Wow, it has been a long time, my apologies for my inability to update. Between writer's block and no free time, this story has been low on my priority list. Hopefully, with the spring and a slightly more flexible schedule I can at least start updating once a month or so; emphasis on hopefully. The song is "Save Me San Francisco" by: Train. Please read, review, and enjoy!
Chapter 33: "Save Me San Francisco"
"I've been high, I've been low,
I've been yes, and I've been oh, hell, no!
I've been rock n' roll and disco,
Won't you save me San Francisco?"
The city still stunned him despite their most recent trip there and Isaac allowed himself to be lost in the sounds, smells, and feelings that surrounded him. Most people here appeared to be unaware of the amazing skyscrapers and buildings that towered over them and he could not understand how they ever habituated to such a powerful sight. "Still stunning?" Allison teased him as she glanced over and grinned at his awe-struck expression. "Shut up." He muttered, suddenly embarrassed by the fact that it wasn't just the two of them experiencing the city as before, but also Deputy Parrish and Lydia, both of whom had been to large cities before. "It is overwhelming your first time, isn't it?" Lydia teased him, and Isaac blushed red at the double entendre because he knew that Lydia was also applying it to his prior inexperience before Allison. "Shut up Lydia." Allison hissed at her friend with her own bashful smile and blush grtaison hissed at her friend with her own bashful smile and blush re Allison. "ourse Allisonhad been to the large cities beforeacing her pale cheekbones; her embarrassment made Isaac feel less exposed and his skin slowly returned to its normal shade. Unaware of the situation between the three teens, the lean deputy turned around, he walked faster than the teens, and pointed to the famous green and white Dragon's Gate entrance to the main Chinatown district. "You guys are coming with me right?"
"Of course, I promised I'd help you find out what you were." The brunette replied as she picked up her pace to join him and the two other teens looked at each other and shrugged. "In for a penny, in for a pound." Lydia joked as she flung her red hair over her shoulder and Isaac nodded in agreement as the two followed the two fire supernaturals into the neighborhood and towards the medicine shop. The streets were not necessarily familiar to Isaac, but the shop that appeared in front of them was. He paused to make sure that he sent Lydia into the shop ahead of them rather than get flung back by the mountain ash barrier himself. "Be sure to have them invite us in." Allison stressed as she too eyed the doorway warily and Parrish looked at the two teens rather confused by their reaction, the door didn't even looked remotely booby trapped. "Mountain ash is something that repels anything that is not human and likely to attack like a werewolf or huang or, whatever you are." The brunette explained as Lydia reappeared with Dr. Zhào and the older druid who then beckoned them into the shop.
He looked exactly like Isaac remembered him, complete with the white beard and aging smile. Today, he noted, the man wore a very loud Hawaiian shirt and shorts under a more official looking lab coat, "Like my outfit?" Dr. Zhào joked as he caught the wolf looking at him with a cocked eyebrow and Isaac shrugged in response which earned a laugh from the healer as he turned to Parrish and his grin widened. "Now I have not seen your kind in many, many years." The deputy crossed his arms in confusion as he was flooded with a sudden feeling of embarrassed exposure at being recognized instantaneously as not human and even a special variety of not human at that. "What kind exactly is that?" Allison piped up as she appeared behind Parrish and herded the two males into the shop and out of the street where passersby may not be so keen to hear about the supernatural beings that surrounded them. Some people preferred to live in blissful ignorance, while others would try to kill them for what they were.
"Perhaps another visit to my office will be necessary." The healer suggested as he led them through the shop past the normal herbal cures of Gingko biloba and fish oil pills towards a more secluded section featuring mountain ash in containers, werewolf looking claws and teeth in petri dishes, and what was unmistakably a unicorn horn hanging on the wall. Catching Isaac's widened eyes at the horn, Dr. Zhào grinned at him and teased as he went, "It's a Narwhal horn if any human asks, got it?" The werewolf gaped at him before glancing back at the horn one last time; it was one thing to be a legendary supernatural, another entirely to realize that the magical fairytales that his mom read him as a child had an inkling of truth to them. Reaching the office, Allison immediately beelined for the tiny dragon that had been moved from its tank located in the bookshelf to a huge tropical tank. A necessary change, it turned out, as the dragon no longer was fingertip length but nearly the length of her forearm. "So, you remember her, yes? She will need to be released into the ocean soon."
Parrish and Lydia gawked at the creature from afar while Isaac wandered up to the tank and flashed his golden eyes at the creature which proceeded to swim up and stick its head out of the water to look at him with curiosity in its little dragon eyes. "Smart little thing isn't she? How many are there out there?" He asked while presenting his hand to the beast who sniffed it disdainfully and then dropped back into the water with barely a splash; she must have determined that he was too ordinary and uninteresting after all. "Would you prefer more information about her or your infinitely rarer friend here?" Allison's eyebrows shot up at the idea of that, whatever creature he was happened to be more unusual than a dragon and she had no idea what that could be. "I think I'd prefer to hear more about myself thanks." Parrish spoke up for the first time since entering the neighborhood and all three teens glanced over at him while Dr. Zhào smiled. "Of course you would son, there's probably not one of your kind, known to me at least, for you to ask."
Turning to a book shelf he stretched up stiffly and grabbed a dark book off the top shelf and dusted it off. "Not going to test my control this time?" Isaac joked as he moved closer to the desk to get a look at the book that the healer was opening. "You passed." The druid replied with a slight grin that did not meet his eyes, "Clearly, since the huang is present and in control." In response, Isaac's eyes grew dark in sudden anger at the implication of what the druid was saying: he knew of the controlling nature of the huang and the highly combustible form that could be taken when that control was lost. "No amount of warning would have been enough, you know that right?" The older man explained as Allison's hand reached out and squeezed Isaac's shoulder to remind him that the withholding of information was not relevant to the issue at hand. "May I continue?" Dr. Zhào asked cutting through the tension in the air and dissolving it with ease as Isaac nodded, and his body relaxed as he accepted the truth of Allison's words. As long as the worst had already occurred, there was not much to be angry about at this point.
Parrish stepped forward then and stood in front of the druid's desk, placing his hands on it while his head hung down in embarrassment and shame as he implored, "Please, what kind of monster am I?" Dr. Zhào shook his head and placed a hand on the man's shoulder with a sad smile as he reassured him, "The humans are the true monsters, they fear us because we threaten them and as a result have hunted many creatures like us to extinction. You, Deputy, aren't a monster just because you aren't human, you're just another mammal who happens to be a little different." The police officer looked up and the three teens grinned encouragingly at him as Lydia stepped up and gave his unoccupied shoulder a reassuring squeeze. "Am I a monster?" She asked him, he shook his head in response, "We're just different. Now let's find out what you are, okay?" He nodded back and Dr. Zhào took that as approval to read the name aloud, "Hellhound." The word hung in the air as Parrish looked at him blankly in confusion and finally broke the long silence with a question, "How is that not the name of a monster?" Lifting up an eyebrow, Dr. Zhào gave Parrish a disapproving look, "We went over this, you are no monster. In fact, you are the one who catches monsters: human and otherwise."
