by Stephen Cole
Ramone glanced over at her. ‘Yeah, you do,’ he said quietly, ‘you really do.’ He turned back solemnly to Tom and Kate. ‘Ric tells me you looked after him good, wolf-boy. And Kate, you saved my ass from Swagger out there on the street. I owe you both, and I ain’t never gonna let you down.’
‘So how about you get yourself checked out by this Dr Woollard?’ Kate said. ‘I’d hate to think we saved your ass just so it could go septic.’
‘OK,’ Ramone sighed heavily. Rico moved aside as Jasmine came back in and started swabbing at his injuries.
Tom raised his arms in his baggy fluorescent jacket. ‘And since I’m fresh out of clean shirts, if you have any spare clothes a little less conspicuous than these …’
‘Got some gear in the sleep room,’ offered Ramone through gritted teeth. ‘Help yourself to whatever ain’t been burnt.’
Tom screwed up his nose as he entered the gloomy room, it reeked of smoke and charred plastic. The fire had done some damage but it hadn’t consumed everything in the closet. He pulled out some combats and a black tracksuit top – nice and inconspicuous.
He got back to find Jasmine was cleaning up Ramone’s head.
Ramone winced as she daubed antiseptic on to his sticky scalp. ‘Jas, you take Ric over to Park East to see Stacy,’ he ordered. ‘Me and Polar, we’ll hit Woollard’s.’ He looked up at Tom. ‘Guess you two’ll be shooting off now, huh?’
‘Tom says he wants to meet Stacy,’ Jasmine broke in.
‘We both would,’ added Kate quickly.
Jasmine shrugged. ‘Guess there’s room in the wagon.’
‘And, uh … your cop radio’s still working, right?’ Tom asked haltingly, and Ramone nodded. ‘I was wondering if you’d mind listening in, just in case you hear anything about my parents? The police must be in touch with them.’
‘OK, change of plan.’ Ramone turned to Polar: ‘You wanna stay home and eavesdrop on NY’s finest?’
Polar nodded, then slouched past them through to the room with the radio. He dragged out a chair and sat facing the squawking metal box, staring at it through the camera like it was about to scuttle off somewhere.
‘So what you waiting for?’ growled Ramone to the rest of them. ‘Get out of here.’
‘Later, Ro,’ said Rico, bumping knuckles as the others added their farewells.
‘’S’right.’ Ramone smiled, mussed up Rico’s hair with the flat of his palm. ‘See y’all later. Ciudate.’
Kate glanced back and smiled. ‘Keep safe yourself.’
The smile faded from her face as she followed the others out into the cold sunlight, on to the bare, unwelcoming street.
‘Keep safe,’ Tom echoed softly, and the run-down world around him seemed to laugh in his face.
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CHAPTER NINE
Tom and Kate hung back while Jasmine and Rico marched up to the admissions desk at Park East Virology Unit. They took seats in the waiting room beside a woman slumped in her chair with a brown leather coat draped over her, softly snoring.
‘Wish I could grab a few zees myself, now,’ muttered Tom, rubbing his eyes. Kate nodded sullenly.
‘Rico Carranza to see Dr Stacy Stein,’ Jasmine announced to the desk clerk. ‘She’s expecting him.’
‘That’s right! I am!’ cried the woman beside Tom, scaring him half to death. Jasmine and Rico spun around in surprise as the woman jumped up from the chair like it was electrified and stared at them, her ice-blue eyes wide and bright. ‘Good to see you again, Rico. And Jasmine – you thought any more about trying to get yourself on that mentoring programme?’
‘Yeah, I thought about it,’ Jasmine replied curtly, though the look on her face suggested she hadn’t dwelled on it for long.
‘Think about it some more. It’d be good for you.’ Dr Stein enjoyed a noisy, extravagant stretch, bending her well-proportioned body backwards. ‘I’ve been waiting for you out here since my shift ended – must’ve fallen asleep. I guessed you’d wandered off somewhere when I collected the package from reception.’
Now it was Tom’s turn to jump up. ‘The package arrived? Those treated blood samples from Dr Woollard?’
Dr Stein turned to face him. She was probably in her early thirties, her features well-defined and framed by coppery shoulder-length hair. ‘You know about those?’ she asked, not accusingly, just interested.
Tom lowered his voice. ‘And about the ’wolves, Dr Stein,’ he confirmed.
