Catula

Detective Meowser chased the shadowy figure down the alley, jumping to avoid the upturned trash cans that littered the rain-slicked lane. His quarry moved with an unnatural quickness, like a silhouette moving with the flickering light.

He had come upon another victim laying amongst the refuse, the same bite marks on her neck as the others they had found across the city over the past few weeks. Almost all of their blood drained from their bodies, except for the trickle that matted their neck with damp, sticky red.

Usually, murder victims they found in the streets were slashed with claw and bite marks all over their bodies, with pools of blood all over the place, from the victim and the attacker.

Yet, these murders were baffling everyone on the force, with no other signs of struggle, no traces, no leads; no witnesses.

Until now.

Meowser had been coming home after his shift when he had heard a clattering in the alley across from his apartment building.

Seeing a prostrate figure among the piles of trash bags on the ground, he had scampered over to find that she was already dead, but only just. He was sniffing around for any scent when out of the corner of his eye he had seen the movement in the shadows.

With a shout he started after the fleeing figure as they disappeared around the corner of the back of the building.

Now, he had caught up with the shadowy figure in the next alleyway, which came to a dead end in the darkness.

Slowing to a cautious stalk, Detective Meowser strained his already attuned eyes to try and see where the figure hid in the darkness.

A blur came toward him and before he could react, it knocked him down to the wet pavement.

Quickly jumping back up with a hiss, Meowser stood on his hind legs and drew his pistol.

"Freeze!" he shouted, and to his surprise the figure did.

"Turn around slowly." Meowser ordered as he raised the gun level.

The figure seemed to be wearing a full length black cloak, and as they slowly turned, they somehow seem to enlarge, growing to take up the entire alley way.

Meowser watched in stunned silence as they came round to face him and he saw that they were all black with a strip of white along the front of their long body. Glowing red eyes blazed out at him with anger and malice.

Remembering where he was after a fuzzy moment, Meowser aimed his pistol, "Get your paws up where I can see em, fuzz ball!"

Slowly, the caped cat raised his paws up while holding the edges of his red-lined cloak, spreading it wide open.

"Drop the cape and hands on your head!" Meowser shouted as he cocked the gun.

With a snarl, the black cat bared its abnormally long front fangs and started to swoop in toward Meowser.

Without hesitation, Meowser fired three rapid rounds with no apparent effect on their target.

Meowser quickly ducked as the caped cat rose with a graceful leap over him. He watched with disbelief as the black shape of the raising cloak shrunk and changed into the flapping wings of a giant bat.

The creature flew silently into the night sky as Meowser stood staring up at the opening between the closely packed buildings.

Sirens wailed in the distance; someone must have called in about the gun shots.

He looked down at the pistol and double checked that he had indeed fired the three rounds; he had. And none of them had hit their mark at point blank range.

As the flashing of the police car lights came around the corner, Meowser could only think of one thing; how he was going to explain this to the Chief?