It crouched at the far end of the tunnel, down one of the larger water grates. Its limbs - velvet soft, each hair delicately coated in neurotoxin-rich saliva - stretched out like a spider testing its web and blended in with the trash along the ground. It was ready to greet the day.
Prey had been scarce the past few years, since the bypass had been built and the general public dissuaded from using the underpass to pass between the central and lower towns in favour of the new public transportation system. It had grown lean but it reminded itself that there had been worse times before and there will be worse times to come.
Patience - always patience.
Patience enough to not snap at every subtle vibration that carried throughout the underpass, tempting as it may be to snag every rodent or bird foolish enough to trespass, there was a greater need to converse its energy for prey that was more... substantial and more befitting of a creature its size.
Moments after it resigned itself to another day of waiting in the cold, somewhat putrid waters, something came wandering awfully close to the underpass. Several somethings on two limbs, all sharp sounds and weak bodies that could sustain it for months.
It send shivers down its limbs, warming them up and extending its claws in anticipation.
Tonight there would be a feast, tomorrow there would be grieving families come to search for the lost ones.
The cycle was about to begin again and for the first time in years, it felt happy.
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