Hightailin

[Lovely]

June 10, 2008
11:40pm
follows: Shaken


Cady had made the mistake of stepping out to try to make it to the mini mart two blocks from their house before it closed at midnight. Her roommate was pregnant and she had eaten all the pickles in the apartment and needed more - RIGHT NOW-. Cady had been gracious enough to make the quick trip to help ease the other girl's craving, but she had barely made it to the corner before the two 'men' had jumped her. Everything happened so quickly, even for her with her sharp reflexes and senses, she was dragged into the alley though she didn't make the task easy. At first it seemed obvious that they were like her, but in the course of trying to fight them off, she'd noticed things that didn't make sense to her. So far she'd gotten her share of blows in on them and they sported a few fresh claw marks but one got ahold of her by the throat and slammed her into the brick wall. He was tall enough that she was held off the ground, her feet swinging out to kick at him as he and his 'friend' discussed what to do with her.

He knocked. There was no answer and he knocked louder. "Strike?? Hey man, open up!" The door didn't move and he heard nothing on the other side. It was as bad as it looked. He missed him altogether. He cursed up and down as he dug for his key and looked under the mat for the spare, not finding them. He went back around to the garage. If the car was there, then... It didn't matter. The car was gone and his brother wasn't answering his phone or the door. He put his feelers out, smelling the air and listening close. There were scents that he didn't understand. It wasn't just Striker, but several people and a chaos he hadn't sensed since he'd woken up from a heavy sweat. That was only the night before. He couldn't smell anything in the rough dreams, but he wondered if this was what it was about and why his brother was gone. He looked at the single bar left on his phone. That wasn't going to last him long. He needed a pay phone or he needed to bust a window and make sure. His ears pricked to the sounds of voices somewhere down the alley and he listened closer, sure he'd heard growls. "Strike?" He asked quietly, tentatively, mostly to himself in a moment of worried caution. Now was not a time to be starting fights in the street. He sighed and looked around, seeing no one near the garage. His bike should be okay a few minutes, right? He puts those keys in his pocket and went toward the voices, wishing he had something in his hand besides pocket lint, his phone and the keys. He could use the phone at the corner store anyway. If it was just kids, he could ignore them and move on. If it wasn't, he was going to have to use a little more than the tools in his pocket. He unzipped his jacket, ready to throw it off if he needed to.

It wasn't kids. He pushed his jacket off, tossing it against the wall of the alley as he got closer and saw the guys with some poor girl about to get a whole lot more than a loaf of bread for her trouble. She was clearly unhappy and was also clearly different than the men suspected. He caught the scent again and began to see red. She was angry, frightened, hurt, and different... different like him. The blood was mixed, some hers and some theirs. She was fighting hard and losing, he gathered, seeing her kick her feet loosely off the ground. She flailed against her attacker and he came up behind him, a heavy slashing paw wrapping the man's throat and slicing clean through it. "She's not interested," he growled at the mortally wounded man as he fell back and let go of the girl. He turned his attention on the other man and gave him little chance to think about running. "Don't run," he said to the girl, looking at her quickly with a flash of deep red in his eyes she was sure to see. He dove after the other man in less than a breath, tumbling him to the ground beside his friend.

[Lovely]

Cady was no where near giving up the fight, even if she wasn't winning and was being held up by a choking grip around her throat that made it hard to breathe. Suddenly she was released and dropped to the ground with a slight grunt as she hit the asphalt, she heard the words uttered by the man who came to her aide and watched as he quickly took care of the second attacker. She rolled away from the man who'd held her, staring at him as he gasped and gurgled, choking out his last breaths. Her nose crinkled up at the foul ordor which came from him and then from his friend as he fell beside the first. She slowly got to her feet and watched her rescuer with a wary gaze, she'd seen the red in his eyes and the damage he'd done couldn't be done by a normal man.. his scent wasn't easy to pull from reaking stench that came from the other two but she was sure -he- was like her. She didn't run though she thought about it, instinct made her listen and kept her there in the alley, her hand lifting to push her hair away from her face.

He stood up and tipped his head, his own neck popping as the paws retreated to normal hands, stained red and sticky from their quick work. He'd kept from changing completely and he was sure these two weren't getting up soon. They smelled like the scuffle at Striker's door. This was no accidental meeting. They'd been waiting for her, it seemed. He turned his own nose at the scent of the dribbling, gurgling mess and reached out for her. "Wherever you were going, you're not now. We've got to go," he insisted.

The same sort of instinct that had told her the others were dangerous the second they appeared from out of the shadows, told her to go with him. Beyond that he was a strong male who had just defeated two others to protect her, the animal in her recognised that in a way that had her moving toward him without any protest or thought of what she was leaving behind. Cady nodded and only paused to scoop up her purse that she'd dropped in the scuffle, letting him get ahold of her if that's what he wanted and moving in the direction he guided her.

He led her back toward Striker's house. He needed to study the scents there and they needed to leave fast. Striker wasn't blowing him off - he was hightailing it out of town. "They know, which means others are close," he said over his shoulder as he walked fast but didn't run. He pulled his jacket up from the ground and fished his keys back out. "Do you have a phone on you?"

