“NIGHT CAT”
The city was abuzz with its nighttime choir of sounds, but it was all silence to me.
The sound of my heavy breathing echoed inside my head. I was only listening for one thing, and I couldn’t hear it. I ran out of the apartment complex, desperate to find what I was looking for.
And I did. She was running in my direction, ducking behind cars in the parking lot. Then I saw him. He was just another guy in a suit and he seemed to be by himself, but I knew he was armed. All the others were. He was standing at the opposite side of the parking lot. I doubted he saw me, but I hung back in the shadows anyway. He just stood there for a moment, surveying the lot. It was dark and I doubted he could see much of anything.
My gun felt heavy in my hand. I looked back at the man in the parking lot. He was slowly stalking his way through the lot. He was on alert, but he didn’t see me. I tried to raise my gun up, it was a clear shot. My hand was still shaking. I grabbed hold of my arm with my left hand, unsuccessfully trying to steady my aim. I couldn’t do it. I don’t know what was wrong with me, but I just couldn’t pull the trigger.
I felt sick. The guy in the suit was making his way toward me; I was surprised he hadn’t seen me yet. In a way, I guess I wanted him to. Everything would be so much easier if he’d just shoot me. It would be a fitting end to my night.
But he never got the chance. Helplessly, I stood there and watched as that stupid girl jumped out from behind a car and effortlessly kicked the gun out of his hands. It went off when it hit the ground. In the time it took the gunshot to echo across the parking lot, the man was dropped to the ground, effortlessly it seemed, by a few precise kicks.
I ran toward her, calling out, “Anne!”
She spun around so quick I thought she was going to attack me. Thankfully, she didn’t.
“No Anne here, sir. Just me, Night Cat,” she said in what almost sounded like a parody of a police officer.
“Fuck, I’m sorry, you know what I meant, Jen-Jennifer. Whatever.”
“No. I’m Night Cat. And as long as Night Cat is here, nobody is getting shot. Not anymore.”
Her fists were clenched tightly, ready to knock somebody out. I took a step back; her voice was different, and not as reserved as it had been before. She was emotional, and ready to explode on the first person to argue with her. Unfortunately, so was I.
“What the fuck are you talking about? Are you crazy? Those guys had guns, they were shooting at you! Why the fuck did you run down that hallway. Don’t you have any sense?” I kept screaming at her for a minute or so, I don’t remember exactly what I said, but I’m sure I repeated myself a bunch of times. She finally just cut me off.
“Somebody had to something!” she shouted, “that what being a superhero is all about. I can’t just be doormat for the rest of the world. I won’t be. I won’t let anybody else get hurt. That’s Night Cat’s job!”
“I’m just glad that you’re okay,” I finally blurted out, “Look, this is big, okay. Somebody sent these people after us. I…I have to call the cops.”
“I thought you didn’t trust cops,” she sneered. Her newfound courage was unsettling.
“I was wrong, okay. I was being stupid. We can’t just let this go. It’s…too much.”
“Good,” she said, “These men should be arrested. Breaking and entering, assault, I’m sure there’s plenty of other stuff these guys are guilty of.”
“Right,” I stuttered out, “I’ve got a friend, a detective. I’ll give him a call. He may be able to keep this low profile. It’ll probably be better for both of us.”
“Fine,” she said and sat down on the curb to wait.
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