by Jen Haeger
Kim smiled weakly as they made their way through the underbrush and out of the clearing.
*
David lingered behind the women and made sure to gather up the syringes and scour the ground for any other debris they had left behind. He was in a dark brooding mood and the debacle of the previous night leached an air of disaster to come. Feeling a weariness deep in his bones and a sense of inevitability in the unfolding of events made him feel helpless, and he hated that feeling more than anything else.
*
Eventually they found their soggy bag of emergency clothing, which David had left neatly folded behind an old stump, dressed, then slogged back to the rear gate of the woodlot. There was no time now to search for Kim or David’s ripped and ruined shirts, although David had collected Evelyn’s shredded articles back at the ravine. Fortunately, the earliness of the morning and suboptimal weather ensured that no one noticed their exit or subsequent squelch back to the car. Evelyn hadn’t anticipated the rain, so while Kim and David waited in the car, she donned her lab coat over her saturated clothes and went back into the clinic to release Clem. She wished that she wasn’t going to be alone when she witnessed the results of last night’s experiment with Clem’s control, but they couldn’t risk rousing too much suspicion if someone saw them in their soaked and muddy state in the clinic. Evelyn approached the door to the janitor’s closet and swallowed hard before putting the key in the lock.
“Clem?”
She turned the key and cracked the door. A wisp of white stuffing drifted out of the closet and whirled in the air before floating down slowly to the polished linoleum floor. Evelyn sucked in a breath. Knowing now what she was going to see, she struggled to keep her face neutral as she opened the door wider. More stuffing puffed out through the opening and she spotted one of the panda’s eyes just inside the door. She pulled the door halfway open and spotted Clem, looking ragged and miserable, crouched in the corner of the small concrete room with debris from the toy strewn about his feet. His sweatpants were mainly intact, but his flannel shirt was a shredded ruin. He didn’t look up.
“Clem, are you all right?”
“Better than Mr. Snuggles.”
“I’m…I’m going to go get your cane and find you a scrub top. Could you, um, gather the remains into the sink and I’ll also get a garbage bag?”
Clem nodded.
Evelyn hesitated. “I have to lock you inside until I get back in case someone comes.”
“Good.”
Evelyn didn’t like Clem’s answer, but they didn’t have a lot of time before the clinic started getting busier, so she closed the door and locked it, then hurried away to collect the needed items. They’d left Clem’s cane in a corner of the lab behind some boxes, and Evelyn knew that she could also collect a garbage bag for the remains of the stuffed animal there. Additionally, she needed to grab the flash drive from the video camera to verify that Clem really was having control issues and wasn’t just trying to get them to let him fight when he wasn’t up to it. But first Evelyn needed to find him a scrub top to wear out of the vet clinic, so she hurried past the lab, out of the secured basement lab area, and up the stairs to the main floor of the clinic. She slowed her pace and took on a more subdued, professional air as she strode into the hallway and headed for the small animal surgical suites, where one could, if they knew where to look, find a large canvas bin full of clean scrubs for the doctors.
Evelyn didn’t have any trouble surreptitiously snagging a fresh extra-large scrub shirt for Clem without running into anyone in the halls, but on the way back to the lab she passed a group of three veterinary students and tensed. They were too preoccupied with complaining about their clinicians, though, to notice her messy hair, damp lab coat, mud-streaked jeans, and hiking boots. Evelyn increased her pace as she passed them and sagged her shoulders in relief when she pushed through the door to the stairwell. She raced down the steps to the basement, fumbled with the security gate code, and finally reached the lab as her cell phone buzzed with a text from David.
What’s taking so long?
Impatiently she texted him back. All O.K. Out soon.
