Chapter 2: The Meeting

            Jane only fully re-awoke the following day, it was dark, but there were piercing lights on various beeping machines. Trying to grasp the logistical memories of how she got there, and who it was that helped her. The exhaustion in her body sapped away all of her energy and channeled it to gripping and balancing over consciousness and remembering. She recalled the smooth water-like rhythm, and the wire hair, shockingly soft against her cheek. The throb of her wrist. The cold air caused her eyes to tear and her knuckles to become stiff with cold. In some scenes, her mind recorded the moment like a precious family memoir, but like a home video, it came with poor focus, skewed balance, and random blank spots.

             “I think you are going into shock,” Ara’s deep voice said out of the dark. “Can I wrap a blanket around you? We still have a few hours before the nearest hospital.” More shivers, more throbbing in her arm, the black clouds closing in obscuring her awareness.

         The next two days passed by in a cloud of confusion. Jane had woken to find herself in a too-starched bed with a plastic bag attached to her. The nurse who had woken her explained that she had been given several tests that were recorded and sealed if she ever wanted to access that information. Also that the police would be contacting her for a statement. She had a broken wrist that was put into an unforgiving stiff cast. She was then caringly forced into a wheelchair where she was brought to the door and promptly abandoned to climb into a taxi alone and give directions to an overly enthusiastic immigrant. Jane felt as if the world around her was extra loud and colorful, and she was thankful to fall into the familiar smell of her own sheets.

            Going back to her life was easier than she thought. The only distinct change was she no longer went to her job. That and the fact that she was spacing out and jumping anytime someone addressed her when she was spaced out. Often friendly touches would make her flinch, and she started to really hate the sounds of construction outside of their apartment. She had worked as an usher in a local theatre, but when it came time to put on her uniform, the smell of the popcorn on her shirt made her vomit. For the first time in her life, she called in sick. After that she stopped going to work altogether, throwing her uniform in the bin outside to be rid of the smell.

          She talked with her friends and did her schoolwork. If anyone noticed anything off about her, no one said anything. She felt like she was pulling off acting 'normal'. She was a communications undergrad, and learning to edit video was the only thing her brain could easily attach to. She found herself spending hours on simple details, like the timing of a transition or the font of the credits. Group projects had never been her thing, but more than ever she was relieved to have something solo and time-consuming. She was working in the lab, perfecting a musical montage for a cheezy wedding presentation when Danielle found her.

            “Hey! There you are! Ready to go? Danielle had taken an excited tone. Jane blinked slowly and turned to look at her bubbly friend and roommate. She had short cropped strawberry-red hair, it was thin and always looked dry and messy. Danielle called it her permanent sex hair. They had been friends for about 2 years, they had become fast friends in an art class, Jane sat nearby and they ended up being partners. Danielle had also worked with her at the theatre, she had gotten Jane her job. Jane knew she had a dependent relationship with Danielle, but she was willing to overlook some of her vulgarities for the people and resources that she would share. 

            “What are we up to tonight?” Jane asked plainly, face still towards the screen saving her work.

            “You don't remember? I totally told you two times already this week. It's a rally! Trav has those friends who are all advocating for human rights. You remember, they came to the bar the other night? One of them fancied you and drove you to the bonfire! Sorry about that by the way, Trav and I got… distracted and decided to go home. I bet it was amazing, the stars are so bright away from the city” Danielle gave a sigh and rolled her eyes annoyed at Jane’s aloof attitude over the last few days. Danielle was usually a fountain of useless information that impressed Jane in the fact that she could retain it all. Now, however, she was getting tunnel vision. She had not been honest about what happened. How could she? She was too busy pretending that it had not even happened for herself, she could not begin to relive it just so she could tell Danielle who in all likelihood would scurry away to repeat it to as many non-associated people as she could. No, keeping this to herself was a must. 

            What she had explained was that she had fallen in the dark, and broken her wrist. That the guys were nice enough to drop her at the hospital, and that they asked her to stay overnight.  Danielle had encouraged her to call them, they had been nice enough to take her to the hospital after all…  Jane started to feel angry, at Danielle, at Travis, at those nameless men, but mostly at herself.

            Why had she not said anything? They gave her a rape kit at the hospital. The police even called her to follow up, but she saw the ID and did not answer the call. She had been going around all week pretending that she had not been kidnapped and driven to the middle of nowhere. Acting as if it was her own clumsiness that broke her wrist, not a violent assault. Weak bones she had said, but really it was her weak heart. She should have fought harder, to the point where she had broken more bones to protect her body. She should have never gotten into a car full of men she did not know. How could she have been so stupid? Shutting off the computer and packing her things, robotically following Danielle who chatted away about her relationship or work. Jane was clearly not listening.   

