Jackdaw Ch. 01: Assignment
#1 of Jackdaw
Well here it is! The first story I've uploaded. I'm very nervous to see how this story pans out myself. Please don't hesitate to provide feedback on the story so far, and if you have any suggestions for where I could take the story, I'd love to hear them!
3 Pages, almost 2,000 words. I'm very proud of this so far, and I know it looks short here, but I will be continuing soon enough ;)
P.S. I am in need of a formatter/editor to help me with uploads. If you are interested, chuck a P.M. my way!
P.P.S. I am also looking for some side characters to put in my story! If you are interested, again, send a P.M!
The flipknife dragged against the painted aluminium lockers, catching on every nook and cranny, making a terrible sound as it resonated with the metal. The figure holding the knife, a beast over 7 foot tall, stormed forward with a forward lean to his run known only to an insane killer and his victim.
Zachary Dimitriades ran as fast as his legs would carry him, the panther trying to put as much distance between him and this madman as he could. Adrenaline surged through his veins, leaving not much time for thought other than: How did I end up here?
"Oh Zack, I'm so proud of you!" Reyna Dimitriades exclaimed as she embraced her son. He had just graduated police training, now a fully fledged constable of the Queensland Police Force. He had entered training as soon as he left school, and the 5'9" panther smiled down at his shorter mother, his chest inflating with pride on this celebratory day. He would have to enjoy his time while it lasted, as in a weeks time, he would be deployed somewhere throughout the state. He was mildly nervous for his assignment, as he could be going anywhere from the blissful, crime free paradise of the North Lakes, or the infamous Wolfram, further northwest.
He put his arm around his mother and they turned, walking out of the ceremony and towards his mother's car. They got in, with Reyna driving, and headed home for what would possible the last week a mother would see her son for a long time. Reyna smiled wistfully into the rear view mirror at her son, in full formal dress, a sight to behold. 21 years oh hard work on her part, and her baby was finally becoming independent. She pulled away from the curb with a lurch, and the slick electric motor of the Toyota pulling them ever closer to home.
1 Week Later
Zach packed his bag, stuffing casual clothes in any slightly loose orifice he could find, the Tupperware containers of his mothers homemade food not helping him in the slightest. He fought with the zip for a good couple of minutes, until he managed to get it closed much to the reluctance of his bag. He hauled it off his bed, looking around once more at the room he had occupied since he was a child, and smiled gently at the future that was yet to come.
The fur down his spine stood up and his ears flattened as he felt a strong hand on his shoulder. He slowly turned around to see his father looking down at him, the 6'4" Lynx grinning at his son. "You'll be back soon enough Zack," His father said. "But when you're back in a years time, your room will be my study, mark my words!" The lynx's booming laugh resonated through Zack's chest, and he smiled at the humour of his father.
With a gentle hand to the back, Michael Dimitriades lead his son out of his room and into the living room, where the boy embraced his mother for the last time for at least a year. The hug lasted for half a minute, before they pulled themselves away from each other and smiled. Zack repeated the action with his father, before turning towards the door. Not a word had been said in over 5 minutes, the presence of love in the family ascending beyond words. However social constructs held him back, and he turned to them again and said "I love you," before walking out the door to the sound of his parents returned words. His parents followed him out onto the front porch, his father's arm over his mother's shoulder, as they watched him walk down the streets of his childhood, now a man.
Zack walked for 15 minutes until he reached the train station, where he put his bag down next to him and flopped into one of the available seats, of which there were many. He had 45 minutes to wait for his train, and decided to open and start one of the books he had bought with him. Sick Puppy, a comedy mystery, something that he had been keen to read for a while.
Before he knew it, the time had passed and the train had pulled up to the small station. He dogeared the book, placed it under his armpit, and hauled his bag towards the train. No tickets were checked, in such a small town the feeling of trust was evident. He found a seat towards the back of the carriage, leaned back, and closed his eyes, ready to sleep ahead of his long jour-
"Hey!"
Zack's eyes snapped open, and were drawn to the source of the noise. Across the aisle was a German Shepard girl, who looked to be a little bit shorter than him, with C cup breasts. She was wearing a police uniform, her epaulettes indicating she was a constable, like him.
"Are you heading for first deployment?" She said, with an excited tone in her voice.
"Y..yeah, I am. I'm Zach by the way. Zach Dimitriades."
"Amy Bashir. A pleasure to meet you. As you've probably figured, I'm on my way there too. You know much about the process? I didn't really pay attention when they were talking about first deployment." By this point in the conversation, her tail had begun to wag slightly, holding continuous eye contact with Zack.
