Chapter 13
Shinji smiled as he looked at his hands. Then, he put his hands up to his face and felt his cheeks. He ran his hands all over his face, relishing the supple feel of his own skin. Kaji laughed triumphantly as he saw Shinji revert to human form. He reverted to his own human side and walked over to slap Shinji on the back.
"Excellent, Shinji!" he crowed, "You really are a bright boy!"
"And you're really a psychopath!" Shinji snarled, slamming his fist as hard as he could into Kaji's face. The dark-haired man staggered and fell to the ground. Shinji's attack had caught him completely off his guard.
Shinji seized his opportunity. He leapt up and scrambled through Rei's window and into her room. As he reached Rei's limp form, he saw that she was lying in a pool of her own blood. Worse even than that, he saw that she was bleeding from a large bite wound in her neck. Shinji cursed himself for allowing her to be caught up in the middle of his problems. He checked Rei's pulse. It was almost gone.
No time to be angry or scared now, Shinji thought, I've got to get her to a hospital immediately!
Shinji scooped Rei up into his arms and carried her out of her bedroom door. As soon as he was clear of the house, he surrendered to the wolf within. A werewolf's increased strength, speed, and stamina would be essential to getting Rei to emergency care as fast as possible. Holding Rei over his back with one hand, Shinji galloped as fast as his three remaining limbs would carry him.
A howl from behind him told Shinji that Kaji was hot on his trail. Shinji drove himself harder, knowing that even at his increased pace, Kaji would be able to catch up to them because he wasn't burdened by a friend's limp body. Shinji could feel Kaji gaining ground on them, even as he completed the 12 block dash that it was to reach the emergency room at the hospital. Shinji willed himself back to his human form as he reached the large, glass doors.
"Somebody help!" Shinji shouted frantically as he burst into the E.R.
"What's going on?" a nurse asked, rushing over.
"My friend…She's been…uh…attacked by a large dog," Shinji lied. The whole "werewolf" thing might not go over real well with the hospital staff.
"It looks like it got you, too," said the nurse, indicating Shinji's tattered pants and lack of shirt. They, of course, had ripped apart when he had transformed into a werewolf.
"I'm all right," Shinji said hastily, "Just please, save her! Her pulse is very faint; she's lost a lot of blood."
"Stretcher!" the nurse yelled. Two orderlies and a hospital stretcher emerged a scant few seconds later from behind a set of swinging double doors. Shinji set Rei tenderly down onto the stretcher and watched helplessly as they took her back; presumably to an operating room. Shinji was suddenly struck by a horrifying thought: Kaji hadn't followed them for the last two blocks before they reached the hospital. That meant he had taken another route, possibly even doubled back.
Misato! Shinji thought, terrified, No! Oh, god, NO
Shinji turned and sprinted out of the hospital, knocking over two nurses in his frenzy. As he left, he heard them cursing him out. As Shinji left the parking lot, he released the wolf and galloped as fast as he could. His panic lent him speed and stamina.
How could I have been so careless?! Please, god! Please let me get there in time!
Shinji dashed as fast as he could, feeling at times more like he was taking long jumps instead of running strides. His breath was coming in panting gasps as he reached the confines of his cul-de-sac. He came down the circle to his house and saw the door broken in. Shinji prayed that he wasn't too late. Hoping for the best, but expecting the worst, Shinji reverted to his human form. He noted in the back of his mind that the transformations were getting easier the more he did it.
"Misato!" Shinji screamed, "MISATO!"
Shinji heard a muffled scream come from the upstairs. He raced up to the second floor, knowing what he might find. Horrifying images of Misato's bloody, mangled body flashed before his frantic eyes as he charged down the hallway to Misato's bedroom. Shinji saw that her door had also been forced open. Shinji dashed through the door and found Kaji holding Misato up off of the floor by her throat. He was in werewolf form, and his fangs were poised, ready to bite into Misato's flesh.
"Let her go," Shinji said desperately, "Please. For God's sake, let her go and face me like a man-wolf!"
