By the time Dr. Deaton had shown up in the morning to open the clinic Jess had finished all the morning chores and was ready to head to her job at the auto shop. She quickly told Doc about the second vehicle struck dog that had come in after he left and showed him the x-rays and splinted leg. When the vet praised her on her neat work with the splint and moved to show her where the cast materials were kept Jess let the Dr. know that Scott had splinted the leg himself. Telling him how Scott had forgotten Jess was in the back caring for the cats when faced with a crying girl had resulted in a shared laugh. The vet was still chuckling to himself while scanning the dog for a microchip when Jess left.
After a boring morning doing easy jobs at the auto shop Jess got back to the vet clinic after lunch to find that the Dr had also had a boring day. After calling the owners of the dog brought in over night it had quickly been picked up and brought to the owners normal vet for treatment. The owners had given Deaton a hefty donation to the animal shelter as thanks for the excellent care the clinic provided for their pet. After that Deaton's day had been filled with normal scheduled appointments. Several had called to cancel appointments and with all the free time the vet had gone ahead and cleaned the cages and cared for all the animals throughout the day. Jess spent the afternoon helping out where she could and learning where everything in the clinic was stored. If a few jokes about the epic love story of Scott and Allison were made by Dr. Deaton and Jess they both swore not to tell Scott about them.
Raggedy Anne was feeling much improved and was going slightly stir crazy locked up in the clinic all day, so Jess offered to take her for a ride around the area in her truck. "I want to grab some food and just drive around the area to get the lay of the land. Anne will be sitting or lying on the seat the entire time. No running around or rough housing." Jess promised holding Anne's leash and slowly sidestepping towards the front door and freedom.
"Fine. But be careful out there. It's a full moon tonight." Dr. Deaton warned gravely. "Promise me that once it gets dark you won't get out of your truck for any reason!" The Doctor said sternly.
Jess nodded seriously in response. "Of course Doc. I'll be sure and stay safely inside of my truck after dark." Jess promised solemly. Living on the street for so long had taught Jess that the Urban Myth about the crazies coming about with the full moon had some truth to it. But it wasn't often she heard it from a respectable adult like Dr. Deaton.
Suddenly loosing the stern look Dr. Deaton asked. "Would you be willing to stay over again tonight to monitor Anne?"
Looking down at the dog sitting patiently at her side Jess smiled fondly down at her. "Of course I will stay for another sleep over with my darling Raggedy Anne." Jess cooed reaching down and ruffling the dogs ears gently.
"I plan to be here late doing paperwork I have been putting off. So I will likely still be here when the two of you return from your ramblings." Deaton said with a smile.
Nodding to show she had heard him Jess turned and headed out the door. Leaving the clinic with Anne bouncing stiffly by her side Jess made for her truck. Opening the door she carefully lifted the dog up to the seat. Jess smiled as she watched Anne scrambled over to the passenger seat and settled calmly. The dog had clearly experienced many car rides in her life. Securing the dog to the seat with a seat belt leash attachment Jess gave Anne enough slack to reach most of the front seat of the truck.
"So, Anne my dear. What do you think we should have for supper?" Jess spoke to the dog like it was another person while settling herself behind the wheel. "I was thinking of getting some fruit salad and maybe a rotisserie chicken." Anne gave an excited yip when she heard the word chicken and Jess laughed and replied. "That's two votes for chicken then. So chicken it is."
Pulling into the grocery store parking lot Jess left Anne in the truck with a long lasting dog treat and rushed into the store to grab her supplies. A rotisserie chicken, a bag of rolls, a fruit salad, and a small bottle of flavored oil meant for bread dipping were all quickly brought to the check out and paid for before Jess jogged back to her truck. Relieved to find Anne calmly chewing on her treat Jess grabbed a small cooler from the back seat and loaded the groceries inside it. Once Jess was back in the driver's seat Anne greeted her with frantic licks and a wagging tail, treat forgotten. Pulling out of the grocery store parking lot, Jess chose a direction at random and spent the next hour casually driving around the town getting to know the lay of the land. Seeing that Anne had abandoned her position staring out the passenger window and settled down to sleep on the seat Jess reached into the back for a blanket from the large stack of blankets stored in the back of the truck. Accidently knocking most of the stack behind the driver's seat Jess managed to snag one blanket and drape it lightly over the sleeping dog.
