by C. D. Bell
Another assisting nurse handed the surgeon a long, thin blade. The surgeon’s back was to Nessa so she could not see what was happening. He seemed to be cutting.
“Beautiful!” he said quietly. All six people working leaned in. Nessa noticed several exchanged wide-eyed looks of amazement.
“Is the sterile transplant receptacle ready?”
Nessa realized at that instant that she knew the voice. As if the doctor read her thoughts, he turned, looking for the container. Nessa could see enough of his face to confirm her worst fears.
It was Dr. Raab.
“Check, doctor,” an orderly replied. He maneuvered a cart next to Dr. Raab. It contained a small metal cooler filled with dry ice. The orderly cut open a sealed pouch marked STERILE and pulled out a square glass jar filled with liquid.
“Okay, extraction nearly complete,” the surgeon said.
Nessa heard the beeps signifying that the wolf’s heart rate had jumped again. It continued to quicken until it was one long beep.
“Doctor, the subject has flat lined,” the nurse in charge of the heart monitor stated quietly. “His heart has stopped.”
“We’re almost there,” the surgeon answered. “Number 12 scalpel, please. Just a few more seconds.”
What was he doing? Why weren’t they trying to save the wolf and restart his heart?! The surgeon exchanged the long scalpel he had been using for a small, curved blade. Nessa felt a combination of horror and panic. But she could not take her eyes off what she was watching.
“Okay. Receptacle!” the surgeon snapped.
The orderly held the small sanitary glass container forward on a metal tray.
One woman looking on gasped, sounding amazed. “Oh my god!”
“Flat line now for twenty-five seconds,” the nurse overseeing the heart monitor stated.
The surgeon turned just then, and the orderly stepped aside. It was just for a moment that Nessa got a glimpse of what he was doing, but it was enough for the image to be seared in her brain.
A human ear was growing inside of the wolf’s stomach cavity.
A full-sized adult human ear.
And with a final cutting motion, Dr. Raab detached the ear, lifting it up for everyone to see.
“Congratulations, doctor,” one of those attending the procedure said.
“History being made,” another person chimed in. Her eyes shone with tears.
The heart rate machine continued to flat line. There were more important things than the wolf’s life on everyone’s mind.
Carefully placing the human ear in the liquid in the sterile container, Dr. Raab looked at the orderly and said, “We need to get this to Detroit, stat.”
“Of course, Dr. Raab,” the young man replied reverentially.
Before the surgeon could look up at the window to see what made the sound outside, Nessa was gone.
CHAPTER FORTY-EIGHT
Nessa turned and ran without thinking.
Without thinking she ran toward the wolf gate.
Without thinking why no one was shooting or why no one was closing the gate, she ran through it.
She ran until the smells of the Paravida plant were well behind her, and then she ran some more for good measure, her mind racing even faster than her body all the while, whirling in circles of thought.
Paravida was breeding these wolves for…organ harvesting? If they could grow an ear, what else could they grow? A liver? A human heart? Dr. Raab said they needed to get the ear to Detroit? Was someone there waiting for it?
As she ran, a whine escaped Nessa’s throat. The wolf puppies! Nessa wanted not to have to think about what she’d seen. She wanted to get back to her family. She was supposed to be taking care of Nate. She was supposed to be preparing for a winter training season. She was supposed to be scheduling meetings with recruiters. She was supposed to be a high school junior, not a junior wolf.
She found help where she wasn’t looking for it: the gray wolf.
He was waiting for her in the woods behind her house, as if he’d been looking for her all the time she’d been out at Paravida. Seeing him, all the adrenaline that had carried her on the run home leaked straight out of Nessa’s body.
Nessa collapsed under the weight of the pain she had just witnessed, compulsively chewing on and licking her front left paw.
The gray wolf lay down next to her, his body pressed up against hers like they were littermates.
She leaned against him, grateful for his warm presence.
