Author's Note: Hello Lads and ladies.
I haven't heard from foxy for a good week now, i'm starting to slowly worry where he actually currently is. If School is stressful or something is causing him to be super busy or just overall me getting grim conclusions. (Update: spoke to him, he isn't dead just super inactive. He's fine) But therefore I have this chapter here which was edited by my good friend Clone, aka my secondary Editor.
Now beside this new development in the exciting life of Doctor Portal, I am now taking Anti depressants, more specifically Fluoxetocin, wildly spread known as Prozac. I have had continuous problems with Depression and I am now just yearning for emotional stability. The day of posting this is the second day I am taking the pills, 20 miligrams for the start. I will update you on that proceeding and how it looks next week.
Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter. It was incredibly interesting and incredibly hard to write, as the plot points shown here were hard to fit into my framework and to encapsulate the overall feel I wanted to go for. The last thing I want to do is alienate a character. Have a good time reading and a wonderful day/night afterwards.
Editor: Some Random Reader32
Enjoy!
-Portal
Chapter 19: Don't trust the tenant of the walls.
Legosi stared down at his exercise book. He was in the process of writing the last few paragraphs of his homework as his mind wandered the great plain of the unknown it wondered when he lost himself. Thoughts of his friends, hobbies, interests or what food he was currently craving. It was club time and he was sitting at the table they had placed in the middle of the room, the other club members surrounding it.
Most Clubs in Cherryton were an assortment of different species. And with the segregation initiative, the club activity had ceased. The club heads were of course quick to fight the initiative as the first voices heard in the battle of wits between the management and the students. Just as quick as the UAB had declared it's segregation initiative, just as quick were they back to renegotiate a changing of plans. After the first week the severity of the changes had been watered down.
Compromises were allowed. Club activity was exchanged as a free period to do homework, which all club members except a few stragglers of course did in the club. And after said homework was done, practices could happen again. It was with every club in the school, and soon the club building of the school was evenly filled with Carnivores and Herbivores. A fact strongly led by a change in the game plan.
Legosi had spotted Louis while talking to the administration and Teachers. His composure was as calm as usual, but his tone had turned to one of debating. He fought changes often and made short work of push back by accompanying every single discussion with Authority of the school, with short, effective and reasonable arguments to round them out.
Legosi's admiration of the Deer's strength only grew through every hurdle Louis passed with ease and grace. There was a passage from a poem talking about the grace of the forest that the wolf always had to think of. With birth given grace the wood dwelling figure overcomes each branch, rock or log in it's way with elegance. Bathed in sunlight the figure comes to a stop to overlook the gaping river in it's path. Without giving up it wanders further until passing the shallow part of the stream. And so the spirit of the forest wanders through it's Land without fear or reluctance, but graceful caution against the powers of outside.
"Hey Lego-face." The boastful voice of Pina sounded out. Legosi looked up to see him standing on the other side of the table.
"I'm gonna go grab something to drink, should I get you anything?" He asked while putting his books and writing utensils back into his book bag. Ever since the talk in the warehouse Pina had started to warm up to the club. He had begun to call Legosi a friend around the start of the segregation of the school.
"A carton of milk please." He slipped his hand into his pocket and tossed a few coins into Pina's grasp, the dall-sheep having a teasing smile on his face.
"Does the little puppy need his milk?" He leaned forward a bit and pretended to pinch his cheek. Legosi ears dropped to his head in shame.
"I just like milk…" He looked away in embarrassment. Pina laughed out loud.
"You sure do Mister Fearsome Predator." He blew him a kiss and wandered away from the table, Legosi looking back down at his exercise book. He had finished the work while zooming out, his handwriting had turned wavy and full of curves.
He closed the book and placed it into his bag which was placed beside his chair on the ground. He looked up and down the room. The table was full of concentrated faces, a few were talking on stage, Shira doing a few acrobatics. Legosi discovered that It was calm. No worries from the outside had invaded the space after all.
A piece of paper slid over the table, falling into Legosi's lap and then sliding down his thigh. His hand darted downwards, flailing after the piece of paper. After a little spectacle of it almost escaping his reach he finally grabbed hold of it. He looked up and saw the door close, the others still deeply engrossed in their homework. He suddenly felt a chill down his spine as he began to inspect the paper.
