Karl only blinked as he made his way out of the front of studio that "The People's Talk" was filmed at. The interior of the studio had been rather well illuminated. The only room that had a lower level had been the set itself, but that was only marginally lower than the rest of the building. Even with the Los Angeles' city lights on and the full moon above the city, it was darker than it was inside the studio and it took him a few moments for his eyes to adapt. Once his eyes had adapted and he could more easily see, he looked to see if there was a cab nearby, there wasn't, and he was soon walking, and wanting nothing more than to be back in his home town. It was quieter, smaller, and in a bit more rural area than LA. He privately wondered how a werewolf like Sharon responded to the lights and sounds that went with big cities.
Karl, personally didn't like these big cities. But he had to thanks to the call that had asked him about the interview. He didn't fully know how "The People's Talk" had tracked him down, but they had managed to do so. Everyone had seen the clip of Sally's transformation and saw him and Alice behind her, but so much attention had been paid to Sally that no one even knew who he and Alice were. The people who had went to the media who had been there earlier had actually gone to media sources and hadn't been tracked down by the media for opinions. Karl's only guess is that the show had called around known numbers in the area to see if anyone knew the people in the background or called the local police for the number, and they did have it. That occurred from a winter a few years ago in which he'd hit a patch of ice while driving and by dumb luck ended up sliding into a parked police car. Karl figured "the People's Talk" got his phone number from the accident report.
However, the opportunity wasn't necessarily a bad one. It would give Karl the opportunity to try and set things right for the world's werewolves. Sally had forgiven Alice and himself, but Karl felt that was only because she knew them personally. But that didn't mean that Sally was the only werewolf affected by what happened. The exposing of werewolves had forced werewolves to register their identities, and from Karl had seen on the news, the ones who did speak to the news earlier, they had stated that the "incident" had meant they could no longer hide. Seeing how so many people reacted had only increase Karl and Alice's guilt regarding what had happened, and people like Walter Moxie either used the "incident" for their own means made it worse. Karl agreed to do the interview to make his plea that werewolves weren't monsters and the "incident" was an accident. That accident should not have changed the opinions on people who they knew, and above all to apologize for the hardships that he had accidentally unleashed.
Sharon's answer to his question gave him some feeling that werewolves other than Sally could forgive him. Others might not, but the fact that others could made him feel a bit better on that. The only thing he had left to hope for was that people would realize that friends who were werewolves were still friends. Being exposed wouldn't change that, though it might take awhile for that to come about. He'd probably be back home by then.
He'd made it a black before he saw an empty taxi driving by about half a block away. That sent him running after it, waiving his arms as he did so. After running a short ways, he caught up with the cab and climbed into the back seat.
"Where to, buddy?" the cab driver asked.
Karl gave him his hotel's address. The cab driver then nodded in response.
"So, what'cha dressed up for?" the cab driver asked.
"I... I was just on the People's Talk," Karl answered, "They wanted to talk with me on the werewolf issue."
"Ah," the cab driver said simply and said nothing more.
The ride back to the hotel then went quietly. It was a modest hotel and closer to the poorer side of the city, though it was a spot that Karl had to go. He lived too far away to drive to LA and plane tickets were too expensive to pay for both the tickets and a great hotel room. Though, the room was well kept, so it wasn't that bad. It served Karl's purposes until he could give his message and then go home. Now, he figured all that would be left is to go home. The ride was as quiet as it could be in a big city, and when the cab pulled up to the hotel, Karl climbed out and walked around to the front of the driver's side window.
"How much do I owe you?" Karl asked as he began wrestling to get his wallet out of his pants pocket.
The cab driver gave him the price based on the time taken and the distance traveled. Karl payed the driver and then made his way into the hotel. He quietly walked to his room, unlocked the door with the key-card for it and went in. He'd just sat down on the bed when he heard something buzz in one of his other pants pockets. He reached in and pulled out his cellphone which was buzzing and with his own home number flashing on its screen. This had to be Alice and Sally. Alice because the two of them were still involved, and had actually been living together before the "Incident" occurred, and Sally because what had gone on in her life.
It occurred shortly Sally had actually forgiven them fully for what had happened. Sally had apparently been walking along a street and had gotten jumped by a group of werewolf haters near her home. Most of it had been taunts and the like, but one person had brought a bat or a club and had landed a blow on her that had given her a black eye. She had ended up running to his home having nowhere else to go and scared out of her mind. And that is where Karl and Alice had decided to take her in and protect her. She still answered her mail from her home address and did all she could to abide by the registration laws, but she was afraid that the people that had jumped her might either try again or up the ante and had been scoping out her home. The fact that the police had only been taking statements so far had made them suspicious that they weren't really working to protect Sally from what had happened.
"Hello," Karl answered.
"Hey there TV star!" came Alice's voice from his his phone, "I got you on speaker!"
"Hey, Karl," came Sally's voice next.
"You two doing okay?" Karl asked, "anything odd going on?"
"Not that I've seen," Alice commented, "No one hanging around or anything like that... which is good."
"And you're okay, Sally?" Karl asked.
"I'm fine, Karl," Sally answered, "Things have been quiet... though I have been trying to keep a low profile as it were. And only going out when Alice could go with me."
There was a bit of frustration in her voice. Sally wasn't necessarily a meek or helpless woman, the fact that she was a werewolf proved that, and on some level Karl didn't think she liked hiding. She was smart enough to realize fighting would only get her in trouble and she voiced her frustration in her overall situation.
"That's good, Sally," Karl urged, "I'm sure you don't like it... but you fight them and you'll only prove them right."
"I know," Sally answered, "Just as you and Alice know that you were forgiven."
"I know," Karl said with a slight and knowing smile, "but that doesn't mean we didn't make a mistake or that our pushing you into it didn't cause problems... for you or others. Hopefully... hopefully what I did tonight will help..."
"It might," Sally said hopefully, "You two have done much... even after I blew my top at you..."
"We probably deserved it, Sal," Alice commented, using a nickname that she had had for Sally since Alice and Sally had been in high school, "We shouldn't have pushed so hard..."
"True, but I could have told you why," Sally admitted after a few moments, "You two are my best friends... and were supportive after the incident... I probably could have trusted you."
"Nothing we can do about that now," Karl commented with a sigh, as this was a conversation that had gone on between the three of them for a while now. "We can only go forward."
There was a silence for a few moments before Karl came up with a question.
"Did the police call concerning the thugs that attacked you, Sally?" Karl asked, "any leads?"
"No," Sally answered, "as Alice said... things have been quiet."
"But you're talk will turn things around," Alice said optimistically, "tell everyone that we are all neighbors and can do well together... the only thing that's changed is that some are furry part of the time... we're all the same where it counts!"
"I did my best," Karl commented, "Hopefully you're right..."
"Hopefully it gets that mob to turn itself in," Sally commented slowly, "Then I won't be being such a burden on you..."
"You're not a burden, Sally," Karl assured her, "You're our friend, and we'd do ANYTHING for you."
"He's right, Sal," Alice added.
"Thank you," Sally said slowly after a moment.
"Anyway, you did well on the show," Alice then said to Karl through the phone, "when can we expect you home?"
"Well... I fly out of LA tomorrow," Karl answered, "from there I have the route I took down here, but backwards... so... if my memory is right, I'd think I'd be landing at the last stop by noon or so... from there, I'll need a ride back home. I'll let you know when my plane takes off so you can come pick me up."
"I'll be there," Alice promised.