[RP Log] I'm a Debaser

This was the part Ligaya hated. Doc had had no problem getting them into the hospital, and finding the room that the first woman was in. The wound was huge: or at least, one could guess it was, based on the amount of bandaging that was wrapped around her arm and shoulder. She was wondering if Doc would be able to convince a nurse to let him see the full extent of it- if not, they would be here a long time waiting for a bandage change. The woman was lucid now, and didn't seem to mind the pair's company much. 

"We're doing a study on the rise of wildlife in the pine barrens, and we saw your name in the newspaper as one of the local victims." Ligaya had said, entering with a bouquet of flowers and a "Get well soon" balloon tied onto it. She really did know a lot about getting on people's good sides. "I was hoping that maybe you might consider talking to us?"

The woman, much to Ligaya's relief, had agreed, which was something the first two victims didn't do. Well, one didn't; the other was under heavy sedation. She had marked him down as a "try again later."

So now she found herself sitting in a chair off to the side, taking notes on her ipad while Doc did all the talking. She just prayed he wouldn't be too weird- they really needed this lead.

--

Unlike Ligaya, Matthew had mixed feelings about gathering evidence. In his mind, all cases needed a proper history gathered; his mind left no room for error among that. Most of the diagnosis lay in the history from the patient, after all. His eyes drifted towards the bandage- it was a little too tight for his tastes, especially for a wound that should be as open to air as possible. Didn't the nurses here know that bandaging a bite wound this tightly was asking for infection?

Unaware of Ligaya's silent prayer, Matthew turned his focus away from the wound- he had no jurisdiction in this hospital, and so didn't dare ask to see the wound- and instead began asking questions. Perhaps to his partner's surprise, there was a somewhat calming presence to him right now, and though there was a certain reservedness to his voice, a trait common among doctors, it wasn't lacking in warmth or compassion.

"I understand that you've been a part of some strange circumstances regarding the pine barrens- let's start simple. Can you describe to us what happened leading up to your hospitalization here?"

--

Ligaya simply listened in while Doc did all the talking.

"I- yeah," the young woman hesitated, taking a deep breath and gathering herself before she started. "I was camping with a few of my friends- you know, plenty of people camp in the Barrens. It's not a big deal at all," she started, not seeming to think twice now that she had begun. "It must have been around 1 AM when I realized I left my phone in the car- but I needed it to get up in the morning so we could pack up and head out before 11. I didn't notice anything weird at first, maybe cause I was sleeping a minute or so before... but then... I heard voices. Like there was someone right outside of our campsite, you know?"

It was at this point that Sparrow and Doc would get their lucky break- a nurse came in to change her bandages. "Will you two please step out for a moment- this shouldn't take long," the nurse instructed, but the young woman spoke up. "No, no, they can stay. I don't know if you guys want pictures, but..." it was a generous offer, for sure. As the nurse unwound the bandages, there it was- a definite bite mark. The top teeth marks were dug into her collarbone and chest, and the bottoms imprinted the back of her arm. It appeared she must have fallen before she got bitten, by the angle of the bite. Ligaya noted this and typed it in.

"Looks like there's a little infection."

--

Matthew listened attentively as the woman retold her story, nodding along and giving bits of guidance where needed. He was surprised but grateful when the woman allowed them to stay while the bandage change occurred, and he did not waste the opportunity. Peering closely, he observed the bandage removal and narrowed his eyes slightly when the wound became visible. The marks of dentition pointed highly towards a large dog.... or wolf. Matthew immediately grew suspicious.

He also resisted the urge to scoff when the nurse spoke of infection. He was sure it was nothing that some antibiotics couldn't clear up- aside from some inflammation and discoloration, it really didn't look that bad- but he was slightly disappointed that this woman would have to deal with something that, in his mind, could have been prevented or at least minimized. "I know this must be a traumatic experience for you, so I hate to ask, but... do you remember what your attacker looked like?" He didn't want to outright speak his suspicions- he didn't want to influence the story at all, but rather wanted to hear this woman's description of it prior to being exposed to a biased point of view. It didn't matter that there was no doubt in his mind about what caused this bite- he would still be methodical in his information gathering.

--

"Uh..." she winced a little as a piece of gauze was pulled away from dried blood. "Like I was saying, there were people talking, and then I stubbed my toe on a log or something and fell over- next thing I knew something was biting me. I thought I had been stabbed, it was terrible. But my friend came out of the tent when she heard me screaming, and she said it was this huge wolf- biggest she's ever seen. I didn't think there were wolves in the pine barrens, but..." she frowned.

"Hey, actually, if you wanted to ask her about it I could give you her number, I think she'd be happy to have someone listen and not kind of write her off as crazy- do you want to write it down?" she directed the question at Ligaya, who took her phone out and nodded. "Yeah, ready."

The woman read the number off and the two confirmed it as the nurse finished up and left the room without a word.

--

So it was a wolf. He cast a knowing glance at Ligaya, nodding slightly. This was definitely worth investigating further. He knew werewolves could be unpredictable, but attacking someone so openly like this?