She finally understood why she had been chosen by the wolves. She had been chosen to stop this. Even if she had no idea how. Even if all she wanted to do was run away from what she’d seen.
At least now she knew: the Paravida wolves were so large and aggressive because they were being altered somehow for their true purpose, as factories for human replacement parts. They had to be. She wondered if the other wolves she had seen with incisions were growing organs too. What kind of drug or gene therapy caused pointed teeth? Where did the Dutch Chem study kids fit in?
Nessa needed to think. She needed her family. She needed to take a long bath. She needed to call Bree. She didn’t know what she was going to do, but she was going to do something. First, however, she needed to go inside. When she stood, the gray wolf rose as well. As she walked back to her house, he let her go, remaining standing. She had the feeling that he would be out there the rest of the night, watching over her and waiting for her to return.
CHAPTER FORTY-NINE
Whether the doorbell at the Kurland house had rung or not while Nessa was still enclosed within the Paravida campus, Nessa would never learn. Nate never said, and Delphine was listening to music on headphones in her room and missed it.
In fact, Delphine didn’t realize anyone was there until she got up in search of a snack. She was surprised to see Nate standing at the front door, and even more surprised to see that he was talking to an adult.
“Nate?” she said. “Who is that?”
“My friend,” Nate said.
This didn’t narrow things down much for Delphine. Nate tended to call everyone his friend or his buddy. Delphine peered more closely at the woman’s tidy blue top and khakis and assumed she was a door-to-door missionary.
“Thanks, but we’re all set for religion,” she said, using the line Vivian had taught the kids to say.
“Oh, no, I’m not here for that,” said the woman, who was starting to look familiar to Delphine. “I work at the clinic Nate goes to. I was just explaining to him that he had an appointment today.”
“He did?” Delphine said. “My sister takes him to those. She’s good about remembering.”
The woman smiled brightly. “Of course,” she said. “I know Nessa. And Bree.” Looking at Nate as if this were an inside joke. “You come in at the same time as Sierra Thomas usually. You all turn our waiting room into a soccer stadium.”
“I scored twenty goals on October 20,” said Nate. “On September 22—I scored twenty-nine. Too many.”
“No, that’s impressive,” the woman said. She held out her hand to Delphine like they were both adults. Delphine was already in her pajamas and was far from an adult, but she shook hands anyway.
“I called your mom,” the woman said. “I asked if I could swing by to pick up Nate since he missed his appointment, and Dr. Raab’s only in town one more day, so we’re all booked up.”
“My mom said to?” Delphine asked. She knew her mom would’ve called Delphine to let her know.
Except Delphine wasn’t even supposed to be taking care of Nate. Nessa was. And Nessa wasn’t here. Maybe Vivian had called Nessa?
“Come on, Nate, let’s go,” the woman said, holding the front door open.
Nate looked back at Delphine as if to say, Do I have permission?
Delphine hated to have to decide. Nessa and Vivian always seemed so on top of Nate’s appointments and schedules. But Nate was treating this woman like she was a family friend. “Want me to go with you?” she said.
The woman interrupted. “No, sorry, that’s impossible. You see, your mom signed the transportation form for Nate but not for you. I can’t legally transport you anywhere.”
And that sounded so official, Delphine began to believe that this woman had communicated with her mom and that bringing kids into the clinic on the days their parents forgot to bring them was part of her job.
But the second the woman took Nate, Delphine sensed that she had made the wrong decision. She called Vivian’s phone, and when it went to voicemail, she called Nessa’s. Strangely, she heard it ringing from inside Nessa’s backpack, which Nessa had left by the door. Funny, Delphine thought, Nessa never leaves her phone at home when she goes out. And also funny—what kind of study session was Nessa going to where she didn’t bring her school things?
Nessa rushed back into the house while Delphine was calling Dr. Morgan’s, knowing she’d be able to reach her mom that way for sure.
“Nessa,” Delphine said, hanging up the phone mid-ring because Nessa would know what to do. “This lady came and took Nate, and she sounded like she had mom’s permission—or at least I thought so.”
