Kali held the door open and Jared carried Alicia into the small but cozy cabin. Kali led them to a room in the back with a small but plush twin bed. Jared laid Alicia down and stepped back. Bertha walked into the room, her formidable form seeming to fill it, making it smaller than it was. Kali shooed Jared out of the room so that the two women could undress Alicia, even though it wasn’t like he hadn’t already seen her naked.
Modesty was so stupid in situations, like this but women always seemed to insist on it. He stepped into the nearest bathroom and splashed some cool water on his face before peeling his sweat soaked shirt off of his back and tossing it in the washer.
He had been to Kali's house many times, and on occasion was known to spend the night. He walked into the kitchen and poured himself a glass of lemonade from the fridge. Chugging half of it immediately, he leaned against the counter and waited for the two women to finish.
Kali and Bertha exited the room about ten minutes later and they both walked over and grabbed drinks. Bertha blushed bright red upon seeing Jared without a shirt, Kali merely looked him up and down and drank her lemonade. She had seen the whole show before and while it was a nice one, there was a time and place for those things. This was definitely not it, she had an unconscious very sick human in her spare bedroom, with no apparent reason for the illness.
Bertha had told her what Jared had spoken of regarding the illness and he was right- it was very much like the change. Every supernatural was a complete null until they hit puberty. At puberty they all went through the change. Essentially it was their DNA rewriting itself, or so it had been described in layman’s terms. Unfortunately, it was more complex than that.
The supernatural DNA, took over the body, it ate the human DNA much like a cancer, replicating itself until there was only about 5% human DNA left. Though it was unlikely that this was the change in Alicia's case, she was much too old. Kali had never heard of an adult going through the change, it had always been puberty driven.
There was little to talk about now, having discussed both the terrifying drive here and Alicia’s current state. Now they needed to wait and find out what Joseph had to say. He had called about ten minutes ago, while Bertha and Kali were in the bedroom with Alicia to let them know he was a few minutes out. He was bringing his home care kit as well as a portable iv, some saline solution and antibiotics.
None of them knew if she had any allergies, so they could only hope that this did not go terribly, terribly wrong. Even if she was, by some crazy magic, going through the change the antibiotics wouldn’t harm her unless she was allergic to them. He had also brought an epi pen in the off-chance that she was. Joseph was honestly the most reliable supernatural doctor that Kali had run across in the past ten years. He was young, but he was a good doctor and had a great bedside manner if you could get past his salacious nature. Yes, the good doctor was a pervert!
Chapter Six
Joseph arrived about ten minutes later. Bertha, Kali, and Jared were sitting in the kitchen, not really eating some of Kali's homemade biscuits with fruit and jam. Kali looked up as Joseph walked in.
"You are late." Joseph shrugged, “Well, if some people hadn’t raised holy hell on their way here I would have been on time.”
He looked to Kali and then towards the bedrooms, “The spare room I presume?” Kali nodded and rose to follow him.
I could hear voices around me, and the bed I was on was like sleeping on a cloud. I struggled to open my eyes, to groan, to let someone know I was here. They kept talking above me as if no one could see me. What the hell was going on!? I moved to try to sit up, to try to get someone's attention, but it was all I could do to breathe. It felt like someone was sitting on my chest. My stomach chose that moment to lurch and I rolled over to the side, my mouth opening and tears streaming from my eyes.
Retching over and over, the sound of wet thick vomit splattering against the floor reached my ears. The smell was overwhelming, it was like something was dying inside of me and coming out of my mouth. It made me retch again. I sobbed and tried to say that I was sorry. Tried to thank whoever it was wiping the sweat and vomit from my face with a cool rag. My stomach muscles burned so much. I felt like I was dying. I had to wake up, I had to get up, Jen was waiting for me. Another wave of nausea took me and I scrunched my eyes closed as tight as I could. It was like every muscle in my stomach was on fire.
I wanted to just curl up in a ball and die.
Joseph watched as Alicia rolled and vomited, shortly after he and Kali entered the room. He took a swab and ran it through the vomit, then put it in a small tube and capped it.
“She is throwing up blood… maybe you are right Kali... She is presenting all of the symptoms of the change. I think we need to research further into her family. What were you able to find out the first time around?”
Kali shrugged and went to the dresser pulling out a small folder, “Really, nothing at all. Her parents died at a young age. From what the relatives we could find to speak to had to say, her parents were both raised in a small orphanage in Ireland.”
Kali looked at Joseph her face showing her concern. “They moved to the United States as young adults. The orphanage itself is closed and has no records available. I couldn’t even find a list of staff to call and check with.”
Joseph looked at Kali, an eyebrow raised “And you did not find this even remotely unusual? By the sounds of it, her entire family lineage is a mystery.”
