Hunter Sommer (missherocomplex) wrote in horror_story, @ 2013-02-27 20:49:00 |
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Entry tags: | annie, complete, cycle002, hunter, npc |
Who: Annie & Hunter.
When: Late afternoon on Saturday, December 29th.
Where: Hunter's trailer & town veterinarian office.
What: Bella bites the dust, but foul play is afoot.
Warnings: Language, animal death, general sad feelings.
HUNTER: Saturday was the first day back at her own place since Thursday, and she had to work. With everything that had gone on with Annie in the wake of Gideon's suicide, Hunter and Bella had more or less taken up residence at Black Gate with Annie and Axel sinc. Not that any of the four of them had complaints. She convinced Annie to take a few days off from work, insisting that the kids would be fine without her (she had almost said the kids wouldn't die without her but thought better of it last minute) and she could go back Monday. In the meantime, Hunter had been like Molly Maid and more, tidying up around Annie's place (more than she did at home), renting stupid comedies from Silver Screen for them, and bringing home take-out dinners, always giving the dogs their scraps. Which they shared amiably, and Axel always let Bella have more, ever the furry gentleman. Plus, liquor. She brought lots of liquor, her own go-to cure for sadness. Hunter hadn't known Giddy nearly as well as Annie, but she definitely understood losing someone, even if she didn't like to think about it. Besides, Gideon had been a nice guy, young and friendly. His whole life ahead of him yet. He deserved better than what happened to him, and they still had no reason why he did it. People always said this sort of thing happened to the people no one would expect. She could understand Annie's distress, having seen it unfold. Hunter could never leave a friend in need alone, particularly one who had always been as good to her as Annie. But she was paying the price now. She hadn't been back to work since Thursday either, Annie's situation trumped whatever was going on at Vic's anyway. But as a result of her slacking off shifts, she had earned herself the honor of working all weekend, Saturday and Sunday, seven to three. People meandering in after church, just for something to do. Or just to irritate her. Old church going folks were bad tippers on top of it all, they left all their change in the communion plate or whatever. With two days of bad tips and the smell of greasy hamburgers to look forward to, Hunter had left Annie's apartment on Saturday morning at half past six, before the sun even came up. Ducking back to her trailer long enough to drop the dog off, feed the dog, brush her teeth, grab her uniform and take off again. She'd get dressed in the truck on the way to the diner. It was a pretty typical day at Vic's for her, the tips and customers as irritating as she expected, although one old guy had given her ten bucks for serving him a coffee and a sandwich. Which she immediately pocketed, rather than put into the tip jar. Like she was going to be sharing ten bucks among three other staff, it was the most she got all week and she had obviously been the one who earned it in the first place. He must have liked her face, because she definitely hadn't gone out of her way to impress him otherwise. Here's your coffee, buck twenty-five please, her usual dry spiel. When she clocked out at three, not a minute later, she had already been on the phone with Annie as she exited the diner and made a beeline for her truck. She just had to run home and grab Bella, Annie wanted to take the two shepherds for a walk, something they often did on Saturday evenings. Normally followed by some beers and episodes of Chelsea Lately. Hunter was just glad that her friend was up for something normal, routine. A sign she might be coming out of her funk. Bella couldn't walk too far anymore when they all went out, her legs were only getting worse and weaker every day it seemed, but Axel never seemed to care how long they walked for, always kept pace with Bell even though she walked much slower. She and Annie both often said that if dog weddings ever became a thing, they were investing for those two pups. He couldn't even care less that she's totally a doggie cougar, Hunter always pointed out. She was getting up there in age, old girl, but Hunter had no complaints. That dog had been with her most of her life, through thick and thin, since she was nine or ten years old. When Hunter pulled into the Woods and up to her trailer, she made sure to lock her truck but it didn't even occur to her that she was able to enter the trailer without using a key. The truck was her (expensive) baby, and she had that little keychain that locked it up for her. When it came to her front door, she often walked or ran out the door without even thinking twice about locking up behind her. This morning, rushing into work, had apparently been one of those mornings. There was nothing disturbed in the trailer, nothing touched or messed with. There never was, that she had ever noticed anyway. She didn’t lock her door at Regency either. People knew that if they wanted to break in, or rob her, or do whatever.. well, she'd find them. There was never any doubt about that. Hunter held grudges like no one's business. But no one had the audacity to have messed with her so far, it was a moot point. She had joked that if Gilman knew she left her door open half the time, he'd be over there all day sniffing her panties. But even that had never happened, far as she knew. Her trailer was par for the