She didn’t seem particularly surprised. ‘Call me Stacy,’ she said, but as she held out a hand in greeting, she peered at him closely. ‘Your face looks familiar.’
Please, God, don’t let there be a newspaper around here, Tom thought, returning her strong handshake. ‘Just one of those faces, I guess. I’m Tom, I was with Jasmine and—’
‘Wait, wait, wait,’ said Stacy, shaking her head, her voice falling to a whisper. ‘Not with all these people around. Besides, this sounds like a long story and long stories always sound better with hot coffee and bagels.’ She held out her hand to Kate. ‘Am I right, Miss …?’
‘Kate,’ she said, shaking the outstretched hand. ‘And I think you’re the most right person I ever met.’
Stacy led them to a coffee shop deep inside the hospital, and ordered for everyone before bustling over to a hexagonal table. ‘Sit down, all,’ she said, drumming her fingers on the tabletop until they were seated, ‘and let’s get the introductions out of the way.’
Tom and Kate told selected highlights from their separate stories over Styrofoam cups of thick, treacly coffee while Rico and Jasmine filled their faces with cream cheese bagels. Tom detailed the chase for the blood samples and the risks Swagger’s men took to get them, and Kate confirmed how Swagger himself arranged for what was left to reach Stacy.
Stacy gave a low whistle. ‘Weird goings-on, all right.’
‘It was weird,’ Kate said. ‘Swagger was furious with the thugs who’d stolen the samples. He said you needed them.’
‘I do, they’re very valuable to my work.’ Stacy seemed strangely moved. ‘For a lupine to have said that – he must be counting on me coming through for him and his kind.’
‘Er …’ Kate paused awkwardly. ‘Actually, he called you the dumbest person on the East Coast.’
Stacy shrugged. ‘I’m not in this line of work for the applause,’ she said mildly. ‘Oh, those poor kids …’
‘Excuse me?’ Tom frowned at her. ‘Those poor kids are maniacs.’
‘Murderers,’ Kate added.
Jasmine agreed. ‘Did you miss the part where they almost killed us to get that stuff?’
‘I’m sorry,’ said Stacy. ‘Of course it’s wrong, what they did. But it’s not entirely their fault. They’re lupine now, desperate for anything that’ll help them cope with the new-found needs, with the conflicts that being ’wolf entails.’
‘So am I,’ Tom blurted out, and immediately regretted it. ‘Desperate, I mean.’
Stacy stared at him. ‘You’re lupine?’
‘He’s a newblood,’ Kate said quietly, ‘not long turned.’
‘And I hate it,’ Tom said. ‘When I was first bitten I fought; was able to resist the change – like Rico.’
Jasmine nodded. ‘Rico got bitten, but he don’t change.’
Tom scowled. ‘But unlike Rico, I was bitten, locked up for a month and force-fed turning herbs and potions until my resistance cracked.’
‘By my mother,’ Kate put in bitterly.
‘But Tom ain’t like the other howlers,’ chirped Rico, chewing on a big bite of bagel. ‘He ain’t mean and hungry; he don’t chase people down. He saved us! And he keeps his own eyes.’
‘Tom retains some human control when in the lupine form,’ Kate explained. She paused. ‘We think he’s a wereling.’
‘Wereling, huh?’ Stacy looked at Tom coolly. ‘And maybe a killer too, right?’ She turned to Kate. ‘With your accomplice, here, natch. I just figured out where I’d se
en you before. The TV news on my break last night.’
Tom met her stare. ‘It’s not what you think, I swear.’
Stacy just raised her eyebrows. ‘I don’t know. I guess I’m supposed to turn you in.’
‘No!’ Rico cried, ‘you can’t!’
Jasmine looked set to chip in too, until Stacy waved them all into silence. ‘But I won’t. Selfish, I guess – but whatever you’ve done, I want to run some tests on you, Tom. If your story’s true I think you could be a lot of help to me.’
‘It is true,’ he said vehemently, ‘and I’ll help you in any way I can.’
Stacy smiled and nodded. ‘And, you know, maybe I can help you. Kate, hon, those long black tresses of yours are gorgeous, sure – but just a little distinctive for a girl on the run, don’t you think?’
‘I never really thought …’ Kate put a hand to her hair. ‘What, you think I should chop it all off?’
