Dusk

Chapter One: Miscommunication

"Freeze!" 

Her hands paused, warm and wet with the blood of a fallen human.  The woman's eyes were wide and staring,  throat torn out. "I did not do this," she said thickly.  Unfortunately,  she had no idea if the man behind her understood.  Slowly,  she stood,  hands up.  

She saw his fear as her long legs unfolded.  Slender and deer-like, with a sinuous tail that was tufted at the end and graceful horns that rested back against her skull,  she was nothing human.  The human man stood behind his vehicle's door, weapon shaking.  Cautiously,  she stepped away from the body.  He shouted something she didn't quite understand, and she held her hands up.  

"I'm not--" 

Krak!!

The pain hit her first.  She shrieked,  and ran. It was painful,  uneven. 

"Backup! I need backup!" she heard as she trotted unevenly down the alley.  Footsteps followed her.  The creature bounced between walls and bricks. Tall buildings made a narrow path down to a waterfront.  Sirens echoed as she reached the docks.  

Pausing,  she took ragged breaths.  Blood pumped down her leg with each beat of her heart.  The lawkeeper had struck true.  She had to find cover,  give herself time to heal.  

"Circle the area.  Get the magic department down here to net the perimeter! Michaels, Vaughn, go that way.  Dupree, with me!" The voices echoed and she took off to the left,  trying doors as she went.  Most were padlocked. One near the end of the dock was only deadbolted.  The building was in disrepair,  probably unused now.  The creature checked it hard with her shoulder.  The old wood gave easily,  splintering.  
She slipped inside,  injured leg stiff and painful.  She looked down.  Black swirls mixed with the blood.  Iron. The room was long and high ceilinged,  stacked with old metal shipping containers.  They'd offer plenty of coverage,  shelter to heal in.  Dragging her leg behind her,  she started checking containers,  acutely aware of the humans surrounding the area.  

One container on the far left was mostly empty and stood half ajar.  Trembling,  she slipped inside and sank to the floor.  Darkness enveloped her and her consciousness fled.  

So much for his understanding her.

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Rachel blew out a slow breath as she slowly maneuvered her car through the police blockade. Red and blue lights twinkled in the night, casting their colors on the walls of the nearby buildings.  Civilian onlookers came together in a solid mass of people. Hoping to get a peek at the monster that had brought the police out in force.

She found the circus annoying. Every call for a preternatural response unit turned into a dog and pony show.  Checkpoints and blockades. Ranks of crowd control officers in armor stood just behind the yellow high-visibility police tape marking the off-limit area to the civilians who came to watch the show.  

It was better to hunt alone. Safer. Let the prey run itself tired, unaware that it was being tracked.  Strike when it least expected. Don't give the prey a chance to defend itself. 

Instead, the uniforms had chased it into a corner. Worse, they had wounded it. That would make the creature, whatever it was, far more dangerous. It would lash out with more fury. Rachel was fond of her skin not being ripped and torn by a scared, cornered...thing.

Reports had been unclear about what, precisely, had been cornered. The darkness and adrenaline hindered identification. Voices on the radio argued with one another. It was a vampire. No, a lycanthrope. One woman swore it was a fae creature. That one gave Rachel chills. A fae strong enough to be in the middle of the city, so far from nature, would be a nasty customer indeed.