course, not a hair out of place (except for the messes in the trailer of her own doing), but something wasn't right. The hair on the back of her neck was seemingly standing on end, like she had been shocked, but she couldn't figure why. It was quiet, but.. no, too quiet. All four of Bella's legs were bad, particularly on cold days, much like Hunter's own knee. But no matter the discomfort, no matter how slow she moved, that dog came to meet Hunter at the door every damn day. When she had lived with her mother and father, when she came home to visit from college, when they lived in Regency Meadows, and now in the trailer park, Bella came to greet her. Often with her tongue lolling out. When she heard a door open, that dog always came hobbling out to see who was there. Never viciously, like people assumed because of her breed. Just curious, nosy, probably looking for a scratch behind the ears. She was a big teddy bear of a dog, really, purebred German Shepherd or not. But today, she didn't come. Hunter stood in her doorway on the mat, waiting, listening closely for the sound of the old dog maybe standing up, waited for the familiar sound of her claws clicking across the linoleum as she came closer. She liked to sleep out in the kitchen of the trailer for some reason, in front of the fridge. "Bella," she called out a few times. Gentle at first, then firm, the voice she normally used to tell the dog to heel or sit when she misbehaved. "Isabella, where you at? You hungry, gran?" But there was no reply and still no noise at all in the trailer, Hunter's brow furrowing together as she grabbed the dog's leash and harness from where it hung by the front door, before she ventured further inside to look around. That dog never turned down food, especially since she normally didn't eat till six or seven at night. "Bella, dinner and walk, c'mon girlie," she tried again. She had been planning to change out of her work clothes, but that was the last thing on her mind now. Where was that damn dog? Maybe she was hiding, she did that sometimes if she chewed up something badly, or peed on the floor. The latter of which had been happening more and more as she got older. It was harder to hold it in, which Hunter understood. The dog was almost thirteen damn years old, which was old for any dog but particularly a big breed of dog. She checked the kitchen, no dog. She checked her room and under the bunkbeds, no dog. When she finally reached the living room in her search, she immediately wished that she had started there, her blood running cold at the sight in front of her. There was Bella, but she wasn't right. She was laying on her side in the middle of the floor, just a few feet from her dog bed, like she'd gone to lay down there first and then just fell where she currently lay. Hunter thought that she wasn't breathing at first, but the dog's ribs were just barely rising and falling, clearly labored. If she hadn't been watching so close, Hunt might have missed the movement entirely. It was barely there, weak. Beside Bella on the carpet, a foamy looking pile of vomit, streaked with blood. It looked like she hadn't even been able to lift her head to throw up, just laid down and let loose right where she was. She was sick, extremely sick. But that wasn't right, because she had been just fine a few hours ago. She's thirteen years old, Hunter reminded herself. Dogs don't live forever. Something told her though, things weren't as simple as that. She took Bella to the vet, to the groomer, bought her the expensive food, whatever costs the stupid dog had ever entailed. Even in high school, when she hadn't exactly had her own money flow, she had made sure that her parents had paid for her dog. She took care of her. Their vet always said that she was in considerably great shape, for her age and all. Every second that she spent questioning what was happening was a second wasted, however, and everything that happened next happened in a flash for Hunter. There was no 911 for dogs, even the nearest veterinary hospital was half way to Bend anyway. She'd just have to take her to the regular clinic. They had to do something. They had to save her, no matter what it cost. She hefted Bella into her arms, grunting a little at the pain in her leg from the sudden lump of dead weight she was lifting as she stood back up, and headed out of the trailer. Arms full, she kicked the screen door open with a bang and ambled over to her pickup. Her truck interior was often a mess, and junk came flying out her passenger seat it in a hurry, flung into the back of the cab with abandon, until there was enough room for her to put the ailing dog in the truck and slam the door. Hunter rounded the other side, hopping in and jamming the keys into her ignition with surprisingly shaky hands. "Hey, you girl," she cooed, unsure of the dog could hear her, as she floored the accelerator and left her driveway. No fastened seatbelt, her trailer door still unlocked. "Hey you girl, gonna be alright." If any cop had pulled her over for speeding then, he would have been in for an earful from her. Or there would have been a high speed chase. Luckily though, no one bothered her as she zoomed across town, almost rear ending a little Honda civic as she finally hauled ass into the vet's office parking lot. She blared her horn at them three times, before promptly taking the spot they had vacated and jumping out of her vehicle. Somewhere along the drive, even Bella's previously weak breathing had stopped without Hunter noticing; all movement had ceased and the dog was limp and motionless as Hunter