University Park
One of the most desirable neighborhoods in all of Dallas, University park is the perfect suburb. The homes in the area lean toward a lot of Spanish architectural designs and look to be extremely luxurious, and the yards are lush and green. Trees and lights line the sidewalks, making it extremely safe to walk the area at night. The sprawling neighborhood is also home to Southern Methodist University, and as a result many of the professors and research staff live in the area. Plenty of open-late restaurants can be found just on the outskirts of the neighborhood, as can a few nightclubs and the 24-hour Gym.
The warmer weather is extending well into the evening hours. The sun is staying up longer which is giving her fewer hours of play, but play she will. She's had too much exposure, too much of a taste for it, and now she craves more. A sweep of the house in one form has shown a sleeping man and puppy. She could attempt to break in but for now she's content to see who might come to call. So in the darkness the black wolf appears to be sleeping on the small porch of the residence, just outside of the second floor apartment. The darkness of night makes it difficult to notice her presence until it's almost too late. Now Tala plays the waiting game.
The day has been weird. Very, very weird. The egg hunt was fine, and the church. What's weird was kissing Elliott. So a guilty conscience is what brings the Tyler twin toward her ex-boyfriend's house. A guilty conscience and a puppy run for the yard. Since she forgot to get one the other day. The pink Suzuki Sidekick pulls up to the curb. The lights are turned off, the girl exits the vehicle. She's carrying the puppy-run and her purse. A few other items are carried on her person. Her typical nighttime items. Silver chains. Silver knife. Silver mace. She's a paranoid girl who's well and scared of the darkness.
Ever since the run-in with the oldest Cornett female, Tala has learned that some people are expecting things that go bump in the night. She knows that she needs to strike hard and fast, when people are least expecting it. When the car pulls up to the curb the wolf's ears per. She investigates just enough to notice the blond haired woman and would laugh if she could. Instead of howling, growling or anything else at the point, she slinks behind the front of the porch, housing herself from view. The only way at this point that she'd be spotted by Hope is once Hope is already at the door. From here she continues to wait.
It's not far from the curb to the door. It's really not. She can make it there without a fuss. There's no vampires lurking around that are going to eat her. Though she /does/ believe Bobby that there are other things… her biggest fear is vampires. Hope stops for a second, debating on just running to the porch to drop the item off then scooting back to the car without stopping to say hello. Only, she'd feel even /more/ guilty for doing that. Up to the porch she goes, taking the steps up carefully before leaning to knock once at the door.
Just as that hand moves to knock at the door she might hear it. If she ignores it, it is her own fault. The distinct growl of something larger than a puppy can be heard coming from the darkness. Before giving the woman too much time to consider it, Tala lunges at her, again going for the legs and not the chest. If she has items they could end up hurting her. No, the wolf if out for blood even if she's not planning on killing anyone just yet. It's better to make everyone suffer.
A growl causes her to spin toward it. As the darkness lunges at her, there's a distinctly loud, high-pitched shriek. As she's knocked down to the porch, making sure to make as much noise as possible her hand is in her purse. The first thing it falls upon is her small prototype. Since it's not registered yet that this is a freaking /wolf/, Hope opens up the can of mace on it's face. Just spraying the slivers of silver all over its eyes. Or, well trying to as she's panicking just a tiny little bit.
If there's one thing she loves, it is a woman in a panic. They're so hot, and generally don't move with the best accuracy. Having learned from the last woman that went reaching into her purse, the wolf backs up as the mace is sprayed. Tala may not be the smartest but she honestly is not stupid. As soon as she believes it is clear, she lunches forward again, aiming a snap down at the woman's shin. This is a deliberate attack and if Hope could concentrate she would realize that the animal is smarter than the average wolf.
Through the whole thing there is no movement from Robert. He's out cold with medication. Serenity can be heard moving to investigate but her tiny puppy barks are not enough to wake the man.
