☾ ——- ❝ ＥＬＹＳＩＵＭ ❞ — [ closed ]

[chase.]

𝐂𝐎𝐋𝐋𝐈𝐄 𝐆𝐑𝐄𝐘xxxx ♛
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[ security ] [ he/him ] [ location - hell, the road ] [ feeling - like bella swan was way too chill about everything ]

xxxxx

xxxxxCollie’s heart skipped a beat. They weren’t alone. In most circumstances he would’ve been thrilled; healthy, able-bodied people were a godsend to a group torn apart by the collision. However seeing people here, in the middle of nowhere, wasn’t comforting in the slightest. One of the figures carried something in their arms, the silhouette muddied by the fabric draped over it, and Collie’s stomach churned. There was something deeply unsettling about the man, something that sent a cold shiver crawling down his spine. Collie glanced at the body in his arms, side-eyeing Briar as the man spoke, his voice shaken.

It sure as hell looked like it. Collie wet his lips, his natural reflex was to make a stupid joke, a way to diffuse the tension and comfort his friend, but for once Collie was at a loss for funny quips. There was no car nearby, no distant headlights, and the outfits that adorned them were a far-cry from camper’s attire. Collie held his breath, swallowing thickly, he’d never been good with horror films and this situation looked like something that had crawled from the hellish depths of a Stephen King novel. “Maybe he just wants a friendly check in.” Collie tried in response, his voice strained and wholly unconvincing. The strangers hadn’t spoken once. They just…stood there. To make matters worse, Captain was cowering behind him. The dog, bred to protect, trembled—using Collie as a safety net. His nose occasionally twitched, sniffing the air as he whined again. An aching started to spread through his knuckles from the sheer force of which he held the pocket knife. Its size seeming unbearably inadequate now more than ever.

Next to the man, who Collie would’ve threatened kids with over their vegetables, was a woman. She looked..Collie wasn’t actually sure how she looked. His pulse thumped in his ears as he stared, blue eyes focused intently on them. Great, now he wasn’t behaving any better than them. Her hands were painted red, some streaked on her face from where she must’ve touched it. Bloodshot eyes, cheeks wet with tears. Collie’s face twisted into a slight frown, grip loosening on the hilt of the knife. The blonde struggled to decipher his own emotions, simply stuck fixated dumbly on the moonlit stranger. It was hard to think about anything when in the unfocused area of his peripheral vision loomed Briar’s idea of the grim reaper, and just down the slope to the side lay Ennis, and the remains of the van—and the others.

Captain spooked suddenly; slamming his body into the back of Collie’s legs. Collie’s grip on the knife tightened once more, barely stumbling as he glanced away in surprise, focus snatched. The shepherd lurched forward, teeth bared and gnashing together—and Collie barely wrapped his fingers around the worn leather collar, the force of the motion almost sending him face-first over the animal. Wetness trickled down his face again, his broken nose jolted with the harsh movement, restarting his nosebleed. He caught himself, boots planted steadily on the ground as he held the canine back, the bruising and stiffness from the crash flaring across his muscles.

“What’s wr—Christ!” A blur of movement shot out in front of him, dark and impossibly fast. Before he could even process what was happening, a dog—no, a wolf—sent Briar hurtling to the tarmac. It happened instantly, Collie failed to react, his mind just spinning as he struggled to restrain Captain in the chaos, the damned dog insistent on trying to rush to Briar’s defence. He was helpless, completely and utterly useless. He couldn’t rush to help Briar whilst holding Captain back; and if he let the collar go, the shepherd was only going to get himself mauled. But almost as quick as the assault began, it stopped. A woman’s voice sliced through the havoc, and the wolf retreated. Captain stopped thrashing and stepped a few paces behind his owner as the grip on the collar was relinquished. Collie blinked, stunned. Slowly he straightened his back, blue eyes tracking the wild animal wearily as it stalked back along the glass-littered asphalt. Not once turning its back on them. Like a domesticated hound it returned to her, the brunette he’d been staring at. Warmth tinged his face, traitorously spreading across his cheeks. He averted his gaze, instantly feeling uncharacteristically self-conscious.

Collie couldn’t help himself. He tried to sneak a second glance, only to do a blatant double take. The wolf’s form shifted, limbs reshaping and fur receding. Its shadow stretched along the road, elongating as the creature stood upright—no longer an animal. Collie yelled a curse. The dark haired man turned away from them at last, and the blonde began to chuckle, delirium setting in; the sound airy and full of disbelief. He nodded to himself, closed his eyes, and then shook his head. Concussion. He had a concussion; and an immensely bad one at that. His vision was playing tricks on him; abusing the adrenaline that clouded his judgement. He’d look back and the wolf would be right—no, that was very much a man. Tattooed and dressed in a scruffy orange shirt, stood menacingly behind the others.

Collie wheezed, his breath a whistle as he tried to call for Soren. His mouth was dry, like someone had swabbed it with cotton wool, and he swallowed to try and wet it again. The abrasive surface of the road seemed very welcoming all of a sudden; and Collie fought the urge to just crumble onto it. “Soren-” Collie quietly croaked, his voice cracking pathetically. For a brief moment he considered launching his knife down the slope, towards Ennis, but if he’d learnt anything in the army — which he was now convinced he hadn’t, it was not to throw your only defence away, and to most certainly not throw it at one of your comrades. ‘One foot in front of the other, it’s fine. It’s fine. Everything is fine.’ Collie adjusted his stance, watching the creatures. Eva was never going to live this down if he had anything to say about it. He’d die here and then haunt her for the rest of her life. How exactly do you manage to lead everyone straight to hell? He’d have appreciated knowing that she planned to make him swim in the river Styx.

A voice almost broke Collie’s concentration, but the blonde refused to turn from the strangers. Danny. “Captain?” Collie responded, bewildered; the tone still abnormally high pitched. The dog was right behind him, Danny surely wasn’t that blind without his glasses. His mind buzzed, thoughts racing too fast to properly understand the lawyer’s question. Forget the dog! Collie didn’t know if he was going to start laughing or crying, perhaps both. Seven years as a soldier and he’d never felt sheer terror like right now—not even when he’d been pinned under his jeep in his career-ending accident. Everything before had been tangible; human. Horrific as it was, it all fell with the realm of everything he’d grown up with. This? This wasn’t in the guide to life manual. At least the strangers were keeping a bit of distance between them, maybe they’d decide it wasn’t worth the effort and just slink back into the shadows. If they all just silently held their ground, maybe—

Danny called to the strangers, the man holding the body moved towards them, and Collie wanted to drop dead. The atheist dotted a cross across his chest; he’d haunt Danny as well as Eva. Collie tried to wave a hand frantically at Danny, urging him to shut up, to please stop luring them closer.
“Are you the homeowners?”
Collie whimpered pathetically.

He stepped to the side, flinching away from the stranger. “Soren!” Finally his voice had some substance to it, the syllables actually somewhat clear. If Danny wanted to converse with the boogieman, he could do so alone. At least he’d have to drop the person he was holding before attacking, that’d buy them a few extra seconds to come to terms with imminent death. Collie was more concerned about the inked man, the one that had attempted to maul Briar moments ago. The..werewolf? Jesus Christ, Collie was losing it. Werewolves. Were-wolves. His hackles raised, and he put more distance in-between himself and his two friends, instead attempting to half-flank everyone. Collie would gladly die for any one of his colleagues, but he always thought he’d at-least have a fighting chance against whatever threat presented itself. His right arm trembled, the ghost of the injury from his first crash flaring up from the stress.