The poor soul. They must be at the end of their rope. Idly, he wondered if becoming a werewolf had a similar effect on the nervous tissue as rabies did. After all, lycanthropy had a similar means of transmission. It would also explain why this wolf was being so open, but then again, most of the other wolves they'd encountered hadn't reached this stage yet. Was it merely an anomaly of a case, or had the others simply not progressed along enough in the disease?

Matthew couldn't be sure, but he had a feeling Ligaya might know. Thanking the woman for her time and the other woman's number, he and his partner left the victim to rest. He wished all interviews went this easily, if he was being honest. He had the decency to wait until they were outside the hospital before asking: "You heard that, didn't you? Have you heard of other cases of werewolves being so brazen and open about their attacks?"

--

"Of course I've heard of them... but not in big cities like this. Maybe out in the backwoods or the boonies, but not on Staten Island," she seemed perplexed as her brow furrowed in thought. They approached her car now, and Ligaya slid into the drive'rs seat and started her up, but made no movement to go quite yet.

"Full moon's next week- we gotta prioritize. This isn't an easy case, Doc," she seemed stressed as she went back over her notes mindfully. "We have to find out if the other two victims were bitten or not. This could be a lot of work if they were. It doesn't help that neither one of them or their families wanted to give us the time of day...." she thought out loud, pausing before she allowed herself to continue.

"We'll have to put them down. A wolf shifting in a hospital could cause a lot of trouble, mass hysteria. We can't let that happen. Then we have to figure out who exactly did this- who are we even looking for? If we're lucky, they're still in the Pine Barrens somewhere. But they could be gone by now," she was getting ready to call the other woman now, letting out a deep sigh.

--

Matthew slipped into the car quietly, his mind already hard at work trying to come up with a proper game plan. He had more questions for her, but something told him she hadn't focused on the progression of lycanthropy in their targets nearly as much as he was. She just didn't hold the same interest in medicine and finding a cure as he did, regrettably.

"These cases are never easy lately," he said, stifling a sigh. "But it needs to be done, whether their families cooperate or not." It was a lot of work, no doubt, but he was used to a strenuous workload by now- hunting was actually a combination of not letting medicine consume him and a means to further himself in the field. He wasn't entirely sure how that was supposed to work out, either, but it keep him from being in the hospital 24/7.

"Let me handle the wolf in the hospital; there was a catheter in her arm. Once we contain the belligerent wolf, I can simply sneak in while she sleeps and put her down. If this hospital is anything like mine, the nurses are understaffed and overworked- it shouldn't be too hard to slip in and out unnoticed. As for the belligerent wolf... well, you always were better at drawing out our targets than I was."

--

Ligaya hated that. She knew they would have to put the woman down, but.... god, she was so young. She had such a life ahead of her. She shook off the thought as she dialed in the number they were given. "It might be better to get an account of what the wolf looked like for now. And who knows, we might get another lead out of it."

She hit send on the phone and it only needed to ring three times before a woman picked up. "Hello?"

"Hi! This is Jennifer White from the environmental sciences department at NYU! Your friend gave us this number, and we were wondering if it'd be possible to meet up with you sometime today. Me and my partner, that is. We're looking into the recent spike in wildlife activity in the pine barrens this past year."

"...Uh, yea,h sure. Can you meet me at the starbucks on the corner of Church and Maple in... I don't know, like an hour?"

"Yes ma'am, that would be great! Thank you very much and see you soon!" She hung up, her phone voice lost now as she checked the time. "Should we just wait, or is there something we can do in the next hour?"

--

Matthew didn't contest that plan, staying silent while Ligaya was on the phone with the other individual. He took her notes from her possession and started flipping through them, trying to see if there was anything in here that he might have missed. He rolled his eyes at her phone voice- it just sounded so counterfeit, how did anyone fall for it? And yet, she got off the phone with a meeting set up in about an hour.

"There's always something that can be done," he replied without looking up from the notes in his hand. "We could always try to make progress with the other two victims- perhaps one of them might be more receptive to a house call?"

--

"Alright, the one guy just lives a few blocks from here- we can head there first, see what's going on," she stated, throwing the car in reverse, backing out of the spot, and heading out towards the address they had listed for the first victim who had refused to speak with them. Ligaya gathered herself for a moment before stepping out of the sleek, black vehicle, making her way up to the door. It had a buzzer for calling up to apartments, but besides that there was no way in without a key.

D6. She rang the bell. Buzzed it once, twice, three times, but no one answered. Growing frustrated, she nearly walked away after about five minutes of intermittently trying and waiting- and then someone came out of the building. Sliding in like it was nobody's business, she held the door for Matthew before proceeding up the stairs- she didn't do elevators. So six flights of stairs later, she found herself walking down the hallway.

Matthew, ever the elevator type, was already standing... in front of an open door to D6. And it didn't look good. The scene was grim- everything was torn up and thrown around, the apartment completely ransacked. But there were plenty of valuables still all over the place. It was clear this wasn't a robbery. And that's what put a knot the size of a rock in Ligaya's stomach as she closed and locked the door. "Don't touch anything, I have a bad feeling..."

