Tomo met Cee behind the apartment house.  They made a strange pair. Cee was a large solid block of muscle covered with orange and white fur. Tomo was a scruffy fluffy bundle of black and white fur.  Cee had that ancient and ageless look that some cats obtained.  Tomo was still every bit the kitten.  And yet they respected each others strengths and set about the business at hand.

*I have patrolled my territory and can not find the source of these strange creatures* Cee reported.

*I found a very strange one near the water this afternoon.  maybe we can get information from it?  I tried asking the brownies last night, but they ran away as soon as they saw me.  they are very fast*

*I believe the brownies have always been around.  it is now only because the land is disturbed that they have become visible. it may be worthwhile to investigate the waterside for signs of this creature*

The two walked to the end of Charlotte Street and turned onto University.

They met no one on the street. They saw a few people gathered at the entrance of the corner store on University.  And there were a few cars that crawled around carefully like a cat avoiding someone's gaze.  During the day, people tried to act like everything was normal.  But night came sooner now.  And the night brought ancient terrors to this modern city.

They cut accross Shore street to get to the Green.  There was a police officer investigating the area.  He was looking around the fountain which had been incased in a plywood structure to protect it from the winter snows.

The two cats approached on little cat feet.  They sat on silent haunches and watched the officer.

The officer was a young man in his late twenties.  He was about 5'8" with a medium frame. His blue black hair stuck rebeliously out from under is hat. His facial features had a hint of asian background to them. He walked with a cautious confidence.  He knew strange thing were happening, but he trusted his skills to bring him trough.

His cast his flashlight around the concrete base of the fountain.  Small webbed footsteps clearly stood out.

Tomo took advantage of his black coloring to aproach the fountain without being caught in the roaving flashlight. He could smell that the footprints were caused by the same type of creature he had encountered this afternoon.  It smelled of water and pond scum.

The officer came closer and Tomo hid in the shadows created by the flashlight. The officer was confused by the footprints and investigated the plywood house.

He noticed that the lock holding the structure closed was missing.  He shone his light in the nearby grass.  The brass lock gleemed in the light.  He went to pick it up, but it was covered in a clear slimely substance.  About the consistancy of snot.  He didn't touch it.

He returned to the fountain and carefully opened one of the plywood panels.

His look was meet by a dozen sets of eyes that twinkled in the light of his flash light.  They did not look happy.