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Post by Gwen Elizabeth Cooper on Aug 7, 2011 1:38:57 GMT -5
No matter the power of the four wheel drive on Torchwood's Range Rover, Gwen never found these muddy country roads fun to drive on. The soft, shifting ground was only made worse by the downpour surrounding her. "Bloody weather..."
"Look, I'm just saying we should start looking at houses! There's this new subdivision opening up in the suburbs, and this great cottage in this village just twenty minutes from downtown... Gwen? Gwen are you even listening to me?"
Gwen groaned in frustration as the tires continued to fling the mud behind her. "Yes! Yes Rhys I'm listening to you I'm just a little busy! So, we were talking about um," she pinched the bridge of her nose in concentration. "We were talking about dinner tonight, yeah?"
Rhys sighed on the opposite end of the line. "No, Gwen, we moved onto houses." He leaned on the counter, stirring his coffee with the hand not holding the phone. "I swear, whenever you're at work it's like we can't even talk!"
Gwen stopped driving for a second, allowing her head to lean back on the chair's headrest. "I know, I know, I'm sorry. I'm just preoccupied with work and you know it get's complicated." She exhaled, and then smiled at the roof of the car. "I love you, you big stupid idiot."
Rhys smiled also on the other line. "I love you too. I just wish we had more time to talk every now and then." He sighed again, but kept smiling. "Talk to you later." He pressed 'end', and put the phone back on the receiver.
Gwen slammed on the stick shift, trying to get the S.U.V out of the mud. "Come, on, you stupid, bloody mess! Would, you, bloody, mo-!" A crack of lightning and thunder interrupted her, as it revealed, right to the side of her and the Range Rover, a tall manor. She stared at it for a moment, and decided, whether she wanted to or not, it was her only option. The tires were stuck, and the rain was getting so bad she wouldn't be able to drive at all much longer.
She cocked her pistol and shoved it in her waistband as she stepped out of the car. Gwen was very glad she decided to wear a water proof jacket on this particular drive as the cold, Wales rain stung her face. She quickly ran up to the front of the house, as another crack of lightning illuminated the courtyard. She noticed three things. Two of them were a pair of graves to the side of her, and etched into them in proud, classical lettering was 'Here Lies Sir Robert Macleish' and 'Here Lies Lady Isobel Macleish'. The latter looked much more current than the former. But that wasn't what truly caught Gwen's eye. Above the doorway was a sign that said in bold letters, 'Torchwood House'.
Gwen whipped her pistol in front of her, staring at the sign. "Okay, that's weird." Cautiously, she entered the house.
Inside, the house was wrecked. Furniture had been torn apart and broken, and windows had been broken in from storms years earlier. She proceeded from room to room, finding more of the wrecked furniture. Eventually, she entered what was the dining room. The table had long since been cleaved in two by something powerful. She examined the tear in the table, and noticed it was not clean. There wasn't enough room above the table to drop something heavy on it either; something broke it. Suddenly, she thought she heard a rustling behind her. Whipping around, she found there was nothing.
Gwen continued around the house. Finally, she came to a flight of stairs. She decided to check the very top floor, and went as high up as the stairs would take her. There, she found a very large observatory. The window at the top of the observatory was gone, it had been broken for a long time. This was apparent by the rotting wood directly beneath it, along with the signs of varnish on all of the wood in the room, long since washed away. She heard a voice across the room.
"You shouldn't be here." Gwen trained her gun on someone coming from the shadows of the room's corner. He was a man, that was obvious. As he moved more into the light of the moon; Gwen had not noticed until now it had stopped raining; it became obvious he was wearing a robe like a monk's.
"Who are you and why are you here?" Gwen didn't move her gun.
"You shouldn't be here... I'm sorry."
Gwen squinted her eyes and shook her head. "Sorry for what?"
The man looked at her as if he thought what he was talking about was obvious. "Well for what happens next." The man began to convulse, and Gwen noticed his body changing, somehow becoming large and covered in hair. She pressed the talk button on her communicator as she watched the changing man in the moonlight.
"Yeah, anybody? I could use some help." She moved her hand back to hold her gun, still pointing it at the changing man. He was in a fetal position as his convulsions stopped, and he began to stand up. He had an elongated snout like a dog, wolf ears, was covered in fur, and had claws in lieu of fingernails. He could only be described as 'Were-Wolf'
"Well. You're new." The wolf lunged at her.
