I am the Night - the last She-Wolf

Chapter 11 - Medic

The night seems busy. It used to be easy to sneak around town at night. I always took advantage of the quiet to break into the library. I was hungry for information. I absorbed every word with desperation. But desperation soon turned into disappointment. Everything I read seemed to make up. It didn’t make any sense.

I glance at Logan. Questions burning on my tongue. It’s not the right time, but once we make it out of here I need to know what the hell is going on. I want to know why humans fight against wolves. Why some wolves attack humans and others don’t. I need to know what happened to me and what makes me so special.

A harsh gust of wind blows the hood of my head, blowing wet snow into my face. Cillian turns to me and lifts the hood back up. He looks concerned. Worried even. I try to give him a reassuring smile, but I think I fail.

“How are you holding up?” he asks.

I need to sit down every other minute. I am slow due to my injuries. I can tell I’m not making this any easier, but I can’t change the state I am in. I need to lie down and rest. For month. Maybe even years. Years of sleep and nothing else.

Logan tried to patch me up as best as he could. We don’t have much to tend to my wounds, but his bandages are holding me together for now.

“I’m okay,” I lie.

He sighs heavily and shakes his head. I can see doubt flickering over his features. Doubt that we’ll be able to make it.

“How do we get down to the sewers?” Logan asks impatiently. He’s tense, watching all the Hunters running around town. Patrolling the streets.

Maybe this plan wasn’t as smart as I thought it would be. It will be a miracle if we make it even close to the border.

“Right there,” Cillian points to a spot in the middle of the busy street.

“Are you kidding me?” Logan groans. It’s visible to everyone around. There is no way three people can pull the manhole cover up and disappear inside.

“I told you this was an insane plan,” Cillian shrugs.

“You didn’t mention this,” Logan almost growls. I can hear the wolf in his voice.

“Is there another way?” I ask, wrapping my arms around myself, “we’ve made it this far,” I add for motivation purposes. I’m not sure it’s working. Both men don’t look too happy right now.

“I’d say we make a run for it,” Logan suggests.

“We won’t make it past the border,” Cillian sighs as if he’s talking to a child. I can tell it’s making Logan only tenser. I glance down at the jacket we stole off Parker. I wonder if they have found him by now.

“What about the hospital?” I ask.

I remember when I first got here when I spend my first conscience night in that place, that it was close to the border. I could see the forest out of my window.

Cillian stares at me for a while, before he looks up into the general direction of the hospital.

“I don’t know,” he sighs and runs a hand over his face. “Fine. I don’t have a better idea right now. All I know is that we have to get off the streets quickly,” he points at Logan, “can you take her?“ he asks our new ally.

Without hesitation, Logan lifts me up. He hesitates for a moment, then instead of carrying me bridal style he throws me over his shoulder, making me cry out in pain.

“What are you doing,” Cillian hisses.

“There are no female Hunters, right? I’m not going to carry a guy as I would her,” Logan explains as if it’s obvious.

“Just... don’t hurt her,” Cillian mutters, accepting the explanation reluctantly.

I bite the inside of my cheek, trying to keep silent when Logan starts walking, Rocking me constantly.

Every step hurts. A lot. So much I’m either going to be sick or I’m going to pass out. I’m not sure we can afford any of that.

“Almost,” Cillian whispers when someone whistles.

“What happened?” a tall man falls into step with us.

“Parker got hurt,” Cillian says, keeping his voice low, “found him up by the Anderson's farm. I took them back here to get him checked out. Doesn’t look too good. I didn’t have the chance to send someone up there. The fugitives must be headed for the mountains.” Cillian doesn’t even bother to look at the other Hunter while he comes up with that lie.

“In this storm?” the Hunter asks, “that’s suicide.”

“Who cares,” Cillian shrugs.

“We are supposed to get the girl back alive.”

“So I’ve heard. Personally, I couldn’t care less. Heard she’s a spy or something. If you want you can try to follow them. I wouldn’t recommend it. It’s a mess up there. They are with a Lycan.”

“Is it true that one of our own is with them?”

“Yes,” Cillian says, trying to sound bitter. He’s doing an incredible job. Lying through his teeth. I just hope it’s going to work.

“We need to question Parker. Maybe he can tell who it is.”

