Mythical Mates

Five

Brie rushed through the doors of the medical ward. She didn’t bother checking in with the nurse at the front desk. She made her way to Everett’s room, though the crowd of doctors and nurses gathered in the hall made it difficult. “Move! Move! Let me through!” Finally she made it to his door.

“Sorry, Brie, you can’t go in there.” The nurse said.

“What? What’s going on? Where’s Everett?”

“Brie!!” Hailey cried as she pushed through the crowd. “Brie, it’s really bad! I-I came t-to check on him a-and…and he was a-acting so-”

“Hailey, calm down, I can’t understand you.” Brie soothed her, rubbing her shoulders in hopes of calming her.

“Ladies, I’m sorry, but you really can’t be here right now.” Dr. Esan said. He poured himself a cup of water at the fountain. His eyes looked tired, deep bags swelling his eyelids.

“Doc, what’s going on? What’s with the crowd? What’s wrong with Everett?”

He downed his water in two gulps. “I’ll take it from here, nurse. There’s a patient in room 203 that needs more morphine.” the nurse nodded and scurried off. Dr. Esan took Brie by the shoulder and pulled her toward the curtain window of Everett’s room. Inside, Everett was strapped to the bed. There was a nurse trying to set up his IV as he snapped his teeth wildly in the air. He was growly and foaming at the mouth. What caught her attention the most was his black, shiny eyes. There were no whites, just darkness. He screamed and fought against his restraints. She looked to the doctor for answers. “This started 2 hours ago. We thought it was a seizure caused by his head injury, but when I performed the MRI to look at his brain, I didn’t see anything unusual, except-” he pulled a file from the door and took out a photo. “This is a scan of Everett’s brain.This is his frontal lobe, see how there are these dark, vein-like lines? That’s the prefrontal cortex.”

“Sorry, anatomy isn’t my best subject. What does all this mean?”

“The prefrontal cortex is responsible for controlling executive functions. It’s what makes Everett aware of himself and others: his thinking, judgment, reasoning, emotions, etc. These lines seem to be keeping Everett in a vegetable-like state. All he does is scream and thrash. I’m thinking it’s his animal instincts taking over. If Everett and his wolf’s mental state is impaired, his body could possibly believe it’s under attack and acting on impulse.”

“s**t…I-Is he going to be okay? Can you fix him?” Brie stuttered. She was trying to keep her composure, but she was shaking with anxiety.

“We’re trying our very best to get to the bottom of this. We’ve actually been having a lot of people coming in experiencing the same symptoms as Everett. Unfortunately, 40% of those people have died after 2 days of hospitalization.”

Hailey cried out and Brie had to catch her to keep her from falling to the floor. “Everett!” she wailed. “Please, Goddess…Please don’t do this..”

“Please doc, is there anything you can do?” Brie asked, tears welding in her own eyes. “Please don’t tell me this is it for him.” The doctor gave them an apologetic look, only making the reality that much more terrible.

“We’ve managed to acquire a sample from the passing patients. We’re hoping the lab will shine some light and we can start on treatment. I’ll do everything I can, but for now all I can do is monitor him and try to keep him stable. We’ve called his parents, they should-”

“Doctor!” Screamed Everett’s mother. “Where’s my son, is he alright?!” As she came pushing through the hall, the doctor gave them a look.

“C-mon Hails, let’s get you cleaned up.” Brie held onto Hailey, still sobbing hysterically.She guided her away from Everett’s room toward the bathroom.

“H-How could this h-have happened?” she asked between sobs. “T-That stuff in his head. It’s like some sort of p-parasite. Some type of virus. And it’s h-hurting him, Brie. He’s in so much pain. I-I can feel it.”

“I don’t know. I’ve seen an old man earlier that looked just as weird. He was coughing up blood and he had the same shiny black eyes.” A new wave of tears streamed down Hailey’s face.

“H-He can’t die, Brie. My wolf, we can’t bear it.”

Brielle knew that the bond between mated wolves was so intense, that if one died the other would follow or be driven to absolute madness. Only a few people manage to overcome the grief of losing their mate. The thought of losing Everett was already hard enough. She didn’t want to lose Hailey too. “I’ll talk to dad.”

“W-What’s he going to do? Does he know what’s going on?”

“No, but he has the means to find out. This all started after the fight we had with those rogues. Maybe they were infected with something.” Brie smiled hopefully. Hailey sniffed and wiped her runny nose. “You should get some rest, Hails. I’m worried about your health. When's the last time you had a full night's rest?”

