A ruby red eye shone in the darkness. It blinked one time as if startled and disappeared. My muscles burned as I crouched among the bushes, not risking a single breath. My heart danced in my chest, thumping so loudly I was afraid it would break. Slowly, steadily, a black paw slid out from underneath the foliage, and the red eye shone once again. Tensing my muscles, I heard the sound of muted footsteps, slow and heavy. I dared not move. I knew this was it. This was my chance to show my enemies, my friends, and my family my true capabilities. I crept forward and readied my weapon.

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The sound of the alarm horn jolted me into consciousness. “Mel, MEL! Hello? Earth to Mel!” The face of a short, smiling girl appeared in front of me. “AH!” I jumped. “You scared me Mia! Why’d you have to do that?!” Mia shot me a scornful glance. “Daydreaming on duty again, Mel? How many times do I have to remind you of how dangerous that is?” Mia shook her head, her high red ponytail bouncing from side to side. I looked at the fence around me and sighed. Two more hours until I get to go home, I thought. Yippee! I fingered the rifle hanging on my waist, scanning the pinkish red horizon.
Mia lowered her voice. “So how did… you know… it… go?” Her eyes widened.
“Not well.” Mia’s shoulders sagged. “I’m sorry,” I responded. “It was such a hard catch this time. The Kleox are getting sneakier and stealthier. I don’t know if I can catch another one.”
Mia frowned. “You know, you just need to focus, keep your head straight. Fast reflexes, make sure you have your weapon at the ready. Be sure you have a silent walk though, those Kleox have supernatural hearing.”
“Easy enough for you to say. You’ve caught twenty already…”
Mia waved her hand, rolling her eyes. “It’s nothing. Did you see Devon? He’s captured like a hundred in the past week!” Mia flushed, kicking at the weed-filled soil. “I don’t know how he does it.”
“Yo! Mia! We need ya here for a sec!” a tall, lanky figured appeared at the edge of the fence, beckoning with one hand.
“Well, duty calls.” Mia sighed and jogged away.
My head throbbed. It had been a long day at work, and as usual, there were no mysterious sightings. There had been the occasional departing and entering of the People, but nothing to be excited about. I used to love this job, a decade ago when the Kleox and their distant relatives were constantly on the move. But now, it just seemed as if one day blended into another, consisting of the same activities over and over again: the People coming to check on our labor, Workers buzzing throughout the city, and Guarders constantly at the fence. I loved Crown City, I really did, but compared to all the other legions, we just seemed so… stark. Bland. Boring. I did not know what to do.
The alarm horn blared once again. I glanced at the checking screen fastened to my belt and found a message flashing: “END, END, WORK HAS ENDED, YOU ARE NOW FREE TO ENTER THE CITY.” Sighing with relief, I ran around to the fence’s opening, and stood in line behind a young guarder with wavy brown hair. As I reached the opening in the fence, I scanned my eye in a small circular opening and presented my ID to the head guard. He waved his hand signaling I was clear to go.
I walked underground, my footsteps echoing against the sleek, slippery marble steps. Emerging into a blank room, empty except for a single metal track that ran down the middle, I sat down to wait on a black bench, inserting a coin into a slot in the wall and pressing the big red button. I looked down at the checking screen. “YOU’RE RIDE SHALL ARRIVE IN 5…4…3…2…” the screen read. Then, the whistle screamed. A thin black car ran into the station, sliding swiftly, silently onto the metal tracks. I hopped into one of the nearly empty cars and leaned my head against the wall. The car started up again, speeding away into the night.
Boom, boom, boom. My head pounded and my eyelids drooped. The gentle rocking of the car soothed me, and my head flopped from side to side.
“Tired?” a loud voice asked.
I jumped in my seat.
I looked around and saw a small child bouncing up and down on the seat next to me. “Hi! I’m Vianna. My friends call me Vi…well when I do find friends, they’ll call me Vi. So are you tired?”
I glanced down at the young girl, her eyes wide and bright with wonder. I forced a smile. “I just came back from Guarding duty, it’s a tiring job.”
Vi’s eyes widened even more. “You’re a Guarder? That’s the top ranking! It must be so fun!”
I stared hard at the floor. “Yeah… it is, I guess.”
The shrill whistle of the car pierced through the air.
“Well, it’s time for me to go, Vi. See you around sometime.” I waved back to the little girl, still bouncing in her seat, waving wildly and shouting, “Bye! Bye! Bye!”