Grind City

Chapter 2

Dane didn't waste any time heading for Jackie's garage. He sprinted through the rain-slick streets of the city, reveling in the burn of cool night air in his lungs. But after several blocks a few facts occurred to him. First and foremost, her garage was still more than a mile away. Second, the hour. It was nearing ten at night. Even if she had worked late, she wouldn't be there any longer. The only place he knew to find her was at her apartment, across the river. As these details slowly sank in, he slowed to a stop on the sidewalk, his paws sodden from the standing water from an earlier storm.

Yes, paws.

Dane was a phenom. A shape changer. He was sure there were official classifications for it all, but he hadn't bothered to learn just what they were. He could turn into animals. Well, technically only one animal. A coyote. The theory was he could turn into anything, but he hadn't exactly tried anything else. The problem was taking different shapes was hard. He had to know everything he could about the thing he was turning into. He had to understand them. The obsessions of a young teenager granted him his first shape, but he hadn't really put in the work to master anything else. Not that he needed anything else, this one served him quite well. An excellent disguise as he was small enough to be mistaken for someone's dog, fast enough to get him out of trouble, and a good nose to sniff out anything that needed to be found. Or things that caught his interest. Like the fact that someone in the apartments above him had ordered take out from Chang's down on sixth. The best Chinese food in the city.

Sniffing the air, his stomach gave a loud protest. That was another thing. Changing his shape took a lot of energy. It could make him tired, or hungry, or both. But it was worth it. Running through the streets on four legs without being insulted for bumping into people, who could say no to that?

Deciding what he would do with the rest of his night, he slipped into the narrow, dumpster filled alley between apartment buildings. Even with the street so empty, he didn't like changing out in the open. It wasn't always a pretty sight, and it wasn't exactly a common ability. It tended to draw the wrong kind of attention. While the change was not instantaneous, it was rather quick. Everything happening all at once, as his body rearranged itself into the proper order. He couldn't even really explain how he made it happen, really. It was like writing his name. At first it took practice to get everything in the right order, and even longer before the e wasn't backwards. At first it was difficult and took conscious effort, but now he barely even thought about it. He just did it. However, in place of backwards letters were his clothes. At first he couldn't take anything with him, but now he could take anything with him that was attached to his body, as long as it wasn't too big. Backpacks wouldn't work, but stuff in his pockets went just as easily as the pockets themselves.

He picked himself up off the ground as his ears crawled back down his head and his tail sucked back into his spine. Both strange sensations that he'd long since grown accustomed to. From his pocket he pulled his phone and waited for it turn back on. While it made it through the transformation, something about the process always seemed to shut it off.

The moment it let him, he hit Jackie's number.

"Come on..." he muttered to the ringing line. "Pick up...pick up..." For all he knew, she was in bed. She worked an early shift, unlike he and Crawford. And if he woke her up, she'd rip him a new one. She didn't do well with the whole surprise wake up call in the middle of the night thing.

Five rings. Six. Shit.

"To what do I owe the honor, Mr. Jonson?" Was she being sarcastic, or was she actually chipper? Dane's heart hammered in his chest. Had he pissed her off by calling her out of the blue?

"Heeeeey Jackie!"

"You're lucky I got sucked into this Demonhunters marathon, otherwise I would have beat your ass for waking me up."