Hands Of Monsters

The Medical Monster

Waking from the darkness was similar to putting my head in a vice. My skin throbbed and my brain burned with unimaginable pressure. I groan and roll to my side which ends with me sprawled on the floor. The shock of the cold hard stone beneath me wakes whatever part of my brain that was still asleep. I stand up way too fast and almost fall over.

“Where is Katya?” I ask the man who looked like he had jumped from his chair when I fell. Casting a gaze at the room it’s obvious I’m at a secondary location and fear eats away at me.

“Call Johannes.” The man speaks into a small earpiece as he approaches me cautiously. “Ma’am, you are in a safe location. Please remain calm and comply with our directions if you wish to see your daughter.”

“You’re blackmailing me, using my daughter as leverage and expect me to be calm?” I almost scream but stop myself just in case they really did hurt Katya.

“Ma’am, No one is blackmailing you but my superiors won’t let you out of this room if you are acting like a crazy woman. I am trying to help you.” His hands are out in front of him in a placating manner. I look him up and down wondering just who his ‘superiors’ are.

“Fine then I will stay calm. Let me out to see my daughter. Now.” A part of me knows that I’m in no position to be making demands but the part of me that belongs solely to my daughter demands action.

“Just a moment ma’am. We are just waiting on my commander and then he will be able to help you further. I’m just a soldier on watch duty.”

“Ok BOY, stop calling me ma’am. I am almost definitely younger than you and you can just call me Clare. What is your name and who is your commander?” The soldier looked like he was in his early twenties and being called ma’am by someone so obviously older than me was rubbing my skin backwards.

“Clare, I’m Private Ken Rogers. Please call me Ken and my commander is the man who brought you in last night.”

“Last night? How long have I been here Ken?” My voice is a little more shrill than I meant it to be but the idea that Katya had been away from me with a stranger for an unknown amount of time scared me.

“Only six hours. We tried waking you but Johannes used his ability to keep you asleep while you travelled.” At that moment the door opened and Jon walked into the room. His hand was perfect, he had no scratches on his face or body and I felt the blood drain from my face. I somehow managed not to faint this time.

“What the f**k is going on Jon? I f*****g shot you. Point blank. With a shotgun.” From the look on his face I could tell he wasn’t amused.

“You think I don’t know that. I’m the one who was in pieces, Clare.” He lifts his hand in front of his face and flexes his fingers. “It hurt like a b***h. I haven’t had a wound like that in almost 300 years.”

“What the f**k are you talking about?” I ask with incredulity before mumbling, “300 years, Exaggerate much.”

“No one is exaggerating Clare. It has been 289 years and four months since the last time someone managed to get the drop on me enough to cause bodily harm. I’m a hunter, a commander and a beast. I’m barely ever wounded.”

“Okay. If you have finished being crazy I would like to see my daughter now.” Despite the fact I had seen his hand knit itself back together only hours ago my brain still wouldn’t allow me to take his words seriously. Even if his face was nothing but serious as he spoke bullshit.

“I will take you to see Katya but we have things we need to talk about. There are things you should know about your daughters position and how this will change everything for both of you.” His arms had crossed in front of his chest and one of his bushy eyebrows had reached where his hairline would have been.

“Whatever, Katya first, then I will listen to your crazy before I leave.” He looked like he was going to say more but just stopped himself with a shake of his head.

The hallway we walked down had fancy white tiled floors, white walls and grey doors to private offices with name plaques on them. At the end of the hallway was an open area with a kitchenette, tables and lounges. Across the space was another hallway that forked. In one direction you could see what appeared to be a reception area and the other direction was blocked by hospital style doors with a thumb reader. Jon led me through the doors and we walked down a sterile hallway until we stopped outside a grey door with a ‘nursery’ plaque.

“In here.” He states simply before opening the door and leading me into the room.

“Wow.” I exhale a breath as I come face to glass with a window that separates a bunch of children from us. Some looked as old as five while others were babies like Katya. “Please tell me you didn’t kidnap all these babies as well?” The idea that Jon and his crazy friends may have kidnapped other children had me wondering at what chance Katya and I had of leaving this place safely.