And then she saw the body. The fatal blow was clearly a gunshot wound to the gut- the dead man was on the floor, hand reached out to a phone that he must have dropped but didn't quite make it to. But he was covered head to toe in bruises and bandages as well, most likely from the incident in the barrens. "Did you bring gloves?"

--

Of course he took the elevator. He understood Ligaya's reserve about them, but six flights of stairs were simply far too much of a hassle. Were it not for the door half broken off its hinges, he might have waited a bit more patiently for his partner to hurry along, but instead he found himself compulsively checking his watch and glancing at the stair door until she arrived. He dared not enter alone- Ligaya might have a wide assortment of weapons, but Matthew only had his tranquilizers and his euthanasia solution, both of which were in the car right now. He hadn't exactly expected to walk into a crime scene when he suggested they check out the other victims.

Finally, she appeared in the stairwell, and he pointed silently to the open door before they quickly stepped inside. The place certainly looked like a crime scene; she didn't need to tell him not to touch anything, but he said nothing as he made his way further into the apartment.

He was already putting on a pair of latex gloves when she asked, most likely fetched from the depths of his jacket pocket. He merely gave her a look in return, before moving to kneel down by the body. "Check the rest of the apartment for anyone hiding," he replied in a low voice, so that only Ligaya could hear. "I'll stay with the body and collect samples."

--

Sparrow nodded in agreement, making her way around the apartment with a pair of borrowed latex gloves as not to leave fingerprints anywhere around the apartment. No one in the closets. Under the bed. Behind the curtains. On the.... fire escape? She couldn't help but notice that that must have been the killer's point of entry, as the window was wide open. She stepped out onto the fire escape and sighed- anyone who had been here was long gone, and seemingly without a trace. Then again, she was no detective. Heading back in, she started looking for anything that might have been of use to them. The only things she seemed to find were his wallet, ID inside which she took, and his hospital discharge papers sitting on the table as if he had been reading them earlier that morning.

But then there was a sticky note. A few, actually. One with a name on it- Matthew Williams, MD. Another with a phone number- the number had looked familiar, but Ligaya couldn't quite pin down why. The third had an address on it. She gathered up the sticky notes and pages, before something else caught her eye- the red button on the answering machine was flashing, indicating the man had received at least one message. Ligaya played it.

"Hey, John. It's Caitlyn. I was calling to see if you still wanted to meet up tomorrow for dinner. I know you probably have a lot of questions, so just call me if I can help you out with anything. The transition is hard for any of us- but it's easier with help. I'm at work and I'll call back later to check in on you. Hope you're doing well." 

"To delete, press 7. To save, press 9. To listen to your message again, press 1. For all other options, press 2" 

"Hey, Doc? When you're done over there, you might wanna hear this before I delete it."

--

While Ligaya scoured the apartment, Matthew devoted his attention to the dead man sprawled out in front of him. Poor bastard.... he didn't want to tamper too much with the crime scene, as he was sure police would be arriving here soon despite him making sure to shut the door to ward off any curious onlookers. They had to work fast, remove any trace evidence of the supernatural before someone saw something they shouldn't.

Working meticulously, he snatched up a few vials of blood from the man's axillary artery, hoping that the fresh stick would look less obvious in a place few would look. He then dispensed the blood into three tubes and labeled each one with the date, sex, and estimated age of the individual before tucking them away into a small baggy. He would obtain the name later, if he could. Only then did he investigate further. It didn't take a genius to know he likely died from the gaping wound in his abdomen- there was residue around the wound, suggesting it was close range, which wasn't all that surprising considering how cramped the apartment was. Still, he took a swab of that as a sample too- perhaps they could trace the residue back to a make and model. Other than that, the only other clue he found was a short strand of blond hair on the victim's clothing, which he also carefully collected and pocketed away. Thankfully, this didn't seem all that different from a normal killing, so there wasn't much to clean up.

Straightening himself up from the floor, Matthew heeded Ligaya's suggestion and headed over to her, furrowing his brows when he noticed what she found. He asked her to replay the message, listening intently to what it had to say. "A transition?" Shame this 'Caitlyn' didn't leave an address to where they were supposed to meet- but he supposed that would have been too easy, wouldn't it? There were only two things Matthew could think of that could possibly correlate to a transition, and he had a feeling it didn't have anything to do with gender.

"It's best to delete it now- the police will probably overlook it, but we don't want to leave any clues as to what really went on here," he mumbled, looking over the sticky notes next. Wait a second... why exactly was his name written down among them? He narrowed his eyes. "Seems the victim was looking for me, too." He snapped a quick picture of the phone number and address with his cell phone, before tucking it safely back in his pocket. "This just keeps getting stranger, doesn't it?"

