----------------------------------
Chapter 3: Down the Street

"Why'd she have to go, I don't know
She wouldn't say
I said 'Something wrong?'
Now I long for Yesterday"
~The Beatles, Yesterday

---------------------------------

Things go good, things go bad. Thus is the cycle of life. I wish it would only go good sometimes. Then I think that I would wither and die, so I take that out of my mind. Always moving was taking a toll on me. As was the happiness I just enjoyed. I couldn't keep enjoying myself. That night alone made me crave my thirst even more. I cursed this fate every night, although, I knew I could have a repeat of yesterday. It would kill me, but I could.

I moved out of this coffee house, back to my flat. No use moping about it, eh? 'I guess it was my lot to do this,' I thought as I moved past a fighting couple. Lots of energy there.

Part 1: Greetings

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Another day, another flat. I had to keep moving. I couldn't let her or them catch up to me. So I left the last flat the way it was and left. I just moved in here.  A small place on the outskirts of town. A bit homey for my tastes, but the rambling summer cottage was a relief from the huge places I'd been before. The vines on the outside were a nice touch.

I opened the cubbard, for once having a good day, then it all went down the crapper. I saw I had no more raspberry tea. Frantically I start throwing boxes on the ground, all empty. At the bottom of the pile is a solitary tea bag. I quickly throw it into my heated water, letting it steeple. I put it to my lips to taste it and immediatly start to cough. It's peach! How did this happen? Sighing I decide this is better tan no tea and start to fold my clothes. I hope tonight goes off without a hitch. Looking up, I hear something enter the flat. I am alarmed, no one enters here. I reach for my piece and sigh at how this day is going to start.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I flutter in throught the window, landing in the rafters of the dirty place. There are clothes scattered throughout the area, used tea bags, too. I sniff aristocratically, looking at the place. A slob to be sure. I could do quite a few things with this area, though.

"You would be Keith, correct?"

He glares at me, narrowing his grey eyes, "Who, exactly are you?" he asks.

"Begorra." I reply.

He smiles, "Was it something I said?"

I grimace, scrunching up my face even more, "No, that be my name."

"What did you say you wanted?" He asked. I smiled.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

When I woke up, there was nothing. He had come and taken all of his belongings. I wished I'd known that he would do this again. I open my iBook. Typing in a few things, I find him again. I jump in the car, hoping he's there. Unfortunately, it's a bad side of town, so I must hurry. The worse elements are probably out already.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I woke up this morning to find no Keith. Last night was so scary. I wish I could keep the image of that guy or his head snapping back, or the blood. I can feel the bile start to rise. I stumble to the shower. I feel the rejuvanating heat splash against me. As I leave the shower, I feel as though last night was cleaned off me. I decide to find Keith. I go downstairs, and call a cab.

"Tenth and Jackson" I say to the cabby as I get in. He turns and grunts at me. I see us pass by the run down elements of the city. A zit on the perfect complection of the tourists dream.

"seventy-six, eighty-nine." Gruffs the driver. I get out and hand him four twenties. He stomps the gas, speeding off. Not that I blame him.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Part 2: Antagonistic

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The bat's tone of voice was grating on me. He treated me like I was property, something to be loathed, or an experiment. He was an ugly thing, too. It had a very wrinkly face. Many features of a flying fox. The long ears. He must have had a wingspan of 5 feet, too.

"I'm waiting for an answer." I said irritably.

He turned his head to one side. It was a quite disturbing gesture from something hanging upside-down. "I wish to make my presence known."

"What do you mean? Why would I even care if I see you or not?" I asked, my anger building.

"I wouldn;t suggest taking that tone with me." It snapped, "I have more power than you could ever know!"

I grinned, "Try me, bird-brain."

He pulled something out of his pouch, upside-down of course. He threw it at my with a grin. Instinctively, I catch it, seeing it's a grenade, I hastily throw it away, jumping after the bat out the window. The room explodes behind me, as unfurl my wings and fly after the bat, 'I'll show that bastard.' I say to myself.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

That fool! How dare he speak to me like that! I'll make sure Specimen 42 never has anything to mate with! Ifly towards my wire traps. I know he won't see those. I go into my dank cave, manuevering myself through the web of tough baling wire behind me. It's a downward shaft, so when he trips them, I'll be out and he'll be crushed. I could tell he wasn't following, so I slowly let myself come to a halt in the small, safe antechamber. I smiled inwardly. He wasn't going anywhere now.