Kali chewed on her bottom lip watching as Joseph cleaned the sweat and blood from Alicia’s face. “It was a bit odd, but it is not uncommon for orphanages from that time period to close for various reasons. I saw no reason to investigate it further... but now I’m wondering if we should send someone to Ireland. Honestly, it’s a bit unusual when I really think about it. There should have been someone who had information or some remaining staff somewhere.”
Joseph nodded and took a cool moist cloth and rinsed it before returning to wiping the sweat and vomit from Alicia's face. “It may be a bit late for that, but perhaps when she is better... If she is going through the change, then of course she would want to know. If not, we can just assume it’s some sort of human illness… I’ll have to do some tests.”
Kali left the room and Joseph went about tending to Alicia. He carefully inserted an IV and hooked her up to a saline drip so she wouldn’t get dehydrated. Within minutes, her color greatly improved, she was no longer a jaundiced, pale color. She shifted restlessly and he pressed a hand to hers, and patted her gently, hoping to soothe her.
He wiped the sweat from her back and chest with a fresh washcloth and rinsed it before laying it gently on her forehead. After giving a few more minutes to let the saline improve her hydration, he pushed a needle full of a vitamin and nutrient cocktail. He would let that have an hour to get into her system before he would give her the first dose of IV antibiotics.
Joseph went into the living room and dropped himself onto the couch with a sigh. He looked at Kali, Bertha, and Jared, who were looking at him as if expecting an answer.
“Upon examination, it does look like she is going through the change... what sort of supernatural being she is, I have no idea. I have never have known of an adult going through the change. Nor have I read of it in any of my research.” Joseph looked at Kali, as he rubbed his hands through his short brown hair.
Kali nodded and gave a sigh.
“Well, I guess that makes less of an issue for her representing Jen, however her reaction will be- interesting. She has grown up as a human and has been under the impression she is a human for all of her life. To be told that she might not... well, who knows how she is going to take that.” Kali was going to be the one who would be responsible for telling Alicia, they all knew this.
Kali could understand that, while they had all gone through the change as teenagers, the transition was not easy. You had to re-identify with yourself. You were no longer the same person anymore. The way you ate, thought, moved, and went about your day-to-day a
ctivities, was totally different.
Some races had to do things at specific times, others had to avoid things, like the bovines. It was a life-altering change, sort of like menopause, pregnancy, menstruation and midlife crises. Some people just eased into it slowly, others had no problems at all.
For Jared the change had been horrible, he had been sick for months. Throwing up, fevers, sweats, hallucinations. It had been hell. For Kali, it was just like putting on a new pair of shoes- no real difference. It also seemed to be dependent on what race you were and at this point no one had any idea what kind of supernatural Alicia could be.
Hell, they were not even positive that is what was going on. If it was, what had caused the onset? Being surrounded by supernaturals all at once? Some pheromone or chemical they secreted? All they could do was wait and see if the change ran its course. In very rare occurrences there were cases that people did not make it through the change and died midway through the process. The onset of the illness or the change itself was too difficult and their bodies just couldn’t keep up. This was a real and viable concern for Alicia, if she was going through the change could her body handle it as an adult? and this entire situation was so much different than that of other supernaturals.
Jen fidgeted in her cell, she was tired of being here. Alicia had not called or shown up in a few days now. The prison was a noisy place, there was always screaming and yelling. Prisoners were allowed no inside or outside contact with anyone other than the guards, their lawyers and weekly visitation from immediate family only.
Jen had seen her father yesterday and when she had asked, he had no idea what was going on with Alicia either. He had checked her hotel room but she wasn’t answering. Her car was in the parking lot, and didn’t appear to have moved. He had driven by on a few different occasions and there was no change. Bertha did not appear to be at the hotel either, and Sadie was pretty much useless. She had blown him off as he was not young and cute, and therefore did not warrant any information from her.
Jen looked down at the notepad in front of her where she had been jotting
down everything she could think of. She wanted to make sure that Alicia had all the information exactly as she remembered it. She knew that if Alicia was able she would sequester an angel to do a replay, but if that was possible, every miniscule detail was important.
Jen ran a hand through her short dark hair and leaned back against the wall. It had been really hard to concentrate during the day, so Jen had taken to writing down things at night. She was also keeping a journal on her treatment in the prison and things about the system that she had noted as needing to be changed.
The prison system while fair, was inhumane. Even prisoners deserve daily social contact beyond getting food shoved through a hole and the fifteen-minute jaunt around a fenced in track. Granted the prisoners kept here were not human, but the primary focus of the council was to blend with human society.
This prison system did not blend with humanities’ opinion on what was acceptable for prisoners. Sure, a prisoner committed a crime and therefore lost their rights to normal treatment, but there needed to be limitations on what could and could not be allowed. For example, A Djinn in this prison was unable to get the fifteen-minute jaunt around the fenced in track. Why? Because a Djinn could teleport and therefore would be able to escape. Jen could understand this reasoning, however there were ways around that. A barrier could be put up that prevented teleportation, for example.