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Post by Sarah Jane on Aug 7, 2011 2:52:45 GMT -5
Her Bio Damping ring seemed to be working well enough. That and her patience. She had waited in her back room, quite there. She is not there to confront the "lupine wavelength haemovariform" Tonight she was here to take readings. Ten years ago she had not had such patience, and had nearly died again and again. She'd grown wiser. Tonight, in this room, she is here to take readings. To learn. To find truths and vulnerabilities.
She was not expecting company, besides the obvious, but woman's voice, muffled through the walls. The beast man replying. Sarah Jane was on her feet in an instant and bursting through the door, running down the hallway.
"Yeah, anybody? I could use some help."
Sarah Jane saw the creature from the back, looming over, about to lunch. It made the mistake of taking time to answer the woman and she exploited it to shoot with her big Super Soaker full of Mistletoe extract.
Trouble was, it gelled up thicker than she thought it would. Instead of cutting the beast down, it simply splashed the back of its legs, fouling it's leap. It landed badly, crashing down onto one shoulder, skidding on the ancient floorboards. Almost cornering the dark haired woman as it sprawled, jerking with pain, legs steaming a bit, the smell of burnt flesh in the air. She looked to those wide eyes across from her, and reached out to her.
"Come on! Come now! You've got to just move!" Sarah Jane beckoned at her with desperate encouragement.
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Post by Gwen Elizabeth Cooper on Aug 7, 2011 3:01:57 GMT -5
The woman burst in, armed with a... squirtgun? It seemed to work though, and Gwen was willing to take whatever she could. The woman shouted at her.
"Come on! Come now! You've got to just move!"
Gwen sprinted across the rotting floor, almost falling through in the process. She ended up on the other side of the room, and ran through the doorway with the other woman. She flung the doors shut to the observatory, and taking a long since dismembered chair leg, she slid the bar between the door handles as a jam.
"What the hell was that? I mean I've seen a lot of stuff but werewolves?! And how did you stop it?" Suddenly, the door began thumping and thumping as the jam showed signs of stress. Gwen wiped some sweat and rain water from her brow left over from earlier and nodded to the woman. "We should run."
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Post by Sarah Jane on Aug 7, 2011 13:45:55 GMT -5
The wretched floor almost gave way under the woman as she bolted away from the whining wounded dog on the ground that thrashed in it's pain. The dark haired woman came flying toward her, and Sarah Jane caught her arm and helped yank her back upright. She didn't have to tell the newcomer to run again. Sarah was rather impress by the woman's speed and was glad she hadn't gotten caught in with some weakling at least.
The Lupine scrambled, unsteady, right behind them. Just before she went through the doorway, she turned 180 and splattered a full pump load of Mistletoe extract on the floor right in front of the door. Dancing her way in backward, she let herself bounce softly off of Gwen to get her own feet under her again.
Her sudden companion was quick on her feet, getting the doors shut and wedging the handles. Better and better. Some of Sarah Jane's panic was leaving her as she went and threw her slight weight against the door as well, feeling it jounce and hearing the Lupine howl in pain as his feet burned. Great. Transformed and unhappy.
"Lupine wavelength haemovariform." She said with a grin. "Extract of Mistletoe." >THUMP Crack!< "I have a stash down in the kitchens!" She pointed at another closed door across the room.
"We should run."the woman said, quite sensibly in the thickest Welsh accent she'd ever heard.
Now, let us pause here to take a moment to see the struggle in Sarah Jane's mind. Something she has no more than a second to act on, but long history waves up in her like surf, in the shape of fear. When out running monsters, you didn't have to outrun the Monster, you only had to outrun the guy behind you. This leggy, gap toothed Welsh girl was fast. Faster than Sarah Jane. She could see it. Dare she ask this woman to throw her lot in with Sarah, who was quick on her feet but a hand span shorter, and a high school reunion older?
But Sarah had left the safety of her room to save this accidental danger-tourist. She decided. She reached out and took the woman's hand, hoping it will be accepted.
"Count of three, through that door">Thump! HOWL!" down the hall and down the next two flights of stairs. On three? One . . .Two . . . .Three!"
Whether her hand had been accepted or not, Sarah Jane Smith was now running for her life. And doing a good job of it as well.
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Post by Gwen Elizabeth Cooper on Aug 7, 2011 13:55:49 GMT -5
The woman held out her hand for Gwen to take. Obviously, she knew what she was doing. As much as Torchwood was exclusive, if there was a giant werewolf chasing her she was taking all the help she could get.
"Count of three, through that door." There was a sudden bang on the door next to Gwen, louder than the rest, accompanied by a very unnerving howl. "One... two..." Gwen grabbed the woman's hand, feeling her own fear subside. This woman knew her stuff. "Oh, I'm with you, mate!" Gwen said, right as the woman yelled, "Three!" They both went flying down the corridor, towards the kitchens.
