to his feet. I ducked under one of his arms and hefted his arm over my shoulder. His left hand hung close to my face. I noticed there was a slim burn across his palm. "You seem to be doing this a lot," he commented.
"Tell me about it later. We need to get out of here before I make the headlines of my own paper," I warned him.
The sound of the sirens was getting closer. I
glanced down the alley. The bodies of the thugs littered the ground. Blood pooled in the puddles.
"This wouldn't be easy to explain to the cops, would it?" he wondered.
I shook my head. "No, so let's get going."
CHAPTER 9