I kick up dirt behind me as I stumble through the night, careful not to lose my footing or my breath. My breathing is heavy enough as it is, but I am almost certain that if my lungs suck in air any louder this whole town is bound to awaken. By then, they will surely have caught my scent. If not, they soon would when I inevitably slump on the ground from either exhaustion or simply tripping over my own feet.

I try to shake the vision out of my head--it's not going to help anything if I already envision my soon-to-be corpse face-planted on the ground. Hopefully, the sack I'm holding would've also slipped from the grasp of my unconscious fingers by then, too. Hopefully, she would be able to run off into the night, far away from this place. Perhaps meet a better fate than my own...

I crouch behind a dumpster to catch my breath, opening the sack to let my new little friend get some air, too. She stares up at me with big eyes, seemingly unfazed by the whole ordeal. I had promised to protect her ever since I witnessed what folks around here are willing to do to some poor black cat on the streets. Rumors are going around that ever since she showed up one night, unexplainable incidents have been happening... and their pitting all of it on her like she's some sort of curse. I don't personally believe all of that rubbish, but who am I to--

"Over there!"

Bloody hell...

I sling the sack over my shoulder and dash down another alley. There is only a slightly amused meow from inside, which is a lot less than I had expected for a cat currently being kidnapped in a burlap sack.

... Not that I'm kidnapping her, no no no! I'm simply saving her from--

My face lands on damp concrete.

Muffled voices quickly approach from behind me, but I'm too dazed to move.

Before they can restrain me, something changes.

Everything is engulfed in heat, and then it simply vanishes. For a brief moment, I can see thick flames reflecting off the puddles on the pavement. I blink and it's gone.

Propping myself onto my elbows, I look up to see the cat sitting a few feet ahead of me, staring with those same big eyes. She meows softly. I turn to see "them".

... three scorched, lifeless bodies scattered on the pavement around me.

I can't breathe.

Or think.

Or move.

Or look away.

Or yell for help.

Or--

The cat begins to hack up a hairball or something, abruptly breaking the tense silence. In my shock and unfathomable guilt, I only manage to relocate my gaze to see glowing embers fall from the cat's mouth and sizzle to nothing upon touching the ground.

I think I've just let the cat out of the bag.