I flap into my lab. "Hello, my pretties." I rasp at the group of test tubes. I know it's horribly cliched, but it makes me laugh to do the mad scientist stereotype. "And how were we today?" I start to giggle.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The debris is still falling as I pull up. I jump out of the car to see another person get hit by a pice of masonry. I run to her side and cradle her head, bending myself over her. I can feel small pieces land on my back, but nothing major.

She looks into my eyes blearily, "W-who, I mean, thank..." She passes out.

I start to pick her up. Now being an otter does have some advantages, but I'm not the biggest creature, musclature-wise. i could still carry her to the car though. She moaned and twitched some more as I carried her. I looked back and saw a familiar shape wreathed by flames.

"Keith!" I ran towards him to help him get out, but when I go there, he was still just standing in the flames. "Hurry, you'll be burned!"

He looks up at me with those red tears again, "Get Raine to the hospital. She needs something other than me." And again, without a word to me, he flew off.

It was my turn, I started to sob. I let all of the frustrations out as I walked to the car.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

All the people. The explosion. It's back. No. I could see the man holding the gun to my head. I could smell his sweat. I knew it wasn't real. It couldn't have been. Yet my brain told me otherwise. I know what's going to happen. I try to close my eyes. I try not to feel the blood splatter on my. I try. I look at the satisfied look in Keith's face as he pulls the trigger. Over and over, I feel the heat as the bullet passes by. I can't help but think Keith does this on purpose. My brain rebels against that as well. Not him. He couldn't. Thankfully, finally, I slip into the deepest of sleep.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Part 3: Coming to a Head

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I finally awaken in the hospital bed. I look up to see an unfamiliar face. "Who are you?" I blearily ask the floating brown shape.

"My name is Stamm. I'm Keith's sister." The shape says.

"Then why are you brown?" I ask.

"I'm an otter." It replies.

I'm confused, but I've seen stanger. With a lot to think about, I go back to sleep.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I wish I could find out more about this girl. No family has shown up, no friends. No one has called her house. And how does she know my brother. I pace the room, waiting for her to get up again. I wish he would show up. This is perplexing.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

In my lab, I have finally perfected my tests. As I subject the cells under the stereoscope to some vampiric blood. Just as I predicted, it makes the normal cells start to eat each other, the resulting energy is catoshtrophic. I now realize how the vampyres get their power. Now all I have to do is learn how to reverse the process.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I reach into the fridge, pulling out my pistol. I like to leave it there for safekeeping. I'm in a new flat again. This time, I have better weapons. I pull out my bag of grenades. Smiling, I fill my pockets and pick up both pistols. Right about now I wished I still had my shotgun.

I walk to the rathouse. It was called that due to the inordinate amounts of rats that live there. It's a two-story, that has at least two basements. I knock on the door, a small, shrewish rat asnwers.

"Whaddya want. The shipment's not supposed to be until tomorrow." He mumbles.

I smile, pulling out my pistols. He starts to slam the door as I pull both triggers, sending him backwards. The table that is seating a bunch of mangy, gambling rats is swftly tipped over as they take cover behind it, drawing their weapons. Mostly pistols, I note with satisfaction. I idly toss my first grenade in front of it, ducking back outside.

The explosion rocks the house, as I hear screams. I spin in, checking my corners. Most of the vermin are laying on their side in bloody pools. I see one slowly stir and I walk to him.

"Up or Down?"

He spits on my Converse. "F-"

I hear the first sound and empty the clip into his head. I decide to go up first. Coming down the stairs is a rarity. A squirrel comes down, holding a shotgun that he looks like he could never use. I idly empty my other clip in his direction. The rounds slam him into the wall, ending his short life. I go upstairs, slowly creeping up them. It was wastedenergy, however, as no one was up there. I go back down, setting a grenade on the door to the basement.

I step out the door and aim for it. After the third shot, a loud explosion assults my ears. I run to the smoking ruins of the door and jump downstairs. In my idiocy, I forgat about the low ceiling and hit my head, making me an open target. I quickly look over, to see that most of them were hit by ricocheting shrapnel. I slowly move forward, past the twitching, groaning bodies. I kick open the door to the next level and slowly descend.

"I'm not quite sure what the meaning of this is." I see a skinny, innocent-looking rat say. "But reparations are going to be paid."

I look him in the eye. "Who is the bat, Begorra?"

He sits down with a sigh, "Where should I begin?"

