The small parts he can focus on, are not enough.
“I will have to do this the hard way.” In order to find Anya, he will need to track her. Soon, she will try to help the humans who are now screaming in the streets below. “All I need to do is wait for her and she will come to me.”
Apex predators are his favorite to watch. It is in the eyes. The soul-less, guilt free ability to take a life with no regrets. Once these mighty beasts like the jaguar used to be a top predator, but with the spread of the immortal species on the planet, that has changed. Caius used the top scientists in the world to create a virus that would be unstoppable. It is amazing what people will do when you offer them the gift of immortality. He offered each one their pick of species. Whether a vampire, werewolf or other class, it made no difference to him as long as the work was done.
This building in New York holds over two hundred of his apex creatures. Considering the population of New York City is, over eight million he wonders if he should have made that two thousand, until the first creature breaks onto the streets and attacks.
A jaguar moves fast amongst the shadows between the building and attacks the first person it encounters. He leaps onto a woman and she falls backward with it attached to her throat. No one moves for a moment and then the chaos starts, followed by screaming and running. Most of the people run away, one man draws a concealed pistol and shoots the jaguar in the back. The cat roars in pain and falls forward on the body of the young woman. Quickly the man runs forward and grabs the cat by its hind feet, dragging it off the injured woman.
The lack of blood startles him for a moment. He was expecting gore and severe trauma, instead, it looks as if the big cat just bit her. Her brown eyes stare up at him and she claws at her throat in horror. A second later her eyes roll back into her head and convulsions start.
“I’m a doctor, I can help,” a man yells, who pushes through the crowd to help the young woman.
“Get back, give him some room,” her savior yells.
While the doctor tends to the young woman a crowd has gathered around the jaguar. One young man is recording the unmoving animal on his cell phone. “Flip it over, Josh, so we can see its teeth,” he tells his friend who moves closer to the cat, “this will go viral!”
Josh, bravely runs a hand over the soft fur, shaking his head, he murmurs, “Nothing, Joel, I don’t see any bullet wounds.” Confusion clouds his face as he looks back at his friend, “I thought you said he shot it?”
The young woman stops convulsing, “Can you hear me?” The doctor calls and her eyes open, he jumps back startled. They are bright yellow now, and her pupil is not round, but oblong. “What the hell…” she leaps to her feet and hisses, then dives on the doctor’s chest sinking her new teeth deep into his throat. Those watching start running in panic once more.
Caius laughs out loud in his apartment above. “Magnificent!”
Alarmed by the screams behind them, the young men with the jaguar run away to film the chaos around them and they miss the jaguars awakening. He twitches on the ground, his legs stretch and his body shifts, morphing into a vampire. It stands up on its human legs and holds out its hand, dropping the bullets onto the ground.
Blood, it is surrounded by the scent of fresh blood. The naked vampire scans around and smiles at a woman who is backing up against a building, shaking in terror. It is upon her in three strides. Large, powerful and muscular he drinks from her quickly, leaving her convulsing body, he picks another hapless victim.
The infected woman lunges off the doctor, leaving him sprawled convulsing on the ground and morphs to a black panther. She runs down a victim who turns into traffic attempting to get away. A cab driver slams on his brakes with screeching tires and can’t stop in time, screaming he hits the unaware lady sending her flying into the next lane of traffic. The sound of metal crunching is heard as cars and busses colliding fills the air.
Frustrated with its loss, the panther leaps on the cabbie as he jumps from his car to help.
A howl sounds out in the alley behind the building Caius is watching from, but it is impossible to hear it over the noise of screams, torn metal and sirens. This allows the pack to move unseen in the shadows until they find prey and strike. Mutated with a mixture of creatures, they have the ability to transform into vaporized mist and hunt their prey through the air.
A young woman runs down the chaotic street, holding her screaming infant tightly against her chest.
The scent of her terror and adrenaline mixed with blood draws them and they follow her, flowing around her legs as she runs. She doesn’t notice the cloud following her as she slams through a door into a coffee shop full of frightened people.
The owner slams the door shut behind the last person to enter and locks it drawing the metal gate down with a clang, sealing off anyone else who wanted to enter. Those locked out run screaming down the street.
“It’s okay, sweetie,” the young woman shushes her baby and moves to the side.
“Listen!” The owner yells, “This is reinforced steel, we are safe in here! We
