Nekro: A Killer’s Tail
Volume One – Animalia

Prologue
Our great world, The Earth, exists in countless other universes alongside our own. While these planets share the same essential structure, each in its own way differs from Earth as we know it. Many are not even home to any human race. Such is the case with the “Aniverse Earth”. Here, the dominant race is the Animorphia – similar in aesthetics to the various species of creatures from our Earth, but with posture, thoughts, actions and speech akin to that of humankind.

It is amongst this race that we examine a life most peculiar; the life of a young vulpine raised in good society, who chooses for various reasons to pursue the darkest of arts... Murder. In London, England we find our killer: Rozorro Nekro.

Chapter I – Clear as Night
Mundane was the only word that could possibly describe Rozorro’s view of the world. From the earliest age he could remember, nothing could hold the fox’s attention for a few days or, at best, a couple of months. Every hobby was a passing phase, every occupation short-lived. Rozorro had no friends, only brief acquaintances whose inane chatter merely served to fuel the fires of boredom that raged inside his head. All the money in the world couldn’t be invested in entertaining him – and coming from one of London’s wealthier families, the well-established Nekros, it wasn’t for lack of trying. Rozorro Nekro suffered from the greatest of diseases – tedium.

In death, however, he found a new life.

He had taken to roaming the streets at night. His family – that is, his mother and father (Garnevia and Reynard) and his elder brother Kaisune – had no idea of his wandering and he never showed any signs of fatigue during the day. He never went out looking for trouble anyway; he simply wanted to find something, anything, to occupy him. The views of London illuminated by the night were all the inspiration he needed to find his calling within the shadows. And on the night of January 17th, after almost 15 years of waiting, the call was finally ready for Rozorro to answer.

It was the borough he lived in, the London Borough of Hornsgate, in which he discovered himself. Treading down Hornsey Street in the dead of night he suddenly caught a scent in the wind. Two scents in fact. One, a feline… possibly tigrine… positively dripping with adrenaline and with it, the strongest of pheromones, which told Rozorro that the feline was female. The other scent… harder to pinpoint… fear, definitely fear… species… uncommon… something Rozorro hadn’t encountered before. His hearing told him more. Two sets of running footsteps… one on ground… one on rooftop… rooftop steps faster… rooftop steps belong to feline… very light footwear. Ground steps heavy… large shoes… getting closer…
Getting closer! Rozorro crouched and hid himself in the shadows as he awaited the chase. He didn’t have to wait long. In the distance, with naturally gifted night-vision, he saw a porcine man in business attire heading in his direction. In the rooftops above, nearly directly above her prey was the skimpily-dressed cat in pursuit. In each hand Rozorro could just about spot a knife and with the realisation of what he was about to witness, the fox’s heart was beating at record speed!
Still at full speed, the feline sent her left knife flying towards the pig and pierced his left calf. With a demonic cry of pain the porcine collapsed, the briefcase he previously held flew across the street. The fear scent Rozorro found before was practically intoxicating now! The feline made her way to street level and walked with effortless grace to her victim. Without saying a word she took back the knife embedded in the pig’s leg and brought it to his throat. Rozorro had the ideal viewing angle as the feline made a swift, clean cut right across the porcine’s neck. A macabre fountain of crimson erupted from the wound and that smell of fear was already going stale.
Without any reaction the girl pulled her mobile phone out and dialled.
“Cleanin’ up time, boys. Hornsey Street. Throat slit.” Her voice was playful, almost aroused, but there was no conversation, the call was strictly business. The nature of the business was precisely what Rozorro next intended to discover. The feline checked her surroundings, unable to sense him in any way, and proceeded to climb back to the rooftops.
Giving her a minute’s head start, Rozorro made his own way up with keen agility. As he lifted his nose to the air to catch the cat’s scent, the vulpine caught himself smiling properly for the first time in years!