             “They tried to rape me” she whispered. That was all she could manage, and at first, Danielle kept on chatting to herself about how good of a friend she was. The woman could just talk to herself and not have anyone else there, a truly useless talent.

            “What?” Danielle guffawed.

            “Look just because a man is attracted to you, and comes onto you, doesn’t mean he is going to rape you. Wow, dramatic much.”

            Danielle thought that little of her? That she did not know what real harm looked or felt like? This is a person whom she, Jane, had chosen as a friend. This totally self-interested, vapid being. Jane had overlooked her flaws, making excuses and explaining that she was more than she seemed. The reality is she was exactly how she seemed. She had chosen this person as a friend, what did that say about her? Maybe she did deserve what happened. After all, she choose who she was spending her time with. She was responsible for where she went and with whom. The self-hate came rushing in. She was responsible, if she had not listened to Dani, and if she had not wanted attention, she would not have gone out in the first place. So, she was going to take responsibility, she had decided silently.

            Dani kept on about some kind of gathering, and how being involved politically was vital in her opinion. Dani had said that a few of Travis’s friends would be there. Jane wanted to see them again. She wanted to look into their eyes, and ask them in front of others about what they had done. She wanted to hurt and shame them just as they had done to her. Jane agreed to go with Dani to this meeting thing.

            “Yeah, Trav is super into this new Men to Men movement. It’s really neat and talks about how us humans need to protect our own, it’s about self-determination and our rights as humans. As you know, there have been rumors about humans and Wolves dating. Can you imagine? They would have monster babies. Yuck. I remember a woman who would try and find them to have sex with her. She said they were better, bigger if you know what I mean.” Dani waggled her eyebrows towards Jane distastefully.

           She was a disgusting human, how had she not seen it before? Her parents had become radicalized because of what had happened to her brother, what excuse did Dani have? If she was really truly honest with herself, Dani was a bandwagon person. The reason behind most of her movements was to be in the line of action. It was something that Jane liked about her. Also, it was vapid, if she was really really honest she had to think about why she herself liked this quality.

            Perhaps it was this, this underlying boredom that had her seeking something else. Yeah well, look where it got me.  Jane understood, it was dangerous, but at the same time, it was reality. Yet, she had been harmed at the hands of humans and saved by a shifter. What was supposed to be true was not, and now she did not even know where she stood. When she left home, she decided that being neutral was the best way because she wanted to be a fair journalist. If she wanted to represent the evenest view, she needed to be neutral. Would that ever be possible again?

            Jane was caught in her own thought vortex. Contemplating blame and sides was not going to get her anywhere, besides distracted.  She had decided the moment that she saw Dani for what she really is. She was a tool. Just someone to measure the times, and to learn one flat perspective. One that she Jane was going to divorce herself from. Right here and right now. She needed to become a woman of action, she needed to go first so that she was not so easily preyed on.

            They rode in Dani’s red Honda a few blocks and walked to the outdoor theatre that was in the middle of the campus. It was a beautiful place, on the incline of a hill, the stairs and seats descending to a stage that overlooked the city, and off in the distance on a clear day you could see the sea. Someone was playing music, loudly. It was the scene of a ‘normal’ campus event. Little clusters of people grouped like islands, only connected by the loud soulless vessels that would jump from one to another carrying information. Those go-between people were the Danies of the world. Only in agreement with the loudest voice, and happy to spill tea if it meant attention.

            There were many attendees, some clearly on impulse curiosity and others came prepared wearing red, and flashing propaganda. Some had prepared anti-wolf signs and fliers that had catchy slogans like “Wolf Woof, dead” or “we protect our own.” Maybe not anti-wolf but certainly pro-human separation. Jane was starting to get nervous, this was not a scene she was comfortable with, often the noise and the emotions of others overwhelmed her. Music or bars for fun sure, but she had seen several young men in sunglasses outwardly holding guns. One man was handing out silver-coated weapons like they were flyers.

            “what’s this about Dani?” she asked over the hullabaloo, not feeling guilty for completely missing her friend's explanation that she had asked for a few minutes ago. She could see that this was more than what she was expecting, this was much bigger than a small meeting. She rallied herself with an internal pep talk on the drive but now she was feeling less sure.

            “Ugg I told you, it's a human freedom rally, Trav and his friends are super into this push for protected spaces. Humans are allowed to protect us from their kind, see? They have bodies for fights, but we have the brains and technology, why should we not use it?” she pointed towards the stage. Travis, the slime ball that was dating Dani, had overgrown greasy brown hair, and shocking bright blue eyes. His head was bent, talking deeply with a tall dark-haired man.

