Kane Knight's Story

Kane Knight walked around his store helping costumers as he could, assuring his regulars, that were worried about his limp, that he was fine and that he had just twisted his ankle coming down the stairs this morning as he was headed to work.

Kane Knight was helping one of his regulars, when he noticed the news paper which read "THE SHADE STRIKES AGAIN" in big letters, "I really wish that they would catch that criminal, he needs to be brought to justice don't you agree Mrs. Jonson?" the little old lady looked up at him and just smiled.

When the man got shot with the arrow just outside his shop he jumped before quickly running outside. He then scanned the aria including the rooftops for anything suspicious. When he didn't notice anything he limped back into his store to call the cops.

He hated to do it but Kane had to close the shop early that day after the police arrived. Once they had left Kane walked through his store checking to make sure that all his stock was in order and that no body had stolen anything during the confusion. Finally after what felt like hours he walked out of his shop, turning the lights off then lastly the sign over his shop that read "Kane's Groceries" and walked home.

The Wolf stood in an alleyway holding a small piece of paper, his fingers slowly moving over the words. The Wolf carefully paid attention to every rise from the ink on the page, each indentation from the pen that wrote the names on it. After finding the right one, The Wolf pulled a small pencil out from his pocket, crossing out the prey's name.

The Wolf then stopped, now paying attention to a scent that carried across the air. It was different, The Wolf could tell that much. Just why was it different, The Wolf could not tell. It caught his interest rather quickly, the bow shifting as he moved. The Wolf shot up a wall, leaping from wall to wall to make his way up the brick walls.

Once on the roofs, The Wolf walked over to the edge, taking a whiff. The smells of the street invaded his nose as he pulled the strange scent out from the mess, singling it out in his mind. With it now clear, The Wolf began tracking, following the scent as it moved.

Kane took his time to walk home, it was only mid afternoon and Kane was not used to going home this early. As he walked the streets he watched the kids play and the people go about their business. Kane decided to stop at Central Park and watch the happenings there.

After taking three hours to get home Kane finally reached the apartment building. Kane entered the building and climbed up to the third floor and opened the door to apartment 310. Kane removed his blue jacket and hung it up before walking out to the balcony grabbing the book he was currently reading. Kane looked over what he could see of the city before sitting down and reading.

"This really feels weird being home this early." He said to himself.

After sitting and reading his book for a couple of hours he went back into his apartment and called his mother as he did every day before making dinner, letting her know of that days happenings. This day however he left out the part of the man getting shot in front of his store. "Yes mother I plan on coming over to see you Friday."

The Wolf sat on the roof across from the apartment building, carefully listening and sniffing the air, trying to track the strange scent. It entered on what was the sixth stopping point in the stairs, opened a door, and set something soft with metal bits down on what sounded like a piece of metal. Maybe a hook. It then walked about before exiting the enclosure once more and sitting down.

After several hours without the scent moving, it began moving once again. It went back inside its enclosure, saying something that The Wolf wasn't paying. It then continued to talk. The Wolf felt himself, his furs currently being worn. They were comfortable and soft, but when walking on the street they gave him away.

Stripping himself of his furs, The Wolf pulled out what looked to be a decent suit and jacket, both slightly used. The Wolf then put those on, putting his furs and his weapons into the bag that he usually kept hidden. Placing the bag in a hidden location, The Wolf took a few whiffs of the air to make sure that no one was getting close.

With a swift movement, The Wolf descended the building's fire escape, ending up in a small alleyway connected to the apartment building's parking lot. Stepping out from the alleyway, The Wolf carefully navigated the parking lot. After a few moments, The Wolf reached the stairs. Carefully grabbing the handle, The Wolf ascended six platforms. Counting steps, The Wolf reached the door where it had gone.

*Knock, knock, knock* Echoed down the hall as The Wolf knocked on the door, his eyes a pale yellow while his hair was a dark red, sloppily kept back.

"Just a second!" came the muffled voice of Kane as he was finishing cooking the stake he was preparing for dinner. Kane then opened the door, "Hello?" Kane then looked up at the man "Um who are you?"

Kane started to tap his foot and fidget nervously as he looked at the man. Something about his eyes made Kane uneasy. Kane felt like he knew this person from somewhere either heard of him or seen him before. Kane tensed his fist before adjusting his tie. "I think you have the wrong apartment sir."

The Wolf leaned in closer to the man who had opened the door, his eyes not moving. The Wolf then sniffed, and it was the scent. "No, I am at the right apartment." The Wolf stated as he backed off. The Wolf began looking around, his ears fidgeting slightly as he did so. The Wolf then moved his head back in the direction of the source of the scent, saying "I would like to talk in private."

The Wolf then walked into the man's apartment, turning his head as if he was looking around, his ears twitching as his foot tapped lightly on the floor.

Kane tried to stop the man from entering his apartment. "Sir I repeat, you have the wrong apartment. Now I am going to have to ask you to leave." Kane was viably getting more and more nervous and upset as the man stood there.

"I was just getting ready to eat dinner too." He muttered to himself as he walked over to a cabinet as the man stood there. Kane rummaged through it looking for something very specific something. Kane finally found that thing and pulled it out of the cabinet pointing a pistol at the man standing in his apartment.

"I will ask you one more time to please leave."

The Wolf waited for the door to close, the sound clear to him. The Wolf took a moment to prepare what he was going to say, and in that time the man pulled out something. Something metal. With a click, the ever so familiar click of a hammer being pulled back.

"I am not here to interrupt your dinner, my timing just seems to be a little worse than normal. That parking lot was quite hard to navigate, so empty with so little definition to it." The Wolf said as he tapped his foot another time before looking like he had just found something. With a few confident steps, The Wolf grabbed the nearest chair, sitting down once he pulled it out.

