Maybe It's The Water... (Zodiac and Chaoslord29)

[Zodiac]

It all started with a sandwich and a dream...

A sandwich made up of Avery's favorite deli meats and a dream of spending the evening watching a classic movie. The Last Unicorn. No, seriously, that's what the newest addition to the police force had planned for the evening. First, she wanted to wash the last few days out of her hair and the sweat from her brow and then sit down with her sandwich and watch the animated movie. She wanted this. She deserved it! ... and then the phone rang.

For a moment, Avery refused to pick it up, instead, she stared at the headset and silently commanded it to be anything, but work. Let it be a telemarketing, someone wanting to sell her something or even her mother! Just don't. Let. It. Be. Work. Unfortunately, it was. They were short handed and besides, they have a special victim in their custody. Eh. Being an officer of the law in a small town was wonderful. Usually it was quiet, but lately strange things have been happening. Not spooky odd, just strange-strange. Like teenagers breaking out into a bawl at a football game. Not unheard of, but it was one of the first. Then there were some break-ins. A robbery here and there. Nothing to raise any eyebrows, right? Then this happened.

Avery arrived in uniform and a slight scowl. Her dark eyes darting from face to face in the room. All men with the exception of Sam. Their receptionist of sorts. Moving to the other woman, she leaned forward to glance over her shoulder.

"What's going on? You guys know I've been working my butt off lately and all I ask is for..." Sam quickly cut Avery off with a frown. Falling silent, she took a seat next to the dark haired woman.

"We have a rape victim. And, uh, she doesn't want to talk to anyone else... just you." Sam's expression softened slightly. Rape, huh? It was unfortunate and shouldn't have happened.

"How old?" The officer couldn't stop herself from asking.

"Sixteen and she's scared. The doctors almost didn't let her go, but since she isn't all that hurt except for the obvious, we were able to bring her down here." It made sense. The police were suppose to serve and protect, right? If Avery was that age and something like that happened to her, she would want to be here too. With a sigh, she got up. "She's in room three."

Waving off the receptionist, she moved past the group of men. No one really said anything. And she didn't bother to notice what expressions they were wearing. Just when was the last time they had a case like this? Surrey was suppose to be a sleepy little area where everyone knew your name. Things like this weren't suppose to happen. With a sigh, she opened the door and stepped in... then stopped.

"Kathy?" It was the sheriffs's own daughter. Pretty and blonde, she sat in a chair with her long, thin legs drawn up to her chest. "Oh god, I heard, but I didn't... I never would have... what happened?"

Avery quickly crossed the room and took the young girl into her arms. She held her tight, allowing the young blonde to cry. Her hand lightly running through her silken hair. She was suppose to be the beauty of their own. The pride and joy of her father. Untouchable. And then this happened. Biting her lip, she held her tightly while the girl sobbed.

"I, I don't know. It... oh god, Avery. It happened so fast and, and... I kept saying no, but they wouldn't stop", sobbed the girl.

"They?" Frowning, Avery looked down at the child in her arms. "How many are they? And don't worry. We'll get to the bottom of this and they will pay. Your father will make sure."

It went on from there. Avery gathering what little information she could get from the sobbing teen. When she finally left the room, she was met by Sheriff Breck. Shaking her head, she left him alone to talk to his own daughter. Maybe he could bring her comfort. Right now, she had a job to do. Walking down the hall, she made her way to her own desk.

Just what was she suppose to do? This was suppose to be a cake walk. Sleepy town. The most she expected was a few domestic disputes, but not anything like this. Then another call came in. Something about a small riot broke out in the local watering hole. Two officers rushed off to take care of that. Avery frowned.

Well, it looked like her sandwich and movie would have to wait. Things were about to get even more weird.

( I'm picturing Avery to be about 5'7/5'8" with long red-brown hair, brown eyes and not exactly beautiful. She's pretty and she can pull off striking, but she's not a beauty queen. Probably has some freckles too. xD )

 

[Chaoslord29]

Rak'ator was well pleased with the progress of that had been made in just the last few days. It had not been particularly difficult to manipulate his prey, but they were performing admirably in the snare he had designed for them. Already the most susceptible and weak had begun to exhibit advanced aggressive behavior, acting out against all constraints and posing a threat and a challenge to the rest of the settlement. Humans were an interesting prey when properly equipped and motivated, but here he was more interested in the search for the quarry than the thrill of the hunt. It would come, but for now his purpose was too assess the potential of his prey. The settlement was isolated from it's nearest neighbors, and the wilderness in the area was far from tamed by those living there.

