"This is where you live?" Danielle asked as Sally led her into Karl and Alice's home.
The police had largely let them go once they had all their statements, but included the requirement that Danielle not leave town until they could double check their statements and that Sally remained at what locations they knew. Robert Coleman agreed to protect Danielle's rig while they waited and Danielle had called her own employer to let him know of the delay caused by a couple of yahoos. Sally then took Danielle to the place where she honestly felt the safest, her friends' home.
"Pretty much..." Sally said slowly, "Though it's my friends' home..."
"Karl Hurtz and his girlfriend?" Danielle asked.
"How..." Sally began.
"I watched the People's Talk last night," Danielle answered, "Karl admitted to the incident being his fault and that he was trying to protect you..."
"Both he and Alice have," Sally then sighed, "They... they didn't mean for "the incident" to happen."
Danielle nodded. That related to what she'd told Sally earlier with regard to how other werewolves felt about Sally's involvement in "the incident." She did see that Karl was apologetic and sincere in his apologies. Some like Kevin might not like being exposed and would have some dislike of Karl Hurtz for his involvement and responsibility for "the incident." But for the most part they weren't going be that aggressive to him and for the most part they would recognize that he didn't intend for things to go as badly as they did. Especially with the sincerity that Karl had made pretty obvious the night before on television.
“Are they your only friends here, or are there others that you can meet with?” Danielle asked.
“I’m the only werewolf here that I know of,” Sally answered, “if there are any more… they’re in violation of the registration laws we’re supposed to follow.”
Danielle sighed as Sally led them to a fairly modest living room and offered her a seat on the couch for her to sit at. She quietly sat down while Sally went into the kitchen. Shortly after Sally disappeared from view, Danielle heard a water faucet running. She could only sigh. From their brief meeting so far, Danielle had largely suspected that Sally was a lone wolf, but that answer confirmed it. She thus knew that Sally faced the tough situation of not having a pack for mutual support, and also knew that werewolves had the tendency to want to be with other werewolves. Having a pack provided support and confidence. Danielle felt that whenever she was with Carly, Maria, or Kevin or talked with one of them. Sally didn’t have that.
“Have you ever had… had a pack?” Danielle asked carefully when Sally returned with two glasses of water.
“When I was in high school… after I was… turned,” Sally answered, “but he and his family moved away and my family wasn’t transferred to the same place as them. About all I’ve had have been Alice and Karl… they are the closest thing to a pack that I have.”
Danielle glanced around the room as she sipped from the water that Sally had offered her. There wasn’t too much beyond the television, entertainment center, and the furniture, but she did notice a lone picture that included Alice, Karl, and Sally at a waterpark somewhere. The three of them were in bathing suits with Alice leaning against Karl while Sally stood nearby. That also reminded her of what Karl had said the night before in the interview.
“But you haven’t turned them, yet?” Danielle asked.
“No… with all the stuff going on and all the insults from people that have come my way… I don’t want them to be attacked as I’ve been,” Sally said slowly, and then chuckled, “strange. They’re protecting me from these bullies… and in a way I’m protecting them as well…”
“Life can be strange at times,” Danielle shrugged, “though… if you do decide to turn them… be up front with it. Let them know that you want them to join you and… of course to make sure you’re not breaking any laws.”
“And you wouldn’t mind?” Sally asked feeling better at having another werewolf there and remembering that Danielle didn’t blame her for what happened.
“It isn’t my place to tell you how to live,” Danielle answered, “and as I said… most of us understand that it wasn’t your fault and after last night will probably provide the same feelings toward your friends. And even if not, you shouldn’t let others dictate how you’re to live your life.”
“Thank you,” Sally gave a weak smile, privately hoping for a day when werewolves would be considered equals with humanity and she could get a chance to talk with Karl and Alice.
“Have you talked at all with the werewolf that turned you since he moved away?” Danielle asked curiously after a few moments.
“There were a handful of phone calls while I was in college,” Sally answered, “but I haven’t heard from him in quite a while…” She then sighed heavily, “I guess we just grew apart when we weren’t together as much… but I have had Alice and Karl as friends and that has meant a lot to me.”
Danielle nodded and they continued to talk quietly. It ranged from where Sally went hunting before the incident and many of her other interests. Much of what Sally commented on was tinged with some irritation at the bullies that had attacked her, taunted her for being a werewolf, and other related matters along with the fact that standing up to them in a way that they would understand would only get Sally in trouble. Danielle easily recognized this easily. It was the sort of thing that every werewolf had endured to some degree regarding what had happened after “the incident.”
They couldn’t really stand up to bullies for fear of the accusation of being aggressive monsters. It was a tough position to be in, but Danielle admitted that having Karl and Alice being so supportive of Sally was a benefit for the blond woman. Hopefully time would let those issues get easier to deal with. After a few moments though, the doorbell rang. Sally excused herself and walked to get the door. She found Officer Ramsey waiting patiently at the door.
“Good afternoon, Ms. Yeller,” Officer Ramsey said professionally as the door came open.
Sally let her eyes narrow, as much of the day hadn’t gone that well. True meeting another werewolf was interesting and being forgiven for her role in “the incident” was big, but that didn’t mean she liked losing a day of work due to the fact that some lunatic hunters decided cause trouble. The fact that her interactions with the police hadn’t been entirely favorable for her hadn’t made things easier.
“Good afternoon, officer,” Sally answered with as much tact as she could manage.
“Is Ms. Schvett here with you?” Officer Ramsey asked quietly.
Sally heard footsteps from behind her and knew that Danielle was coming up.
“I am here,” Danielle spoke, “Is something the matter, officer?”
“Nothing on your end,” Officer Ramsey answered, “I assure you. In respect for your work schedule Ms. Schvett and the apparent violence of what happened we’ve made checking the evidence we collected a top priority. Especially since this incident has left us with evidence that isn’t a “he said/she said” argument.”
Danielle placed a hand on Sally’s shoulder to reassure her. That sort of thing was precisely why the bullying and physical attack on Sally hadn’t garnered that much of a police investigation. The police simply didn’t have enough solid evidence to prove Sally’s story in that instance. The thwarted kidnapping/murder attempt had more evidence. Sally breathed a sigh of relief at the support.
“We looked over the CCTV footage that we collected and your story does check out,” Officer Ramsey answered, “Earl and Bubba DeFrank drove up and started trouble. And while I’m not much of a werewolf fan… I’m still a big supporter of law and order. I won’t have lunatics running around taking the law or their own prejudices into their own hands.”
“You’ll go after them?” Sally asked, surprise and hope evident in her voice.
“Yes,” Officer Ramsey answered, “I won’t have blood on my streets. And since your statements check out, you are both free to resume your work for today… though, Ms. Schvett, we would request you stay in contact in case the DA decides to call you as a witness at the trial for the two DeFranks involved…”
“You do have my cellphone number,” Danielle answered, “you have my permission to pass the number on.”
With that, Officer Ramsey nodded and before leaving said, “have a good day and sorry that you had to put up with such excitement.”