Grimm Shadow

Small Walk Into Trouble

Shadow got her dog ready for a small walk, she may look blind, but she could see just as good, if not better than others. She had an eye seeing dog to keep up appearances, no one could know her secret or find out what she really was. 

Toby was a sweet golden retriever; he was happy to be going out for a small walk this afternoon. The dog stood with his owner as she grabbed the handle of his harness and open the door. Toby guided Shadow down the sidewalk and after a few blocks Shadow saw a familiar shop where her mom would get some spices and home cures, she even saw the owner outside sweeping leaves away from the entrance. 

The owner of the shop was a woman, wavy hair, brown eyes, and smelled of foxes and plants. "Hey, Inola, Toby. How are you two doing?" 

Shadow smiled, even if others didn't know her real name, she was glad to have friends. "Hi, Roselle. We're good, how're you and Monroe doing?" 

Roselle smiled back and patted Toby on the head, her having to be the only one allowed to touch the dog when he's on the clock. "We're doing fine, what about your mom?" 

Shadow knew Roselle was good friends with her mother and nodded with a small smile. "She's doing good, the herbal mix you gave her last week is doing amazing for her stress and headaches." 

Roselle was happy to hear her work was appreciated. "Good. Oh, be careful while walking. There have been people going missing for the past few days, and with you being blind I worry." 

Shadow wasn't scared of whoever was taking others, they would be sorry for taking people. "I have Toby to protect me. I'll be okay." 

Toby then got up when his owner took another step and guided her to a park. The sun was starting to go down and the teen sat on a bench with the intention of watching the sunset. A runner was coming by and saw the girl looking towards the west. 

"How can you watch a sunset without sight?" 

Shadow twitched at the man's voice but kept her face forward. "I'm not deaf." 

The man jumped but sat next to her. "Sorry." 

"It's alright, I may not be able to see but I can feel the sun's warmth leaving." Toby placed his head in her lap and Shadow gave the dog some pets. 

The man looked out at the now darkening sky and got up to get home. "Be careful, people have been going missing." 

Shadow got up, grabbed Tody's handle and nodded. "Alright, we will, Mr...?" 

"Hank Griffin, Ms...?" Shadow used her fake name again. 

"Inola, Inola Blood." Hank nodded again but corrected himself a bit. "Like the Inola Homles movie?" 

The teen shook her head no and educated the man. "Inola is a Cherokee name meaning 'Black Fox'. My dad was Cherokee, and he wanted me to have a piece of that." 

Hank understood more now and then asked about her mom. "What about your mom?" 

"My mom grew up near the great lakes, so she's Algonquin." Toby barked signaling it was time to go, and so the two parted ways. 

Shadow was walking peacefully now; it was a quiet evening for a Sunday. People are usually driving to evening service at the church or going to pick up take out before the restaurant closed. It was nice not having to have headlight on your back or front for once. 

Shadow was about to take a shortcut when someone grabbed her from behind, making Toby bark and howl. "Toby, go home!" 

The dog took off, that command wasn't to go home but go to the police station. The teen had this command as a way to get help without the punks noticing. The teen struggled more and more until she was hit upside the head and blacked out. 

Toby eventually got to the police station and scratched the door so someone might let him in. 

Hank ended up opening the door for the golden dog and the canine came in and sat down. 

Hank's partner came over and looked at the dog before he looked at his partner. "Why is there a dog here?" 

"He's a seeing eye dog, I met his owner earlier, nice girl. But I don't even know why he's here, Nick." Nick knelt down and got the phone number from the dog's tag and called the house. A woman picked up the phone. "Hello?" 

Nick was keeping an eye on Toby as he was given some water by his other partner, Sergent Wu. "Hi, I'm Detective Nick Burkhardt, we have your seeing eye dog here. Is it possible you can have someone in your family pick him up?" 

The other line went silent for five seconds before the woman spoke again. "My daughter isn't with Toby? She never goes anywhere without him." 

Nick paused before continuing. "Are you saying you aren't the one who's blind?" 

"No, my daughter Inola is. She went out for a walk with Toby, but if Toby is at the police station something is wrong." The detective then gave the woman reassurance that her daughter will be found and hung up. 

Nick looked at Toby and the dog looked back at him, almost pleading to help find his owner. The man pets the dog and orders him to stay before looking to Hank and Wu. "That girl you met, Hank. What did she look like?" 

Hank started to describe Shadow, from her dark hair to the scars on her neck and face. Her age was hard to tell though she looked sixteen maybe seventeen, but Shadow is actually nineteen going on twenty. "She also had a light grey backpack." 

Once he was done Nick made sure to drive over to Shadow's address with Toby in the back. 

Once there he let Toby out and followed the dog to the door, he knocked, and a woman answered she was in her mid-forties and looked like she hasn't slept in days. "Ma'am, I'm Detective Burkhardt. We spoke on the phone; I was wondering if you could tell me about your daughter." 

The woman nodded and let both of them in, she then fed Toby and sat down at the dining room table. "My daughter lost her sight when she was a child." 

"How?" 

"She was attacked by a bobcat when we lived in the woods. I blame myself for not keeping an eye on her at the time." Nick nodded and looked around the house. "What about her father? Where's he?" 

The woman sighed and answered. "He's a bank worker, so when he's here he's sleeping, eating, spending time with our daughter, or doing paperwork." 

The detective nodded again and looked to Toby. "Is he here now?" 

"No, he's out of town right now visiting his mother." Nick raised a brow at this. "Is he...?" 

"No, He's been faithful. His mother always calls when he gets there." Toby came over and laid his head in the mother's lap. "Do you know what path she might have taken?" 

The woman nodded and told him. "It goes past Roselle's herbal shop. She might have saw her earlier."