Little simple things like barriers, extended visiting hours, weekly phone calls- could make the prison a much more hospitable place. It would also allow it to stand up to any inspections by the state board, should they come sniffing around for any reason. It would be difficult to explain to the state board why the prison did not allow conversation and socialization as well as enrichment programs like most.
Recently she had heard noises in the room beside her. She had tried to get the other person’s attention but had been ignored. On occasion she could hear what she thought to be singing. Whoever it was, was definitely male based on the sounds of his voice. Jen noted this down as well and put it in the diary that she put under her pillow.
If anything, her time in prison was letting her further her work for the council. The laws and the prison system needed amending, and it was time for them to move to a more modern age. Perhaps she and Alicia could help with that, when this was all over. Jen finished the last of her notes for the evening and put the notebook and the pencil underneath her pillow. She laid down and stared up at the ceiling for a while before drifting off to sleep, hoping to hear from Alicia soon.
Jared settled down, laying across the couch. Everyone else was asleep for now. They had agreed it would be best if they all stayed there for the night and took turns watching out for the terrorist group. So far his watch had been uneventful, he only had about another hour before it was time for him to wake up Bertha.
The bovine was odd, she blushed at a lot of what he said. Perhaps she had a thing for him, it might be worth pursuing… though the whole interracial thing could prove a challenge. A werewolf and a were-cow… Prey and predator, that would be an odd mixture, right? He looked over at the woman where she slept on the other couch. Kali was sleeping in her bedroom and Joseph was asleep on the floor in the room with Alicia, he had wanted to be close to her in case something happened.
Jared woke with a start, shit, he had fallen asleep! He pushed himself up off of the couch and walked towards the kitchen to grab a cup of coffee. A movement in the corner of his eye caught his attention. He turned and a closed fist caught him right in the jaw, his mouth opening in surprise as if to shout, but unconsciousness claimed him quickly and he crumpled into a heap on the floor.
His eyes were heavy as he slowly regained consciousness. He gradually stumbled to his feet, running his hand across his jaw, his fingers coming away wet and sticky with blood. Damn, that guy had packed a real punch. He staggered to his feet and looked around, the fast movement making him dizzy, he stopped and gripped the counter top to regain his balance. The house was quiet, much too quiet.
He stumbled towards the couch, fighting off the waves of dizziness to find Bertha was gone. He walked down the hall and opened the door to the room that Alicia was in. She was no longer there, and Joseph was on the ground unconscious, a nasty looking gash on his forehead seeping blood onto the rug. He walked the last few feet and opened Kali’s bedroom door, but she too was gone. Whoever it was that had come here had taken the three women and knocked the two men out.
Chapter Seven
Kali struggled to gain consciousness but whatever drug the kidnappers had used was making it hard. Her eyelids felt like they were glued shut and it was like her brain was fogged over. She pushed one eye open, the effort causing her to pant slightly as her body fought against the drugs. She could vaguely make out what looked like two men, both had their backs to her and were talking over something.
They were too far away for her to make out what they were saying, or maybe the drug was affecting her hearing as well. One of the men turned as if noticing her movement and walked towards her squatting, and leaning in really close.
“Well, well, well, it looks like our lovely Wampus council leader has woken up.” Kali stared into his face, she could not even hide her disgust.
It was Dante, the Djinn council representative. “Dante, what the hell are you doing?”
He smirked and lifted a hand, belting her across the face with the back of his palm. “I am fixing our human problem, or had you not noticed?”
Kali looked past him to where the other man was standing. Alicia was laying on the table, her face flushed again and her IV removed. She was tossing fitfully and Kali could see the sweat on her face from here. It was obvious that Alicia was getting progressively worse.
“You idiot,” Kali spat at his face. “Can’t you see she is sick?” Dante slapped her again and Kali reared back, her lip splitting and a bruise beginning to bloom along her cheek.
; “Why do I fucking care that some human chippie is sick?” Dante seethed. “She is going to be taken care of soon anyways.”
Kali groaned, the two hits to her head had rattled her a bit and she felt like she was going to be sick.
“Don’t you dare fucking puke on me you stupid old bitch.” Kali looked up at him but the movement was too much, and her head reeled causing her to lean forward and vomit all over his Italian leather shoes.
Dante stalked away cursing, he wanted to hit her again but thought better of it, afraid that Kali may just puke on him again. His clothing was too expensive for that, it was going to take hours to get the puke out of the leather shoes and they would probably be ruined anyways.
Broken Glass: An Alicia Jacobs Novel (The Alicia Jacobs Chronicle Book 1) Page 9