by Jen Haeger
“Do you think that’s a good idea?” he said finally.
Evelyn shrugged. “No, but Kim needs me to do it. I don’t think that she is going to die from her injuries directly now, but she may still die of infection. Puncture wounds can get nasty. They thrust all sorts of microbes deep into the body. You need to stay and watch her, and when she wakes up…try to explain. Show her the video. Get her to drink some water and see if she can eat some of those crackers and maybe a little dried fruit. She can have some more pain killers to, but try to get her to eat something first. It’ll be easier on her stomach that way. I’ll stop at a drug store too and pick up some protein drinks and Pediasure, things to keep up her strength. Tomorrow I might have you go to get some more food supplies at the grocery store. We may need to stay here with her awhile until she can hike out.”
As Evelyn changed and got ready to head out with an empty backpack to fill up with supplies, she thought that she really had the easier task of the day. She couldn’t imagine what David was going to say to Kim, but hopefully the video would help convince her that he was at least not insane. What she really wanted to be doing was analyzing a sample of Kim’s blood and proving to David that the viral DNA was different, like with Katie’s saliva sample, but she would have to wait. Kim’s life was more important right now.
*
Evelyn had been gone for several hours when Kim stirred. She was groggy and it took her a long time to focus enough to take a little water from David, and even longer before she could speak to him. She closed her eyes tightly as if trying to remember something.
“I’m in a cabin in the woods,” she began shakily in a raspy whisper. “I had some kind of episode and wandered into the woods and had an accident.” She opened her eyes and looked at David.
He nodded encouragingly.
“And you and…and your wife found me and brought me here to your cabin,” she finished swallowing hard.
“Exactly,” David said gently, “except that Evelyn isn’t my wife, she’s just my…well we’re good friends. Now I know that you could probably use some more pain meds, but I’m under strict orders to see if you can eat a little something first. Do you think that you can try to eat something?”
Kim nodded, so David brought over some crackers and dried cherries and helped to prop Kim up and bring her arms out from under the blanket. The shifting was obviously painful for Kim, but she didn’t protest. She was able to use the arm on the side without the puncture wound without too much pain, so she could feed herself without David having to help her much. David didn’t say anything of consequence while she was eating, he mainly just complimented her on her improvement since yesterday. He was thinking about how to tell her that she was a werewolf. It had been easier to tell Evelyn that he was a werewolf, that he had this affliction, but to tell someone else that they were a monster…
After Kim had choked down three crackers and a handful of dried fruit, David gave her some more pain medication. She swallowed the tablets with a little difficulty then turned to David.
“Your name is David, right?”
David nodded. “At your service.”
“Did Evelyn go to get help?” she rasped.
David looked away. He didn’t want to lie to Kim, but the medical supplies Evelyn was going to bring back would help Kim, so he said, “She did, but don’t worry, you’re going to be just fine.”
“What happened to me?” Kim asked, vaguely pointing to her abdomen.
David turned to look at her again. “You were impaled by a stick. I think that you fell down a ravine.”
Kim’s eyes widened in shock, but she nodded then moved her legs weakly and frowned. “Why do my legs hurt too?”
“When you fell, you must have dislodged a boulder and it landed on your legs,” David replied, then noticed the fear on Kim’s face and quickly added, “but Evelyn doesn’t think that there’s any permanent damage.”
Tears formed in the corners of Kim’s eyes and she sniffed quietly. “I’m sorry, it’s just that I’m a swimmer. I’m training for the Olympics in three years…”
David felt like he’d been punched in the stomach. Not that being a werewolf would necessarily mean that she absolutely couldn’t be in the Olympics in a few years, but just that it would be infinitely more complicated. He couldn’t think of anything comforting to say so he just patted her shoulder.
“Oh well…that’s wonderful, I’m sure you’ll have time to recover and get right back to training…”
He continued to pat her shoulder while she cried softly. Finally she wiped her eyes with her hand and David brought her over some tissues which she used to dab her eyes and nose.