Kaji reverted to human form. As he did so, Shinji heard him chuckling harshly.
"What? Can't you make up your mind which woman you like more?" Kaji asked mockingly, "You deliver one to a hospital and then up and leave her there, unprotected, while you race off to check on another. What kind of boyfriend are you?"
"The…best…" Misato gagged.
"Shut up," Kaji snarled, squeezing her throat tighter.
"I'll warn you one more time, Kaji," Shinji said dangerously, "Harm her in any way, and I swear I'll kill you."
"That Ayanami girl was the only one I intended on killing," Kaji said, "Misato, here, is going to be my bride. After I bite her and mate with her, she will be the mother to all of the rest of my pups."
"Get…fucked…" Misato whispered weakly through her constricted windpipe.
"I could just break your neck now and get it over with," Kaji said threateningly, "What do you say, Shinji? Can you get to her before I kill her? How fast do you feel?"
"Just…kick…his ass," Misato gasped, "Don't…worry…'bout me."
"I can't," Shinji said, shaking his head, "He'll kill you. Kaji, how can you keep doing this? How do you live with yourself, threatening women and young girls all the time?"
"Is this the part where I get all teary-eyed and weak in the knees and drop my guard so you can sucker-punch me again?" Kaji laughed, "Ha! Not damned likely. I think I ought to just kill her and have done with it."
Kaji put his other hand up to Misato's head and gripped her, preparing to twist her head to snap her neck. Shinji tackled him hard. Misato landed hard on her shoulder and hit her head on the floor, knocking her out. Shinji howled with rage and transformed yet again. Kaji snarled and transformed with him.
Kaji kicked Shinji off of him and proceeded to drive himself into Shinji's abdomen. This collision threw the two of them through one of Misato's bedroom windows and down, two stories, into the yard. Shinji, adrenaline pumping, barely felt the impact. He rolled up, slashing at Kaji with his two-inch claws and drawing first blood from his torso. With a roar, Kaji sank his teeth into Shinji's shoulder, tearing a huge gash and causing blood to splatter all over the grass.
The two werewolves continued to rip and tear at each other, neither gaining any ground. In strength, they seemed to be equals at first. As the fight wore on, however, the one who would win the fight became more and more apparent. Kaji had viciousness and experience on his side. All Shinji had on his side were youth and the vigor that goes with it. Shinji felt his stamina waning. He pushed harder, trying desperately to make Kaji retreat or surrender. He would do neither.
Shinji felt his knees give way beneath him as he reverted to human form. His strength was gone, while Kaji's remained. He had pushed himself too far, too fast, and now Kaji had the upper hand. Shinji feared that his next breath would be his last.
Suddenly, there was a flash of metal and a fresh spray of blood. Kaji stood in shock for a moment, looking down at the knife that was now lodged in his chest. Then, with a howl, he fell over onto his back and lay still. The fur fell away from his body, leaving him human once more.
"Ikari…" he whispered weakly, "The answer lies…with father…"
And he was gone. The werewolf who had called himself Ryoji Kaji was dead. Shinji felt the last of his strength drain from him and lost consciousness. He awoke some hours later in the emergency wing of the same hospital that he had dropped Rei off in. Shinji tried to sit up, only to feel a strong wave of vertigo wash over him and force him to lie back down. They had sedated him.
"Shinji?"
It was Misato.
"Are you okay, Shinji?"
"M…'sato," Shinji mumbled thickly, "Y'r…okay…"
"Yeah, I'm fine," Misato said, taking Shinji's hand, "and the doctors say you're going to pull through, too."
"Rei…?" Shinji asked, "Is…she?"
"Still in the ICU in critical condition," Misato said gravely, "The doctors can't stop her bleeding. They don't understand what's wrong. They say that she may not make it to sunrise."
"This's…all…"
"It's not your fault, Shinji," Misato said, suddenly very angry, "Don't say that it's your damned fault! If you start blaming yourself now, you won't ever stop!"