“I can’t sleep even if I wanted to. Kali’s been restless since Everett’s been hospitalized. She’s always whining and pacing around in my head. Muttering something about ‘the founder's blood’ or something like that. I don’t know if all this is throwing her off, but she won’t respond to me no matter how much I ask.”

“Founder’s blood? Do you know anything about that?” Brie asked Cora. She was silent for a moment. “Cora?”

“We wolves are bound by oath to not discuss the founder.”

“Oath? What oath?”

“It was an oath made long ago. I’m sorry Brie, but I can’t talk about it.”

Brie wanted to pry, but wolves were loyal creatures who honored their promises. No amount of begging would get Cora to speak. She’d have to find another way to get more information. “Our wolves can’t talk about it, but maybe there’s a book about it. I’ll check the library and see what I can find.” She wrapped her arms around her friend. “Don’t worry Hailey, Kali, we won't let him die.” Brie took out her phone to call her dad.

In the distance, a commotion erupted. “You can’t go back there!” screamed the nurse at the front desk. There was a scream. The people in the hall turned alarmingly toward the sound. Someone, wearing all black, their face covered by what looked like a niqab, walked through the double doors. Only their eyes were visible.

“Excuse me, you can’t just walk back here!” One of the doctor’s said, The person didn’t move. “Leave now, or you’ll be escorted out by force.” one of the nurses was already calling for reinforcement. The person reached into their pockets. There was a loud click as they pulled out two black pins. Instantly a deep cloud of gray smoke emitted from both sides of their pants. “Hey! Hey!” The doctor screamed, waving everyone back. The smoke traveled fast and soon everyone was choking and coughing. “Get out! Everyone!” Everyone was rushing and pushing their way through the narrow hallway, trying to get to the emergency exits.

Brie’s eyes stung, her lungs burning as she tried to take in oxygen. “Don’t breathe it in.” she told Hailey. “We need to leave.”

“No, what about Everett?! He’ll suffocate! We have to get him out first!” she pleaded with her eyes. Brie scuffed, looking back to Everett’s room where he continued to thrash violently against his restraints.

“Fine, let’s hurry.” They pushed through the crowd like fishes swimming upstream. So many people were falling over, screaming and coughing. Hailey tripped over one of them, causing an avalanche of people falling on top of her. Brielle rushed to help her to her feet. She was only met with more pushing and shoving. Someone pushed her into the wall and she hit her head. Hailey was crying and coughing as she was trampled over. Brielle was practically pinned against the wall, unable to move. She cried out as multiple people elbowed and stepped on her feet.

“Move! Move! Get off them!” Screamed Everett’s mom as she helped pull Hailey to her feet. She had a scarf wrapped around her face to block out some of the smoke. “C’mon, girls! You need to get out of here!” She tried to pull them along, but Hailey refused.

“Not without Everett!” His mother had tears in her eyes, though it may have been from the smoke. She nodded and helped lead them toward his room. They pushed the door open and fell in. The smoke hadn’t fully filled the room yet so they each took in big gulps of air. “Hurry!” Quickly, they went to untighten his restraints. His mother pulled out his IV, ignoring how he cried and snapped his teeth at her. “Here, wrap this around his head.” Hailey pulled off her belt. Everett’s mother placed a part of it between Everett’s teeth and fastened the belt at the back of his head. Brie undid the last restraint and Everett shot up from his bed. He groaned and lunged for his mother. She screamed, as he tackled her to the floor. “Baby, no!!”

“Everett, Stop!” Brie screamed as she and Hailey pulled him back, grabbing onto both of his arms to restrain him. He wiggled and tossed his head back and forth between them, biting down on the belt. “Evie, it’s us! What’s wrong with you?!” Once she’d regained her balance, his mother helped them drag him out of the room. They took one last deep breath and dashed into the hall. The hall was emptying out, making it easier for them to carry him without falling. They followed the sea of people toward the exits. They pushed against the exit door, but it wouldn’t budge. People had fainted outside the door. “s**t!” Brie swore. She looked around. “This way!” They carried him down another hall toward the surgical ward. The air was cleaner here. Someone had pulled the fire alarm so the sound was blaring in their ears. They reached another emergency exit and pushed it open. Everett heaved, coughing hysterically. They couldn’t stop him from falling to the floor. Blood coated the belt in his mouth. His eyes were glossy and lost. He groaned and cried out.

