Beta

Pronunciation: Lumia - Lou-mia

The sound of laughter drifted up from the street below and the feeling of solitude that came with it was a comfort.

Her back rested against the old rough brick of the decaying building. A large window above her allowed the streets lights to trickle in, the glass of the glass long gone from a hurricane that hit New Orleans last year. A few holes in the rafters allowed for tiny snippets of the night sky.

She scratched at the oversized black woolen cloak she wore. She had stolen it off a drunken man, it smelled of vomit and vodka. Who the hell wore this kind of thing to Mardi Gras anyways? she pouted. But it came down to her mid-calf and completely covered her scent and outfit. Plus it was black and hid her in the shadows. But damn. It was hot and itchy.

She breathed in deep, trying to calm her animalistic urge to hunt this late at night. She slowly opened her eyes. Her big cat-like orbs adjusting immediately to every darkened nook and cranny of the waste. Her ears twitched as a small family of mice scurried in the furthest corner. But she had bigger mice to catch.

"Target sighted heading west on Lafayette and Convention road." Saengdao purred in her earpiece.

"copy that" she responded. It wouldn’t be long now. She was on Lafayette in between Main and North Street. It would be within the next 20 minutes or so.

It was crowded, wild, and, well, it was Mardi Gras. She was happy to be up on the third floor of this tiny building. She slowly raised up, staying in the shadows to peer out over the crowd. She looked out to the east, where the procession was coming up.

She rose her gun, focusing her eyes on the tiny dot that was her target. At least a football field away or more. She took a slow breath in and the world seemed to stop. The crowd drowned away, the colors and parade muted as she closed in on her prey and pulled the trigger.

Then the rest of the world came back into focus, the noise and colors and lights were deafening as she let out her breath and lowered her gun. She turned away before watching the woman fall. She never missed a shot. And dead meat wasn’t entertaining anyways.

She quickly bagged her gun and swung the duffle bag over her shoulder as her silent footfalls descended quickly down the dark steps.

"Target down. Get yourselves to the rendezvous point ASAP"

She got to the main floor in record time, barely making a noise or moving the dust on the floor. Climbing over rubble and trash and stealthily making her way through what used to be a kitchen, she made her way to the back door. She pricked her ears and opened her senses for any danger. None in the immediate vicinity but... she and her buddies were definitely not the only hunters tonight.

As she slipped through the door she looked towards the opening of the ally to where throngs of people stood shouting, dancing, and laughing as the parade lit up the night in a whimsical display of colors. She paused taking in the stunning scene. There was something so surreal in that moment.

She couldn’t help but think of how in a different life, she would be out there living, drinking, being a 27-year-old bachelorette. She would be Lumia, the puma, not Lumi the predator. Her face became emotionless as her heart closed to the onslaught of thoughts. No use crying over spilled milk.

She took a grounding breath, allowing her lungs to fill with the hazy, intoxicated air as she came out to the street. That’s when she felt it. The ones hunting her were close and were definitely on her tail.

She began to weave through the crowd. Her sense were on high alert. As she effortlessly weaved through the crowd, she couldn’t help but spotted a pretty small blond girl, walking and swaying around aimlessly oblivious to the throngs of people. She was acting strange even for Mardi Gras. She debated with herself for all of two seconds before sighing to herself. Ignoring the logical thing to do which was bolt and keep going, she instead went over to the intoxicated girl and gave the men leering at her the bird and a good “fuck off”. She grabbed the drunk girl and realized the girl definitely was not drunk but was on something else entirely. She draped the coat over the girl’s shoulders, concerned now and began to pull her away.

“Honey, can you talk to me?” The girl looked at her with icy blue eyes, a spaced-out expression, her mouth slack and drool dribbling out the corner of her mouth. Her platinum hair and did not go well with her pale but yellow tined skin tone. She looked like a wanna-be whitewalker.

“Come on honey, we need to get you somewhere safe. I don’t want anyone trying to take advantage of you in this state.” Ugh, she sounded like a mother hen, all kind and gentle and sweet. She walked with her, wrapping her arms around her waist to basically drag her along until she spotted two cops. She had felt the hunters slow down and keep pace behind her. At least they weren’t a bunch of low-life bastards. Just dogs. She went over to the two cops and handed her to them.

“Ok honey, get home safe! Don’t go too overboard again! It’s dangerous for us women out here ok!” she shouted over the noise of the band passing. She gave the girl a quick hug before going on her way.

She felt less... threatened now. Whoever was hunting her kept their distance now. She had probably confused them. Big cats didn’t really bother with others. But she wasn’t just any big cat.

She wove her way through the crowds, up the street, aware she was still being followed. She knew the others would definitely be there already. Using her earpiece would be too obvious so she took out her phone and texted them:

Go on, guys. I’ll catch up. Being followed. Gonna be a while before I lose them.

She didn’t bother waiting for a response. She looked up and paused. Something was behind her. Something dangerous and dark and electric. She could feel electricity pulse through her as whoever was close to her approach. Whoever they were, they were powerful and deadly. For the first time in years, she felt terror overtake her. She couldn’t move. Everything froze. But whoever it was had stopped. They had sensed it too.

MOVE

The voice in her head screamed. She wasn’t a victim. She wasn’t the prey. Not this time.

An intoxicating scent of earth and fresh-cut grass and honey hit her nose. The scent of home. The scent of safety. It brought her to the present, the terror and panic were suddenly gone.

Safety and home doesn’t exist. Not anymore.

Move

This time she did. She sprinted through the crowd. She heard a furious growl behind her and it made her heart race in fear and disgust. And something else she refused to admit.

She would think about that later. She ran weaving through the people. She heard her pursuer trying to bulldoze his way through the crowd. Idiot. He was getting farther and farther behind her. But if she had smelt him he could definitely smell her.

She spotted a gang of bikers outside a bar on one of the side streets. They were sitting and smoking and laughing. There were 7 of them. And one straddled his bike, the key in the ignition.

She ran up to them in a panic and frenzy and began to cry.

“Help! Help! There’s someone trying to attack me” her voice trembled. All the men immediately stood up and came to attention. Even the guy on his bike got up to help her. She felt bad, although her tears weren’t fake, she could secretly admit. She was still a child at heart. She hardly ever let it show though. This was a special situation.

Just then she heard a furious snarl behind her. She jumped in terror and ran towards the men who rushed towards the man behind her. As soon as they rushed passed her she flew towards the bike, hopped on and keyed the ignition. She floored it, not bothering to look back, afraid of who and more importantly what, she would see.

But there was no mistaking the growl that had come from her pursuer’s throat. And as she wove through the streets to the edges of the city, above the droning noise of the bands and people and crowds, a hungry and furious howl rang through the city. Any bit of heart and love that she had protected and preserved over the years dissolved into the shadows that not even the stars could find their way out of as she let the blues carry her through the night.

*Ok guys! This was the first chapte of Beta! Let me know what you think!

*Any suggestions or improvements you think I could make? Always open for critique!