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Chapter 2 - 'We have a 10-67.'

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Monday, August 22nd, 2011
Moon Phase – Last Quarter
8:57 p.m.

Taking a swig of water from a bottle in his backpack, Alex sat with his arms folded over his motorcycle's handlebars while he waited for Nathan to get his camcorder. Both it and his phone were capable of recording video in 720p, a standard video resolution for most amateur skateboarding videos, but the camcorder was better built for getting dim backgrounds. With the Last Quarter moon and fluorescent lights as their only illumination tonight, it was the better option.

Turning his head as the evening breezes blew over him again, he heard the front door of his friend's house open and the two were soon on their way to the local skatepark. While it had once been a basketball court, local interest had gotten the city to rebuild it several years back after the installation of a steel fence around the pavilion.

Turning onto the road leading to the park, Alex found a parking space as close to the park as possible and shut the engine of his bike off. As his hand finished removing the cold key from the warmed ignition, he opened his helmet's visor to a high pitched sound off in the distance. Being somewhat muffled by the helmet kept him from hearing exactly what it was, but he stopped moving anyway and listened, wondering what he'd just heard.

“Hey. What's up?” Nathan asked as he parked his sedan.

“I thought I heard something off that way.” Alex replied, pointing to where he thought he heard the sound after taking his helmet off.

“At the school?”

“No idea. I couldn't hear it very well.”

Shrugging once, Nathan replied. “Probably nothing.”

Mimicking his friend's gesture, the two made their way to the park entrance but as Alex grabbed the cold steel in his hands, the sound came to him again. It was again brief but this time it sounded human, and the chill it sent up his spine was worrying. “Oh, c***.”

“I heard that too.” Nathan said before he began running off in the direction of the sound.

Now certain it was a scream he had heard, Alex followed his friend closely, their heads turning in all directions as they went, watching for anything out of the ordinary amidst the empty lots. Inside his chest his heart was already pounding out of fear and the fresh rush of adrenaline caused by it, a sharp 180 from how he had felt just two minutes ago. Even if this turned out to be nothing major, his body was already prepared for the worst, the cold air of the evening in each breath he took chilling his lungs.

Passing by one of the empty baseball fields, Alex diverted from Nathan to check it. Stopping short of running into the chain link fence, he scanned the field and saw nothing there, returning to running in the same direction as before. His breaths were coming faster now, each one sucking up a lot of cold air. Shrugging off the frosty feeling in his lungs, he kept his eyes darting around looking for what caused the noise, but with his pace now lessened.

Hearing Nathan shout a “Hey!” into the silent evening caused him to become distracted from looking around but upon checking, the sound wasn't directed at anyone. The areas around them were still silent, aside from their footfalls on the concrete and grass. Still, he knew what his friend was trying to do and decided to follow up.

“You better run.” Alex ended his sentence explicitly, hoping whoever was causing the noise would bolt.  “Nothing?” he then asked.

“No. You?” Nathan replied, his own pace greatly reduced.

“Slow down. Catch your breath.” Alex replied, causing his friend to stop running. He took several fast gasps, slowing his breathing each time despite how fast and hard his heart was now beating. His muscles felt tense and rich like he could still run another half mile, but his lungs were starting to sting from the sudden takeoff and cold air.

“It's got to be here somewhere.”

“I'll go ahead. Follow me.” Alex said, starting off again as soon as he felt less winded. He could hear Nathan's footfalls against the concrete behind him, which were still slower than before but fast enough to keep up. Looking around again as he passed one of the buildings near a swimming pool, Alex still saw nothing and stopped again near another building by the pool.

As he caught his breath, Nathan passed him and walked towards the grassy field. Even with his head down, he could see him act like he was focusing on something in the distance. “Over there.” Looking up, Alex saw what looked like a person lying in the grass near the largest of the baseball fields, their legs and arms barely moving as they seemed to be trying to crawl away from something. His heartrate jumped again as he realized this was who the screaming had come from, but both he had Nathan had yet to see the worst of it.

Alex let his body relax for only a second before he took the initiative again, rushing to get to the person's side ahead of Nathan. He couldn't tell who it was, but as he drew closer, the bright floodlights that showered the area nearby let him see the blood trail that they had been leaving in the grass. It wasn't until he came withing a few feet of the person that he saw how horrifying the situation really was. The victim was a young female, gasping and choking while holding her still bleeding stomach and trying not to scream or cry as she did so. The left side of her face and her left arm were lined with gashes that were also bleeding.

