Andy looked through the potion bottles in the office, finding them nearly empty. She'd been using them almost daily to counteract the side effects of the chemotherapy she was doing to try to get the tumor to go away. She'd been sneaking to the clinic in the early morning to do the treatments before she made the group breakfast.
After letting out a sigh, she headed to the lab to start making more of the potions, but she soon found a lot of the ingredients used up. She headed off to find Kei. Walking up to him with a smile she asked, "Want to go with me to get potion ingredients?"
He gave her a grin. "Sure. Give me a second, I'm supposed to meet Hiroki."
She nodded and waited.
Soon, Hiroki appeared down the hallway, giving them a small wave.
"Hey, we're going for potion supplies. Wanna come or should we just meet up later?" Kei asked as he adjusted his hat.
Hiroki shrugged, "Not like I have anything else to do, so why not?"
Andy smiled, "Alright, I'll drive."
Kei and Hiroki began telling her stories of their time together.
"So I snuck the potion into his coffee and wham! He sounded like a bullfrog for a week." The witch laughed as Hiroki rolled his eyes.
Andy chuckled.
"At least I got you back for that," Hiroki stuck his tongue out.
Andy soon pulled up to the store, putting the car into park.
Both men got out of the car laughing.
Andy was about to speak when she felt something prick her arm. She turned her head to look and noticed a dart. She let out a curse, "Guys, we have trouble." She leaned against the car as the tranquilizer started acting.
Kei began to mutter a spell, but dropped after two darts hit him.
Hiroki growled, looking around for where the darts were coming from. He tried to dodge one but was soon knocked out.
Andy fought against it but soon slid to the ground.
She woke, finding herself tied up in a cell with the others. She looked out of the cell for any clues as to where they were.
Hiroki blinked his eyes open slowly, growling again as he fought against the ties.
Kei lay motionless, still under the effects of the double dose of tranquilizer.
"My my, look what the cat dragged in," A woman approached the cell.
Hiroki rolled his eyes, "Great to see you too."
She scowled, "You could be nicer you know."
"Yes, be nicer to the people who kidnapped my friends and I?" Hiroki spat.
Andy raised an eyebrow in confusion.
"We'll have some fun together once your friend wakes up." The woman walked off.
"Do you know her?" Andy asked softly.
"I don't want to talk about it," Hiroki sighed, looking down at Kei.
The witch groaned as he regained consciousness. "Tell me that wasn't who I think it was.."
"Yeah, it was."
"Fuck. Can we hit restart on this day?" Kei pushed himself to a sitting position with a wince.
Hiroki stayed quiet for the next hour until the woman came back.
"I think we'll start with your friends," the woman smiled evilly.
"Go to hell," Hiroki glared at her in defiance.
"That's no way to treat the woman who brought you into this world. You should be grateful you're even still alive."
Andy raised an eyebrow, "Your mother?"
"She's anti-shifter.."
"Yes, I am. I have no idea how I managed to give birth to one of those disgusting animals," the woman growled before unlocking the cell. She reached in and pulled Kei out.
He struggled, angrily retorting "More like he can't believe he got birthed by a viper."
She backhanded him, knocking him to the floor before kicking him hard.
He gave a sharp cry, his eyes blazing. His lips began moving in a spell.
She kicked him in the face, stopping him mid spell. She then pulled him up and putting the wrist ties up on a hook and grabbing some duct tape and placing it over his mouth.
Andy started a spell and the woman turned quickly, reentering the cell and placing duct tape on her mouth too.
After locking the cell, she went to Kei, "You've been a pain. You might not be a shifter but you definitely need to be taken out."
Kei kicked at her in response, his eyes dark with fury.
The woman grabbed a knife off a nearby table and slowly approached Kei.
"Wait! Like you said, he's not a shifter, he's not your enemy, I am." Hiroki spoke from the cell.
Andy stared at him, trying to think of a plan to get them out.
"Aw, it's cute you really think you can save your friend," the woman laughed. "But if you're that eager for this to be over with.." She unlocked the cell again.
Andy quickly shifted into a snake, slithering out of the ties and duct tape. She lunged at the woman who soon stepped on Andy to stop her.
Andy struggled against her, trying to get to an angle to bite. Soon, she struggled to breathe and then she reverted to try to push the woman over. Andy was kicked in the chest, knocking her breath out.
Hiroki pushed himself to his feet, ready to charge at his mother.
His mother still was holding the knife, "Don't you dare move or she'll get it."
Hiroki paused for a moment, a flash of worry crossing his face.
Andy used the moment of distraction to bite into the woman's leg.
She let out a growl and plunged the knife into Andy's back before pulling it out and kicking Andy off of her. "Don't think you can take me down that easily." She moved toward Hiroki with the knife. "I'm finally taking care of the monster I created." She moved to stab him.
Hiroki jumped back before headbutting her in the face. She growled and stumbled backward.
Hiroki kicked her down to the ground, moving to grab the knife and cut the ties off of himself. He then went to Kei and gently ripped off the tape and cut his ties.