“I’m sorry,” she said again.
“It’s alright. A lot has happened to you,” David soothed.
Kim nodded. “Where’s my cell phone?”
“Here,” David said picking it up off the coffee table and showing it to her. “But it doesn’t get any reception out here.”
In reality, the cabin had shielding in the walls and roof that prevented cell phone reception in case he and Evelyn ever accidentally brought their cell phones and were tracked by them. Kim reached out for it and checked it for herself, then gave it back to David. It got David thinking.
“Will your husband be frantic?” he probed.
Kim shook her head. “I’m not married.”
“Boyfriend? Roommate?”
Kim shook her head. “Swimming and school keep me pretty busy. My coach is going to freak out about me missing practice though.”
David nodded. Well, at least Kim was probably not a missing person yet. They sat in an awkward silence for a few minutes until David couldn’t stand it any longer. He had to tell her. The problem was, he had watched the video earlier and realized that while it did show someone lying on the couch turning into a werewolf, Kim’s face was covered by his shirt the whole time, so it was basically worthless. He couldn’t believe that they had been so stupid about it.
He cleared his throat, “Kim, there’s something I…want to talk to you about.”
“Oh, O.K.,” Kim said looking perplexed.
“I think that I know why you were wandering in the woods.” He looked Kim in the eye before continuing. “I think that you have a…condition. Evelyn and I have the same condition, so that’s how we know.”
Kim’s eyes held a mixture of confusion and anxiety.
“What do you mean? What kind of condition? What are you talking about?”
David sighed heavily. “There isn’t any easy way to tell you this, and I hate to do this to you, but I need you to try very hard to remember anything that you can about the night that you were injured. Do you remember how you felt when you left the gym?”
Kim’s eyes were tearing up again, “Um…I felt kind of nauseous I think. I didn’t feel very good the whole day.”
“Did you feel upset…angry?”
Kim closed her eyes tightly again spilling some of the tears down her cheeks. “Maybe, I don’t know,” she whispered. “Please, I want to rest. Can’t you just let me rest until the rescue personal get here? I’m sure that they can explain it to me.”
David looked away. “Kim, I don’t want to lie to you. Evelyn didn’t go to get a rescue squad. She went to get medical supplies to help you.”
“What?” Kim’s voice was barely audible.
David wanted to scream. He was doing this so badly. He forced himself to turn towards the poor girl, but couldn’t meet her eye.
“The condition is too dangerous. We couldn’t risk hurting anyone by bringing them here.”
Kim was shivering and shaking her head back and forth as her mouth formed the word “No” over and over again. David couldn’t take it and reached out a hand to touch her shoulder and comfort her. Kim flinched at his touch.
“It’s not that bad. You’re going to be alright. There are a lot of people who live with this condition.”
Kim refused to look at him and he wasn’t sure what more he could do. H
e brought over a few more crackers, more dried cherries, and a fresh glass of water then sat in one of the cushioned chairs a little ways away from Kim to give her some space and time to cope with what he had told her. He wished Evelyn would hurry back.
23
Around four-thirty in the afternoon, David finally heard Evelyn unlock the cabin door. Kim was either pretending to slumber, or had passed out from the stress, pain, and exhaustion. David met Evelyn at the door.
“I am so glad that you’re back,” he said grimly.
“Why what’s wrong?” Evelyn said, dropping her pack and going over to check on Kim.
She seemed to be resting comfortably, so Evelyn went back to the backpack and started taking out supplies.
“Oh, well, nothing much, just night’s coming on and we still don’t have a plan for Kim for tonight, and I didn’t so much get a chance to tell her everything. Just that she has a dangerous condition, so we can’t go get help for her. She cried a lot.”
“What about the video? That didn’t help?” said Evelyn absently.
“Not with her face covered with a shirt. I didn’t even bother showing it to her.”
