Chapter 10: blood loss
When Andy arrived at the hideout, she wasn't in her usual attire. She was in a dark blue robe which accentuated her light blue eyes. She had a more mystical vibe to her as well. She entered and began looking around for Kona or anyone she knew.
There were signs of violence, blood streaked on the floor and walls. A gurgling noise was weakly audible behind an overturned couch.
She moved quickly, looking around the couch for the source of the sound.
Tet lay in a pool of blood, his eyes glassy. More unmoving bodies lay nearby.
She crouched beside him, forcing energy into him as she spoke spells to speed the healing process. When she got Tet's wounds closed, she carefully moved him to the medbay and set up a transfusion. She then went back to the unmoving bodies and began working on them.
A hand touched her ankle from behind.
She jumped slightly and turned to see who it was.
Kona gave her a weak smile. His shirt was torn, exposing angry fang marks. "Mom.."
She knelt down, "Oh, hun.." Light surrounded him as she closed the wounds. "You're okay now. I'm sorry I wasn't here protecting you."
"Not your..fault." Kona's eyes began to close. "Kiba and Yuki went after them yesterday. But they never came back.."
"I'll go look for them in a bit." She lifted him and took him to the medbay. After finishing everyone else she could find, she tried to think of how to find Kiba and Yuki. She focused a moment on Kiba before saying the teleportation spell.
He was unsteadily walking down a nearby alley, leaving a blood trail behind from multiple injuries. He looked up and stopped. "Andy?"
"Hey," she moved to him and wrapped an arm around him, "Kona said you, and someone named Yuki, had left and didn't come back, so I came to find you."
Kiba swallowed hard. "Glad to know Kona is alive."
"What happened exactly?"
"My former clan attacked trying to get me." He averted his eyes. "You should leave me."
"I'm not going to do that. You need help, and you should go back to the group. No one is going to blame you for this." She began covering him in blue healing light.
"I got Tet killed! And Yuki! I'm not even sure how many more.." He pushed her away before sliding down the alley wall. "Just stop.. I knew there was danger and I didn't tell them, so yeah, they will blame me and they should."
She crouched down and gently lifted his head so he'd look at her, "Tet and the others are alive. The only one we need to focus on is finding Yuki so I can help him. And I'm sure they aren't all danger free either, okay? If they are really your friends, they won't care about the danger. Just like I don't care about the danger."
"Apologies, but you need help." Kiba leaned his head back, wearily motioning back down the alley. "He told me to run. He was back there still fighting."
"Stay here, I'm going to find him." She stood, "And I'd actually stay if I were you, but I can find you even if you leave."
"I can't move right now."
She bent down and pressed a soft kiss on his lips before disappearing down the alley.
She followed the blood trail and searched the area.
A flash of white in a pile of trash caught her eye.
She went and started digging to see what it was.
What it ended up was a shock of white surrounded by dark hair attached to a young appearing man. He was blood covered and cold.
She searched him for injuries and began healing them. She then forced red light into him, trying to revive him.
He jerked, red eyes flying open and locking onto her face.
"Hey, it's okay." She said softly, moving back slightly.
"Who..are you?" The voice was soft and strained as the man resisted the urge to attack.
"Are you Yuki? I'm friends with Kiba."
"He's alive? Please say yes!" Yuki sat up too fast, then groaned.
"Yeah, he's just down the alley," She said, steadying him before pushing energy into him.
"Keep.. him safe..if they find out he's alive they'll return.." Yuki began to sag slowly, his eyes turning from red to brown.
She gently lifted him and carried him back to where Kiba was. She then teleported them to the medbay and set up transfusions before checking everyone else over again.
Tet gave her a slight smile. "Everyone has checked in aside from your wayward witch. According to the twins he said he was going shopping for herbs. I suspect he told the vamps where we were."
She frowned, "I'll look for him soon."
"Don't bother. He no doubt turned on us just like everyone else he's ever stayed with." One of the injured men scowled.
"We won't know until we talk to him. What if he hasn't turned on us and is hurt somewhere?" She shot the man a glare.
"Good riddance then."
She growled but didn't say anything, just stood and prepared to teleport.
Tet hissed and lunged at the other man, claws extending on one hand.
Andy shook her head and held him back, "As much as I want you to do that, it isn't right."