---------------------------------

Chapter 4: Deeper

"Don't wanna wait 'till tomorrow,
Why put it off another day?
One more walk through problems,
Built up, and stand in our way."
~Van Halen, Right Now

---------------------------------

I wish. It's a harmless phrase, it it not. It can help bring such hope, such joy into our lives. It can leave us open to harm. It can also be misleading. Making us feel that there is hope when there is none. As I waited for his answer, I thought about it. I wish this hadn'r happened. I wish it could stop. There are a million things I could wish for. None would come true, but at least the wish would be there. It's that feeling that can eat a person up from the inside out.

I still hold onto that thread. It's all I have. A tiny bit of hope. Maybe someday, I'll... No. I can't think it. I may jinx myself from ever getting the chance to be normal. Well, as normal as I can be.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Part 1: A Blacker Past

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I sat across from the rat, waiting for him to speak.

"Well, it started like this..." He began..

Many years ago, there was an experiment to use cybernetic bats to help the military. It was a huge project, many experiments failed. Many succeded. He was the first to succeed. He was implanted with the ideals of Irish revolutionaries. They thought this would make him the most patriotic soldier. Unfortunately it also made him hate government. He was originally called Specimen 42. He became obsessed with that number. If you look closely, you can even see '101010' on his bandolier. Anyway, he and his bat bretheren were tested in Panama. There was a small revolt that not many knew about in which the Panama government asked the US to help. We agreed and sent in the bats as a test. They passed with flying colors. They did their job effectively, had less remorse than normal soldiers, and were virtually undetectable. The poor government saps sent to clean it up didn't know what hit them. They were made for one main reason. Demolitions. They were masters at rigging traps and other things. Anything that explodes, they were great with. So the government lackeys come in, promptly explode, and the US disavows any knowledge of the bats, leaving them to die. Well, the bats wouldn't stand for that, so they elected 42 their leader, and started for the US to get their revenge. When they got there, there was only 6 of them left from the original 13. They decided to spread out to each part of the country. They would each be the downfall of a city. They would do all they could to control it.

Begorra had a hard time selecting a city. He decided foolishly, to graciously let the rest of them have first picks. He got stuck with the southeast. He wanted a city where he could stop lots of tourism, and considering how he didn't like the smell of old people, he chose on the Big Easy. Here he ran into quite a bit of resistance trying to get helpers. No one wanted to accept his ideas. Not to mention that his cajun sucked. Finally he got a base of operations in the caves nearby. I'm assuming he's experimenting with things there. Lots of nastiness.

"How do you know all this?" I ask, disbelieving.

He shrugs, "I have my sources."

I grin at his smart-aleck remark, "Ok then, that should be all."

He smirks back at me. "Anytime. Knock next time, though."

I smile and happily shoot him in the chest. Today's turning out wonderfully indeed.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I have to leave the hospital. I'm tired. I'm tired of this chasing. I'm tired of being tired. I don't know who the girl is. I don't know where Keith is. I just need to sleep. I get halfway there and see a burning building. 'Not again.' I think to myself as I pull over and jump out. I see him there this time, walking off. I run towards him, "Keith!"

He turns, giving me that hurt look, "No, please."

I walk up to look him in the eyes, "No. You'll listen to me. I'm tired, OK? I've been chasing you for years. I just wanted a word. A few words. 'How are you? It's good to see you.' Anything! But what have I gotten? nothing. I'm giving up, you hear? It's over." I started to sob. "It's over...."

Then I feel the strangest thing. He's hugging me. I can feel raindrops hitting my head, too. Then it hits me that it's the middle of winter and that those aren't raindrops. "I'm sorry." I hear the gruff whisper.

I look up at him, "Please." I beg, "Please come back with me."

I can see the inner struggle as he contemplates coming with me. Then he slowly nods. I can feel a wave of joy coursing through me as I hug him tighter. I get into the car, with him following. Starting it up, I head towards my flat.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I wake up in this bed again. I try to get up and finally I can. My brain is full of questions. 'Who was that otter again? Where is Keith? What happened? Why am I here?' Calming down, I slowly try to touch my head. I can feel the bandage still there, and the pain behind it. Again i wonder. I wonder what caused this. I decide to think of everything that could do it. A beam, brick, wall, board. Heh. That's how I feel, bored. I hear a shuffling outside as a nurse comes in.

"Are you awake dearie?" She's a tiny, old little mouse. I guess about 65 from the hair. She isn't stooped over yet, though.

I slowly sit up, amid many protests by her. "I'll be fine, now let me out." I say, glaring at her.