“He’s out cold,” Cillian says, “how about we patch him up first.”

“Right,” the man stops, “what’s your name by the way?” he asks.

“Terrence,” Cillian lies.

“Did you alert the Colonel?”

“No. You do it. I was a little busy,” he says nodding at us.

“And who are you?” he asks Logan.

I can feel a deep rumble erupting from his chest. Not a very human reaction. I curl my hand into his jacket giving it a tiny tug. I’m not sure he understands what I’m trying to tell him, but I hope he won’t blow our cover.

This is dangerous as it is. If someone checks out our story, they’ll know we are headed in a different direction than they suspected. They’ll be on our tails in no time.

“Grant,” Cillian steps in, “he was with Parker. Called me for help.”

“Who was with them? Did you see the Hunter?” the Hunter asks.

“Haven’t seen him around before,” Logan mutters.

“And the Lycan? Where did he come from?”

“Straight out of hell,” Logan says with a low growl.

“I bet,” the man chuckles, “killed one last week. The thing was stupid enough to get too close to the compound.”

“I bet,” Logan hisses through gritted teeth.

“Anyway, what happened up there?”

“Lycan attacked us,” Logan says gruffly. Keeping his answers short, but his grab on me tightens, making me moan out in pain.

“He’s hurt?”

“Bad,” Cillian says, “so, we better hurry!”

“Sure. I let the Colonel know you’re here.”

“I can talk to him myself. Thank you!” Cillian bites out, “I found them. This is my mission!”

“Relax, I’m just trying to help.”

“Help somewhere else!” Logan adds, just as we reach the hospital entrance.

“Whatever,” the Hunter mutters and stays behind. We hurry inside, immediately greeted by a nurse.

“He’s hurt?” she asks.

“Drunk,” Cillian lies with a roll of his eyes, “as if we didn’t have enough going on, right?”

“Sure?!” she says hesitantly, as Cillian pushes his hood off his face, shaking the snow out of his hair.

“Oh, Cillian,” I can literally hear the smile in her voice. I bet she’s one of his... friends. I close my eyes and press my lips together, hoping he’s going to get rid of her quickly. “haven’t seen you in a while,” she purrs.

“Busy,” he shrugs, “anywhere we can put him? Sleep it off?”

“Of course. Follow me!”

The halls are quiet as she leads us down to an examining room. I wonder if we could stay here for a bit. Take a shower and maybe get a change of clothes. Underneath our jackets all three of us are filthy. Dried blood clinging to skin and fabric. I wish we had time for such luxury.

“See you later?” she asks as she lets us into a room.

“Probably not. It’s busy out there.”

“Right. Someone escaped?”

“Yes,” Cillian says, while Logan carefully sets me down on the bed. I try to stay silent. I try not to move, but I want to cry out in pain. I want to scream at the top of my lungs.

“Is he bleeding?” the girl asks.

“We take care of it,” Cillian says, pushing her out of the room.

“Should I get a doctor?”

“He’s been in a bar-fight. It’s nothing. We take care of it, Lindsay!”

“Okay?!” she says hesitantly.

“I could have a look if you-,”

“Just go! Someone might need your help more than we do.”

“If you say so,” she mumbles and when I hear the clicking of the door I open my eyes, rolling on my back, trying to keep my breathing steady.

“What is it?” Cillian asks, appearing next to my bed.

“It hurts,” I whisper. I listen to Logan roaming the room for supplies.

“Take off her jacket,” he orders.

“We don’t have time for this,” Cillian sighs.

“We have to make time. She’s bleeding. She cannot afford to lose more blood. We take care of this now, take supplies and we make a run for it.”

“It’s a matter of time until they realize we are not in the mountains.”

“You want her to die?” Logan growls.

“No,” Cillian sighs and finally helps me out of the jacket. I wince when he makes me sit up.

“The shirt too,” Logan adds, but I immediately wrap my arms around myself. I don’t feel the need to be half-naked in front of them. I don’t want them to see me like that.

“No time to be timid, Mika,” Logan says to me, “just let me do my job!”

“What exactly is your job?” Cillian asks, holding him back before he can touch me.

“I used to be a medic. Shirt! Now!” he says to me.

I lower my gaze and squeeze my eyes shut, trying to lift my arms to peel out of the dirty fabric clinging to my skin.

