Shaken

[Lovely]

June 10, 2008
after 9pm

Sue had seen the incident and then Tasa leave the club very upset, she was worried since it was so unlike Tasa to get upset at all when it came to things like this. She was normally unshakable and she was very shaken when she left, it was more like fleeing. Because she was worried Sue checked the book and found the number for Tasa's boyfriend, she dialed and waited.

"Striker... what's up?" The voice was neutral and calming with a hint of curiosity. He didn't check the number since he was driving or he'd have seen it was Tasa's work where he was heading to pop in for some pretzels and a hug or two.

"ah.. hi.. It's Sue from the bar.." She identified herself and her nervousness showed in her voice, she was afraid of Tasa getting mad at her for calling. She felt almost like she was tattling.

"Sue! Sweet Sue... how are you?" He had no idea why she'd call him and he checked his watch. Tasa had to be at work already. "Everything okay? Working hard?"

She blushed as he called her sweet and laughed a little. "Yeah.. working hard." She licked her lips and sighed. "Um.. no, actually everything is not okay... Tasa just left. Some guy.. he grabbed her arm and I don't know what he said to her but.. I've never seen her so upset.. she was really shaken up."

"What guy?" Striker's voice iced over as did his gaze out the windshield. He sped up a little. She worked in a club, after all, and people grabbing anything they could wasn't unusual, but Sue was right that Tasa usually shrugged it off... and vented later to him, but never left because of it. "Is he still there? Drunk or just stupid?"

"Um.. just stupid I think, he hadn't been in here long enough to be drunk.. I don't think he even ordered a drink. I don't know who he was, not a local or anyone I recognise." She looked out on the floor of the club and didn't see the guy. "No, he's not here anymore."

"Did she say anything to you before she left? Did she tell you anything strange today? Not trying to put you on the witness stand here, but I need to know if anything else weird happened."

There was a pause as Sue considered what to tell him. "Well.. you know she's not one to complain.. she's tough and she wouldn't be happy if I told you.. but I will.. She was acting kind of funny, She seemed kind of shaky when she got here but said she was tired that she hadn't gotten much sleep, had a bad nightmare.. She didn't give me any details and you probably know more than me. When she was ducking out back.. she said something.. about him being one of them? She looked terrified."

"Appreciated, Sue. Gotta go. If she calls you or anything else weird happens, call me, okay?" He wasn't entirely listening anymore the moment she'd said "them". Whoever they were, Tasa had it in her head that they were after her and none of it made any sense to him. The phone snapped closed and he didn't hear whatever Sue had said - as long as she'd heard him. He took the next turn to head to the apartment instead, hoping that's where she'd gone, but he was supposed to be her ride home. He watched to see if he could see her and cracked the window down in case he caught something in the wind.

[Lovely]

Scarlet had fled from the bar without thinking it through as good as she should have, if she had she would have realized staying put till Striker came to get her was a wiser choice. The guy followed her from the club and she was aware he was there within a few minutes.. what followed was like being in a dream, in fact she had dreamed this very thing. Striker might catch her scent as he drove, making him aware of her panic and fear, he'd also pick up that of the 'man' chasing her. The scent was feral but sour and strange, male and malicious.

The wind was restless and making him anxious as he caught the occassional scent, not sure if it was her or his imagination working on the news of her reactions. "C'mon baby, what's going on, huh?" He spoke quietly to no one but the stereo he shut off to listen to the road and rolled his window down further, leaning out as he drove, and looking down the alley as he passed it. The scent was stronger the closer he was getting toward home. He took the turn early, hoping to see her and maybe cut off whoever was following her, if there was anything really more than shadows.

Scarlet's scream peeled out of the dark alley where she was being dragged, after the thing lunged at her and she was taken down hard, her head hit and her bare shoulder scraped on the sidewalk. The thing on top of her laughed and growled and Scarlet let out her own growl despite being as shaken as she was. She kicked and tried to push it off, the guy had shifted but he didn't look like a normal feral wolf. He bit her arm as she brought it up to fight him off and she punched at it's head, trying to get him to let go.

The scream was clear though the scent wasn't. Striker couldn't take the car down the alley fast enough and get to where she was. He'd have to take it on foot. He put the thing in park and grabbed the keys. If he was going to get a ticket, fine, but he wasn't giving anyone an easy get away on his rims. Running at an inhuman pace, he leapt up the trash piles and cleared the dumpster then over the retaining wall toward the sound of the scream, Tasa's scream, and whatever it was that had followed her. He slowed only enough to gauge the size and strength of the thing that had her pinned before going after it, pulling the blade from his boot as he dove at it.

Tasa wasn't giving up the struggle and it seemed the thing wasn't either until something collided with it. She cried out again as her arm was torn badly when Striker dove at the thing, she smelled her man and the relief washed through her. She rolled to get out of the way, her arm curled up to her chest as she came up on her knees and turned to see Striker going at the thing that attacked her. "In the eye!" She yelled to him to help him defeat the creature that had attacked her, more quickly.