[ inventory : pocket knife ]

[ tags, briar, danny] [ mentions, coby, rio, mercer, soren ]

[tawneypelt0504]

✵𝒱𝒾𝒸𝓉𝑜𝓇𝒾𝒶 ℒ𝒶𝓃𝑔𝓈𝓉𝑜𝓃✵
～𝒞𝑜𝓊𝑔𝒶𝓇 𝓈𝒽𝒾𝒻𝓉～ℒ𝑜𝒸𝒶𝓉𝒾𝑜𝓃:𝒞𝒶𝒷𝒾𝓃 ～ℱ𝑒𝑒𝓁𝒾𝓃𝑔: ℛ𝑒𝓁𝒶𝓍𝑒𝒹 𝓃𝓋𝓂 𝓌𝓉𝒻 𝒿𝓊𝓈𝓉 𝒽𝒶𝓅𝓅𝑒𝓃𝑒𝒹 ～ℳ𝑒𝓃𝓉𝒾𝑜𝓃𝓈: 𝒪𝓅𝑒𝓃～𝒯𝒶𝑔𝓈: 𝒞𝑜𝓊𝓇𝓉𝓃𝑒𝓎～

Vic was as usual awake at an ungodly hour during the night, she knew it wasn't the healthiest habit but it wasn't like it negatively impacted anyone besides her. Vic had always been a night owl, the night had been her only source of freedom growing up. The act she was forced to perform came to a close, no pressure to uphold the family name, to be someone she wasn't, to be another perfect Langston. Night time meant she was just Vic. The Night was hers to spent how she pleased as long as no one caught her. She could sneak food from the kitchens, read as many books as she wanted under the covers, take a moonlit walk around the grounds.

In any case Vic was currently spending her night time sitting quietly at her desk working on a woodcarving of a cardinal and listening to music. She hummed along as she worked on carving out the wings, she took a moment to rub Hank's side with her foot, causing him to let out a relaxed sigh. Hank had long become used to Vic's nightly proclivities and was more than happy to spend time with her, even if that meant being awake at two am, with little wood bits landing on top of him. Vic continued humming along deeply focused on trying to get the details of the feathers just right.

Vic felt herself flinch and loose control of the wood carving knife, as the sound of screeching, and crunching metal startled her. Vic took a headphone out and leaned back in her chair slightly, trying to see if she could catch a glimpse of whatever happened through the window. Hank had also stood up his ears pricked forward, his entire body alert. Frowning, Vic thought about what could have caused such an awful crash. She looked down at her carving where a deep gouge marred over the details she had carefully carved. Vic let out a sigh but shrugged it off, it wasn't like this was the prettiest wood carving anyway, and the imperfections gave it character. Vic was just happy she didn't end up cutting herself with the knife

Vic stood up from her desk, setting her safety glasses and gloves on the table before wrapping herself in a cardigan. Vic slipped out of her room, hoping to investigate whatever that noise was. Hank following along beside her, his body language a tense, and on high alert. Vic took a moment and crouched down, and began to gently rub his ears to relax him "I know you wanna protect me sweet boy, but it's alright" she murmured, his little stump tail wagging in response. Vic appreciated his protective nature but she didn't want him to needlessly stress himself out.

The important task of soothing Hank over Vic noticed the lights come on further down the hall, where the communal parts of the cabin were. Standing up Vic quickly made her way over to the light source and peeked in the room, noticing Courtney "You heard it too" Vic said from the entryway. It certainly didn't surprise her that her fellow shifters had also heard the noise, she would be more surprised if they didn't. It was a bit odd that it seemed to just be the two of them but perhaps some of the others had gone out to investigate already. Not that Vic wasn't happy to spend time with Courtney, quiet the opposite in fact, she always loved going on a hike with the reindeer shifter."Did you want to go investigate, sounds like something pretty big happened" Vic asked, her curiosity was getting the better of her, although she was a little worried about what, or maybe even who they would find. If push came to shove her shift did act as pretty good deterrent for most living things, not to mention she knew Hank was always ready to protect her.

[guh-huh!]

❛xＦＥＬＩＸ　！
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xxmale // tech wiz // feeling: horror movie survivor // tagged: hi eva!!
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xx'xxkeeping his eyes fixated on his phone's brightness does wonders to distract felix from the pain in his arm, and he actually does something in his twenty-six years of his life that he never thought was possible: thanks his mom for letting him take one summer camp session with his older brothers. there, he'd been harassed by the eighth graders, almost drowned in a polar plunge incident that left him with a scar on his chin, and, most importantly- how to make a provisional arm sling. it takes a great deal of courage to remove his jacket, tie it around his neck and place his lame arm inside; but it takes even more courage to ruin his favorite hoodie from the whole ordeal.

xx'xxwith his arm settled and tight against his chest, he returns back to his original duty assigned to him. it may not be the work he's used to– much more proficient in wires and electronics than scavenging the canadian wilderness– but if anybody was going to find a signal it was going to be him. felix shifted quickly between his cellular networks; attempting to mess around with roaming data or his old sim card to feel any semblance of hope. he did remember having enough connection to send one of his friends a minions meme a half an hour back, so not all hope was lost. if he could just retrace the road over the next few hours or flag down any car on his way that didn't look operated by an axe-wielding maniac, he could be the savior the group needed.

xx'xxit's enough of a confidence booster to help him on his way, now gaining some semblance of consciousness as he kicks a stray pebble in the road. felix couldn't change the past or keep briar from swerving to avoid hitting whatever, but he could do something about the future ahead of them. if he could do anything to avoid the oncoming swarm of mosquitos finding their way to the car's flashing headlights: he's willing to take that chance.

xx'xxtaking a few steps off the path, his phone's connection shifts to a single bar of connection. a single blip comes from his phone, unmistakably real.

xx'xxfelix flinches — narrows his eyes and brings the screen closer until the connection is lost again. he can feel the weight pushing down on his shoulders all over again, bearing down on his chest and threatening to shatter his collarbone where it strikes him in desperation. he's so close to getting a signal, almost tasting the uber ride back to his house so he can spend the rest of his government mandated break time in peace and away from this scary moment.

xx'xx"guys!" felix chimes, calling back to danny and the group still stirring by the car. "hold on i think i got somethi-"

xx'xxhazel eyes snap suddenly back into place, landing squarely on danny. he looks haunted.

xx'xxnot only that, but there's a small growing crowd of newcomers gathering around collie and briar– looking agitated, angry, and extremely dangerous. he swears he can see a shape — a beast? wolf? really large animal? (he didn't want to find out) throwing itself at briar's frame in the night.

xx'xxholy hell. the locals were here and they were out for blood.

xx'xxfelix has seen enough horror movies to realize that standing idly any longer might deem himself the next target: so he gives himself the best chance at survival and quickly hobbles over to the nearest tree that can hide his lithe frame from the commotion. his breath is strangled as it tumbles past his throat and he ducks his head down so fast he's worried he might feel sick again, hazel eyes lost behind the sweeping curtain of his hair. for a moment, he feels like his cover has been blown, stomach twisting at the breathy huffs that he can't stop from falling past his lips and shaking shoulders.

xx'xxwhen felix lifts his head, he catches a glimpse at the sight of the incoming noise: eva collecting some sticks for a roadsign.

xx'xxfelix doesn't need the flash of his screen's brightness to see eva's face. she looks at him with wide, terrified eyes, the closest to shocked since— since a time felix can't remember, not with his head still clouded by the stubborn haze of sleep. maybe there's nothing to remember at all. it takes more out of him than he thought it could — trying to recall if he's ever seen eva ever thrown by a situation she couldn't handle. with this way his head pounds, there's no guarantee he'll remember this time, either. felix isn't sure if he wants to memorize the heavy splash of shadows and blood that frame eva's haunted face.

xx'xxfelix swallows something bitter — his own words, maybe, coated in the instinctive urge to not sound so terrified in front of a pretty woman. it takes time to find his response, digging for words that only barely link together at the ends, messy in their form as he tries to piecemeal together a response with only the half-remembered pieces of briar falling to the ground due to a unknown force. he clears his throat, wincing at the rasp of his voice.

xx'xx"something happened while we were away," he says, keeping his voice low and dangerously sharp. he usually emotes more with his hands, but with one broken and the severity of the situation only allows him to motion for eva to take cover while they assess the situation further. "somebody- something- else just attacked briar. i don't know what it was, but it wasn't human, eva. it wasn't human."

xx'xxit's not a declaration of attack, but protectiveness surges up in felix's throat regardless, flight or fight fervor bubbling up hot onto his tongue. when he looks down at the collection of sticks eva has collected- big enough to swing at a beast- It abates, if only just a little.

xx'xx"you think we could use one of those for a weapon? we shouldn't leave the others behind, but i'm not going back there without something to protect myself."