She didn’t really have the time or inclination to explain more and hoped that David would just leave it at that as she climbed up onto the lab bench, switched off the camera receiver and pocketed the connected flash drive. Jumping down quickly, Evelyn was gathering Clem’s cane when the door to the lab opened. She expected to maybe see Kim’s concerned face peek around the corner, perhaps sent by a nervous David to see if Evelyn needed any help, but instead Melissa stepped inside and peered around the lab, letting the door fall closed when she noticed Evelyn. Melissa was much more observant than the vet students in the hallway upstairs had been and didn’t speak as she noted Evelyn’s appearance. Damp messy hair, damp clothing, muddy boots, and mud-splattered jeans did not denote a night spent hard at work in the lab. Evelyn could see the gears turning in the girl’s head and could tell that she had precious scarce moments to regain control of the situation before Melissa did something rash like contact the dean of the vet school about Evelyn. Straightening up, Evelyn tried not to look at all guilty.
“I’m sorry, Melissa, but the lab is still closed for another few hours today. If you want to come back around lunchtime, I should be done by then.” Evelyn watched Melissa’s eyes flit around the neat and tidy lab that looked precisely the same as it had last night when Evelyn had drawn her blood.
“Uhuh. Have you been here all night?”
“No, actually I had to run home and walk my dog, but I just came back to finish up a few things.”
Melissa looked a little less suspicious, but not entirely convinced, and Evelyn couldn’t grab Clem’s cane and let him out with her hanging about so she pressed the issue.
“I am really sorry for the inconvenience, but I did tell you in advance and it’s been quite a long night, so if you’ll excuse me I really just need to finish up these last few things.” Evelyn paced to the door and opened it for Melissa.
Melissa looked at the open door, back at the lab, then at Evelyn. “Have you gotten a chance to run my blood yet so I can know whether I can stop taking the antivirals?”
Evelyn concentrated on keeping a poker face as she frantically searched for an explanation as to why she wouldn’t have run the poor girl’s blood last night. She frowned. “I’m afraid not. I ran out of one of the reagents, but I should be getting more any day now, and I’ll call you as soon as I do and am able to run your blood.”
Melissa took a tentative step towards the door and all Evelyn could think was pleasegopleasegopleasego. Finally, the girl gave a small shrug and left the lab. Keeping a hold of the door as it closed so that she could watch Melissa walk down the hallway and disappear around the corner, Evelyn sprinted over to the corner of the lab to get Clem’s cane and dug through one of the lab cabinets for a garbage bag. When she stood up and closed the door to the cabinet, she noticed a bit of dried mud from her boot on the bench next to the fume hood where the camera receiver was hidden. As she grabbed a bottle of ethanol and furiously cleaned off the mud and sterilized that portion of the bench, Evelyn prayed that Melissa hadn’t noticed the mud.
Picking up the scrub top off the desk, Evelyn opened the lab door just enough to see into the hallway. It was empty, so she bustled through the door, closed it, and locked it behind her, then sped down the hall to let Clem out. When she reached the janitor’s closet and unlocked the door, Clem was standing and had gathered up the remains of the stuffed panda and his shirt in the sink. Evelyn handed him the scrub top and cane and then shook out the garbage bag and began scooping fuzzy black, white, and plaid fabric and white fluff into it with reckless abandon. Clem donned the fresh shirt and helped her to empty the sink of the last few stubborn wads of material. Evelyn scanned about the floor one last time for anything they had missed and then examined the hallway just outside the door for more debris, but the slight breeze of the building’s ventilation system had swept away the
stuffing that she’d seen earlier.
As they exited the cramped room, Clem shut off the light and Evelyn locked the door again just to be safe. She wanted to say something to Clem, but she was distracted by having to get him out of the clinic and by the fact that she had only found one of the panda’s eyes amongst the debris.
35
On the way out to the car, Evelyn noticed that Clem wasn’t favoring his leg as much as he had been. Her professional mind raced with questions regarding the accelerated healing caused by the change. Not full and complete regeneration, but based on what she’d observed with Kim and Clem, she thought that she could at least make a case for hastening of healing and return to function. When she and Clem reached the car, the parking lot had begun to bustle with morning activity, and Evelyn tried to appear nonchalant, but continuously spied on people out of the corners of her eyes in an attempt to isolate anyone who might be paying too much attention to them. Fortunately, everyone seemed intent on their own tasks, problems, and morning drowsiness, paying her and Clem little attention.