"Umm, so I think we get into headquarters, and then its just luck of the draw." Zack replied, his introverted nature causing him to be slightly disturbed by how excited she was.
"Excellent! I hope I get to go somewhere new, and hopefully to a smaller town!"
"Well I'm hoping for pretty much the opposite to that." Zack said, with a shy giggle.
"Well Zack, may both our wishes be fulfilled. I'll leave you to sleep now, it's a looong ride." Amy said, with a yawn.
Although Amy said she would leave Zack alone, she lived up to the energetic nature of her breed, and managed to slightly pester him repetitively for most of the trip. Zack didn't mind though. It was nice to have someone to talk to, and Amy certainly wasn't bad company. Eventually though, Amy fell asleep, with Zack not too far behind.
The Next Day
The meeting hall of QPF headquarters was packed with the sight of new recruits, of all species, ages and sizes. Gentle murmuring could be heard throughout the hall, as newly minted police officers nervously awaited their first deployment. The noise was not the raucous sound of a high school hall, but had an aura of respect and discipline for the institute they were now part of.
Zack had chosen a seat next to Amy, whose tail was wagging so hard that people behind her had their legs up on their chairs to avoid the swaying of the bony appendage. Amy was ranting about her experiences in training, but Zack wasn't really listening. He was far too nervous about his assignment to be focused on such casual conversation. He stared at the podium in the front of the room, waiting for the Commissioner to appear and the show to get started.
Amy could tell that Zack wasn't paying attention to her, but she didn't mind. She was happy enough to look at his beautiful eyes and have a reason for doing so. They were an emerald green, something completely new for the Shep, who had grown up around a sea of brown. Brown fur, brown eyes, brown houses, brown grass. She joined the police to get away from the mess that was the outer suburbs of her city.
She lived close to the border of New South Wales, and because of that her city was larger than it should have been, slowly collapsing under its own weight. The council was corrupt and riddled with criminal influence, and she was sick of her parents having to pay exorbitant "rates" charges only to fund the groups that shot up her father's store weekly. The problem with this extortion was that once it started, it never stopped. No one wanted to buy houses in the area, and her family had just enough money to get by. She was excited to get away from her past, but try and prevent and destroy the criminals that caused a city to turn into such a slum. She continued to talk and distract herself from these memories by staring at Zack when a hush fell over the crowd.
Zack noticed the change in volume and turned his head towards the side of the stage. He saw the Commissioner of the Queensland, a 6'9" tall alligator in full formal dress, walk onto the stage and stand behind the podium. He took one look through the crowd, looking at all the attentive faces facing him, and then looked down at the podium to his speech notes.
"Good morning everyone. Today, your training is finally over. Today, you are to be deployed for a year of field training as fully fledged constables of the Queensland Police Force. I am personally proud of this force's development, and I look forward to see how all of you develop over the next 12 months. Some of you will love your deployments, and some will hate them. Some will join the traffic department, some will join homicide. As a combined cohort, you will see the best, and the worst, that this state has to offer. Let it be known that you will not be thanked for trying to keep the peace. In fact, some people will hate you, spit at you, and abuse you. But be proud in the fact that you are part of a larger force, a force fighting to keep this state from slipping and falling into its own shit. I wish you luck Constables. With Honour We Serve."
The Commissioner left the stage to the applause of many, and a band of three superintendents took the Commissioner's place in order to start reading out assignments. The names were not read out in alphabetical order, but in order of deployment. Each constable was given a partner, and they then left the room in order to be briefed and deployed. Names were read out, Zack begun to tire, and then he heard it. Something that would make his skin, if not hidden by thick black fur, turn pale white.
"Dimitriades & Bashir. Bayside Homicide."
Bayside? Bayside was a corrupt hole up north, infested with gangs. There were something like 6 murders a month, brutal stabbings and shootings of rival gang members. Just last week a 17-year-old from the local school had been shot in both kneecaps and then stabbed in the chest for not giving a local man his prescription medication. He was taking Xanax for stress, and the murderer wanted it to cut the edge off his anxiety from meth use. It was a horrifying case, and Zack was horrified to hear that soon he would be in the fray of this. Even Amy sitting next to him, his new partner, was silent at the news. Of all the places she had expected to be assigned, Bayside was not it. Zack's thoughts were swirling through his head, and he was terrified to think of what was to come.
No one was ready for Bayside. No one.