[друг]

❝ If I was aware of the open outside, of the planets and the citiesxxxxxxxxx
xxxxxxxxxxand the flowers and the bedrooms — I’d go away for too long now

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⯭ ⋅ ── ⋅ 𝐒𝐎𝐑𝐄𝐍 𝐇𝐀𝐒𝐊𝐄𝐋𝐋 ⋅ ─ ⋅

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tagging; danny, collie
mentioned; uhhh road people
location; side of the road > the road
thirty-two ⋅ cismale, he/himx⋅xcontractor

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Soren could feel the sweat chilling on his skin. His muscles were beginning to strain. He wasn't certain for how long he had been attempting to resuscitate Ennis, but at some point, Danny had appeared beside him, his voice agonized. Maybe it was this, the knowledge that there was a loved one nearby, that made Soren go on for longer than might have made sense. He just couldn't let go, not without knowing that he had tried his hardest. It wasn't just a fellow soldier laid out before him, someone connected by a brotherly bond to those around him, but their friend, a coworker. Danny's boyfriend. Soren's focus narrowed to the sensation of the sternum under his hands, the sounds and sights of the people around him blurring away into irrelevance.

indentindentSome time must have passed, because Danny had risen and then returned, briefly attempting to relieve him from administering the CPR, but something had drawn him away again, leaving Soren to give the last few desperate compressions before he simply... subsided. There was no one coming. They had no equipment to save Ennis on their own, even if they managed to keep up the efforts to resuscitate him for however long it took. It was over. He was gone. Soren straightened, sitting on his knees in the grass, his hands bloody and the tangle of his hair falling to his eyes. For the first time, he really stopped to look at the body stretched out before him, and it became obvious that he was helpless to bring Ennis back, even if an ambulance were to miraculously appear in that moment. There was nothing more Soren could do. The thought was so awfully grim, but he didn't want Ennis to spend the rest of his life on a ventilator, either. He didn't seem like the kind of guy who would have wanted that for himself. And Danny? He loved the man. Maybe too much to let him go.

indentindentGingerly, Soren pulled out the rolled-up jacket from underneath Ennis's head, unfolded it, and draped it over his face to give him what bit of dignity he could. His only comfort in that moment was the knowledge that he had done everything within his power. His limited, human power. A thorny shadow of despair danced on the edges of his mind, but he stifled it, clinging to what he could remember of how he had felt as a soldier all those years ago. That awfully false idea of impassivity and courage, which he could draw over himself like a blanket to hide from his own feelings. It was a limited reprieve, pretending that he wasn't affected by this, but they would talk it all through later, when they had time. But what about Danny? Would he accept that Ennis was beyond saving? Would he hate him for stopping when the slightest, furthest hope of an ambulance passing by remained in the universe? That was an uncertainty Soren needed to learn how to live with, and fast.

indentindentThe sound of his name being shouted from up the shallow slope stirred him from his trance, the ghostly sensation of having expected for someone to be calling for Cpl. Haskell prodding at his back. Was this how all of those waking nightmares began, the post-traumatic stress he had been so gracefully spared of all his life? Should he be talking to a professional at the first opportunity? Erh. He was stalling. Ennis was gone, and he knew, most viscerally, that there was one person in particular who needed — deserved — to hear the news first. There was no excuse to further prolonging this prologue to his loss. He would have to find a way to tell Danny, but where had the man wandered off to?

indentindentSoren wiped at his face with the back of his wrist, a part of skin that was hopefully unbloodied, and rose to his feet, leaving an indentation in the grass from having spent so long there. Some blood, undoubtedly from his own little, insignificant cut, had crusted around his eyes, and he could feel it tugging at his skin. His shirt was in a state of disaster, decorated with a mixture of water, blood, and sweat, but all of the scene unfolding before him was somewhat of a disaster. A ruined shirt was acceptable. He had done worse to his clothes before. For some reason, the radio in the wreck of the rented van was blaring, and he touched his fingertips upon the edge of that little bit of humor that was offered to him like a saving grace.

indentindentHe walked to the wreck and reached in, poking at whatever buttons would make the sound turn down in the beat-up piece of technology that had miraculously survived the destruction of the dashboard. He did his best not to memorize the way the passenger door hung open, or the glass and blood on the seat where he had found Ennis. These sights needed to be filed somewhere away, for a time when listening to Britney Spears wasn't so inappropriate. Oh sweet Jesus. In that moment, he missed Maine. Heck, he even missed the army. What were the odds of crashing a fishing boat on the open ocean? Or a Humvee in the middle of the desert? A question perhaps best left unasked when it came to Collie.

indentindentSoren's hair flopped onto his forehead, and he thought about the broken baseball cap he had abandoned in the footwell when other things had seemed more dire. This hadn't really changed, but he was stalling. And then stalling some more. With the radio silent, he heard voices coming from the road, and not all of them sounded familiar. It kicked some spirit back into him, and he crawled onto the middle seats to reach into the back, fishing his cap out in the darkness and shoving it into his pocket as best as it would fit. Maybe he could duct tape it together later. When he crawled back out, the smoke rising from the engine still didn't seem too threatening to his eyes, and so he circled to the trunk, where his boot crunched on the decimated corner of the kicked-out window. He moved it to the side. The lid took some forcing, but he was able to unload most of their luggage onto the grass and spare it, in case the van really did decide to catch on fire.

indentindentBy then, he had stalled enough. Soren turned to face the slope, and the road that would be waiting up top. He thought he could hear Danny's voice among the others, and began to make his way toward it. The incline was wet, and as their van had hurtled down it, it had torn muddy tracks into the grassy surface. Soren slipped a little as he climbed, but the dirt added onto his pant legs was just another stain among all the rest. He reached the top just to see a number of shadowy figures — by his count, more people altogether than there should have been in the van. He could see Danny, with his back turned and talking to strangers, but the surprise of there having been anyone but themselves this far into the middle of nowhere was overtaken by the sight of Collie.

indentindentThe man simply didn't seem well. There was a haunted look in his eyes, something verging on madness, a kind of thousand-yard stare. He was pale in comparison to the blood all over the lower half of his face, and his nose — oh, not his beautiful nose. Soren approached him as if he was closing in on a wild beast, or perhaps a spooked horse. A stray cat he wanted to pet before it ran off. Whatever had happened up there on the road must have been really bad, considering he had been doing quite fine when Soren had last seen him, after the crash.
indentindentindent"Hey, Collie, what happened up there? Man, are you good?" Why was he even asking, he clearly wasn't good.

indentindentSoren watched as Collie appeared to fumble for some sort of a tangible, coherent answer, one of his hands cycling through a number of gestures, and his face seemingly experiencing the full scope of human emotion within the matter of moments. When he managed a feeble reassurance that he was doing quite fine, with a one-handed thumbs-up, Soren didn't believe him in the slightest. Maybe he was in pain? All Soren knew that he wanted to do something to relieve whatever his friend was going through, and so he fixated on the crooked nose currently sitting in the center of Collie's face.
indentindentindent"Don't worry bro, I'm gonna fix your nose," he promised, giving Collie's shoulder a comforting squeeze.

indentindentWith all the confidence of someone who had done this several times before (seen it on television), Soren placed one hand on the side of Collie's head, and started prodding at his nose with the other. It was gross. He couldn't help the face he made, but at least he managed to suppress the urge to gag right in front of him. After shifting it in the right direction in a display of uncanny horror, it looked as straight as he could make it, with all the swelling and purpling skin considered. Most importantly, he was still handsome.
indentindentindent"Does it feel any better? Maybe it needs a splint."