Cillian carefully helps me. At the same time, he’s trying to keep his gaze fixed on mine. A single tear runs down my cheek. It’s shame and pain that causes it.

“What did they do to you?” Logan breathes out. At the same time, Cillian’s gaze drops to my torso. Black and blue. Scarred. Bloody. Torn apart. Ugly.

“Just... patch her up,” Cillian swallows hard, looking back at me. He sighs and carefully caresses my cheek. “You’re going to be fine,” he promises. An empty promise, but it feels alright at the moment. It’s almost soothing. Almost.

“Pack up as much of this stuff as you can,” Logan orders Cillian, “we might need it. And maybe ask your girlfriend for one of her shirts. Mika could use it.”

“She’s not-,” Cillian starts, “-never mind,” he sighs and heads back out.

“They tried to torture your wolf out of you?” Logan asks me. I nod slowly. “It didn’t work, did it?” I shake my head. “No,” he agrees, “that’s not how it works. I doubt you even know you have a wolf yet.”

“I’m not... like you,” I breathe.

“Maybe not, but you definitely are something. Whether you like it or not. What exactly was their plan? What were they doing with you?”

“Trying to make super soldiers,” I say.

Logan starts laughing, “how? By turning their own?”

“They wanted strength, speed and... and the stuff you can do. They were trying to get it from my blood, but... but they said if that wouldn’t work... they talked about breeding.”

“Goddess,” he groans and shakes his head in disgust, “Humans are the worst disease this planet has ever seen.”

“Some of them,” I wince. Logan cleans my wounds with a burning liquid. “How... how long have you been here?”

“I lost track of time,” he says, “too long.”

“They hurt you too?” He nods. “Why?”

“Why do they do anything? They captured me when I was retrieving the device they later put on me. I don’t think it was meant for my kind. But they didn’t know that and they didn’t care. They thought they could control me with it.”

“I’m sorry,” I say. He huffs out an emotionless laugh.

“It’s not easy being different in a world like this.”

“I guess,” I say, closing my eyes.

“Don’t fall asleep, Mika. I know you’re in pain, but we have to get out of here.”

“I know,” I mumble, feeling awfully sleepy.

“How far can you jump?” Cillian rushes back into the room. A bag in his hand.

“Why? What’s going on?” Logan keeps working on my injuries, while Cillian hands me a clean, white shirt.

“Not sure, but they are moving up the mountain. This is our chance to leave. It’s maybe the only chance we get.”

“Almost done,” Logan makes me sit up again, wrapping bandages tightly around my middle.

“A medic, huh?” Cillian asks curiously, “you have those?”

“You still think we wolves are just primal animals, don’t you?” Logan growls dangerously, “we are not, i***t!”

“Whatever. We have to go! Now!”

“And where are we going?”

“Out there,” Cillian moves to a window and with some force, cracks it open. “Get dressed, Mika. And you should probably shift. It’s quite a drop.”

“What about you?” I ask worriedly.

“I follow you.”

“You won’t make the jump,” Logan says handing me my jacket, while he starts undressing.

“I guess we’ll see,” Cillian shrugs.

“My wolf won’t fit through the window. We have to do this a little bit... different.”

“How?” Cillian asks.

“I jump. I shift. I land. Hopefully.”

“Hopefully?” Cillian raises his brows, “this is no game, Logan. How will you carry Mika if you’ll shift midair?”

“I’ll manage.”

“We don’t have much of a choice,” I mumble and climb out of bed. “What am I doing?” I ask ready for anything. I’m sure I’ll pass out any second anyway. I won’t know if we make the jump or if we hit the ground in full force.

“On my back,” Logan says pointing at his bare backside.

“Don’t kill her!” Cillian warns and helps me on Logan's back.

“Bring my clothes!” Logans says before he climbs out of the window. Cold wintery air rushes by, while I hold onto him. His body ripples beneath me. Shifting and soon enough my fingers curl into thick, dark fur.

A second later the wolf lands on his paws with a heavy grunt. He loses balance and we tumble through the snow.

A whirlwind of white is the last thing I remember before everything goes dark again. Somewhere in the distance, I hear a woman calling out my name. Softly. Taunting. Begging me to come to find her.