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It shouted: "Get away, you da

Another sound, fro louder I sniffed, but I couldn’t sry Sh, that sound It bothered lanced toward the sound Yes, danger It wasn’t safe here I had to run

I leaped over the human that should’ve been my meat It was on its back As I ju, like a wasp But danger was co I ran, hard As hard as I could Away froer sound

I ran down the street, around a corner Behind a building Hard ground under h But there were no trees

Sos felt heavy My head felt heavy, too Slow I felt slow Still no trees I crawled between a big metal box and a wall, exhausted Dark, narrow space Like a den It felt safe

Good sry But tired, too tired to explore I sank to the ground

My back leg ached, throbbed I turned to lick the spot Soainst the black fur Gently, I took the thing inaway fro, but my head felt heavy, so heavy Too heavy to hold up I lowered round Closed my eyes Good smells close by Food smells Then darkness

18

TWO BEADY, CLOSE-SET EYES PEERED AT ME THROUGH THE gloo ainst my cheek Whiskers--oh, God, it was a rat

I screa my arms at the rodent It skittered away

It was dark, and I was cold My shoulder hurt; I’d scraped it against so when I sat up Where the hell was I? In a narrow space between--I felt behind me--a brick wall and a Du stench of ripe garbage was unmistakable And I was completely naked--as in completely, bare-ass, buck naked Okay, I’d shifted Thatback inI could re so to hypnotize South Boston, the wrong address, the black van Thugs in skied They became impressions, flashes, actions without words to shape thehts I reer, food I re into flesh I reer and fear I’d felt during the attack had shiftedplace The streets were deserted--not that they’d been busy during the day Thein the western sky I had no way of knowing exactly how long I’d been out, except that it was night and I was back in human form Shifts could last anywhere between two and twelve hours, so it was i I’d been a panther But whatever that thug had jabbedits effectsnaked behind this Duingerly My fingertips touched gravel, cardboard, broken glass, but not what I was looking for I could see a little in the diht, but it would’ve been nice if I still had a panther’s superior night vision Leaning forward, I extendedfor: the hypoder out froain Not a soul in sight I held the needle up toward a streetlight so I could see it better Light glinted off a clear liquid that aluy who’d stuck it in otten more than a few drops in me Whatever it was, the stuff had hit me so hard that I never would’ve made it to the end of the block if I’d taken the full dose

I remembered the needle; I’d seen it before I shifted But the meed like patterns in a kaleidoscope I’d been hungry, I knew, and on the hunt I held ht There was blood under ers A ht, suddenly I reer sound that sentSo what had happened when the cops arrived? I had a strong feeling, like a memory in my bones, that I’d mauled one of le" style="display:block" data-ad-client="ca-pub-7451196230453695" data-ad-slot="9930101810" data-ad-format="auto" data-full-width-responsive="true"></ins>