[друг]

❝ watching the weather in the 4x4, with the headlights onxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxyou look pretty when you cry, and pretty when you don’t

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◈ ⋅ ─── ⋅ 𝐂𝐎𝐁𝐘 𝐇𝐄𝐍𝐃𝐄𝐑𝐒𝐎𝐍 ⋅

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tagging; rio, (mercer), collie
mentioned; briar, danny
location; road
twenty-five x⋅x cisfemale, she/her x⋅x dog

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Rio's promise to see if there was anything to be done for the humans had only just given Coby an ounce of relief, when two men appeared on the road, both of them visibly injured, but one of them moving particularly stiffly. She tensed. Neither of them had even spoken yet, and she could already feel herself relying on Rio. Whatever she had thought she would do for those who had been in the crashed car, she was beginning to doubt her own ability to help. The fear was sinking in, an instinctive desire to put some distance between herself and a human, even if they did not yet know what she was. "Is that the grim reaper...?" one of the men quivered, and Coby wished she had been able to laugh in the moment. It might have helped, but the fear had clammed up her throat. Her breath still trembled in the wake of the sobs, and her eyes stung as they fixated on the strangers in the pale light. The night air was chilling the blood onto her skin. She shivered.

indentindentThey were seemingly locked in a stand-off for the shortest of moments, as she could sense Rio bracing himself for whatever was to come. The gears were clearly turning in his head. Coby herself was stuck between the desire to shield Josie's body, and the inability to get herself to move. She was a deer in the headlights, and she disliked the feeling, but couldn't drive it away. All she could do was stare, eyes cautiously shifting between the two men — at least until she caught the blonde unexpectedly staring back at her, instead of the stone-faced man standing beside her with the body in his arms. Coby was aware of how Rio could come across to others, even those who knew him, and she would have thought him to be their primary concern. Not herself, the teary-eyed girl doing her best to turn invisible.

indentindentBut no, the blonde man was looking right at her and frowning, a knife in his hand and blood all over his face. His nose seemed broken, having bent unnaturally in contrast with the rest of his features. Her instinct was to take a half-step behind Rio, to disappear in his silhouette like a shy child on their first day of preschool. The dog that had been whining at the man's feet suddenly launched itself toward them, a ferocious bark sending spittle into the air, and Coby startled, hiding further behind Rio as if his mere presence could shield her from an attack. To anyone who knew what she could turn into, it might have seemed illogical, but as one might have reasoned with her human sensibility, one couldn't explain themselves to an ordinary canine. If the shepherd wanted to bite her, it would bite her.

indentindentIn fact, it wouldn't have been the first time she had been bitten by a dog. There was something about her that dogs could sense, something that must have seemed uncanny to them. Even as she might have looked like just another dog to most humans, she did not have their exact instincts, no urge to fetch sticks or roll in anything smelly. To them, she must have seemed like an alien creature wearing the shape of a dog, and although she was wearing her own skin at that very moment, this was what she assumed the dog to be reacting to — simply something it could feel emanating from her. That was until a feral growl reverberated from the trees, and she knew in an instant that it was Mercer. Before she could react, his dark shape had flown past in a blur, flattening the shorter man to the pavement. He fell heavily, and Coby's stomach sank.

indentindentindent"Mercer, stop!" she shouted, taken aback by the sound of her own voice, competing with the noise coming from the dog, still barking. But it worked, with the black wolf that was Mercer stilling, the glint of his white teeth disappearing. In a show of uncharacteristic self-restraint, he stepped off of the poor man, and headed for her. Coby's eyes fell to her shoes, to the blood-spattered canvas, and the stains climbing like ink splotches up her legs. She felt self-conscious, like she was stuck between a rock and a hard place, with an ex-lover looming at her back, and the strangers undoubtedly wondering what the hell was happening. In a nervous shift, she wiped her hands at the unbloodied parts of her trousers, attempting to remove some of the blood from her skin. Her clothes were a lost cause anyway.

indentindentThe urge to apologise was building in her. She felt quite bad for the man who had been crushed under Mercer's paws, but although the dog had stopped barking now, she was afraid to push her luck by getting any closer. It was shame that burned at her cheeks, then, caused by a suspicion of what had caused Mercer to react so aggressively. It was her. He was protecting her from whatever unlucky soul had happened to be standing close. In part, she understood the fear they shared over any human, especially one who had appeared so strangely and violently in their sanctuary, but the larger part of her wished he could have kept his distance. He had merely given the strangers a reason to be suspicious and angry.

indentindentCoby could hear the change in Rio's breathing before she understood what other transgression Mercer had committed. She looked up, saw Rio's face twisted in a display of anger, something it so rarely did, and she followed his line of sight, only to see Mercer's face. He had shifted in front of the humans. If Coby could have made herself pop out of existence in that very moment, she would have. How could he have been so careless? She remained silent as Rio gave him a deserved scolding, then nodded faintly at the leave to assist the survivors as she wished. Whatever conversation their leader was about to have with these humans in order to sort out at least some of this mess, she didn't believe she could help with that, at least not as much as she might down at the site of the crash. Mercer was fuming, silently, over having been reprimanded, and Coby went to touch his arm, before thinking better of it. She was disappointed in him, and besides, it was no longer her responsibility to soothe him, if it had ever been.

indentindentA sort of deranged cackling made her eyes dart back to the blonde man. It was clear he wasn't reacting well, and perhaps seeing the wolf becoming a person had been the final straw after having already endured a car crash. She watched, with a stunned fascination, as he babbled out a few names, just as another, startlingly tall, man appeared, with questions more reasonable than she might have hoped for. He seemed like the rational type, slightly older than the others, and when the blonde began to stumble away, she thought that perhaps he had the right idea. With the reasonable man, Rio could surely sort out what needed to be done from here. It was far too late to pretend that none of this had happened, and some part of Coby was certainly regretting that she hadn't simply left when Rio had instructed her to. But that wouldn't have been the right thing to do, and she would have only made herself sick with guilt that way.

indentindentCoby had almost forgotten about the black-haired man, Briar, sprawled out on the ground, when he popped halfway up and began pointing at Mercer, accusing him of being all sorts of things. Yes, it might have been for the best if she removed herself from the scene and made herself useful, to spare Rio's sanity if nothing else. She excused herself so quietly that it was unlikely anyone had heard her, then stepped away from the road, heading for the treeline that she had emerged from before — well, before. Somewhat concealed by the trees and their shadows, she shifted, grateful to be relieved of all the blood for just a while. The shape of a medium-sized, coppery brown dog climbed back up the slope and onto the road. She moved nimbly, avoiding the glittering shards of glass, and the dark bloodstains.

indentindentNot too far from the crash, the blonde man from earlier was talking to another blonde man, this one a little shorter. They were doing something with the taller's broken nose, and Coby tried to pass by as unobtrusively as she could. Her ears flattened to her head, as if that could keep the shepherd from taking notice of her, and stopped briefly to sniff at the skid marks on the asphalt where the driver had veered off the road. She followed them over the verge, onto the incline, where they turned into muddy tracks and torn-up vegetation. Down at the very bottom, the remains of their van were crushed against a tree, surrounded by pieces of plastic panel and more broken glass. Most urgently, a human shape lay in the grass, a stained jacket draped over his face and chest. The smell of blood was heavy in the air, just as it had been further away on the road.

indentindentCoby hesitated for a moment, then approached the shape, sniffing softly at the air, as close to him as she dared. It wasn't a description she would have repeated to any of this man's friends, but the sickly, rotting smell of death was beginning to rise from his body. He was gone, and had been for a while. She took a step back, her stomach threatening to turn. These humans had lost someone, too. There remained no doubt in her mind that this had been a tragic accident. It didn't even seem as if they knew whose lands they were on.