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Post by Sarah Jane on Aug 7, 2011 14:08:19 GMT -5
Side by side the pelted down the corridor. Sarah Jane broke her hand loose as they reached the stairs, confident now she wouldn't be left behind. Sarah Jane took them one at a time, but super quick. Thank goodness the Lupine stopped in the Observatory to howl for a moment. At full speed, she needed the railing to make the corner, and then she was quick stepping it down the second flight, hearing the monster above them on the first landing.
It simply leaped down shaking the floor and drawing a scream from her. She stumbled a little in shock. But she'd cased this place before. Coal Cellar. Brick coal cellar. She yanked open the door and yanked Gwen inside, slamming it shut and whipping out her Sonic Lipstick to seal it.
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Post by Gwen Elizabeth Cooper on Aug 7, 2011 14:15:08 GMT -5
After a dizzying flight from the observatory, Gwen and the older woman had found themselves in a brick, coal cellar. Gwen watched as the older woman pulled the door shut, and then heard a clicking noise as it sealed when she ran a glowing lipstick down it's length.
"Well there's something every girl should have in her purse..." She smiled to the woman. "Sorry, I don't think I properly introduced myself. I'm Gwen Cooper." She bit her lip for a moment. This woman obviously had some knowledge of the alien and paranormal, and thus could be a big help to Gwen; if she trusted her.
"Have you heard of Torchwood, by any chance?"
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Post by Sarah Jane on Aug 7, 2011 17:13:29 GMT -5
After sealing the door, she stood up, then leaned against it, panting a bit, grinning up at one Gwen Cooper. She extended a hand. It was not shaking, but firm and dry and warm.
"Sarah Jane Smith." >thudhowl< Torchwood. Well, she didn't know if that was good or bad really. At least the woman was unlikely to fall apart, and quite likely to be useful. If the Torchwood team was here, though, they'd kill that man without ever bothering to learn his name or find the cure.
"I know Torchwood alright." She said, her mixed feelings clear. Breath caught, she pressed away from the wall and went over to a small grate in the opposite corner. "Are your friend here?" she asked over her shoulder, then bent to the task of loosening the grate screws with her sonic.
The Lupine was beginning to realize the futility of his protest, and sat outside complaining inarticulately and loudly.
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Post by Gwen Elizabeth Cooper on Aug 7, 2011 17:33:28 GMT -5
Gwen shook the woman's hand, who revealed herself to be Sarah Jane Smith. The name sounded familiar, somehow, but she couldn't remember where she had heard it. She figured that the alien hunting rings were small though, and it had probably come up in the archives at some point or another.
"I know Torchwood alright." Sarah Jane seemed less than enthusiastic about the organization. "Are your friends here?" She asked.
"No, just me. I was supposed to be searching for rift spikes around this area." She ran her fingers on some ancient claw marks on the stone cellar's wall. "It's weird; the rift isn't this big though." She stopped and thought for a moment while Sarah Jane worked on the grating and the wolf howled outside. "If Jack were here, he'd probably say something about psychic residue causing a rift anomaly." Gwen examined the claw marks closer. "Which would make sense, because look it; these claw marks are old. Really old. Either that wolf is ancient, or this place has a history."
She turned back to Sarah Jane again. "Speaking of the wolf, what do you suppose it is? It didn't seem like it wanted to hurt me. I mean, it even apologized, that is, before it turned into a monster and tried to eat me." Gwen looked back on some Torchwood cases prior. "This reminds me of this case I had a while back. This girl, Carys, was controlled by this evil gas from this meteorite. I mean, we stopped it but we were able to save her. Do you think this is anything like that?" Gwen asked half asking Sarah Jane and half asking herself.
Gwen sighed a bit. "I suppose what we really should be focusing on is getting out of here and stopping that werewolf." She walked over to the grate Sarah Jane was working on.
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Post by Sarah Jane on Aug 7, 2011 17:52:41 GMT -5
"It's not from the rift. This one fell from space, which is why I'm here. He's not ancient, and he's not a wolf, but Were Wolf is close enough for now. And he is like your Carys. He's a man who's been infected by an Alien. I'm here to try to save the man." She said, taking her time on rusty screw heads lest they break off instead of spin out.
"And I have something to say to your 'Jack' alright." she put down the Sonic to ease her neck a moment and look at Gwen. "Sending you out alone green as-" as green as I ever was- "Too green." She concluded, going back to her work. Last screw. The grate fell with a rusty clatter.
