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[i][color=f7941d][center]City Outskirts, Los Angeles, California[/center][/color][/i]

"You ever have that feeling that there's just... things we can't see?" The first voice was sincere in its question, just like it was soft in tone. The second that followed was not so much and by contrast was a man's, although not too forceful in reply; "No, not really."

"I don't know," Her tone paused with a huff of frustration as did her movement, "Its like every day we're missing something around here. It isn't like anyone's stealing it either, it has to be like a ghost or something."

The man did not even try to hide his laughter, it choking him up a bit as he came to stand beside the woman, looking over her shoulder, "A ghost? A ghost is stealing from the grocery store...?"

He already knew she was talking about the stolen meat, yet again. It wasn't uncommon for thieves to sneak off with it but how it was happening while a camera was pointed at the case he wasn't sure, let alone how it was disappearing from the locker. He was pretty confident it wasn't a ghost as he mocked her a bit more in response to that making "ghost" noises, only seeming to frustrate his coworker further. This had become an ongoing issue for the past month now and the count was adding up.

"I'm being serious! [i]Where[/i] does it keep going?" She brushed the red stains from her hands on to the white of her overcoat before turning around to unpack more of the product from the rack and on to display. Taking several more wrapped cuts and shelving them behind the glass, she heard him continue.

"It has to be the overnight stock who is taking it." He replied, putting the toe of his boot on to one of the wheels of the next cart and stopping it beside the first as the brake was applied. By comparison to her, he seemed more grounded in reality even if he didn't look it between the beard net he wore and the grocer's ball cap he was wearing.

"What, the kids who get scrutinized for everything already? Doubt it. Steph caught the last few when they were taking product but he's not sure now." The woman rebutted, as she slid in one of the cuts on styrofoam. Her hand fell to her hip and she already was scowling by the time he finished his reply of, "Steph's also like eighty years old now too."

"Whatever, there is no way anyone is just [i]taking[/i] the meat, like big cuts too. That is so stupid, how is no one seeing them back here?"

The conversation went on for a bit, the two idly going about their work until the woman stopped again when she entered the back cooler again. Her cart slid a bit more on the grated surface but it was really something that caught her eye that she wasn't expecting that left her motionless. Blinking a few times, she came to walk forward and bend over, looking down at a mark on the floor. A bit of pink, red staining on the metal, like a handprint after handling the meat. She hadn't seen it before but now that she did she couldn't help stare at it and not just because she would have to clean it, instead it just didn't look right.

She started to curse and mouth to herself along the lines of [i]"Who put their hand on the floor?"[/i], before the heavy door to the cold storage shut. The woman near leapt out of her skin, falling backward with a shriek, and while Andrew might not believe in ghosts she sure as hell did now.

Only, unknown to her and the grocery store, their visitor hadn't been so much an unsent spirit as it was a several hundred pound hungry carnivore. One they had accidentally kept letting in and out without ever seeing or hearing it, typical of a cat no matter the size. The cause as to why they had yet to see it? Simply put, it hadn't wanted them to, and without them thinking about it, it walked right past them and then out one of the doors; the one the employees enjoyed smoking by as it wasn't watched by the cameras. [i]That[/i] was their failing and now it went off with a slight saunter into the daylight across the back lot's blacktop. Building a bit of speed to overcome the fence, it grasped the top in one fluid motion, and kicked off the linked portion with its back legs, landing on the other side in the grass with no real effort.

With nothing more than an audible jingle and sway of the fence, the fed tiger could not help but snicker to itself, a bit of glee tugging at the feline's jowls.

[i]"That was easier than expected."[/i] It spoke with hushed breath, although seemingly no words accompanied it. The trot of each paw across the trimmed, slightly dry grass, were apparently equally proud of themselves as the whole of the sizable beast could not contain its enjoyment of having spooked the woman. After all, an adult Bengal tiger had just managed to evade them again all while getting the better of them after a free meal. Food was not easy to come by and sneaking off with it every few days was not a minor feat.

It was payment after all, beating everything from petty thieves and carjackers senseless to pouncing a would-be intoxicated driver and swiping their keys wasn't free; tigers needed to eat too. That last one also paid for itself, given it ended in the "donation" of their refrigerator's contents, but the cat wasn't about to say anything about that. Now was the time to find somewhere to go yet again, as the odds of getting another meal wasn't likely without discovery, and the last thing needed was for people to realize there was an "invisible" tiger on the loose. Not that they would even believe it, that seemed too outlandish still.

But just where to go?