[kalo.]

│███ 𝚁𝚎𝚢𝚗𝚊 𝙵𝚕𝚘𝚛𝚎𝚜 . . . <3
────────────────────────────── [ wolverine shifter ] [ mentions danny, rio, coby ] [ tagged felix, eva ]

indentindentA lot had happened in the few minutes that Reyna had stood in the shadows frozen in fear. If she was being honest it only added to her anxiety of the whole situation. But hey, who knew that Mercer could make mistakes just as badly as she did! And she wasn't the one in the limelight right now so if she was careful she could get off the hook. Rio would be nice to her, right? It brought up the situation at hand-she needed to get out of this situation, but she needed to confirm something first. If this were Danny then his ID would say so. So maybe she could just, y'know, find it. It seemed easy enough, and in her mind she was the smartest person here. [She was not, in fact this plan would be just as stupid as Mercer jumping in and knocking one of the humans over] Scanning the scene it didn't look like anyone had anything in their pockets, and the van they took was open enough for her to snoop. So, still in her wolverine form, she slowly made her way to the van, sneaking in the shadows. It wasn't hard, humans had limited hearing and eyesight so there was no way they would find her anyway. Unless someone shone a flashlight at her or tried to listen deliberately. But hey, Rio and Coby were busy with the humans so she was fine. A quick one-two in and out right?

indentindentMaking her way over to the van was tedious and slow, as she was terrified of somehow alerting the humans of her presence but being a wolverine made it easier to hide in the shadows. The trunk was askew, and there was no way it would've closed even if they tried to force it down. Slowly she stuck her nose up near the trunk of the van to try and sniff to make sure nobody was in there. Upon confirming she was okay, she stuck her head up and looked to see most of their luggage or bags were smushed and thrown about, and Reyna took this opportunity to slowly slink into the trunk. Not without leaving a trail of scratches against the back of the van. They weren't getting their deposit back but that wasn't her problem.

indentindentShe couldn't tell at all which bag was whose, but after a bit of rummaging around and telling herself this was okay, she wasn't stealing anything. This was just for an experiment! After crawling over the other seat in the van her eyes widen at the sight of another bag [while ignoring all of the glass and blood that was not her issue right now, her paws would be okay, and if not Salem would easily patch them up]. This had to be it, she could faintly recall something similar before, but she didn't want to get her hopes up. Sticking her nose in she started pulling things out with her teeth, and after taking out a few... weird items... and ignoring the book that was in the bag [at the moment, of course she'd find a way to bring it back up if this truly was Danny], she finally found a wallet. Being a wolverine made this ten times harder, but taking a few seconds to flip the wallet open with her nose and paw, she was met with an ID that did in fact, show Danny's full name and a rather silly photo.

indentindentIt caused Reyna's heart rate to spike, and she had to get out of there as fast as she could. To hide, or well, anything. So she took the wallet in her mouth. This was hers now, she needed to hide this from him... why? She didn't quite know but it just felt right. So she took a moment to crawl herself back out of the van, but not without falling face first into the dirt. She let out a groan before shaking her head and taking a few steps toward what she assumed was the way back to their cabins. However, she squinted at the sight of two people near the edge of the crash. They were... picking up sticks? Or something like that?

indentindentShe knew that she had to get around them, and logically she could just turn around and go that way, but in the rare case that someone heard her and went to investigate the trunk she had to move around them. So, with as much stealth as a wolverine could manage [which wasn't a lot but it was certainly better than whatever Mercer was doing right now] she made her way toward the tree line. Sticks littered the forest floor, and taking a few steps with the wallet in her mouth she let out a soft growl at the situation. Of course, it was her luck to step on every stick known to man, and she kept shooting glances over at the two humans in fear that they would hear her. [Which if she was any smarter she would realize that they had already heard her, between the loud growling and the snapping of twigs]

indentindentMaking it to a tree and hiding behind it she took a moment to watch the humans. They were looking around, that was obvious, and she lowered her small ears before rearing up to take a mad dash around them and past the group that had decided to gather on the road. It wouldn't be that noticeable, right?

indentindentSo, without further ado, Reyna took a moment to leap out from her position behind the tree but, without thinking she had slipped on the leaves of a fallen branch and tumbled face first into the open area before the ground sloped up to the road. The wallet stayed in her mouth thankfully, but her ego was now bruised. At least she was far enough away from the group to not be noticed, but slowly she turned her head to look right up at the two humans. They were both good looking at least, but she knew it was in her best interest to get out of there before they screamed or caused more of a scene.

[n ‎]

❝ 𝗕𝗥𝗜𝗔𝗥 𝗝𝗜𝗡🡖 ꏢ ❟❟
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the driver :( | he/him | (@) the wreck
tags; danny rio| mentions; collie coby

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it went faster than he expected it to.

actually, briar had no idea what he was expecting. whatever had just happened was faster
than he could have imagined or fathomed in the moment of anything moving in front of him,
let alone heading for him and straight at him. he didn't expect to see a flash of movement
too fast for his slowly processing head at the moment, and he definitely didn't expect to be
slammed down into the hard asphalt under him, either.

he had seen the eyes of the dog for a moment - he couldn't focus on them long, especially when he found it hard to see anything in
the first place. he didn't know where it had came from, what had happened, if someone had sicked the damn dog on him or what,
but the feeling of the heavy paws pushing him down back on his chest hurt almost as bad as the actual landing on the hard road
underneath him. his head smacked into the ground last - the ringing in his ears immediately starting up again as he felt dizzy and nauseous, swearing to himself that he heard a crack when he had landed. he had no time to even think or respond to the sudden
tackling of the dog before the dog appeared above him once more - snapping its sharp teeth at his face and hearing the loud snarling
from right above him. if briar could have screamed, he probably would have. the fear was making his throat close up and his chest
feel tight - tighter than it already was considering the big dog's paws were still planted onto his chest. he could feel the blood
dripping down his head as he closed his eyes tightly, bracing himself to accept death. at this point, he had no idea what he was
supposed to expect. where did the dog even come from? why couldn't it have tackled collie? no offense to collie, but briar felt like
a ragdoll next to him. he only got his point proven further when he was so easily brought to the ground and pinned by a damn
dog. briar would have liked to imagine collie could have tanked the tackle and would still be standing like a tall iron giant.

briar was horrified.

his entire body had already been hurting - now that he had been slammed into the ground like it was nothing only made it feel like
it was harder for him to move his limbs. briar could only slowly sit up eventually after the dog was finally called off, his arm over
his stomach defensively as he had to sit there and focus on the blood covering his hands and shoes, trying to somehow dissociate
from the entire situation. god how he hoped this wasn't real. some stupid twisted nightmare, or an awful daydream. though when
he finally moved his eyes upwards to look away from his own damage, his jaw only dropped and stayed dropped the moment he
saw the wolf replacing itself with a human, the height of the animal suddenly changing drastically as briar could only watch in
absolute horror. not only was he absolutely bodied and downed by a wolf, but a human in wolf's clothing, apparently. briar wanted
to blame the blood loss, but how much blood did he have to lose to hallucinate something like that?