The cheerleading he'd expected took a strange turn and confused him a moment. "The eye?" He didn't pause long. Once Tasa's pain and fear hit his nostrils, his icy stare focused on the shadowy creature and he aimed at the head and eye, punching hard with the blade. "Get to the car!" He yelled at her, throwing the keys toward her before grappling the thing by the neck to hold it off.

As soon as it was stabbed in the eye the thing would be dead, it flailed wildly, held back by the grip Striker had on it's neck. "I'm not leaving you!" Tasa yelled back, catching the keys with her good arm but not turning to run for the car.

The thing jerked and convulsed, trying to fling Striker off its back, but he held tighter, sinking his own claws into the neck and grabbing hard to snap it if if he could get a good hold. He slipped the blade out and made another stab to be sure. "Then get out of the way!" He didn't want to land on her if he got thrown and had no idea if it could still lurch forward after her. "What the hell is going on? What is this thing?" He grabbed hold enough to twist the head and felt the heavy crunch of snapping spine under his knees.

[Lovely]

Tasa moved and stared as Striker finished the thing off, it bucked and then went limp. She continued to stare at the thing even though it wasn't moving anymore, her expression was a mix of fear, astonishment, and disgust. "It's nothing.. just a dream.. right?" She looked like she was fighting tears and her gaze lifted to Striker. "It's not real.. Only it is and it came after me."

He jumped off the creature once it stopped fighting, not entirely sure it couldn't regenerate and start again. The blood on his hands and the blade told him it was plenty real. He cleaned off the blade on the arm of the creature before sliding it back in his boot, mopping his hands down on his jeans then reaching out for Tasa's hands to help her up. "It's real and we're getting you out of here."

"So I guess you believe me now?" She asked softly, taking his help without as much fuss as she would normally put up about something like this. There were no comments about beating him up if he told anyone she needed help or protests against needing help at all. Her arm was bleeding pretty good and she winced as she started to pull herself up , her hands gripping his tightly.

"When did I say I didn't believe you? I only said they were dreams, Tas. Messy, smelly dreams it turns out. Shit he got you good. Just your arm?" He looked her over to be sure and took a look around the alley. Both Tasa and the creature had let out a decent shriek and it wasn't going to be long before someone found them. "Can you walk, maybe climb?"

She just gave him a look about not believing her, so maybe he didn't say it outright but.. she didn't want to fight over it and they didn't have time to anyway. "I can walk.. not sure about climbing with this arm.. my arm is the worst.. got my shoulder and back scraped up and hit my head on the pavement.."

"Hey. Com'ere a sec," he said, pushing back the coldness and offering her a quick embrace and a kiss if she'd take it. "I got you, okay? We just need to go before any of his friends show up." He turned to point out the heap that wasn't a heap so much as a puddle of ... something... seeming to ooze away into the ground.

She went right into his arms, curling into his embrace and kissing him urgently like it might be the last time she'd taste his lips. She shuddered after they pulled apart and he pointed out the heap of ooze. "Don't let go." She murmured softly, her fingers curling into his shirt.

"I won't, okay? Well, except to drive. Piggyback? I'll get you over the wall and we'll go home, okay?" He ran his fingers through her hair as she clung to him.

Her face turned in toward him to breathe in his scent more deeply and take comfort from him. Her eyes closed a moment as he ran his fingers through her hair, she held him a little tighter for a moment before shifting under his arm and moving around to climb onto his back.

"Anything else you want to tell me about these things.. now would be a great time. I'm listening, believe me," he reassured her, though he was still tense and watching the shadows around them carefully.

[Lovely]

"More will come for me." She said quietly near his ear as she wrapped around him for the piggy back ride, her voice had a tremor of fear in it along with a tone of finality, she knew there would be more.

As soon as he was sure he had a good hold of her, he started off almost as quick as before. "Well they can't have you. You haven't told anyone at the club, have you? I mean, they don't know about us... that part, do they? It's been getting worse with the nightmares and now this? I really think you need a day job honey. This kind of shit doesn't happen to the coffee slingers at the house of eggs."

"The only thing I told anyone there was when I told Sue I was tired and hadn't slept much.. just that I had a nightmare. I never tell anyone.. anything really.. except you." She sighed and rested her chin on his shoulder. "This didn't happen because of where I work. It happened because of what I am."

"What you are is safe as long as you're with me, Tas. And exhausted. You have to get some rest. It's been over a week since you slept," he pointed out then a small grin curled his lip. "Though I can't say I mind staying up with you to take your mind off it. Wall - hold on, we're going over."

"I don't think it's safe to stay at the apartment.. if they found me at work, they'll find me there. I don't want you to get hurt trying to protect me. You saw what that thing did to me.. what if more than one comes at me next time?.. what if the things in my dream.. I'm scared." That was something she would never have admitted to anyone else or even to him before, Tasa was always trying to be tough and prided herself on being strong and independant. Striker was the only person she would allow into her deepest places and emotions.