She bows her head, mumbling.

"What?"

"I said, 'OK'." she walks out in a huff, tossing a slip of paper on the table as she goes by.

I look at it and it is 2 things. One part is my release form.The other is a small note.

"I'm sorry. I can't do this. I hope you understand. Keith"

I start to crumple the paper, an anger building up. That's it. He's not getting away without an explanation.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I check the security cameras again. That little snitch of a rat! He just had to rat me out to 42. I wish he would've given me the pleasure of killing him, though. I flap over to the table. A piece of pipe is in the process of being cut. This is very hard with my undexterous legs. I decide to look for a better way. I smile, calling up Nicolas from Houston.

"Sam Houston Institute of Technology, Nicolas speaking."

I smile at the screen, "Hello, Nico, it's been quite a while."

He looks up, a shocked look crosses his face, "Ra? I thought we weren't supposed to..."

I cut him off, "Not now! The rules don't matter anymore. I need you to come here with your assistants." He looked worried, "No. Don't worry. Don't think. Just come. I've found it."

His eyes lit up, "Are you sure?"

"Yes. I need help in capturing him, though."

"I'll be right over."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Part 2: Confrontation

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I can't believe I'm doing this. i shouldn't go with her. I don't want her to feel the pain. The sorrow. And the worst part is that I'll get pleasure from her pain. I know I will... I clench my jaw to keep any more tears from falling. I won't let it. I won't. A feel the moisture on my knee. I look up at her. She's looking right at me, confusion in her eyes. I turn my head away, looking at myself in the side mirror. I can see the red streaks go down the side of my face. I feel her hand touch my shoulder. Cringing, I pull away, looking over to see a hurt look in her eye.

"I'm..." I begin

"Sorry," She says smiling, "Yes, I know. You can explain when we get there."

This is going to be the hardest thing I've ever done. I swallow that bad taste you get when you're nervous, thinking about what I'm going to say again. It's ironic really, I can kill without remorse, defeat the biggest and strongest enemies, but when I see those innocent little eyes, I turn to Jell-o.

"What are you thinking about?" She asks in that dratted, innocent tone of voice.

I cringe, mumbling, "Irony."

She smiles, enjoying this,"Oh?"

"Yeah."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I feel like he's ignoring me. I wish he'd open up. I can cut the tension in this car with a knife, dangit. Relief rushes through me as we arrive at my flat. "C'mon," I motion to him, "We've got to get upstairs, quietly."

He nods and follows me into the room. I hear the door close and turn on him with a rage building. "You heard what I had to say, now give me an answer."

He looked at me with those sorrowful eyes and I just melted. I fell to the ground and started to sob. The unbidden tears just wouldn't stop. "W-w-wwhy...." is all I can get out.

"Look, sis..." He starts, uncomfortably.

"What is it?" I ask.

"I'm not what you think..." He's looking aside again.

"Please..." is all I can choke out. I must seem so tough to him now.

"OK. I'm a... vampyre." He chokes out. I stare at him blankly, "You knew I was an angel, right?"

I start to giggle, then the look on his face kills the laughter, "Are you serious?" I ask.

He nods, "I can show you if you want." I nod blanky, as he moves away. I hear a creaking sound from behind his back as two giant batwings emerge, dripping with viscous fliud. I start to gag. When he open his mouth to talk, I see the fangs and that's the last straw. I decorate the floor. The acidic taste fills ever crevasse of my mouth. I'm still doubled over and shaking when i feel his arm around me.

"No... no..." I whisper. I hear him say soothing things in my ear, but it doesn't matter. I saw it. I saw it.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I walk out of the hospital to see an inviting yellow shape come to a halt in front of it. I wave a hand at it, knowing it must be a cab. He takes one look at me and a frown crosses his face. I hand a hundred to the cabby, "Take me to the pawn shop at 23rd and Jefferson." He zooms off and comes to a stop at the desired place. I walk in and slip the owner a wad of bills.

"What do you need?" He asks impressed.

"Give me a small, light, concealable piece." I demand, hastily. I'm losing money on that cab.

He quickly tosses a small pistol to me. "How's that?"

I pick it up, feeling its weight. "It'll do, thanks." I quickly walk out.

I jump in the cab and have him head towards Stamm's house. He complies, driving off in a hurry. Maybe because I just got this gun.

We arrive at his house. I get out of the cab, heading towards the house with a grin. 'He won't get away, now' I think to myself.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I lead Nicolas through my maze of wires to the lab. We land on my favorite perch by the computer. It allows easy viewing of everything.