"Andy!" Kei ran toward her, only to be confronted by the woman.
She was standing in front of Andy, eyes full of anger. She moved quickly, her hands wrapping around Kei's throat and squeezing.
He tried to get free, hitting her repeatedly as his face turned red.
She continued to hold her hands to his throat, jabbing her thumbs into his neck. Bruises were starting to form as he weakened.
Hiroki went and pulled her back off of Kei, jamming the knife into her chest.
She fell back with a gasp, eyes widening.
Hiroki went to Kei, "You okay?" He put a hand on the other man's shoulder.
Kei's eyes were cloudy as he coughed. "Now I am. Thanks." He rubbed his throat and swayed.
"Think you can teleport us out? Cuz I don't think she can," Hiroki looked down at Andy who was currently lying on the ground, barely conscious.
"Yeah, think so.." Kei grabbed on to both of them and muttered the spell. The minute they materialized, he fell to the floor unconscious.
Akasa knelt beside the two of them in surprise. "What the hell happened?"
"We got kidnapped by anti shifter people. He was strangled and she was stabbed," Hiroki said quickly, helping get them into beds.
Akasa began muttering spells over Andy as he put pressure on the wound. "Can you monitor Kei until I can get Andy taken care of?"
Hiroki nodded and stood by his friend worriedly, checking his pulse.
Andy pushed her eyes open but when she noticed they were safe in the infirmary, she passed back out.
Kei suddenly began gasping for air.
"Dammit! Hiroki, get an oxygen mask on him!" Akasa was relieved to see Andy's wound closing.
Hiroki nodded and reached for one, putting it over Kei's mouth and nose.
Akasa cleaned Andy up, then hurried to Kei's side. He swiped a penlight over the witch's eyes, then grimaced. "How long was he attacked for? Did he pass out before getting here?"
"Maybe a minute? And no, he was conscious still until we got here."
Akasa nodded as he finished his examination. "That's one good sign. It usually causes unconsciousness quickly. But it looks like there was a lot of pressure and his throat is starting to swell. I'm going to use some spells but he may end up on a respirator." The nurse began to recite a spell quickly.
"He's going to live though, right?" Hiroki watched.
"Probably. But there's a possibility of brain damage and he could die from side effects." Akasa quickly rechecked him and cursed. "Respirator kit, please."
Hiroki handed it to him, "If she ended up killing him, I'm going to have Andy revive her just so I can kill her again."
"You know she won't let you do that." The nurse quickly set Kei up, then sighed.
"How's Andy?" Hiroki finally looked up from his friend.
"The wound's closed, and I've got a transfusion going. She's going to be sore as hell but she's not in any danger."
"That's good," Hiroki said quietly.
"Are you injured?" Akasa eyed him.
He shook his head, "I'm fine."
Akasa nodded, sitting down in a chair heavily.
Hiroki sat down next to Kei's bed silently, continuing to watch the witch.
Kei's vitals were low but steady. He would have appeared asleep if not for the tube connecting him to the machine.
A few hours later, Hiroki was still sitting by Kei's side. Andy groaned and pushed herself up into a sitting position and looked over. "What happened?"
"She strangled him before I killed her," Hiroki answered.
"Are you alright?"
"I will be. It's not like it's the first time she's come after us, and at least now I know she can't come back," he said quietly.
Andy nodded slowly.
Kei's monitor beeped warningly as his oxygen level dropped slightly.
Hiroki looked at it in alarm.
Andy pushed herself up and went over to Kei, checking him over.
"Akasa mentioned there could be brain damage..?"
Andy gave a small nod, "With lack of oxygen it's always possible."
"I hate seeing him like this. He was worse the last time we ran into her though.."
Andy sighed softly.
"I've always known she's been a bitch, I just always hoped one day she'd change."
"I'm sorry," Andy said gently. "At least you have Kei and the rest of us who care about you."
He nodded silently.
Andy took a moment before starting to mutter some more healing spells over Kei.
The alarm stopped beeping.
Akasa entered, rolling his eyes in exasperation. "You shouldn't be out of bed yet." He crossed to Kei's side and sighed. "His throat kept swelling, even after I intubated him. His oxygen levels keep dipping and his heart is having issues. He hasn't woken."
Andy frowned, taking a moment before pushing revival energy into him to try to heal him. Silver light surrounded him for a minute before fading. Andy swayed for a moment before leaning forward on the side of the bed.
"He looks a little better," Hiroki assessed.
Akasa growled "What have I told you about exerting yourself after getting injured?"
Andy gave him a small smile, "Not to do it.. And what do I do everytime...?" She stuck her tongue out.
Hiroki gave a small chuckle, "You should probably take more care of yourself."
Akasa shook his head. "One lesson she's never learned."
Andy gave a small smile before pushing away from the bed and starting to head to the office, "I've been better lately.."
Hiroki raised an eyebrow, "Shouldn't you go back to bed?"
"I will in a minute, just grabbing something," she smiled. She went and took the last of her potions before going back and climbing into bed. "Wake me if he gets worse."