“No. You might see me as the bad guy right now but I’m actually one of the good guys.” He looks down at me like he hoped that just saying those words would make me forgive him for kidnapping us. When I returned his look with a blank stare that told him exactly how I felt about that, he shakes his head at me and puffs a sigh.

“Do you have bugs or something? You shake your head so much I’m starting to wonder.” Despite my effort to keep my mouth shut it seems the sarcastic b***h within me doesn’t like to be quiet.

“No, I had my flea shot recently.” I laugh at his humour and a smirk graces his features for a moment before he turns to look back through the window. “I’m serious. These are the children of the people who work here.” A giggle draws my attention to the smallest baby in the room laying on her back beneath a play arch.

“Katya.” Her name leaves me in a breath of relief and despite the glass and the distance her little blue eyes swivel to my face. A cry splits the air and my heart breaks. “Let me in to see her. Now!”

I was done playing nice and it seemed Jon had noticed because he scans his thumb to let me inside and I move through the children in a line for Katya. When I reach her she croons until I pick her up and then snuggles into my shoulder as though she has missed me as much as I missed her.

“Hello sweet baby.” Nuzzling her hair and squeezing her close I feel some of the tension in my chest ease.

“You are the mother?” I look over my shoulder at the woman who spoke and nod. “Well I don’t know what took you so long. She has been so hungry I had to feed her myself but she just spat it all back up.”

“She hasn’t fed that way before. Clare doesn’t know what Katya is, yet, so she has survived on infusions and breast milk.” Jon replies to the woman then shrugs, “I’m not surprised she would spit it up the first time.”

“What the f**k did you try to feed her?” I’m barely able to hold back my anger in front of the children.

“Blood of course.” The woman speaks as if I’m a slow child and she obviously didn’t see Jon shake his head but I had. I round on him and he backs out of the room as I advance.

“What the actual f**k! What type of psychopathic place is this. That cunt in there tried to feed my baby her blood. If Katya has any diseases because of you lot I will end your little operation here.” Katya was snuggled into my chest with one arm and I had my other out jamming Jon’s chest with my finger as I spoke. “We are leaving right this second and don’t f*****g try to stop me.”

I start marching down the hallway until I reach the hospital like doors and I’m forced to stop. I stare at the thumb scanner and attempt to reign in the rant I was building. I need to get Katya checked out at the hospital as soon as possible and to do that I have to leave. I turn around, about to head back and force Jon to open the damned doors, but I run head first into his solid brick chest. His hand shoots out and steadies me. I rub my forehead hoping I don’t have a concussion then check Katya wasn’t bumped against his formidable chest.

“Open the f*****g door. I’m so done with this place and I’m one more obstacle away from losing my s**t Jon.”

“Clare, Just calm the f**k down. You are acting like a child and it’s rather annoying.” I pull up short at that and smirk at him like a psycho.

“I am a f*****g child by technicality so how about you let me the f**k out.” He squints down at me and shakes his head once again. “I swear to all that is holy, if you shake your goddamned head one more time I'll punch you in the face.”

“Clare, you are currently being pulled into a world you know nothing about. You are in danger in more ways than you can imagine but the most important way is that Katya’s father will want her back.” His face is beet red and I could see that he was reaching the end of his patience. The smart part of my brain finally kicked into play and I retreated a few steps.

“Fine. Let’s talk.” With a forced calming breath Jon turns away from me and Katya. He leads us back down the hallway and into an office further down than the nursery.

As I follow him I barely manage to keep quiet. I don’t know anything about Jon other than him being a security guard at the club and it was obvious something I wasn’t privy to was happening here. Jon had kidnapped Katya and myself so as long as he wishes we are at his mercy.

The office we had entered looked like a room a shrink would use on TV. It had a single armchair, a two seater couch and a coffee table in the centre of the room. At the rear of the room was a chair and desk with a computer and stacks of files atop it. The entire back wall was glass and overlooked a tiny garden with a pond and ducks. I almost laughed aloud at the obnoxious opulence of it all.