"Congrats on the entryway, Ra. 'Tis a true testament to your skills as a sapper. Is it the only entrance?"

"I of course have the destruct exit." I reply haughtily. How dare he doubt me?

"My apologies. You made the rules, of course you would follow them." He hastily remarks, to my pleasure. "Where is this specimen?"

"We are going to go get him.  Now. So bring all the demolitions you have, and some restraining collars." I smirk, looking at the shocked expression on his face.

His complexion quickly gets stony again. "I'll be ready within the hour."

I smile, turning and finishing the bomb.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Part 3: Destruction

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I can't do it. I try to console her, but I can't. I start to get up, leaving her on the ground, but she clings to me.

"Please." She begs.

"I can't." I reply, "Can't you see what I am? I can't be near you. I thrive on misery. I'm ecstatic now!"

She looks at me, pleading, "Please, I understand, just don't..."

"No. Never. I'm going." It's better this happens now. Not stretched out like it would be. Prolonged is worse. I should cut her off now before it gets worse.

She looks back up, her eyes dry, "I get it. I'll clean myself up now."

God, why did she have to do this. It hurt me more. I can't stand it. I grabbed her arm and felt her stiffen. Now it was my turn to plead, "I don't want it to end like this, sis..."

She relaxed and turned to me, "Then don't let it." She then left into the kitchen.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

In the kitchen I got my solitude. I needed it. I leaned against the fridge, fighting the tears. I wish, that he wouldn't do this to me. There I go again with the wishes. I need to stop that. I reach into the cubbard for the tea. Some things never change. I grab a couple of mugs, filling them to the brim with water. I throw them in the microwave. While i wait for the water to heat, I hear footsteps behind me. "No Keith." I mumble.

I feel him over my shoulder. "Please, go back into the other room." I feel him move away, then slowly put a hand on each shoulder. He turns me around so I'm looking him in his eyes.

"Keke needs love." He mumbles. Just hearing that name makes me mist up as I throw myself around him.

"Oh, Keith. Never do that again. Never leave me again." I start to water his shoulder again.

"You know I can't, Stamm. I have to go." He tries to plead with me.

"I won't stop you know. I never will until you stop running." I quietly murmer to him.

He smiles as we continue the embrace.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I walk in the front door, ignoring the doorman as I sprint up stairs. I'm gonna find Keith and this gorl's gonna help me. I slip in the front door, already half-open and look around. I can hear someone in the kitchen, and a microwave beep. I slowly creep towards the sounds, piece in front of me now. I walk into the room to see Keith hugging someone else. Sucking in a breath, I start to advance on them.

"Keith?" I ask tentatively.

He turns and I see his 'sister' there. Both of their faces are tear-stained. I start to fidget now, but keep the gun trined on both of them.

"I need to talk to you... alone" Keith stood there, looking at me.

I crumbled under that gaze, and I started to weep. I slowly walked to him, putting one arm around him and my chin on his shoulder. He didn;t put his arms around me. I looked up, the pain in my eyes must have been great.

He looked down and finally joined me in the embrace.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Heh. I could see all of the pathetic humans in there with 42. One is all it would take. I tossed a small, common frag grnade in the window, landing next to the otter girl. 42 then did something amazing and leapt on top of it. It exploded underneath him, sending shrapnel into him, but not hitting the girls. They scattered in opposite directions.

"I've got the otter, you get the other one!" I bark to Nico. He nods and flies towards the door.

As I fly towards the bedroom, I see 42 start to get up. Amazing! He has the most powerful regenarative qualities I've ever seen. I look in a window, to see the otter run into the bathroom. I bust through the window, arming a limpet mine and tossing it against the door. It blows off it's hinges.Now I see a figure come in through the smoke. She's got a pair of shades on, a cigarette hanging out of her mouth, and a submachinegun in her hands. I start to backpedal, losing my balance, and wildly flapping my wings.

"Oh, I'm sorry. Did I break your concentration?" She grins and opens fire, a bullet zipping through my wing as I fly out the window. I kick in my emergency jetpack and fly off. The last thing I hear is, "Ptooey, stupid image. Those things are nasty."

I see Nico has had as little luck is his endeavors, even though there are many explosions. I see him fly out the window, too, but he still has both wings intact. I decide I'm gonna plan the next attack, and until then, curse that otter.