"Let me fulfill both your desires." The man withdrew a tiny vial, drinking the contents quickly.
Andy rolled her eyes and stuck him with a syringe, taking a blood sample. She went to a microscope in the office and checked it over before grabbing a few medicines. She went and injected him with a mix of them before saying a couple spells.
"Why? Why can't you let me die?" His eyes were sad and hazy.
"Because, even if you aren't the best person, you still don't deserve to die."
He closed his eyes, tears slipping out under the lashes. "I do. You don't have any idea. Just go find your friend and forget you ever met me."
"You might have done some bad things, but that doesn't mean you do deserve death. Do you want to talk about it? It might make you feel better?" She sighed, "I'm Andy, by the way. I'm not a therapist, but I am a pretty good listener."
"No one wants to listen to me. Nobody should. You should go." The man pushed himself up and slowly left the medbay as Tet scowled.
"I shouldn't have brought him into the group." The shifter stared at the door with a sigh. "He's too damaged."
"Give him time. I'll keep trying to talk to him, and maybe I'll get through to him eventually."
"You certainly like the tough cases." Tet huffed before his phone chimed. He checked, going pale before showing her a video.
Kenji spoke quickly, warning the group of the imminent attack. He was pale, a scarf tightly binding one arm. There was a howling noise, then the video went black. The audio continued for another minute, recording screaming before finally going dead.
Andy growled again, "I'm going to find him."
"Gods..he tried to warn us.." Tet looked sick.
"Hey, it's okay. He's going to be alright." She said softly.
"If you find him."
She put a hand on Tet's shoulder before focusing on Kenji. She teleported them to his location and she began looking around.
Blood was pooled in spots on the ground and Tet froze. "I can't.."
"Shh, it's going to be alright. Just trust me." She finally spotted Kenji and knelt down to check him over.
The witch lay on his back, his neck and chest savagely torn open. His eyes stared sightlessly into the distance.
She closed her eyes for a moment before forcing light into him. She spoke spell after spell as her mixed red and blue lights coated him in purple. She stayed quiet for a while, just focusing on her work.
His injuries disappeared, then he inhaled sharply. His eyes blinked rapidly as he shot to a sitting position. "Warn them!"
"Shh, it's alright."
He stared at her for a minute, then winced and swayed. "I feel awful. Is everyone alright?"
"We'll get you to the medbay and get some medicine and blood in you. Yeah, I've helped everyone."
"I'm sorry for being a burden."
"You have nothing to be sorry about, okay?" She gave him a small smile before looking back at Tet, "I told you he'd be alright."
Tet nodded quietly, going to Kenji's side and hefting him up.
Andy focused and teleported them back to the medbay and began setting things up for Kenji.
Tet watched for a moment, then headed for the door. "Gonna find that ungrateful son of a bitch."
"He probably needs some time," Andy said quietly, "But I won't stop you, if you really want to find him."
"Believe me, time does no damn good with him. He's gonna either apologize or he's out. Maybe I should drop his ass on Section's doorstep.."
She shook her head, "Let me look for him, okay?" She moved past him, "Just calm down." She disappeared down the hall, beginning her search.
Harsh crying could be heard in a side room.
She entered slowly before speaking, "Hey.. Why don't you talk about what's wrong? I'm here to listen and I care, okay?"
"You don't know me..besides all you witches only care about other witches."
"You know, it's kind of rude to assume that."
"I'm like this because a witch thought it was funny to curse me! Because I told her husband to stop treating us like second class citizens.."
"I'm sorry. I'd go take care of her if I knew who she was. Not all witches are like that, and I'm trying to change the ones that are."
He looked up at her, startled by her words. "Why would you do that?"
"Well, no one should treat others that way, but it's also my duty to keep an eye on other witches and what they are doing."
"I don't understand." He took a deep breath. "Tet's going to throw me out, isn't he?"
"If he does, I'll help you out. But I'm going to try to convince him not to," she gave him a small smile. "You don't have to tell me everything, but can I at least know your name?"
"Nara." He sighed heavily. "Just let him. Should never have left the lab."
"Listen, I don't know what you've been through, but you deserve happiness just like everyone else. If you can't stay here, I have somewhere for you to go where you can be happy and free. I'm going to help you, whether you want me to or not."
