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The robbed that smiles, steals something from the thief.
~ William Shakespeare

I stretched my arms over my head and grinned as I closes the door behind me. I’d be back for sure tomorrow night, but for now… Time to have some fun!
Using my right foot to push off, I took a running start down the sidewalk, before leaping onto the windowsill of a nearby building and scaling the wall until I made it to the roof. I landed soundlessly on the flat roof, and grinned as I felt the adrenaline rushing through my veins. Damn, it felt good to let loose once in a while!
I ran through the darkness at full speed, never looking back at the places I left behind in my wake. Leaping over rooftops and climbing walls faster than the human eye could catch, I made my way across the town below as if I were flying -something I wish I was perfectly capable of doing- but it’s not as stealthy, anyway. After all, there are no shadows in the sky.
The night has always been my favorite time. A time for laughter, freedom and to feel alive, a time when your dreams and your nightmares come all alive at once… Guess which category I belong in?
Feeling that wind on my face and coursing through my hair, there’s no greater feeling, no bigger rush than to jump through the air from dizzying heights and as if I were weightless. I truly can’t imagine a better way to spend a night out! After all, who needs a cramped bus or the ever expensive and elusive taxi when you can do this?
It was September already, and the air was already frigid with the coming snow as I moved through town. To be honest, I’ve always called this place a town, but its more like a township (“Downtown”) within a city (“Uptown”); the Uptown being the place across the bay with all the skyscrapers, and the Downtown here is a suburbs full of small shops and businesses. If you want to live quietly like me though, or if you want to live at all, for that matter, you’ll avoid the Uptown region at all cost. Sex trade, human trafficking, gambling, murder, and drugs are only a fraction of some of the things that go down in that place, and you can bet there’s a nonhuman bigwig behind each and every one of them! And the thing is, it doesn’t matter whether or not you’re human in that place, your hide is always worth something to whoever’s the highest bidder.
Speaking of nonhumans… I landed on a rooftop in the middle of the business section on Helter Avenue when the smell of blood hit the air. The thing was, it wasn’t human.
Smelling the air, I followed the scent to the corner of a backend alley, kicking myself the entire time, and reminding myself about what happened to the cat and curiosity. Frankly, it didn’t work since I was still kinda buzzed, but once I peered over the edge of the roof- Well, hell! That was a sobering experience!
As if I hadn’t had enough of werewolves for one night, I saw two of the furry ass-hats going at it in the alley below. I mean, seriously! These guys were rolling around in the trash, claws out, all wolfed-up, and trying to rip each other’s guts out!
Unfortunately, they weren’t purebloods like Gray, so that gave me all the more reason to stay clear. Weres like these two are more common because they used to be human, but are also more dangerous because they lack control over their tempers and base instincts. Purebloods, on the other hand, were in an entirely different league. Instead of the two-legged wolf thing going that common werewolves have to put up with, purebloods change all the way into a large wolf, with enough power and control to wipe out entire cities single-handedly. (I should know, it happened!)
On a personal note, I don’t really give a damn if it’s some kind of territorial dispute, if they just like the same female, or if it’s just some macho werewolf thing, I was getting the hell outta there! I don’t like Weres, and –with the exception of a certain annoyingly horny wolf- werewolves don’t like me! Period.
Now don’t get me wrong, I don’t actually hate the big hairballs all that much, but -let's face it!- the nonhuman community is full of racism. Has been since the beginning of time, and it’ll probably continue on until the end. I insult your race, you insult mine. I hate your race, you hate mine… Hey, we may end up killing each other in the end, but we don’t apologize for what we say or do and we don’t waste our time crying about somebody else either, instead we move on with our lives! Which are pretty long, considering most of us are immortal, or damn close to it.
Jumping around on a few telephone poles, and some electric lines, I was finally able to make my way back across the street and escape detection. After that, I started for home again with a little free-running and enjoyed the night air as I ran, leapt over rooftops in my wake. Still, it was a bit strange for werewolves to be so hyped up this close to the new moon…
The soft sound of a violin could be heard somewhere beneath me, distracting me from my thoughts, as I headed towards the intersection of Kate Avenue and Third Bridge, so I decided to check it out. Jumping up onto the higher roof of a coffee shop, I peered over the edge to find a mariachi band of all things starting up to play. Heh, it seemed I ended up at a Mexican restaurant- sweet!
Needless to say, I spent about another hour avoiding the people watching the band -there were also a chupcabra or two mixed in there somewhere- and snitching some tacos and a few margaritas from the unsuspecting customers. The booze didn’t do a thing for me, but the tacos sure were tasty!
“Mind if I have one of those?”
“Hey!” I screeched as one of my precious pilfered tacos was snatched from my fingers. “My food!”
I glared over at the culprit who smiled at me through sharp teeth. The guy who stole my taco had green almond-shaped eyes and a tan that radiated too much sun. Considering how frigid it was this time of year, it meant that this guy was either addicted to high quality tanning beds, or he wasn’t a local.
“What do you mean your food?” He asked, swallowing the last of my taco and licking his fingers. “Didn’t you steal it?”
“Yeah,” I snapped. “And I stole it first!”
I raised my hand to smack him, but I didn’t know what he was -definitely not something human at any rate- so, I settled with putting my hand down and continued glaring at the bastard. I may be crazy -according to some- but I wasn’t suicidal, and I’m not going to take the chance of pissing something off that could burn me to a crisp.
The taco thief laughed and tried to make another go at my margarita. I bit the bastard.
“Ow!” He yelled, and ripped his hand away as I watched the pupils of his eyes slit. Correction! I’m crazy, and suicidal! But nobody takes my booze! “That hurt!”
“Touch my drink, and I’ll bite ya again!” I warned, keeping my margarita as far away from him as possible.
“Oh,” He grinned, lifting an eyebrow. “You mean, this drink?”
I watched, dumbfounded, as he reached behind his back and pulled out the alcohol. “ How did you-?” I looked down at my empty hand in shock.
At that point, all the warning bells went off in my head. I don’t know whether it was that sketchy grin of his that creeped me out, or the fact that he seemed to somehow be able to make things disappear and reappear at will. Regardless, all my instincts were screaming “Danger! Danger!” at me, and I wasn’t one to ignore them.
Suddenly distracted, I looked down over the edge of the roof. “Ooh! Look! Another tray of tacos!”
The guy leaned over and looked down, scanning the patio below. “Where?”
I took advantage of the moment, and leaped up, using his head as a springboard to push off, and shoved his face in the margarita, knocking him down into the crowd below! “See ya!”
From there I jumped off the roof to another building across the street, and made my way home as fast as I could… But not before his voice followed my retreat.
“Touché, Miss Toshi!” He called out. “Until we meet again!”
Great, he knows me… No wonder he decided to mess with me! “Not a chance in hell!” I called back.
And by Hell, I hope that was true.
© Britt Clark