by Q.Araignee » Thursday 30 April 2009 11:12:52am
It had been the promise of a more entertaining prey but one street over that had drawn Neko away- a little girl, no more than seven, walking home alone after going out for some milk. It was still light, so she wasn't as scared as she should have been. Neko paused in the shadows, concentrating hard on the transformation into a slightly larger than normal black cat. Once in the form, she approached the girl and meowed.
"Awww, pretty kitty!" The girl exclaimed. Her ignorance made Neko's skin crawl, but she allowed herself to be petted and brushed up closer as if being affectionate. It didn't take long for the milk to be forgotten and for Neko to be the centre of attention. Sensing that a trust had been gained, she slowly sauntered down the dark alleyway- and as expected, the girl followed so she could carry on fussing her new friend. Within seconds though, she had lost sight of the cat. The shadows seemed to close around her, leaving nowhere for her to return to and nothing to see.
"Kitty?"
"Kitty cat?"
A sniffle, a shudder, an eerie breeze, and Neko stood before the child- a lighter shadow amongst the others. "Are you lost, little one?"
The girl nodded. "Uh-huh, I was playing with a cute kitty and she came here and now I've lost her and don't know where to go."
Neko stroked the girl's hair, smelling the fear, then ran a claw lightly along her tender skin.
"Mmmm, such soft, beautiful skin...well, it was..."
With that, Neko began slowly cutting the girl with her claws- the screams almost like music, and only heard within the mass of shadows. A slash here, a gouge there, a seemingly random pattern determined by her whims. Her hair was ripped away, the clothes a ragged mass, the blood lapped up by an eager and cruel mistress. Neko drew out the agony as long as possible before the girls' mind fled into oblivion. After that, she climbed the pipe and jumped onto the rooftops- leaving the shadows to disperse at their own rate.
By now, night was truly falling. Neko found herself a perch from where she could look over the streets, and paused to look at her nails. The polish there glistened with blood, and it brought a smile to her face to know that the poison in that polish would mean that the wounds on that girl would never heal. They would cause her pain and misery until the end of her days- and given the special "care" given to her face, that may be as soon as she became aware of the term and meaning of suicide. Looking around, Neko saw so many prospective victims just waiting to be pounced upon- and the remains of Inu's earlier playthings. It was difficult to choose who to take, until she spotted a group of teenagers hanging around and leering at passing women. A perfect target.
Neko jumped down to the streets and resumed her most human form- her eyes still glittered promisingly though. She raised her skirt higher and altered her top with a few cuts of a knife to make it reveal so much more of her chest. Checking her hair and her pockets, Neko walked towards the lads. Their attention was grabbed by the sight of a helpless and hot woman approaching them, and their appreciation of the sight was very noticeable.
“Please, sirs,” Neko asked, her voice wavering a little with feigned worry and panic. “Do you know the way to this address?” A piece of paper was handed to them, which they barely glanced at. The best looking of them stepped forward, declaring himself their leader, and spoke in a low voice.
“Sure we do, we can get you there quicker than quick if you’ll follow me?”
“Of course! I would be ever so grateful...”
The boy took her hand and led her onwards, the others following close enough to catch her if she ran. Not that Neko had any intention of running. Pulling her suddenly down a side street, the leader pushed her forwards until she hit a wall. The rest of the group now crowded the entrance to this alley, blocking the only feasible exit as there were no pipes here.
They closed in on her, expecting her to give in to their demands. They weren’t supposed to expect the lightning quick garrotting of their leader, nor the pouncing of a snarling lady with claws glinting in the gloom. Apparently, though, one in their group was a wizard- he’d stayed near the back and threw a Stunning spell at Neko which she barely dodged. As others began drawing out wands, Neko realised she may have taken on more than she could handle with these twenty lads. And with that she smiled.
“Nighty night lads.”
A moment’s confusion, then a blinding flash which allowed Neko to jump over all their heads and run off. A spell of her own for such instances, allowing for them to chase her and for her to pick them off one by one. She ran swiftly, her form blurring from human to feline as she dodged the meandering people, and clambered onto the rooftops as soon as she was able. There was a crack, a fall, then darkness.
Neko looked up, somewhat confused. None of the roofs around here should have collapsed under her insignificant weight. Not unless they were tampered with. A shiver ran up her spine, and Neko knew fear. Without any further time for thought, she was pinned to the floor beneath many hands. A voice spoke out of the darkness of the room, his voice detached and echoing. With a terrified shriek, Neko bucked and writhed in an attempt to free herself. These were cultists of the wizarding community, vigilantes who scoured the world for those who were not quite human but were purely magical- and they left them broken and destroyed, with only a pulse to indicate they still lived.
“You are an abomination, a beast deserving of no name. You are worse than your consort, who only transforms at the will of the moon, as you do this by your own will. You will know the pain of retribution for your acts, until we drive the demonic beast from the human soul within. Then we will find the rest of your group, and cleanse their souls as well. We do this as a service to our community, and to you.”
And then there was pain.