Hope is most definitely a guilty woman in panic. She has no clue that the wolf is finding her hot, and if she did she'd likely just think that completely odd and not at all proper. When the wolf rears back, she blinks. No way this is a normal creature. A real wolf would have snapped at her hand or something. Then the bite is coming toward her shin. It's not been /that/ long since her gymnast days, and so she's able to evade the bite. Though the teeth do tear through the overalls as she agilely rolls to the side. There is another attempt with the silver mace, just a strong steady spray until the prototype is emptied.
"HELP! SOMEBODY CALL NINE ONE ONE, I'M BEING ATTACKED BY A WOLF!"
Throughout all the commotion he sleeps, not aware of a single thing. The medication that he is on is strong which is why he hasn't been taking it often. Besides, he had no idea that he would have company.
The evade really makes the wolf angry. She rears back again as soon as she realizes that her bite missed. The woman is down on the ground so she isn't afraid that she will get away. Instead Tala assumes that another attack will be coming so she allows the can to be emptied. Then she makes another nimble attack, running forward to grab at the woman's leg.
The teeth to her leg cause Hope to yelp again. More of a squealed shriek. Her purse, still attached to her arm, is dug into. Fingers fumble for the phone, and she holds down the #1 key, the one she's set for emergencies. She attempts to claw away, instead yanking out the knife. "Off! Get off me! I'm not… I'm not afraid to use this!"
A small jerking motion is used once her teeth actually find home. It's not enough to break the leg or even tear it to complete shreds; Tala is merely insisting that there is a good lot of pain associated with her attack. As soon as Hope digs out her phone, however, the wolf backs up. A look is given to the door, to the movement that is heard inside the apartment and then she begins to run. If Hope wishes, she can say that she scared Tala off with the knife. It isn't as if she's going to stick around to argue. Her damage has been done, her taunting continues so now she flees before she gets caught. It's too soon to get caught.
"Owowowow!" Hope pulls out one of her thin silver chains and tries to strike the wolf with it as it starts to run off. To loop it about the legs — something. The blonde Tyler twin is not a lasso queen however. The knife drops to the porch, and she curls up into a ball. Fingers grasping for the phone to give the address and explain what happened. She's completely oblivious to any sounds from the apartment, just focusing on making the report.
The cries from Hope mixed with the pouncing of a very upset Serenity finally stir the man from his heavy slumber. It takes a while for Robert, dressed only in his basketball shorts and a tee, to actually limp his way to the door. Once he realizes what is there he immediately drops the cane and all but runs the short distance to his ex girlfriend. He is too late to see even the tail end of the wolf. "Oh, God." His words are rushed, his hands immediately reaching out to touch her. "Hope? What's wrong. God, Hope. What happened?" A knife on the porch along with a can of mace and a woman in a fetal position generally mean that something bad happened.
Doing her best not to yelp in pain (hello, low pain threshold much?), Hope holds up her hand. She finished talking to the emergency operator and then glances at Bobby. "Karma." See what happens when she goes and kisses a soon-to-be priest? God gets even with her. She bites her lip to draw the pain away from her leg. "The wolf. A wolf. I don't know. Big, black, furry. It attacked me on your porch. I just… the puppy run. Wanted to bring it over before I went home… don't kill yourself over me… are you okay?" Hello, shock!
He actually acts far better in a panic situation than she does, mostly because of his job. "No. Damn it." This is his fault. He's done this to her. "Hope, that's the shock talking. Don't worry about me but I am going to get you inside." Without even asking, Bobby moves to take her into his arms. He's running on adrenaline at this point and isn't even considering the condition of his own body. So long as she doesn't struggle he'll have her inside and laying down on the couch in no time. "I'll get you something for the pain, and I'll take a look at your leg. Just don't move, okay?" He knows that they'll need to take her to the hospital so he will make a point to grab a pair of socks while he's on route to the medicine cabinet.
"No, it's karma. I'm a Jezebel." Hope doesn't struggle, but she does yell at him. "Bobby, c'mon. Put me down. You're going to kill your leg. Please don't do this. Don't hurt yourself because of me." She's still too shocked to cry about the bite though. "An ambulance will be coming. I called. They're sending police too. And whatever else. I scared it away with the knife I think. It moved too quick for the mace, but it was the first thing I grabbed." She takes a deep breath. "Don't be nice to me. I kissed someone else."