'Bathroom down the Hall. Come right away.'
-B
Legosi inspected the piece with curiosity and a feeling of dread he had last felt when Strightman had left the class room when he introduced himself. He couldn't explain the dread, but the paper smelled like Bill, and the Initial B was on it. He stood up and walked to the door while still stuck deeply in thought, answering the voice that spoke every time a friend requested something.
Legosi nearly walked into Strightman as he left the room, the cheetah stepping backwards with a quick and graceful reflex.
"Hooo there, keep your eyes open fella." Legosi stared at him as if Strightman was a never seen before species. His mind was already filled with more grim than positive ideas about what Bill could want from him that he didn't realize he was also living in the real world.
"Are you ok?" Strightman asked as he took a step forward, holding out his arm to grab the wolf's shoulder in case he tipped over. Legosi himself didn't notice how he was shivering.
"Me?" he snapped out of his stupor. "I-I-I'm ok… you just scared me…"
Strightman looked at him with a doubtful glance.
"Alright. Drink something and walk close to the walls. If you feel dizzy, call for help, you look a lot more than frightened."
Legosi looked down at himself and noticed that the color of his fur had faded immensely, looking like extremely light gray. Alarm bells started to ring in his head. How on edge was I? Do I have to ask Doctor Gouhin for tranquilizers next time? Legosi escaped a nervous laugh.
"I think i-i-it's the weather, I a-a-a-always get n-n-nervous during storms." As if to illustrate his point, the murky and dark outside lit up In a white flash. The roll of thunder took it's time, the storm was wandering away. Strightman smiled.
"No need to be ashamed. To tell you a secret, when I was young thunder scared me too." The cheetah patted his shoulder and adjusted his cap. Legosi was wary of his touch but calmed down with it's firm gentleness. His opinion of the policeman changed for the better.
Legosi only nodded in response, his fur gaining some of it's original intensity. The policeman pulled his hand back and tipped his police cap.
"Stay close to the walls and drink something. We don't want anyone falling unconscious here, do we now?" He laughed. An easy and relief inducing sound. "Have a nice day."
"Thank y-y-you officer." Legosi called out and waved. The policeman waved back and walked around the corner. The wolf leaned against the wall and breathed out a huff. Relief washed over him and his heartbeat jammed in his chest. He grabbed the letter from his pocket, inspecting it again.
Something about it seemed wrong. So wrong in fact he had just felt caught when he nearly bumped into Strightman. Why does this feel so… Illegal? Legosi asked himself. He leaned forward and breathed in with his nose. It smelled like Bill. Bill's palm pressing against the paper, which smelled fresh and crisp. The paper had been from a new note-book. And then there was-…
Legosi sniffed three times trying to identify the last component which seemed to put him so on edge. It smelled like a stinging smell of medicine or Laboratory testing liquids still lingering in the air long after they were used. It smelled reactive… and wrong.
Legosi placed the note back into his pocket and moved down the hallway towards the bathroom. What could he get his hands on that is Reactive? Magnesium maybe? But why magnesium? Why would he dip his hands into magnesium powder? Legosi's thoughts turned in circles. The smell was intruding and wrong. It hurt in the nose as much as the stinking and biting smell of fireworks, but what occasion needed fireworks in the middle of fall slowly going into winter?
He placed his hand on the door handle and pushed into the room. White floor tiles made a different noise when his shoes hit them than the linoleum on the hallways. And the reactive smell grew just a hint stronger.
He stepped forward into the room and saw that it looked empty. The stall doors were closed, but the small white symbol on the lock signaled it was empty, except the last one which glared as red as Legosi's math book. The lock turned.
"Bill?" Legosi stepped forward into the room, walking towards the stalls when a head splitting scream hit his ears. He held his ears and yowled in pain. He looked across from him while still holding his ears and saw a sheep coming out of the stall. But instead of wearing Suit and tie, it wore the white dress that was the female uniform.
Legosi crashed back through the door into the hallway in horror and looked at the sign.