Alex froze where he stood when he saw the girl, unsure of what to do as she looked up at them, obviously holding back from breaking down in pain. He wanted to help, but had no idea of what to do beyond calling for help.

“Keep her company.” Nathan said, patting his friend's shoulder once.

“What?” Alex replied. “What can I do?”

“Anything. Just...help her.”

Now trembling from his chest to his legs, Alex agreed as soon as Nathan dialed 911 on his phone. The only thing he could think of to do however was trying to talk to her. Whatever good it could do he was about to find out. Walking up to the girl, his heart thundering in his chest, his eyes were again drawn to the injuries she had before he shook himself off of it. He wasn't watching a movie here.

Crouching in the grass nearby, he spoke to her as calmly as he could, even with his own voice shaking. “We're here to help. You'll be OK.”

“Thanks, but...” the girl's sentence was cut off when again she held back a cry of pain.

“Hey. Stay calm.” Alex held himself back from directly touching her, though his arm went out towards her when she cringed. “We'll get you to a hospital...and you'll be fine.”

“No. I'll heal.”

The response was one Alex didn't expect, but he didn't respond to it. He had a bad feeling this girl was traumatized by whatever happened. Even so and as odd as it was, hearing her trying to act brave, or disguise fear, by saying such a thing helped him calm down also. “Can you tell me your name?”

The girl nodded but coughed once more, this time drawing and spraying a bit of blood from her mouth. Alex recoiled a bit from it, but didn't stand up. “Angela...”

Cutting her off before she gave her last name, Alex refrained from trying to grab her left hand, even though he wanted to. “Angela, we will get you to a hospital. Just stay with us.” Looking over to Nathan, he called out to him. “Anything yet?”

“Almost.” Nathan replied, quickly going back to answering the phone.

“They'll come, and you'll be fine.” Alex said.

“Not with him around.” Angela's eyes were now shut tight, letting a couple of tears roll down her face.
Alex didn't waste any time asking about what she said. “Who? Who did this?” Angela didn't answer, instead gripping the grass with her one free hand. “You want to tell the police instead?”

“No.” Angela replied, sounding upset this time. “I don't...want the police.”

Alex swallowed his tongue for a second. Was he pushing her? “No.” he though. It had to be Angela's reaction to being torn up so badly that was making her act like this, but either way it was better to stop her from getting hysterical. “OK, OK. I'll stop. Uh...”

“Alex, they're on the way.” Nathan said. “ETA's five minutes, and they said to keep her warm.”

“Got it.” Unbuttoning his denim jacket and exposing himself to the chilling cold of the evening, Alex set the jacket down softly on Angela, trying not to touch any of her open wounds. She flinched once and nearly made him jump as he did so, but the jacket was soon over her. “That any better?”

“Much.” Angela said. “Thanks.”

Alex choked back a tear of his own upon hearing that. “Anything to help.” Looking down over Angela, Alex's hand crept over to hers. “What am I doing?” he thought, taking his hand back. As he did so, he saw Angela's arm jerk once. Figuring it was just another reaction from her, he then heard her breathing starting to sound a bit shallow. “Angela? You OK?”

She didn't answer. Alex asked again, but all he heard from her was her breathing getting shallower, to the point where she was acting like she was gasping for air. Grabbing her hand, his heart rate shot up as he felt how cold her flesh was. “Oh, s***. Nathan!” Alex shouted.

“What?”

“She's going into shock. Help me.” As his friend ran to his side, dropping his phone in the process, Alex struggled to recall what he was supposed to do. “Aw, c***. Angela.”

“What are we supposed to do?” Nathan asked, his own tone growing more worried as Angela's breathing kept up its shallow sound.

“Stop the blood loss, but...”

“From where? She's got cuts all over her.”

“I know that.” Alex snapped. Quickly apologizing to his friend, he gripped Angela's hand harder before he remembered that they should elevate her legs. “Get her legs up. Use my backpack.”

“And then what?” Nathan asked as he set up the pack.

“Just make sure she keeps breathing. That's all we can do.”

