Sept. 11: A Moonlit Stroll

[John Hino]

That evening John had decided to take a casual stroll along the river. To him, the night was quite relaxing. Invigorating even.

[Narrator]

London is a big enough city that even in the dead of night, there are people about in a location as popular as a boardwalk on the Thames. Which is why John might suddenly feel uneasy when he realizes that he's been walking for almost ten minutes without a soul in sight or sound.

[John Hino]

John stopped to look around.

"Weird... no one's out..."

He shrugged off an uneasy feeling and kept walking.

[Narrator]

Up ahead, John sees something crawling up out of the filthy waters of the Thames. It looks like a large... very large dog. It shakes off, spraying water everywhere. Right now the dog is a good hundred meters down the boardwalk.

[John Hino]

It seemed odd, but John just assumed it was Great Dane or something like it taking an impromptu swim.

[Narrator]

The dog stands up to it's full height, and it seems pretty large, almost pony sized. John might figure that to be a trick of the light, but when the animal's eyes actually glow... something is clearly amiss.

It snarles at John.

[John Hino]

John stopped in his tracks. Was this a mutant or perhaps a friend of the 'magic' straw figure? Either way, caution was in order.

"Easy... easy... I'm just taking a walk."

[Narrator]

The dog growls again, and then begins to pad toward John, the ruff on its neck bristling up.

[John Hino]

John didn't like the look of this creature, and turned to flee towards campus.

[Narrator]

The huge black dog breaks into a run to follow, snarling and baying as it goes.

[John Hino]

Shit!

John ran faster, even knowing he couldn't outrun it. And some primal sense told him this creature was exponentially more dangerous than a mere dog. And so in spite of his strength and tough hide he called out for help... even if the campus was too far away for his voice to reach.

[Narrator]

The dog's huge lunging strides bring it closer and closer to John, until he can feel it's hot breath on his back. The baying is loud in his ears now, the dog almost upon him...

[John Hino]

Just then one of his foot claws caught under a loose board. His strength ripped the board loose but still he crashed to the boardwalk, rolling onto his back. He shouted as he tried to get up, praying to be heard in time.

[Narrator]

The dog leaps over John, landing with a heavy thud, and turning to come back at him slowly. He could almost swear the growl sounds like a laugh as it approaches him where he lies...

[John Hino]

He kept an eye on it as he kept getting up.

[Narrator]

The dog lunges at John, hard and fast. Despite John's bulk, if he can't get out of the way he'll be knocked down again.

[John Hino]

He tried using his tail to fend it off.

[Sara Stanton]

With people being busy at some club somewhere Sara had been wandering around campus and ended up on the roof she was on with Will a few days ago, looking out over the river as she heard someone shouting in the distance.
Shrugging it off for the time being she suddenly blinked as she saw a shadow running along the for some reason deserted path along the river, being chased at full speed by an equally bulky shadow with... Are those glowing eyes?

Hesitating for a split-second as she tried to come up with harmless explanations she eventually gave in to the feeling that something was off and hoping she wasn't about to mae a huge mistake jumped off the roof, turning herself to stone completely and trying to clear the wall seperating the campus from the river.

Gritting her teeth she slams into the ground and looks around, still dazed from the impact as she sees a huge dog lunge at John.

[Narrator]

The dog hits like a train, but John's tail is no joke either. The dog yelps when the tail hits, smacking into John still, but at an angle. Both combatants go spinning off and hit the dirt, with the dog rolling to it's feet fairly quickly. Still, it takes enough time that John could get back up too.

[John Hino]

John got up as fast as he could and now decided to take the offensive and prepared to tackle it.

[Sara Stanton]

Recognizing John as she literally gathers her lower body into legs again Sara hurries over to where the two tumbling bodies roll to a halt.
"John? What the bloody hell is that thing!?"

[John Hino]

"The hell if I know."

[Sara Stanton]

"Well it doesn't look it it just wants to play." Sara's lower arms and hands narrow as she turns them into two crude blades.

[John Hino]

"Careful, it's strong."

John waited for his chance to tackle it.

[Narrator]

The dog howls, a chilling noise that puts a cold pit in the stomach of both Sarah and John. Something otherworldly, cold and pitiless behind that noise.

Then it lunges at John, glittering white teeth bared.

[John Hino]

John lunged to grab it by the jaws, his own sharp teeth bared.

[Sara Stanton]

Sara shivers at the dreadful howl and has to pull all her courage together to try and bring down her 'arm' on the thing's back as it jumps. Her inexperience at fighting shows although with the dog's eyes fixed on John her aim isn't too far of...

[Narrator]

John feels a new and probably worrying sensation as the dog's teeth go right through his outer skin, punching through with little or no resistance. Luckily, the skin is to some extent rigid, and the part not being punched through by teeth doesn't buckle much, but it's still painful.

Sara's blade comes down on the dog's back, it yelps through the bite, and Sara is rewarded by a small spray of blood.

[John Hino]

He hissed in pain but fought through it to keep it's jaws apart. Strangely, his outer skin started to spread out around his hands over the dogs jaws.

[Sara Stanton]

Seeing the dog bite down on John's hand and hearing him hiss in pain she winces, about to try and reach for the thing's jaw as John's "skin" tries to grab the dog's head and instead takes a deep breath as she takes the time to properly aim and try to stab through the creature's chest while it is distracted and being held in place by John.

[Narrator]

The dog thrashes wildly, tearing at John's hand even further. When Sara's spear goes into its side, it freaks out, a mournful howl and thrashes hard enough to slam its side into her hard....


And then suddenly, the dog is gone. The blood is gone, there's no sign of the beast, except the wounds it put on John and the pain of the impact that Sara feels.

[Sara Stanton]

Sara is knocked back by the sudden unexpected movement of the beast. Gasping for breath after having her wind knocked out of her she blinks and stares in disbelief at the empty air and where the blood dripping from her 'hand' should be.

"A-are you okay, John?"

[John Hino]

The sudden lack of a foe made John fall forward onto his wounded hands. He winced then blinked as bits of 'fur' and even a 'tooth' from the ghostly dog, which should have vanished were sucked into his shadowy second skin.

Sara is knocked back by the sudden unexpected movement of the beast. Gasping for breath after having her wind knocked out of her she blinks and stares in disbelief at the empty air and where the blood dripping from her 'hand' should be.

"A-are you okay, John?"

"I don't know."

[Sara Stanton]

Picking herself up and turning back to normal she nervously glances around before walking up to John?
"You're not sure?" Must be the adrenaline. "Well we should propably get you to the infirmary just to be sure. And tell someone about that... thing."

[John Hino]

He got up.

"Good idea. It did get it's teeth in me. But I... think I got more of it than it of me."

[Sara Stanton]

Looks puzzled for a moment at John's comment but decides to ignore it for now.
"Well we better hurry. I don't know where it disappeared to, but I don't want to be here when it comes back."

[John Hino]

John nodded as they headed to the Infirmary.