April 11, 2001 – 10:00
Stephanie McNally, Frank's sister, had been working part-time at Healing Moon, a clinic and trauma centre specializing in werewolf health, for the past few months. Located in a wooded area west of Mirabel, it was considered a neutral ground for werewolf packs and other clans of shifters. She worked there with her friend Clarissa.
For the local population unaware of their kinds, Healing Moon was considered a trauma centre specializing in animal attacks. Locals would also bring their cats and dogs there for their regular checkups. Stephanie, however, knew better: two of her childhood friends were werewolves.
She has known Clarissa and Lily since elementary school, but found out the truth about what they were when going on a camping trip with them at 12. Clarissa knew that Stephanie was considering a career as a veterinarian and wasn't afraid of werewolves, so she got her a job at Healing Moon.
She entered the clinic to start her shift and saw her coworkers in a panic by the reception counter. One of her bosses, Emma, hung off the phone. Her shirt was in shreds, there was crusted blood above her eyes and deep gashes were visible by her left collarbone and ribs.
"Hey guys! What's going on?"
"One of our new patients went into a violent frenzy, fur coming in and out of his skin. It was weird, we couldn't restrain him. Emma had to take his roommate to the emergency room and lock his room up with reinforced iron bars," said Clarissa.
"The CMMA is sending us two agents. They should be here in about 30-40 minutes. Stephanie, do not go into room 3B, no matter what," said Emma as Jessica, the other clinic owner, walked out of the emergency room, also sporting a shredded shirt and visible injuries. "How's Wilson?"
"I patched him up, but honestly, I want the CMMA agents to look at him, to make sure he didn't get whatever is wrong with Owil. I sedated him before strapping him on the table just in case. Did they tell you who they're sending?"
"No, but I'm hoping it'll be Blue Thunder and Eva Suri, especially if you think Owil is contagious. Clarissa, please help clean up the emergency room. Stephanie, you'll work the reception today. I need you to reschedule all of our afternoon appointments. It's best if you stay away from the patient area today."
Coralis hovered above the clinic 45 minutes later, with Eva's arms wrapped around her waist.
"I'll land in the woods behind the clinic, there are too many cars driving down that road at the moment."
She'd usually jump off her stick before landing, but she had a non-elemental passenger with her. Eva was used to travelling with Coralis on her stick, but wouldn't jump off of it before her feet touched the ground.
Coralis landed and turned her stick and cloak into keychains before putting on her eyeglasses. She liked to have them on when entering the clinic, just in case there were humans in the waiting room. Coralis and Eva brushed off their clothes and walked toward the entry door.
"To think the EBEE almost split us off. Isn't it interesting how often we've been working the wolf scene lately?" said Eva.
"I've never found out why they changed their mind, but I'm not complaining. Now that you mention it, you're right, we've been dealing with the wolves a lot lately. Think they're involved with the nasty clans stirring up trouble?"
"Maybe, shit keeps getting stranger."
Coralis opened the door and walked in behind Eva.
"Coralis?" said Stephanie, with a puzzled expression. "What are you doing here?"
"Uh, we've been sent here to investigate an incident," said Coralis, not expecting to see Stephanie there.
Clarissa was leaning against the reception desk and looked at both Stephanie and Coralis.
"You two know each other?"
"Aah, exactly the agents I was hoping to see," said Emma, walking out of the emergency room, followed by Jessica.
"Agents Blue Thunder and Eva Suri," said Jessica, gesturing toward the reception desk, "Stephanie here is our newest employee. She is human, but she knows about us. There is no other human in the clinic at the moment, so you can freely talk."
"Follow us, please," said Emma, turning around to head toward a locked door. "In my 30 years operating this clinic, I've seen all kinds of violent outbursts, but never quite like this, especially that far from the next full moon."
"Stephanie, can you please lock the front door? I don't want any humans walking in here. If there is an emergency, they'll ring the bell," said Jessica.
Emma typed in a code on the keypad and the door locking mechanism buzzed. She opened the door and held it open to let Jessica, Coralis and Eva walk through it, and she closed it behind her.
"Spill, how do you know Blue Thunder? How did you call her again? You know her, right?" said Clarissa while Stephanie locked the front door.
"She's my brother's girlfriend," said Stephanie, wondering if she should repeat the name that she knew. 'If she is a CMMA agent, there must be a reason she uses a different name,' she thought. "I didn't know she worked for the CMMA, but that explains a lot of things."
"Come, I wanna watch. Nobody will come here anyway. I've heard so much about Blue Thunder and Eva Suri, but never really saw them working. She is with your brother? Does he know?"
"I don't think he does, but it's not like he could have told me if he knew. I can't exactly call him to ask," said Stephanie, as Clarissa opened the door.
"True, I guess you'll have to ask her when this is over."
They stopped by a door and looked through the wall window. They saw Jessica standing a short distance from the door, holding a syringe in her right hand. Emma was standing to her left, wearing gloves and holding ropes coated in silver in both hands.
They saw a white wolf baring its teeth at Luke Owil, their patient, in the corner furthest from the door. Coralis stood beside the wolf. In a quick movement, her right forearm turned into a black paw, hit the left side of Owil's neck before he could charge them, and she brought him to the ground.
"How did she do that? I didn't know you could do a partial shift, you never told me that, and I think I asked you about that once," said Stephanie, keeping her eyes on the scene.
Coralis's right forearm shifted back to its normal form, while her left foot went to his neck, pinning him to the ground. His hands tried to grab her leg, but the white wolf had his right hand in its mouth before he could do so. Coralis took hold of his left hand and leg to flip him on his stomach, as Eva, in wolf form, released his other hand.
"I can't do partial shifts, but some of us can. She doesn't smell like a wolf, but she might be a panther. She's either from a very ancient bloodline, or she's something else."
Coralis straddled him and made sure that his hands stayed under him, using an elemental spell to restrain him. Jessica advanced toward them and injected the content of the syringe into the back of his neck.
"There are other types of supernatural who can shift into animals?" said Stephanie.
She had so many questions. She knew werewolves existed, but didn't know much about the mythological world.
"Yeah, I know some vampire bloodlines and some types of witches can. The CMMA deals with so many different kinds of mythical creatures, can't say I know all species out there."
Once the patient was sedated, Eva shifted back, still wearing her clothes. She and Coralis carried the patient onto his bed, on his back, and Emma passed a rope around his wrists, attaching them to the bed. She did the same with his ankles, then strapped him to the bed using the silver-coated belts attached to it.
"How come the white wolf didn't shred her clothes when shifting? I never saw you shifting without undressing first and never saw a wolf shifting back with non-shredded clothes on."
"She's a CMMA agent, she's probably wearing special clothes. I could buy clothes that are specifically spelled for shifting, but they're very expensive."
Once Luke Owil was all tied up and solidly strapped to his bed, Emma and Jessica walked out of the room, Coralis and Eva following them.
As they passed through the door, Stephanie noticed that Coralis's eyes were a different colour, which intrigued her: she had never seen that eye colour on anyone before, dark blue with a silver rim.
They entered into the emergency room. Stephanie and Clarissa stayed by the doorway: they wanted to watch without being in the way.
"Do you think that Owil infected Wilson?" said Jessica while Coralis was examining the patient.