“C’mon, Everett, you have to get up.” His mother cried. Screams echoed throughout the lot. People were scattering every which way. They jumped in horror as a large gray wolf emerged from the trees and tore into one of the doctors. He screamed in agony. Hailey covered her mouth to muffle her scream. Her legs gave out and she fell to the floor, shaking. More wolves emerged from the forest, attacking any and everyone. Everett’s mom and Hailey were frozen with fear. “Oh, goddess…”

“We have to move, now!” Brie commanded. “C’mon, pick him up, move!” It took a moment for them to collect themself and peel themselves off the floor. They threw Everett’s arm around their shoulders and forced him to stand. “C’mon, get to the packhouse!” they moved through the shadows, avoiding the screaming people running for their lives. One of the doctors was pounced on. The wolf snarled and snapped its jaws. Overpowered, the wolf bit into the man’s shoulder. He screamed. Brie jumped to help him. Hailey pulled her back. ‘I can’t leave him to die.” she whispered. “I can take one.”

“What if a swarm shows up? Can you take them?” Hailey asked. Brie bared her teeth, but held back. The doctor pulled out a scalpel he took from the hospital and jammed it into the wolf’s temple. It whined and let him go. Stumbling, the doctor crawled away and climbed to his feet. Brie let out a sigh of relief. Their attention was drawn to a person wearing a black, similar to the one that was inside. He reached into his coat and pulled out a long gray whistle. He placed it to his lips and blew. A deep howl erupted all around. Brie and the other two ladies covered their ears. The sound was so high it felt like it was clawing at their eardrums. Everet screamed out, his body shaking violently. Unable to contain him, he fell to the ground, seizing. Thick foam pooled from his mouth. “Everett!” Hailey cried. “Please! Please, stay with me! Please!” He bit down so hard his teeth cut through the belt. He let out the most gut wrenching scream. A deep growl rumbled from his throat. Brie Pulled Hailey away from him despite her resistance. He turned onto his belly, spat a pool of blood onto the asphalt. His arms and legs grew. His bones cracked as they rearranged. He screamed out in pain as fur sprouted over his entire body. His mother cried out and scurried away from him. Brie glanced over to see the doctor who’d just been attacked, suffering the same fate. He too transformed, screaming in agony. Both wolves raised their noses to the sky and howled. Others in the distance joined them.

“Everett?” Brie called. It was his wolf’s body, the same one she ran with on her birthday. However, this Pike was different. He was larger, and more intimidating. His eyes fell to her, then to Hailey. He growled, lowering his body to the ground. “Hail’s move..” she said, pulling on her arm. Hailey didn’t budge. She was in shock. Brie could tell by her eyes, she desperately wanted to reach out to him. “Hailey, Move!” At that instant, Pike lunged for them, his jaws as big as a sharks. Brie stood in front of Hailey to protect her, but just before he could connect, a dark gray wolf charged into him, smacking his body against the brick wall. “Dad! Don’t kill him, that’s Everett!”

“Brie! Are you alright?!” Izaak asked, keeping his eyes on Pike as he shook off the pain.

“I-I’m okay. Hailey’s in shock!”

“Both of you, take his mother to the pack house! Now! You’ll be safe there.”

Brielle nodded and pulled Halley along. They helped Everett’s mother to her feet. Pike snarled and pounced on Izaak, snapping his teeth. Izaak dodged and grabbed him by the scuff of the neck. He tossed him away, placing his body between him and the girls.

“No! Everett!” Hailey wailed.

“It’ll be okay, c’mon! Dad won’t kill him.” Reluctant, Hailey followed her. They ran as fast as they could, avoiding all the chaos happening around them. There were big feral wolves everywhere. They neared the packhouse, but stopped as a black wolf appeared in front of them. Hailey screamed. Without hesitation, Brie ripped off her shirt and shifted, using her body as a wall to block them. “Brie, no!”

