*AN* The character "Katie Knight"- does not exist in any of my stories (at least for the time being.) Any mention of "Katie" is an OC based off me.

Just a heads up, I will be changing the titles of some of my stories soon. As I mentioned in a past AN I was trying to make a series and then use only one word to describe the story as a whole and that word would also be used as a revelation or opening/closing line. I got a little bored with this one and it was getting hard to come up with clever names.

This is going to be longer than I thought, only because the plot is starting to come together and I want to try my luck at throwing in some clues/twists/turns/cliff hangers. Bear with me as I take a slow stroll through this story. *

James heard voices but he couldn't tell where they were coming from. Slowly he became more conscious as he tried to focus on the voices and what they were saying.
"….hospital….traumatic….injuries….."
"What? What are they talking about?"
Suddenly he felt himself wake up and he opened his eyes wide, as he sat up in bed trying to catch his breath. A team of nurses tried to calm him back down and get him to lay back but it took some effort as he struggled against them. In time he was more manageable and his heart rate returned to normal.
"Sir, you're going to be just fine; you had some sort of accident. Do you remember anything?" a nurse asked. James thought for a moment as he looked around; he was drawing a blank so far so he started with his own questions.
"What happened? Where am I?"
"You're in the hospital. You were found unconscious in your front yard; a neighbor heard all kinds of commotion. We think you may have fainted then hit your head. You also have a sprained knee so you wont be walking for a while. Can you tell me your name?"
"James Diamond." he replied
"Ok, James. Just sit tight and we'll get you fixed up and you can go home in a day or two." she said with a smile. She readjusted some of the machines, checked numbers and tucked James in. "I'll come check on you a little later, right now you can get some rest."
James settled down for a little bit and just stared at the ceiling as he tried to think about what happened. A twinge of pain in his leg made him uncomfortable but brought back the memory of the pain he felt in his yard. The whole story was coming back piece by piece although slowly. He thought about calling a friend to see if they knew anything but his phone and all his personal items were in a bag, in a closet, across the room. He lay back with a sigh and soon drifted to sleep.
He slept for much of his stay at the hospital due to the pain meds he was given. He was given a quick lesson on how to use his new crutches and also how to care for his injuries before being discharged. He sat in the lobby of the hospital with no ride home and searched through the bag of all his stuff to find his cell that had since died. He had no loose change for a payphone and couldn't find a phone to call out on that wasn't already occupied.
He was recognized by a staff member and he gave James a ride home. The guy, Mike, drove him right up to the gate of the community and from there, James carded in, thanked Mike and was escorted but community security up to his condo. James' heart raced as they approached as it all came flooding back to him; was that thing still there or did it move on again? And why did it want him?
He crutched up to his house, his dog running out the dog door to greet him. James got settled quickly and plugged in his phone to see several messages, missed calls and voicemails. He called every to say he was ok and to fill them in on what happened as far as the hospital but when he called Kendall, James made sure to tell the whole story. Kendall came over later in the day to discuss the events that happened in more detail.
Concerned that their encounter with the mystery animal was what caused it to appear again and this time follow James home, Kendall decided to enlist some help. Since he was an animal lover, he didn't want to see it shot and killed or experimented so he enlisted some help from Camille, Katie, Logan and Dak. They agreed to get together at noon the next day as they spent the rest of the day gathering supplies. After a brief discussion and mission break-down they spent their time putting plans together as to where, when and how to search for this animal. They were going to start small just by getting pictures and video before actually approaching it.
As soon as it turned dusk, they got their gear together and waited in James' yard to see if it would return. James was in no condition to go on this hunt so when dark fell Logan, Camille, Katie and Kendall left to check the streets of Los Angeles while Dak stayed behind with James. Armed with paintball guns, water guns and a few knives to use as a last resort in case things went wrong, they scoured ally ways, dead ends, abandoned shacks and what buildings they could enter but ultimately returned empty handed without so much as a clue. Every time it vanished, it seemed to do so into thin air.
Bummed out about the lack of evidence, they returned to James' place, now deemed their head quarters, and spent the night. They weren't about to give up and tried many more times throughout the course of a few weeks but with no luck, they eventually began to lose hope and gave up the effort. They talked about it for a little while, about a week, before giving it up all together. The guys began a European tour and would be overseas for about 2 months. Having a new task to focus on, made them forget the failure of the mission and they looked forward to a great tour.
The visited many local theaters, shopping centers and historical places in between shows. At night they performed and would be back on the bus, heading to the next city right after. They spent many days on the bus at a time as far as living and only got out to gas up or play a show. Finally in London, they were able to snag a hotel and they all got their own rooms to stay away from the others for a while. They had a long enough break between cities that they could stay for two days as they enjoyed the pool, spa, work out room and all the other amenities and local entertainment.