His words made her stumble a step, her eyes widened slightly as she turned to look over her shoulder toward the men they left behind in the alley. "What others... why?" She asked softly, confused as to what they had been and what they wanted with her, a few of their comments shifted through her thoughts and she repressed a soft growl. She dug her phone out of her purse and reached to hand it to him, she was keeping up with him pretty well despite the one stumble.

"Hunters, more or less. They're looking for us... ones like us. Were there any others?" He asked as he took her phone and tried to dial his brother again. He didn't think Striker would answer if he didn't recognize the number, but maybe he'd answer a message. He looked at the screen and closed the phone, giving it back. The call wasn't going through at all now. Something was definitely up.

"Hunters!?" She echoed in a hiss of a whisper, her face registering the shock and confusion as her head shook a little. "Hunters.. why?" She felt like she was stammering like an idiot but she was just that thrown by the thought of hunters coming after her. She'd always been careful.. "How did they know? There were only the two of them. They came out of the shadows like one second they weren't there and the next they were.." She put the phone back into her purse and then flexed her fingers to try to keep from clenching them into a fist.

He didn't seem concerned about covering his tracks with the bodies. That should have concerned her just as much. It was just like the dream, the way she described them walking out of shadows, as if they'd been part of them. They smelled far too foul to be normal human, either. "I know," he said, leaving it at that. The garage hadn't been far and he pointed out the bike and for her to get on. "You take the helmet," he said, pulling it off the back to hand to her.

She wondered how he knew but didn't ask, she just took the helmet from him, she felt getting away from here was more important than chatting about it. She adjusted her skirt the best she could and pulled the strap of her purse over to her other shoulder so it hung across her chest and rested at the opposite hip. She had only tossed on a light zip up hoodie over her tank top to walk to the store and was glad for her natural warmth as she got on the bike.

[Lovely]

June 11, 2008
night


He offered his jacket for her to wear. He was too wound up to notice the chill even once they hit the highway and wouldn't need it. He wanted to stay ready to run if he needed to - or fight. "Put it in the bag if you want to," he'd said.

Harlan didn't even give a name let alone an explanation. He wanted to give her and himself the peace of mind of several miles of road, somewhere the dream hadn't taken him, someplace he didn't think they would be followed if he didn't even know where he was. The tank was starting to get low now and he had to consider staying on the main roads or going out of range while Striker might try to reach him. They were going to need to stop for gas and form a plan.

There weren't many places to turn off the road. One pale-lit sign marked the parkland's road to a campsite meant for silver, cigar-shaped trailers and styrofoam coolers full of pop-tabbed beer. He turned in and slowed at the main entrance. While the sign had been updated recently with solar power, the shack at the front of the camp hadn't seen an update or a window washer in twenty years or more. It was after-hours and no lights were on to meet them, but he wondered if that was the reason or that the campground really wasn't open for some reason, even at the height of what should be camping season. He didn't see anyone or even smell any recent campfires. He wondered what her nose might pick up once he rolled up behind the shack, hidden from the road for now, and shut off the engine.

Cady hadn't asked questions when they took off together, not that she really could as they rode on the loud rumbling bike, behind him. What answers she'd gotten before they rode off would have to keep her until they stopped. As the hours passed, she began to wonder if they ever would, she held on around his waist and let her thoughts run over and over the events leading up to this ride. They pulled up to the campground and she was grateful for the stop, and the chance for a breath of fresh air, she'd been wearing the awkward helmut that made her feel off balance when she tried to turn her head to keep the wind off her face. Once the bike stopped, she pulled the helmut off and nearly dropped it, but held onto it since it wasn't hers. "Please tell me I don't have to keep wearing this thing." She sighed and let her head drop back a little to breathe in deeply of the air around them.

He got off the bike and reached for the helmet and to help her get her bearings. "No. Don't worry about it. I might need you to help me without it. You smell anything weird about this place?" He looked around and stepped up to the road that led deeper into the grounds and the winding wooded area away from the entrance.

"Thanks." She smiled at him a little and slid off the bike, her legs felt wobbly after being vibrated for hours upon hours. "Give me a minute." She stepped around the bike and took in a breath with each step, letting herself stretch a little too. "I don't smell anything.. out of the ordinary, the trees, the river.. that sort of thing."

She could smell the river. He smiled back. "Exactly. Earth, water, wood... no fire? Not a recent one, anyway. Either they're banning them in this park, or there's hardly anyone here - if anyone at all. Good place to stop for a while, anyway. At least I hope so. Harley, by the way," he said over his shoulder as he started to walk down the path a little more. He couldn't have been talking about his bike since it wasn't one.

She was doing her best to pull her skirt down and unbunch it as she stepped and stretched, it wasn't very long but had been pushed up with the way she sat behind him. It felt good to move and though her legs felt odd from being on the bike so long, she didn't think she was bad off. Hungry as heck since they hadn't eaten the last time they stopped for gas, she didn't know much about bikes and mileage but figured for the distance they went between stops it was pretty good. It had been over a day since the attack and this was the first time they'd spoken to each other, it seemed like they were on auto pilot until now. "Um.. okay..?" Was all she really said as she watched him walk off, she agreed with most of what he'd said but wondered whether he was planning to dump her here and take off? He didn't seem like he cared very much now that the fight was over and left far behind them, she hadn't questioned her instinct to follow him before but was certainly questioning it now. "I guess I'll wait here?" She murmured, looking around and back at him as she rubbed her hands over the arms of her light sweatshirt.