Misato broke down into heavy tears. Shinji tried to move his other arm. It wouldn't budge. His shoulder felt like the muscles had been severed all the way down to the bone. Shinji gritted his teeth and tried again to sit up. He fought through the vertigo and forced himself to his feet. Standing on wobbly legs, Shinji took the weeping Misato gently into a one-armed hug and held her close to his chest.
"As…my heart…beats…Misato," Shinji said slowly, trying to split his concentration enough to talk and stand steadily, "I'll…save…Rei. That's…a promise…"
With that, Shinji pulled the I.V. catheter out of his arm and stumbled out of the room. Misato seemed to come to her senses as soon as Shinji walked out of the door and scrambled after him. She tried to pull Shinji back into his room, but he refused to budge. Shinji didn't have the strength to transform, but he could still growl like a wolf, as was discovered by the first nurse that Shinji encountered.
"Where's Ayanami?" Shinji growled through gritted teeth.
"ICU, closed ward," the nurse mumbled, terrified, "You can't go in there."
With a grunt of frustration, Shinji released the nurse and started for the door. Two large, muscular orderlies in white suits confronted Shinji.
"All right, fella," one of them said calmly, "It's time for you to go back to your room and lie down, now."
"I don't think so," Shinji said, "Get out of my way, meat heads. I'm going home."
"You can't do that," the other orderly said, "Doctor's orders are for you to rest here until he gets back in the morning."
"Rei doesn't have until morning," Shinji said, "If I can't find a way to save her in the next couple of hours, she'll die."
"Look, kid, the doctors are doing everything they can," the first orderly said, moving towards Shinji slowly, "Just go back to your room, and—,"
"Stow it!" Shinji shouted, "Get out of my way!"
Shinji threw himself into the orderlies. He could still feel the effects of the sedative making him weak, but his strength was still sufficient to knock the two suited men off-balance and slip past them. Shinji ran as fast as his watery legs could carry him, with Misato in hot pursuit.
"Shinji, wait!" Misato shouted as they entered the parking lot, "My car's this way!"
"You're gonna help me?" Shinji asked.
"Can I do anything else?" Misato replied, "I love you, and I trust you to know what's best for Rei. If there is anything that can be done, I know you'll move heaven and earth to do it, because that's the kind of man you are."
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"Me?" Kensuke asked, "You want my help?"
"More like I need your help, Kensuke," Shinji said, "And I need it badly. Rei will probably die if we can't figure out how to treat a werewolf bite in the next hour."
"Let's hit the databases," Kensuke said, instantly business-like.
Kensuke set Shinji up with a keyboard and set of three monitors, all hooked up to his own central mainframe unit. Apparently, Kensuke had built it himself and upgraded it every year as the latest technologies became available. Kensuke, too, had a keyboard and set of monitors. The two boys began a frantic, frenzied search of all of the occult databases that they could find on the web. Most of them were junk, and when they tried to verify the authenticity of the sources, they couldn't find anything.
"I think I've got something!" Shinji finally said; his voice triumphant.
"Let's hear it," said Kensuke.
"Listen to this," Shinji said, "'According to the Council of Moonwatchers, a werewolf transforms into its animal form every night in the cycle of the moon. A werewolf's strength comes from the moon; therefore it is at its peak of might during a full moon.'"
"Does it say anything about treating a bite?" Kensuke asked.
"Hang on," Shinji said, scanning rapidly through the article, "Let's see… 'To kill a werewolf, pierce its heart with silver…' Uh… 'Werewolves are extremely bloodthirsty during their full moon nights…' Aha! Here we go: 'There is only one known treatment for the bite of a werewolf. You must get another werewolf, one that has not spilled innocent blood by its own hand, to bite the victim in the same location. Next, that werewolf must spill its own blood upon the wound of the victim. This will neutralize the venom of the werewolf and prevent the victim from becoming a werewolf themselves.' That's it!"
"Yeah, but I don't think that there are any werewolves that haven't spilled innocent blood, you know?"
"I haven't," Shinji said, and dashed out of Kensuke's room without another word or backward glance.