Female
Stood on the wall with a pink skirted figure beside it. A few students passed by. To Legosi's chagrin they were all females muttering "creep" under their breath. He didn't mutter a single word, his stuttering would've prohibited speaking anyway.
The Male bathroom wasn't empty, the tiger already awaiting the wolf's presence.
"What was going on out there, did you scare someone?"
Legosi rubbed the back of his head awkwardly.
"Yeah…" He looked at the door and heard the sheep coming out of the bathroom, being comforted by her friends as she seemed to be crying. She must have thought I was looking for someone to devour. He thought Grimly.
"Are they ok?" Bill asked with genuine care, he seemed alerted. Legosi shook his head slightly.
"I accidentally w-w-walked into the wrong bathroom…"
They stared at each other. No words left their mouths as the two stared at each other. Bill looked worried and confused as understanding lit up on his face. Legosi stared back in fear half expecting Bill to lurch forward and sucker-punch him for his idiotic daydreaming.
Bill roared a laughter and Legosi recoiled before once again being bathed in relief. Bill still seemed dangerous to Legosi. The reactive smell didn't cause any good feelings in the wolf.
"Oh man… Of course you'd do something like that." Bill's laugh ebbed out.
"What did you ask me here for? Couldn't you have just asked me instead of the note?" Legosi asked cautiously. Bill's face switched from amused to serious in the blink of an eye.
"I'll explain it to you." Bill wandered to the door past Legosi who took steps back when the tiger passed him by. Legosi noticed how the already strong build of the Tiger seemed to have grown stronger. Muscles bulged out from under the pulled up sleeves and the front of his shirt. What workout have you been doing? Body Builder level? Legosi was still taller and more agile than the Tiger, but a single hit from the new and improved Bill might put him straight out of commission.
Bill pulled up an out of order sign and opened the door. He placed it on a nail in the middle of the door at eye level, which was only nailed in as to make hanging up an out of order sign possible.
Bill wandered to the mirror and looked at himself for a small while. It was not some checking out yourself in the mirror or self boasting, it was a sad and almost tragic look back at what oneself had become. Legosi for the shortest moment thought of what would follow in painstaking clarity. Bill would confess being the Devourer all along, slash out and easily kill him all the while reasoning that having someone that might grow stronger than him would be a needless risk and that would be the end of it.
What an end would that be. Lured into a place of vulnerability by what you thought was a friend all along. Legosi had shown his agility and strength to be greater than the one of the tiger when he had first fought him during training for the play. A fact that Legosi regretted now. But most importantly Legosi felt an undying sympathy for Louis and Haru. Just one selfish monster deciding to answer his instincts without reason and that's all she wrote. Snuffed out in the blink of an eye and all relationships, achievements and feelings are for nothing. And that was the fate of Solomon Grundy.
He hadn't heard that nursery rhyme in such a long time, but it felt eerily fitting nonetheless.
"I've been spending a lot of time outside of school Legosi. I've been reflecting on my own behavior with Herbivores and how I feel about them. Mostly I think about how unfair it all is." He looked at Legosi. His eyes burned in a vigorous fire. Legosi stood still frozen.
"One god damn asshole decides to attack that alpaca and we have to pay the price. What a bunch of unfair bullshit." He turned towards him fully and leaned against the sink. His tone in comparison was rather calm and reflective. He seemed to be discussing a trivial matter.
"I don't want it to go that way anymore. Anyone has to pay their price for being what they are. And if that shadow wants to eat others then he has to pay a price for it. And I think he's been skipping payday way too long now." His hand grabbed for a small brown bag stuffed into the waistband at his lower back.
"I've been training." He formed a fist and the muscles in his arms became tense. Legosi was sure that If he were to press into them, they would be as hard as rocks.
"And I'm trying to find out who he is. But I can certainly not do that alone." He looked up and stared into his eyes. Legosi was entirely swallowed by their vigor and energy.
"About four months ago, you asked me to help Louis save Haru. Now I ask you to help me stop the monster that has started this horrendous nightmare around us." They once again were just staring at each other for a few seconds. Legosi's mouth opened and each word he wanted to speak died upon the first sound leaving his mouth. He asked himself how he should react to something as wild as taking over police work before he realized just what Bill had said. Just what even had lead them both to become friends in the first place. What answer could he give after all that?