--

She took out her phone and played the message back one more time, this time recording it so that if they needed to hear it again later, they would be able to. She deleted the message, and then turned to the papers all sprawled out on the table. She left most of it: she knew the hospital discharge papers wouldn't have anything they needed, the phone number and address Doc had taken a picture of- but the sticky note with his name on it? No, that would have to come with them. They didn't need Matthew being investigated for murder while they were trying to... well, murder. Or, "put down" as he preferred to say. "Well, that's two victims accounted for- if we don't hurry, we're gonna be late for our coffee date with, uh.... fuck, I didn't even get her name," she admitted, waltzing out of the building and back to the car.
.......
Her name was Caitlyn. That was how she introduced herself at least. And the voice- the voice was just exactly the same on the message as it was now, here. Ligaya eyed her suspiciously, sipping on her frappuccino as the three of them talked. Caitlyn was a tall woman, about 5'10., but her most notable feature was her bright blue eyes. Her hair, short, blonde, and shaved on one side, surprisingly didn't take anything away from her appearances. She was a notably beautiful woman.

"So, what Alyssa had told us was that you were there that night. The night with the...."

There was an awkward silence and a momentary pause before Caitlyn chimed in "The wolf, yes" but the word was quiet, almost whispered, as if the word itself were taboo, could attract the attention of any prying eyes or ears in the room. Caitlyn looked nervous saying it, even, but that didn't stop her. "Did she tell you I would be able to describe it for you?" Ligaya nodded, trying to be patient.

But she didn't have to wait very long. "It must have been around 1 AM when I heard Lyss scream," she started, staring down at the top of her coffee cup, trying to distract herself from but at the same time describe the curious incident. "So, of course I rushed out as soon as I could, but- it was too late. It was there, on top of her, ripping into her shoulder," her eyes watered, tears threatening to roll down her cheeks but she blinked rapidly, holding them back,

"It was the biggest wolf I had ever seen. At first, I thought it was a bear, but- it wasn't. It was a huge... wolf" she shook her head in disbelief again, taking a moment to recompose herself. "It was dark, almost black. So were its eyes- it was like a shadow with teeth. And it looked at me and it snarled and ran- I don't know why it didn't come after me too."

That seemed suspicious. "Were you armed?"

"No, I was in my pajamas. I didn't have anything on me at all- why?"

"No reason. Caitlyn, do you know a John...." she tried for a moment to recall the last name, but it came to her without any major problems. "Wallace?" The woman looked confused, shaking her head.

"I thought you guys were doing a study on wildlife in the Barrens...."

Shit.

--

Well, the story seemed to check out, at least. Description matched the bite wound on the victim, the time was the same... he had no reason to doubt her story, and yet something was nagging at him in the back of his mind.

Caitlyn's growing suspicion was when Matthew finally decided to intervene. "We are. John was interested in joining our efforts, so we were wondering if he might have contacted you first. We'd hate to be redundant and waste your time by asking the same questions." He explained; the lies rolled smoothly off of his tongue. He leaned forward slightly, resting his arms on the table as he regarded Caitlyn. "We want to stress how unusual of an attack this is. Wolves don't live in the Barrens- we have reason to believe it was a wolf from an illegal, captive collection perhaps, or something of that nature." Another lie, but he was studying the woman carefully now, hiding his scrutiny behind a mask of concern. How would she react to this false info, he wondered? "If you hear any information about it, please let us know so we can contact the proper authorities. A creature that doesn't belong like that should not be running loose and endangering people's lives."

--

Good save, Doc.

Ligaya kept her mouth shut for the most part for the rest of their meeting, which might have been for the better. That really was the end of her account- though this didn't solve the mystery as to why the Caitlyn who left John a message and the Caitlyn that witnessed Lyss' attack seemed to be the same person... but they could talk about that later. Now wasn't the time. As they finished getting the information they needed, they said their goodbyes and started towards the door.

"Hey, Cait!" a new voice called, and Ligaya looked back to see a man joining her now, who could only be described as tall, dark, and handsome. His hair was so incredibly black- as was the tailored suit he was wearing. If seen from the back, its quite possible one might mistake him for a shadow, even.

The second they were away from the Starbucks and getting into the car, Ligaya had to say something.

"That was her, Matthew. That was Caitlyn from the message."

--

Was it a trick of the light, or did he see the woman tense up slightly at his last statement? It was too quick a gesture to tell, He pressed no further, instead giving the woman a fake business card with their contact information under the guise of, "If you think of anything else, please give us a call."

Taking his coffee- the second cup he'd had since the meeting- with him, Ligaya and Matthew left without incident. Matthew hardly seemed to notice the man that met Caitlyn outside, aside from a curious mental note that he was wearing a suit. Matthew could only conclude that they must have a very important meeting to attend to, or perhaps a date, though he seemed a little overdressed for the latter. No matter, there were more pressing matters to attend to.

"I'm glad you think so, too. That leaves the possibility that she could be one... what do you propose we do?" he asked, taking a sip from his to-go cup as they walked. The bitter taste that hit the back of his throat was hardly noticed as the gears in his head turned, trying to figure out the connection between the two. "Could it be a set up...?" he wondered, not realizing he said it out loud.

--

Ligaya did seem to notice something strange about the man. Something about him rang a bell, but she couldn't quite put her finger on why. She just knew she had a bad feeling about all of this. Her brow furrowed in concentration as she tried to figure out exactly what was going on. "We need to talk to our last victim. Caitlyn was connected to two of them... odds are, she has something to do with the third. There's something not quite right about her," she took a deep breath, and didn't say much else as they loaded themselves into the car.

