The night air blew briskly, sucking the heat from Cathie's body and forcing her to quicken her pace. That was the second thing she did that night that was absolutely stupid. The first was that she had left the house in only short shorts and a t-shirt in the middle of October. The other had been leaving in the middle of the night. She glanced over her shoulder again. She was risking everything, coming out of hiding like this, but she couldn't wait any longer. Another shiver ran down her spine and she got the feeling of something lurking in the shadows, watching her. She tried to force those thoughts from her mind, they were only scaring her more.
"Calm down," Cathie told myself, "Don't freak out."
A sharp snap sounded behind her, causing her to nearly jump out of her skin. Spinning around quickly, Cathie peered into the darkness. It must have been a stray dog or something like that, she told herself as the night once again went silent. She turned around and started walking again, forcing herself to dismiss whatever slight sounds she was hearing as paranoia. But she stopped once again, this time, the sounds are definitely footsteps.
"Hey baby," an oily voice drawled.
A shudder passed down Cathie's spine. She could feel the man's front pressing up against her back, his breath was hot on her neck and she could smell the alcohol and stink on his body.
"You look a little chilly, let me warm you up."
The filthy man tried to put a grimy hand on her shoulder, but she swatted it away and took off. The man laughed, giving chase, this was obviously fun for him. Unfortunately for Cathie, it had been several days since she last ate so she was not as able-bodied as usual and she realized with dread that the man would catch her. Sure enough, his arms suddenly wrapped around her waist as he yanked her off her feet. She struggled, but his other hand grabbed her hands, holding them in a crushing grip. He buried his nose into her hair and breathed in deeply.
"You smell sweet," he drawled, "like roses."
Upping her struggling, Cathie kicked and flailed, trying to make it as difficult for him as possible, but he had obviously had plenty of experience dealing with struggling girls, because he moved with little effort. Panic encircled Cathie when she realized that he was dragging her toward a dark alley.
"Let go! Help! Someone help me!" Cathie screamed.
"Scream all you want! No one is going to come to your rescue!"
Cathie knew he was right, there was hardly anyone out at this time of night and they were in an abandoned area, but that didn't diminish her screams or struggles. They were well into the dark alley before the man released her just enough to slam her into the gritty wall. The wall dug into her back and she could feel the blood starting to trickle down her back. The man smiled, flashing disgusting, rotting teeth. Repulsed, Cathie heightened her struggles as the man pressed his lips over hers, crushing into them. She gasped in pain, which turned out to be a mistake as the man forced his tongue into her mouth, exploring. She could feel the bile rising and she didn't try hold it back; it would be satisfying if she threw up in his mouth! Suddenly, the man was ripped away from her. He disappeared, kicking and screaming, into the shadows. There was another horrified scream and then a sickening crunching sound. Blood sprayed out of the shadow like a grisly firework display. Cathie's eyes widened at the sight of the blood and she sank to the ground, now willingly pressing her back against the wall. There was movement from within the shadow and something glinted as it caught the light. Her mouth opened and she started screaming.
Something landed next to Cathie and a hand as cold as ice covered her mouth, silencing her.
"Shh," a soft voice soothed, "You are safe now."
The voice was definitely a woman's, perhaps even a young girl's. Cathie struggled to catch a glimpse, but the hand kept her face away from her rescuer's.
"You cannot see my face," the girl said.
Yet Cathie still tried to look. A bone-rattling hiss came from the shadow and something moved again. This time, it moved closer to the light and Cathie could see that the light was reflecting off its smooth head. Her eyes widened as she watched the creature, even though she couldn't see much more of it. The hand that was covering her mouth disappeared and she heard the sound of rustling. When she turned to look, there was no one there.
Na'sval cocked his head to the side as he scanned the area around him. His data scanners told him that the area around him was empty, so he moved on, painfully aware of the eyes of the observing Elder following him closely. He was lucky to be getting a second chance after what he had done. Ever since he had allowed the girl with the kainde amedha blood to escape, he had been looked on as an Outcast by his clan. The others looked at him with distrust and, sometimes, even betrayal. They said he was as soft as his pyode amedha allies. Ali, the only one of her kind, had been captured by his crew and he had saw fit to release her in order to protect her, which was why he was here tonight; to set things right.
