by Sarah Blair
The other creature snapped and snarled, scrambling to its feet. She brought the butt of the tank down on its head. It whimpered and went still.
She lifted again and smashed down harder.
The skull collapsed with a final crunch.
Sidney let out a shaking breath. Heavy paws threw her forward and her head met with the edge of the counter. The room danced around her as she slid to the floor. Her arm throbbed with the same pain she’d felt earlier from the dislocated shoulder. It hung limp and useless at her side.
A growl rumbled in her ear right before wet, hot jaws clamped down.
The pain she expected didn’t come. Squeezing pressure, but no pain.
Sidney reached out for something, anything, to help get the thing off her.
She closed down on a large shard from the fire extinguisher case. The glass cut into her own palm, but it didn’t matter. She thrust it into the creature’s eye.
It opened its mouth to yelp, and freed her shoulder.
She shoved the glass inside its mouth as it opened for another bite, wedging its jaws open.
She spotted the electric saw Tom used to cut open skulls for his autopsies. The creature banged and thrashed into the overturned table, trying to free itself.
Sidney climbed to her feet and grabbed the saw. The loud buzz caught the creature’s attention. It growled and they locked eyes. Blood dripped out of its mouth.
Sidney backed it into the corner against the cabinets and brought the saw down on its head. Blood sprayed her face, but she didn’t dare close her eyes until it collapsed.
It had managed to recover before; she wasn’t taking any chances of it happening again. She didn’t stop until she’d cut through the neck completely. She did the same to the other creature and turned the saw off.
The sudden silence rang in her ears.
She sank down and rested her cheek on the floor.
Cold seeped in, spreading out and up from where her skin touched the tiles.
Mitch’s voice ordered her to keep her eyes open. But she was so tired.
It was easier to let them close, just so she could rest for a while.
Eight
“Don’t be ridiculous. There’s no such thing as werewolves.”
Sidney’s grandfather sat in the big chair behind his desk in the library. The glow from the fire illuminated the heavy crystal tumbler he drank from, sending sparkles across the opposite wall. “The police are still investigating what happened to your parents, but there are certainly no such creatures on the list of suspects.”
“I know what I saw,” she insisted.
“What you think you saw is a figment of your imagination,” Alexander Lake said. She could tell by his tone that he was losing his patience with her ‘stories.’ “Doctor Gardner says it’s perfectly normal for your mind to create fantastic scenarios about such an occurrence. But that’s all this is. A fantasy. There are no monsters creeping around your room.”
“It was real. It had huge green eyes.”
“The better to see you with, my dear?” A smile played across his thin lips.
“Why don’t you believe me?”
“Because you’re speaking nonsense.” He turned his attention back to the papers on his desk. “We’re finished here.”
Sidney stayed, not wanting to face that long dark hallway again. The fire was warm and inviting. All she wanted was to curl up in one of the big chairs and go to sleep there.
She was afraid to say the next words out loud, but even more afraid not to; they came in a broken whisper, “I don’t want to be alone.”
“Go to bed, Sidney.”
Her worst fears confirmed, she turned and left the room, holding her breath as she stepped into the hallway. She stopped short when she saw that her parents’ bedroom door was open. It had been closed a few minutes ago when she’d tiptoed to the library to talk to her grandfather.
She stood in the hallway, swaying back and forth with indecision. Going back into the library wasn’t an option. Finally, she got up the courage to put one foot in front of the other and dashed past.
A low growl leaked out from the darkness.
All she saw was a pair of huge green eyes before the thing knocked her into the wall. Its breath blew hot and wet on her face and powerful jaws clamped down on her shoulder.
“It’s a dream. You’re safe.”
Sidney clawed at the air. The sweet scent of citrus and chocolate brought her back to her senses. Mitch’s face filled her vision. He grabbed her wrists to hold them still.
“It’s me,” he said.
Sidney dug her fingernails into her palms, breathing hard.
“You’re okay. I’m here. You’re safe,” he told her.
A monitor beeped quietly near her head. She wore a thin hospital gown. An IV pricked the back of her left hand.
It was hard to swallow. Her mouth was dry like she’d tried to eat the stuffing out of her pillow. She wanted to speak, there were so many questions, but the words wouldn’t come out.
Mitch reached over and put a straw to her lips. The cool water she sucked down tasted like it came from the Spring of Life itself. After two big gulps he snatched it away.
“Slow down. Take it easy. They’re trying to lower your fever. Could be an infection from the bite.”
“More.” Her voice didn’t sound right. It was raw and scratchy, like she hadn’t spoken in days. She wasn’t sure what he was talking about. Her nightmares were so much more vivid now. Like her dreams and reality had collided. She had no idea what was real anymore.
“Small sips.”
Another few gulps went down.
Pain shot through her legs, worse than any cramp she’d ever gotten swimming. It was as if her muscles were pulling apart and knitting back together at the same time. She screamed and writhed as the spasms made their way up her body, spreading through to her very fingertips.