"And, odds are, Mr...." she looked at her notepad. "Erickson isn't safe either. Not after what we just saw..." she was referring to the fact that it might be important to check on their third victim as soon as they possibly could. "Did we get his address?" she thought out loud to herself as she rifled through her notes.

--

"Hopefully this one won't have his intestines splattered on the carpet like the last," Matthew replied dryly, allowing himself a deep sigh as he closed the door to the car. It didn't bode well to talk about such things out in the open, after all. "We can't jump to conclusions about Caitlyn until we have reason to suspect her... but it is curious that she's so intricately tied in with this case. I don't think she's just a mere bystander of a lycan attack."

Seeing that Ligaya was currently rifling through the notes, he muttered, "Page 8." That should, if he remembered correctly, be the page that held the address they were looking for. "I can punch in the coordinates while you drive."

--

And page 8 it was. Sparrow had him punch in the coordinates as she started the car and threw it in reverse, backing out of the lot with a sigh.

This address was a lot further away than the others, that was for sure. It took them around 45 minutes to get there, and the car ride... well it wasn't unpleasant, but it wasn't the most pleasant, either. She had put on her favorite station, NPR, as they drove. There wan't anything special on, just some regular news updates. But you never knew what you were going to hear on the radio.

After the drive they arrived at a fairly normal looking house, in a fairly normal looking neighborhood. Well, it was a wealthy neighborhood, and the house was massive. There were two cars parked in the driveway as they headed up to knock at the door. "Lets stick with the research story- NYU." was all she said before she started knocking. When no one answered, she saw the doorbell and rang that once- it was the loudest doorbell she ever heard, and with it a dog... no, two dogs? Started barking up a storm. "I'm coming!" A female voice called, and sure enough when the door opened there she was. A small, middle aged woman, with silvery hair and a big smile on her face. Her makeup was caked on, making her wrinkles stick out much more than she most likely thought they were. "Can I help you?"

--

Matthew didn't object to Ligaya's choice of radio station, vastly preferring this over some empty but infuriatingly catchy pop songs that they tended to blare over some of the other stations. The drive was monotonous and uneventful, but it provided a decent space to think and mull over the case as they approached their destination.

He nodded, needing no further explanation for their cover story than that. When the woman opened the door, he smiled, changing from overworked doctor to chipper graduate student with surprising conviction. "Yes, actually- ma'am, my colleague and I are conducting a research project with New York University on the study of invasive species, we were wondering if you had a couple moments to speak with us?" His voice had resumed that strange, almost synthetic pleasantness that was typically absent.

--

The woman, with a grin neither Ligaya or Doc had most likely expected, stepped back and opened the door, gesturing them to come in. In fact, she didn't just gesture. "Come in, come in!" she insisted, ushering the two in and then into what appeared to be a rather large sitting room. "Can I get you two anything? Coffee? Water?" she asked, seeming almost uncomfortable to sit still.

While Doc responded with a polite enough "No, thank you," Ligaya took her up on her offer, and the woman disappeared to get her a glass of water. Ligaya looked around the room while the woman disappeared and then returned, though she seemed slightly nervous to have them there. She sat down on a couch across the coffee table where the pair were seated, placing Ligaya's glass on the table and sliding it over to her. Ligaya eyed it unsurely, taking the glass but not yet drinking from it. "So, you two said you were doing a study on invasive species?"

--

He wasn't sure about Ligaya, but Doc definitely wasn't expecting such enthusiasm as they were advised to come inside. He did his best to maintain his persona, though anyone who even remotely knew him probably caught a moment of that facade cracking, slightly unsettled by it all. It probably was overkill to decline the beverage, but he never did accept food or drink from strangers, out of habit.

He exchanged a questioning look with Ligaya as the woman went to get a drink, but didn't say a word until the woman returned. "Yes, we've been observing parts of the Pine Barrens, in addition to Fire Island; especially the human aspect of introducing these non-native species. We'd heard you've been witness to a strange occurrence in the Pine Barrens which could significantly help us with our research, if you're alright with answering a few questions?"

--

"Oh no, not me. My husband! But he's out right now... so I can help you with as much as I can until he gets home. It shouldn't be all that long," she gave another warm smile at Doc.

For the moment that the older woman was distracted, Ligaya nonchalantly sipped one finger- her left index, if it matters- into the glass of water. And something eerie happened. Her nail polish started to change colors. So without taking a sip, she placed the glass back down on the table- what was going on here, between all of these people? The circumstances were just... strange. The first two victims knew the same woman, and now this third victim... well, his wife anyways, was trying to drug her? The plot continued to thicken.

"It's a real blessing in disguise, what happened to my Steven," the woman continued as Ligaya's eyes wandered the room, trying to figure out exactly what was going on here.

"Why's that, ma'am?" Ligaya questioned curiously- how was a wolf attack a blessing in disguise?

