Chapter Eight: The Doctor’s Price
801 Words
The rain had turned into a downpour by the time we reached the east side. My shoulder burned like someone had poured acid into the wound. Every step sent fresh pain shooting through my body, but I clenched my teeth and kept moving between Zara and Max.
We stopped in front of an old brick building that looked like it used to be a clinic. The sign above the door was faded and cracked: “Dr. E. Voss – Private Practice.”
Max knocked in a special pattern — three slow, two fast. The door opened a few inches. A middle-aged man with messy gray hair and tired eyes looked out.
“You’re bleeding on my doorstep,” the doctor said flatly. “That’s never a good sign.”
“No time for jokes, Elias,” Max replied. “Silver bullet. He needs help now.”
Dr. Voss’s eyes widened when he saw me. He quickly opened the door wider. “Inside. All of you.”
The room smelled of medicine and strong herbs. He locked the door behind us and pointed to an old examination table. “Shirt off. Lie down.”
I pulled off my wet shirt with Zara’s help. The doctor’s face tightened when he saw the wound — an ugly black hole with glowing orange lines spreading outward like poison.
“Fresh silver,” Dr. Voss muttered. “You’re lucky it didn’t hit your heart.” He looked at me closely. “Your body is fighting it better than most. That’s… interesting.”
Zara stayed close to my side, her hand resting lightly on my arm. Max stood by the door like a guard, watching the windows.
While the doctor worked — cutting out the silver piece with careful hands — I tried not to scream. The pain was worse than the change itself.
“You’re Arian, right?” the doctor asked as he dropped the bloody fragment into a metal tray. “The one they’ve been whispering about.”
I blinked through the sweat in my eyes. “Whispering?”
“They say your wolf is evolving. Stronger. Smarter.” He poured something cold and stinging into the wound. “The Silver Order has a special team hunting you. They call you the Anomaly.”
Zara’s grip tightened on my arm. “How do you know all this?”
Dr. Voss gave a bitter smile. “I used to work for them. Until I realized what they were doing to our kind.”
Max stepped closer. “Can you fix him?”
“I can slow the poison. But real healing… that will take time and rest.” The doctor wrapped my shoulder tightly with clean bandages. “You three can’t keep running forever. The Order is getting stronger. They have new weapons. New trackers.”
I sat up slowly once he was done. The pain had dulled to a deep throb. “Then what do we do?”
The room went quiet.
Zara looked at Max, then at me. “There’s a rumor about a safe place up north. A hidden community of moon-touched. People who live free.”
Max shook his head. “It’s just a rumor. Most who go looking never come back.”
Dr. Voss wiped his hands. “It’s real. But getting there means crossing the Dead Zone — fifty miles of Silver Order territory.”
I looked down at my bandaged shoulder, then at the glowing veins that still faintly pulsed under my skin.
“I’m tired of hiding,” I said quietly. “Tired of waking up scared of what I might have done.”
Zara’s golden eyes met mine. Soft but determined. “Then we go north. Together.”
Max was silent for a long moment. Then he gave one firm nod.
A loud beep suddenly came from the doctor’s desk. He checked a small screen and his face went pale.
“They’re already tracking the silver you left behind,” he said urgently. “You need to leave. Now.”
We grabbed our things. As we headed for the back door, Dr. Voss pressed a small vial of dark liquid into my hand.
“For the pain. And the next time you feel like you’re losing control… take one drop. It might help you stay human.”
I met his eyes. “Thank you.”
We slipped out into the rain again. My shoulder hurt, but my mind felt clearer than it had in months.
Three of us against the entire Silver Order.
It should have felt impossible.
But with Zara’s calm presence on my left and Max’s strength on my right, it almost felt like we had a chance.
Until we heard the distant sound of engines roaring closer.
They were coming.
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To be continued…
- Writer
