Wood Street had been rather quiet by the time William and Martha returned to it, with Joyce following along behind them, but that didn't change their sentiments or their worries. They had heard gunshots, and while faint, their ears as weres, even in their human forms, were good enough to know that the shots had occurred somewhere on Wood Street. In fact the shots had occurred somewhere close to the Anderson family home, and while the Stovalls were a few houses down and on the other side of the street, that didn't mean that Martha or William wouldn't have some worries about their youngest being threatened by who ever was firing off bullets. That had driven both of them to make a beeline for the Stovalls, with Joyce ultimately following along once they got back onto Wood Street from the woods outside Moon Lake's city limits.
"Things look calm," William thought to himself as they went through the main gate and up to the front porch, where Martha began to ring the bell, practically frantic that her baby and his fiancé might be in danger by some deranged lunatic. In fact as he looked up Wood Street toward where the Anderson and Twist homes were, there wasn't any sign of any activity. He thought he might have seen an ambulance turning onto one of the circular streets that formed the inner portions of the city and made up Moon Lake's wagon wheel shape, but didn't get enough of a look to know for sure.
The main concern was in making sure that Eric was safe and okay, and since his phone was only going to voice mail, that had only fueled the worry that he was in trouble. Of course, that sort of worry also lead to things that over-rode most common sense. As they knew that Eric was likely with Julie and thus at the Stovalls, but their worry for Eric was such that they hadn't thought through everything. Specifically that if Eric was in danger and was with Julie, that would mean that Julie and her family was ALSO in danger and thus couldn't come to the door. However, the worries of a concerned parent remained and thus so did the frantic ringing of the doorbell.
+++++++++++++++++++++++
Inside the house, the frantic ringing of the bell was enough to attract the full attention of those inside, once in some of the old clothes that Martin had outgrown, Eric couldn't help but peak out the door to look down the hallway. The sight he received was Julie's head and shoulders peaking out the door to her bedroom. She was now dressed and was wearing a white tee shirt. Eric couldn't see it, but Julie had put on a comfortable pair of woman's pair of jeans.
"What's going on...?" Julie wondered, "is this the police?"
"I wouldn't think so," Eric said as he moved into the hall and walked toward his fiancée with Melissa following behind him, "It sounds like someone is afraid..."
"Who would ring our bell and be afraid?" Julie asked, turning her head between looking toward the stairs and then toward Eric and Melissa.
"I don't..." Melissa began and then realized something, "This could be Eric's parents... they might have heard the shots and are worried over Eric..."
That made Eric's eyes widen in surprise as well. He didn't expect his parents to have been close to the shooting, but then if they had been at home, maybe they were close and came looking for their sun in a panic. With that, he moved down the hallway and was quick to head down the stairs with Julie and Melissa following after him. The idea that the person ringing the doorbell was someone worried about Eric made sense and with things quieting down, they made their way downstairs. Eric made it to the front door first quickly opened it to find that Melissa's guess was accurate. It was his parents, though before he could say anything he found himself being scooped into a hug from Martha.
"Thank goodness you're alright!" Martha spoke as she gripped Eric into a hug, "we heard the gun shots..."
Eric returned his mother's hug, feeling her purr even while in her human form and getting the sensation that she was greatly relieved. Some of the surprise and effort to let his mother feel better kept him from fully noticing Joyce Carlson as Julie and Melissa welcomed the Anderson parents and their friend in from the front porch. Both Stovall women had a small smile, but there was still some wonder at what all was going on.
"Why didn't you answer your phone?" Martha asked to Eric, nuzzling her head to Eric's, "We were so worried..."
"My phone...?" Eric asked slowly. His eyes then widened as he realized his phone was probably in the back yard with his Halloween costume.
"Yes, we tried to call you when we heard the gun shots," William spoke, "but the calls went straight to voicemail."
"Oh... I'm sorry, mom," Eric spoke, "it's probably out by the pool I forgot all about it when we left the pool this morning."
"Do you guys know what happened?" Julie asked toward William and Martha.