with danny rushing over, briar could only blink quickly- unsure if he wanted to cry or hide in the moment. he had no idea what he
was supposed to do - the only thing that was louder in briar's racing thoughts other than confusion was the pain in his body. he was
scared - he was horrified, and he was so, so confused. if only something could confirm it wasn't real, briar was begging for it not
to be real. like joey tribbiani walking out from behind the trees, anything really. briar only reached out to danny slowly, one hand
grabbing onto his arm tightly, shaking out of fear and pain as he looked forward with a quivering bottom lip. "d-dog-" he stuttered
out, his eyes wide in fear and his eyebrows furrowed heavily, it hurt to move his arm but he moved it to point at mercer anyway-
shaking in uncertainty and anxiety. "dog," he repeated again, his voice quivering and cracking as he breathed heavily and shakily
on the road. his breathing was rough - not a single smooth breath going in or out. "he's- that's- dog- dog's not a dog- dog-" he
couldn't speak straight, he didn't know how to. how do you even explain something like that? what if briar saying all this got him
attacked again? would he get mauled?

would being mauled be gracious and merciful? briar didn't even know anymore. all he knew was he regretted agreeing coming on
the company trip at the moment. a part of him didn't expect the grim reaper to speak - but hearing him speak only made the fear
cemented in his stomach. he sounded scary. intimidating. like what the grim reaper would sound like. briar was slowly convincing
himself of the certain doom they had found themselves stuck into. briar tried to tighten his hand around danny's arm - he tried to
hold on tighter, but the lack of energy and strength in his body only made him squeeze it lightly. "oh my god," he let out slowly, his
eyes darting constantly between everyone. that is still breathing. the comment rung in his ears. slowly turning to danny again, briar
let his gaze soften almost sadly. "still breathing?" he asked slowly, anxiety pooling in his stomach.

[Foe Paw]

[ 𝘿𝘼𝙉𝙄𝙇𝙊 𝘿𝙄𝘼𝙎 ] ▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃▃

[ leader— he/him — 39 ] [ location — road ] [tagged — briar, rio, mercer, collie and coby mentioned ]

xxxxxx"Collie- wait-" Danny spun around to try to hail Collie as he passed, but he was gone from reach too soon. He caught a glimpse of red on blonde, and the keening noise Collie did turned into a name - Soren - as he left. "Yes! Go help Soren!" Danny barked after Collie's retreating form, trying to give some semblance of direction to the panicked retreat. "Swap with him, he needs a break!"

xxxxxxHe hadn't wanted to stay here and talk to them, either, would rather have left that to the more charismatic Collie and gone help Ennis. Of course Collie wouldn't have felt up to task of interfacing, though; fair enough. He was qualified for CPR, and could trade places with Soren just fine to help keep Ennis' heart beating up until rescue could arrive. And that was the other reason - without signal, the locals would be the only way of getting them an ambulance. By staying and talking to them, explaining the situation, Danny was still able to help Ennis. And, as Briar's death grip grasped at his arm, he was reminded of the third reason he couldn't go back to kneeling by Ennis' side; Briar was also badly injured. Danny used the grip Briar had on him to haul the shorter man up, steadying him with the other arm across the shoulders. Danny was relieved to feel the leg he thought might have something wrong with it didn't feel so bad that it couldn't keep balance while doing that. Being this close, Briar's terrified face was the clearest thing Danny had seen since waking up; words choked out painfully and in a confused jumble. He looked terrible, and the usual air of cool confidence looked as unsteady as his legs as Danny kept him upright.

xxxxxxHe did not look this bad fresh from the crash; Danny had heard him walk it off, side by side with Collie.

xxxxxxBriar's shaky hand pointed across to the trio - Danny squinted in that direction. "It wasn't a dog? You mean that that man attacked you?" Danny pointed out the one furthest from them, hearing their harsh whispering to each other. Briar again repeated that- dog, calling him a dog - and Danny shifted his bruised weight so he'd be shielding Briar from them, muttering, "I don't think there's a dog anywhere, Briar, maybe it ran off. Was it that man, though?"

xxxxxxBriar was still trying to call his attention back, and Danny shot a "I think you might be concussed, sweetheart," only half-listening as he eyed the three blurry forms, whispering among themselves, and considered.

xxxxxxThere had always been two options when meeting such a strange group in the middle of the woods. One was to suspect them - to hold them at bay so as to minimize the damage when they carried out whatever sinister intent they had. The second was taking them at faith. They were, after all, their fellow man - Danny didn't want to suspect these people for no reason. For all that they made a startling figure, standing there lined up like a spearpoint aimed at them, holding that strange bundle and whispering. Just waiting for something, out on the road, with no lights on their hand like anyone would have lit. The magnitude of the human experience was such that there could have been plenty of fair, reasonable explanations that would bring a trio to this place, in this hour, just in time for them to help a badly stranded, badly wounded group. Maybe they lived nearby - maybe they were camping. They deserved the benefit of the doubt. And, beyond it simply being wrong to treat them with hostility for reaching out a hand in an intimidating way, it was simply not practical, either. The coworkers were lost - they were hurt. Ennis needed specialized help to make it- to- so he wouldn't-

xxxxxx--stop thinking about it.

xxxxxx... All that said, one of them had, apparently, hurt Briar, before being called off. Maybe it was a mistake - maybe another accident. Danny decided he couldn't afford to spurn them, but it grated.

xxxxxx"There's eight of us. At least four are mobile. Briar, well. Maybe Mercer can tell me what happened with him." He said coldly, using the name he'd heard called out as he was making it there, when he thought they were talking about a dog attack. It was unsettling to think of a thing that made those sorts of noises out there in the woods, but if they weren't worried, maybe that one who had walked away from the trio was going to get it leashed. Briar interjected again - he is the dog - at that, starting to appear on the verge of tears at Danny's complete incomprehension of what information he was trying to convey. Danny shrugged at him, confused, before the pale stranger asked the question that drove an unintentional barb straight through Danny's careful task management - the ones that were still breathing. Danny snapped his mouth shut before the scream that was building up inside him had the chance to escape.

xxxxxxHe didn't want to think about it. If he didn't get to be there, doing the physical work of CPR, at the very least he didn't want to have to dwell on it while someone else did. But both of the parties here needed that information. He should be talking- but still, he kept quiet, keeping the urge to scream suppressed by adding the physical barrier of his free hand across his mouth. When he thought he could speak normally, Danny breathed in, held it and hissed out, focused on sticking only to the facts, as close to the bone as possible. For the love of God do not inject emotion into giving this report. He lowered his hand back down, slowly, and continued.

xxxxxx"... There's also Ennis, who's doing... poorly. Soren is keeping his heart beating right now, but. How- how long do you think it would take to get an ambulance out here- maybe we drive him there-" He'd started to make that last request to the pale figure further in front, again, when Briar broke into tears. This was- bad, but simpler. He didn't like what he did while grieving - he liked himself while consoling others just fine. Danny immediately abandoned the sentence, turning the supporting arm across Briar's back into a very careful hug, bringing up the other arm to cradle the back of his head. "Hey- hey, hey. Sweetie, it'll be alright. Please, don't. Everything is going to be fine. We'll make it through."

xxxxxxHe broke off the hug and placed his hands on Briar's shoulder, trying to get eye contact as he was reminded of something that he'd promised to himself he'd say as soon as he realized they'd crashed, that there had been injuries. He had to contradict any wrongheaded ideas before they had a chance to root in deep on the one who was at the wheel. "Sweetheart, hey. Are you looking at me? I want you to listen carefully, alright? I forgive you. The rest of the folks, they do too. I can guess without much trouble that being the driver, you're feeling like trash right now-" God knew Danny had to employ the 'I'm not mad nor disappointed' tone with plenty of panicking youths in the past to be familiar with the general malaise, "-but anyone could have gotten us in the same accident. Accidents only happen as long as you drive, alright? It's not your fault. Please don't cry."

