Panthera

Never was there such a sight.

It was a cold, dark night.

Yes, as far as anyone was concerned, most horror stories begin with a similar line. Except this was nothing like a horror story, nor was it set in a similar way.

No, it was a cold night.

Out of the corner of one pavement dweller’s eye, he was almost certain there was a shift of movement in the darkness of the opposite corner and he clenched the sides of his blanket tighter. He held still for a second, as if deciding whether he had imagined it or not, before lowering himself under the filthy cot sheet.

A hiss made him sit up almost immediately. Glancing at both sides nervously, he was like a prowler who was about to sneak into a house.

Except, it was simply no prowler. It was something much worse.

Something that was able to see so well in the darkness that it was as if every inch of the sky was lit up by the sun.

Something that was barely holding itself back, waiting the right moment to leap forward.

Something that was feeling a chill of excitement up its spine.

And it was no animal.

The trees wheezed as a breeze swept across, and several things happened at once. The blast of gunshot rang through the silent night, one which anyone could have mistaken it for thunder, and a ringing silence followed. Even so, if you kept still and listened, you could hear the shifts of feet scrambling hurriedly down the street. But you would not, however, hear the silent hiss of warning and the immediate sprang that was accompanied. A howl of pain was heard, echoing in the still night. And as quickly as it had come, everything fell back into the soundless night it was before again.

Several yards away, a man with a thick moustache lowered his night-vision binoculars before turning to his partner.

“At last,” he murmured, his focused eyes did not blink once, “we have found her.”

Heh, no idea what this will become. Review!!