"Rising with the sun has proven to be beneficial to your health, Jane. Studies show that exorcising before you start your day makes you more energized, Jane. Imagine how much better you would feel if we started jogging before sunrise, JANE." Jesus, why do I let her drag me into her little health kicks? Jane had grumbled under her breath as she laced up her running shoes early Friday morning. Was it even morning? She was pretty sure she could still consider it Thursday night. "It's officially the next day as soon as it hits midnight, JANE. Last I checked there were not three 4:30's in one day, JAAAAANE."
She had enunciated each "Jane" with an overly sharp tug on her laces, before finishing up the knot and heading out the door to her car. Cranking the heater as high as it would go, she headed out for the short drive to pick up Maura. Summer was making way for autumn, and the chilly nights and mornings showed it. It was supposed to be hot later in the day, but for now it was cold enough to make the detective shiver.
Jane was able to convince Maura to compromise at least a little bit. If Maura got to choose what ungodly hour they were going running, then Jane got to choose where. She knew of a place not too far that was a sort of nature trail through a reservation. Clear pathways that trailed through the trees, and the fact it was about twenty minutes out of Boston made it an ideal pre-dawn nature run. There were a few trails to pick from, going anywhere from three to five miles long. She was not going to risk getting mugged or chased down in the still dark hours of the Boston city streets just so Maura could feel more energized as they were getting shanked.
Leaving the car idling in Maura's driveway, Jane dragged her feet up the front steps and rang the doorbell. Maura opened the door, and was hardly surprised at Jane's over exuberant eye roll at her attire. While Maura was always stylish, it seemed she could never be satisfied with wearing simple workout clothes. While Jane had settled with long black sweatpants and a thin white long sleeve shirt, Maura went a little over the top with skin tight black and green leggings, practically covered with reflectors, and a matching over long top with sleeves that stretched past her wrists. And was that a... Yep. A hood. A small hood attached to the back that was no doubt added to reduce some pointless insignificant air resistance percentage. At least it wasn't the God awful skin suit she wore to the baseball game.
Maura had only quirked an eyebrow, daring Jane to say something. Still half asleep, Jane only grunted what sounded like a good morning and turned to return to the warmth of the car.
"Do you have water in the car? I can grab a few bottles from the-"
"I got water in the trunk, let's just go get this over with so I can get back home in my warm bed, and spend the rest of my Friday how I originally planned. Sleeping and doing absolutely nothingproductive." Jane put the car into reverse and took off down the deserted street. "I haven't had a three day weekend in years and I'm gonna milk it for all its worth." Maura had to listen carefully, because Jane had not spoken above her usual morning grumble.
"I don't understand how you can just waste your day like that. You can get a lot done in one day. You could completely rearrange your apartment. You could teach Jo new tricks. You could clean out your fridge. God knows what you have growing in there by now."
"Nothing. Productive."
"It's supposed to be a beautiful day, we could put together a picnic and bring Angela, Tommy and T.J. and have lunch in the Common."
"I lost interest at the mention of my mother."
"So you would be interested in having a picnic?"
"Mauraaaaaa, I just want to sleep the day away, we can do fun family activities tomorrow. You've already got me out here, just let me have my lazy day once we're done, please." Maura just smiled and shook her head.
It was still dark when they reached the park as they pulled into the rather small parking lot.
"What trail do you want to run today?" Maura asked as she stretched her leg on the trunk of Jane's car.
"There's a three and a half mile trail that loops through the middle of the woods. It's a gradual uphill for most of it, there's a flat bit for maybe a mile, then it sorta twists and turns downhill pretty quick as we come back around." Jane waited until Maura lifted her foot off of the trunk before reaching in and grabbing a water bottle for each of them.
It wasn't long after they had started jogging, that Maura had gotten an odd feeling of being watched. She didn't mention anything to Jane about it. It was just barely after five in the morning. There wouldn't be anyone following after them, let alone watching them as they jogged along the trail. She continued at her usual pace, putting the feeling at the back of her mind. Jane was a couple yards ahead of her, her stride being naturally longer. Maura was comforted by the occasional glance back to make sure she was still there.