Evelyn stopped unpacking. “Oh. Right. Huh. Oops.” She began taking things out of the pack again. “Well, the good news is that I was able to score a different oral sedative that’s less dangerous. The bad news is that it won’t completely knock her out, so we should really stay with her tonight and make sure she doesn’t hurt herself or get out.”
“What about moving her to a safe cave or something outside?” David asked.
Evelyn shook her head. “I’m not sure that was ever going to be a viable plan, but it was the only one I had at the time. I don’t think that we should move her. I want to start an I.V., then sedate her, then restrain her so she won’t pull the I.V. line out. I also need to get some antibiotics into her and flush out and redress her wounds before tonight.”
David stared in amazement at the sheer amount of veterinary supplies that Evelyn was pulling from the bag.
“How’d you get all this stuff, Evie?”
“I told the old vet that my crazy hillbilly relatives had a heap of pets that they refused to take to see a veterinarian, and that I had finally convinced them to let me work on some of the sicker animals, but that I hadn’t thought they would agree, so I hadn’t brought any supplies with me.”
“And he bought that?” said David incredulously.
“No. I don’t think so, but I paid him a little extra for the inconvenience of having to order more stock, and then he didn’t ask too many more questions.” Evelyn sighed. “I really hope that I can make rent next month.”
“What about leaving our Wolfkin scent around the lab?”
“I’m not sure that there’s anything that we can do about that,” said Evelyn. “Now, help me with this I.V. stuff will you?”
They spent some time getting the supplies sorted and organized and then Evelyn went over and roused Kim who immediately frowned when she saw Evelyn’s face. Evelyn could tell this was not going to be easy. She decided not to beat around the bush or try too hard to explain things without proof tonight, so she locked eyes with Kim.
“Kim, I know that you’re scared and probably thinking that David and I are some kind of psychopaths, but I swear to you that we are only trying to help you and that as soon as you are feeling up to it we will help you walk out of these woods and back into town. Do you believe me?”
Kim stared back at her for a few moments then reluctantly nodded.
“Now, you lost a good deal of blood and I’d like to start you on I.V. fluids and antibiotics if you will let me,” she continued in a professional tone.
Kim nodded again.
“Thank you.”
David then helped Evelyn place the I.V. and they hung the bag up from the same apparatus as they had hung the bottle of chloroform. Evelyn then slowly administered some I.V. antibiotics after showing Kim exactly what she was injecting. She also gave Kim some stronger oral pain medication. Finally she got out the sedative tablets and addressed Kim again.
“This is a sedative. I want to clean out and dress your wounds with real bandages. It will be very painful if you aren’t sedated, so I’d like you to please take them.”
Kim looked at the tablets uncertainly, but then nodded and swallowed them. Evelyn prepared the bandages, antiseptic, and other supplies she would need to clean and dress the wounds properly. While she did that, she chatted to Kim who still looked basically sad and terrified.
“You’re a student right? What are you studying?”
“Um, biochemistry,” Kim mumbled.
“Oh,” said Evelyn lightly, “that’s a tough subject. I always had trouble in biochemistry. Are you a graduate student?”
“Yeah.”
“That’s great. Masters or PhD?” rambled Evelyn.
“Masters,” Kim slurred.
Evelyn looked up at Kim. She was definitely getting drowsy. Evelyn had David distract Kim with more small talk as she cut away the old bed sheet bandages and went about cleaning and dressing the wounds. David helped roll a semi-coherent Kim on her side so that Evelyn could get the wound on her back fixed up in a similar fashion. When they were done, Kim’s eyes were closed and she was breathing steadily. Evelyn could feel the prickling sensation that always preceded the change so she knew that they were running out of time. She checked the I.V. to make sure that it was secure, and then helped David to strap Kim down again with the nylon rope. Evelyn filled a syringe with sedative in case Kim awoke, but hoped that she would not have to try to handle it with her enlarged, clawed, wolf hands. While Evelyn was finalizing her preparations, David set up the camera to record Kim’s change, now that her face wouldn’t be covered.
Not long after, night fell and the change began.