"I'm i-in your debt. I couldn't say no even if I wanted to. I just… don't really know where to start…" Legosi's eyes locked on the door and with a single flick of a switch his memories took a large and lurching step back. What and where he was, what information he could pick out and what kind of tools were available to him.
"Good." Bill answered and breathed out loud.
"As far as it goes, right now I only ask one thing." His hand extended and Legosi looked down at the brown bag.
"Hide this. I'm being followed as we speak-" Bill looked upwards at the vent suspiciously. "-and I don't know how much she found out about me, but this is very important."
As Legosi was still processing the entire sentence the Tiger had just spoken, the primal voice of Curiosity had spoken in his mind. What does he want me to hide? He turned the brown bag in his hand and fumbled for the opening.
"Don't open that." Bill said. Legosi looked up and cocked his head to the right.
"What is it?" Legosi's question put force into the Tigers face which showed just a sliver of what emotion struck through Bill like lighting.
"All I can tell you is that it's important. Just hide it please."
Bill's answer did not satisfy the curiosity that Legosi felt. But the instinct to follow a friend's order was much stronger than that. He held the bag and observed the Tiger. Bill seemed nervous and aspirated. Something heavy was weighing on his mind.
"Bill, how deep are you into this?… Are you in danger?" The wolf asked and The tiger chuckled.
"No… not yet at least… I…" He drew a hand over his head and sighed loudly. He seemed stressed out and his new form didn't help but give him the look as if he was on the run, preparing for an impact with a deadly force.
"A few weeks ago, when the first student after Tem was killed, I… felt a fear I haven't felt before. I realized that all the Herbivore friends I have are more important to me than I first thought… and it broke me to see them scared of me. Then I felt something else. The reaction to feeling such fear for the first time." His hands pressed tightly into a fist.
"Rage to know that someone could hurt the ones I care about and get away with it. To see the police turning in circles and being useless… So I went into the Black Market, and went to his clinic." Thoughts of the Panda's veterancy filled Legosi's mind.
"Your training with Doctor Gouhin?" Legosi asked, surprised. Bill looked on with amusement and a slight hint of surprise on his side as well.
"So you do remember him. I asked him to help me, like he helped us all those months ago to save Haru when we did… And since then I've been starting to investigate the devourings. I'm following loose threads but it's time that I need back up."
"Sure, what do you need me to do?" Legosi asked. Bill pointed at the Brown bag.
"Hide this. When the time comes we'll need it."
A slithering noise passed on above their heads and Bill jolted forward. He pressed the brown bag into Legosi's waistband and started pushing him towards the door into an angle that he didn't see the vent duct above them from.
"So you've seen that new movie? Total Predation? Aoba and I went out to see it. Was pretty cool but the main villain kinda sucked ass. But the other actors were pretty cool, mostly that beaver or whatever the hell it was. He was so badass-" Bill started to change the subject rapidly and spoke as long as the slithering sounded above them.
"What?" Legosi whispered. A thing Bill was greatly thankful for. He leaned forward during one of his random conversations and paused from the overtly loud cover up talk to whisper quietly back.
"Leave the bathroom and go directly to the place where you'll hide it. If you hear slithering run -Oh you mean that one. I haven't read it yet but I do plan on it." Legosi stood in the corner, his back to the door in shock at the reoccurrence of the noise that he first associated with his nightmares. It was terrifying to know the noise had been real.
"What's going on?" Legosi asked again pathetically. Bill leaned forward.
"I'll explain later, just go! -The new blueberry flavor is pretty good but I still prefer strawberry. -move you dumbass!"
Legosi stumbled out of the door and stood in the hall outside the bathroom. It was a straight corridor. The left lead directly into the large Cafeteria, the right directly to the first club room block, the very first door belonging to the drama club. Students were passing by and eyeing the wolf with suspicion.
Before any plan was formed the slithering accompanied by a clicking rattle sounded above him. Legosi had never heard a noise as terrible as this. His head started to fill with pictures of his mother as he started to run.
