Rosalee woke on a cold linoleum floor with a screaming headache. Her sinuses burned, and she couldn't smell anything. What the hell? Where was Monroe? And, more importantly, where was Sophia? She tried to sit up and found her wrists bound together with a zip tie; another zip tie was around her ankles. This was not good. Her tied hands instinctively sat over her stomach; she had just come home from an OB-GYN appointment with Doctor Julliard, where she found out she was about two months pregnant with an Entzünden baby. She already knew this pregnancy was going to be different from her first: for one, she hadn't had any morning sickness at all, and didn't know she was pregnant until today. She was scheduled for her first ultrasound next week. Monroe was going to be so happy… Sophia was going to be a great big sister…
Rosalee's thoughts were interrupted by a bang that sounded like it was down a long hallway. She took a quick stock of her surroundings: it looked like a creepy operating room from a horror movie, with a single metal table, a metal cart, and jars and vials of who knows what. She wouldn't be able to reach any of it from where she was, anyway. She snaked her way along the floor into a corner, and finally heard the echo of footsteps. The door opened and a young man entered. It didn't take him long to spot her.
"Hello, there," he said in a quiet, cheerful voice, dropping down to a squat in front of her. She had seen him before, but where? "I trust you had a nice little nap, Fuchsbau?"
"What do you want? My husband is going to kill you when he finds us, and he'll get away with it, too…"
"Calm down, honey, don't let your fox show. This isn't really about you. Well, actually, it is, but it's more about that," he paused and made a very theatrical gagging sound, "abomination of a child you and your Blutbad brought into the world."
Rosalee felt her panic rising. The PWO and the Reinheitsgebot. Again. But this time, they had upped their game.
Before they were married, Monroe and Rosalee received a series of threats, culminating in a gift-wrapped package addressed to Rosalee containing a fox kit that had been hacked to death. However, this grand display of animosity was not without its upside: bloody fingerprints led Nick to the perpetrator, a Blutbad who swore he was acting alone.
After they were married, someone set their porch on fire and burned "PWO" into their lawn. It turned out to be Barry Kellogg's son, Brian, seeking revenge on the couple for putting his father in jail. He decided to make it look like a PWO statement to scare them, and had hormonally hypnotized a human girl into helping him. Brian was currently in jail for arson.
"How do you know about Sophia?" Rosalee asked as calmly as she could. She didn't want to betray her panic. She had to protect her child… no, her children. She had to protect the baby growing within her as well. The man laughed.
"You recognize me, don't you? I work at Doctor Honig's office. Day in and out, all the happy Wesen couples bringing their offspring for a checkup… and then one day, Daddy Blutbad and Momma Fuchsbau bring their precious little abomination in…" Rosalee racked her brain desperately. Doctor Jordana Honig was their pediatrician. He didn't look like any of the interns, secretaries, or any of the other doctors… then she remembered. The janitor. Every visit, the janitor would watch them; last time they were there for a check-up, he tripped Sophia with his broom, causing both parents to momentarily woge while he shrank back and swore it was an accident.
"Now you remember, don't you?" the man smiled again, seemingly showing all of his teeth in one grin.
"But what do you want?" Rosalee asked, frustrated, but fearing the answer she would receive.
"We have already contacted your Blutbad. He is to bring us the child in exchange for you."