"Well, he had been having some really bad heart problems. Steven, I mean. When he took this attack... I thought he was done for. But something happened- he started getting better. Stronger. It's like that attack gave him some sort of.... ability. To fight off his condition. I don't quite know what happened, all I know is that he's still with me and he's doing better than ever."

--

"We appreciate your time and hospitality in the mean time, ma'am," Matthew replied. So it was just the husband. This woman, therefore, should have nothing to do with this....

Keyword, should. Matthew didn't miss Ligaya dipping a finger into the glass of water, though he didn't glance over at her until after her hand had been stationary for a moment. Though they hadn't been partners for a terribly long time, she'd told him about the clear nail polish that changes colors when interacting with a laced drink. He had found it simple yet ingenious, and now clearly something useful. He didn't quite understand what this meant, but it wasn't good. His suspicions intensified.

"There have been studies about the outdoors doing wonders for the body," Matthew offered, even though on the inside he cringed at the words that left his mouth. Sure, breathing in fresh air wasn't exactly harmful, but like hell could it cure anything like heart disease. Anyone who believed otherwise was delusional, in his mind. "Or perhaps the experience gave him a new lease on life, being so close to a horrible experience and all that. I know this isn't any of my business, but perhaps it might be best for a doctor to look at him, just to make sure there aren't any underlying signs of illness that's being missed- my grandmother had a similar problem, you see. She felt fine right before things started progressing, so..." He wanted to curse himself as he continued to talk- this was definitely not something that was considered professional for college researchers to say, and as he tried to cover it up, it only sounded worse. He paused, holding out a hand before drawing it over his eyes, as if to hide tears. "I'm sorry, I need a minute." It was a terrible cover up, but he could only hope the woman would fall for it after his previous blunder.

--

The woman seemed a little put off by his.... not quite accusations, but he definitely wasn't being the most polite. But that was ok, she had expected that.

Then three things happened all at the same time.

The first was that Ligaya noticed something she hadn't before- a picture sitting on the end table. Of course, plenty of people had pictures on their side tables, that wasn't the issue at hand. The issue was who was in the picture. Ligaya recognized every single person in the picture- she had met them all. That very day, actually. She thought it odd that Mrs. Erickson wouldn't think to tuck it away, since everyone else seemed to be so gung ho about lying.

The second was the sound of the front door opening once again, and not just one but multiple voices flooding the halls now. Ligaya looked around, trying to get a fast handle on the room as the woman called out, "Honey, would you come here? There's visitors here for you!" Her heart rate picked up now as she looked back and forth- no doors. There was an open archway that was about to be blocked off. Three windows behind them, none in front. She had her handgun on her, but that was tucked into her boot now, and there was no way to grab it without making a scene. A large man filled the archway- old, for sure, but still large and in shape. He looked nothing like a man who had been suffering from any sort of heart condition.

The third thing was when Ligaya felt her heart drop- shit.

"Thats odd, Dr. Williams. I never really pictured you as the emotional type."

--

Matthew's blood went cold when the woman spoke his name. He froze, slowly lifting his head. "How do you know who I am?"

Everything slowly came into focus as the realization that this was a set up dawned on him; the hulking man in the doorway, their complete lack of escape without escalating something. This was way out of his element. He was a doctor first and a hunter second, and he'd never had to deal with an ambush like this before. The only reason he had a knife and a tranq gun on him was, one, for medical emergencies in the case of the knife, and two, because Ligaya had stressed going into the field prepared, even when the situation seemed safe on the outside. His arm brushed up against the small dart gun in his jacket pocket, but how to reach it without alerting them that something was up? He looked to Ligaya for help, hoping that she had a plan, while he himself quickly wracked his brain for something, anything.

Perhaps he could at least buy them some time.

--

"You're not a very good hunter, dear," the woman responded, a smirk forming on her lips as she kept her gaze fixed on the two of them.

The archway began to fill out. With the large gentlemen were Caitlyn and the tall, dark looking man who she had been meeting at the coffee shop right after they had left. There were two more with them, one tall and lanky man and another short and chubby woman, both wearing unamused expressions. Mr. Erickson spoke up, his voice deep, but still silky in its own way. "One of our associates had been looking into you, so... we thought we had better look into you, as well. The other hunter- well, she was just a bonus," Caitlyn laughed at that, and Sparrow readjusted herself slightly, reaching towards the top of her boot. She was weighing out the odds of the situation- not good. But if she could get through that window behind them... She tried to figure out a way to tell Matthew that they had to get behind the couch.

--

"If you've looked into me, then I'm sure you're familiar with my research?" the words flew out of Matthew's mouth before he even realized what he was doing. Despite the fear that was hammering in his chest, he seemed to have slipped into what some of his residents call "doctor mode." His face was serious, stern even in this case; there wasn't a single part of him that betrayed his nerves right now. Ever so slowly, his hand strayed closer to the tranq gun in his jacket pocket.

He kept talking. "I can bet most of you weren't born with your lycanthropy, correct? How do you think it's transmitted? It's not a curse, it's not some sort of ridiculous magic." Matthew resisted the urge to have his lip curl up as he spat out the word magic. He saw at least one of the werewolves pause. "It's a disease. It infected you lot, and every disease has a causative agent. If that agent can be isolated, then a cure can be found. Do you understand what I'm saying?"

