Glencoe Park
Glencoe Park isn't the largest in the area, but it's still fairly sizable. The grass is in a perpetually well-trimmed state, shining a healthy green year round. Near the southern entrance to the park is a playground cluster filled with swings, a merry-go-round, seesaws, huge forts, and a jungle-gym. Not too far from the playground are fields for both rugby and softball, enclosed by wire fences so that children don't run haphazardly onto the fields. Further into the park is a walking path through a small forested area.
The hour is late. Unbearably so. Quinn left about an hour ago, and it took an hour for Scarlett to figure out what was going on and figure out where Hyde might be, for her to get the courage to come out here, and well, psych herself up to getting into the car.
At this point it's about two, maybe three in the morning. The moon is still large in the sky, only a few clouds filtering over it every so often. A bright, warm summer night.
Wandering through the second park in the last hour, she's taking deep breaths. "Please be here, please be here, please be here…" Then she stops at the edge of the forest, "Hyde?"
-
Hyde is not here. But something is. An inhumane groan, frantic and terrifying and down-right bone-chilling, can be heard vaguely throughout the forest. The sounds of something straining, straining against the ancient woods of the forest. And then, finally, one loud, metallic snap.
But then, the forest is back to silence. The eerie sort of silence, that gives one the impression that something out there? It's watching Scarlett's every move.
-
"Awww, shit." A glance up to the sky, but considering the time? Scarlett thought it would be over. She really, honestly did. The snap? Sends a chill down her spine. She starts to slowly back away from the woods, then changes tact and stands her ground. She can nullify him with her magic if need be.
"Please be Hyde," she says to the silence that's just making everything all the more eerie. "I uhh… need to talk to you. I can wait, but you're not answering my damned calls, and this is important!"
-
The leaves behind Scarlett rustle. Then there's the panting of a creature, as out of nowhere really, the furry abomination that used to be known as Hyde reveals himself. Large, intimidating, and despite the fact that he walks on hind legs? Not a bit of him human. There's something in the creatures large, shining eyes as it stares at Scarlett.
That something is hunger.
-
Behind her?!? Scarlett starts at that. How can she not? She was expecting a full on frontal attack. "Don't make me get a newspaper and swat your nose. I will." Only by newspaper, she likely means very large stick. With a gulp as she faces the creature, she takes a deep breath. "I'm not a chewtoy." Then, the scaredy witch that she is, blanches and leaps for the nearest tree, using only a hint of the wind to boost her up. Arms catch onto the first limb and she starts to pull herself up.
"Okay, so this was a bad idea but I'm not."
-
The movement. It's like blood in the water to a shark. The werewolf snarls, leaping forward as Scarlett manages to pull herself up on that tree branch, its sharp, predatorial claws merely a few scant inches from slicing through her calves. But it is a creature of determination, it is. The fact that she's momentarily out of reach doesn't hamper it. Instead, it looks around, before full on charging the tree branch. Superhuman strength means that the tree trunk is shoken violently with the exertion given.
-
He's forgetting her ability to levitate, but then again, for the moment so is Scarlett. "Hyde," oh please oh please be Hyde! "Stop it! It's me. It's Scarlett." She takes a deep breath. "You know, I don't even know if you're going to remember this, but we're not pregnant." And cling to the tree she does, as though for dear life. Even though she starts to topple, she's hugging the branch as tightly as she can.
-
There is a momentary pause, the barest of hesitation once he hears his name. But then the creature overrides the man, and she wins a breath curling growl in response. On his ankle? She ought to be able to see the chains that have recently been broken. He begins to move, trying to shake her out of the tree yet again.
-
Chains? Scarlett cringes, then bites her lip. "Damnit. I'm not telling you again, Surly! So you listen to me now. We're not. False alarm. And you'd better call me come morning, or else." She's not sure what that 'or else' entails, but it sounds pretty nasty. This time when he shakes the tree, she goes falling right out of it. She hits the ground with a bounce, and a groan. "Christ I hope that's not my arm again…"
-
Scarlett needs to realize that this isn't Hyde. This is a monster, who would like nothing more than to chew on her flesh and rip her apart. Proving this would be the fact that, the moment Scarlett thuds to the floor, the creature lunges forward with a feral cry, one arm up in the air, ready to crush Scarlett's skull in, end her struggle and her life…
But maybe, just maybe, Hyde is in that creature. Because when the hand falls down, it falls directly to the left of Scarlett's face, missing her completely. Impossible, considering the blow should have landed…but it didn't.
-
There is a shriek, and then… nothing. The blow didn't hit. Scarlett stares at the monster that is her boyfriend. Stares at it hard and good. Trying to lock on eye contact. "Hyde," she whimpers, not being strong at all at this point. "Just… when you change back come home. We need to talk." Maybe, if she's lucky, he'll let her go. Maybe. She's not holding her breath on it, but she is trying to appeal to his human nature.
-
It isn't Hyde. Or…it is. It's Mr. Hyde - a monster. Her plea? It sits for a moment, before the creature leans closer to her face to roar in a deafening fashion at her. The breath from his mouth is rancid. And then it moves it's paw once again, this time its reinforced claws digging into the woman's shoulder. But just as it moves to deliver the death blow…
Another cry from the creature, as it throws itself away from the young woman. It makes a motion that looks vaguely familiar to him clutching at his head in pain. Groggily, the creature stumbles into the nearby tree he threw Scarlett off of, before heading out into the clearing.
And then, a shirtless, native American male jumps out of the shadows, staring at Hyde's retreating back. In his hand - a tranquilizer. "Hurry," he murmurs to the woman. "Get out of here, before it returns."
-
Those are going to sting in the morning, those claw marks. Scarlett is not worried about them now. What she's worried about is a guy, with a freaking gun aimed at her boyfriend. There are a few deep breaths taken, and then she yells at the man, "Did you just shoot my boyfriend? I… seriously? I swear to god if he's dead…" The anger isn't helping keep her powers in check, thankfully there's nothing afire that she can use to throw at him. She instead starts to pull a bit of moisture out of the air, trying to form it into a waterball of sorts.
"Don't kill him." An order? A plea? A bit of both, really.
-
The man barely looks at Scarlett. "Get out," he growls once again. "He cannot control himself at this moment! Do you want him to have to suffer through waking in the morning, knowing that he ripped you apart, limb from limb?" The air is sniffed by the native, and finally dark eyes settle upon Scarlett. Narrowed. "Go home witch. The creature is fine. But you are not, and your blood will not sate his appetite."
-
When she hears that Hyde will be fine, she nods. That's all she cares about right now. If he's fine, she'll be fine. She turns to go, the water dissipating as she does. She got lucky. Very lucky. She glances back over her shoulder at the man and then bites her lip. "Just tell him I came looking for him, please." Then she's happy enough to leave. But not before sending a little rustle of wind through the leaves to make herself seem at a greater distance to the wolf (or wolves?) in question, so that she can get out of the park safely — maybe something she should have thought about when she came in.
