West Dallas
West Dallas is a largely blighted area of poverty. Several geared-to-income housing projects are in the beginning stages of springing up along the streets in these neighborhoods. For the most part, the area is classified as 'industrial' and plays home to quite a few warehouses, bars and salvage yards.
Oddly enough, it is also home to the historic Belmont Hotel which rests on a beautifully landscaped bluff overlooking Oak Cliff.
Despite the relative poverty and dinginess of West Dallas, it isn't altogether the worst place to live. The houses might not be the cleanest, sturdiest around, but the people - they're something. It's warm. A deliciously warm, humid day, with just a hint of a comfortable breeze in the air. And so, despite the fact that the sun had set and the streetlights are on, there are still quite a few people outside. Old men are sitting upon their porches, surveying the outside world. Tweens are running around in the street, finishing a quick impromptu game of kickball before their mothers summon them inside. And Hyde? Well, Hyde is waxing his cherry red, 1969 Pontiac GTO with relish.
It's a good old fashioned Texas day. Or so everyone thinks.
Evening is setting, and people in West Dallas are doing what people in West Dallas are wont to do. And in that number, is Paige, walking back along the street towards her house dressed in a rather casual version of a baseball outfit. And over her shoulder, the biggest bat anyone has ever seen. Which, might be really intimidating, if it wasn't yellow and plastic and hollow. Yes, yes, she's on her way back from the teeny weeny wiffle ball league. And carrying a small dufflebag along with it, strap laying on her opposite shoulder. She even has some headphones in her ears, head bobbing slightly to the music while she walks.
Abbey hasn't had a great day, especially with having to deal with a full moon during the day. She is actually walking down the street, heading towards the garage it seems. The full moon caught her by surprize and when she shifted she took off running until she got away from the middle of the town. So now with just a t-shirt, jeans and some old sneakers from a place she had the clothing stashed incase of such a problem. She's still a little dazed, a burning cigarette resting between her lips while her hair is pulled back with a band to get it off her face.
Abbey is not the only shifter traveling home in search of refuge. Slinking along the shadows of the city, in between alleyways and all, is a shaggy black canine, traveling slowly so as to avoid being detected. He just seems to want to get out of the way, as quickly as possible - although, why he chose that form, no one will ever know. Especially with the recent history behind giant black wolves attacking people in the city.
The first to notice the canine happens to be a young child. Slowly, the three year old pads its way towards the creature with a broad, snot-nosed smile on his face. Uplifted, the creature begins to approach the child.
Only for the child's mother to let out a piercing, terrified scream. "It's the monster! Everyone, RUN!" She hazards the opportunity to duck forward and grab the child before heading for safety. Chaos ensues.
And Hyde, he looks up with an alarming solemnity to his face, before running into his home for the moment.
It's not that Paige is a hero, or even one of those people who rushes into a burning building, or even wants to be one. But, it's like the way people come running of you yell fire. As soon as Paige hears the woman yell, and turns far enough to see that she has a child in her arms, the brunette takes off in their direction, scanning for the dog, if only to make sure she can get between it and the mother and her child. Something about children just..makes one rather stupid.
Abbey moves along at a slow pace, her head is throbbing, the withdrawls from shifting back so soon and then having to walk home. A few mutterings escape her as she continues on down the road passing by the homes without a real glance at just where she is. Even her sense of smell is out of wack so to speak. The movement from something on forelegs is what catches her attetnion and she slowly blinks, pale gaze drifting towards the canine as she catches sight of it and then a child. She lifts a hand to rub at her eyes a few times and then gives her head a shake as the lady screams. "Crap.." Escapes her as she glances around watching people running for there life so to speak. A unsure glance is offered back towards the black canine hoping the thing will take off running. As for herself? She isn't running off anywhere, not that she can actually run at the moment as most of her energy was used eariler.
The black canine would take off running if it wasn't for the fact that he was caught between two buildings when the 'alarm' sounded. Even then, it attempts to lurch forward to get out of the way - only to be stopped by the surprising sight of Paige cutting it off from it's escape route. A second's worth of hesitation becomes two, even three, before finally, the furry creature charges for Paige - looking to bowl her over if necessary to get past her.
And those brief moments of hesitation? That's all Hyde needs to remerge from his dinky joint, his silver pistol gleaming in the streetlight. "Get down!" He barks out in an authoritative to the people, the humans, even as he proceeds to run after the creature, assuming it to be the aggressive, evil one that had been terrorizing the city. After all, a woman with a baby ran away from it screaming. How can they be wrong?