"Have you found anything yet?" The Elder asked in a stern voice.
Na'sval shook his head.
The Elder growled. "Search harder, I don't like having to babysit for you."
Na'sval didn't reply. His clan was certainly making sure he never forgot his betrayal. He wondered if recapturing the girl would fix things with his clan, but then he thought better of it; if he captured Ali, she would be exposed to experimentation and she would most likely be taken to the gaming field. He would never want something like that on someone like her.
As if the Elder knew what he was thinking, he said, "It's unfortunate those copies didn't last long. If only you could capture that child again."
Na'sval didn't have to answer as his scanner started to beep. He dialed up the thermal readings and picked up the image of someone heading towards them.
"Here comes one now," he said.
"Good," the Elder replied.
Cathie came to a stop and hunched over, putting her hands on her knees. She hadn't stopped running since she had left the alleyway for two reasons. One was that she had to get away from the stench of blood, the other was because she had been hoping she could chase down her rescuer, but the girl was nowhere to be found.
Snap!
Cathie's head shot up and she looked around, her ears straining to pick up some kind of sound.
"Not again," she found herself mumbling. Two attempted rapes in the same night just seemed like too much to deal with.
Suddenly, something fast whizzed past her face, coming within inches. There was a small explosion a second later and Cathie looked up to see a sharp-edged disk embedded into the building next to her. She looked to the right where the object had come from and what she saw caused a strangled scream to burst out of her mouth.
The creature took slow steps toward her. Its face was obscured by a strange mask, yet she could tell that it was staring directly at her. Its hand curled into a fist in preparation as it moved closer, two blades sticking out from a device on its wrist. Fear took over then, giving her the strength to turn around and run. There was an alleyway directly behind her and she made her way there. She didn't want to know if it was following her, but she couldn't help it. Glancing over her shoulder, Cathie found it walking slowly after her, obviously in no hurry. The alley turned sharply and she followed the turn, skidding as she took the turn too quickly. A second later, she found out why it was taking its time; the alley was a dead end.
Cathie spun around quickly and found the way out cut off by the creature, but this time, it was not alone. Another stood directly behind it, dressed in a similar outfit, but with longer blades attached to its wrist. She dropped to the ground, tears pouring down her cheeks in fear. The creatures came closer and one of them pulled out a similar looking boomerang to the one before. Shuddering, she squeezed my eyes shut in anticipation.
"No," she whispered.
When Cathie risked peeking she almost screamed; they had gotten closer. Her breath quickened and she knew if she didn't calm down she would begin hyperventilating. Growing lightheaded, she looked up to see that the creatures had stopped advancing and were staring at me. A second later, however, Cathie blacked out.
Na'sval crouched down and studied the young pyode amedha on the ground in front of him. Her quickened breathing was quite common for victims when they first encounter a Yautja, as was the reaction of losing consciousness.
"Well? What are you waiting for? Get her and let's go!" the Elder demanded impatiently from behind Na'sval.
Na'sval wanted to turn and growl at the Elder, but he knew that wouldn't do him any good, so he obeyed and picked the girl up in his arms, throwing her over his shoulder.
"I'm ready," he said.
"Good, take her back to the ship, we'll be leaving soon," the Elder was saying as he grabbed his combi stick.
"Where are you going?" Na'sval asked.
"I have a little business of my own to take care of before we depart," the Elder said, "go ahead without me."
Na'sval thought about what the Elder could be planning as he moved from roof top to roof top toward the area where their scout ship had been hidden. The possibility that the Elder was going to hunt a trophy before they left didn't seem likely; he wouldn't have waited that long before leaving to do so, especially not when they were only going on a collecting mission. So what could the Elder be doing? He growled in irritation; he hated being treated this way, like an un-Blooded.