It wasn't until Carlos sat back to watch some TV when he caught a news story that sound familiar.
"Tonight, we bring you an addition to a story we brought you last week. In the USA, sightings of a mysterious animal began to appear, first on the east coast and then migrating to the west. Photographs were captured last night of a similar if not the same animal. It is unknown if this is a new species of if this animal is roaming the planet in search of it's forever home. This is the third sighting in the UK and although residents are worried, it appears as though, the animal means no harm and is just lost. It shies away from people who were brave enough to approach it and only appears at night as it tries to stay out of everyone's way. Officials warn to stay away from the animal, not knowing it's unpredictable nature and to just let it alone so it can move on in peace." The English Anchor woman said.
Shortly after the story ended, his phone rang; Kendall was calling about the story. They planned a new mission and contacted Logan who was more than ready; James on the other hand, declined. After his run in with the animal he wanted no part in its capture or study. Once the hotel lay dormant at closing hours around 10pm, the three snuck out to the bus to gather their equipment and began their hunt. They didn't have to go far, just beyond the hotel in a large clearing that separated the city from the country side, a large mound lay still just inside a natural nook in the hills.
It was a quiet, clear night, unusual for the time of year and they quickly but stealthily climbed over the short fence and snuck up on the animal. Not knowing where it's head was, they fanned out, paintball guns pointed and loaded, to surround the animal. They didn't want to shoot it but they had to think of their own safety and hoped that if the animal did strike, the paintballs would be enough to stun it or slow it down long enough so they could run away.
Logan took pictures with his night vision camera to look at later to see if he could gather any new evidence. They grew concerned after a minute because the animal was always active at night but currently it was sleeping. They were being quiet but even the sound of Logan's camera, their whispering and movements went undetected; much to their surprise. Last encounter, the animal showed so many keen senses that it would be near impossible to sneak up on or hide from it for a long time. Logan finished up with his pictures, taking nearly 100, and got behind his friends as they backed away, guns still pointed at the animal. They met real quick in Logan's room and took a peek at some of his shots before their manager rounded them up to go to bed.
They slept in the next day but they were all up before noon. Logan had gotten up first and when he went to the main lobby to get a workout in the weight room, he noticed a crowd of people, flashing lights and just all sorts of commotion. He called for a bodyguard and Logan checked it out from the windows. He couldn't see much but from what he could see, he assumed that everyone was making a fuss about the animal. A swat team was called in but no where to be found.
He turned to go back to his day when a rumbling was felt and heard, causing screams of terror and everyone running back inside. Logan raced back to the window and this time he could see that officers were standing just beyond the fence, guns aimed. He ran outside to see the large beast awake, but tired and weak as it faced off against the numerous opponents. It was obvious it didn't want to fight, t just wanted to be left alone but it was cornered and had no where to go.
Logan called Kendall in a panic and told him what was going on. Him and Carlos arrived in minutes and they ran outside to see what was happening. Officers, threw stones, smoke bombs and even tased it but it just took the abuse as it cried out in pain. It had gotten quite large since the last encounter and could take the beating but it still hurt to see and hear it's cries.
"Fire at will!" the chief said.
"No!" Carlos called out
"Don't do it!" Logan added
"Stay out of this!" The chief reprimanded
"Cant you see your hurting it? It just wants to be left alone!" Kendall said
"We don't want it here, it needs to go back where it came from." the chief responded
"It's hurt! It cant go anywhere!" Logan said
"Hold your fire!" the chief called out
"Carlos wait!" Kendall called out to his friend who had broke past the barricade. The animal growled and lunged at Carlos in anger thinking he would hurt it more.
"It's ok, I'm not going to hurt you, it's alright." Carlos soothed. The animal watched him intently as it let out a hiss in it's throat. Carlos searched the animal and found the wound, it was a deep cut full of glass from the paw pad up to it's hock, it appeared as though it kicked something. The wound was healing on it's own but it would just need time. Carlos didn't touch the animal and just backed away and shooed the officers with him. The animal lay down and watched before lying to its side. The guys checked periodically to see if the animal was still there and it was but when they woke up the next morning to leave for the next city, the animal was gone.

*AN* Bear in mind this story is different than things I have written before for this website. This story could be considered an experiment on my own behalf. I'm publishing it here just for a safe place so to speak. whether readers like it or dont, doesnt matter to me, at least not on this story. I'm trying different things on this one so it really is for my own benefit. Feel free to leave feedback thoughts opinions, foreshadowing, let downs, changes etc. I'm not going to go back and change what I wrote but I can always use suggestions in future stories but no promises, sorry. This is also a reason as to why the grammar, spelling and overall outline and setup are the way they are, I'm treating this as a rough draft story, published for safe keeping/feedback. No need to leave comments on the bad spelling, punctuation, capitalization and what not, I'm aware of it but like I said, this is just a rough draft story since I am trying something new.*