He blindly sprinted along towards the club block, nearly knocking over the very same group of females that comforted the sheep. Evil glances looked at him but he barely noticed them in his panicked daze. His entire being shifted out of his body and floated a few feet before him. He ran as fast as his legs had ever ran. His ears filtered the noise of the slithering out of the loud plummeting of footsteps on the ground and his erratic breathing.
He rounded a corner and lost his footing, crashing against the wall. He pulled himself up, his fur standing up in a row in complete terror. And as he struggled to stay on his feet he heard it. He started hearing noises through the ceiling, sounding like a voice spoken through a heavy set wooden door. Her door. Her cursed door with the everlasting black hole her hand reached through.
"Legosiiiii."
The wolf in question screamed at the top of his lungs, heads turning to his direction as he ascended the stairs at insane speeds. The floor floated past under him as he barely made any contact anymore. The slithering noise had long since been left behind as Legosi was engulfed by the top floor's darkness. He crashed through the door and held it shut with his entire body pressing against it as if something was out to get him.
He sunk to the floor, no tears or sounds left him. Nothing but his breathing as he leaned against the door, the rain whipping about in a gust of wind. The worst thing Legosi found about growing up was the realization that Monsters lived in daylight just as much as they lived in darkness. There was no comfort in faith that daylight would save one from darkness, shadows existed everywhere. And where shadows were, there were nightmares.
Legosi sank to the floor and rubbed his eyes.
"Breathe. Breathe. Breathe…" He took a long and deep breath through his nose and exhaled in an equally long breath through his mouth.
"One, two, three, monsters are only imaginary. One, two, three monsters are only imaginary. One two three-" He trailed off into gibberish as he repeated the mantra to himself. He breathed once more and returned fully to reality.
It was afternoon, the rain was coming in hard now as the lighting in the background lit the sky in a harrowing arc. The noise almost drowned out his own heartbeat. He was Legosi, his species was Canis Lupus. He was 17 and his best friend was a labrador retriever called Jack.
Legosi walked into the garden and concentrated on the smells. He knelt down beside one of the flower patches. In the second row of Orange tulips, to the right of the third flower from the right he dug a small hole that immediately started to pool with water, his uniform matting in wetness in the strength of the rain. The instinct to open it and see what it was bloomed in him again, but the instinct forcing him to follow orders was greater. He dropped it in and a shovel of dirt on top of it. In all honesty to himself, he never wanted to dig the bag up ever again. He might as well just forget it and leave it for the curious students to find it once he was out of school.
Bill had to answer questions, that was true in the least. Legosi would ask him a whole lot of things as soon as he would get him into his fingers. What in the hell was that slithering? And how did Gouhin accept to train him? And how was he planning to find out-
The knock at the door knocked fear into him again. He breathed with his eyes closed and pumped his fists open and closed.
"One. Two. Three. Monsters are. Only. imaginary-" Every word needed immense energy. He would not scream, he had talked to Juno and Gouhin about this. He would stay calm, he would grasp himself and open the door.
His hand enclosed the handle and the knock sounded again. He pressed his hand tightly together and felt every muscle in his body cramp together as he slowly forced the door open.
His eyes need time to concentrate on the shape in the open door. For a split second the darkness of the muddy weather caused his eyes to report back the same color of fur his mother had had. And as quickly as false signals arrived, as quickly as it was replaced by the true vision of a female reddish brown wolf.
"Downstairs is a mess, students told me a wolf was running up the stairs, are you ok?" He saw Juno and let go of the door as he collapsed. He sunk into the wet stone on the ground, feeling the heavy pricks of thick rain drops all over his body, even through his clothes which were already soaked.
"Legosi are you ok?" Juno ran towards the wolf and knelt beside him, ignoring the rain. To her he looked like a nearly drowned sailor laying down on a piece of driftwood.
"Just a nightmare… Just a nightmare." He leaned his back and grasped her hand. The she-wolf examined him with growing worry over his mental state. It had been getting better the last few days. But now she had the shred of doubt that Legosi was simply pushing his fears down in order to appease her. He pushed himself upward, letting go of her hand.
"Just a nightmare…" He longed for breath but to Juno's surprise his features returned to their full color quickly. And although his fur hung low in the streaming rain, her own fur hanging down just the same, He looked better. She smiled while still worry fluttered about in a few strands.