“Who took Nate?” Nessa said. “Who was it?”
“A woman,” Delphine said. “She said her name was Mary.”
CHAPTER FIFTY
Nessa’s fingers shook as she was entering the clinic’s number. “Get my phone,” she said to Delphine. “It’s in my backpack. Call mom. Wait! No. Call Bree!”
Nessa felt like her brain had been turned into a computer. A rational, precise thinking machine. Dr. Morgan’s number went to voicemail. But Delphine had gotten through to Bree on Nessa’s phone. She handed it over.
Nessa ducked into her bedroom so Delphine wouldn’t hear her.
“Nate’s gone!” Nessa said. “Mary Clovis from the clinic came and took him. While I was out. Delphine was covering for me.”
Nessa could tell from Bree’s gasp that Bree knew how bad this was.
“Do you think she took Nate to Paravida?” Bree said.
Nessa felt her insides twist violently.
“Yes,” she said.
“We have to go get him. I’ll pick you up in five minutes,” said Bree.
“No,” Nessa said. She shook her head, trying to clear her mind. There was something she had to tell Bree. Something was wrong with the picture in her mind of the two of them in the Monster. Was it that she just couldn’t stand the idea of riding in the passenger seat and feeling so powerless?
No, that wasn’t the problem. It was something else. And then Nessa’s mind—sorting the options quickly, methodically—finally landed on the problem with involving the Monster and Bree at the wheel.
She lowered her voice. “I need to go get him alone. I need to go as a wolf.” As much as they had talked about it, having Nessa say it this way, as if it were something she could control…this was new. “I know how to get in there. I just did. I’ll tell you later.”
“Nessa, oh my god, let me help you, okay?” Bree said. “Let me call the police or something. And don’t trust Mary, please.”
But Nessa barely heard Bree’s warning. She couldn’t focus anymore. They’d already been on the phone too long. Nessa’s mind was speeding ahead, into the woods, the rye, the speed at which she’d run to get to Paravida.
If only she had stayed there, she might have seen Nate arrive. If he was even there. She hoped he wasn’t. But she had no other idea of where to look.
The transformation back to wolf form, the run through the woods, it was a complete blur. All Nessa could feel was her heart in her chest. It was aching from exertion, but she felt like it was aching for Nate, for fear. She knew this was her fault. She should never have left him with Delphine, who didn’t understand the clinic study, and who didn’t know any of this.
As she approached the facility, she knew she had to stop thinking in this way. She needed her brain to be working on the problem at hand, which was finding Nate. She’d know just from standing outside if he was there. If he was speaking, she’d hear him.
But Nate tended to shut down when he was scared. What if he wasn’t talking?
Nessa thought about the exam tables she’d seen at the clinic, the ones with the thick leather straps. If that’s what they were using on the kids in public, what would they be doing here, behind twelve feet of chain-link fence?
Nessa stood in the shadows at the edge of the facility. She heard the noises of the woods behind her, the chipmunks and the mice running in their burrows underground, the earthworms pushing the soil, the birds digging for bits and seeds in the brittle leaves. She heard the noises of the facility itself as well, the hum of several competing ventilation systems, a crackle of a walkie-talkie being turned on and off, footsteps passing slowly down what she figured was a long hall as they didn’t pause for a turn or slow down for a door.
Far off, there was the sound of a small engine, like someone turning on a blender, and she heard a chuckle followed by a cough, which was closer than she was anticipating. She looked up and registered the guard tower. Up there? Instinctively, Nessa took a step back, deeper into the shadow.
Nessa contemplated the fact of the twelve-foot fence.
How was she going to get back in? The aggressive wolves were already in for the night. She wished the gray wolf were with her. Mostly she wanted his company, the steady feeling she had when he was at her side. But also, he seemed to know so much about the wolves and Paravida. He might have known a different way in.
Just then, Nessa heard a piercing whistle that cut through the muted sound tapestry around her. It felt like a laser carving a burn line through her brain tissue.
