Born of Smoke and Shadow

Change

Dry, too dry. My throat felt clogged with dust, and rubbing my tongue across the roof of my mouth felt like licking sandpaper. As bad as it tasted, it probably smelled worse. I suddenly became excruciatingly aware that I was in my own bed. There were at least a thousand godsdamn things wrong with this situation, and that was definitely one of them. How the hell did I get here? The last thing I remember was passing out in that alley after...... I swallowed again as images danced and bounced off the walls of brain and my vision threatened to go dark again. With an enormous force of will, I shut then away. My eyes darted around my bedroom as I flared my nostrils, getting my bearings and trying to sniff out my situation. My entire home was inaccessible unless one was inhuman or a hell of a climber with some really uncommon equipment. I almost snorted. That clear scent.... So clean it almost burned, almost like bleach, but this wasn't the scent of chemicals. It smelled the way transparent looked, if one could imagine such a thing.

What the fuck? My nerves ran dead cold as my mind suddenly became crystal clear. I could hear this intruder moving about the kitchen. I listened closely blocking out everything else, used all of my senses to figure this out. It was relatively rare to come across someone inhuman on this planet, but they didn't smell human. They smelled..... Other. Male. Large. Lean. Dangerous, possibly hostile. In my most sacred of dwellings. I quietly and carefully tested out my limbs and muscles. I needed to be ready to attack this bastard, this being who'd dared to enter my home, touch me without permission. They wanted something, I was sure. They were probably also aware of who i was. No one would bring me back alive otherwise. The price on my head was doubled if I were brought in alive.

"I know by your vitals that you're finally awake, and I thought I'd let you know that it was a severe oversight to not booby trap this place when we got here," Thuron whispered in my ear. Fine timing that was. I would never be captured again, not to be tortured, not to be incarcerated. Ever. With that thought in mind, my blood ran ice cold in my veins, my heart encased in ice, the clarity of my mind akin to cut diamonds, as I fluidly slid off the bed. There was not a sound as I crawled on the floor, keeping close to the wall. I still had my suit on, so this being in my home obviously hadn't undressed me, apart from the clothes I was wearing over it. I would obliterate this offensive presence. I would erase this existence that had dared to encroach on my territory. It was what I was bred for, after all.

I put my leg in front of my arm as I crawled even closer to the doorway of my small kitchen, finally looking in, taking in the scene before me before I attacked. I didn't really eat much, given that the majority of my nutrition didn't really come from people food.

He was at the counter adjacent to the stove. Cutting..... cutting fish. Cod. Maybe he decided he'd eat before he tortured or attempted to rape me. His arrogance astounded me. I almost laughed right then and there. They hadn't even bothered to restrain me, and then decided to make a meal in their victim's kitchen. I am a rank bastard in my own right, but this kind of stupidity was mind boggling. Inhuman or no, this being was no threat. Their ego would be their downfall.

I studied my prey. Dark, dark hair, inky. A black mane, too long. Dark skin, gold undertone, an expanse that covered lean muscle. He was large, even taller than I, quite a feat for even inhuman beings on this planet. Other planets, I wasn't sure. It had been a long time since I left this one. Other females would probably consider him attractive, but I wasn't really attracted to men. This one was not only tall, but wide.

Standing from my crouch, I stood in the doorway, drawing a knife from the hidden sheath on my right thigh. I'd only need one. I could almost smell the blood that would flow, could feel his pulse. I felt the subtle burn of my eyes as they grew brighter, would probably look luminescent.