Shock. It honestly isn't the first time that he's seen it. When he returns, still without cane, he immediately sits on the floor in front of the couch. "So did I. Now will you hold still?" Oh, it doesn't go unregistered but really he has no reason to be upset with her. There's also the fact that she's bleeding on his couch and he'd rather not take this time to talk about it. Two pills are handed to her along with a glass of water. "These aren't the strong ones, I promise, but you'll want something as soon as the shock wears off." It will, too. Then he pulls a pair of scissors out to cut at her pant legs. The medics will do the same thing anyway. "They're going to believe that I'm cursed, but I'm glad they're on the way. I'm so sorry that I didn't wake up. I should have been out there for you. No, I should have told you never to see me again. It's my selfishness that's done this to you." The scolding continues as he does his best to get a look at the wound and keep her from seeing it.
There is absolute stillness from the blonde Tyler twin. She stares at him, honestly it's almost through him. "Okay," she says quietly. Holding still. she's not even paying attention to him wrapping her leg. She just takes the pills and the water. Hope does not actually down the pills though, just holds both. Her hands are shaking quite a bit but she's not sloshing water everywhere yet. "My fault. Should have called first. I yelled, but even none of your neighbors came. You're not selfish, look at you taking care of me and I don't deserve it. You're going to hurt your knee again, and it's all my fault. You need to rest. You need to not be sitting on the floor." She takes a deep breath. "You need to not tell Faith."
The wound is nasty, but clean. No torn flesh. Just deep, bleeding teeth marks. One on the top of the leg, one at the back of it. A perfect jaw shape.
"The pills." He's not even fully looking at her but he can tell that she's not actually taken them. "Take them." With the pant leg cut and peeled away, he just examines the wound. There is no actual reaction from him, for once, as he plays his poker face. That should tell her more than anything and likely would if she wasn't in shock. "/I/ will be fine. You need the ambulance to come here. They'll take you to the hospital." Even as this is said, he makes sure the wounds are as clean as possible before begins applying enough bandage to apply pressure. "Someone needs to be there for you. Faith has a right to know and I will tell her. If not now, then when it's over. Either way, I'll make sure someone is at the hospital for you." Which means that he's going to go. "You didn't know that a wolf was going to be on my front porch. Now it's just fucking with me, with us, and you've been involved. This is supposed to be a fight for the family." The rage is building deep within him but he's remaining calm if only for her sake.
Like a child, at the order, Hope actually takes the pills. She sips the water quite daintily, though she nearly drops the glass. When she's done, she sets the glass down on the floor and then stares at him. Through him again. "They're coming. I gave the address. It's bad, right?" She'll likely not dance again for a good long while, which is bad since SMU's tryouts are coming up and she /was/ going to go for the cheer squad this year. "/No/! Bobby, you can't. She's got enough to deal with. Please? I'm begging you. I'll call a friend to come sit with me at the hospital if I have to, but not Faith." She takes a deep breath and focuses on the wall. "Language," she says giving him a stern, shocked look, before staring at the wall again. "Am I going to be a demon? If I am, I'd rather you just kill me know please."
He doesn't even know how to respond to this. Honesty is the best policy so he goes with that for now. "I have no idea. I don't know how someone can tell. Hell, I don't know if I'm going to be one yet you still came to see me." With the bandages in place he allows the leg to rest and slides closer to her upper body. The condition of the leg is purposely ignored for now. "She's your sister. She will be here for you but you have to let her know. Even if not know, then in the morning. You'll need her and she'll need to be around you." He'd be pissed if something happened to one of his sisters and they kept it from him. He moves to place his hands on either side of her head, one stroke back of her hair before resting there. He honestly doesn't want her investigating the leg. "I'll be there for you. Tonight and always. I am not going to kill you or harm you in any way. You'll be fine."
