Shifters of Night and Day

Jakob's POV:

In the weeks following the discovery of his parentage Jakob had become relentless in his journey to Violet City. The hunger for revenge had planted itself into his soul. In his mind he was determined to destroy Jasin at all costs.

He has never met the man but Jasin was the cause behind his 21 years of suffering, but the letters gave Jakob an idea of where he could go. Voight will never suspect in a million years that Violet City is where Jake would end up. The idea of going there was increasingly seductive.

Figuring it all out in his head he decided to go there and lay low, learn how the city works and who Jasin spends his time with. Eventually he will try to get close to the man himself. Once trust is built he will then make his move to end the man's life. Ruin it not enough. Jakob was out for blood.

With each day that went by he would dwell on Jasin's wrong doings. He would think about all of the abuse he suffered through and all of the blame for all of that abuse he now shifted onto Jasin's shoulders.

Throughout his travels he had gained some weight since he could buy his own food. The constant hiking and movement built his stamina up. Carrying everything he owned on his back made his muscles bulk up until the loose shirts he had were now snug over his arms and chest. He was happy with his new physique. Being healthy will only help him in the long run.

His dark brown hair had grown some and now had to be swept to the side to keep it out of his eyes. His clothes were now of a higher value and were sturdier. He had spent quite a lot of money on leather hiking boots too. He had them custom made by a cobbler he had found in a small village outside of the old city of Memphis.

He had made a lot of progress after stealing a couple cars and driving until they were out of gas. Despite having money he was too worried to buy a car of his own for fear that Voight would somehow learn about the transaction. He did not know where they were but he knew his grandfather's men were after him.

That or Jakob was just suffering from paranoia. He thought the it was better to be cautious even if it is just all in his head.

Since The Event parts of the U.S still functioned under the old government. Other communities separated and lived off grid, and several states succeeded in becoming their own nation. Maine and most of Eastern U.S. was still a part of the now broken United States. Oddly enough these independent nations, small communities, and the government all still used American dollars. Human greed is too powerful to let go of money.

Having gone so far southwest Jakob found himself in a metropolitan ghost town. Walking through the empty streets of Memphis felt daunting. It's like these old buildings had eyes that followed his every step.

Jakob ran his hand over his short beard and around to the back of his neck. He felt uncomfortable.

Despite really wanting to get the hell out of the ghost town he kept moving on. Exhaustion eventually began to creep up on him. He began to scan the area for a spot to sleep when he saw a big sign saying "Zoo."

Oh the irony. His mother did always used to call him an animal. Smiling to himself he went in.

Several of the cages had been left open and were empty except for overgrown landscaping. The few cages that were rusted shut held the skeletons of forgotten zoo animals. It made him feel slightly saddened that they were left in the cages to slowly starve.

Here in Memphis the day was much much darker. He could look up and see the moon more clearly here. Looking up at it seemed to be a way for Jakob to soothe himself.

He kept walking until he came up on a worn dusty sign. Knocking the dust off the side so he can read it he saw that it said "Tiger exhibit."

Walking closer he saw that the cage had been opened. At least they were set free and not left to starve. For some reason Jakob decided to go inside the exhibit to make his camp. He walked down a short grassy decent and set his bag down by a bush.

Scanning the area out of curiosity he saw something he did not expect. On the other side of the exhibit was a huge tiger dragging a dead deer in its mouth. Not only had the tigers been freed but they had survived and reproduced leading to this one lone tiger being in the same spot as Jakob.

The tiger dropped the deer's neck from it's great jaws and laid down next to the carcass to eat. Jakob grabbed his bag and slowly made his way out of the enclosure. He opted instead to make his camp in the other side of the zoo. He wanted to sleep far far away from the giant feline.

Jake was too afraid to make a sound. He went to sleep after many hours of paranoia making him believe he would wake up with his neck in those jaws.

As he dreamed he had the oddest feeling of his body being in the sand. It was like the sand was a liquid that he was submerged in. It rubbed against his skin feeling course but gentle all at once. All around him he only saw white light. From within his own mind he heard a male voice say, "In spirit I link myself to you, my brother."

Jakob's whole body felt a rush of warmth go through it. Instead of feeling comforted by this he only felt wet sand paper slide across his face. His eyes flew open and in the soft glow of his lamp he saw bright eyes staring back at him. Focusing on who the eyes belonged to he realized that he was face to face with the tiger he saw earlier. Sheer panick set in as it hit him that the beast was tasting him.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHH! SHIT! DON'T EAT ME!"

Jakob screamed while quickly scrambling away from the Tiger, he tripped over it's giant paw, and then found himself cornered by the cat unable to escape. Accepting his fate he slid down into his butt and wrapped his arms around his knees. His only thought was that at least he would die a free man instead of his mother's slave.

"I am not going to eat you. Men taste like garbage. Their meat is not as good as deer."

"Did you just talk to me or am I having a psychotic breakdown?" Jakob spoke the words already feeling crazy for asking a damn tiger a question.

"Not dead, I would never eat you. To cause you harm us to injure myself. I like myself too much for that."

"What is happening? How can I hear you in my mind?"

The tiger got up and walked closer to Jakob. He nuzzled his huge head into Jakob's arms. "We are brother's in spirit. I was alone. I saw you sneak away from my home. You were alone. Now we are together. Eventually you and I will run wild in the woods. We will hunt together. I also feel great hate inside your soul. You are already on a hunt."

The tiger cocked his head to the side. "Shall we enjoy hunting those you hate together?"

"You would help me get payback on the people who have hurt me?"

"People have hurt you?" A growl escaped his mouth. Jakob could feel the beast grow angry on his behalf. He sensed the tiger's need to protect him. Then from inside his mind he heard the tiger say, "I am Onyx. I am of your spirit and you are of mine. I will crush the necks of whoever harms you beneath my teeth and taste their blood as it fills my mouth."

Onyx sat his body down next to Jakob and nuzzled up to him again. Trusting the big cat's words Jake wrapped his arms around its neck. "Onyx. I have never felt much love from others in my life, but from you all I feel is contentment and safety. I won't let anything bad happen to you either."

"As our link grows you will feel the strength of my heart as well. Tell me brother.... Whose necks am I sinking my teeth into?"