They piled into the car with Clem insisting that Evelyn go first, and as soon as Clem shut the door, David started the engine and began to back out.
“What took you so long!”
Evelyn slumped in her seat as the adrenaline that she’d been relying on for pretty much the last twelve hours gave out. She was about to go into the whole story about having to find Clem a scrub top and running into Melissa, but then just sighed.
“Complications.”
Kim glanced back nervously into the rear of the car. “Is everything all right?”
Evelyn opened her eyes and nodded. “Fine-ish. Nothing critical.”
Kim’s gaze panned over to Clem, who stared out the window and said nothing.
Evelyn hoped that he was just exhausted and hungry and not still gutted about his lack of control. Of course it was dangerous and scary, but she was confident that with effort and training he would get it back. She would have to have a long conversation with him before tonight, and also figure out what to do with him tonight since setting him up in the janitor’s closet again was too risky and she wasn’t confident about her and David’s ability to control both Kim and Clem. But right now, more than anything in the world, she needed food and a nap. Other worries, like what happened to the two college students, what they would be facing tomorrow night, and the responsibility Evelyn felt for Kim’s life, for Clem’s life, and for causing the Wolfkin war in general, vied for attention in her mind, but Evelyn pushed them all away and concentrated on just the immediate tasks at hand: food, nap, where to go tonight, how to restrain Clem.
Before heading back to the condo, they took a slight detour by the emergency phone where David had left the drugged couple, and though they didn’t see any signs of the students, there was an empty State Trooper vehicle parked nearby. Evelyn consoled her guilt by telling herself that there would’ve been police tape up around the phone if either of the unfortunate students had died. The rest of the ride was quiet and even as they all piled out of the SUV, into the condo and then into the kitchen, no one spoke. Finally, David broke the heavy silence with an attempt at cheerfulness.
“Who wants eggs and bacon?”
“Yep.”
“Me!”
Clem just gave David a dubious look.
“Okay, everyone then. Kim, you wanna help me?”
A small rush of emotion surged through Evelyn when David asked for Kim’s help, but she was too exhausted to maintain it, so instead made herself useful by setting the table and pouring orange juice for everyone. Then she sat at the table and waited with Clem while the heavenly aroma of frying pig flesh filled the room.
“Looks good on you.”
“Hmmm?”
“The scrub top. You could be an extra on ER.”
Clem lifted a hand and rubbed a few of the scars on his face. “Not with these.”
“They would make you a more interesting and memorable character.”
“Naw, my char-acter would make me a more int-ter-rest-ting character.”
Evelyn smiled at him and Clem smiled back in almost a Clem-like way.
“Breakfast is ready,” David declared as he came to the table with the frying pan of bacon. Kim followed with the frying pan of scrambled eggs.
Conversation was limited as they all stuffed themselves full. Kim had also made a stack of toast which quickly dwindled down to crumbs. Clem seemed to be in a better mood after breakfast and insisted on helping Evelyn with the dishes. Kim looked like she might topple over at any moment, so she headed upstairs to nap and David descended into the basement to do the same. Together at the sink, Evelyn loaded the dishwasher while Clem washed the larger dishes and set them on a towel next to the sink to dry. After she was sure that Kim and David were out of earshot Evelyn spoke.
“At least we know.”
“And knowin’ is half the battle.”
“Clem, I know that you think that this is a good reason for you to fight, and I know that you’re feeling better, but if you aren’t in control during the fight, that could hurt us more than help us. We can get you through this. We can get your control back, but not before this battle. There just isn’t time.”
“So what am I agunna do? Hide in a janitors closet and chew on stuffy aminals while y’all are fighin’, bleedin’, dyin’? You cain’t ask me to do that Evie. I won’t.”
“Well, you can’t say that I didn’t try, but if you turn on us…”
“Then take me out. But I’ll be up in front, and I’m pretty sure the sight and smell ‘a’ all ‘a’ them Vulke’ll keep me movin’ forward.”