Why a whistle? The pack of aggressive wolves was already inside.
But no, she could smell wolf. Were there others?
And the wolves inside the facility were definitely reacting to something. Nessa began to hear increased movement from inside the kennels. Some whined or paced, while others must have been throwing themselves against the doors of their cages—Nessa heard the rattling of chain link and the muted thump of furred bodies hitting the cement floors.
The smell rose up behind her, mixing with breezes circulating through the trees—less of the cages and chemicals used to clean them and more balsam fir and loamy soil.
Nessa fixed on the brightly lit tile and stainless steel buildings. She reminded herself that her brother might be in there. He might be strapped to another exam table. She didn’t know what Paravida wanted from Nate—from Billy—but she could now imagine.
Maybe Mary had him in there. Maybe Mary was the only thing standing between Nate and whatever had happened to Billy. Either way, Nessa was going to go in there and rescue him.
Amazingly, the gate was open. Without thinking why, Nessa passed through. Just as she did, she felt movement behind her. She remembered what it was like when the wolves were biting at her hindquarters, how she would have to fight them, turning on one, then quickly twisting around to protect her exposed side from the other.
But it was the gray wolf! When wolves looked each other in the eye, it was a challenge, but the gray wolf was looking at Nessa as if to say, “I know why you’re here. I know how serious this is. I am going to help you.”
Nessa returned his gaze and felt the way she felt when she passed off a baton during a relay in track. They were connected.
And then she heard something. It was small, but she recognized it. It was Nate. He said, “Buddy,” not like he was talking to someone but like he was muttering the word to himself, for comfort.
She had a sense of where the sound had come from and she took off toward the sound, keeping to the shadows behind buildings. This time she was in the lead and the gray wolf followed.
Nate was here.
CHAPTER FIFTY-ONE
Something must have been making Nate nervous, because he started to mumble “Buddy” over and over again under his breath. Nessa heard a bright light sound, like a glass being set down on a counter.
“I
don’t want that,” Nate said. Were they making him drink something?
By this point, she’d managed to identify which building Nate was in. It was two down from the wolf kennels, a squat tower of white brick. The windows were small and located high up. Nessa could not peer in. She heard whirring, like the sound of a drill.
“Why is he here?” Nate asked.
Why is who here? She silently begged her brother to say. Please, please don’t let it be Dr. Raab.
Circling the building, still keeping to the shadows cast by a bank of giant compressors, Nessa realized there was only one way to get inside to Nate. The door.
Giving the gray wolf a nod as if to say, “I’ll be right back,” she followed the path back to the wolf house. Locked inside their kennels now, the wolves registered her presence in the olfactory landscape. They began to bay and shake the fencing.
Nessa was glad of the distraction. She saw that the guards who were watching them began to yell. Weren’t they going to notice that the wolves were reacting to something?
She heard a gun go off, and then a wolf cry out in pain. The barking stopped. The guards laughed, but they did not turn to see what the wolves had been barking at.
They are idiots, Nessa decided.
She hoped the guards wouldn’t turn around now. There was no cover she could possibly use to hide—just the open rye field. Nessa could smell its comforting, homey smell as she broke into it. Inside, she felt safe and protected, looking to her left at the rows of kennels lit up until they nearly glowed, the animals inside frozen as if time had stopped and she were moving through a diorama version of the Paravida grounds, the guards doll figurines, the wolves in their cages constructions of plush and wire.
She broke out on the other side of the field and motion returned, the dogs and men moving as if they were music box ballerinas wound up again. Except they weren’t ballerinas—they were slathering murderous wolves and humans in riot gear who would shoot a barking wolf rather than turn to see what he was barking at. Nessa was tripping over her now-human legs, the momentum of her run breaking down as the wolf speed nearly knocked her head over heels, her arms waving spastically, her breath ragged in her own ears, her heart racing. She ran for the shadows desperately, as one might swim to the surface after diving into deep water.