When Nathan replied that he didn't know CPR, Alex's growing panic worsened; he was trained in CPR for dogs, not people. Still holding Angela's hand, he asked her to try and stay strong. The sounds of sirens in the distance were a massive relief for both him and Nathan, who was watching Angela as well at this point. He wasn't as panicky as Alex was, but his arms were trembling as he watched.

As the sirens began to be accompanied by lights flashing in the distance, Alex felt Angela's hand go limp in his. Looking down at her, she was still silently shedding tears but her breathing was starting to cease. “No.” he said as his heart began to sink and his arms felt weak. “Angela, stay with us. You'll be OK.” Nathan swore out loud as Alex's eyes watered even more and his voice started to crack.

When the paramedics finally arrived, they swarmed the dying Angela in a group of four, all of them giving out orders and naming off things that she was going to need. Pacing nearby, Alex was trembling from his arms to his legs, unable to focus on anything besides the medical teams. Nathan stood against a nearby fence in the meantime, taking slow breaths to keep himself calm.

They had done everything they could, and what good it could bring was up to the professionals now, but Alex could still feel the icy texture of Angela's hand in his flesh. Watching the paramedics load her onto the gurney, unable to tell if she was alive or dead, his phone began to ring from his pocket. Refusing to answer it, he heard someone nearby address him indirectly.

“Excuse me.” From the uniform the person was wearing, it was a police lieutenant. “I'm Lieutenant Hill. Are you the ones who called this in?” asked the female officer. Alex nodded once, with a confirmation from Nathan. “Are you OK with me asking you a few questions?”

“Yeah...sure.” Alex replied trying to hold back from publicly acting upset.

“Hey, it's alright. They're doing everything they can...”

“So were we.” Nathan replied.

“Will she make it?” Alex asked. Hill didn't answer for a while, and in his mind he had a good idea why not: He and Nathan had been watching her die, despite what they had tried to do to save her. With his fingers digging through his hair as the ambulance departed, he tried to imagine some way that Angela would make it out of this alive.

“Would you guys follow me, please? I just need a few brief questions answered then you can leave.” Following Hill back to her cruiser, Nathan and Alex took some time to relax, with Nathan taking Hill's questions first. The usual questions of what they did and what they saw came first,

“We found her at about 9:02, the same time I called.” Nathan said in response to one of Hill's questions.

“Was anyone else around?”

“No. Just us, but she looked like she was crawling away from something.”

“Any idea what?”

Nathan shook his head, and then turned to Alex. “Did she tell you anything?”

“Not really.” Alex replied. “All she said was 'Not with him around'. She didn't tell me who attacked her.”

Hill's expression shifted to one that in line with worry. “Did anyone try to approach you while you were helping her, or did you hear anything?”

“No. We were alone the entire time.”

“I see. In that case, would you mind if I followed you both home?”

“What for?” Nathan asked.

Alex replied first. “Because of Angela's statement. That means you're concerned for our safety, right?”

Hill nodded at that. “Yeah. I need to be sure your folks are aware of this, and I'll be keeping in touch as well.”

Alex nodded at the statement as did Nathan, and the three were soon on their way. Following behind his friend with the evening air whipping over his arms and chest, Alex couldn't help but think about what he had seen, if not what he would have seen if the paramedics hadn't stepped in and taken over. Saying goodbye to his friend once they arrived at his house, Alex continued on to his home on Hitherfield several streets over. Having a police officer following him was unsettling in its own way, despite his Dad being a lieutenant himself, but Hill wasn't trying to arrest him. She was just accompanying him home. No more, no less.

Pulling in ahead of Hill, Alex parked his motorcycle and joined him as he rang the front doorbell. Inside, he heard Bailey starting to bark in response to the sound. Hearing his pet was enough to get him to crack a smile again and as soon as the door opened, all 70 pounds of German Shepard were jumping up to see him. At the same time, his father, David Stryker, stood in the doorway. From the way he was dressed, the doorbell had gotten him up from an evening nap on the recliner. “Evening, Sarah. Is something wrong?”

“I'm afraid so. Alex and a friend of his, I believe it was Nathan, they called into dispatch earlier tonight. They found someone badly mauled and bleeding, and I think he's pretty shaken up.”

Without missing a beat, David looked over to his son. “Alex, c'mon inside. I need to talk to Officer Hill alone.”

