Blackwood Park

[Richie]

Continued from: Cole’s Territory: Central Community Police Station: Upstairs Offices – Anti-Crime Division

This evening was rapidly turning into one of those that could be filed under; ‘Never, ever mention this to another living soul’, his love for stories none withstanding. The only good thing was that he was alone so that there was nobody else around to witness his embarrassment. The bad thing on the other hand however was that… he was alone and there was nobody else around to actually help him and tell him where on earth he was. Try as Richie might to come up with some kind of positive spin on the situation, there was always a mocking little voice in the back of his head, one that grew ever more gleeful at every turn on the road and every new and unknown street name. The same annoying little voice had carried on pointing out the inescapable truth, even when Richie had parked his baby and stepped out into the cool night air as though a walk in a random part had been the plan all along.

He was lost.

It would be the first day that he had left the street map behind in the office as well. Richie had stupidly been so confident of himself and his ability to have learnt the warren of streets that made up the city that he simply hadn’t carried it with him from work. His footsteps slowed as the winding path led out into a centre area, one that was dominated by a distinctive and – he supposed at least, Richie having no real interest or knowledge in architecture – attractive fountain. Aside from the sound of his steps and his quiet, even breathing, the only other sound on the night air appeared to be the gentle spay of water hitting down on water.

[Susie]

Continued from; Cole's Territory; Alleys and Streets; Backstreets.

Susannah liked parks. They were quiet and dark and with her small, black wolf form she could slip into them and hide easily. Even when there was no one to really hide from, even when it was just the shadows in the back of her mind that she was running from, at eight years old those shadows taking on dark, frightening faces and shapes, even then she liked to hide in the park. Silently she scampered along the alleys and streets until she hit the park, finding herself a thicket in the wooded part to hunker down in. There she hunched into a ball, her paws curled under her body as much as possible, her bright wolf eyes closing and a shudder chasing through her.

It was a little while in coming but the change came over her before she realised what was happening. Panic receded now that she was in a small, safe, dark place and she changed back into the form of a little human girl, blonde hair matted with blood at the temples, twigs and leaves and dirt clinging to the pale waves. Sweat made the huge t-shirt she wore stick to her battered skin and she cried out quietly against the pain as her bones shifted and reformed her.

Lying on her side she gripped her knees to her chest.

Only when she had stopped shuddering and opened her eyes a bit did she contemplate moving. Panic set in. It was small and dark here. The things that had made her feel comfortable as a wolf made her feel frightened and alone as a human, on top of the fact that she didn’t know where she was or how she got there. All she knew was that she recognised that taste in her mouth. It was a bad taste. It was one she woke up with all too often. Small hands reached out into the darkness and found branches and leaves pressing in thickly around her. All considerations for stealth well and truly ignore, she scrambled to her feet, not caring that she scuffed her knees and elbows against rocks and earth, caring only for getting up. Susie crashed through the undergrowth. Light. There had to be some light around here somewhere and she had to find it because she would be safe in the light and she knew that. Everyone knew that. Monsters couldn’t get you when you were in the light. They could only get you in the dark.

Stumbling out of the woods and into the paths, she all but fell into the path of a man. Wide eyed with fear she stopped in her tracks and stared at him, eyes shining in the dim light, small body taut with fear, unsure whether to run or cower or cry.

[Richie]

Truth be told, Richie could happily live without parks. As a child, things had been different and he had spent countless hours up trees, running in grass, playing all manner of sports and everything else you were supposed to do in a park. Nowadays he much preferred the city, streets and buildings to trees and grass. He was an urban boy, born and bred, thoroughly content to remain that way. Outside the concrete jungle there was a natural jungle, with… animals and sand and trees. The beasts that roamed Los Angeles were perhaps more dangerous than their wild counterparts but here, Richie had the power to deal with them.

He gazed around the area without fully seeing it, irritation and frustration on his features. Parks all seemed alike aside from a single feature; they were all green and they all had trees and they were all far away from his place and a nice warm bed. Not even those tempting thoughts could fully drive away his training, hearing picking up on the unnatural breaking of twigs and crunching of leaves. There was something out there, in the dark and although it could be nothing, something told him it was the exact opposite. Tensing slightly, Richie’s step slowed as the noise became louder. Whatever was coming, was heading this way. Casually, the detective’s hand drifted down to his concealed Glock, ready and waiting. Whatever he had been expecting however, it certainly wasn’t the sight that awaited him when the bundle of flesh and hair finally crumbled out onto the path in front of him. A child. Instantly, his hand dropped away from his weapon, still shocked by the sight of the little girl in front of him.

Richie took a half step back, clamping down on the natural response to scope the child up, to offer her the comfort that every part of him was screaming she needed. He didn’t dare without permission, recognizing in her posture that jittery nervousness Richie saw only too often with suspects when they were one second away from bolting. The fear was practically rolling off her in waves and he didn’t want to spook her. Richie had to clamp down on his raising anger as well, taking in her overall appearance with a quick and measured look. No kid her age should be wandering the streets alone at any time of night, let alone one who was dirty and hurt.

Slowly, the detective crouched down, making himself smaller and – hopefully – less threatening to the girl, another swell of anger rising up in him at whoever had dared to lay a hand on her. “Hi there,” he began softly, voice as gentle as he could manage. “I’m Richie… what’s your name?”

[Susie]

In the end, of the options her brain presented her -- to run, cower or cry -- Susie first fell into the middle ground, her entire frame crumpled in on itself, exhaustion pressed down on her like a rolling sea wave and her legs were too small and weak to hold her up against it. Those big, saucer-like eyes were still fixed on the man though. Richie. Then the third option engaged and she burst in to hot floods of terrified tears. It came from the realisation that she was wholly alone in the world, or as much as a realisation of that depth and magnitude is able to manifest itself in a child, that and the fact she didn’t know who this Richie man was, that she didn’t know where she’d been in between the alleyway and here, the last thing she remembered was brick and the smell of gasoline and she’d woken up surrounded by the smell of earth. It was all too much for her very tired, very young mind to handle and so it folded on itself, made itself smaller and protected itself as the shuddering physical form of the blonde girl did the same.

Still she couldn’t speak, it was beyond her by that point, her voice had given up its usual work, replacing words with little sounds of pain or fear most of the time, or else rolling, thin and cup-like growls that were hardly going to strike fear into the hearts of most people. Unless they were on the wrong end of her muzzle when backed into a corner.

[Richie]

Great, you made the clearly already traumatised girl cry. Bravo. Moron. Really, he should have seen that coming, as the girl first dropped down onto the ground and then burst into a flood of tears, the detective not sure how to react – he wasn’t used to children. Still, he knew he wanted to help, and wanted to make her tears stop. After a second of stunned silence, Richie seemed to almost physically shake himself out of his shock and stood once more, taking a tentative step towards the shaking body. Still keeping his movement as smooth and slow as he dared, trying desperately not to spook the young girl, he moved even close, heart going out to her and the pathetic sounds of pain.

“Shush... it’s alright. It’s going to be alright.” Richie didn’t know how he was going to back up those words, but that didn’t matter right now as he pulled off his jacket and kneeled down in front of her, giving the girl another quick glance over now he was closer to see if there were any obvious wounds, something that would require immediate hospitalisation. Unsure of how she would react to anything he did, Richie carried on speaking softly as you would to a wounded animal even as he began to drape his coat around her painfully thin frame. “Here, I’m going to put this on you, okay? It’ll help keep you warm.”