pulled her out of the truck, careful with her. Trying to tell herself that the vet could do something. CPR, or use those shock pad things on her, help her. That was what veterinarians were there for, that's why you paid them an arm and a leg, for them to fix your goddamn dog. When she burst into the waiting room, there were only one or two other patients and their owners waiting. Bella took up most of Hunter's arm span and almost obscured her view, no little dog by any means, as the blonde marched right up to the reception desk without a moment of hesitation. "Somethin' is real wrong with my dog, you gotta do something here," she demanded breathlessly of the receptionist. "Whatever it fuckin' costs, I don't care, fix my damn dog!" But it had been almost twenty minutes now since after her arrival, the tall blonde waiting anxiously by the front desk, pacing occasionally. The receptionist had brought her back to a treatment room right away, where she could leave Bella for the doctor, and the vet had been along to look at her almost immediately. Hunter had left the room voluntarily after that, she couldn't watch. Something about the look on the vet's face though, the look on the reception girl's face when she had seen Bella, didn't hold good things in Hunter's mind. She's thirteen, she reminded herself again as she leaned back into an uncomfortable plastic chair, clenching her fists on her lap. Nothing lives forever. | |
NPC: The veterinarian had been attentive, asking a lot of questions, but there wasn’t a lot of optimism to be had when a dog began vomiting blood with no prior symptoms. Sudden onset hematemesis and paralysis was generally a bad sign in anyone, whether they were two-legged or four. They tried to resuscitate the animal, but to no avail. When the vet spoke to her again, it was with dire news. “Ms. Sommer, I’m afraid there wasn’t much we could do for Bella.” There were other things that could have been said, that perhaps if she’d been brought in earlier, they could have reacted quickly enough. However, the young woman was obviously distraught, and there wasn’t really much cause to rub salt in the wound by telling her that her dog might have been saved if she’d been found a few hours earlier. “Her bowel wasn’t obstructed, and she didn’t have any kidney or liver disease in her last checkup. We’d have to do bloodwork to know for sure, but as near as I can tell, it looks like she ingested something she shouldn’t have.” This was put delicately, the vet trying very hard to keep her tone of voice sympathetic, rather than accusatory. It happened all the time, of course, animals getting into household cleaners and the like. Hunter didn’t exactly look like the sort of person who would be careful about such things, either. The woman obviously cared a great deal for her animal... but anyone could love an animal and still leave something dangerous in an accessible place. A lot of people underestimated their dogs and cats’ ability to get under the kitchen sink. Knowing that it wasn’t exactly a time for that sort of lecture, the vet just looked at the blonde with an expression of professional sadness. Sincere, but still reigned in, somewhat detached. Everyone in the office was anticipating a scene from the blonde, so there was an electric tension in the air just from that. “I’m so very sorry.” | |
ANNIE: Annie didn’t even get to the end of the text message before she was scrambling to pull on some sweatpants. Her appearance was mussed, at best, but there were more important things happening. Hunter would care if she showed up in flipflops and sweats, and the only person Annie cared about right then was her best friend. She made it to her vehicle in record time, the drive that followed little more than a blur. Annie’s thoughts were on Hunter, on sweet old Bella who’d never hurt anyone. They both knew Bella was nearing the end of her life, but something about Hunter’s text made Annie think that this wasn’t a peaceful death in her doggy bed. According to the frantic words on her phone screen, she came home to Bella lying in her own blood-streaked vomit. To Annie, that screamed foul play. But Bella was an inside dog, and Hunter was good about keeping everything locked up tight. These last few days couldn’t have been any worse. Between Gideon and Bella, Annie had enough death and misery for a lifetime. She barely had time to throw the car in park before she was running up to the front doors of the vet’s office, bursting through just in time to hear the words that would break Hunter’s heart. ”I’m so very sorry.” Annie didn’t need to hear anything else; she crossed the distance to her best friend, her arms winding around her without hesitation or question. That old dog had been Hunter’s best friend for over a decade. It didn’t matter that she was a dog; Annie knew better than anyone how a dog could be every bit the best friend a person could be, if not better. “Hunter, I’m so sorry,” Annie murmured. | |