“Here, you save our seats, I am going to say hi to Trav” Dani skipped off into the crowd. Jane sat feeling uneasy. Someone took the microphone and started testing it. People started to settle, the music switched off. The crowd had grown and was now leaking out into the stairs, thousands of people had pushed their way into the stands. One section had been jumping and screaming elatedly with the change in tone. Once the speaker stepped up everyone roared to life standing and yelling, cheering, and waving shirts and signs. Jane had to stand to see over the heads of the crowd.

            “Well hello, my good people!” The man who had been talking to Travis stood stooped slightly to speak into the microphone. As soon as his voice carried over the stands, she knew. It was him. His voice jarred a part of her memory that she had not wanted to retrieve.

             With a blink she was back in the grungy stall, her hands were heavy, and her head was buzzing. She had been drinking, but not this much. Her hands held the sides of the chipped sink, turning red with pressure, she was dizzy. The door opened with a burst of sound and light and snapped shut again. Two laughing girls came in holding one another up, laughing. One went into the stall, and the other kept shouting talking about the events of the night. It was all she could do to focus on her own deep breaths, in, out, in, out. The rabble from the girls was irritating, but like a tornado, they were gone as quickly as they had come. No wait, there was someone else. It was a man, he came in the same burst as the leaving women. His hands stroked her hips, she could feel the zipper of his pants rubbing against her behind.

            “Hey there, looks like that last drink really got you. Come here” He took one of her arms and slung it over his shoulder. He was warm, and wet with sweat, she was grateful for the support. Where was she? The man walked her out and shouted something to someone. It was his voice. It was him who had placed her in the back of his car. This man, this voice that had patronizingly whispered gentle words while peeling off her pants. She was cold, the lights on the street flashed over her face as the car drove. She tried to count, but she was so tired. Rolling into some scratchy and crusty fabric she tried to warm herself up. She felt a rustle, something was touching her that should not have been. There was an alien hand, snaking up her thigh, it was cold and clammy. She looked up, and into the greedy dark beetle eyes that were scanning her. He was driving, and trying to feel her up at the same time. She was in the back seat even. Who was that man? She rolled and flopped onto the floor of the jeep. Trying to move away from the cold wet intrusion. She hit her shoulder on something, oh it was an ice brush.

            She had taken the canvas with her to the floor. It had cocooned around her body more tightly. It covered her venerable parts, lucky. She felt so tired and dizzy. The gentle bump of the tires and the vibrations of the motor were too soothing to deny. She gave up fighting, her eyes sliding shut, giving into the dark.

            Returning to her body, and to the present moment, in the crowd alone at a rally. she focused on the familiar voice. It was his voice that had given him away. Had he not spoken she would not have recognized him. That was the man that took her from the bar to the forest and tried to rape her with a handful of his friends. He was just there, in the open, right in front of her. living his life like nothing was wrong. Before she could do anything except zero in on her prey, a loud AWOOO broke into her focus and into the stadium.

            What started as a single note turned into a bundle of howls. 6 or 7 different howls from the edges of the hill and around the stage, completely surrounding the band shell and seating. There was a pause like the entire group had inhaled at once. On the exhale, it was chaos. Several hysterical screams, men shouting directions to one another contradicting each other. The crowd surged like a school of fish, all headed down towards the stage and spilling out on either side. Several people shot rounds of ammunition up into the air, attempting to control the panic, but it only made the stampede worse. People were piling onto the stairs, some falling and getting trampled. The crowd was all white eyes and jerky movements.

            “Run” someone near her shouted, and the people around her began to rush about like a frantic river surge over a collapsing damn. People now oozed down the seat bleachers, ignoring the crowded stairs and dispersing the mass of bodies slightly.  The man at the front, him, Jane reminded herself and turned her focus back to the stage. This might be her only chance. She did not even know his name, but she knew his voice, and now she knew his face. It was like the universe had served her revenge on a silver plate. He held his ground, waving and pointing from the stage. He shouted into the microphone but whatever he had said was lost in the sudden chaos. Despite the tumultuous environment, Jane’s focus was sharp and quiet. She moved with the crowd, never once taking her eyes off of her prey. Her eyes were fixed, not blinking, she flowed within the mess somehow not getting jostled enough to throw her off track. She was about 10 steps away from the landing and the stage after that, several more militarized men seemed to flock in front of the stage, with a false sense of authority. The knuckles on their weapons were as white as the eyes of the fleeing masses, giving away the facade.

            People jostled her the closer to the stage she got, and the crowd turned into a total mosh-pit by the time she reached the ground level. People had fallen and Jane broke out of her trance to avoid stepping on several bodies. Now she was just working to not be shoved down like the bodies she had stepped over. A large figure bumped into her and she fell, her cumbersome cast instinctively clutched to her chest.