Matthew let out a heavy sigh. He seemed oblivious to the gears turning in Ligaya's head, or that she might be signaling to him. He was focused solely on the wolves in front of him right now. "The ones who can be saved, I will save. I've only put down those who have become a danger to society. We don't have to fight."

--

The tall lanky man seemed interested in what Doc was saying, but there was someone who definitely was not. Anies' (the tall, dark wolf) contorted in disgust. "Put us down?" he repeated, cocking his head to the side. His blood burned like fire in his veins. "Are we animals to you?" he asked between gritted teeth, eyes narrowing as he reached down towards his belt as if to produce a weapon- but he was interrupted by the next few actions.

As soon as he began reaching for the gun, the tall, lanky man shoved him to the side, trying to throw him off balance for a moment so he wouldn't shoot at the two- if there was a way out, he wanted in.

Ligaya saw her opportunity. Bracing herself, she extended her legs and flipped the couch over, taking aim and shooting out the window as they flipped. And once the gunshots started, they didn't stop. She looked to Mathew to make sure he was ready to make their escape as a bullet came whizzing through the couch and right past her head. "WE HAVE TO GO NOW!" she yelled.

--

The second Doc saw the anger in the man's eyes, he knew he'd made a mistake in his choice of words. But before he could backtrack, he felt himself lurch backwards. A bullet whizzed by overhead, causing him to turn pale. While this wasn't the first time a gun had been pointed at him, it was the first time someone had actually pulled the trigger- needless to say, a gunshot was a lot louder up close than he anticipated.

One of the other werewolves turned on them, her voice shrill as she said, "Anies, we can't shoot them! It'll attract too much attention!" It was a bit too late for that, though. Gunshots were already flying around the room.
Caitlyn spoke up, a growl leaping from her throat. "We've already attracted too much attention, get them before it's too late!"

"How do you propose we do that?! We're boxed in!" He yelled, hopefully loud enough for Ligaya to hear, but quiet enough where the other werewolves couldn't. At this point, he'd pulled the tranq gun out of his pocket and loaded some sedative into the chamber. Taking a risk, and nearly getting his head blown off in the process, he fired a shot in the general direction of two of the wolves, hoping it would hit one of them.

--

It did hit one of them- The woman, who had proposed Anies stop shooting. It wasn't long until she was down for the count. "Fine," Anies practically spat. "I won't shoot anymore, then."

Ligaya, from behind the couch, hadn't heard what happened next. But that's because Anies was soundless as he shifted into a massive "monster." "The window. Mathew," she hissed back, gesturing up to the now broken glass. "Just tuck your head in and keep low," she instructed. She counted her breaths, getting ready to make a run for it.

One. This isn't the hardest situation you've been in.

Two. Mathew isn't your responsibility- whether he makes it out or not, you go.

Three.

Werewolves suck.

With the third deep breath, Ligaya launched herself at the broken window, arm in front of her ducked head as she broke the already shattered glass more, then took off running full tilt across the front lawn of the nice house. Don't look back, don't look back...

But of course she did. And what she didn't see disturbed her. She didn't see Doc.

--

"Are you suggesting-" it sounded preposterous, but as he heard the heavy snarling of a werewolf behind him, he knew jumping through the window was likely their only option at this point. Bracing himself, he watched as Ligaya made a break for it, only waiting a few seconds before he did the same.

He made it to the edge of the window before something caught hold of his shirt.

"Oh, no you don't!" Caitlyn growled, throwing him back into the room. Glass cut his face as he fell to the floor, his tranq gun skittering out of his reach. Bollocks. That certainly didn't go as planned.

He felt a foot connect with his ribs, leaving him wheezing as claws once again grabbed hold of his shirt. "Caitlyn, Ned, you two go after the girl. Anies and I will take care of this one." Mr. Erickson sneered, giving Matthew a wicked grin as two of the other wolves took off after Ligaya.

--

In that moment, the moment the other two came scrambling out the window, Ligaya could feel nothing. She couldn't feel the glass that had managed to stick its way into her forearm, or the pain in her other shoulder where she had rolled out. She couldn't feel the burning in her lungs as she did a full sprint to the car- she just had to make it to the car. Just to the car. And she had a head start.

While the other two chased her to their fullest extent, they couldn't quite catch her. She got in and locked the doors, then started it up. Then, it was like Cujo. One wolf was throwing himself into the car door as the woman, Caitlyn, took aim with her pistol. Ligaya gassed it- hard. A bullet flew through her back window, but she would have her revenge. She turned the wheel as hard as she could, the back end sliding out along the grass on the lawn, and drove right at her, and she hit her. Ffor a moment, she thought she was safe: and then there was a werewolf in her back seat.
.......
Oh, Anies was going to e n j o y this. He was grateful as Doc was tossed back towards him, and barreled full force towards Matthew. Suddenly, a decent amount of his forty-two teeth were in Matthew's leg. He tossed his head back and forth, ragdolling Matthew despite the fact that toying with him was absolutely unnecessary.