[друг]

❝ no matter where I run, the ways they lead me right back herexxxxxxxxxxx
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxI think it's time I stop running from myself

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⸸ ⋅ ─── ⋅ 𝐌𝐄𝐑𝐂𝐄𝐑 𝐏𝐀𝐆𝐄 ⋅ ── ⋅

████
████

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tagging; briar, rio, danny
mentioned; coby, collie
location; road
twenty-seven x⋅x cismale, he/him x⋅x wolf

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One thing about Mercer was that being told he was wrong was merely bound to make him double down and back himself into a corner until he was forced to pass through a wall in order to sustain his false view of the world. His jaw ticked. And yet he could feel himself shrinking, just imperceptibly, under the searing anger emanating from Orion's face. It entirely spoiled any humour that might have been derived from witnessing the blonde man's world crumbling in the face of something which it could not explain. He held Orion's withering gaze in spite of the urge to look away, and the shame threatening to rise when he realized that no, these humans clearly hadn't known that the strangers they had run into in the woods were anything but human. He was the one who had given away their secret, and excluding the one casualty already sustained, put them in danger. Put Coby in danger.

indentindentThe self-defeating urge to retaliate and misdirect his anger at any target was telling him to mindlessly throw himself at the armed man, but one scolding had been enough. He did, in spite of everything, still have something to lose. Had he been told to make himself scarce any other time, it was likely he would have gladly taken the opportunity to leave the problem he had, in part, caused to be solved by literally anyone else, but she was still there, terribly exposed to any attempt at retaliation from these humans. He stayed, seemingly for her sake, ignoring any clue that she might have been wishing for him to disappear at that very moment. As much as she was covered in their peer's blood, Mercer was concealed in a carefully applied layer of lies.

indentindent"My room is yours, always." Mercer swore he could have felt his eye twitching at the words. That stupid urge to throw himself at a random target — or perhaps directly onto the blonde's ridiculous little pocket knife — washed over him again, and he swallowed it down like acid. There it was again, those little comments, those entirely too fond gestures, that had made him suspect the relationship between Coby and their leader in the first place. And he had taken that suspicion, and driven it all the way to the destruction of the most gracious love he had ever been granted. His fists tightened until the blood fled from his knuckles. But Coby had reassured him that it wasn't true — in nearly the same breath as she had told him that they were over.

indentindentAnother man came stumbling down the road, just as Mercer had been expecting. Humans flocked like sheep, until their presence could grow large enough to be turned into another destructive monster. He wanted to drive them away before this could happen, he wanted to shout and spit, rage unlike he had ever raged before, but he had already crossed Orion — the arbiter of his continued presence with the pack — once, and seemingly only managed to upset Coby with his actions. So he stood there, tense, still convinced that the only right thing to do about them would have been to attack before it was too late. Maybe the raven could have been persuaded to side with him, had he not thrown away his chance by striking too soon. Mercer scowled. In his opinion, they were engaging in far too much talking, and far too little action.

indentindentThe towering man's glasses were broken, sat askew on his face, and he was asking after a dog. Mercer's eyes shifted to Coby, the back of her head hopelessly unreadable, but the posture of her body betraying pure anxiety. He wanted to step in front of her, to hide her from sight, but for the first time that night, he really stopped to think before acting. What had happened before he had arrived? There was the body, but had they seen Coby shifting? By Orion's reaction to his thoughtless little shift, no, they hadn't. Neither did he seem to be talking about the shepherd that was busy terrifying his girlfr- his former girlfriend. Was the man talking about him? Mercer scoffed to himself. Leave it to humans to struggle with telling a dog apart from a wolf.

indentindent"There's been a crash." His lips parted into a mocking, humourless smile, a pure predatory glint of his teeth. Yes, there had been a crash — when they had run over one of the shifters with their van. It pleasantly — somewhat to his chagrin — surprised him that Orion seemed to be thinking along the same lines, his answers wry and mostly unsympathetic to the humans' blight. This was the part of the raven that he could most tolerate, even after the collapse of his relationship with Coby. He might have even admired it, had he been capable of admitting admiration for anyone or anything. Orion was capable of being so unmoved in a manner that Mercer very much wasn't.

indentindentThe one he had tackled to the road raised himself up like something once-dead, and Mercer felt a morbid satisfaction at the sight of his blood. His attack hadn't been for nothing, and in the aftermath of having been helplessly scolded, it felt like vindication, even if it should have made his actions all the worse in magnitude. This Briar began pointing at him, babbling about the same dog, and his terror only had Mercer smirking in response, like some creature from hell. When accused of having done exactly what he had done, he simply stared at the tall man with cold eyes, ignoring the prompt to explain himself. Orion's lecture had succeeded in eliciting shame, but regret? Not necessarily. Had the consequences inevitably not been worse than before, he might have done it again, just to vent out some of the unbearable feelings of irritation building up within him. Then Briar broke into tears, and Mercer was suddenly made uncomfortable by the outburst of emotion. Coby saw it fitting to retreat from the commotion, and he might have followed, had the tall man not decided to strike a match in a room full of open containers of gasoline.

indentindentThe driver. The man, Briar, that Mercer had struck had been driving. Pieces were clicking into place in the abrupt cruelty of his mind, and it came to him just how close it must have been. Instead of the body languishing under the veil of Orion's coat, this human could have hit and killed Coby instead. How down to chance had it been? Minutes, seconds of difference? And she would have been gone now, utterly unreachable and lost, and Mercer would have failed at everything that mattered to him. He wanted to squeeze the life out of Briar with his bare hands, and then perhaps move on to the tall man, just to make himself feel better about all of this, but he must have triggered some kind of sixth sense in Orion, because instead of being free to launch himself into another attack, the body, unnervingly limp, was thrust into his arms. He grabbed onto it out of instinct, and shot a look of pure frustration at him. Orion better have been planning on killing them himself.

indentindentIn the midst of all this, Mercer was distracted from his desire to bark out violent threats by the most unexpected thing. The coat had shifted, revealing black hair that glistened with blood in the moonlight, and he realized that it was Josie. One of Coby's friends, a person so dear to her that they had lived together after Mercer had decided to implode her life. Josie had stepped up to look after her, to occupy some of that aching empty space that he had left behind. Somehow this made him even angrier, and not due to any reasonable feelings over a loss that concerned all of them, but because Coby must have been hurting far more than she had shown. He wanted to turn Briar into a pile of dust, and his tall friend alongside him. But for the time being, his hands were occupied.