Driving out of town and a little ways into the woods as the last of the day's light faded from the sky Jess pulled over to the side of the road and opened up the cooler of groceries. As the smell from the food flooded the truck cab Anne woke up and instantly sat up and started sniffing hungrily. Ripping open a roll Jess drizzled the flavored oil on the inside and piled it high with chicken. Closing the cooler to keep the rest safe from the hungry dog Jess laughed at the giant, begging eyes the dog turned on her. Snagging a large piece of chicken from the roll Jess handed it to the dog. "Promise you won't tell Dr. Deaton." She warned the dog seriously. "Some vets have very strong opinions against feeding dogs what they consider to be people food." Slowly eating her supper Jess shamelessly shared half of the cooked chicken meat from her sandwich with the dog sitting beside her. Finishing her food Jess leaned back in her chair and gazed out of the window.
Staring up at the night sky Jess watched as the stars seemed to appear a few at a time as the sky continued to darken. Something about being out in the woods surrounded by nature had always been calming for Jess. Normally it filed her with an immense sense of peace. But something about the woods around her seemed off tonight. As a heavy layer of mist settled around the truck Jess turned the key and rolled down the windows and let the mist and fog fill the cab. In the seat beside her Anne slowly lowered herself down until she was lying flat on the seat, ears pinned back and staring intently into the woods slightly beside and slightly behind the driver's seat. Feeling a sudden overwhelming sense of danger Jess began to roll up the windows while watching the woods where Anne was staring so intently. Sounds of something crashing through the undergrowth reached Jess and she finished rolling up the windows and grabbed up her can of pepper spray from it's place in the driver's side door cup holder.
Suddenly a dark figure exploded out of the trees moving low and fast along the ground. Several shining objects struck the trunks of trees around him and the sound of a single gunshot rang out. Grunting and grabbing his side the figure came to a halt and snarled fiercely clutching his side where some sort of arrow was sunk deeply into the soft tissue.
Jess could never say later what it was about the scene that prompted her to act. Maybe it was the arrows, no law enforcement force she knew of used arrows to hunt fugitives, maybe it was her strange instincts that seemed to be screaming to her to SAVE HIM! The same way they screamed to her when she found an animal in distress. Maybe it was just the fact that her last few days had been going so wonderfully that she didn't want to witness a murder and have to leave the town she had been enjoying so much. Leaping out of the truck Jess wrenched open the back door and pulled out the pile of blankets. Giving a loud whistle to catch the figure attention she pointed to the back seat and hissed. "Get in quick!" The figure froze hunched over and staring straight at Jess with a look of shock and pain on his face. Shocked herself Jess recognized the handsome man she had seen on the street the day before. Once again Jess was hit with the over powering sense of Wolf as she locked eyes with the desperate stranger. The man continued to hesitate until crashing sounds and shouts from the woods forced a decision. Scrambling forwards he practically dove into the back seat burrowing down under the multiple bags. Jess took a minute to toss a few blankets over the heap before quietly shutting the door and scrambling back into the driver's seat and slamming her door shut. Turning the key fully the engine roared to life and Jess heaved a sigh of relief just as the woods around them exploded with armed men. In seconds the truck was fully surrounded by armed men. A low groan from the back was quickly muffled as a few of the men approached the truck.
One of the men walked slightly ahead of the others and motioned for Jess to roll down her window. Grasping her trusty can of pepper spray Jess shot the man a look of disbelief. And shook her head while calling loudly. "NOT GONNA HAPPEN."
"WE AREN'T HERE TO HURT YOU. JUST ROLL DOWN YOUR WINDOW SO WE CAN ASK YOU A FEW QUESTIONS." The man called loudly but calmly, standing a few feet from the truck.
Looking around at all the men, all of whom were heavily armed Jess raised her eyebrow and scoffed shaking her head again.
Turning to the men closest to him, the man who seemed to be their leader said something quietly. Jess watched as most of the men backed up away from tbe truck and began to search along the road using large flashlights. The few who remained near the truck made a big show of returning their weapons to their holsters and backing up a few steps. The leader lifted both hands to show he was unarmed and stepped up to the window. He motioned again for Jess to lower the window.
Realizing he didn't plan to let her leave without having a conversation Jess lowered the window a few inches and lifted the can of pepper spray threatening. "Who the hell had the bright idea to fire weapons into a bank of fog?" Jess snarled angrily before the man could begin to ask questions. "You could have hit something you idiots! You almost did hit my dog!" Jess continued to berate the man motioning to Anne who sat growling softly on the passenger seat. Still wrapped in a fair amount of bandages the dog didn't look very menacing despite the constant low growl coming from her towards the strangers.
