TraumaGenic: A Therian Awakening

Red and Blue

They showed up almost instantly. Their sirens pounding the air, lights flashing vividly, destroying the afternoon sun with its gradually picking up winter breeze. Startled, Orion headed for the Forrest, lunching herself into a bush. Those same ear trenching sounds and blinding lights matched the ones whom took her parents away.
She lowered her body down to the floor, ducking her head into the bush, panting her tongue staying quiet. The footsteps thundered towards her bush.
"Scared ya, huh?" A young early 20s man questioned shining his flashlight into Orion's eyes, he wore a name badge titled 'Anderson'.
"Nothing to worry bout' we'll help you kid." He continued reaching his large, pinkish hands.
Orion shuffled back, deeper into the bush letting the leaves consume her face.
Officer Anderson stood up turning to the other men and women in navy blue.
"We might need to call back up, perhaps an ambulance gosh knows what condition this kid is in and I doubt we'd get her outta there." He ordered.
"Nonsense. Step aside rookie. Make yourself useful and call that ambulance to meet us here for pickup." Sargent Farland boomed, shoving the puzzled officers aside. "Right, out of the tree now or we will use force. You're not as tough as you think, I've felt with diva teens like you before. It's freezing out here, even you're shivering."
Orion shook her head, curling her fingers into the ground forming paws and digging at the dirt.
"I'm not cold." Orion whispered.
"She's scared Sarge, take it slow."
"Your job is on the line if you don't find a way to close that trap of yours rookie." Farland responded.

***

The ambulance arrived merely five minutes later.
"Alright, time to go." Farland yanked Orions wrist, despite her pulling and fighting he managed to drag her out of the bush, throwing off her doggie mask and picking her up to her two feet.
"Stand up properly, hurry up now."
"Sargent, be careful. It's okay kid you're safe now."
Struggling to stay upright Orion stumbles as she's tossed to the paramedics. They strap her down to a squeaky bed and roll her into their van siren's screeching as she fights to escape.
Rolling into the distance Orion watches as the trees become less and less familiar. She continues to thrash about in the tightly packed bed, howling non-stop her eyes dart around the ambulance.
"We'll need to do a background check, she could've been involved in a crime and we'll have to find some kind of identification for her parents."

***

I back myself up against the wall pushing my heel against the rotting wooden base board, I take off heading into a sprint a fling myself at the small window like a cat I effortlessly fly through the air and immediately face plant to the ground.
"Again!" I exclaim in desperation.
This time I engage my core and attempt the same tactic, crashing into the outdoor bushes barely making the exit. I adjacently brush myself off and run for the Forrest not noticing the monster watching from above. I couldn't help but feel something was off, the trees fell stagnant, the birds silent. My foot stubs into a golden retriever mask and tail buried beneath a hunting stick. Orions hunting stick and all her gear. I fall to my knees picking up the damaged pieces as I rush to the road, remembering the sirens I heard earlier. Walking and walking until the street signs became less and less familiar.

***

The paramedics wheeled Orion out of the ambulance across the bumpy concrete keeping their fingers back from her biting. Discussing vitals, speaking some kind of foreign languages with gigantic words like Rhabdomyolysis and shouting at bystanders.
They plugged her into all kinds of different machines. Electrocardiograms, ultrasonic probes, spirometers and plugged her into IVF, all while Orion was viciously fighting the overstimulating surroundings. The blinding fluorescent light, the continuous beeping the voices, at that time she realised there is such thing as too much physical touch.
"If she doesn't calm down soon her condition will worsen, we should give her some anaesthesia, then we can ask her some questions once she wakes." Nurse Darla Caruso suggested.
Caruso rolled in an even noisier machine with a mask attached, gently fighting off Orion's teeth and placing it on her mouth, it pushed out a sweet berry-tasting air which made it harder to breathe until eventually Orion passed out finally relaxing her body.
"Dr. Medickle Skool, could you please contact the police in case they'd like to investigate further and also look up this patient's files for some kind of lead on the whereabouts of her home." Nurse Caruso ordered. "For now let her rest everyone, we've done all we can, her heart rate should stabilise with the anaesthesia." She continued, promptly leaving the room with the rest of the concerned nurses.

Hours pass. Orion is still unsupervised as her eyes slowly blink open adjusting to the bright lights. She looks around before ripping off the electrodes, yanking out the IVF and aggressively tearing off the sticky little bandaids, revealing the scratches below. She didn't have much time. The masked people would be back soon with their sharp needles and handsy fingers. She didn't hesitate she grabbed onto the heart monitor and smashed it through the window and leaped out landing in a soft dumpster carefully rolling out and stumbling back to Harlows house. Following road remembering each turn by the frequency of sirens between each one, struggling to walk normal just to avoid suspicion. The concrete was rough on her bare feet providing them with even more scrapes.

The trip was extensive and exhausting but Orion made it and approached the front porch. she gasped, freezing as she heard the ireminiscencable sound of a gun being loaded from behind.