---------------------

Chapter 5: The Forgiven

"Take a look in the mirror and cry
I've spent all my years in believe'n you
But I just can't get no relief
Somebody, somebody, somebody,
Can anybody find me, somebody to love?"
~Queen, Somebody to Love

----------------------

I know what will happen. It does every time. You fall back in love, you fall back out of love. It never ends. I just wish that somehow I could get out of that cycle. Instead, I throw myself head first to love's mercy. Willing it to toss me aside. The moments together are precious, but they fade quickly. All we have left is the memories. Memories don't help you when you want another body to snuggle up to, though. They don't help when you crave a gentle words or touch. All they do is make you more nostalgic. In tha sense, I hate memories. They do let you keep those few moments forever, though.

Here, I had the real thing. I had the touch. I had the words. I had her. 'It won't last' that little voice inside me screamed. I wished it would stop. I really do. When I saw her come in with that gun, I thought that it would be over. She'd threaten Stamm and then it would be over for her. It wasn't. I snubbed that voice. Thanking what lucky stars I had left, I decided to never let the two in a room together alone. Stamm's level-headed, but Raine wasn't so wise. She was rash and might try to do something foolhardy. So here I am. Laying on the ground with my lifeblood seeping out, and I'm getting philisophical about it.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Part 1: Recovering

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I got up, feeling woozy. The world swan around me and I realized I had lost a lot of blood. Wondering where the others were, I slowly got up out of my pool of blood I left behind. I can feel the pit of my stomach, where it would be anyway, and it's empty. I start to move towards the bedroom, looking around for either of them. My window's broken, sending a cold draft through the room. I shiver involuntarily, and glance over. I see Stamm standing there with a small MP5 clone in her hands. She has a big grin on her face that fades when she sees me.

"Keith?" She starts to walk towards me uncertainly, one hand outstretched.

"No." I simply state, "I must go now."

"But, Keith..." She begins.

"I must feed, now let me go." I desperately move toward the door, now, looking to see if Raine is alright. I see her sobbing in a corner and I quickly run to her. "Raine! Raine! It's me, now look at me." She looks up, her eyes stained with real tears, not the red-tinted ones I see so often.

"I... I..." She tries to stammer.

"I know. Don't you worry." I said, slowly helping her up. "I have to go now. You stay here with Stamm. She'll take care of you."

I knew I just did what I said I wasn't going to, but I had no choice. Reina couldn't get through this on her own. Not after being that shook up. But if I find that damnable bat again. I set out, looking for my prey for this night. They better be big. I'm thirsty.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I start to clean the glass off the floor. I'm starting to get tired of this. I really don't like having to pay that much more money for my flat just because it becomes a preternatural playground. I walk into the other room, seeing her start to move away from the door. She's still looking at the ground as if it will give her an answer. I walk over, gently putting a hand on her shoulder. She's tiny for a cat, now that I think about it. I try to lead her towards the bedroom, holding a tight grip on her shoulder. She spins and looks at me wildly.

"Take your paws off me. Now!" She hisses at me.

I step back, calmly, looking her sharply. "You will come into the bedroom, lie down, and let me tend to you like Keith asked, or I will force you."

She looked a bit uncertain, but she had guts if anything and shook her head violently. "Stay back."

I look at her with a bit of regret in my eyes. "Sorry, then." I pick up a lamp and brain her, catching her off guard. I pick her up and deposit her on the bed. "Get a bit of sleep. That'll cool you down."

I walk over to the kitchenette, looking in the cupboard, I see nothing but ramen. 'Well crap,' I think, 'I geuss it'll have to do. I pop the noodles in water, then in the microwave, hoping they won' taste like the last batch.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

'That bitch' I think to myself. I'm a bit peeved. Why did she do that? What did she mean, 'Like Keith asked.' I still don't know really happened. Just a lot of shooting, I slowly feel my senses return. I can smell something cooking. My vision starts blurry, but I gradually see objects form. There. There's that damn brown face. I swipe out at it and hit flesh, a scream cuts the air. I smile and lay back down.

"You little..." I hear the otter say, angrily.

I start to giggle, enjoying the feeling of victory. My celebrations are cut short as I feel a fist hit me in the stomach. I feel the acids in my stomach churn and spill forth. I fly foward in the bed, vomiting into my lap what little food I've eaten.

She puts a bowl next to me. "Ramen?" She asks innocently. I glare, but eat start in on the contents. I'm usually only a carnivore, but I'll eat this, I'm so hungry. I happily note a large bandage on the side of her face.

"So, what now?"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"What now?" Nico asks angrily. I look at him balefully.