William turned to address the younger Stovall and noted looks of concern on Melissa's face as well. He then gave a small cough before clearing his throat, "No... We finished all our responsibilities with the Skulk's tricks and treats last night and joined our Den for some fun out in the woods last night. And it was great fun for your mother and I... and a new friend, Joyce Carlson."
At this Eric noticed Joyce Carlson, who gave a polite wave while William continued his answer. Melissa and Julie also nodded. While weremers were never known to engage what would be described as an "open marriage" as their ability to see their one true love kept weremers to be almost strictly monogamous, that didn't mean they weren't aware on other things that related to Moon Lake's other weres. They knew that Martha had become a werecat, and while she may still love William and desire him as her male companion, as a bisexual werecat, she would also desire female company as well.
"Anyway," William continued, "we were just getting up when we heard the faint sound of gunshots... like they came from the direction of our home... and... well... we were concerned and came to make sure you were safe."
"Well... I'm sorry about forgetting my phone," Eric spoke, "I didn't mean to frighten you."
With that Martha set Eric back down, but still held her arms around him in a rather protective stance. After a moment, Martha did release him and he stepped back. As he did so, Julie was quick to come forward and took his hand in hers. Seeing that Eric was safe, Martha looked to Melissa and moved on to what was the next question on her mind.
"I take it you don't know what's gone on, either?" Martha asked.
"We only heard the gunshots too," Melissa answered when a small jingle was heard that sent Melissa digging into her jeans pocket.
William and Martha watched as Melissa pulled out a cellphone and answered it. The answer that Melissa got brought a smile to her face.
"Hello," Melissa answered her phone.
"Hello, darling," came Martin's voice from the other end of the phone's signal, "I trust everything is going well?"
"We're safe here... though..." Melissa spoke while raising one hand and rolling her hand around. "We did hear gunshots..."
"Yes... I've heard," Martin answered, "Do you remember what I told you before I left for my meeting this morning?"
"Yes..."
"Well, the meeting came to the conclusion that we can't leave Dymixious in a position where he could draw negative attention to Moon Lake and the police were tasked to take him into custody," Martin explained, "unfortunately, he chose to fight. The gunshots you heard were the Moon Lake officers essentially putting him down. For the moment he's being taken to the hospital along with the wounded officers... but anything that might have scared you... is over."
Martha and William watched as Melissa took a deep breath and then look out into the space in front of her. In this, she seemed to look rather relieved on something, but they didn't know what that was. They glanced over to Eric and Julie, and they were looking over to Melissa with the same look of concern that Martha and William had.
"That's good, dear," Melissa spoke, "When will you be home?"
"I don't know... the FBI and Seattle PD already have people on the way here as a result of what Dymixious pulled in Seattle," Martin answered, "even with his threat dealt with... that doesn't mean that the problems he created have been solved... I'm sorry."
"It's okay, dear, you just do what you need to do," Melissa spoke, "we understand."
"Okay then," Martin replied over the phone, "I'll see you later today... Love you."
"I love you too," Melissa answered and then flipped her phone closed and looked up to the others, "the good news is that the gun shots are not the result of a madman on the loose... though a madman being apprehended by the police might be a good description..."
"But things are quiet?" William asked.
"And safe?" Martha added.
"Yes," Melissa nodded, "everyone is safe and there is no madman running around with a gun."
Just about everyone breathed a sigh of relief at that.
"And with that, would anyone be opposed to brunch?" Melissa offered, thinking that a little time out might help her with her own concerns over potentially being pregnant again or whether or not Martin wanted to try for another child. There was also the fact that the scare over the gun shots that they'd heard was such that a part of her really didn't feel like cooking. "The Local Diner does do a fairly good breakfast/brunch special on Sundays..."
"That would be fine," William answered.
"And everyone is invited," Melissa said to Joyce, "as I'm sure everyone has some fun tales from Halloween they wish to share..."
"Thank you, Mrs. Stovall," Joyce answered to which, Melissa nodded in reply. The morning may have had an... interesting start, but at least there was no great threat to the town and that everyone turned out to be safe and sound. That was a good thing that everyone could agree with.