‘And you could give it to Tom to wear, like a wig,’ suggested Rico unhelpfully.
Stacy waved a dismissive hand. ‘Oh, he’s just your average guy. Who’d look at him twice?’
‘Gee, I feel much better now,’ Tom said.
‘Anyway, believe it or not, guys –’ Stacy straggled her fingers through her own coppery hair – ‘this isn’t natural. I’ve got some henna in my locker, Kate. You’d be welcome to try some.’
Kate shrugged. ‘I guess, if you think it will help.’
‘It’ll help me feel happier if I’m caught helping wanted felons,’ said Stacy dryly. ‘Why officer, this girl can’t be that killer in the paper, not with that gorgeous red hair …’ She grew more serious. ‘Kate, is your whole family lupine?’
‘Purebloods. Mom’s from the Hargraves family line, Dad’s a Folan,’ Kate said. ‘Two of the oldest families around.’
‘So you’re a pureblood female, huh?’ Stacy nodded to herself, and took a bite of bagel. She chewed it thoughtfully. ‘All that lupine potential awaiting activation, wow … And just doing it with a ’wolf presses the button – that’s the way it works, right?’
Kate flinched. ‘Your bedside manner sucks.’
‘I’m sorry,’ said Stacy. ‘Really. That’s real tough for you.’
Kate sipped her coffee. ‘Yeah.’
‘And for me too. I won’t be able to learn much from your blood till your lupine cells are in gear …’
Kate looked appalled at the thought. ‘Sorry,’ she said tightly. ‘I’d rather die than let my lupine cells “get in gear”. But believe me,’ she added, ‘my mother’s trying to help you out.’ She wound a finger distractedly through her hair. ‘How about you? How come you’re so interested in lupines?’
Stacy shrugged. ‘I’m a virologist. I study viruses and the diseases they cause. To me, lycanthropy – the transformation into the lupine state – is just another infectious medical condition.’
‘A lot of people wouldn’t see it that way,’ Tom pointed out. ‘These are werewolves we’re talking about.’
‘I don’t care for terms like werewolf.’ Stacy shook her head decisively, and took a quick swig of coffee. ‘People are so conditioned by all that cheap horror movie crap. If they ever found out the truth about lycanthropy – about how many real lupines operate in this city – there’d be widespread panic.’
‘Right,’ said Jasmine dryly. ‘When the poor folk are just hungry, the good people don’t give a damn. But when the poor folk grow fangs … that’s when the good people take notice.’
Stacy passed her another bagel. ‘I know it’s tough, but that’s the situation we’re dealing with. People can’t handle the truth. That’s why the work I’m doing isn’t sanctioned or funded by the hospital authorities, why it has to stay completely unofficial. Just me and a few sympathetic health workers who turn a blind eye when they need to. We’re working to do something about the situation before it gets completely out of hand.’
‘That’s why you have to use people like Woollard,’ Tom concluded.
Stacy nodded. ‘Funding cutbacks at the hospital last year meant that I lost a lot of the equipment I’d come to depend on in this private little crusade of mine. So, yeah, I turned to Dr Woollard.’ Her tone softened. ‘Despite the drink, he’s still a brilliant man. And he’s really helped me out. With this kind of research, you can’t outsource sample preparation and testing to any regular lab. I really rely on him.’
‘You ever hear of a man called Jicaque?’ Tom asked. ‘We came here to find him.’
‘The big-deal shaman guy – lot of dealings with the ’wolves, right?’ Stacy replied. ‘Yeah, he got in touch, once. Tried to help, must’ve heard what I was doing somehow. He sent me some herbs that were meant to boost the body’s defences against cellular mutation. But it was so hard to run proper trials that I—’
Tom cut her off. ‘You’ve never seen him, met with him?’
‘Never even talked to him,’ she admitted. ‘Sorry.’
Tom shrugged defeatedly. ‘Forget it,’ he said. And so should I.
‘But Stacy, how come you got involved with all this?’ Kate persisted.
Stacy busied herself spreading cream cheese on another bagel. ‘My husband. He was a brilliant man, a top surgeon. Some lupine rich bitch in the Meat Packing District wanted him for a mate, so one night he was turned.’ She gave a short, humourless laugh. ‘Perhaps that’s why lupines don’t scare me. The dark mystique of a creature of legend kinda lessens when you have to wash his underpants each week.’