HUNTER: When the veterinarian appeared from the back of the clinic, Hunter had immediately began bracing herself for the worst. There was no optimism on the other woman’s face, that much the blonde could tell even before she opened her mouth. She stood from the chair as soon as the vet approached, putting on her best stoic face and getting herself ready for what was coming next. Even bracing herself for it, even after coaching herself for this ending since she had found the old dog in the heap, the words were like a hard punch in her gut. It shouldn’t have surprised her that there was nothing they could do, but accepting that fact didn’t really help the soften the blow much. “Fuck,” was her only sighed response, taking a deep inhale through her nose and biting the inside of her cheek. She didn’t want to cry in front of the vet or her staff, even though they had probably seen many weepy people over the years. Part of the problem was that she didn’t know if she wanted to cry or put her fist through a wall. Or kick a chair across the room. It wasn’t their fault that the dog had died, but at the same time, she could feel the frustration welling up inside of her, fighting against the urge to burst into tears. She wanted to scream, cry, break something. Bella was gone, really gone, and even if she had been older than hell, it wasn’t any easier to take. She barely heard what the veterinarian had said about bowel obstructions and liver disease, the blonde had been focusing a lot of her energy on holding it together and keeping up that straight face, not betraying the emotions swirling inside of her. But the last bit caught Hunter’s attention. “What d’you mean, something she shouldn’t have? Like what? She don’t-- didn’t eat nothing today except for her kibble,” Hunter protested immediately. She fed Bella lots of stuff from the table, but not today. And never anything bad for her. In her pocket, there was an envelope containing her current stash of rent money, what she intended to use to pay for the visit anyway. It had been the first money she had grabbed out of the truck. She’d be spending it anyway. “Do the damn bloodwork, tell me what happened,” she demanded, her voice finally cracking a little as she caught sight of Annie entering the vet’s office. Holding it together and all the effort she had put into it up to that point was gone out the window just as soon as Annie’s arms wrapped around her, Hunter pulling the shorter woman into a crushing bear hug. One sob bubbled out of her at last, the lanky blonde immediately freeing one of her arms so that she could scrub at her face with her hand, trying to get rid of the tears. Her makeup would be history in moments. Annie would hold her down, at least, keep her from doing anything she’d regret. “Fuck, fuck, fuck,” she swore again. “Why does this shit gotta fuckin’ happen? She never did nothin’ to anybody! It ain’t fair!” | |
ANNIE: “You’re right, sweetie,” she soothed. “It’s not.” Annie could understand Hunter’s pain to an extent, seeing as she loved Axel just as much as a damn human being. Anyone who said they didn’t understand how a human could be so attached to a dog had obviously never owned one. And if they did, they were a sociopath or something. Annie didn’t know what to say, mostly because there was nothing to say. No matter what she said, Bella would still be gone, and Hunter would still be heartbroken. This wasn’t an easy fix that Annie could patch up with some sweet words and a few cold beers. “C’mon, Hunter,” she said softly, hooking an arm around her shoulder and pulling her into Annie’s side. “Let’s get you home, alright? There’s nothing we can do here.” And it was better for Hunter and the people at the vet’s office if she left, unless they wanted to watch Hunter kick something or someone. Hunter didn’t really handle strong emotions well, and this would be no different. Annie was used to that sort of thing, but these people were innocent bystanders. “Is there anything else you need before I take her home?” Annie asked the receptionist. The redhead shook her head solemnly, probably used to seeing this sort of thing, and murmured a soft, “No.” Annie helped her to her car. Hunter was in no shape to drive, even if her truck was still there. They could come back for it later, or she could ask someone to help out later. For now, that wasn’t important. “Why don’t you come back to my place? You don’t need to be alone.” | |
HUNTER: Protest from Hunter on the suggestion to leave was minimal. “Yeah sure,” she just said, rather numbly, in answer to everything as Annie’s arm wrapped around her, leading her away. Hunter’s brain was still fighting over whether to cry or scream, and she was only half hearing what her friend had to say. With the tension in the room, and everything radiating from her, there was almost assuredly a collective sigh of relief as the smaller blonde managed to corral her out of the veterinarian's office door. For probably the first time in her life, she actually didn’t care about her truck. It was one of the last things on her mind as exited the building. “Yeah, don’t wanna be alone,” she agreed, but she was already moving away from Annie, aiming a swift kick at a nearby bench outside of the vet office. Probably placed there for patrons to sit and wait for their rides, on nicer days. Not cold miserable days like this. She rained the senseless blows on the bench, kicking it and kicking it much like she had done to the wall at Regency Meadows, once again succeeding only in hurting her leg and getting herself out of breath. She felt just as angry, just as cheated. She felt as short changed about the whole thing as ever. Either tired out or just too frustrated to go on, she eventually stopped, retreating toward the car again. “Fuck,” she exhaled as she got inside, still breathless from working herself up. Finally, with nothing else to do, she let herself cry. Not a pretty sight, but she knew Annie wouldn’t tell. What were friends for? | |
NPC: The Monday after Bella’s death, Hunter received a telephone call from the veterinarian’s office, confirming their suspicions. Somehow, the dog had ingested a great deal of bromethalin, a chemical primarily used to poison rats. |