Beastars: A Steep Fall From Light

Chapter 1: The Road to the Future is Paved in Blood

"Clear the scene!" the officer yelled at the gathering crowd of animals. The location couldn't be more inconvenient. In the very center of the city in the direct middle of the intersection. They had set up roadblocks, but vehicles had already driven over it in the early morning before it was reported, so the evidence had already been tampered with. The sun was just beginning to rise over the buildings and the light was almost blinding. Add that with the flashes of the crime scene photographers and Yahya felt like he would be blind by the end of all this. Even with his sunglasses to remove most of the glare.

The old horse didn't usually make public appearances when 'on duty' as the beastar, but he had to make an exception this time as it was right outside his residency. He had dressed in his usual disguise as a zebra. Just to keep his identity a secret. He was on scene, dressed in a police uniform to look like he was supposed to be there. It was a bloodbath. The thick, red liquid was smeared all over the asphalt and seemingly ground into the pavement. There were tire tracks that showed where the cars had driven through and flattened the bloodied bags. They were of all sizes and had been moved a great deal by the traffic before the call came in. Some had torn open, spilling assorted organs and scattering pieces of skeleton all over the intersection. Some of the bones had been splintered under the weight of cars so it was hard to tell what animals those had belonged to.

"How did the perpetrator do this without being caught on any of the cameras?" he asked one of the officers.

"That's the question isn't it?" the eagle asked.

"Why wasn't it called in until a few hours ago?"

"Again, another question we're all asking. You're new here aren't you?"

Yahya turned away to avoid that question.

"What are you getting?" he asked into his earpiece.

"Nothing yet sir," answered the five-hundred rats. "But we're running the camera feed from last night to see if we can get anything."

"Let's get these bags to the station," said the wolf officer. "Have the lab do their work and figure out who they were. Where's the cleanup crew?"

"On their way," answered the eagle. "Should be here in the next five minutes."

The crowd outside the police barricade was growing. A fearful murmur was also building. Yahya looked through the crowd and saw the terror in every single one of the onlookers. Since the Back Alley Market had been demolished, there had not been a single case of a carnivore attack on an herbivore for years. The meat that willingly came from the ocean saw that they had their fill and that their hunger was satisfied. Then, a few months ago, herbivores started to go missing. Considering there were no bodies uncovered, the city officials twisted it to keep the disappearances just that. It wasn't out of the ordinary for members of the population to go missing every now and again. Especially the migrating animals who always felt the impulsive need to change location every autumn and spring. It had been summed up to just that. So the appearance of these bloodied bags was cause for alarm.

The murmur of the crowd raised to chattering, and Yahya saw the media beginning to conjugate. What was the point? This story would be censored anyway. Anything to keep the facade of peace. Video cameras were lugged up on tripods and paper journalists flipped to open pages for notes and interviews while their partners snapped photos of the grizzly sight. The officers did their best to block their view, but there were too many of them.

"You're missing something," came the deep, growling voice behind him. "An angle that may be very important."

Yahya turned around and saw, hidden in the shadows of the buildings caused by the rising sun, out of sight from the cameras and away from the crowds, the reaper Adler. His attire was as it appeared in the play. The usual red garb with black cape and hat. He held the rapier strapped to his hip with a gloved hand. The very tip was bloodied, and he had a massive claw mark across his chest.