Bitesize 1.2

So blogger was down when I got home from work last night. Which is precisely the kind of intereference I mentioned the day before. ¬¬ So let us continue with our easily manageable ongoing story. :P If you don't read now, you're gonna get left behind and have to catch up.

Bitesize 1.2

"Must've been a little after midnight." said Gary, "I only got up to go for a piss. I was on my way back to bed when I heard it. One of the sheep, I could tell. Squealing it were, something awful. Making a right racket."
He paused, watching Ed scribble all this down.
"Please, continue." said Ed without looking up, "You don't need to wait for me."
"Well I figured something had got it so I threw on some trousers and my boots and grabbed my shotgun and a torch. I ran out there and heard it again. I just ran for the sound, shining the torch in front of me and then I saw it. Christ. It weren't no fucking cat. It was on its hind legs!"
"Like a bear?" asked Ed.
"Like a human." said Gary, nothing but seriousness in his voice.
"What did it look like?"
"Like some goddamn mutated creature. Covered in hair it was and its head... It was like a dog's, only bigger with massive teeth. It had arms but with massive claws and when the torchlight caught its eyes..." He paused and shivered, "I swear it looked clever. There was blood all over from the sheep and bits of it still falling from its jaws."
"And what happened then?"
"I brought the gun up to shoot it but it was like it knew. It pounced at me as I fired. Got me with its claws. I fell over and the thing ran off."
"On its hind legs?"
"On all fours."
"How tall was it, Gary?"
"I dunno. Taller than me."
Ed stood up.
"I'm six two. Taller than me?"
"About that size, yeah."
Ed sat back down and carried on writing.
"Did you hit it?" he asked.
"I don't know. I didn't see."
"And after it ran away?"
"I came back in and woke up the missus and she drove me to hospital. They bandaged me up and I was back the following evening, right when you guys called."
"We like to keep an eye on things." said Ed, dismissively, "Did you tell your wife or anyone at the hospital what you saw?"
"I'm not crazy. I told 'em it was a big cat. Black like a panther."
"I see. That was wise. I'd recommend sticking with that story, Gary. If the press got hold of it they'd only turn it to scaremongering needlessly. Mind if I see the wound?"
Gary stood up and took off his jumper. A large bandage covered his left side. He peeled it back and winced slightly. Underneath were four shallow furrows through the skin where the beast's claws had raked him. They weren't deep. It must have been a glancing blow at best.
"It didn't bite you at all did it?" asked Ed.
"Nope."
"Ok. Can you show me where all this took place?"


A few minutes later they stood in the field where Gary had seen the creature. Ed was crouched down on the floor examining the dirt while Gary stood by nervously, shining a torch down on him. It hadn't rained since Sunday and the dirt was stained red with sheep's blood. The ground was churned up where Gary had confronted the thing and he found the shell casing from the shotgun. Just a few feet away he found what he was looking for. A footprint, or rather, a clawprint. Five deep claw marks where the creature had dug in to run away. That was all he needed to see. He kicked the soil, scattering the marks away.
"Do you know what it was now?" asked Gary.
"Yes." said Ed, a thoughtful look on his face.
"So what happens now?"
"I'll take care of things Gary." said Ed, standing back up and stretching his back, "I'm gonna drive home, pick up a few things and be back tomorrow afternoon. I won't get in your way. Just carry on as normal. Keep this whole thing to yourself and I'll sort everything out."
"What if it comes back?"
"It won't." Ed patted Gary on the back reassuringly. "This is a rare occurrence but the organisation I work for deals with this kind of situation all the time. Soon it will be like nothing ever happened." He reached in his back pocket and pulled out his wallet. He thumbed through the contents and pulled out a handful of twenties. "Take this." he said, passing two hundred pounds to Gary. "You never saw the creature, you never saw me. If any reporters come sniffing round. Well, you're trusting me to take care of this and I'm trusting you to tell them nothing. If they offer you more than this, you just let me know."
"You really don't want word of this getting out. What was it, that thing? A government experiment?"
"Just an accident, Gary. Accidents happen. Best we don't scare people with things out of their control. You understand, right?"
Gary nodded and took the money.
"Sure thing Ed. I trust you."
Ed gave him a wink.
"Damn big cats huh?"