The monitors went wild, beeping and screeching. Sidney grabbed Mitch’s hand and held on. The nurse rushed in and punched buttons on the monitor until it went silent, then added a shot of something into the IV line.
Sidney whimpered.
“I know, honey. This will help you relax,” the nurse said. She smoothed her hand over Sidney’s forehead. Her touch was so cool and gentle. Sidney closed her eyes as a different kind of warmth spread through her body.
“We’ll get these ice packs changed out. It’s a good sign she woke up. Was she able to speak?”
Sidney couldn’t stay awake long enough to hear Mitch’s response.
An earthy scent of cool moss and freshly turned earth hit her nose. For a second she wondered if she’d been buried alive.
“She needs to be in the water. It will help.”
“How do you know that?”
The second voice belonged to Mitch.
“No time to explain. You have to trust me.”
That was a new voice. Something British, but she couldn’t place the region.
The door clicked shut and there was nothing but the soft steady beep of the monitor near her head.
“Hey.” Mitch squeezed her hand.
Sidney turned her head toward his voice. A small silver cross hung around his neck. She reached out and touched it with the tip of her finger.
He glanced down as if he’d forgotten it was there.
“I saved it for you.” He removed it from his neck and placed it back around hers.
Her lips formed the words to tell him thank you, but there was no sound behind it.
“It’s all right. You don’t have to say anything.”
“Tom?” she rasped.
He glanced to a place on the bed somewhere near her feet, and that was all she needed to know.
“They shot him.” Tears filled her eyes and she couldn’t get the words out fast enough, even though her throat was less than cooperative. “They shot him and they turned into wolves.”
“Don’t worry about that now.” Mitch caught her tears with his finger. “On
e thing at a time. You need to get well.”
“They’re real, Mitch. I know what I saw. My parents—” She tried to sit up, but he covered her forehead with his palm. He didn’t need to apply any force, the weight of his hand was enough to keep her still. “They’re back. You believe me, don’t you?”
“Look who’s awake. Good to see your eyes, honey.” The nurse came in the room loud and overly cheerful. “How about we try a nice bath?”
Mitch kissed her hand again. “We’ll talk about it later.”
Nine
The bed bounced and Sidney jerked her eyes open to see a small gym bag by her feet. Her hand was free of the IV and the monitors were silent.
“Hey, Sleeping Beauty.” Williams’ voice boomed in the small room.
She glared at him, certain that if she was still hooked up to the heart monitor, it’d be going wild right about now. “Don’t sneak up on me like that.”
He paused, worry tugging his eyebrows together. “Sorry, Sidney I—”
“Don’t get mushy on me.” She eased up into a sitting position, testing out the idea of being fully upright for the first time in . . . she wasn’t actually sure how long.
Williams sat his lanky frame in the chair, propping his feet up on the bed. He smelled like jelly donuts. “You look like you’ve had a busy Spring Break in Cabo.”
A solid round of verbal sparring was just what she needed to feel normal again. She took in his sweater vest and ridiculously colorful tie. “You look like a clown threw up on a librarian.”
He twiddled his thumbs in his lap. “That’s the best you’ve got?”
“You’re going to bust my chops right now?” She peeked in the bag. “What’s this?”
“Chief packed it for you.”
Clothes and shoes, a hairbrush, toothbrush, everything she needed was tossed inside. The smell of her own clothes mingled with Mitch’s scent and all she wanted to do was curl up in his arms.
“Where is he?”
She glanced over and caught Williams staring at her, eyes slightly narrowed, like she was a fruit fly and this was Freshman Biology.
“Hey! Williams!” She waved her hand around in front of his face. “Do I need to get my Nargle repellant?”
“What? Nothing.” He played innocent. “Need help with anything?”
“I think I can dress myself, weirdo.”
Sidney climbed out of bed. She grabbed the bag in one hand, and used the other hand to hold her gown closed in the back.
“No peeking,” she said.
“Gross.”
She shut the bathroom door and freshened up using the toiletries Mitch had thrown in. It was the same toothpaste she usually used, but it tasted different. Each ingredient stood out on its own. She checked the back of the tube; she was able to pick out the difference between the peppermint and the xylitol, whatever that was.
She tested her shoulder, rotating her arm around as best she could in the small space. It didn’t feel loose; it didn’t feel like anything. In fact, her range of motion was better than it was before.
Quickly, she pulled off the hospital gown to look at her scars.
They were faded.
She checked each one. They were still there, but barely visible, as if they’d been scrubbed away. Even the marks the demon had made were hardly more than a memory.
She swiped her hand across the mirror, removing the condensation, and leaned in for a closer look at her shoulder. Faded indentions in the shape of teeth marked the skin next to her collarbone.
Her knees went weak, she grabbed the edges of the sink to keep herself upright. After the ordeal she’d been through, there was no way she should be healed so soon.
An upbeat rhythm tapped on the door.
“Sidney? Everything okay?” Williams asked. There he was, using her first name again.
“Fine.” She hoped her voice didn’t sound as weak as it seemed to her own ears. “I’ll be out in a minute.”