"Just find the nearest Section Z lab and teleport me there." He wiped his face and stood.
She approached him slowly, then reached up and slapped him. "Shut it. You don't deserve that. No one does. So what? You've had a shitty life. That doesn't mean the future can't be better. You can change yourself and your future. It's all in your control. And I'm here to help you if you need it."
He rubbed his cheek softly. "What do you know? I grew up in Section Z. It's all I knew until Tet destroyed the lab I lived at!"
She sighed, "I don't know what that's like exactly. I grew up happy with my family.. Then Section Z came and killed them. My whole life was turned upside down. I had to leave the only home I knew for my safety. I built a whole life in the human world on my own. I know that the future is in your control. You can choose to build a new, happier life, or you can go back to what you knew. The choice is up to you, no one can make it for you. But if you choose to stay, I'll be here to help you so you don't have to do everything on your own."
He dropped his eyes. "No one wants me here. No one has ever even asked me what I wanted. Why would you want to help me after I insulted Kenji?"
"They might want you more if you opened up a bit or didn't come off as rude.." She sighed, "Though I was upset you insulted him, I know that isn't all of you. There's more that I don't know, and I can't judge you until I know more. Though, it isn't my place to judge you in the first place." She looked at him carefully, "I just try to be a nice and caring person. So, what do you want?"
"I want..to stay here. I don't want to be treated like a lab rat again. But Tet's out for my blood, not that I don't deserve it. I'm not even a real shifter, I was made one." He sat down and wrapped his arms around his knees.
"Let me talk to him, okay? But no matter what he says, I'm still going to help you. I have somewhere you can go if this doesn't work out, but hopefully you'll be able to stay like you want. And I don't care if you were born one or made one, you're just a shifter and a person who deserves care and kindness."
He shrugged quietly, eyes on the floor.
"I'm sorry I slapped you. You didn't deserve that either, I was just trying to get through to you.." She sighed, "I'll talk to Tet, okay? Everything will be alright, just trust me."
"No big deal."
She crouched beside him, "It is a big deal. I shouldn't have done that. I said I'd help you and then I hurt you. It wasn't right. But I'm going to do what I can to make it up to you. Thank you for opening up to me a bit. I know it probably wasn't easy."
"I've been through worse. A slap to the face is nothing after being tested for pain tolerance." He gave her a tiny smile. "No need to make anything up to me."
"Well, I'm still going to help." She smiled slightly. "I'm going to talk to Tet, okay?"
"Have fun." Nara went back to staring at the floor.
She slipped out of the room and headed back to the medbay to see if Tet was still there.
He was sitting beside Kiba, his body tense. One hand was tapping out a rhythm on his leg.
"Hey, are you okay?"
"Hate waiting. Where is the little asshole?"
"Look, he's been through a lot, but he really wants to stay. I think you should give him another chance."
"After he said those things about Kenji? Who has done more for the group than he has? I risked my ass to rescue him and he basically spits in my face?! Everyone here has gone through a lot, but we get along. Except him. He is rude to the point of being mean and pushes everyone to near murder."
She looked down, "I figured you wouldn't want him to stay. I have somewhere else I can take him, I just thought I'd try since he wants to stay here." She turned to head back.
"Dammit! Why are you suddenly on his side? You were just as angry earlier."
"I might be angry in the moment, but overall, I know there's more to people than what they show. That's why I didn't want you to hurt him. He has more to him than just his rudeness, maybe if you'd be gentler, ask him what he wants, and try to get to know him more, you'd understand him better."
"He was the first person I rescued. I bent over backwards to do that and he repaid me by stabbing me and trying to run back to Section Z. I figured maybe I just wasn't nice enough. But he hasn't changed in over ten years." Tet let out an aggravated growl. "Is it me?"
"I don't know.. But I do know here and Section Z are all he knows. He grew up there and he is probably a bit afraid to open up to anything new because of it. He's been in a lab his whole life and you expect him to just suddenly be okay with being around other people?" She took a deep breath, "He knows he's been rude. But I don't know if he entirely knows how to change it."
Tet had gone pale at her explanation. "No.. He's like Ryu? He never said anything! I'm the asshole here huh? Where is he? I need to apologize."
She led him to the room, "Nara? Tet wants to talk to you."