"Did you do what we talked about?"
Legosi nodded and sat up fully. His eyes sat on his hands as he came to realize how little effort it had taken this time. Life could press past him in huge waves of events and yet he was steadily getting better. There was something to Therapy, there was something to fight fear with. He noticed he was extremely grateful.
Juno felt her face grabbed and tugged forward in such a quick manner that she first didn't even realize what was happening until he kissed her and her eyes locked onto those eyes of his. She just laid strung over his legs, lost in his eyes.
"Things are getting Better Juno… I think things will be alright." The she-wolf In his arm swooned for a few moments, leaning against the hand holding her head.
"You think so?" she asked faintly in a dreamily state of mind. She was swept up and away by his sudden happiness. They were making progress that felt good and satisfying. Legosi grinned, his thoughts about the whole ordeal with Bill were gone.
A bright flash made the two hopelessly in love wolves jerk in surprise. Juno maneuvered herself upward while Legosi stood up. Her eyes wandered down her uniform which was soaked from top to bottom. What is it with us and getting wet all the time? The thought nearly brought her to giggle at the innuendo. She hoisted herself up.
"Let's go grab towels and dry our…" Her words stopped at the sight of her wolf looking at the sky with his eyes closed as he let the water soak him. He looked like a statue bracing against the sky no matter the weather. Without explanation or real push back Juno soon found herself next to Legosi and raising her head at the cloudy sky as it rained upon the two wolves. His hand grabbed for hers and they stood beside each other as they had done so many months ago. The thought didn't occur to him until later. If Bill can hear it too, then what in the hell is living in the walls?
"And what about you Milton?" The small group of carnivores stood around a dumpster fire, the heavy rain having brought them under the bridge where they huddled around it as a means to warm up. The mood in the air was depressing.
"Just like all of you. Fired for being a carnivore. The pink slip didn't say that, but I'm not naive." They had all been fired In the after-burn of a fresh hate campaign against their species. And in the crisis of the horrible feelings caused by being rejected they left their apartments to breathe fresh air, leading to the forming of their small congregation. The feelings of hopelessness were underlined by a certainty that soon most of them would also lose their homes, unable to pay rent.
"They just can't do that!" A fox stomped the ground, baring his teeth in anger. The small carnivore was father to four pups. And his wife didn't know about the terrible news yet.
"They just can't shut us out because they think we're dangerous, that's… that's… That's just unfair." The smaller carnivore started to cry wildly, soon being comforted by the group. Milton, a 22 year old hyena working in the IT industry, was planning ahead in logical points while calming the Fox. But not even logic could help them out of it, they were at the mercy of Herbivore employers sending them out on the street for their own perceived safety.
Milton had spent most of his life following orders as he was given, his family believing solemnly that following orders was the only thing you could do in a herbivore built society. It was disheartening to see even the mantra he used for most of his life to be completely useless.
"I know." Milton pressed the small fox's shoulder, who he would later call his best friend. And as he himself delved into the mental state of losing all hope, his life turned on a dime.
The steps from the darkness began to sound like stomps the closer they got. The shadow moved against the darkness as if it's shade was a darker black than the night time blackness on the street. Some of the group backed against the wall in complete surprise as the creature stepped closer.
"Who are you?" Milton asked with an inflection of fear beyond his control. The shadow seemed to sway in his step with an evil hint in it's eyes. In the darkness it was impossible to tell what species it was. Milton's first thought was that the figure was drunk or under the influence of drugs, as weirdly as it moved.
"Where is your sense of self preservation?" The words sounded forced, asking a great deal of concentration from the creature. Spit flew in a cloud of moisture from his mouth, long strands of it dangling down his mouth. Oh God Milton thought, This Guy is meat crazed.
"Listen Man, we don't want trouble-" he walked away from the Fox, who himself looked terrified beyond all else as he thought about his wife's and children's fates if he were to die. Milton held his hands up in a defending and calming gesture. "We're just having a friendly meeting, no…"
The shadow growled, saliva running out of it's fang lined maw. He sneezed, animastically cocking his head as he did so. the voice rang from the depths of it's throat again, sending shivers down Milton's spine.