Evelyn heaved herself up off the cabin floor as the last of the pain from the transformation faded away. She wrinkled her elongated nose at the lingering stench of the chloroform which had been too weak for her human senses to pick up. The walls of the cabin felt close and the fluorescent lights bore into her sensitive pupils. A wave of claustrophobia rose within Evelyn’s chest and she closed her eyes, struggling to gain control. She focused her thoughts on Kim and taking care of her, until she felt calm enough to concentrate, and then opened her eyes and looked over Kim’s I.V. line to make sure that it hadn’t come out during her transformation. It still appeared secure and functional, so Evelyn flopped down into one of the comfortable cushioned chairs in the living room to begin what was going to be a long night.
Kim slept fitfully. On several occasions, she regained partial consciousness and thrashed around, straining against the nylon rope that bound her arms and legs. Fortunately, her restraints kept her safely on the couch. Evelyn’s own restlessness was fueled during each of these bouts as her adrenaline spiked. She could almost taste Kim’s rage, and it made her want to shred the cushions of her chair. David’s calm facade was betrayed by the twitching of his muscles and the sour, uneasy scent that rolled off of him. The scent maddened Evelyn. Reading or attempting anything useful to keep herself occupied failed as her mind wandered to scenes of her and David running through the forest, hunting, feasting… Evelyn found herself pacing.
David grabbed her arm and motioned to the door, but Evelyn shook her head and pointed at Kim. If something went wrong or Kim got loose, she didn’t want David to be there alone with the wounded Wolfkin. David released Evelyn, and she began pacing again. She yearned for the night to end. Now that Kim’s life was no longer in danger and Evelyn had the medical supplies to provide better care, she wanted to start extracting DNA from Kim’s blood. Frustration gnawed at Evelyn and she began grunting with every exhalation. David stepped out of her way and stared out the window, but every time Evelyn passed him she could feel his heat radiating out until she couldn’t stand it and thought she would take a snap at his back. Evelyn swept into the kitchen and curled up on the cool tile floor, closing her eyes even though sleep was a
n impossibility with all of the adrenaline and hormones surging through her system.
An hour before dawn, the sedative suddenly wore off. Kim began squirming, writhing, and twisting in her bonds, howling fiercely. Evelyn jumped up and reached for the additional sedative while David attempted to restrain Kim without hurting her. Evelyn was about to inject the drug into the I.V. line when the nylon rope snapped and Kim lunged at David, latching onto his arm with her sharp teeth as they fell to the floor. David howled in pain and surprise and Evelyn was thrown back over the coffee table. She lost the syringe in the fall and scrambled over the floor towards it as David fought with Kim and tried to pry her jaws off his arm. The I.V. line came out in the fray and when Evelyn eventually recovered the sedative, she had no choice but to jab it into the muscle of Kim’s leg. Evelyn knew that meant it would take longer to take effect, unfortunately, there was nothing she could do about it.
Kim let out a snarl of rage and pain, then released David’s arm and went after Evelyn, jaws snapping. Evelyn just managed to dodge out of reach of Kim’s teeth, and while Kim was distracted, David grabbed her from behind and tried to wrap her up. His arm was bleeding freely from Kim’s bite and blood splashed out across the room as he grappled with her. Evelyn seized Kim’s legs and tried to help David force her back down onto the couch. Minutes ticked by as they wrestled, until Evelyn finally felt Kim’s strength begin to wane as the sedative took hold. Soon after, they were able to release Kim, although David stayed close and didn’t take his eyes off of her.
Evelyn went into the bathroom and retrieved a bath towel which she took over to David. He snarled at her when she approached, and tried to push her away from Kim, but Evelyn growled deeply and pointed at his injured arm. He then reluctantly let her minister to his wound but still tried to keep his body between Evelyn and Kim. While Evelyn pressed the towel to the bite in David’s arm, she internally chastised herself for not just administering a second dose of sedative to make certain something like this didn’t happen. They would need a better restraint system in the future.