[n ‎]

❝ 𝗔𝗡𝗗𝗥𝗘𝗪 𝗬𝗔𝗡𝗚🡖 ꏢ ❟❟
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''│
he saw that | he/they | (@) the wreck
tags; felix eva reyna| mentions; danny

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drew could now mark being in a car wreck off his list.

it's not like he was waiting for this kind of thing to happen, of course. he definitely wasn't -
but after getting hit by a car a couple years ago it just seemed like he was starting to
collect car related incidents one by one.

his head was ringing. it wasn't too bad, he could still feel all of his ten fingers and he thought he could feel the ends of his legs.
his back was aching and his neck felt stiff - it hurt, but it just felt like something he had already felt before when he was hit
and slid across the tar of a road before. this was nothing he hadn't experienced before. it felt like his vision was blurry, but
the longer he was sitting still stabilizing himself, the more he was able to grasp the situation around him and let himself
breathe and ground. collie and soren had already made their way out of the back of the vehicle, glass covering the back seats
of the car along with the blood that came from the two by him and no one other than himself. looking down at his lap, andrew
was only shocked to see the amount of blood down the front of his body. it looked like more blood than he was even aware
that was capable from coming from his body. his hands wandering around his body and his face, he was only able to find the
site of bleeding after his hand swept under his nose, the blood covering his hand easily. bloody noses were too common with
drew, the blood never getting to these extremes before, but drew also had never gotten whiplash before his bloody noses,
so he hadn't any real worry about the amounts of blood covering him. other than the fact his old band t-shirt was now going
to be gore-ified. at least maybe it will look cool in his wardrobe if he gets home in one piece!

patting his lap to make sure his legs were still attached to his torso, drew let out a small groan as he began to pull himself
around the car, trying to get himself oriented again as everyone in the front of the car exits before him. he could see the
doors opening on the side to get everyone out, drew only sitting in the back of the car quietly with his cheek resting on the
seat in front of him as everyone flooded out. he didn't exactly know what to do, and his neck was hurting a little bit from
the way he probably flew around in the back seat with two big dogs and soren. he only wanted to wait till everyone was out
of the car to start his own escape anyway, unlike the other two who had found their own way out. drew didn't want to risk
getting glass in his hair or in his clothes, which were already dyed a new color. plus, the longer he sat in the back of the car,
the more he was able to piece his mind together and get himself stabilized. they were driving in the dark, completely lost.
the only thing louder than the music in the car was collie finding himself on fanfic websites. oh god. that's right. drew could
have been caught out.

his eyes widened quickly. god, where was collie's phone? where was collie? did he grab his phone when he had gotten out? is
this something stupid to worry about? drew could only roll his eyes as he looked back towards the front of the car to see the
emptiness looking back at him. everyone had already found their way out of the car, drew had to get out next or he would
just be an awkward sitting duck. plus, even if he didn't smell gasoline, that didn't mean the car wasn't set to still blow up!
so that meant drew only had to act fast. his hands quickly moving over the seats again, drew tried to be as careful as possible
as he patted his own jean pockets to find his own phone. he had shoved it into his pocket to try and reserve phone charge
until they had gotten back into service. it was only at fifty four percent, he had to work fast if he had the audacity to use it
for anything like this at all. whipping it out of his pocket, drew went to turn on the flashlight before he jumped at the sound
of something scurrying around in the back. freezing immediately in his tracks - drew straightened his spine as he allowed him
self to stay completely still, trying to listen to everything going on around him. there was a lot of commotion outside, drew
didn't even know what was going on. perhaps they were talking about figuring out what they were going to do. maybe they
were going to go camping now. drew couldn't listen, not when the scratching in the back of the van was louder than the voices
across the road.

slowly turning his head to the back of the car, lowering it as he turned to try and hide his visibility as he peered into the back,
his eyebrows furrowed with fear. the fear didn't leave, but was quickly covered up with confusion as drew had to hold back
the audible confusion trying to come up from his mouth when he was greeted with a furry moving creature in the back of the
van, it's nose moving around with intention. it looked like it new what was doing, even though drew couldn't see much of any
thing at all. the blinking headlights lighting up the moving creature occasionally, drew could only watch quietly for a moment.
he didn't know what it was at first - the dark only making it harder to make distinctive features on the mysterious animal, but
the more he watched and the more his eyes got adjusted to the dark in front of him, drew could only squint as he assumed and
identified the animal as a wolverine. it wasn't confusing to see a wolverine in canada - but it was still confusing to see a
wolverine in the back of the crash with so much intent.

the wolverine digging through the bags finally ended up pulling out a wallet, drew's eyebrows furrowing further as the wolverine
seemed to know how to operate the item seemingly well as it flipped through everything, its eyes scanning the contents. drew
only lifted his phone slowly to take a quiet photo, making sure the flash was off before dropping his phone back down to his hip
again to watch the animal quietly. he didn't know what he was supposed to do - he definitely didn't want to interfere with a wild
animal, especially when it seemed so sure in it's own action and plans. pursing his lips hard as the animal ended up biting down
on the wallet completely and escaping through the hole in the glass collie made, drew finally let out a heavy sigh from his lungs
he felt like he was holding onto for so long. drew didn't know what he was supposed to do with the information and the situation
he had just witnessed, but at least he had a photo he'd be able to show collie and felix later. it's true!!! look!!

sighing before continuing onto his mission again, drew only shook his head as he finally located the dark phone on the ground of
the van, glass covering it and drew unsure if it was cracked glass or if his screen was cracked. drew knew he had taken his sweet
time in the van, he knew he had to get out. as much as he wished he could go and somehow reset collie's journey into his fan
fiction search, he knew he was wasting time. so, drew was going to steal it instead! it's not like collie was here to grab it for
himself, anyways, drew was doing him a favor in the long run by grabbing his phone for him to give it to him later after he just
deletes his progress and finds a way to put a parental lock on the website his own fanfics lay on. shoving collie's phone into his
back pocket along with his own phone, drew sucked in a deep breath before grabbing the seats in front of him and dragging
himself up to the middle of the car, finally getting himself out of the wreckage and his feet landing on the dirt ground under
him. he shook a little from the landing, disoriented, before letting himself start forward.

there was a lot he had missed, clearly. there was a group of people andrew didn't recognize on the road. briar and danny were
standing against them, briar looking like he basically just got put through a towel wringer. collie and soren were standing off
to the side not too far, with... a horribly familiar looking body on the ground not too far behind him. andrew felt immediately
nauseous. it couldn't have been that bad, right? drew knew had blood basically down the entire front of him, but it was just a
bloody nose. was someone really that injured? was ennis really....drew didn't want to think about it. not yet. he didn't know.
he just watched a whole wolverine stare down danny's id and steal it. he could totally be asleep and dreaming right now. yeah!
no he was totally dreaming! that had to be what was going on!

sucking in a deep breath, andrew only nodded as he let his head drift to the other side of the crash, his eyes finding and
meeting felix and eva. oh thank god, maybe they could need drew! or maybe drew needed them, but no! nooo they totally
needed drew right? that's what he was thinking. anxiety in his step for a few seconds before he shook his head and allowed
himself to start his saunter over again, drew only fidgeted with the hem of his shirt nervously, pulling it up to wipe his nose
lightly to get some of the blood off of his face before dropping it back onto his stomach again. it was almost comical how much
blood he had on him for how little he was really affected by the crash itself. chewing on his lip nervously, he only ignored the
iron taste from the blood on his lips as he approached them slowly, trying to make as much noise in the crunching leaves to not
startle them as he waved at them almost nervously. his eyes wandered them quickly to assess them, anxiety hitting his stomach
quickly.

"your arm..." he muttered, mostly to himself in worry as his eyebrows furrowed hard, his eyes struggling to move off of felix's
arm before he shook his head. "what's going on? are you guys okay?" he asked gently, his voice quiet and slow as he spoke. "we
should probably find a way to make you a proper* sling or..." swallowing hard and nervously. "something to help," he almost
whispered, his eyes moving around behind them as he spoke and his gaze easily moving back to the group behind him. "did you
know there was a wolverine in the van? danny owes me thirty bucks and i watched it take his wallet, funny, ri- wait, that's
literally it-" his attention span being easily ripped away from the problem at hand as the movement of an animal behind a
tree caught his eye - the same wolverine that was in the van standing right behind the tree in front of them. andrew could only
recognize it from the clearly stolen wallet in it's mouth, but if that wasn't obvious and drew seemed cool, he was going to let
that go on instead.