"You're Pathetic." The shadow grinned a lopsided grimace. It wasn't an authentic smile, it was an alien imitating what it thought to be a smile. It looked around and held up it's arms in a gesture of challenge as well as mock to the group.
"No Fight in any of you. They bite and you bark… what a lousy performance." It seemed to be disappointing in a cruel and ironic sense. Ross the fox stepped forward, his fight instinct having beaten the one to flee.
"What's that dumb spouting about? What would YOU do in our places?" Ross's chest was raised outward in a huff. He expanded his frame as much as he could. Again that horrible purely savage smile on the shadows face, this time glinting with fresh hatred blooming inside.
"Fight Back. No carnivore gets to be pushed around by those weaklings…"
The Group stayed still and thought for a moment. How does one fight the making of Herbivore Bureaucracy? How did one get the bosses to listen? More than a few were starting to come to conclusions. The shadow seemed to notice this.
"How? How are we supposed to fight back?" Another Voice asked and the shadow seemed to grow a bit as it swayed from left to right in a drunken swirl fueled by instinct.
"Their taste is their downfall, they are too weak to fight back. With cold-bloods like these the only way to make them listen is…" It took a delicate pause of letting the words sink as the moment flowed for it's finale.
"Their survival instinct. They only move when they know that standing still will result in their death…" The group stayed eerily silent in response. A silence of tension and calculation and the last spark in between to fuel the fire that would burn their minds down soon enough. Desperation.
"And what about the police huh? How are we supposed to stay clear of a carnivore police force?"
"Wait… your problem is the police not the idea of eating herbivores?"
"To Hell with them! They shoved us around enough!"
"By eating them you'll only make it worse, they'll-"
"Fighting with each other is pointless." The shadow deliberately cut the conversation off. He knew that it was time to kick the whole thing into motion with one last final push.
"Collateral Damage needs to happen, and some of you will have to make sacrifices. But Brothers, Husbands and Fathers need to abide for their family… And how better to abide but by making the world a better place… One we are in control… Those mutilated Carnivores on the news won't be the only ones…" The shadows' eyes moved through the group and with a hate infested sense of pride it observed what it had achieved. It grinned, it's a horrible grin.
"They won't be the last… If your family matters to you, If your fellow carnivores matter to you… True friendship to Herbivores is-…" The shadows breathing increased, licking it's lips as the dripping of saliva on the floor seemed to be almost louder than the pouring rain. It looked on the street beside the bridge, the rain hitting the street like small bullets. It observed it and sniffed the air. Milton himself took a deep breath and noticed the same smell.
Not a street further from here there must be more than a few of them. A small group on their way home from a long shift work. The smell was wonderful in his nostrils as his mind's grasp on sanity loosened. The next word of the shadow made him lose it completely.
"With all that rain… must be like taking a shower after a hard day's work… Their blood won't stay for long…" The shadow lurched towards the street and ran down the street, walking in a direction that Milton could not remember once it was out of sight.
Milton was sure that something was going horribly wrong, but the part of him strong enough to act on the thought was buried deeply inside the instinct ruled brain of his. That smell was good, and that was all. It was good and delicious. It was liberating.
The Hyena walked past the group and took off his jacket. The feeling of fabric against his torso felt constricting and irritating. He didn't notice a few others also walking towards the street in a dream like daze of their own instincts awakened by the horrible collection of events that haunted their civilization since the beginning of time.
The Hyena stepped forward into the rain, his bare chest soaking in the rain almost immediately. The animals around him he would soon count to be the most valued members of his family, followed in their own dazes, some also shirtless, others just blankly staring ahead. The fewest of the bunch hurried along the opposite side of the street, walking home in fear of what the others would get up to as Savagery touched them. They were the lucky ones.
Milton danced a swaying tumble as the last shreds of his mind began to unwind. Hopelessness was gone, Worries were gone and even the cold air was gone. There was only him and the pack. They were one in the rain.
They looked at each other, no more people, only animals. They smelled the enticing smell of savage damnation awaiting them. And with an authoritative growl they ran forward as the screaming began. The Massacre hit the newspapers the next day. The Murderers were not caught.