She feign obliviousness to the sound of his dull footsteps in the darkness behind her. She clung to her jacket as wisp of cool night air blew past. She gave a fake shiver to fool the imprudent stalker. The wind whipped through her glossy auburn hair as she thought, That's right... come along, now. Think of how badly you want to devour me. Think of how good my heart will taste.She paused on a street corner, both to be certain that her stalker is still behind her and so she can appear confused and scared. There’s nothing like a lost teenage girl on the bad side of town to get their blood pumping, she thought to herself. The street lamps made the wet pavement glisten. She tried to avoid the light as best as possible, it would ruin the whole charade. She turned sharply and headed down an alley. Her stalker turned as well.  

She was wearing a bright red hoodie and ripped jeans. She wore red for two reasons, to attract attention and the hoodie symbolized something, little red riding hood.

 The side of town she was in reeked of stale beer from the restaurants that have become bars, now that the sun was down. She suspected the man following her could smell her perfume above the booze. If you can even call him a man, she thought in disgust. The perfume she was wearing attracted things like what was stalking her. They slowly lose their souls when they become monsters. She walked faster- one of the many tricks she learned. Run from an animal, and it chases you.

Her fingertips skimmed the black knife hanging at her waist, hidden by her long red hair. One thing she found out is, they are drawn passion, sex, and lust, it is irresistible to kemono, that's what she called them. It was the japanese word for beast. 

“Miss!” her stalker called out just as she emerged from the alley’s opposite end. 

Gotcha.

She gasped and turned around, careful not to let  her hood slip off her head. “You scared me,” she said clutching her jacket to  where her heart is. Her eyes were strange, one blue and one green. It's easy to make a kemono notice her hair, her long legs, her waist, she spun around to get a good look at him.

“So sorry,” he said, as she stepped out of the alley. He looks normal, almost nice actually- dark brown hair and a firm jaw speckled with facial hair, kinda like a high school football star in his prime. He was wearing a pale blue polo shirt and jeans, but don't don't let it fool you, the handsome look wears off once you see him transform into a hideous beast. Yeah, it would be kinda hard to lure young girls to their death if you look like a pyscopath. You have to look kind, put together, clean cut. You have to show them clean hair and stylish clothes.

He doesn't look that old, she thought. Probably mid twenties maybe early thirties, though they stop ageing once they get consumed by the darkness. It's a shame.  He took a couple of steps towards her, “isn’t it a little late for a young lady such as yourself to be roaming around  this part of town?” he asked trying to suppress his hunger and excitement. He’s starting to transform, she thought. The girl took a step back trying to look frightened. She was a spectacular actor, I bet I could even fool Melita Norwood. 

“I got a little lost I'm supposed to wait somewhere around here,” she said. “My friend and I are gonna have a girls night” she tried to urge him towards her. Come on, you're so close. I can see the hairs on your arms multiplying.  “Oh really, what does she look like?” he asked his voice sounding more rough and low pitched. “S-she has short blond hair and p-pink glasses” She stuttered trying to seem as frightened as she could be. “Oh I think I saw a girl like that walk by down there” He pointed to an alley, there was only one way in or out. The girl walked into the long dark alley, looking around for her pretend “friend”. Then that's when it happened, the guy who was stalking her  grew fur on his arms.

The girl plastered a wide grin on her face as he morphed, this was her favorite part. The adrenaline gathered in her veins making her buzz with excitement. As soon as he was done shifting she thought, werebeast eh? This’ll be easy. 

Six months earlier…

Run! Come on, you can do it. Run!

She gulped for air, her blood pumping like never before. She knew that if she stopped now it would cost her, she was running for her life. She had only one goal set in her mind, to escape.

Nothing else mattered.

    Her arms and legs were torn up by briars and bushes, her feet were swollen from running on jagged rocks, and her lungs were aching for air.

    Run, you need to be faster! Run, Run, RUN!

She turned a sharp corner and realized she was lost. Still, her arms pumped by her sides and her feet crashed through a bush. Her eyes scanned ahead anxiously, I can do this! She thought excitedly. Then she found a clearing-Oh no! No! Crap! The vicious bark of bloodhounds on the sent, wailed through the trees. She felt sick, sick to her stomach. 

I just want this to end! Please, Please just be a nightmare please!

They were getting closer. A dim light filtered in through the woods ahead of her, a clearing? She burst through the trees, heaving and sweating.

Yes!

No-Crap!

She skidded to a halt, it wasn't a clearing. In front of her was a cliff! A sheer face of rock that dropped to an unseeable floor, hundreds of feet below. The dog's were getting closer. Her heart pounded and she looked over the deadly drop.

She closed her eyes, held out her arms... And let herself fall over the edge of the cliff. She fell deeper and deeper into the abyss as if she were never there in the first place.

She jolted upright in bed, gasping for air, hand over her heart, wings spread apart. Yes wings. She checked herself and looked left, then right. She pinched herself on the arm. Not dead. Yet. She thought to herself. She fell back on her bed, limp with relief. 