‘What happened?’ Tom asked quietly.
‘He stayed true to his vows … True to me – in spite of all she offered him. He hated what he’d become, but was powerless to fight it.’ There was something hard in Stacy’s eyes as she looked at Tom. ‘Unlike you, unlike Rico, he had no resistance. Oh, he tried, sure … Tried not to kill … But in the end the ’wolf grew too strong.’
Tom watched as she gouged big, doughy chunks from the bagel with her fingernails.
‘I watched him suffer, day after day. Watched him try to cope. But I couldn’t help him.’ She flashed a small and watery smile around the table. ‘He took his own life. So now I try to help the other victims of this … condition. As best I can.’
A heavy silence had fallen like a shroud over the table.
‘I’m sorry, you did want a side order of sob-story with your breakfast, didn’t you?’ she joked. ‘Come on. Finish off and let’s get to work. Rico, I’ll write you a ’script for your asthma if you give me some blood, OK?’
He grimaced. ‘Some deal.’
‘And Tom,’ said Stacy, ‘I’d like to test some of yours too, see how it compares. Kate, you want to do your hair while you’re waiting?’
‘I guess,’ said Kate doubtfully.
‘I’ll fetch you that henna. And some surgical gloves.’
Kate looked alarmed. ‘Huh?’
‘The stuff stains your skin if you’re not careful,’ explained Stacy, ‘so gloves are a must. And plentiful around here.’
‘I wondered why you’d dye your hair in the hospital and not at home,’ Tom said.
Stacy smiled tightly. ‘That’s mainly because this place is my home, pretty much. I don’t even remember the inside of my own bathroom.’ She paused. ‘Anyway, don’t get me started. Hey, Jasmine, you going to help Kate with her hair?’
Jasmine and Kate looked at each other.
‘Mmm, that sounds like fun,’ said Jasmine.
Kate scowled. ‘I can manage by myself, thanks.’
Oh, brother, Tom thought.
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‘So what is it you’re trying to achieve with your work?’ Tom asked, watching the silver needle-point slip under his skin.
Stacy gently eased out the plunger of the syringe, and it filled with his blood. ‘I’m working to isolate what I call the “’wolf factor” – the gene in lupine cells responsible for the metamorphosis. Once I’ve isolated it, I can work on a way of neutralising it.’
‘You think that’s possible?’ Tom asked.
‘I’m close, I’m sure of it.’ She swabbed at the tiny bead of blood left by the needle in the crook of his arm. ‘Thanks to Rico. His blood is special stuff: it contains a highly reactive enzyme that seems toxic to the lupine system.’
Tom settled back on the examination couch. ‘What does this enzyme do?’
‘It attacks lycanthropic cells, causes fatal mutations in the chromosomes.’ She poured the blood into a Petri dish. ‘And since the lupine metabolism is far faster than a human’s, the cellular degeneration occurs so fast that the immune system is swamped.’
‘So, translating,’ Tom ventured, ‘any ’wolf attempting to chow down on Rico might as well be swallowing rat poison – except they’ll die a lot quicker. Right?’
‘Right. So I’ve been introducing Rico’s blood to samples of both lupine and human blood, and comparing the effects on the cells. If I can isolate all the genes affected in the lupine blood …’
‘You’ll have found werewolf DNA,’ concluded Tom. ‘Neat.’
She tapped the Petri dish. ‘And your blood could be a great help. Your resister gene should still be present even if it’s been mutated by the ’wolf factor. By comparing your sample to Rico’s, we can find which genes you share. It should speed up the search.’
‘It’s been slow work, huh?’
‘Damned slow,’ Stacy sighed, pushing back her hair absent-mindedly, ‘even with a genius like Woollard helping me out.’
Tom frowned. ‘I must be slow too. Why would the ’wolves go to all that trouble just to steal some blood samples?’
Stacy shook her head. ‘They weren’t just blood samples, remember? Woollard treated them – turned them into Stacy Serum.’
‘Into what?’
‘The interim measure until I find a proper cure: Stacy Serum.’ She smiled. ‘I believe that the cravings of the ’wolf – bloodlust, aggression, the urge to hunt – are just symptoms of the lupine infection.’
‘This is what Woollard was talking about,’ Tom realised. ‘The stuff in his case.’