"Indade, we must try again." I start towards the house with a bandaged wing.

"But you saw what happened. We could be killed." He nervously looked around.

"We will be more careful. Now, we must go with haste. He will have to feed soon." I keep looking below me as I fly. Maybe if we're lucky.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Part 2: Original Prankster

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I start to shadow this big badger. He'll be perfect for me. I slip into my usual routine of following from 2 blocks away. I keep at this for 20 minutes. He must suspect that he's got a shadow, because I see him slip into a side alley. I smile, following. The big ones always do that. I nonchalantly walk around the corner into his waiting fist. He was a bit stronger than I suspected as I actually feel the impact. I spin and sweep him. I hear him hit the ground with a great whoof of aim as I leap 10 feet into the air, landing on his leg. He cries out with pain as the bones are crushed underneath me. I haul him to his feet while he is going into shock and quickly drag him to the end of the alley. I sink my teeth in, enjoying the feel of the blood as it flows into me. I can feel all of his emotions and see all of his memories, too. He has no family. He's embezzeled money many times. Ah, he's a bookie and he was on his way to collect a debt, through force, no doubt. This makes the meal even more succulent for me. Ah, yes, he also has killed before. Twice. I don't feel the remorse of killing a decent human being, now. He is the perfect prey for me.

As I start to finish, I contemplate taking his life. I know what will happen. I will forever have his memories. But even though his life is so bad, it is still beautiful in its own way. I decide against it this time. I'll be able to feed and kill again.

I pick up the body, hefting it towards the dumpster at the very back of the alley. With one giant heave, I topple it into an overfull dumpster. There it will rot with the rest of the filth it belongs with.

I start to move out of the alley, a rosy glow about my cheeks. I chuckle to myself thinking how i don't look I just got done drinking blood, but doing something else. This make me giggle and draw a few looks. I quickly compose myself and continue down the street. I see a scrawny fox walk by with a guitar. I smile and quickly pull him aside.

"I'll give you one thousand for that guitar, man."

He stares at me, stunned, "Ok." He hands me the guitar as I give him the money.

I smile and walk down the street with my new guitar. The things I do for image.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

That catty little vixen. I can't believe she had the gall to scratch me like that. I can't wait to see the look on her face after she finishes that ramen, though. She's in for a rude suprise. I dump the now empty bottle of X-lax in the garbage, chuckling. Yes, a wonderful suprise.

To add to the fun, I grab the nearest book and camp out in the bathroom. I sit in the empty tub with a few coushins and lay back and read, waiting for the inevitable knocks and screams on the door. Maybe Keith was right not to trust me... Nah.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Oww... What's the matter with me? My stomach feels all funny. Oh well. Must've been that punch. She puches hard. Igrit my teeth at the feeling. God. It feels like my stomach is digesting itself. I hurts so bad. Then I feel it start to move lower. My eyes bulge as I run towards the bathroom.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As we fly towards the house for round 2, something catches my eye below me. I look down to see him walking along the streets with a guitar. "Come here." I hiss to Nico, motioning him towards a nearby gutter. We both land under the eaves. "What is it?" He asks.

"Aye, that's him, over there. No listen. I want you to go back and elinate those two girls. I can't let anyone know of our operations here. Don't let any mistakes happen. I'll take care of Keith. Now, godspeed and let us go." I quickly flew from underneath the eaves.

I saw Nico go his own way with a grin. I've got this one in the bag, now.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Part 3: Bursting at the Seams

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I could hear those bat wings again. I knew he was behind me. I slowly creep into a club behind a junkie. As i slip in, i hear him light in the rafters above my head. I curse my luck and make a wide arc through the throng. My mind gets distracted a second by the music. It sounds vaguely familiar. I can feel the sweat and adrenaline in the young crowd. Just my luck, a mosh pit starts around me. Not a friendly one, either. I can feel blows land against my side as a tough-looking otter throws himself against me. I duck, tossing him over my head and into the crowd. Using the space he landed as a path, I start through, getting to the door I came in.

I run down the alley, frantically knocking people aside to get away from the flapping. At least that's the act. I'm smiling inwardly as the bat keeps following me. I go into an abandoned warehouse. Again, how cliched. I duck behind a corner as the bat cautiously flies in. One well-placed shot and... I pull the trigger. The bullet zooms towards him just as he does a sharp dive to one side. I curse my luck and run to different cover as the crate I was behind explodes.

