Boston shined in its usual alacrity. Valeriana brushed the hair out of her eyes and pulled her arms close to her chest, breathing in the polluted air that hinted of the crisp and salty scent of the nearby sea. Bumping shoulders was nearly impossible to avoid as the streets were crowded. This part of the city was always littered with people.

The traffic didn’t look so bad, however. If she was lucky, she would arrive around five minutes or so before the decided time. Valeriana brought out her Note II and dialed Xandra’s number. She stopped at the taxi stand with the phone against her ear, waving her hand out to hail a cab.

Xandra picked up in three rings. “Val!”

“Hey, I’m so sorry,” she said, looking down at her wrist watch to see the long hand at eight. Twenty minutes until ten. “I’m on my way.”

“It’s great! Just get your butt over quickly. I still have a lot of things to tell you.”

Valeriana bit back a laugh. “Alright—”

She was interrupted by a rapid yank on her shoulder. The suddenness of it made her lose balance, causing her to fall on her rear with a gasp and her phone to fly off. Valeriana tried to pull it back but lost in strength. The tug-of-war was eventually won by the other party and she was left behind to eat dust.

“Hey!”

She found her phone on the ground. She lunged for it and dashed after the thief.

“Give that back!” she yelled, tripping a little.

Valeriana wormed her way through the sea of bodies and kept her eyes trained strictly on the man with a gray sweater and red cap. He constantly looked over his shoulder as he ran, her duffel bag in his arms. Seeing Valeriana hot on his tail, he hastened his pace and ran down the less crowded street.

“Thief!” she screamed at the top of her lungs.

No one bothered to help. All she got were curious eyes and a couple of mocking smiles. If not, nothing. She cursed at their feigned indifference. No one would bother to trouble themselves to help out someone they didn’t know. Every man for himself, they said.

“Val? Val! Are you there?” a voice blared from the phone. “Shiznits, Val! What the hell is happening?”

“Xan?” She held up the phone against her ear without looking. She feared she would lose sight of the thief if she looked away for a moment. There were a few valuables in that bag, but that wasn’t all she was after. “I can’t talk right now but I swear I’ll come! I just need to catch this stupid thief and I’ll—”

“Wait, what?!”

“Later.” She tucked her phone into her pocket and threw her knees higher. There was no time to dawdle seeing as she was falling behind. The sudden turn to the corner made her clash shoulders with a man in corporate attire.

“Watch where you're going!” he exclaimed. Papers flew all over the place. Starbucks coffee spilled over his suit and onto the floor. By the looks of it, he just stepped out of the shop.

“You watch where you’re going!” she yelled back at the man who threw his hands in the air in disbelief.

Trying to keep up her pace, she focused on her breathing. It hadn’t lasted longer than two minutes, but the physical exertion had Valeriana slowing down. Her legs began feeling heavy, her knees sore.

Seeing as she was relentless in her pursuit, the man turned sharply into an alley and took out a bunch of marbles from his pocket. He threw it on the floor and flashed a victorious smile from under his cap. Valeriana turned just in time to see him stop for a moment and give her a mocking salute.

“Hey!”

It was only when she stepped on the marbles and fell flat on her face did she realize why he had done so. The fall had her cradling her nose as she hopelessly tried to regain her footing once more.

“Damn it,” she said under her breath, her lips tight.

Valeriana wasn’t contented on giving up too soon. She pulled herself to her feet and tried to run forward. This alley did not cut straight to the next street like any other. The path forward led to two directions; right and left.

She saw the thief turn for the right, a look of short-lived victory on his face. The moment he turned, however, a strange blur leaped forward and caught him in its powerful jaws. Its aim was perfect—the teeth sinking square on his shoulder.

“Holy shiz—”

Her heart lurched to her throat as his screams reached her ears. The sounds bounced off the walls. His voice was layered with hints of guttural growls and snaps.

“Ghost...ghost...help!”

Confusion and panic flooded in like tall waves.

“Help!” he yelled. “Help!”

A new feeling washed in, setting aside the adrenaline of the chase. It felt ominous and strange. Chill bumps trailed Valeriana’s skin and a knot formed in her stomach. His screams were deafening and would probably haunt her at night. She couldn’t live with that.

It was probably a stray, rabid dog. Hopefully a stray, rabid dog.

She saw a rusting pipe at the corner of the building. Wasting no time, she ran and pulled at it. The metal creaked and protested. It was hard to get, but the screws eventually gave in and came off. The urgency pumped adrenaline into her veins. She quickly dove for the left path of the alley and saw a large, black dog gnawing at the arm of the thief. Her duffel bag was thrown to the side.

“Hey! That right there is my prey!”

Running forward, she struck the dog at the head. It gave out a pained whine before turning its large frame to face Valeriana. She backed off and eyed it for a moment as the thief trembled beneath its body. His blood soaked his clothes and his face looked beyond frightened.

The creature gave Valeriana a hostile glare, revealing a set of eyes the color of blood. Its snout resembled those of a pig although it had the head of a wolf. Its legs were short and stout, but it had paws ridden with sharp nails.

It bared its teeth at her and snarled.

“Shucks,” she whispered.

That’s not a dog, she realized. That’s a motherfudging pig cross-bred with a dog. Her knees nearly gave in as her heart trembled at the sight of its unearthly gaze. Blood dripped from its teeth as it advanced—slowly, tauntingly.

It leaped for her.

“Holy mother of—”