It wasn’t long before the sky turned blood red from the setting sun. The blazing heat of the day began to fade into the coolness of the darkened nights. The city continued to hum, a constant motion and flow of the subways and taxis drowning out any silence the moon might have brought. The rooftop perch The Tiger was on was still radiating warmth it had absorbed from the summer’s day. His camera stand was placed just so, with the particularism and attention to detail of an artist that had mastered their craft. The pistol felt heavy on his hip, weighing him down slightly as he looked down to the street below. A limo pulled up outside the large corporate building that sat diagonally across from The Tiger’s perch.

Out of the slim, smooth vehicle emerged a man dressed in a suit and tie. He has an aura of importance around him like a cloud of mist. The man’s round physique gave away his polished lifestyle, which was supported by the many photos pinned on the walls of The Tiger’s apartment. The Target began to move into the building, none the wiser to the observer. He went up to his office, which sat only one floor lower than the rooftop of which The Tiger was waiting. The Tiger moved into position, lining up his shot. This was it. The big moment. It had to be perfect. His target came into focus, sitting down at a desk so long it seemed to go on forever. The man began to fidget, lining up his pens precisely so that the ends matched perfectly. His long, thin tail twitched nervously, and his tiny ears flicked at the slightest sound. After another ten minutes of watching this pig sweat in his luxurious leather office chair, the man of the hour came waltzing in.

He wasn’t much, nothing but skin and bones. The man’s skin hung loosely to his frame, giving him the appearance of a melting wax candle. He was barely covered in what you could call garments, though this was no surprise due to the nature of this “visit”. The fat businessman stood, and handed the poor young boy half his pay. It was then that The Tiger took the shot, capturing it all, the money exchange, the act, the after payment, everything. By the end of it, The Tiger could barely keep himself from racing home. He wanted to get this case over with and be done with it. However, he patiently waited, to see what would happen next. The violated young man left, just as sad looking as when he first walked in that building. The boy turned and began to walk towards the downtown area, a place known for violence and pimps. The businessman left an hour later, walking towards the limo that would take him to his upper-class home in the “clean” part of town to his patient wife and three kids. The Tiger felt numb. He wanted to forget what he had just let happen. You’re only here to do a job… he thought to himself as he packed up his equipment. It was the nail in the coffin for his case, and now he needed to get home to put it all together and get his paycheck. But first, he needed to calm his whirling mind. It was spinning so much it made his head hurt. The Tiger took out a cigarette from his almost empty pack and lit it. As he inhaled the burning smoke, he reminded himself to buy a new pack, though he didn’t know how he had already gone through the pack he had bought the day before. He held on to the rich smoke, letting it dissipate a little before letting out a steady flow of smoke. 

 Instantly, he felt the soothing nature of the smoke fill his mind. An unnatural calm befell him as a light puff of smoke curled and weaved, unnaturally against the wind. The eyes were first, they always were. A constant reminder that the thing was always watching him. Then the ears, a reminder that it could hear even his most inner thoughts. Finally, its mouth formed, the constant whispering in his ear and the murmur in his mind. Well well...look who finally decided to let me out….I’ve been stuck in there all day you know? The smokey creature’s voice was smooth like butter, yet it had a sharp bite to it like a bitter herb. It was the same voice that The Tiger had heard all of his life. It was the one that had pulsed in his head, screaming at his young self to let it out. It wasn’t till a few years back that he found how to release the voice, putting a name to it and a face. 

“Yeah yeah, I get it, Banko, you don’t need to yell at me….” The Tiger stated flatly. His voice held power that gave him a start. He hadn’t spoken a word since last night. 

Did you get the shot? I hope so, it would be a shame if this was all for nothing. You disgust me, not even trying to step in and save that poor boy from that kind of life. How can you even live with yourself…..The creature twisted to look at him, eyes narrowing. A slow smile spread across its face, showing the hundreds of small, sharp teeth that lay in its unnaturally large mouth, the creature twirled in slow, methodical circles around The Tiger. It felt like a lion stalking its prey, and The Tiger was the gazelle. His words bit into The Tiger, like millions of needle-sharp teeth piercing him all at once. His guilt and shame came bubbling to the surface, but with a simple wave of his hand, The Tiger pushed the feelings away. It was his job. He wasn’t hired to stop the evil directly, he was hired to collect evidence and then turn it over to his client. What happened from there was none of his concern.

The Tiger shook his head. In a city this corrupt, with a job like his, there was no room for intrusive thoughts like that. He needed to get back to headquarters. The Tiger swung his pack full of evidence over his shoulder. Banko continued to follow The Tiger as he made his way to the edge of the building. He cautiously descended the fire escape, placing each hoof carefully one after another on the rusty ladder rungs. The ladder creaked and groaned in protest beneath him. Despite his light frame, The TIger couldn’t help but worry that the ladder might give out at any moment. All the while, Banko made wide, sweeping movements up towards the sky before settling back down around The Tiger’s shoulders.

When he was only hovering a few feet off the ground from the ladder, he let go, letting gravity do its job in pulling him down the rest of the way to the cement alley below. He grunted slightly as his hooves hit the pavement, but quickly recovered and headed out marking on his mental map his route back to headquarters. 

The sounds of the city flooded his ears as he weaved through the crowds of creatures. He was headed against the flow of traffic as people were heading to work while he was heading towards his office. The city seemed to breathe and move as one, the sea of people bustling in the streets like the blood of an entity, rushing from one place to another like a swarm of insects. The Tiger smirked. ‘If the people are the blood, city leaders must be the brains of this monstrosity…’ he thought. It was an accurate statement. The city council practically ran the city with an iron fist, ensuring that from the world’s point of view that New Winter was the perfect eutopia despite the rampant corruption and crime that contaminated the city. The Tiger had many theories on why they tried too hard, but none that he could prove. None that you can prove yet my boy, we’ll prove it soon enough, and once we do, this whole city will burn….Bankos haunting voice hissed in The Tigers ear. He shuddered slightly, finding that he agreed with the vile creature.

At this point, The Tiger had made it to the subway. As he descended the stone stairs, he watched the sky grow lighter, a clear indicator that dawn would soon come, and with it the trials of his next day. He glanced at his watch. Upon seeing the time, he picked up the pace. He didn’t want to miss the train, otherwise, he’d have to wait another hour to get this job done and over with. The last thing he wanted was to be stuck waiting at the station listening to Banko’s seething comments, unable to react to them without looking like a mad man, for no one else could see the wispy creature, not even his own parents. 

He never understood why the thing clung to him like smoke, but it did. Even as a child he had always felt its presence in his mind. It was like a screaming headache that never went away, constantly speaking, yelling, screaming to let it out. The presence was relentless. Not for a moment did The Tiger ever feel peace, for his mind was always full of that voice. It wasn’t till he went on his first camping trip that he found relief. He was only eight at the time. It had been five years since the presence had come into his life. At that point, The Tiger had already found some ways to clear his mind, things like taking deep breaths, or just ignoring the voice altogether. But once his parents lit a match, he felt instantaneous relief. That was the first time he saw the creature that had tormented him for so long. He could still hear his screams.