One shot. One deafening shot that is fired into the night, echoing in the streets. One distinctly canine yelp of pain - and then it's done. The chase, everything. Hyde does not manage to kill the beast, no. It's gotten away - but the new blood on the sidewalk proves that he managed to hit it, certainly.
Paige pulls up short, as she gets into proximity with the creature, having put herself physically between it and the mother and child, or at least where they were, if they haven't run off already. It doesn't move and she doesn't move, until it starts to come for her, and she tries to dodge. Which is probably the only thing that saved her at all, bag and bat going flying as she dives for the ground and ends up safe from the gun being fired near her, though the sound of it as close as it is leaves a ringing in her ears. She is close enough to get a bit of a look at it though, and even as she hits the ground, she sweeps a hand in its direction, attempting to use air and heat to brand a small mark on the creature's backside. Who know if it might help identify it later. But the impulsive gesture is quick and on the fly, and at least momentarily knocks the wind out of her. So, yeah. The ground is good right now.
Abbey lets her gaze follow after the canine hoping the animal can get away. With people yellow and shouting it most likely isn't the easiest thing to do at the moment.. Even less when someone tries to jump in front of the animal. A slight sigh escapes her while she flicks her cigarette to the ground. Hearing Hyde she blinks and looks towards him, spotting the gun at the same time. "Wait.. Its just.." That's about all she can get out before the gun is shot, the canine is hit and yelp of pain reaches her ears. She frowns at this and lets her gaze follow after the now injured canine before she looks towards the fallen woman and then back to Hyde. "You know.. If it actually wanted to hurt anyone it most likely would have before you shot it.." Shoot an animal that is trying to flee in front of Abs isn't a great idea. Though even she knows at the back of her mind no one here will see it like she has.
Hyde is not pleased that the creature has gotten away, but what can he do? It's superior movement and dark coloration has made it impossible for him to continue the pursuit. And to just fire blankly…that'd be reckless. He might hurt somebody, which is the last thing he wants to do. And so, with a sigh of defeat, the man slows his run into a stop, puts his hands onto his knees, and switches on the safety. It is only then that he hazards a glance upwards, looking around at the newly abandoned street.
Silently, the gun is tucked into the waist of his jeans. And he moves forward, up to Paige, with the clear intention of offering her a hand to get up with. When his eyes slide over to Abbey - to his boss, the man's expression is closed and solemn. "And what if it was biding it's time? What if it was bounding off with the intention of killing another? I'm not going to take that risk." He grunts out solemnly. Dark eyes slide towards the streets once more. "The police will be here soon…"
"Thanks," is Paige's first word of the night, and that to Hyde, as he offers a hand to help her up off of the ground. She needs a minute, once she's on her feet, but it passes quickly, and she goes about the business of brushing the dirt off of her hands, though the grime that's now decorating her clothes is a lost cause. Well, it was worth it if, "Did you manage to scare it away? Looks like you hit it at least." She does look over towards the woman she doesn't know, but who seems to know the man who just gave her a hand, "You sure about that? Enough to not do anything when you see it near a child?" Which Abbey didn't, or Paige would assume she didn't, since she's not close to Paige at all.
"Biding its time?.. The thing was scared half to death." Abbey snaps out towards Hyde. A glance is sent towards Paige. "Well.. I'm pretty damn sure because it didn't get the kid now did it?" She questions with a faint tone. A slight shake of her head is offered and she starts to walk off, sticking around here will only make her madder, especially if they really feel they saved someone. While Abbey has no idea if that was the wolf thing or not, by all accounts the animal didn't act right, at least from the information that she's learned about it and the attacks.
"Oh, I'm sure. Scared half to death. That's why it charged this woman right here, and sent everyone in the street screaming and crying for help." Hyde rolls his eyes liberally. There is so much more he would like to say, but the fact that Abbey is his employer rather limits his verbal repertoire. After all, he likes his job at the garage. And so instead, he swings his attention over towards Paige, furrowing his brows before wiping his hand off to his side. "You alright?" Beat. "Yeah. It's gone, for now."
"Remind me to look you up the next time I need an animal psychic," Paige quips, as she finishes cleaning herself up, at least as best she can, "Maybe you should go ahead and wait for the police, I'm sure they'd love to have someone who can tell when some strange animal in the night is harmless and when it isn't." A nod, to Hyde, "Yeah, I'm alright." And she is, now, even moving away to pick up her bag and her bat, "I guess I'll camp out here until they get here." A frown, as she sees that her poor bat is sort of half collapsed, and she turns her attention to banging it on the ground, trying to get it to pop open again.
