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On some nights, Marlo would work late. Tonight was one of those night. On some nights, he didn't care he'd worked late and was craving something with caffeine. Tonight was also one of those nights. Sadly, tonight was also a night where if possible, everything that could go wrong would go wrong, rendering your night as can be described in one very short and to the point phrase.
"s**t." It was all Marlo said as the engine of his motorcycle refused to start. If it was the battery or god knew what else, it didn't matter. His bike was out, Elzo was probably dead asleep at the hospital still waiting for his girlfriend to wake up and thus not a possible ride. He didn't trust someone like Jada to be awake at this hour. And some of his other acquaintances he hardly thought of them as the types to be awake or, be able to drive him at all without killing them ending up in a twisted heap of burning metal.

Rubbing his temple, Marlo thought of his plan. The hotel would be an easy enough place to sleep. He technically had 24 hour access to the office and could just couch crash. After all, while Elzo may have been owner of the whole company, it was legally Marlo's hotel. His responsibility. His job. His office with the expensive couch nobody really used except him and looked pretty. Sleeping space solution. He had one. Food wise however- He craved. Coffee. Caffeine. Like a drug addict the idea made him want it more then he really did. Two blocks down was the small 24 hour pot shot generic drive thru. He'd walk, get his fix, come back, couch crash and figure out what the hell was wrong with his bike in the morning.

Fast forward in time. To where Marlo had a coffee in his hand that tasted like grit and water, and a creature that looked like something out of a low budget horror film for a Sci Fi original in the 80s. Shaggy fur, bald spots, walking on four legs with two tiny t-rex arms. A muzzle exposing long canines and even sharper fangs. Now, Marlo wasn't stupid. He knew that people made s**t up all the time. He didn't listen to half the stories of monsters. But when a thing comes out of the shadows, and starts watching you like a predatory animal watches it's prey, Marlo had a distict feeling rumors could be based on fact. And that fact was currently looking at him like it was going to eat him.

Option 1 was ignore it. Retarded, moving on. Option two was kick it's a**. No, that was asking for it. Option three was throw the cup of burnt coffee at it and run the ******** away.
Sounded like a plan to him.

Coffee thrown, the monster was howling as the hot foul tasting liquid landed in it's face, and Marlo did what his brother would call 'running like an angry ex-girl friend was chasing him with a metal bat.'

Marlo couldn't ever say he was fond of cats. But he couldn't say he hated them. No, cats were just cats and really, he found them more or less the self sustained jerks of the pet world. They could live perfectly well on their own, but it was just easier to get a free meal by being a pet. They knew it. They just tolerated humans. Not the other way around.
So that was Marlo's thoughts on cats.

Right now however, Marlos thoughts ran to '******** what is behind me' and 'goddamn cat go hide'. He missed the whispering, (he was not the kitty whisperer), but -"God, first a monster now a cat is bitching at me. Perfect." Cutting a corner, he could only think of the hotel being safe. But it wasn't. The windows, the open space. No. Next best thing was the parking complex.

Still another block down.
"I don't suppose this get to turn out to be a dream? Would be nice if it was."

Marlo's thoughts consisted of a string of vulgarities, starting with the letter 'f' and ending with a 'k'. The monster showed no signs of slowing down, and Marlo was already trying to think of how to get it off his trail. In the city he knew how to escape from a street fight, from those wanting to fight his brother but only finding him. Monsters he'd never known. Much less ones with the intent to rip his face off and eat it for a midnight snack.

The cat hissing at him was like icing on his s**t cake. "Goddamn cat go ******** hide." But the cat kept running alongside him. What, was it doing, going to follow him in hopes he'd save it? He wasn't super concerned with saving stay felines.
Unless, they talked.
Eyes shot down to the cat, wondering if he was dreaming again. "********. Me." When the cat darted off marlo was left with the choice. Follow or run. He was ******** either way, might as well try a talking cat. Seemed less deadly than a monster. As they dove into the parking garage, the youma ran itself into a car heading out, the black body going unnoticed until it was too late. It howled in pain but kept after them. It wouldn't let the prey escape. Not after it threw coffee at it.

"Jesus Christ." So polite under stress. "Did you..talk?" He was looking for something, anything to use as a weapon.

He glared at the cat. "I admit chatting to small furred animals is much better when they can keep up with the conversation at hand." Goddamn, this was turning into the night from hell. And it wasn't even past 4 am. Following the cat, the youma's screeching echoed and it attacked random cars in it's search. It wouldn't be long now.

Marlo sighed. One, talking cat, one monster. What could one question do? "If I say no I don't supposed then that the monster will vanish and turns out I'm in another coma right?" That seemed to easy. "But if not, and I am alive and well and not hallucinating or dreaming then yes. Yes, I would very much like to live."