Claws in the Dark | ✔

XXV

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As their car pulled to a stop a few blocks away from the hospital, Miles, Gina and Dolph emerged from the vehicle after shitting off the purring engine. They were surrounded by nothing but the silence. the howling winds sent chills down their spines.

Newspapers drifted in the cold breeze as snow continued to silently patter against the snow-covered town. Metal creaked somewhere in the distance and a whimper escaped Gina's throat. She clung unto Miles' arm as she surveyed the area with the others.

"It's going to be alright," he whispered in her ear. "All we need to do is quietly make our way to the hospital, get the kids, and then get back to the car."

"It's not as easy as it sounds," Dolph mumbled. "Although it looks like there's nothing out there, those Clawdens are hiding, waiting for some lonesome prey to wander into their sight, and when the opportune moment arises, they pounce, they devour. They kill."

Gina was terrified, and Miles wrapped a hand around her, burying her face in his chest. Dolph smirked. "Since when are you so evil?" Miles asked.

"I didn't mean to scare her, but that's just how it is. That's how they got Kelly and me at the school. She died trying to escape. I watched her die and there was nothing I could have done." There were tears in the man's eyes as he glanced down at the ground. Dolph sighed, tendrils of white smoke escaping his lips.

"I'm sorry that happened," Miles said. "But you've been a detective for so many years, so her death shouldn't have been such a shock to you."

"Her death wasn't a shock," he replied. "The way she died...she didn't deserve that." Dolph shook his head and blinked away the tears. Giving a single, soft clao, he looked up at them and plastered a smile on his face. "But there's no sensebin dwelling on the past, right? Come on, let's go get your children."

"How are we going to get to the hospital without alerting those monsters?" Gina asked softly, pulling away from her husband.

"We need a distraction," Dolph stated. "One if us should try to lure them while the others make their way to GGH."

"I'll do it," Miles said.

"Honey, no!" Gina exclaimed, a worried expression on her face.

"Sweetheart, it's okay. I can handle a few beasts."

"Are you sure about this?" Dolph asked.

"I wouldn't have volunteered if I wasn't."

After a silent moment, Dolph finally nodded, and Gina sighed, not sure if she wanted Miles to divert from the course just to get a few Clawdens off their trail. She tried to be positive, but with the multiple deaths and the empty streets of the town, she knew that there was a chance her husband wouldn't be coming back to her.