Abbey glances towards Hyde slightly, watching him a few moments. Oh if she could fire someone for anything she would at this moment in time.. If he ever brings that gun to work he can kiss his job goodbye. She pauses hearing Paige and looks back towards her. "Oh.. I guess you must know everything then.. Right? You just appear on the scene and jump right in without looking around to see what was going on." There are a few other things she would say but she stops herself. "Your new /friend/ there knows what I live if the damn cops want to talk to me." With that she she continues walking now looking back to either of them. Needless to say now she is mad.
"No. It means that we'd rather be safe than sorry." Hyde gruffs out to Abbey without hesitation before letting the topic of conversation drop. Were she anyone else, more remarks would be forthcoming. Particularly of the 'what's the big deal, they're just stupid animals' vein. But, luckily for him, he remains silent and stoic for the remainder of Abbey's presence here In fact, he'll remain silent and stoic for longer than that.
From afar, the siren is approaching. Its wailing is growing louder and louder.
"I know there was a child in danger. I know there have been vicious attacks and murders in this city by something that people say looked very much like what was just here. I know as much as I love animals, if I have to choose between and animal and a child, I'm going to pick the child anytime. I know that for all you know, if he hadn't stepped in or I hadn't, the child could well have been hurt or killed or it's mother while you were standing around with your thumb up your ***." Paige finally shrugs, as she plops herself on the ground, not seeming to pay much mind to the fact that she can hear the sirens coming. And besides, Abbey's walking off anyway. Bang, bang, bang. "Finally." Her bat has been salvaged. "You going to stick around?" She offers to Hyde, "Or do I need to look away while you go wherever, and I can tell the cops I have no idea what happened to you?"
Abbey catches the conversation from the two that is directed towards her, her seneses are starting to come back fully, anger tends to do that though. "Oh for pete shakes.." She mutters out but doesn't look back towards them. The comments going through her mind right now are not nice ones to say the least. Even with the cops on the way she just continues down the street without looking back towards anyone on the block.
Hyde considers the possibility of running away. He truly does. After all, he does have a few minor misdemeanor infractions, nothing serious, but enough so that he wouldn't want to add to it. But then, there is the most casual shrug of his shoulder with disinterest. "Hn," He grunts, toeing at the floor with his heavy boots. He is, clearly, not the most communicative sort.
There have been reports flying into the police dispatchers. Reports of a gunshot heard in the West Dallas community. And reports of a large, black, wolf-like creature - very much similar to the one that had been reported to have been attacking and killing people.
Paige is still on the ground, not far from where the blood is now getting dark and sticky on the ground. Her duffel is next to her and her wiffle ball bat is next to it. As for the woman herself, she's still on the ground, knees drawn up, forearms resting on her knees as she waits for the police to get here. While she does look over to the man, and notes his foot scuffing, well, she's not going to try to persuade him one way or the other. She's happy to wait, though she does pull out her phone to send a quick text.
It doesn't take long for Officer Young and Sheppard to arrive on the scene at hand, with the former exiting the vehicle a slight quicker than the latter who was just radioing some things to dispatch. James Young glances over the hood and then looks forward. Bunker's is in the distance, just up the street, and the werewolf speaks up briefly, brow knitting. "Here goes nothing. Hell with it, we do our usual." He closes the driver side door and begins to walk quickly up the sidewalk while his partner crosses to the other side, firearms drawn.
Hyde is one of the first, if not the first, to notice when the Fuzz finally arrives. Alert and wary, his dark eyes remain trained on the policemen as they emerge from their vehicles, cool and cold as can be. He is not going to beckon them over or make their way over to them. He is much too proud and derisive of police officers to do so. Instead, he'll wait patiently for Young and company to come over towards him.
Slowly, at the sound of the sirens, the people of the neighborhood begin to duck their heads outside of their houses to try and figure out what's going on.
Paige, on the other hand, doesn't have any sort of problem with police, so she does lift a hand, though she doesn't get up, or make any move to put away her phone, or pick up her things, until they tell her to, or at least give her permission to do anything but do what she's doing now, which is stayed parked on the sidewalk, "Watch your step," she does offer, "There's some blood over here."
Given the positioning, James is the first to arrive to the downed woman and that leaves Sheppard to try his hand at securing the area. With his partner in the nearby distance and circling around, James focuses his attention on Paige, having smelled the blood moments prior on the way of moving in closer. He starts with the basics while looking around, slowly but surely returning his gaze to her while partially crouching, "What happened here?"
