The Dog In Sheep's Clothing

Chapter Three: The Hunter Bleeds

She woke up to the sound of something tapping on wood, she shot up and looked around her room rapidly only to let out an exasperated sigh as her eyes landed on Bane, who had appeared to be simply getting off the bed, most likely to get a sip of water from downstairs. She got up and walked over to a window, opening the curtains her eyes widened as the moon shone its light down on her. "Holy shit, how long was I asleep for?" She questioned herself and put on a pair of slippers. She tiptoed down the stairs, immediately scrambling to get ahold of her shotgun that laid upon the kitchen table.

She opened the back door, Bane letting out a large snarl making her yelp, due to the rapid appearance of the sound. She turned to Bane who stalked out the back door only a few seconds later, she gulped loudly before following behind him. She stared in terror as blood stained the grass around the door, the hat that the police in the town wore, one of them laid upon the ground, bloody and torn with a bite taken out of it. She looked around left to right, up and down, north and south, east and west, but yet to no avail she could not find the source of danger. She narrowed her eyes as a shade of fur that seemed to be the darkest of all blacks ran into her vision, she shifted slightly as the firing of her shotgun moved her back the slightest bit.

She groaned when the beast seemed to be unaffected once again, it leaped at her only to be stopped as Sarah shoved her shotgun down its open mouth, it gagged, she let out a cry of rage, whether it be from the thought of the beast threatening her life constantly, or the fact that people died trying to protect her couldn't be decided right now, red filling her vision. She pulled the trigger once again, and she watched as parts of what she assumed to be its neck fly out from the back. She shuffled back, grimacing at the saliva and blood that covered the tip of her shotgun, she shook off the thought of it and focused back on the beast, which seemed to still be choking somehow. She perked up at the sound of sirens approaching.

"Finally! Now they'll get to see that I'm not crazy-" she let out a yelp as it ran towards her and bit into her side, she let out a sound of pain that was broken as she screamed out, "Help! Someone help me please!" She groaned as it moved to avoid Bane who jumped at it, and then tumbled onto the ground as he missed it. Footsteps became louder rapidly, "Hey! Put her- HOLY FUCK WHAT IN GOD'S NAME IS THAT!?!" Moth, the detective screamed out as the red and blue lights of the police cars lit up the area, the scene of the beast holding up its next victim of choice was horrific. The monster froze, letting out a confused sound, and then suddenly dropping Sarah onto the ground as Bane had managed to jump at it again, this time using the distraction to prevent the thing from dodging the attack.

It let out a strangled yell as it was brought to the ground as Bane latched onto its neck, his claws digging into the beast's chest as he attempted to keep it pinned down for longer, it's neck and headshot wound to the head already healed, but that didn't seem to deter Bane at all, as he tore at it's throat again and again as he saw the skin try to connect once again, not giving it a chance to breathe, its deadly jaws opening a closing as it continued to choke on its own blood. Sarah stared in amazement at her dog, he really wanted her safe, she couldn't understand when there was other people who could spoil him so much more than she was able to, but it seemed even though dogs have a different thought process than us humans, he seemed to be able their bond more than she thought.

She blinked again and suddenly Detective Moth was right in front of her, putting pressure on her wounds. The sounds of guns being fired multiplied and she sat up panicked, what if they accidentally hit Bane? She groaned in pain, she was pushed back down but was calmed down when a familiar west nose touched her forehead. She looked up to see Bane through her blurry vision, she smiled and reached up a hand to pet him. Only a few more seconds later and her vision became dark, the sound of worried whines and her name being repeated in a panicked tone was the last thing she heard. Then after what seemed like forever, her vision that was filled with complete darkness was blasted away by a bright light.

She let out a groan, weakly lifting up an arm to cover her face from the bright light. "Where am I?" she asked, jumping slightly when she got a response, " You're in the hospital, you thirsty?" was what she heard, and suddenly she felt how dry her throat was and nodded. She waited a few more moments before pulling her arm down, blinking rapidly as her eyes adjusted to the light. Her body was numb, but now everything seemed to come back at her like a train head on, something was weighing down her legs. She let out a confused hum and looked down to the end of the hospital bed, and there laid her savior, Bane sat there and let out a huff as he spotted her sitting up in the corner of his eyes.

She stared at the bandages that wrapped around his front leg and lower half of his back, "It managed to get a hold of him, but me and the rest of the force there were able to ward it away with our guns. You're one lucky soul, who knows what would've happened to you if your dog wasn't there." She finally looked to peek over at the source of the voice, smiling softly when she saw Detective Moth looking at her with an unreadable expression on their face. Her smile turned into a slight grin, "Aw, what's the matter? Worried about me?" the detective stared at her before their nose scrunched up, "You? Pft, yeah no. I only came here because your dog wouldn't stop barking till he saw ya, at least that's what we thought and he only confirmed it when he curled up on your bed." She blinked again, once again her own bond with Bane amazed her again, she chuckled when Bane finally got up and came closer, only to nudge her shoulder for pets.

She laid back down, Bane doing the same. She pet his head gently, and let out another huff as he laid his head down on her stomach, eyes slipping shut. "Poor big guy...must be tired after all of that." She mumbled out loud in a tone akin to a sad coo. "Alright so uh...how do?-" she shifted her eyes back to the detectictive who cleared their throat and stood up. They walked over and grabbed a water bottle that had sat on a nearby table and opened it before handing it to her. "Here." "Oh, thanks." Sarah took the bottle from Detective Moth, taking a sip while keeping an eye on them. "So uh, sorry I guess...for calling you crazy."

"It's fine, I mean, it's understandable why you'd think I was crazy, even I'm still wrapping my head around it," she had said once she had finished taking a sip of the water, handing it back to the detective who recapped it and placed it back on the table. "Yeah...are we good now?" they asked, fidgeting with their hands somewhat anxiously. Sarah merely grinned at them, a mischievous glint in her eyes "Who ever said we weren't?" The detective stared at her with a dumbfounded look before her eyes squinted, "Why you little-" the sound of the door that led to the room they resided in opening cut off whatever they planned to say.

There stood a police officer, looking to be quite young, most likely a rookie. Detective Moth raised an eyebrow before speaking up, "Well? Was there something you needed?-" "O-oh yes! I...we...still need her statement." Sarah scoffed, "I'm guessing they still don't believe there's a man-eating monster despite half of their police force telling them that they saw it." The officer stood there in a daze before snapping out of it and spoke once again, "Uh y-yeah." the detective in the room rolled their eyes before their eyebrows furrowed and looked right at the officer, "Hey, where's Tom? He'd probably be around here by now."

"I don't know-" "Then call it in, what are you waiting for rookie?" said rookie stuttered out something incohearable before pulling up her walkie talkie, pressing a button that was on the right side of it before talking into it, "This is Officer Wilson, I'm calling for a response for Officer Jones." Silence filled the room for a few moments before a sound akin to static was heard followed by a response, "This is Officer Chambers, Officer Jones was last seen heading into the forest around Burke street." Both the rookie's and the detective's faces grew pale with wide eyes, "T-thanks Officer Chambers." was all the rookie said before putting the walkie talkie back on her belt.

Sarah raised an eyebrow and crossed her arms and looked back and forth between the two of them for a minute before she said, "What's up with you two? What's wrong with Officer Jones?" She turned to the detective as they spoke, face slightly dark, "The thing ran into the woods soon after it realized it was outnumbered, and we just got word back that Officer Jones...well...he went into the woods earlier today and hasn't been seen since." Sarah blinked as she processed the information she was given before speaking the first thing that came to mind, "Well shit."