"Okay. So, where do we go? The landlady's gonna shit if we break the lease, but that's not really important, not if that thing can do that to you in a heartbeat. She'll have to get over it, but that's a chunk of change we won't have to start someplace else. I'm all ears, here. We've got uncles, cousins...," he said, trying to figure out ideas though he wasn't thinking clearly while trotting to get them to the car and get them home.

"We hit the road and figure it out as we go? Maybe family.. maybe someplace else.." She was tired and it was hard to think about this, when it was a dream it was scary, now it was real and even more terrifying. "Do you trust me?"

The car was in sight now and he set her down. "Yeah. You know I do," he affirmed softly, catching a whiff of something else. He didn't go nearer to the car and held his hand out to keep her from going closer to it until he was sure. "That dream have anything in it about the car getting jacked up?"

"No it didn't have anything about the car getting jacked up." Since something had caught his attention and shifted the focus, she didn't continue with her line of thought about him trusting her.

He'd left the window down. The scent that got his attention wasn't like the thing he'd just taken down, though. Realizing a moment later what it was, the tension flowed out of his shoulders and he reached into the window, pulling the alley cat out by the scruff. He looked at the animal eye-to-eye. "You're lucky I don't mind cats or you'd be dinner. Go on," he said to the thing, putting it down on the ground and mopping his hands down on his jeans again. He reached out for Tasa again. "I trust you. Let's go home and pack and you tell me where I'm driving, but wherever it is, I'm not letting go."

[Lovely]

She melted into his arms, always feeling better there. "And if I tell you to bring only what we can fit in the car.. things you can't leave behind because I don't think we'll ever be back?" This was big and she loved him enough to tell him honestly before they left this life behind them.

He'd never seen her like this and the worry was becoming contagious, the kind that made his spine do the hula on its own. The instinct to change and stay ready was almost too strong, but in the city he had to stay strong and so did she. They couldn't reveal themselves here, but something seemed to know. He hugged her gently. "Do I have a chance to get a bigger car?"

"How fast can you get one?" She asked softly from where she seemed to hide against his shoulder, her fingers dug gently at his side to stay close to him. It appeared she had no intention of letting him go either. His scent helped to calm her but she could now sense his worry, she was getting him worked up though they had reason to be worried.

"Not fast enough unless we steal one. Tell me the rest of what I need to expect from these things and I might consider it. C'mon, climb in, let's go home.. what's left of home. Oh, and call Sue back. You freaked her out pretty bad," he mentioned.

"I don't know what to tell you.. I told you about my dreams and that's all I know, except what happened tonight." She sounded frustrated and upset, she was bordering on tears and it was making her more upset as she tried to fight them and be the tough girl she always was. "They used to be like us.. something changed them.. something bad. I'm not the only one they're going after.. there are other girls like me. Whatever made them like that wants strong females.. I'm pretty sure to make more.. or something like them.."

"Tasa, get in the car. I'll think of something but they can't have you and definitely not for that," he said, sifting through her hair again and taking in the scents. He kissed the top of her head and reached to pull the door open.

She nodded, reluctant to let go of him even just to get into the car though she did, her eyes following him as if she worried that something would snatch her away from him at any minute. "I'm sorry."

"Shhh... don't be. You didn't do this. I didn't do this. There are just somethings out there... things that can walk into people's dreams," he trailed off, scratching his head and following her into the front seat to get them out of the alley and its shadows. The door closed heavily and he put his hand out for hers. "Just tell me where the silver lining is and I'll get you there."

[Lovely]

"North East.. we get on the road and head north.. There is a place where we'll be safe.. or safer at least." Her eyes showed the exhaustion from the lack of sleep and the stress of the nightmares and the events tonight. Her hand wrapped around his and she pulled his up to kiss the back of it.

He grinned and tugged her gently for a real kiss. "North it is. We're packing you a pillow at least. You need to rest and I need to take a look at that arm."

The kiss went far in putting her jumbled nerves back in order. "Alright.. just this once I won't argue." She smiled a little, reaching to brush her fingers over his cheek and nipping his lips again.

"Good... thank you," he chuckled. "I love you and I hate seeing you like this, Tas. Whatever it takes, we're getting away from... whatever the hell that was." He turned to kiss her fingers and started the car up with a louder roar than he'd intended. "Hang on, I gotta back us out and then we're smooth sailing."

"I love you." She murmured back, her eyes brightening a little the way they always seemed to when he spoke those words to her, her heart beating a little faster for a moment. "What would I do without you?" She meant it, admitting that she needed him in her life, he made it complete.

"Don't know and we're not finding out," he said, turning to see his way backward out of the alley. Another shriek like the creature's wailed out, making him jump and roll the window up. "Okay, essentials then we're out of there," he said, truly getting nervous now and speeding them toward the apartment.

Her eyes widened at the sound and though she stayed quiet, it had obviously shaken her once again, how many were out there looking for her right now? She'd hoped maybe the one would be it for tonight but now her brain was speeding with the ideas of more coming before she was ready to face them. The lack of sleep did not help to keep her from being rattled and she nodded to the idea of packing quickly and getting the hell out of there.