While she got dressed, she sucked in long slow breaths in an attempt to calm herself. It was half a lifetime ago that her parents were killed. She’d spent every day since then wondering if she was crazy.
Now the creatures inside her head were a reality.
For the first time in her life, she wished her grandfather was right.
The elevator doors opened to that long hallway leading to the autopsy suites.
Williams walked out. Sidney couldn’t.
He held his hand out to stop the doors from closing. “Gotta do it sometime, Lake. Better get it over with quick, like a band-aid.”
“Yeah. You’re right.” She stepped out into the hallway.
“Hang on, what’s that? I’m what?” He cupped his hand behind his ear and leaned in.
“Shut up.” His humor brought her back to herself a little, helped her feel like this was any other trip to the lab. Even if she wouldn’t admit it to him, she was grateful.
Following Williams through the door of the autopsy suite was one of the most difficult things she’d ever had to do. She stepped wide over the place Tom had fallen and edged around the floor tiles where his blood had pooled.
There was no need. Everything was spotless. Even more so than before.
It was all as if nothing had happened. Once more, Sidney found herself questioning her sanity.
Banks and the chief stood on either side of a table with a cadaver opened up between them. Light from a bright lamp illuminated the trunk of a man’s body. On the table where the head should be sat a stainless steel bowl filled with bits of bone and shapeless brain matter.
She was expecting to see the creatures, not two human bodies.
“Gross. What happened to this guy?” Williams asked.
The chief glanced at her while Williams and Banks were focused on the cadaver. The edges of his eyes tightened with concern and he offered his hand to her as she approached.
It would be easy to slip in beside him, to let his fingers spread across the middle of her back where his hand fit so perfectly between her shoulder blades, like it was made to go there.
Accepting any kind of comfort now would be too much. Sidney had to keep it together, if only to prove to herself she could. There would be time for a breakdown later. But not here. Not now. They had a job to do. So, she averted her gaze to the body and went over to join Banks on his side of the table.
“It was blunt force trauma to the skull. Something big. Heavy,” Banks said.
“Fire extinguisher,” Sidney said. All three men stared at her. She shrugged. “He got a little hot-headed.”
“Lake, you suck. Leave all joking to the professionals,” Williams said.
Banks flashed that easygoing smile at her. Tension eased out of the chief’s shoulders, but the worried creases at the corners of his eyes remained.
“What else can you tell us about the body?” He used that deep authoritative tone Sidney liked to call his “FBI voice,” the one that always got everybody to shut up and listen.
“On first glance, it seems normal. All of the typical organs are there. All in the right place,” Banks said. “However, when I examined the tissue cells under the microscope I found an unidentifiable pathogen.”
“Pathogen?” Williams asked.
Sidney gave him a look.
“Like I’m supposed to know what he’s saying? I cheated off Megan in college. How do you think we met?”
“It’s some kind of virus I’ve never seen before,” Banks explained.
Sidney turned to him. “Would this virus make it possible for a person to change form into something else?”
Banks considered it and nodded. “It’s possible. A virus injects its own genetic code into the host cells. The genes are reverse transcribed into the host’s DNA which can cause the victim’s cells to behave abnormally. It’s likely the virus mutated these cells. I looked over the notes Dr. Fellows left, and he found similar results in the victim from the subway platform.”
“If it’s the same virus, why do these gu
ys look human and the Doe from the subway is, well, the way he is?” she asked.
Banks shook his head. “There could be several different explanations. It’ll take me a while to narrow it down.”
The chief’s phone rang. He checked the Caller ID.
“That’s Dimitrius. I have to take this.” He went out to the hall.
Banks turned to Sidney. “How are you feeling?”
“Fine.” She gave him an awkward smile. She’d never much cared to be the center of attention. “Good as new.”
“Better than this dude.” Williams moseyed over to the victim from the subway. He pulled the sheet away from the grotesque face and Sidney turned back to Banks.
“Any idea on cause of death?” she asked.
“I compared his wounds with yours and they didn’t match up. It wasn’t either one of these guys.”
“Damn it.” Sidney sank down onto a stool. “Like we need more monsters out there.”
Williams and Banks both stared at her.
“What?” she asked.
Banks scratched his shaggy hair, then tossed a glance to Williams.
“I kind of feel like I’m missing something here,” Sidney said.
“Maybe we should wait until the chief gets back.” Williams wouldn’t meet her gaze and it pissed her off.
“If you have something to say, Williams, say it.” She was scared, and that made her angry. Fear meant weakness. The last thing she needed to feel right now was weak.
Banks spoke up. “I tested your blood when your temperature spiked. You’re carrying the same virus.”
Sidney glanced over at the pointed ears and furry muzzle of their John Doe from the platform. “What does that mean?”
With every breath she caught a myriad of new scents. The meaty smell of the cadaver opened up on the table. The agar for taking sample cultures. Vanilla and coffee on Banks’ breath. A fresh coat of wax on the polished floor. The salty stink of Williams’ fear.
“One of those things bit you, Lake.” Her partner’s shoulders sagged, like the life had drained right out of him. “What do you think it means?”