Nodding again, Alex coaxed Bailey inside with him. Even though he could do so, he didn't want to listen in on the outside conversation and instead let Bailey lick his face a bit to let him get off some energy. “That's my boy.” Grabbing Bailey around his furry neck, Alex rubbed his head between his ears and ordered him to follow back to his room. At just over three years of age, Bailey obeyed orders nearly as well as any police dog, something Alex had taken into consideration several times before. In this case, getting Bailey to growl at his friends once in a while, which had gotten him some ugly looks from Catherine and Nathan.

“Man, am I glad to see you.” Rubbing his pet's head once again before heading to freshen up, Bailey flopped onto his back on the bed, expecting a belly rub. When it didn't come, he followed Alex to the restroom and diligently sat at his side awaiting it. His master had other ideas, though. Looking in the mirror, Alex noticed how red his face still was from holding back so many tears, and a few flecks of blood from one of Angela's earlier coughs. Hoping some cold water would fix it he splashed his face with some, but all it did was make it slightly harder to see that he had been crying. 

“Alex,” Looking behind him, his mother, Alyssa, was standing in the doorway. “Why did you ring the doorbell?”

“Wasn't me. One of Dad's colleagues did.”

His mother's eyes widened some. “You...”

“No, no. I didn't do anything. I...found something.”

“What exactly?”

Alex shook his head once. “I don't want to talk about it right now.”

“Well, is he still outside?”

“She and I think so, yeah.” As his mother departed, Bailey let out a small woof to draw his gaze. “Yeah, yeah. I know you want some more attention, fuzz ball.” Giggling to himself, Alex finished freshening up before returning to his room. Bailey took to the bed well before he did, but he wasn't tired. With Angela's emergency still fresh on his mind, he just wanted to play with Bailey some and enjoy himself. Rubbing his sheets, Bailey stood back up and moved closer to him, his expression blank and giving no warning that he was about to start licking his face.

“Hey, boy, calm down.” Alex said, laughing as his pet continued to slather his face with saliva. Pushing him back a bit, he scratched his face and head between the ears to calm him, moving the back of his pelt afterwards. “Good boy.” Bailey gave a slight woof in response as if to say thank you and laid down on the sheets, his head plopping down over the edge as well. Looking outside as he continued to scratch Bailey's head, Alex noticed the headlights from Sergeant Hill's cruiser switch on as the engine turned over in the background. The front door opened soon after, but he hoped his folks would just let him go to bed instead of making him talk about what he had seen. 

When they came to the doorway, his mother spoke first. “Alex, do you...”

“No, Mom. I don't.” Alex replied without hesitation. “I don't want to think about it anymore than I have to.”

“Son, you can talk to us about it.” David said. “You two did the right thing.”

“I know that Dad, but just humor me. Tomorrow I'll talk.”

“Isn't Nathan talking to his parents about this?”

“I don't know. Maybe after I left, but...look, let's just leave for now. Alright? I really don't want to talk about this.”

“OK. We'll talk tomorrow, then.”

Nodding his thanks, Alex hugged his folks before he crawled in bed himself. At first, he truly didn't want to think about what had happened, but as he lay in the bed stroking Bailey some more, he thought to text Nathan and ask if he was OK. Reaching for his phone, he got the messenger open and typed up a quick text for him to answer. “Are you OK, man?

While waiting for a reply from him, Bailey took the opportunity to lie down in front of Alex, his hot breath now blowing in his face before he rested his huge head on his paws again. As if he knew his master was upset, he let out a few short groans and looked at him with his huge brown eyes. “Nothing gets past you, does it boy?” Scratching his dog's ears again, the telltale sound of a message reply got him to look at the screen. “I'm fine. U?

I'm managing.” Alex texted back.

Good. I'm gonna sleep. Talk to you later.

Same here. Later.” Hanging up the phone Alex wrapped up for the night, hoping some sleep would help him vent or restrain some of the sadness he still felt.
Chapter 2 of Werewolf Tale

The police code of 10-67 is for animal activity, but to my knowledge there is none for animal attacks or maulings.

(Story and all characters are copyright of Adam Gulledge/SilverWerewolf09)

Chapter 1 - ([link])
Chapter 3 - ([link])
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