“Sit down and get comfortable. I am about to tell you things that will make you believe I’m crazy and then I’ll show you the proof of it all so we can get you and Katya the help you need.”

“Yep. Sure.” I silently berated myself for replying when I knew I would be snarky with how I was feeling at this point in time.

“Clare, this whole conversation will move smoother if you don’t take every opportunity to be Sarcastic.” His words are grumbled out on a growl and from the look on his face I could tell I was testing his patience.

“Jon, this conversation is only necessary because you kidnapped us. SO, if I have an attitude at this point you should just accept it.” Why can’t I just shut up and let things move smoothly.

“Anyway, what do you know of Katya’s condition?” I look down at my beautiful nine month old who had fallen asleep in my arms and sigh.

“Well, she was born dead. The doctors say that when I picked her up and cradled her I instinctively rubbed her heart back into rhythm. She has a blood disorder where her red blood cells don’t produce healthy Haemoglobin. She requires injections of healthy synthesized haemoglobin with added iron, b12, b2 and b3. These injections work 98% effectively but she also requires a blood transfusion every three months. My blood type is O positive like hers so I keep a stock of my own blood for her transfusions. It’s taken and tested by professionals before they give it back to us and I have all the equipment required to store it thanks to my pay from the club.” I pause to smirk at him for a moment, “Professional medical equipment is f*****g expensive.”

“Well that explains why she rejected Silla’s blood. She doesn’t like A positive.” He pensively stares at us.

“Um, maybe it’s because the blood is meant to be transfused not f*****g drunk.” His brow crinkles at my words and I watch him take a big breath. The type that precedes world changing news, like when the doctors told me how sick Katya actually was.

“Well Clare, for Katya, drinking blood is going to be a normal occurrence in her life so you need to get over your bias now.” I open my mouth to tell him where he can shove his words but he cuts me off with a hand swiped through the air. My voice stalls in my throat and no matter how hard I try it won’t come out. “Clare, I have let you have your voice this whole time but it’s imperative that you just shut the hell up right now. There is a lot you need to know.

Whoever Katya’s ‘father’ is, he isn’t human. He is part of a race known to humans as ‘vampires’ although that’s not what they call themselves. The creatures humans know as vampires are actually called Succo, Latin for blood drinker. They have many subspecies just like humans have different races or cats have different breeds. They are only one of the people policed under the Superno Societatem Magistratus. Right now we are inside one of the Magistratus precincts.”

Finally Jon pauses in his crazy speech and although I have many questions, and a lot of accusations of crazy, running through my head I cannot seem to voice a single one of them. I know I must look like a cod fish with my mouth gaping wide yet I cannot close it. My eyes travel from Jon’s face down to his hand then back up. He flicks his wrist and suddenly I can talk again.

“So, David is a blood drinker and Katya should be drinking blood because she is his child. This is some type of Supernatural police station?” I remember just enough of my latin classes to roughly translate. It’s pretty simple as most English words are just simplified versions of latin words. “Okay, and what are you? I shot you and your hand was in pieces. Now it isn’t. The fact that I saw that happen with my own eyes is the only reason I haven’t jumped out that window behind you. Do you know how crazy this sounds?” Finally Jon raises his hand and my rant is cut off again.

“Hominus Lupas.” I don’t know how to translate those words to English so I just shrug my shoulders and shake my head. “Humans call my kind werewolves or wolfmen. Jumping out that window wouldn’t work as that glass is missile proof so you would just hurt yourself. Yes both David and Katya are blood drinkers although Katya is still half human so she also requires food or in your case breast milk.”

“Alright. Well next question, and stop f*****g taking my voice Jon, aren’t Vampires undead.” I ask then realise i'm starting to believe him. “David had a heartbeat and his d**k obviously worked.” I say while waving a hand at Katya who was still sleeping.

