April 11, 2001 – 11:05
"Yes, definitively," said Coralis, looking at Emma and Jessica. "We'll also check you both. Anyone else got injured by your patient?"
Emma and Jessica shook their head, and Coralis examined them both.
"No. Owil arrived here last night and passed out as soon he walked through the front door. He didn't wake up until this morning," said Jessica.
"I don't think neither of you got infected, but we'll check again once we know what we're dealing with."
"I smelled Turmeric on both patients, think we're dealing with coven witches?" said Eva, sniffing the air toward Emma and Jessica. "I'm not smelling it on them."
"We're dealing with something worse. Coven witches might have a hand in this, but there is something else at play. Owil's connection to his wolf was cut off as if someone highjacked it, wanting to summon and control his wolf. We'll need to run some tests to determine what he's been injected with. Whatever this is, it's still cooking in Wilson's system, and it has already begun damaging his connection to his wolf."
"Before we entered Owil's room, you mentioned that you ran some blood tests when he arrived, but couldn't find anything. Do you still have blood samples?" said Eva.
"I'll reopen this patient's wounds where he's been bitten. I think it's the saliva that we need to test," said Coralis, peeling off bandages around his left shoulder. "Owil stayed mostly in human form, but his wolf was agitated and at the surface. Neither were in control."
Jessica handed Coralis a scalpel and a pair of gloves while Eva searched the cabinets. Emma grabbed her keys and opened the locked cabinets and drawers. Coralis cut the stitches and opened the wound with her gloved fingers.
"Owil been drooling in it! There is a lot more saliva in the wound than anticipated considering how fast he should have been healing."
"I'll need to do a supply run to collect what we need. They don't have anything that would reveal turmeric, or to make anything to drain it," said Eva.
"Good thing we took a portal with us, just in case. Let's have a look at their wards first, I want to check for breaches and anything that shouldn't be around the property."
"Do you have something stronger to make sure they both stay unconscious until I return with supplies? Blue will stick around just in case, but it might take me some time to gather what we need," said Eva, looking at Emma while Jessica patched Wilson.
"Yes, I'll take care of that while you check our wards," said Emma.
Coralis and Eva walked outside through the back door.
"Now I see why you insisted on calling the CMMA, they're really good. They restrained Owil without even getting a scratch on them. Agent Blue Thunder doesn't smell like a wolf, is she a werepanther? I don't think she smelled like a panther, but we don't see them that often," said Clarissa.
Emma and Jessica picked up Jeff Wilson and carried him to an empty room. Stephanie and Clarissa followed them and stood by the door. Emma tied and strapped him to a bed like she did for Luke Owil.
"I'm not sure what she is exactly, she has a very unique scent. I think she's some kind of elemental. I don't care about what she is, to be honest, agents Blue Thunder and Eva Suri are the most competent agents that the CMMA has ever sent us," said Jessica.
Stephanie wanted to know more about Frank's girlfriend and wondered what she was. As they walked back toward the reception area, Coralis got back in.
"We couldn't find anything relevant around the property, but the wards were compromised. I made new ones and added a layer of sensors to them. I'll go grab a bite at The Barn, and I'll activate the sensors when I return. I'll give you my pager number, just in case something happens while I'm out for lunch. I won't be gone long, 30 minutes top, but if there is anything, page me with a series of 9s, and I'll be on my way back here immediately."
"Mind if I go with you for lunch?" blurted Stephanie before looking at Emma. "Uh, is it ok if I take my lunch now?"
Coralis nodded. She didn't know Frank's sister worked at Healing Moon. Stephanie did mention working part-time at a clinic in Mirabel, but Coralis thought it was at a human one.
"Sure, go ahead. Best if you're out of here anyway, just in case the patients wake up sooner than they're supposed to," said Emma.
Coralis put on her eyeglasses and followed Stephanie outside. She was wondering if she should pull her flying stick out when Stephanie unlocked her car's door.
"I remember you mentioning portals to the other agent. I have a thousand questions about that, I'm guessing that you didn't drive here?"
"Uh, that's correct, neither one of us owns a car."
Stephanie and Coralis got in the car and fastened their seatbelts. Coralis wasn't sure how much she could reveal about herself to Stephanie, but the werewolves trusted her with their secrets.
"Did you come here through a portal? How does that work? To be honest, I didn't even know that existed until you mentioned it," said Stephanie, pulling out of the clinic's parking lot and thinking about what she wanted to ask Coralis.
"No, uh, I opened a semi-mobile portal for Eva to instantly go where she needed to. When she is ready to come back, she will let me know, and I will reopen it to allow her back here when uh, no shady or unknowing eyes are watching."
Both of them stayed silent until Stephanie pulled into the parking lot of a small restaurant about 5 minutes later. The establishment looked like an abandoned shack for anyone who drove by. The Barn was owned by werewolves and mostly frequented by local shifters, but patrons included all types of supernatural. The parking lot was behind the building and warded to make it look empty, so the human population wouldn't think that the building was more than what it seemed.
"Hey Blue, haven't seen you in a while. How are you doing?" said the hostess as they walked in. "For two?"
"Yes, for two. Mostly been busy out of town lately," said Coralis.
Stephanie's eyes went wide for a second, and she wondered how much her brother knew about all of it. Not only his girlfriend wasn't human, but she was also well-known in the werewolf community.
"I've got so, so, so many questions and I don't even know where to start," said Stephanie as they sat down at their table.
"I'm sure you do. What exactly do you know about this world? I mean, what humans would refer to as the supernatural world."
"I know all about werewolves. Well, I thought I did until I saw your partner shifting back with her clothes still intact. I also know a bit about other types of shifters as I sometimes see werepanthers, weremooses or weresquirrels at work. Beyond that, I've heard of vampires and witches, but not that much. Are you a werepanther or something else? I saw you partially shifting, it was the first time I saw that. Does my brother know?"
"I'm something else. Frank doesn't know yet, can you promise me that you won't tell him anything about what you found out about me? It's not that I don't want him to know, but uh, it's too soon. He can barely handle my work schedule, so we will see how things go between us."
"I won't tell him, I promise. As much as I would like to, my werewolf friends swore me to secrecy when I found out about them. I understand why people can't know about the supernatural world. My brother really likes you, as in, he never spoke about another girl the way he speaks about you. When you tell him, please let me know because I would love to be able to talk to him about my work and my friends."
"Sure. He will need to know, eventually, but not now."
The waiter came to take their order.
"So. What are you exactly?" said Stephanie, as soon as the waiter was out of earshot.