             One long tanned arm gracefully swooped under her abdomen scooping her up before her unbroken hand hit the ground. Thank god, she thought, having 2 casts would suck. The arm pulled her up against what must have been a man, much taller than herself. She turned, trying to see who was holding her. She found her face pressed into his armpit. Great. She managed to think sarcastically. Her head was tucked just below his chest, and the massive arm rotated and a large strong hand braced her just under her breast against her ribs. He was full on carrying her with one arm against the side of his body. He led with his other shoulder, arm firmly on the center of her back. She clung to his soft heather grey shirt. Hum, he used the same detergent as her, Gain. Oddly the fact that he smelled familiar was relieving despite the fact that some strange giant had grabbed her and was now hauling her about. She clung onto him as they pushed into the ‘cast only’ area of the stage. They had spilled out to a corridor on the back of the shell, them and 30 other people.

            She had been deposited at the wall, as the man surged forward onto the stage alone. Pausing to turn about and look at her. Her mind went quiet when she realized she knew this person. It was Ara, he had grabbed her and saved her from yet another time-consuming recovery. She took a snapshot of his worried face. Light brown eyes, nothing special at first glance but the gentleness that he looked at her with was enough to cause a squeeze of guilt. He had helped her, he had saved her life, and here she was thanking his efforts for getting stuck in this messy situation.

            He walked onto the stage as if he was flowing like fog, perfectly smooth and all-consuming. A flash caught Jane’s eye, someone had dropped their knife and it had been kicked spinning into the corner of stage left. Turning, weaving through the bodies she snatched it up, losing sight of Ara. Standing straight, she realized that the people had turned towards her and began to rush out with a renewed panic. Jane stood frozen, eyes fixed on a man walking towards her across the stage. It was a shifter, and he was going from human to beast mid-air. Ripping into his clothes, and landing with a thud Jane could feel in her feet. His indistinct overgrown hair bouncing and expanding to cover his oversized canine body, bones audibly snapping and body morphing into his other form. Teeth bared and lunging at several armed red-shirts. He latched onto an arm and with a sickening ripping noise the wolf hurled a man off his feet and flying into the crowd spraying the group with a wide rainbow of blood. Just as he turned to Jane’s attacker.

             “Stop!” Ara had shouted deeply at the other shifter. He froze eyes-wide fixated on Ara. Several people were realizing that they had been sprayed with blood and panicked anew. Soon Jane was alone crouching in the corner of the backstage, knife tightly gripped in one hand, blade down. She stood and started to follow Ara's path across the stage, wiping hot sweat off her face. That's not sweat she thought to herself, as she saw the blood on the back of her hand. By now, only a handful of people were left scrambling or else looking amongst the fallen. Most of the people left had been injured and were working on standing up and limping away as fast as they could, or else lay motionless facedown. There were a handful of armed men, who had been on the landing in front of the stage, facing out. They had turned now, weapons fixated on the shifter on the stage. One man squeezed the trigger and the kickback pushed his aim straight across the stage, leaving a line of bullets on the wall like a waterline in an evaporated lake.

             “Go, get out of here!” Ara shouted to the enormous chestnut wolf waving wildly with his arm. Jane continued forward, her face slack and ignoring the gunshots, the shouting, the shifting. It was like she was in a tank of water and she was the only one who was able to move. The wolf howled, muzzle aimed at the sky, but was cut short by more gunfire. Unbeknownst to the wolves, an unarmed man had made his way toward Jane on all fours. Panic tearing up, he was trying to shuffle away like a coward, him. Amid the chaos, he had managed to move about 8 feet to stage left. Jane was fixated on his face she took one, two, three large steps forward. With the knife in her right fist, she swung her arm up. She had expected some resistance, but the knife was properly sharp and her arm had inertia on its side. She had squeezed her eyes shut, and now was peeking at what she had done.

            Standing on his knees before her, the leather jacket-clad speaker looked at her with recognition and shock. He had pretty light green eyes, open wide with shock. A thin red line ran from the corner of his mouth across his lips diagonally up the left corner of his nose, ending just under the edge of his right eye. It was imperfect, where his face dipped at the nose was unscathed, but the damage was an unmistakable single line. He let out an unattractive shriek in pain as blood started to paint down half of his face. His scream had surprised her and she took one staggering step back.

            Ara, hearing the scream, had turned and lunged at her. She had felt the shake in the wood under her feet as he propelled himself towards her. Not stopping to grab her gently, he ran past clotheslining her with one arm and jerking her body into his. The momentum knocked the wind and the knife out of her. By the time he leaped off the stage and out of the proper exit, he had moved her body over his shoulder and they fled easily outpacing the humans running in the same general direction. She took one labored look up at the lone figure still on the stage still up on his knees, head now bent down looking at his hands that were being dribbled with the blood from his face.