“Only rare Succo are considered undead. David was obviously one of those who can appear human. Most Succo cannot breed with humans successfully so that narrows the list of suspects exponentially. Most of the ones who can breed with humans their children die at birth or shortly after. Only those who have real love connections with their human mates and stick around to look after their children have healthy Dhampirs. The fact that you managed to keep Katya alive and well by yourself despite your lack of knowledge shows how great and determined you are as a mother.”

“Well we can thank my tenacity and the paediatricians for that. So if David had to drink blood why did he never drink mine? Like I get that he wouldn’t while I was pregnant with Katya as I was super weak but he had me in his clutches for just under three years before I fell pregnant. Never once had I even received a hickey from David and despite how much he beat me and made me bleed he never drank any of my blood. That I know of anyway.”

“That could actually help us determine what Breed of Succo he is. Most of the ones I know personally drink from their human mates.” Jon stands from behind his desk and walks around to crouch in front of us. “It could be that he is a Succo that passes the gene through his bite. If that was the case and you were being used as a breeder then he wouldn’t risk biting you as you would change or die. Succo who spread their genes through a bite either drink donated blood, Superno blood or if they are evil they kill while drinking.”

“Well look for the bodies then as David was more evil than you can imagine. If he killed people I wouldn’t be surprised. When Katya was born dead he left me sliced open on a bed to die alone with my child’s corpse between my legs.” I watch as sorrow etches into Jon’s features and I have to look away. I can’t handle pity very well.

“Well it definitely sounds like you were used as a breeder. I am sorry. For now let’s head to the infirmary to get Katya, and yourself, checked over. Our Medical professional will also help you understand what you can do to help Katya from now on. You know what she is now right?”

“You called her a Dhampir. I’m guessing that’s the offspring of ‘Succo’ and humans like myself.” He nods and I want to bang my head on the table. “Well at this point the jury is still out on if I truly believe this nonsense even though I saw your hand heal right in front of my eyes. Let us go see your doctor and hope I don’t faint from the crazy overload.”

The infirmary is at the end of the hallway and has its own thumb printed door we had to pass through. Inside was a typical ER setup with beds lining the walls in cubicles separated by hanging sheets. In the centre of the room was a nurses station and I stopped walking as a woman in bright red scrubs approaches.

“Johannes, what brings you to my end of the block?” The woman who now stood in front of us easily dispelled all my doubts over the crazy things Jon had told me. She was easily the most beautiful woman in existence. Tall, lithe with lightly toned muscles and womanly curves to drool over. The only thing I couldn’t get past was that she had dark purple skin and a leathery tail with a triangle tip.