"Do you know you carry a different stink from everyone else. A unique stink. Human, yet not. Why do you have a strange stink?" The Wolf asked as he leaned back in the chair.

Kane tapped his foot even faster and even more nervously now shaking. "I don't know what you are talking about." Kane kept the gun pointed at the man. "Now this is the last time I am going to ask you to leave before I call the police, and I really do not feel like calling them again today."

Kane ran his free hand with his hair as he sighed. "Fine if you aren't going to leave then be quick about what you want to talk about." Kane sat down as far away from the man as he could making sure that he could still easily shoot him if needed.

The Wolf listened closely as the man moved around him, his ears twitching. The Wolf had yet to hear the gun be placed down, but did not let it bother him, he had survived quite a few bullet holes before.

"Something is different about you, but I can't see what it is. Then again, I can't see anything. I can smell it, permeating within your personal stench, pointing you as unique in the crowds. Different among normal men, but how? That is something that has peaked my interest." The Wolf spoke before going back in his mind. The thought of calling the police shot forth into his mind. The Wolf then spoke up again "You have already called the police once today?"

"I told you I don't know what you are talking about." Kane stated starting to get annoyed with the questions. "Yes, I called the police I had to someone was shot in front of my store today. Now if you will excuse me I need to eat before my food gets cold."

Kane stood up and walked into his kitchen and got the stake placing it on a plate before poring himself a glass of iced tea. Kane began to eat his stake. "Now if you don't mind I have things I have to do so please leave." Kane yelled at the man from his kitchen.

The Wolf stood up, his face showing thought as his ears twitched. "Shot. With what?" The Wolf asked as he began to move to the door, every step enlightening him to his world. When he reached the entryway, The Wolf stopped to turn back to the man.

"You know why you are different. We all know why we are different, yet we always struggle to see why we are the same. We get lost in this thought that our differences are smaller than they truly are. Don't fall to this misconception." The Wolf spoke as he felt the wall, moving to lean on it, before saying "You should also be less tense. It's not like you kill people for a living, or something."

"What does it matter what he was shot with? He was shot in front of my store that's all that matters." Kane stayed in the kitchen eating his stake waiting for the man to leave his apartment.

Once the man left and Kane had finished his stake he washed his dishes. He then went back out to his balcony and read some more of his book before going back inside and turning on his radio to listen to his favorite broadcast before finally going to bed.

Kane prepaired for bed in his normal way, he exercised before taking a shower then finally went to bed.

The Wolf walked out of the apartment, closing the door loudly behind him. The Wolf began to walk down the hallway, moving towards the door to the outside only to hear "Hey you, funky eyes! You seen a funny man with a bow runnin round?"

The Wolf then walked up to the two men, who were now standing still, that asked the question. "You just met him." The Wolf stated as he whipped out his hunting knife, stabbing it into the man on the right's adam's apple. Flipping the man in front of The Wolf, The Wolf shot forward as the second man put two rounds into the corpse of his ally before The Wolf's hands grabbed his head, snapping it quickly.

The Wolf pulled his knife out of the first corpse, wiping the blood on the corpse's suit before sheathing the weapon back into its hidden place. The Wolf moved quickly out of the building, nearly sprinting to the building where he stashed his stuff.

The Wolf arrived in the Acerbi Italian Restaurant. "Hello sir. Can I get you a meal, or a seat at the bar?" The hostess asked as The Wolf entered. The Wolf then held up a VIP pass and said "I would like to get a seat downstairs."

With that, the hostess walked over to a door, pulling a key out of her pocket. Shoving the key into the lock, she opened the door with a twist. "Here you go, sir." She stated as The Wolf walked down the stairs that were previously hidden by the door.

"You're late, Mr Wolf." Boss Acerbi stated as he watched The Wolf enter his underground office. "The rat is dead, sir. Won't be feeding either of the three letters anything." The Wolf stated as he grabbed a chair to sit down in.

"I heard all about it. You do know that not many people use arrows these days, right?"

"They are easier to use than my pistol."

"How?"

"I can feel the arrow, I can't feel the bullet."

"I am not even going to ask. But, you have proven yourself to me. Now then, the next man on your little list."

Kane woke up the next morning surprised he didn't hear his alarm going off. When he looked at his clock it read seven o'clock. "Crap," Kane thought to himself, "I overslept I was supposed to be up two hours ago the shop was supposed to open an hour ago!" Kane quickly got up and got ready, he would have to skip breakfast this morning.

Kane finally got to his shop in his gray suit today, there was already a line. "Sorry everybody I overslept this morning I didn't sleep well last night." Kane soon opened his store and walked in noticing an IOU on the counter and sighed. "Damn thugs thinking that they have run of everything." Kane took a quick inventory of his store as people shopped to find that he was missing bread.

Kane looked up at the lady and shook his head. "Not at all, at least not for me." Kane entered the price of each item into the cash register. 'That will be $4.50, would you like anything else?" Kane asked before he noticed the news paper being delivered.

"Well I tripped going down the stairs yesterday and twisted my ankle, then a man was shot in front of the store so I had to close the shop early, then some man came to my apartment just as I was getting ready to eat dinner and started bugging me even though I asked him to leave multiple time." Kane sighed and nodded to the man that came in placing that day's paper on the counter with a head line reading "FOUR MEN DEAD, BELIEVED TO BE THE SHADE" "Thank you sir. Anyways then I kept waking up last night which led to me oversleeping so I was late to opening the shop so I wasn't able to restock, and I found someone broke in and stole bread." A new man walked into the store and looked at Kane "Do you sell any wheat?" The man asked. Kane nodded "Yes it's in the back next to the grapes." With that the man walked to the back of the store, Kane looked back at the lady "That will be 46.50 in change." he stated as he handed her her change.