Ahead, a faint scuffle. Angry squeaks and squeals, the snarl of some kind of predator. My twitching nose told me that someone had cornered a stupid cat.
I strolled forward, and looked up at the dumpster where I'd almost had to sleep the night before. Then I cocked my head to the side and looked around the edge.
A cat, yes. From the patterns, probably the same cat that had followed me before.
I considered that momentarily, remembering the animals that had walked casually into the Center. Wyre Containment Facility. Even as a rat, I shivered.
Red eyes flashed and the cat crouched down. This had to be a real cat--surely a wyre wouldn't actually hunt a rat that way...
The cat pounced, and the smallish rat turned and ran. It scuttled close to the wall, dodging teeth and claws when necessary, and squished itself down into a space that most humans would have considered too small for its bulk.
The cat snarled at the hole, its claws flexing.
Unconcerned now, I sat easily on my haunches and watched the play.
As if the cat sensed me, sensed my attention, it spun. In doing so it put its back to the hole it had been watching and the rat slithered out and ran right to a pile of garbage. It burrowed in and held very still.
Smart rodent.
The cat glared at me, crouched again. Stupid cat. I looked away toward the mouth of the alley, pretending I didn't care about the predator a few feet away.
He squashed himself flatter to the pavement, his hind-end twitching. I watched him, spread my own claws and bared my teeth--still not looking at him. If he was human he'd see that as the insult it was. If he wasn't, he'd maybe get a brain and run.
I saw the anger. His ears laid back.
Human. Wyre.
Part 14
If you want to start at the beginning: Wyre-Rat episode 1
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