#4

She landed on Tabitha's balcony. Tabitha lived in a well to do neighborhood, and had an expensive apartment just a story down from the penthouse in a medium sized high rise. It overlooked the park area and most of downtown. It was a breathtaking view that she and Tabitha had admired many nights while sitting out here and enjoying a few drinks.

She felt wistfully nostalgic for those old times. Tabitha had become busy with her life, and they hadn't had a lot of time for each other in recent years. While Tabitha had remained single in pursuit of her career, she still had the needs of most women and would form a relationship with a man now and then. They were mostly brief affairs, and Ky had always felt sorry for Tab. It seemed she could never decide what she really wanted from life, so she just spent her time working harder than most, and staying late at the office.

Ky shook her head, ridding these wasteful and useless thoughts; thinking about the past would do her no good and she knew that.

Tab kept a hidden key in a magnetic box inside the gutter that hungover the balcony. Ky hovered for a moment and grabbed it, and used the key to open the door.

The apartment wasn't entirely dark. There were a few lamps sitting on tables and wall lights that were left on. Tab had a fear of coming home to it being completely dark and she was willing to pay the extra money for peace of mind.

Ky wandered slowly around, looking at various things. She hadn't been over in a few months and things had changed a little. Tab had put a television set in the living room. She'd used to adamantly claim that television made people ignorant and stupid, and she had refused to have one. There was a new couch, made of black leather. Ky found this really surprising. Tab had abhorred leather furniture, she said it was guady and unnecessary.

A set of keys was sitting on the kitchen counter, ominous in its implications. Dirty dishes sat in the kitchen sink, and gave off a slight smell. They were old dirty dishes. The counters had some food messes spilled on them, splashes of sauce and crumbs of bread and cereal. As she walked into the hallway, she noticed pieces of clothing- a shirt, socks, a pair of underwear. Men's underwear, boxer briefs. Certainly not something Tab would wear. Tab believed women were supposed to wear lacy panties and bras, preferably in matching set. Ky almost chuckled aloud at the thought, remembering the day Tab had told her that with all the regalness of a queen explaining how things were done to an heiress.

She heard a sound, coming from the bedroom ahead and to her right. She chastized herself. She should've been paying better attention and she woud've heard it immediately upon entering the apartment.

She crept up silently as she always did when stalking prey. She had not made a noise since unlocking and opening the door, and that had been an understated muffle.

The door was open, not all the way, but enough for her to peer through. Someone was lying on the bed, but she could tell that it was not Tabitha. All of the lights were off and it was nearly pitch black in there. Tab always kept at least one dimmed light on when she slept. And the figure was tall, much taller than her petite friend, and broad chested.

It rolled over and she could tell it was a man, sleeping quite peacefully. He had a quiet look about him, and seemed nonthreatening. Ky knew better than to trust appearances however, and she backed away as quietly as she came. She quickly peeked into the other rooms and did not see anything else out of the ordinary.

But Tab was not here.

She felt frustrated and upset. She debated whether or not to go back in there, wake the man who was sleeping in Tab's bed, and threaten to rip his jaw off if he didn't tell her what happened to Tab and what the hell he was doing here in the first place.

She walked back to the balcony, fuming in her mind, and noticed something she hadn't before.

A silver frame sat on a side table next to the door; she had walked right past it when she came in. There was nothing else on the table, just the frame.

It was a picture of Tab and the man in her bed, standing in front of the Ferris Wheel at the pier amusement park, and they were both smiling. He had his arm wrapped around her and her arm was wrapped around him. Perhaps, she mused to herself, Tab had finally found herself a man worth keeping. Although, she thought, it was weird of Tab to continue dating and to let a man move in with her, who didn't wash dishes or pick up after himself. Tabitha was obsessive compulsive about how clean her apartment had to be. She remembered the time she'd spilled some wine on the floor and Tabitha had had a fit of epic proportions.

Again, her mind had lapsed and drifted off into better memories, and she missed the sound of footsteps behind her. They were soft and subtle, and the average human would have never heard them. If she had been paying attention to her surroundings, she would have, but she felt comfortable here and had let down her guard, despite the circumstances.

"Who are you?" a deep voice asked from behind her.

Ky looked up in shock, almost afraid to turn around. She knew who it had to be, but she couldn't believe she'd fallen off guard two times in the same evening. In the same hour, even! Much less that this human had managed to get the drop on her.

She was grateful she'd put her jacket back on when she'd entered rather than drop it over the balcony edge as she would normally have done.

She turned around to confront him.

copyright 2007 Shanna Wynne, all rights reserved.