“Excuse me, hold Katya.” Without waiting for a response I pass Katya to the woman in scrubs then turn to look at Jon as blackness kisses the edges of my vision. “Catch me.”

~~~~~~~

When I open my eyes I’m in one of the beds and the woman in the bright red scrubs is beside me holding Katya against my chest.

“Johannes, I never thought you were this stupid. Too many muscles and not enough brains I swear to Lillith.” She rolls her dark brown eyes at him with a huff.

“What did I do? I told her about Katya and The father, I warned her I would show proof before we even started speaking. How is this my fault.”

“Humans have a strong yet fragile psyche, they can handle quite a lot but sometimes they break and it takes a while to put back together. You should have told her what to expect walking through that door. Eight hours ago she didn’t even know the Superno existed and you just walked her into a room with a demon. I bet you didn’t even tell her we existed did you? THAT’S WHY IT'S YOUR FAULT!” A laugh escapes me as she whisper yells to avoid waking Katya. Her beautiful face looks down at me and she smiles what can only be described as Placatingly. “You are awake. Good, I was worried we had broken you.”

“Nope, not yet but I feel like fractured glass so let’s go easy on the tiny human yea?” My beautiful sarcastic defence mechanism has kicked in and I wince as the almost nasty words leave my mouth.

“Stop with the attitude Clare. You cannot be fainting at everything, this is your life now as Katya needs to know about the society she belongs to.” Jon’s arrogance drives nails into my tear ducts and I barely stifle the tears that are trying to fall.

“You know what Jon, I’m pretty sure I can get through a doctor’s appointment without you so take your bullshit and leave. I hope the door hits you in the head on your way out.” The woman in scrubs laughs and Jon bristles before leaving with a ‘whatever’ thrown over his shoulder.

“Well, that was funny.” She says staring at the door Jon had left through before turning back to me. “I’m Lillu. A daughter of Lillith and a breed of daemonium. Commonly known to humans as Demon’s. I’m no more evil than an average human so don’t be scared of me. I am a doctor and i'll be giving you and Katya a check-up.”

“I am not scared of you. Also you look too much like a Demon pin-up girl to be scary. You are freaking hot.” She smiles at that as she walks around grabbing the equipment she needs to do our check-ups.

“Yes I have been told by many that I resemble a ‘sexy cartoon demon’. At least I’m sexy I guess.”

“So why were you holding Katya to my chest?” I ask as I sit up and Katya’s eyes spring open.

“She woke when you passed her to me and started crying so I pressed her to your chest to calm her. You were only out for a few minutes but I didn’t want her to be too stressed before the check-up.”

“Oh.” Just as elegant as always I am.

Katya’s little fingers fist in my hair, that had become knotted in all this craziness, and the tiny sting is the last thing I can take. The tears fall and I let them. Lillu quietly stands to the side and averts her gaze as I cry into Katya’s shoulder. When I finally have control of myself again Lillu comes forward with a rolling drawer.

“Now for the hard part. I need to take some blood from the both of you. The problem is that Katya is already running on low so I will need you to feed her while we do this.”

“Um, if you are talking about blood I have never done that before. She gets infusions and she only had one last night so she should be fine.” I can hear the craziness of that sentence even as it leaves my mouth. Lillu doesn’t bat an eyelash at it though.

“Ok, well that explains why someone with no knowledge of Superno managed to keep this little Dhampir alive. Where do you get the blood?”

“It’s mine, I have it taken by professionals and then I store it at home for whenever she needs it. We share the O positive blood type so it works better than paying for donor blood. The human doctors diagnosed her with a rare blood disease.”

“Well those doctors did a great job even if they didn’t know what they were looking at.” Grabbing a scalpel off the roller drawers she approaches the bed with a smile. “I have a regular human patient who is mated to a Succo and before her baby grew his fangs we would cut a small incision in one of the veins around her n****e so when he suckled he would receive both milk and blood. If you are willing we can try that for you and Katya.”

I nod and she helps me pull down my pyjama top that I was still wearing. Pressing her finger to a prominent vein beside my n****e I feel a tingling sensation before the area under her finger goes numb. Using the scalpel she makes a clean incision and before either of us can move Katya sits up in my arms. Her little eyes lock on the blood and moving with speed a baby should not possess she latches onto my n****e. Her tiny mouth covering my entire n****e and the cut beside it. Before my eyes her skin begins to brighten and the blue that had started to creep into her complexion disappears.

“Yep, she is used to running off your blood. Her body is designed to absorb the blood by ingestion like we do nutrients in food. That’s why the transfusions helped her survive but she was never truly healthy. She is very small for her age.”

As I continue to feed Katya, Lillu walks around us measuring her body, her head and taking her weight using a mobile sling. Using her little finger trick she makes Katya’s foot numb and then takes a blood sample. She does the same thing to my own elbow and by the time she is done Katya has stopped drinking and has fallen back to sleep.

“Wow, she just woke up why is she asleep again?” I look down at her and the flush in her face has me worried she might be sick.

“She is blood drunk. It happens to baby Succo and it's the same reaction human babies have to milk.” Lillu wheels a portable crib into my cubicle and I place Katya inside so she can sleep off her drunkenness. “Now it is your turn for a check-up. I already took your blood but I need your weight, height, age and I will also need to know your diet and recent s****l activity.”

“Well, my diet consists of rice, chicken and coffee. Medical bills and equipment are ridiculously expensive so I can’t afford much else. It’s been around ten months since the last time anyone had s*x with my body. I just turned seventeen. I’m 158cm tall but I don't know how much I weigh.” Lillu's face flinches at my words.