The sweet scent of waffles filled the house, the girl jumped out of bed with a sleepy look on her face. She sluggishly walked down the hallway and turned to walk into the bathroom. She wiggled her toes and felt the fuzzy blue rug rub against her feet.

 She looked in the mirror, her short auburn hair was a mess, parts of her hair were straight others were her naturally curly locks. Ugh. She sighed, stupid hair. She looked around in case someone was watching, when she knew no one was there she stretched her wings out and let them feel some fresh air. Yes she had wings, but her wings didn’t work. She clipped them.

She pulled a comb out of the drawer under the sink and slowly brushed her hair. It was so soothing when someone would brush her hair, she liked it when people would twiddle with her hair. Every night when she was little her mom would play with her hair and sing a song until she fell asleep, but that was years ago.

She missed being little, not having to go to work, being able to smile, and to be so carefree all the time. She sighed, Not like I can do anything about it, She thought. But it would be nice to have a break every once in awhile. 

After she brushed her teeth, brushed her rats nest she called  hair, and got dressed, she walked down the steps. Normally she wore a red sleeveless hoodie, shorts, and a hat. She wore a sleeveless hoodie because she got hot often, she couldn't stand the heat. Her stomach growled, the distant scent of waffles filled the room and made her practically drool with delight.

 “What’cha making Caitlyn?” She asked, already knowing the answer. Caitlyn turned around, she had long straight blond hair and a blue apron on, she wasn't fat but wasn't skinny either and had lots of femine charm. She totally looks like a mom. “Oh good morning Keila!”

 Caitlyn was the owner of the inn she was staying and working at. “Breakfast is almost ready, can you set the tables?” Caitlynn asked as she flipped a pancake.  “The customers should be waking up soon” Keila worked at this inn full time, she needed money and something to take her mind off of things so she ended up here.

She loved it here, all of these different personalities, faces, and characters. Not a single person alike, and not a single person cared. They didn't care who she was, what she did in her past, anything. They didn't really need to though, they spent the night once or a couple of times, ate food, and left. To her, it was the best place in the world to work.

She went to each table and set a couple of plates and cups down, folded napkins in a neat but not too neat triangle (it made it look fancy), and put a fork and a knife on top of the napkin.  

Once she was done setting the tables she grabbed an apron and went to help in the kitchen. Keila had been working at the inn for a couple of months, almost a year actually. Caitlynn walked over to the door and flipped the sign on the door that read,  ̈closed ̈ to open. A couple of minutes later while Keila was tying her apron, a young girl walked in. 

She had long light blond hair and black glasses. She was fit, but not super fit. She was super skinny but not so skinny that you could see her bones and she didn't have big boobs nor a big butt, but she was still fit. She wasn't tall, she had an average height but she was smaller than Keila.

Keila walked up to her, “hello ma’am will you just be dinning or are you looking to rent a room?” The girl shook her head and waved her hand as if she was motioning for someone. “Neither” she said in a malicious tone. “We’re here for you” 

Keila was confused. Then all of a sudden she heard stomping. She looked at the door behind her and saw men in suits charging in. 

She realized what was going on, no no no! There back… they’re going to kill me! She thought in a panic. Keila quickly ran for the back door, she was panicking. You need to calm down. She thought. Focus… The men in suits leaped in hope to catch her but she was too fast.

She leapt over a table, customers peeked out of their rooms wondering what the noise was. Caitlynn rushed into the room out of the kitchen, “what the heck is goin-” she gasped at the mess, tables were knocked over, people were running out of the inn screaming, gunshots were being fired, it was a mess. Keila made a sharp turn and dodged a punch only to get kicked in the stomach.

It was as if the air was knocked out of her, she gasped for air. A guard then grabbed her by her hair and Keila yelped in pain. She jumped up and headbutted him in the face, which loosened his grasp. She escaped and then kicked him in the stomach. Pay back. She thought.

“Caitlynn!” Keila yelled “watch out!” caitlynn looked over and saw keila running towards her. The backdoor was located in the kitchen, in which Caitlynn was blocking the door to. Caitlynn spread her arms out as if making sure she didn't escape. 

“Sorry keila,” she started, Caitlynn reached into her pocket and pulled out a badge, “i'm sorry for tricking you” Keila was confused, why was Caitlynn blocking her way to escape, what was she sorry for? “W-what do you mean, Caitlynn what’s goin on?” she asked confused. Caitlynn sighed. “My name is not caitlynn,” she started. “My actual name is professor Lisa VonDourt of the Scarlet organization”

“W-what!?” Keila exclaimed choking back tears. “I'm the one who called them here” Lisa said. Men surrounded her and Keila, keila was petrified. That's what you get for trusting others, said a voice in her head. 

Keila looked around and saw no possible way to escape, hope leaked out of her like a balloon with a hole in it. She glared at Caitlynn, should I even call her that? She thought in anger and sadness. She felt a tiny needle prick into her, she looked at her arm. A sleeping dart. “Why…” she said exasperated, she looked up at the ceiling then fell over.