"You're not a monster." Hope reaches a hand out to his cheek. "You're sweet and taking care of me even though you shouldn't. 'cuz I'm a Jezebel." She exhales a sigh. "No! I can't let her know. She can't be around me. I don't want her to know. She's too busy with Ivan." She honestly seems to believe that she's better off not disturbing them. "Bobby, please? Promise me… if I turn into a monster of some kind… you'll be the one to take care of me. You'll be the one to kill me. Don't let anyone else from the church do it."
She's being unreasonable but he knows that a good deal of it at least is from shock. He shakes his head as he watches her, his hands still to the sides of her head. "Hope, you are not going to die and no one is going to hurt you. I won't let anyone harm you. I swear it." Even if she is like his mother he will be by her side. Then to keep her from rambling on about death and keeping things from her sister he does the only thing he can think of. He kisses her. Even if she slaps him as a response it will be better than what she was talking about.
Hope /is/ being unreasonable. About the same level of unreasonable as she was when she thought her sister was a vampire. About the same level of unreasonable as when she ran her car into the lamppost. It's how she deals with stressful situations. Zones out. Thinks of the worst case scenarios then learns to deal with something that may not be as bad as she thinks. "Bobby, you can't stop them fro—" Kissed. It may be the guilt, or it may be the shock but she doesn't draw away from the kiss. She just starts crying and can't stop.
That is not exactly a response that he's expected. It's understandable but just catches him by surprise. It isn't as if he presses the kiss forward or attempts to deepen it, turn it passionate. It was just to make her stop the insanity, if only for a moment. "Hope, you will be okay. I swear this to you. No matter what happens, I won't let anyone hurt you again." As he speaks about it he already knows that he's failed when saying he will be her bodyguard. "No strings attached, no pressure. I just won't fail again. I'll be there for you." Bobby to the rescue, too little too late.
"N-no… it's not that," she says with a choked sob. "This… this isn't your fault. You didn't fail me." Hope runs the back of her hand across her eyes and then looks at him. "It was my fault for being out at night. A-and for…" There is a vehement shake of her head. "You're right. I'm going to be okay. I'm going to be okay, and once this is all stitched up and disinfected or whatever they're going to do to me, I'm going to find out who's doing this and I'm going to help you stop it. I'm not going to be a victim either." If she turns into a monster, she'll just off herself.
There will be no suicide, not on his watch. Even if he has to be by her side day and night until she's come to terms with things, he will ensure that she lives. This is his mission now more than ever, especially that he has caused this to happen. "You couldn't have known. I should have known. I'm just so sorry." Bobby's voice remains low, calm, despite the fear that is running through him. He uses a thumb to wipe away some tears. "That's the spirit. You'll see that everything will be okay in the end. This will all be over soon and then you won't have to worry about anything."
Nothing he can say will make her think that it's not her fault. Hope is an emotional masochist. Yet, something he says actually makes her smile. Causes her spirits to lift a little. "You're right. Everything will be okay in the end. Everything will work out." The blonde Tyler twin will potentially have a scar on her leg, but that won't matter. The pain she's feeling through the shock now won't matter either. All that matters is what's right in front of her. "Thank you," she says quietly, just locking her eyes to his.
This is a moment that he will always remember. The emotion behind it as well as the fact that she's being strong, no matter how much she's talking nonsense. Robert turns to look to the door, waiting to hear the knock from the paramedics. Having no clue how long ago they were called he has no idea how long it will take them to respond. "It will. You're strong and we'll go through it together." This said as Robert looks back to her just in time to engage in that eye lock. "I can take you to the hospital if they don't hurry. Do you want me to do that? I can get you there quickly."
Hope's fingers reach out to dance over his cheek, in a gentle and delicate manner. Using her touch to draw him forward a little, she leans in to kiss him passionately. Holding on to him as though she's afraid that if she lets go, everything around her will fall apart. When she slowly draws back from the kiss, she murmurs just one word. "Someday."
Which is when the paramedics knock on the door. Carrying a stretcher with them to help her get to the ambulance.