I select a barrel this time, diving behind it and coming up in a roll, popping off a couple rounds towards the source. Quickly I abandon the barrel sprinting to another crate. 'I'm going to have to keep doing this,' I think as the barrel is vaporized. I keep doing this. Duck and weave, pop off a few rounds here and there, and then back to running around. Finally, when I feel a bit of shrapnel from a particularly volitale desk hit my shoulder, I decide that enough is enough. I spin around, pulling out my other pistol and filling the air with a hail of bullets.

I see one slice through a previous hole in his wing as he drops a large, suspicious-looking object and turns on a jetpack, to fly off.

"Oh, shit." I declare, thinking how nice it would be to have that package fly after him. I'm not too suprised at what is happening until it does. Then my jaw opens. I quickly do the right thing and run, though, jumping out a nearby window, barely missing a few people on the way out. I look back to see a rosy explosion shake the building, making half of it topple. The rest of the explosion flies out the side, making a pretty black mark on the pavement. I smile and lope towards home like a jogger. A good day indeed.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I hear a scream outside again. 'Why doesn't she just go outside?' I think. Then I hear gunshots. I kick open the door to see a giant bat, again, laying small mines around the room. I shoot a quick burst at him with the machine-gun. I see him flop to the ground with a thunk. This makes me happy. I slowly walk foward, carefully avoiding the small mines he left. Then, the image disappears and I notice that there was no blood. I curse my stupidity at being duped and dive next to the bed. Straining, I push it over, using it as a shield. I start to scan the area for any movement. A small, black shape flying by catches my eye. I pop off two rounds into it, seeing it hit the ground and a pool of blood come out.

Congratulating myself, I stride out the door, avoiding the mines, to see a dead robin. I gasp at the thought. I've killed an innocent. Tears begin to well up in my eyes as the gun drop to the ground. 'How could I do this?' I ask myself.

I hear the real bat wings behind me now, as I slowly reach for my gun. I won't make a mistake this time.

"I'd not get near that. Indade, t'would be the death of you." I hear a voice behind me. I stiffen and take my hands away from the gun, looking down at the robin below me. It's eyes have started to glaze as it looks at me, unfocused.

"Sis? Sis. I'm coming." It weakly chirps as it starts to shudder. I see the wet spots forming under it's eyes. But it isn't crying. They're coming from me.

"Just do it." I say, a hard edge to my voice.

"Indade, if you insist." I hear the click of the gun being cocked.

I hear a shot. I fall foward. But... I can still feel. I feel the still-warm body of the robin underneath me. I feel the cold air on my back. I feel the grass under my knees. Now that I think about it, I can still see, and smell too. I look behind me to see the bat laying on it's face. He's in his own blood pool. I look farther and see Reina at the door. Pistol in hands as she has a shaky aim at the dead bat.

"Does this mean I get the bathroom?" she says, as she turns around.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

After I out of the bedroom and a few pepto-bismol shots later, I'm sitting across from Stamm at her kitchen table. I can feel a couple of cravings start to build up in me. One from the stress. The other from the depression.

"Got a light or a drink?" I ask, maybe a bit too hopefully.

"No and Yes." She says, getting out those tiny, complimentary bottles of alcohol that comn with a rented apartment. At least they do in this part of town. My hand is shaking as I take the bottle from her and open the top. As she pushes a glass across to me, I tip the bottle back. Opening my eyes, I can see the look of disgust on her face as I drain the whole thing. I don;t care, though. I need it. When I'm finished, I motion for another. Boy, do I need these.

When I'm finished, I can barely see her. The world is blurry again. She picks me up and leads me to the bed. Just like a groom crossing the threshold. This thought makes me giggle. Who would wear the dress? I happily pass out when she sets me down.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Bedamned!" I curse loudly at the screen. "He almost killed me, and i'm sure he killed Nico." The bat on the other side seemed unfazed.

"Then you'll just have to take his city as well as yours."

"I'm on the brink of the biggest discovery we've ever seen and you choose this moment. This one. Over all others to snub me?" I'm at a full rant now.

"Yes. You made a mistake. Now atone for it." The screen flick off. I angrily limp abou the lab. I got one wing damaged badly. One leg is broken for sure. I know I have a concussion. I'm in bad shape. I decide to rest for the night. I lay down in a long, cylinder of steel. Pressing a button on the inside, it closes around me and starts to fill the chamber with gas. I know that this will aid in healing the damaged tissues, but it not only frightens me, but it stings as well. It is a nervous, drug-induced sleep I enter.