Colin's posts

"Hey." Evans replied.

"So she's back?" Lindsay asked.

"And injured." Evan responded.

"Injured?" Ash asked him.

"Yeah, she was attacked by a weird creature." Darrell confirmed. "And... well... it was weird. It was wolf-like, had blue in its fur, and water was just slicking off of it like it was nothing." he said further.

"...great." Ash growled.

"...when is everyone coming back?" Darrell then asked Evan.

"I just finished calling everyone." Evan replied.

"Odds are Aunt Ashleigh and Uncle Ash will come back together, as will Luke and Kelly." he went on.

"And odds are that Uncle-" he started to say, before they felt a surge of black mana outside.

"...Ash will be here very shortly." he finished.

He then made his way to the window, to see that Ashleigh had, indeed, returned with him.

And Lindsay was there, as well.

"At least she made it back." Ash said to Lindsay, as the three of them started to make their way to the house.

"....." Darrell was silent for a moment, looking at her.

"I... I don't know." he said.

"Well... I mean, I DO know, but-" he started to say, before sighing.

"It looked like a wolf." he told her.

"But there was blue in its fur." he went on.

"And it looked like the rain was just falling off its back, like it was covered in down." he said further.

"But I don't know what that creature IS."

"Yeah." Darrell replied.

"She said she was going to take a shower." he told her.

That's when Casey truly noticed that Darrell was cleaning up the bloody footprints as he followed them.

She could surmise that Darrell had been the one to find her, and that she had not come home on her own.

Sammy had been injured, and Darrell had brought her back.

But who or what had injured her daughter?

Darrell watched as the footprints were left, as Evan continued to make calls, one after the other.

The first one was, of course, to their mother.

Darrell then sighed, before asking Evan where the cleaning supplies were.

Evan pointed to a cupboard, and Darrell proceeded to grab some things, and started to clean up the bloody footprints.

"...geez." he muttered.

"Just... geez..." he repeated, while Evan continued to relay the news to the others.

"Got it." Darrell responded.

He then got close and held Sammy close, before the two of them fell through a portal that opened up beneath them, and then ended up landing in her backyard.

"Sorry." he apologised. "I don't know if my mana can break through the barriers around your home." he told her.

"Anyway, we're here." he continued, as they started to make their way towards the house, and saw Evan in the window... before he quickly grabbed a phone and started to make a call.

"Ah, he must be calling everyone else." Darrell commented.

".........." Darrell was silent as the blood flowed from her.

It smelled divine. And he was scared he was about to go crazy with bloodlust, and jump at her. To the point where he was silent, and uncomfortably staring at her for close to 5 seconds, before he literally had to shake his head vigorously, and slap himself across the cheek to bring himself back to reality.

"Ok, good." he said.

"I need to get you home." he told her.

"You need medical attention, and you need it NOW." he continued.

"Can you deal with being teleported with portal mana?" he asked, before pausing.

"Oh, and I'm Darrell. Darrell Sherwood." he then introduced himself, hoping it might put her at ease to know who he was.

"That's good." Ryker replied.

"Now just let them stay in the water." he told him.

"Swish them around a little, let the water make small waves around you." he continued.

"We're not gonna go any deeper right now." he then assured him.

"At this point, just try and get more comfortable with this depth."

Darrell looked over towards the teen, and knelt down beside her.

"Hey." he said.

"Are you all right?" he asked.

"...and are you... Sammy?" he then asked her.

As he asked his questions, he looked around some, making sure that no other creatures would attack, or that none were lurking around.

Darrell immediately rushed towards where he'd heard it from, and when he managed to get through the thick brush, he saw someone... a young female... and she was clearly injured.

And cornered by a wild animal.

It looked almost like a wolf... but it was light grey with blue stripes... and if one were to look closely, they'd see that the water was pouring off of its pelt... like it were down.

"...." he was silent, before shaking his head.

He let out a loud whistle, which caused the creature to look over in Darrell's direction.

Darrell adopted a bit of a defensive stance, and extended one of his hands.

"Let's play, puppy." he said.

The animal growled loudly, and charged right towards Darrell... who used its momentum to dodge and throw it against a nearby tree, making a loud cracking sound as it collided.

Ash just sighed.

"Let's go, team." he told them.

"Right." Darrell responded.

"Yup." Luke agreed, as the three of them stepped out the door.

"Good luck!" Evan called to them, as they disappeared into the forest.

They'd gone their own separate ways to cover more ground, and Darrell was sniffing about, trying his best to remain composed and on-target, despite the veritable cornucopia of scents that surrounded him.

And the water was just getting heavier and heavier.

"Geez..." he muttered, before suddenly perking up.

"......what the.....?" he mumbled, following the vaguely familiar scent.

Ash was silent for a moment.

"I... don't know." he admitted.

"But I've been gone most of the day." he admitted.

"I haven't seen him in a while." Evan commented.

"Hang on..." Ash then said, sending a text. After a few seconds, there was a response.

"...ah!" Ash exclaimed.

"He's out helping Casey at the moment." he told them.

"I'll tell him we'll be setting out immediately to help them cover more ground."

"Yes, but this weather might get in the way." Ash responded.

"Anyway, let's go." he told them.

"Kelly, Ashleigh, you two take to the air." he told the two females.

"The rest of us will take to the ground." he went on.

"...except you." he then told Evan.

"What!?" Evan exclaimed. "Why ME!?" he asked. "My feline hearing would be great!" he reasoned, before there was a loud crash of thunder... and he jumped a little.

"Because that." Ash said. "The thunder will screw you up like that, and it's loud enough to mess with your hearing." he reasoned.

"Besides, I know her hiding places better than anyone else, Darrell can sniff her out, and Luke can commune with nature to try and find her." he went on.

"...besides, we need someone here in case Sammy DOES return, so you can make sure she's okay, and call us to let us know." he added, his tone very sincere now.

".......all right, that's fair." Evan admitted.

Evan nodded in response.

"Right!" he said.

He then quickly dashed away, and within a minute, was back with what was requested. He handed them to Darrell, and Darrell sighed.

"...I apologise." he said in advance.

Then, before anyone could potentially question it, he brought the wrist bands to his face, took a deep smell, held it for a moment, and then let out a exhale that had undertones of... excitement to it...

He then sniffed it quickly a few more times, before quickly tossing them back to Evan.

"Uh... that was creepy..." Evan commented.

"I'm sorry." Darrell apologised again. "It's just-" he started to say, before Ash spoke up.

"The potency and fire made it extremely alluring." he finished.

"...yeah." Darrell quietly confirmed.