Evelyn’s voice was spiny with emotion and caught in her throat, so she just nodded.
“What are ya goin’ to do with me tonight? Another stint in the janitor’s box?”
Evelyn finished putting the last dish in the dishwasher and closed the door of the machine. She shook her head. “No. We can’t risk it with the vet students wanting to get in the lab.” She didn’t feel the need to go into great detail about running into Melissa and the girl’s suspicions or Kim nearly eating the two college coeds. “Does the casino have…um…facilities?”
Clem nodded as he placed the rinsed frying pan on the counter. “Aye, but I’d rather not get Zachary involved. That boy rubs me the wrong way and he might throw some kinda hissy-fit and keep me locked up there ‘till the fightin’s done.”
Nodding, Evelyn furrowed her brow as she wiped off the counter with a damp rag. “I have an idea. But it’s not great. Ever hear of the Northville Psychiatric Hospital?”
Clem stared at her. “Um…no, why? Ya gonna lock me up in a loony bin?”
“Yeah, actually. See, the facility’s been abandoned for years and it’s quite a large complex with lots of tunnels. There’s some woodland area around it and most people steer clear simply because. Also, it’s private property and supposedly guarded, but I have it on good authority that it’s just one security guard who’s forbidden from entering the buildings because most of them are now structurally suspect.”
Clem did not look at all enticed by the prospect of spending the night in the old asylum, so Evelyn felt like she had to sell the idea further. Or maybe she was just trying to sell herself on the only half-viable idea for Clem’s restraint.
“It’ll be perfect, really. We’ll get there early, scope things out. Find a ce- place for you and start the night in there training Kim. If things go well, we’ll go outside for a bit and then come and get you at sunrise.”
“Shouldn’t we be co-ordinatin’ with Roberto and headin’ up to battle site instead?”
“Plans have been set for a while and there isn’t much that we can do until the Vulke finalize the location. We’ll just load the car up and start driving north tomorrow morning. Roberto should be sending out the GPS coordinates a little after sunrise. He’s been monitoring both areas since the Vulke made their suggestions, but he still feels that it’s best if we all arrive separately, in cas
e the Vulke try to ambush us. It’ll be a bit of driving, but David and I both agreed that driving is better than waiting.”
Clem scratched his stubbly chin, considering her words, and then nodded. He looked tired. “We should try to get some sleep too before tonight.” Clem dried his hands and turned to head out into the dining room, but then turned back to Evelyn. “Any chance I can git you to sit this fight out?”
Evelyn smiled wryly. “Not a chance.”
“Didn’t think so.”
36
Evelyn slept. It was a tribute to her truly exhausted mind and body. In her dreams she was on a wooded battlefield filled with other Wolfkin engaged in bloody tooth to claw combat. She knew that she should be fighting too, but the war seemed to flow past and around her like she was surrounded by an invisible wall. David appeared out of the fray and was driven to the ground under a pack of four wild-eyed werewolves, and she wanted desperately to help him, but felt rooted to the spot. She called out his name, but a roaring all around swallowed her words, and as the four Wolfkin savaged him, Evelyn had to look away. Tears blurred her vision but then she spotted Clem in the chaos of fur. He looked like a true monster bathed in blood and gore, tearing through other werewolves like they too were stuffed pandas, a senseless rage the only entity behind his eyes. A miniature Wolfkin in a pink tutu and purple tights tried to run past him and he caught her with a snap of his jaws and flung her little body into the air. The werewolf child landed in a mangled heap next to Evelyn; she saw that the small corpse was wearing a dog collar with the name Katie spelled out in sparkly purple letters. Evelyn wanted to close her eyes, to block out the horror, but she couldn’t. Carolyn and Zachary walked unscathed out of the turmoil in human form and Zachary looked down at Katie’s remains coldly.
“Pity.”
Evelyn wanted to leap at him and rend him with her claws, but she was still frozen. Caroline tsked at her. “This is all your fault, you know. The least you could do is help.”
