Morning in the city, as the atmosphere showed signs that rain may fall. The city moved as if nothing had happened.
Cars rolled through the streets, vendors shouted to attract customers, and the smell of roasted coffee drifted from small cafes along the sidewalks. Office workers hurried past one another with phones pressed to their ears, unaware of the tension lingering just a few blocks away.
But near the Hub, the atmosphere was different. Yellow police tape stretched across the entrance of a narrow street. A crowd had gathered behind the barricade, whispering and pointing as the officers moved carefully through the area.
The ground was a mess.
Dark stains of blood covered the pavement, forming irregular patterns that had not yet been washed away. Broken glass glittered under the morning sun, scattered across the street like tiny shards of ice. One of the bar windows had been completely shattered, its frame hanging loosely from the wall.
The shop door next to the bar was half open.
Inside, shelves had been knocked over, and several deep claw-like marks were carved into the wall.
"Looks like a fight." One officer muttered as he examined the damage.
"A big one," another replied.
A forensic team carefully photographed the scene while placing small numbered markers near the blood stains and shattered glass. From the outside, it looked like an ordinary crime investigation.
But it was not ordinary.
Not at all.
While all this was happening, the watcher, who was spying from a few rooftops a distance away from the Hub, a large black panther, was crouched silently behind the air vent.
Its golden eyes never left the building.
The animal's muscles were perfectly still, its tail slowly swaying as it observed the entrance below, and its eyes carefully scanning.
People walked in and out of the Hub as usual—students, workers, and tourists.
None of them noticed the predator watching from above. But the panther wasn't interested in them.
It was waiting for Selina.
Soon, the creature lifted its head slightly, sniffing the air. The scent of blood from the crime scene still lingered faintly in the wind.
Its ears twitched.
She hasn't come yet.
The panther shifted its weight as its claws scraped softly against the concrete roof.
For hours it had been watching every person who entered the hub.
Every door that opened. Every movement in the street. But the one person it wanted to see had not appeared.
Yet, the panther's eyes narrowed. Waiting patiently.
Back at the crime scene.
An officer crouched near the wall, pointing at the deep marks carved into the brick.
"These aren't made with knives," he said quietly.
Another officer frowned.
"Then what made them?" The first officer didn't answer immediately.
He simply stared at the claw marks.
They were told they were too deep, too wide, and too unnatural.
Finally, he shook his head.
"I don't know,' he admitted.
Behind the police tape, people continued whispering among themselves.
Some said it was a robbery.
Others believed it was a gang fight.
But none of them knew the truth. And somewhere above the city, a pair of golden eyes left, knowing that Selin isn't around the hub but will continue its search for Selin.