It was the perfect setting for his search, and even should he not find his quarry here, there were others that might serve his purposes, but now he was quite hopeful in how the humans here were responding. He crouched on the local water tower, overlooking the main drag, quite invisible against the foggy sky with his camouflage activated. The cool climate was well suited to his vision, allowing him to distinguish the humans in their activities as the poison he had released into their water supply took hold on their minds, suppressing inhibitions and encouraging them to act on their most violent and aggressive tendencies. The weakest had succumb first, and now the younger and stronger were beginning to react and those potentials most resistant to the toxin were being pitted against them.

He watched as the riot at the bar turned ugly, with several of the patrons taking up knives and pool cues and broken bottles and the bartender removing his shotgun from the wall. Already several lay on the ground dead and bleeding and out behind the back a man had dragged a young woman out of the bar and was attempting to force himself on her. Rak'ator knew those who would try to maintain order would be forced to come down harshly on them.

 

[Zodiac]

Thing weren't about to be resolved with a visit by the pair of police they sent out. In fact, they quickly sent back up as more calls came in about the riot breaking out. Avery was sitting in the passenger seat of her partner's cruiser as they made their way down to the local watering hole. Just a hole in the wall kind of place that never interested her much, but it seemed to be infested with some of the lowest scum. Tilting her head, she glanced over at Davis who looked at the road with such intensity. Something wasn't right. At least, she had never seen that kind of expression written across his face. Something that was hard to read and almost frightening. Frowning, she reached over for the radio to call in their number and report that they were on route.

"You don't look so good, Mike", she murmured while lowering the mouth piece. "Are you alright?"

Avery knew that they had to depend on each other. Davis had always been a decent kind of guy with a wife and two kids. Much older then herself and more experienced. He had shown her the ropes of their particular job. Still, she was getting this strange feeling from him. Trust your instincts, Davis always told her. Well, hers were going a little awry. Something told her things weren't as they seemed.

"Yeah, I'm alright." His voice was almost a growl, his hard blues eyes peering over at her. He had never taken that kind of tone with her, ever. Still, it was probably her mind playing tricks.

Turning her attentions back on the road, she could see something glowing in the distance. Kind of a warm yellow and red. Fire? As they got closer, she could smell the smoke and see the car that had, somehow, been turned over and was spitting out flames. In the street, there were so many people. Most men and some woman. A lot of them were fighting while some were just trying to get out of the way. One woman was being grabbed by her hair and dragged onto the ground, two men taking turns in kicking her as hard as they could. Just what the hell was going on?

The patrol cars came to a stop and Avery got out without a second thought, her weapon drawn while Davis moved up behind her with a megaphone. Shouts were exchanged. Mostly their most senior officer giving orders for everyone to put down their weapons and get on the ground. There would be no sweet talking. And not a single person did as they were asked. A warning shot was fired into the air. Still nothing. What were they suppose to do here? So many people. Where was the fire department?

 

[Chaoslord29]

As Avery and Mike arrived on the scene, Rakator was struck by how calm and collected Avery seemed. Certainly she was apprehensive about the new chaos that seemed to be enveloping her town, but she seemed to be showing none of the usual symptoms of the poison he had released into their water. True, several others had shown a similar resilience, but that she was one of those actively trying to restore order spoke very highly of her abilities. "She will bear more watching." he thought to himself as he leapt deftly and silently from the water tower over the roof tops to the tavern where things were not working out as the sheriff's department might hope.

The megaphone and warning shot had garnered the attention of the rioters who now proceeded to turn their makeshift weapons and rage against the deputies, rushing towards them and roaring gutturally. About a half dozen armed rioters with pool cues, hunting knives and broken bottles charged Avery and Mike where they stood behind their car doors, heedless of the guns that were leveled at them.