It's dark, outside and in. Cold neon, colder moonlight. She locks the doors behind her. Shivers. Spring is days late and the rain has only paused, not stopped altogether.

Her friend introduced her to a man. A doctor. They had some drinks, a light dinner. Laughs, some chit-chat. He was friendly and handsome, not like the creeps around here. Not that they were all creeps. Most were just out for fun. Or looking for something to cut the loneliness of city life. Lost in a foreign land. Passing time between flights.

The club is a good place to work. She makes her rent every month. It's not an all-nude joint (those places tend to attract most of the crazies) and as a result there are less problems, less shakedowns from the cops, less trouble with the local establishment. Pasties and G-strings, some class acts...and women who can actually dance, not just shake silicone in some drunk guy's face. Once (and one time only), the manager asked her if she wanted to try it out. Kat said no thanks, waitressing was fine. The manager wasn't a sleaze bag like the strip clubs down near the wharf, over by the airport.

The manager said, "What do you want out of life, Kat?" and Kat didn't have an answer ready. So she just shrugged, balanced a tray of beer glasses on her shoulder and said, "I want what everyone else wants." He laughed and said, "Ain't that the truth."

The doctor was a bit shy, which was a nice touch. She liked quiet types. Seemed a bit embarrassed when he told her he was a vet. "Veteran?" she asked, knowing full well he meant "animal doctor" vet and not the other kind. He sensed it too and they laughed, tension broken.

"Your friend said you were an animal lover." he said, to which she answered, without irony, "More of a cat person, really." And she smiled. And the room seemed to get very still and silent. And then he reached out for her hand. And that was that.

She was headed home to his apartment when the screech of the taxi's brakes shocked her out of her reverie. She heard it before she saw it, felt it before the sound reached her ears. Her body tensed, her muscles grew tight, compact. She felt the numb ache in her jaw as the fangs sprouted. The curious whisper of fine hair sprouting...well, everywhere. She landed on the hood of the taxi and hissed at the driver (who was equally startled, having almost hit a woman who then leapt straight at his cab and seemed to blur around the edges and regain her footing as a tiny feline). He chattered something but Kat was too aggravated and unnerved to understand it. She sprayed a spiteful stream of urine onto the cab's dusty finish and ran off into an alley.

Her apartment wasn't too far away and she always left the transom propped open for times like this. She'd pick up her clothes later or just buy some new ones. The handsome doctor would have to wait.