--

Ligaya's look in the rear view mirror was met with a feral smile, the wolf's teeth far too big for its mouth as it edged closer. "You shouldn't have run over my friend back there. I was going to let you live before that." he snarled, venom in his voice as he lunged forward. The space between the driver and passenger's seat was too narrow to let him fully come forward, but he managed to get a claw and his head up front enough to try and tear at Ligaya's arm.

.......

Before Matthew could get up, there was a ripping sensation in his leg, and suddenly he was airborne. One of the wolves had gotten his leg. He hit the ground one, two, three times. A sickening crack resounded in the house. The air rushed out of his lungs; where was his tranq gun? Doc's free leg kicked out at the beast that held the other hostage. He had to find his tranq gun, or he was as good as dead. A glimmer of metal caught his eye- he kicked again, hoping to dislodge the werewolf from his leg long enough to scramble towards it.

--

Ligaya's eyes flashed, and for a moment, you could actually see sincere fear. But that only lasted a moment, because then there was excruciating pain as a claw dragged from her left shoulder, across her chest and downwards, leaving four angry red gashes in its wake. The marks stretched from her left collarbone to right on the bottom of her right rib cage. She gritted her teeth as tears forced their way out, trails rolling down her cheeks and neck.

She had about a moment to process this before she was assaulted again, jaws locking down on her right shoulder. She tried to wriggle out of the grip, throwing the driver's side door open and attempting to roll out, though the wolf didn't seem to be giving in easily. To the best of her ability she threw one, two, three punches, praying she would be released as she watched the car roll towards the house. It was more of a speed then a roll, actually, and she pressed as hard as she could on the brakes, sending her flying forward, head bashing against the steering wheel. This wasn't looking good. As her head spun, she vaguely registered the sound of police sirens in the distance, though she could feel herself drifting now. There was another slam, and she was sent forward again, face hitting the steering wheel once more, and then she was down for the count.
........
Anies was lost in the moment, a metallic taste filling his mouth. It wasn't good, but it certainly wasn't enough to make him stop. What was enough, however, was the kick to the snout he received, harder than he would have expected from a hunter of his.... background. Which, really, wasn't a hunter at all. He yelped and retreated backwards, snarling and getting ready to make another move on Matthew. But then his ear twitched, just a little bit, and suddenly there was a human again, instead of a wolf.

"We have to go. Now." And, shortly after, the sound of sirens approaching filled the room. That sound was broken, however, by the squealing of brakes and then a crash, as a window broke and drywall crumbled, and though nothing came through the wall, it was clear that the house had been hit by a vehicle. He surveyed his surroundings, trying to decide what was the next best move, mind completely gone from Matthew now.

--

Ligaya got lucky. As the car jerked to a halt, the wolf was thrown off its balance, sending it straight through the windshield of the truck. Even more lucky, the wolf had landed wrong, and a sickening snap cause one of its legs to break. Bloodied and broken, the wolf had the choice to continue the fight, or- .....were those police sirens? Shit. Panicked, the wolf began limping away, only to crumple to the ground mere moments later, where it stopped moving.
.......
It was enough. Matthew scrambled towards the tranq gun, feeling relief when the cool metal reached his hands. He spun around to face a wolf that was no longer there, but his hand held steady on the trigger. The house rumbled as something crashed into the building, but he noticed Anies and the other wolf were no longer focused on him. Bad move. Without a word, he sent three shots in their direction.

--

One missed. Two missed. Three got lucky. It didn't hit Anies, but it DID hit his companion. The two wolves looked down at the embeded dart in shock, and Anies quickly wrapped his arm around the other man. "No, we have to go. Now." And just like that, the two were headed out the door. After loading his companion into the truck, he went back for his other wounded cohort. Get out. Leave the hunters to clean this shit up. That was the goal right now, and it was a goal he was dead set on.
.........
Ligaya had her sights set on the house- she had to get to Matthew, they had to come up with a story. The car was leaking some sort of fluid now, and it certainly wouldn't drive anymore. She opened the driver's side door and stumbled out, blood loss rendering her nearly helpless. She kept her eye on the front door now, but when Anies and his accomplices made their way to the truck, she started shooting blindly. She thought maybe a bullet had hit, but then again perhaps not. Her head was spinning as she finally hit the ground, red and blue lights dancing behind her eyelids as she waited for an escalation.

There really wouldn't be one. The cops would call in an ambulance, and the two of them would be rushed to a nearby hospital. Ligaya would keep her mouth shut and let Doc do the talking, claiming that she "Only remembered hearing gunshots and passing out." She had a few friends on the inside help to clear things up, get the case put away and cold. There wouldn't be many leads, after all. The house had just been put on the market by the bank, who obtained if from the deceased owner. No one was legally registered to the address. Sure, they had a lot of blood to work with, and fingerprints, but of course none of the wolves had found themselves in the system. So, as weeks passed, things calmed down, and life went on. But Ligaya swore that she would go for them again, and this time with a vengeance.