“I’ll be fine. When I say so, run. Get to the house and lock the doors. Find my mom, she’ll know what to do.” Brie kept her eyes trained on the wolf. His eyes were like a thick puddle of tar. He growled and snapped his teeth at her. She growled back. He slowly approached. She got low. “Run, now!” she leaped at him. He tried to bite her, but she dodged, driving her teeth into his flesh. He whimpered in pain. Hailey and Everett’s mother took off running at full speed. The black wolf threw Brie off. She landed on her feet. She charged again, he was ready. He used his head to knock her away. She crashed to the ground and he pounced on her. They wrestled in the dirt. She bit into his neck, trying the best she could to avoid his teeth. Whatever was affecting everyone had something to do with getting bitten. She managed to pin him, finishing him off by ripping into his throat and snapping his neck. She didn’t have time to recover as another wolf leaped for her. She braced herself, but the wolf was tackled and pinned. A white maroon colored wolf stood over it, tearing into its throat. When it went limp, she faced Brie, blood staining her coat.

“You’re welcome.” Angela said. “f**k are you doing out here so late, Princess? You need to get your ass in the house. Everyone’s been worried sick about where you’d gone.”

“I can’t go in yet, I have to find my dad. He’s still out here.”

“Are you nuts? There’s dozens, maybe even hundreds of rogue wolves out here and you want to roam around looking for your dad? You’ll get yourself killed long before you find him.”

“Then come with me.”

“Like hell, the only reason I even came out here is because I saw you getting tossed around like a rag doll. I’m not sacrificing myself on suicide mission.”

“Fine, then don’t come!” Brie snarled, anger boiling within her. “I get that you don’t f**k with me or my family, but if you want to remain a member of this pack, then shut the f**k up and be useful for once in your life!” Brie took off running. Angela scuffed and followed behind her. They fought their way through the chaos, helping as many people as they could. Brie sent a mind link to her dad, but couldn’t hear him. Please, be alive. Please be alive. They found her dad back at the ward, he was cornered by four wolves. They snarled and snapped their teeth. “Dad!” Brie cried as the wolves charged for him. He fought hard, but they overpowered him. One of them dug their teeth into his hind leg. Brie cried out. “No!” A red wolf tackled one of the rogues, freeing Izaak's leg. Swiftly, he snapped its neck. It was Charley.Brie and Angela rushed to help, fighting the wolf’s off of him. Izaak shifted back, exhausted.

“s**t…I'm getting too old.”

“Dad, your leg.” she noted. He was covered in blood and bruises, but the deep gash on his leg was most alarming. “You’ve been bitten.”

“f**k” he swore. More wolves howled in the distance. “We need to evacuate the area.”

“My squad is out there gathering these bastards up. You, climb on.” Charley insisted. Izaak didn’t argue. He looked so tired. Cora whined for the both of them. This couldn’t be happening. Was her father going to turn into one of them too? At the corner of her eye, Brie noticed one of the people standing at the edge of the forest, staring at them. She growled. This was all their fault. If her father died of this disease, if Everett and Hailey died, their blood would be on their hands. Without thinking, she charged in the direction of the person.

“Brie, no!” Izaak screamed. Angela dashed after her.

“The f**k do you think you’re doing, princess?” Angela snarled. Brie wasn’t listening. Her eyes were trained on the person. The person ran, so Brie ran faster. They dashed into the forest, dodging between trees. It was so dark, but Brie could follow their scent. Suddenly, the person stopped, faced her, jerked his arm to the side and Brie was flung into the trunk of a tree. Angela charged and caught the man’s arm between her teeth. He screamed, placing his hand to her face. A wave of fire shot from his hand. Angela stumbled back, flames clinging to her fur. She whimpered and cried out, rolling around on the ground to put out the fire. Brie came up from behind, but the man brought up his leg and kneed her under the chin. Her teeth clashed together, blood pooled from her mouth. The sounds of wolves were approaching. Beady eyes glowed between the trees. They were outnumbered. One of the wolves lunged for Angela as she was still blinded. Brie threw her body at him. “Just go!”

“I’m not leaving you!” she nudged Angela to her feet. “Follow my scent!” Brie took off running. Angela tried her best to follow. Brie dodged one of the wolves coming for her, and kicked his face to the ground. “Don’t stop running!” Her heart was racing as she fought to keep her legs kicking. The sound of dozens of pounding footprints followed behind them.

“Get them!” Someone screamed.

Brie heard water in the distance. She was running out of stamina and the wolves were gaining them. “Do you trust me?!” she asked.

“Hell no!” Angela responded.

“ You’ll have to today! Jump!” Both girls leaped into the air. Within seconds they were freefalling. Brie watched the cloaked man peering over the clift as they fell. His wolves didn’t follow. Brie sighed in relief before she heard a c***k and a wave of fiery pain shot up her spine. Her vision grew dark and she was gone.