Rick could only stare as the streak of moonlight gleamed upon the imposing woman that was, for all intents and purposes, the one able to decide the fate of everyone present. Through the dimness of the forest, her image stood equal parts alluring and dangerous. Scars littered her honeyed skin, blood dripped from her soft snowy fur. Her figure was that of a creature that looked human in most ways, beautiful even, tall and muscular yet accentuated by naked curves that left little to the imagination. And at the same time, she was no more human than the other monsters, the claws she had for arms and feet making it apparent enough.

She was wild, powerful, deadly.

Yet it was her eyes that Rick found most captivating. Green and blue, they held a light of their own that pierced the darkness. An infinity of swirling depths was kept within them. They snared his attention with sharp claws and refused to let it go. The man felt as if he was a mouse in front of a tiger and unable to turn to look other way. There were no less than twenty meters between the two, but the chemistry teacher could sense it would take her but a second to reach and end him.

Were she to wish it.

That very same gaze angled away, changing the focus towards the corpses that lay next to her downed prey. One second, two. She glanced back at the bus, and then she swung her attention to the foe whose blood still dripped from her claws. She took a single step out of the beam of moonlight; her figure reduced to a blurred silhouette in the shadows. Rick could only see vague shapes and could only guess what the terrible incredible creature was doing now that the darkness turned her near invisible to his eyes. He had absolute confidence it mattered little. For once, her attention returned to the living. It was then that their fates would be sealed.

Rick was reminded of a documentary he’d once seen, of people during the great wars, sitting in bunkers, knowing that the chaos and destruction would unfold around them within mere moments. To him it held a certain similitude, a certain morbid appeal. The main difference was that the incoming violence was neither bullets nor explosions, but a single creature that was far too alluring for the apparent power she wielded.

The chemistry teacher remained the lone person still outside the bus, waiting, leaning into the chassis and burning with curiosity. To know what? He couldn’t explain it, yet it was just as impossible to escape the pull. A part of him wondered idly if, perhaps, what he wanted was to stare death in the eye before it all came to an end. Or maybe it was something else.

The shudders and whimpers from the former passengers broke the silence of the night. Some prayed under their breath, their voice carrying through the inky air that enveloped them. Someone even dared to turn on the flashlight of their phone, only for the flicker of light to die out instantly, others having rushed to cover the source before it could risk bringing attention upon them.

And all the while, Rick remained on the spot, peering into the shadow that moved through the bodies. His heart beat like a wild drum, and his eyes strained yet unable to make anything out specifically. The minutes ticked by; the air becoming thick.

No one moved. They all wished she would leave. The prayer fell on deaf ears.

Rick sensed movement. He saw the gleam of those two blue-green eyes that flickered like a roiling sea. Her focus had fallen upon him now, in full. His every muscle froze solid, those that stood near him and near the entrance pushing themselves further in. Someone let out a whimper.

And the feline approached slowly, cautiously.

The shadows hid the details, but Rick could make out the contours of her body. There was confidence in the saunter, in the sway of hips, and yet there was impossible patience in her slowness, in the way her eyes flickered at the bus and back at him, taking every minute detail. Each step was quiet, even sound was afraid to stand in her presence. And the closer she was, the clearer he could see the swirls of emotion within those eyes. What were they? He couldn’t tell.

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Rick’s heart hammered against his rib cage in an attempt to escape as the closer she was. It swiftly became clear she was taller than she seemed at a distance. She was stalking, so she’d been slightly leaning forward, but as she approached, her stance relaxed, her shoulders straightening as her tail flicked at the side of her hips. Whatever caution she’d held slowly vanished. She was domineering in her quiet proclamation there was nothing here that would be able to threaten her.

The woman came to a stop in front of Rick.

Peering down at the teacher, she stood taller than him by a full head. He was tall, a meter eighty five or so, yet she held her chin at the height of his forehead. It was an imposing presence that lingered close to him; her gaze pinning him to the ground as he stood and barely leaving room for him to breathe.

Then she moved to step past Rick, towards the bus entrance.

Someone whimpered inside, and within Rick’s mind, the image of Charlie flashed bright and sharp. The scream, the eyes, the guilt. The teacher’s body moved before he could think to stop himself. The man stepped to the side, arms wide, blocking the bus entrance and preventing her access to the inside of the as he looked upwards at the feline and met her gaze firmly.

“No,” He spoke the single word, somehow having found the strength to draw breath.

“Look down,” a voice hissed from within. “She’ll take it as a challenge!”

Immediately Rick’s head bowed, eyes aimed firmly at her clawed feet, but his body did not twitch from where he held himself. Nor did it dare to move further. Like a statue, he remained locked in place, his heart now drumming fast enough it was a deafening hum between his ears. Icy sweat ran down his back, and it became colder with every passing second.

The presence of the feline woman was a force in and of itself. The very air around her was oppressive. She remained still for only a moment. He could not read her expression, though every part of him desperately wished he could at least see death as it came for him. When she moved, Rick held his breath. She leaned closer. Her breath was hot and rancid with the stench of blood. It washed against Rick’s face like a damp cloth, making him shiver.

With apparent interest, she sniffed at him. The first sound she’d made since her approach. The human’s eyes wavered as he fought with his own body to stop himself from trembling. This close, he could make out in minute detail how the anatomy of her hands made it seem as if she was wearing large furry gauntlets with wicked obsidian claws at the tips. But they were no gauntlets. They were her paws. The bony white fur ran all the way up to her elbows before it turned into tanned skin. Everything about her looked human, all save those claws on her hands and feet. And with some small sense of suppressed amusement, he realized her tail too was amongst the features that were not human.

After a heartbeat of silence as she kept sniffing him, he dared slowly look up into her eyes once more, into those deep pools of glimmering azure. He felt his heart stop, and his mouth fell slightly open. Despite the dried blood covering her lower jaw, despite the unkept wild hair, and despite the imposing threat of her very proximity, Rick could not help himself but gasp.

The backhand that hit him a moment after felt like getting run over by a truck.

One instant he was standing at the bus’ entrance, and the next he was sprawled on the ground four meters away, seeing the world spin. Shrieks exploded from within the vehicle as the feline leaned inside to look at the source of the noise. Her tail lashed once, twice, thrice. She let out a loud snort, stepping back, and turned to Rick as he frantically struggled to stand up, his mind reeling from the impact and attempting to assess the situation again.

She pounced before he could- a leap across the air, a graceful arch that covered the four meters in a single easy bound. Rick had rolled out of the way, but it didn’t matter. With a quick step, she’d caught up, her hand pinning him to the ground and driving the air right out of his chest.

A feral smirk played on her face as she leaned down, meeting his eyes with evident amusement at his feeble attempt to slip away. One clawed hand kept his chest in place, her strength impossible to fight against. The other hand moved to grasp his skull and hold him still.

He could no more escape her grip than he would be able to spontaneously start flying. She was supernaturally strong. There was no other explanation. The woman was so strong, the young teacher was quite sure she could rip his head clean off if she so wished.

Breath ragged and heart racing in an attempt to flee his ribs, he stopped moving, meeting her gaze in full.

She leaned down, breath hot and heavy against his face. She sniffed deeply first, several quick times later. A growl came to her lips as Rick twitched. The human instantly became still again, breathing hard as she leaned closer.

And then she licked his cheek.