Nara jumped to his feet. "I'm sorry! I'll leave now!" He ran past them.
Tet groaned. "Nara, wait!"
Andy moved fast, grabbing Nara's arm gently, "He's not kicking you out. Just listen to him, okay?"
Nara flinched, then dropped his head and nodded slowly.
Tet took a deep breath. "Forgive me? I didn't realize you were like Ryu, though I should have recognized the signs after rescuing him. I've been an utter dick to you and would like to start over. Don't leave, please. Unless you can't stand being near me now.."
Andy gave Nara an encouraging smile.
Nara stayed silent for a moment, then shrugged. "I forgive you. But you shouldn't forgive me. So I'll go now before I mess things up again." He tried to get free of Andy's hand.
"Nara, please don't go," Andy said softly but she did drop her hand. "You deserve happiness, just like everyone else. You deserve to stay here and be happy and Tet thinks so too. No one is mess free, it's part of being alive, but you can fix your mess ups, especially when you have friends like us helping you."
"Freaks don't get to be happy. Thank you both but I deserve to be in the lab. Can't hurt anyone there."
"You aren't a freak," she sighed, "I can't force you to stay if you don't want to, but we think you deserve to stay here. I don't think you're going to hurt anyone anyway."
Nara's head shot up. "Not a freak?" He suddenly touched a mirror on the wall, eyeing her as it froze solid. He touched it again and it melted, the glass running down the paint. "Still think that? I can also scream so loud it would shatter your skull like a dropped glass. Plus the fact I was turned into a wyvern against my will."
Tet winced.
"I don't think you're a freak, but if you are insistent that you are, we can be freaks together. I might not be able to freeze or melt things, or shift, but I can raise the dead. There's very few necromancers out there.." She looked at him, "I think you're special, something to be celebrated. Not that I am happy that this was done to you against your will, but you are what you are now, and you need to find a way to accept that and embrace it."
Nara blinked in surprise. "You misunderstand. Only the shifting was done against my will. I was born with the other abilities. Section Z said no one has ever shown all of them at once naturally."
"See, then you're extra special," she smiled.
He blushed as Tet chuckled.
"So will you stay?"
He shyly nodded. "Just don't tell Kenji what I said okay? He might turn me into something."
She chuckled, "I won't, but if any of the witches here have issues with you, let me know and I'll take care of it."
"If that's settled, why don't we check on the others?" Tet suggested.
She nodded and gave Nara a smile before heading back toward the medbay.
Kenji staggered toward her, his face panicked.
"What's wrong?"
"Kona heard the report I gave to Kiba and ran." He dropped to his knees at her feet. "It's my fault if he gets hurt."
"Stand up. What exactly did you tell Kiba?"
"The vampires were supposed to take Kona to Section Z. I guess they gave into the bloodlust and forgot by the time they got here." Kenji didn't rise, shaking in fear.
"Alright.. I'll find him," she wondered if she should look for him around the base or just teleport.
"He said he was safer on the street."
She sighed, "Alright." She closed her eyes to focus on him to teleport.
She materialized inside an abandoned subway.
"Let go of me! Give that back!" Kona's voice came faintly.
She moved quickly toward the noise, trying to assess the situation.
"Such a nice card. Give me the pin and maybe I won't let them kill you.." An amused voice said.
Kona said something muffled, then cried out once.
Three older youths appeared, walking toward her. One was cleaning a red stain off a switchblade.
"You're going to regret hurting him," she said calmly, trying to push back her fear for Kona.
"You his new mommy?" The lead boy asked mockingly. "You have lousy taste in gutter rats."
Her eyes blazed. She said a spell and fire appeared in her hand.
All three recoiled and tried to scatter.
She said another spell, dropping them to the ground unconscious. One final spell brought vines, tying them up. She then headed to find Kona.
He lay crumpled face down on a dirty mattress, blood dripping steadily down the side of it.
She turned him over and began healing him. "Everything is okay," she said softly, unsure if he could hear her. Once the wound was shut, she teleported him back to the medbay and placed him in a bed.
"Not..safe." His voice was shaky.
"I'm going to protect you, alright? You don't have to worry about anything except resting. I'll take care of the rest."
"Can't let you get hurt."
"Just let me handle things."