The blood of a shifter. That is the important distinction to make. Not a dog, a shifter. Hyde wont speak. Not unless directly spoken to, and so he shoots Paige a look, as if designating her their conversationalist. The one to summarize what just happen and the first to offer her take on the situation. Meanwhile, people are piling out now that things seem to have become secured, including the woman that initially started the scare.
"I was walking home from the Y, on my way to the house." Paige's tone is polite and helpful, having nothing to hide, and she doesn't look at all injured, although her clothes and hands are stained with dirt and whatnot, from the ground, "105 Taylor, bout two blocks down," she continues, so she doesn't have to make the officer ask for her address after, "I heard a woman scream that the monster was here and everyone should run." Paige takes a moment, having noticed all of the people coming out of the woodwork, and she pauses, tipping her head in the direction of one of them, a female, "That's her there. Anyway, I looked over, and she was grabbing up a child, maybe two or three, and there was a big black dog near the kid." A moment to catch her breath, "I started running towards her and the kid, managed to get between it and the kid. The thing lunged at me, which was just about the time that guy," she chucks a thumb in Hyde's direction, "Came out and shot it. It took off running, but that's it's blood on the ground." A brief pause, "There was another woman here, some redhead, I think he knows her, tried to chew me out about how the animal didn't mean any harm. She went off that way," Paige indicates the direction the garage is in.
James moves to holster his sidearm as he listens to Paige and when Hyde is pointed out the man lifts his gaze briefly to the other before directing his attention back to the woman. At least this is Texas; everyone owns at least three guns, if that few. His partner circles around and crosses the street at an eased pace, coming to stand near to them at the other end with his firearm lowered at a neutral angle. He lifts his left hand in order to speak up further with regards to incoming back-up and there are sirens in the background. "Neither of you two are injured?" He wants to verify that before moving along with the explanation, "Which way did the dog go?"
Hyde shakes his head slowly, sticking his hand into his pockets as he casually slouches on his feet. "I'm fine," he mumbles to answer to police officer. He also nods his head in the direction of the disappearing creature. "I was chasing it down, but it was too dark and too fast for me to keep up with. It would have been dangerous to keep shooting for the kill, so I didn't." He informs the officer.
"No, I'm fine, I tried to hit the ground to avoid the dog, so I have some bumps from that, but it didn't touch me. Anyway, it ran off once it got hit. Back that way." Paige points back behind her, in the same direction as Hyde. "I didn't bother trying to go after it. No way I was going to be able to catch it, and what the heck would I do if I did? Get mauled, probably. So I just stayed here to wait for you." She looks up at the officer closest to her, which is still Sergeant Young, "Mind if I stand up?" Sidewalk's not exactly comfortable.
"Right," murmurs James under his breath, nodding decisively to the two of them before glancing over his shoulder to the squad car in the distance. To the side, he lightly inhales and looks to where the dog had disappeared to. He then looks back forward and down the opposite end of the street another patrol car approaches, and then another. They park closer and approach, by that point with Sheppard holstering his sidearm and moving to the one woman with the children that had been pointed out. That leaves Young with these two. "I'm going to need some form of identification," not that he figures the either of them are in trouble, since it's the opposite, but he's also moving to collect Paige's things from the ground and assist her with them.
Hyde reaches for his waist, allowing his fingers to momentarily brush past the hilt of his pistol before reaching into his back pocket and producing a leather wallet. A bit more shuffling reveals his driver's license. He doesn't hesitate in handing it over. "Yes, officer," he grunts obediently, though he doesn't look all to pleased with it.
"Oh sure." Once Paige's been given the go-ahead, she pops up to her feet, taking a minute to brush off her pants, looking back around, "I think I sat in oil. I hope it's oil." A shrug, as she offers the Sergeant a smile, and takes her things, zipping open the top of the bag, just after she comments, "I suppose I could have hit him with this," she jams the wiffle ball bat into the top of her bag, "But then I'd have to bang the dents out of it again." Once her things are all in order, she pulls an ID wallet out of her back pocket and hands over her driver's license. "Thank you for the help, you didn't have to."
James stands up just so that he can collect the both of their identification and after giving a patient once over he looks from Hyde to Paige before offering them back. It doesn't take much to remember a name and face and he's turning to signal over the other officers of the area. "Stay here, please, this won't take long," he flashes a brief, reassuring smile before taking the handful of steps it takes to discuss things with the other officers. They then swap positions with the other officer approaching the pair in order to continue idle questioning and debrief of the situation, Young begins to skulk after where the dog had disappeared to with flashlight and pistol in hand.