However the feeling never went away. If anything, it got worse. They were reaching the end of the even trail with the downhill point coming up soon with a mile and a half left. It was of little comfort. The hair on the back of her neck stood on end and her shoulder muscles tensed uncomfortably so. Jane was still a ways ahead, but Maura had reached the point of being so unsettled, she upped her pace to catch up. She was sure it was nothing, but being next to Jane had always made her feel safer.
Jane had noticed that the beat of Maura's feet hitting the trail had sped up and looked back over her shoulder. Maura's discomfort began to ebb the second she saw Jane's smirk. While she was closer, they were still a little over a yard apart but Maura was quickly gaining. It was when the smirk grew into an easy toothy grin that she realized how silly she was being. No one was watching them. Jane was the expert in the "gut feeling." If Jane's gut said they were safe, then they were. Even if someone was following them, Jane would keep them safe. She always has.
They were running even with each other now, and while they were both panting with exertion at this point, Maura felt like Jane was taking it a little too easy. She gave her a quick wink and laughed as Jane's grin was wiped from her face when Maura broke out into a sprint.
"Oh, you wanna race, huh?!" It didn't take long for Jane to not only catch up, but completely pass Maura and start running backwards so she could beam her perfect smile in her direction. Maura's heart melted as they laughed in the early morning. The sky was turning a reddish purple as the sun began to peek over the horizon. The subtle lighting played with the shadows over Jane's face and the thin layer of sweat that was trickling down her hair line. Maura was in awe of how beautiful her friend was, and welcomed the reminder of how lucky she was to have the brunette in her life.
Jane was still smiling as she suddenly lurched to her left. The perfect moment was shattered. The next thing she knew, Maura was picking up a fist sized rock and beating the head of the massive pale grey wolf that had its teeth ripping into the flesh at Jane's neck and shoulder.
Jane was glad Maura had forgone putting up her silly hood, and decided to leave her hair tied into a ponytail. The way her honey blonde hair swished with each stride caught the morning light and sent glimmers of every color into the space around her. The white of her smile was constant though. Jane loved that smile and loved that she had put it there. She couldn't help it when she felt that hers got just a little bit bigger. Her backwards step faltered a little bit as she heard the quick snapping of twigs to her right. She didn't even have a chance to look.
The wolf had dived out of the brush along the trail and threw itself at Jane's side, knocking her to the ground. Before they had even hit the dirt, the wolf had missed her neck, but instead, fit its entire mouth past Jane's shoulder and over her collar bone before sinking its teeth into muscle and bone with a sickening crunch. Jane had screamed as the huge canine gave its head a quick shake, snapping more bones and tearing muscle to shreds. Something deep in her chest ripped. She couldn't breathe. The panic and shock was not allowing her to use her limbs as she had wished. Jane had tried to fit her legs beneath the beast and push it off, but it was too heavy and it had her pinned. The wolf was easily as long as she was tall and definitely weighed nearly two hundred pounds. All she could do was swivel her hips in attempt to throw the creature off and futilely punch with one arm in the general area of its head as she could feel wetness completely soaking her side.
The pressure encasing her shoulder had loosened ever so slightly as she had heard a loud grunt and then a dull thud that had reverberated through the wolf. But the monster had tightened its grip once more with a ferocious snarl as it refused to move. Jane's vision started to blur and grow dark around the edges before she heard what could only have been Maura, scream.
"Let her go!"
Jane could feel the wolf's head jerk to the side as it yelped painfully before finally relenting and releasing her. The rustling of bushes and snapping of twigs sounded the beast's retreat.
Hands had cupped her face and turned her head to the side with the gentlest touch. Jane tried to focus, but everything was grey and there were so many white spots blocking her vision. One hand was brushing her cheek. Another was prodding and pressing on her shoulder. At least she thought it was, because one side felt heavier than the other. She couldn't really feel much right now besides the soft hand moving back and forth from her cheek to her neck. There was noise. It seemed familiar, but it was so sad. It sounded like crying. Jane looked for the source of the sounds. She tried to talk and reassure them. Such a beautiful voice should not be sobbing. The words caught in her throat behind a thick coppery wetness pushing its way out. The calming words became a painful round of coughing and choking. She didn't know if she was shaking, or if the hands holding her and clearing her airway were shaking, or maybe it was both. It was probably both. The sobbing got louder, and she could make out a few words before the world went dark.
"No, please, Jane, please you can't, please God, no. Help is coming. Please Jane, just please hold on!"