Seemingly unfazed the man smiled and replied. "Sorry about that miss. My name is Chris Argent and my men and I were just searching through these woods for a dangerous animal that is suspected of killing the young women whose body the police found in the area." The man paused as Anne's growl seemed to grow louder. "We were hot on the creatures trail a few minutes ago and some of my men got over excited and took a shot at it. But we lost it right around the area you are parked in."
For a split second Jess considered berating the man further for not even being able to tell the difference between an animal and a human but that strange sense of Wolf she seemed to get whenever she saw the stranger currently hiding in the back seat of her truck, and the way he had exploded out of the woods moving so strangely made her hold her tongue.
"You wouldn't happen to have seen anything while you were out here?" Argent asked moving closer to the truck and suddenly shinning a flashlight around the interior. Anne leapt forwards until her head was level with Jess face and bared her teeth at Argent. The steady growl she had been giving since the man first approached the truck exploded into a rolling snarl.
Ignoring the snarling face just inches from her own Jess calmly shook her head. "No sir. I was just out here walking my dog when some IDIOT nearly shot her!"
"I am sorry about that." The man replied quietly then turned and stepped away from the window to speak to the men who had been searching up and down the road.
One of the men who had been standing nearby scowled at Jess and walked towards the truck. "Maybe if you damn kids could obey a simple thing like a curfew and stayed where you were supposed to you wouldn't be in our way and in danger of you and your mutt both being shot." He said angrily pulling open the drivers door of the truck and grabbing her arm to shake her while he yelled.
Reacting on instinct Jess raised the can of pepper spray and aimed it at the man's face.
Bellowing in rage the man yanked Jess out of the truck and slammed her hard against the side of the truck. The back of Jess's head slammed into the side of the truck hard enough to make her see stars. A fierce snarl and growls coming from inside the truck made the men surrounding the truck yell and raise their weapons. "I knew I smelled a dirty wolf! LISTEN TO HER GROWL!" The enraged man blinded by the pepper spray snarled slamming Jess hard against the truck again while ripping a crossbow bolt from a quiver at his side and slashing angrily at the girl he held pinned against the side of the truck, slicing deeply into the side of her left arm. Jess screamed as the arrow sliced through her arm and kicked and clawed at the man holding her causing him to drop the crossbolt. All around her men were yelling and the snarls and barking from the truck could have raised the dead it was so loud.
Suddenly the leader of the men, Chris Argent was there screaming "STAND DOWN! STAND DOWN NOW!" Grabbing the blinded man around the neck Argent hauled him away from the girl and flung him towards the nearest group of men. "The growl was coming from the dog you IDIOT!" Argent screamed pointing into the truck at the now frantic dog barking, yelping, and growling at the end of the leash.
"Get the idiot out of my sight and lock him up until he can be dealt with." Argent ranted dragging a hand across his face and groaning loudly when he turned and saw Jess clutching at her bleeding left arm while holding the bloody crossbow bolt in her right hand. In her left she still clutched the can of pepper spray.
Taking a deep breath Argent slowly walked towards Jess speaking softly and earnestly. "I can not even BEGIN to express how truly sorry I am that any of this happened. That man will be punished to the full extent of the law. That behavior was completely unacceptable and will never be allowed to happen again." Reaching toward Jess as he got closer Argent continued to speak softly. "Come with me and we will get you to a doctor and get you all fixed up. One of my men can drive your truck to the hospital for us."
Suddenly coming to her senses and remembering her stow away when Argent mentioned someone bringing the truck to the hospital Jess ducked away from the man shrieking. "Get away from me!" Lifting can of pepper spray threateningly Jesss scrambled sideways along the side of the truck. Reaching the open door Jess tossed the bloody crossbolt up onto the dash and used her right arm to haul herself up into the driver's seat. Reaching across her body with her right arm Jess pulled the door shut and locked it. Fumbling to turn the keys Jess quickly shut the window completely and shifted the truck into drive. Inching the truck forwards Jess glared at the men still surrounding the truck daring them to stay in her way and see what happened. Her entire arm burned and ached and she was hit with a wave of nausea when she spotted the bloody crossbolt on the dash of the truck and felt her blood steadily trickling down her arm. The repeated blows to her head was making her vision blurry and she wasn't sure if she would end up blacking out or not. She had to get away from these men. Once she was away from them and safe then she could take the time to have a break down.
A shouted command from Argent had all the men moving out of the way of the truck. "I WILL MAKE THIS RIGHT!" Argent yelled to Jess as she pulled the truck back on to the road and drove off into the night.