At Night

Leather slowed her 2000 Audi A4 at an empty park then got out. She gazed at the sky’s changing colors from lively blue to a warm fiery color. Scott got out of the car, looking at the sky as well as he took a lick of his Rocky Road ice cream. Leather smiled and wrapped her arm around his shoulders,

“Is it good?” She asked, looking down at his hair, so desperately wanting to run her fingers through it.

He glanced up at her, “Yeah, thanks so much.”

“Anytime,” She mumbled, giving him a light squeeze then letting him go. 

They enjoyed the sunset together as they slowly ate their ice cream. Leather let out a content sigh as she finished off her ice cream cone then tossed it in a bin nearby. As she was walking back to Scott, she felt a buzz in her back pocket. She immediately stopped and took her phone out.

Meet me at our usual location, now. The text read.

Leather frowned as she sent a simple reply back, saying she’ll be there shortly. She sighed as she tucked her phone back into her pocket, taking a glance at Scott who was leaning against the hood of the car and still looking at the sky and other surroundings. A smile came back to her face as she walked back over to him.

“Hey, I gotta go back to work, it’s urgent. I’m sorry,” Leather announced, giving him a slightly saddened look.

“Aw, it’s alright, stuff happens,” Scott replied, clueless to her lie.

Leather began to drive Scott home, but instead of taking the usual route home she had to take a few shortcuts. Scott questioned it the second time she went through an unfamiliar road, but she quickly dismissed it by saying that some of the roads were blocked off. Scott raised an eyebrow at her response, but didn’t question it any further.

The car ride back to Scott’s place was awkwardly silent, but Leather was too much in her head to really notice the tension she had created. She was focused on getting Scott home safe and getting her ‘job’ done tonight. 

Once Leather dropped him off, she walked him to the front door and gave him a quick, firm hug.

“I’ll see you later,” Leather muttered, holding eye contact as she brushed his arm then quickly walked away.

***

Leather ended up bringing Pepsi along, so she could get some ‘training’. *** , the man who texted her, wasn’t too pleased with her bringing an extra along. He thought she’d only get in the way, but once Leather explained herself, he hesitantly agreed to keep her. 

*** stood over Pepsi with his arms crossed as he asked, "Do you know how to shoot off a gun?” 

“Um… Kinda?” Pepsi mumbled, her face heating up as she shifted her gaze away.

“What do ya mean kinda? Ya either do or ya don’t,” He scoffed, he then turned to Leather and said, “Where’d ya find this girl, eh? What use is she if she can’t even operate a weapon?”

“Shut the fuck up,” Leather grumbled to the man. 

She walked over to Pepsi and pulled out a Glock 19. Pepsi’s eyes grew at the sight of a gun just a couple of feet away from her face. 

“Here, just show me how you hold one,” Leather said, handing the gun to her.

Pepsi took it with one hand, aiming it at the brick wall in front of her, with her finger on the trigger. 

“First of all, don’t do that,” Leather said, “Don’t put your finger on the trigger, just rest it on the side.”

Pepsi did as told then looked back at Leather for further instruction. *** rolled his eyes and groaned, growing impatient as he watched Leather teach the young girl basic gun work. 

“So, if you were to shoot a gun, how would you do it?” Leather asked, watching Pepsi closely.

Pepsi began to demonstrate as she tilted the gun sideways, turned her body, and stood with her legs apart.

“Okay, this isn’t the fuckin’ police academy!” *** shouted then walked over to Pepsi and pointed a finger at her, “Listen, little girl, if you don’t know how to fuckin’ shoot, you better stay out of the damn way! Got it?”

Pepsi just stared at him with wide eyes, with the rest of her body frozen as she lowered the gun at her side. 

Leather quickly walked over to the man and without hesitation she back handed him across the face. He yelped and held his cheek, giving Leather a look of shock and anger.

“You, shut the fuck up,” Leather demanded, pointing at ***. “And, Pepsi, listen I’ll teach you what to do later, just wear gloves for now, alright?” 

Pepsi nodded in response then handed Leather the gun back. 

***

The three of them were parked a few houses down where the light didn’t shine as they stared down their targets that resided in a two-story house. Leather could see where a young man walked back and forth in the top right window. She smirked, shaking her head lightly, He has no idea that I’m watching him right now. 

Leather turned to face Pepsi who was in the backseat. She began to explain what Pepsi needed to do which was to cause a distraction. She gave her a few ideas on what to do, but basically left it up to Pepsi to figure it out. Once that was all figured out, Pepsi got out and started towards the house across the street. She tried to stay in the dark as much as possible since there were street lights posted up along the sidewalk. She reached the backyard and ducked down by a bush that was in the corner of the wooden fence.

The sliding glass door had a curtain over it, but shadows could be seen. The window to the left also was blocked by a curtain. She sighed, What am I supposed to do? She patted the ground and eventually found a decent sized rock. She gripped it tightly in her hand and took a deep breath, You can do this, just throw it. Then she stood up, aimed, and tossed the rock like she was on a baseball field. 

Crack!

Pepsi winced at the sound, but when she looked closely, the window didn’t brake, it just formed a huge crack in the center. Someone walked over to the window and Pepsi disappeared into the woods that were behind the fence.

Leather’s ears caught the sound, assuming Pepsi made it, she quickly made her way to the back. The woman’s face was filled with fear when a white ghost looking mask was staring back at her from outside. Leather finished where Pepsi left off and shattered the glass with her fist then shoved herself into the once peaceful home. The woman screamed as she turned to run away, but a large hand tangled in her hair and yanked her back into the larger feline’s chest. That hand left her head to cover her mouth and she slit her throat then dropped her, leaving her to gag and writhe in her own blood.

There was thumping and yelling going on upstairs. ***  was fighting the young man who was just trying to fold his laundry before he came in. The young man managed to get a few hits in on the masked canine, but that didn’t keep him down, if anything it made him angrier. He grabbed the younger by his hair and slammed his face into the corner of the dresser, causing him to tear up and lose his balance. The maske canine threw him onto the bed, grabbed a shirt, and began to smother him with it. The young man writhed under him and clawed at his wrists, but it was no use. The masked canine knew to be fully clothed. It was like dealing with a bull with how this man underneath him was not giving up. He kicked, he squirmed, he clawed, but the masked canine was also not giving up. He couldn’t. Especially not to someone smaller and younger than him.

Soon, the young man stopped moving and his hands fell to his sides. The masked canine slowly let up, taking the piece of clothing off of his face. His eyes were drained of life and the color drained from his face. *** had no reaction to what he just did, just satisfied that he finally stopped breathing and now they could finally get what they were after.

Leather and ***  met upstairs, taking off their masks to finally get a chance to breathe. Wait, where the fuck is Pepsi? Leather rushed downstairs and to the backyard to search for the young girl. She whistled a bird-like sound and waited… 

Silence…

Not a crack of a stick, a crunch of a leaf… Nothing.

“DAMMIT!” Leather roared, punching the fence in front of her.