"And we are getting out of here to go save him, but I'm not going to like it and you'll like it less." She said, seeing that Gwen was not only a good four inches taller than her, she was wider in the shoulders by a couple of inches as well. With a challenging grin, she turned and ducked into the tiny tunnel, just big enough for her to snake crawl through.
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Post by Gwen Elizabeth Cooper on Aug 7, 2011 18:05:14 GMT -5
Gwen watched as Sarah Jane's feet disappeared into the vent. It was just big enough for Sarah Jane, so Gwen knew it'd be even tighter of a squeeze for herself. However, it was that or going out the door with the werewolf on the other side, and she wasn't even sure if she could open the door, now that Sarah Jane had sealed it.
Her shoulders were squished on both sides as she squeezed her body in, very uncomfortable. "You're bloody right," Gwen grunted, squeezing her body forward, "This definitely is not my idea of fun."
Gwen thought about what the woman said about her being green. She decided that as they ventured through the shafts, she might as well make conversation.
"So where are you from then? I mean, where'd you get your training." She paused for a moment, exhaling from the exertion of crawling through the small vent. "I know you're not Torchwood, because Jack would've mentioned you." Gwen though for a moment, realizing that Jack didn't mention anyone at all from his past; ever. She decided to roll with what she said though, as she kept following Sarah through the tight, enclosed space.
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Post by Sarah Jane on Aug 7, 2011 18:30:21 GMT -5
She hated this part. Hated it. But she had a gift for it. Escaping like a mere-cat again. Into the narrow old gritty tunnel. At least it wasn't the first time, and she knew they'd come out the other side. She'd cased this building well over the last month in preparation for the full moon.
"I was a Traveler, Gwen. Time and Space. Whomever you've got falling through the rift, I bet I met their parents at home thirty five years ago." <grunt>
Small sounds of protest began to escape her as she had to sweep some rather large spiders out ahead of her with each scootch. There was a bunch of them. There was a huge crash behind them, and suddenly the Lupine was at the opening of the tunnel with a long claw.
But they were long gone. Just in case, Sarah Jane decided to dang the spiders, and simply crawled over them by the dozen.
"Why do you do it? This.Torchwood. Jack?"
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Post by Gwen Elizabeth Cooper on Aug 7, 2011 18:40:01 GMT -5
"You actually sound like Jack. Always going on about travelling around time and space." She stopped for a second, smirked, and pulled a spider out of her hair.
"I don't really have a good reason for doing it. I was a police officer; just a beat cop. I was making good money, had a good apartment, had a good boyfriend..." Gwen's eyes grew unfocused as she continued to think. "I guess I just couldn't pass it up. I mean, I'm betting when you started travelling you didn't really think about your nine-to-five, did you?" Another bang from the wolf emanated from the opening of the shaft. "We'd better get a move on before tall dark and canine get's here, huh?"
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Post by Sarah Jane on Aug 7, 2011 19:40:42 GMT -5
It was one of the worst mistakes of her life, she realized, as her hands came down, not on gritty concrete, but on old wood. She stopped crawling and frantically patted at the edge. this was not a concrete tunnel. This was a concrete lined tunnel. Thinly lined.
Almost as if the creature had read her mind, it tore away the thin metal frame around the tunnel and dove in, breaking it apart into splinters as he went like a kid splitting a dandelion stem by jamming his thumb into it.
"Take this, aim it back! spray it around, and defend yourself! Keep moving!" She said, leaving her Super Soaker behind her as she crawled triple time through the crumbling tunnel, ten yards from it's dim opening ahead.
There was nothing she could do for Gwen right now but crawl with all her might, and she was good at it. She did find herself screaming a bit though.
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Post by Gwen Elizabeth Cooper on Aug 7, 2011 19:48:19 GMT -5
Gwen could hear the shaft tearing up behind her as the werewolf ripped through it, chasing them. She heard Sarah Jane in front of her yell back. "Take this, aim it back! spray it around, and defend yourself! Keep moving!"
Gwen grabbed the supersoaker. "Oh this is the part I like!" As she flipped over on her back, the aiming the super soaker between her knees and leaning up on her shoulders, she promised herself that when she got out of this, she'd find the time to talk to Rhys about houses. Right now though, she had to take care of a werewolf.
"Eat this, you stupid mutt!" Gwen was pumping the supersoaker with all of her might as she pushed forward with her legs, crawling backwards right behind Sarah Jane. Finally, when the werewolf was mere feet from herself, she shot out a torrent of the super soaker's contents. She sprayed it all over its face, obviously distressing it. Seeing this as her opportunity, she shouted at the woman in front of her, or rather, behind her head.
"Go go go!"
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