AN: Happy holidays! Thank you all for continuing to read my little fic.
I hope you enjoy this chapter!
"That went better than expected," Riza commented on their previous conversation. After Roy had left they had reviewed Riza's patrol of the forest. That's where she had been when Roy arrived. She was pinpointing any camps the Hunters had made in the nearby area. There was only one camp which housed five Hunters. Their numbers were low, but could still be dangerous.
"Yeah. He took it really well. I expected more disbelief and unacceptance, but there was none. Well," Rebecca reflected on his brief outburst. "Almost none."
"He doesn't know why he is a werewolf though," Riza said quietly.
Rebecca sighed quietly, understanding what Riza meant. The brunette knew Riza still blamed herself for all this even though it wasn't her fault. It could be extremely infuriating at times. The woman was too stubborn to be told otherwise. But Rebecca could understand the guilt. To be living underneath the same roof as that monster and not even have a clue what was going on? Rebecca would probably feel the same way. She would feel some responsibility for it.
"He seems very open to the whole thing. He might not be too bothered," Rebecca offered. She knew it was a long shot, a very long shot, and the look Riza gave her told her otherwise. Rebecca's attempt at comfort had been a poor one. "Well, we will just have to wait and see."
Before the conversation could continue there was an urgent knock at the door. It was so sudden that the pair shared a surprised look. Then surprise turned to caution. They weren't expecting anyone.
Riza motioned for Rebecca to come with her quietly. However the brunette was already up and moving towards the door slowly and quietly.
Placing a hand on the door handle, Riza looked to Rebecca to confirm she was ready. Rebecca nodded and Riza opened the door slowly.
"Hughes?" Rebecca asked confused. The pent up tension drained from Riza at her friend's announcement.
"You need to come quickly," he urged them. He was breathless, as if he had been running. His hair was wild and wet from the snow fall. Flakes were still in his hair as the now had only gotten heavier from the afternoon.
"What's wrong?" Rebecca asked in concern. She was back on the defensive after hearing Hughes' tone, as was Riza.
"It's Roy. He's been poisoned."
Both women's eyes widened in alarm.
"Where is he?" Rebecca asked, already in action. She ran back to her room. Riza guessed she was retrieving the pills she had offered Riza a few weeks ago.
Panic burst through Riza at the thought of the Hunters getting to him. They had just warned him about them. He had left them about an hour ago, how could this have happened? Riza was frozen in place as numerous thoughts raced through her head. The most important one of all manage to surface.
He needed their help.
Without another word Riza sprinted out the door and changed mid step. All thought of keeping their secret went out the window as she raced to help him.
"Riza!" Rebecca yelled after hearing her change. She couldn't believe she had just changed in front of a human.
There was no stopping the blonde wolf as she sprinted through the forest. She had picked up Roy's scent, which was mixed with Hughes' and followed it to him. The smell of wolfs bane lingered, causing Riza to wince. However she ignored it and pushed forward.
"Goddammit," Rebecca muttered as she closed the door behind her. Hughes' stood in the same place, watching Riza run off into the forest. Rebecca took one look at the shocked expression on his face and sighed loudly. She did not want, nor have the time, to deal with the aftermath of Riza's actions right now. There was someone who was possibly dying right now and she didn't have the time to explain werewolves were real.
"I didn't expect her to change so openly," Hughes said unexpectedly. Rebecca froze, turning to face him slowly. Those were not the words she expected to hear from him. Rebecca gripped the bag she had picked up tightly, shifting to a stance where she could run if need be. She didn't know Hughes. She didn't trust him. The fact that he wasn't surprised about a woman turning into a werewolf led her to believe the worst. Had he intentionally hurt Roy in order to get to them?
"What did you say?" she asked quietly.
Hughes turned to meet her gaze and finally noticed her stance. Realising how his words must have sounded, he raised his hands in surrender.
"It's not what you're thinking," he reassured her nervously.
"Tell me what I am thinking." Rebecca spoke slowly, not taking her eyes off him. She slowly took a few steps back from him.
Hughes was silent for a few moments, as if debating with himself what to say next. Sighing heavily, he opened his mouth. Two fangs shot out from his canines.
Rebecca dropped the defensive stance in disbelief. "You're a vampire?"
Hughes nodded. "Nobody knows and I rather keep it that way if you wouldn't mind."
Rebecca nodded. "Same goes for us."
"Of course."
"We can talk about all this later. Do you mind?" Rebecca asked, holding up the bag she was holding. It held a vaccine and the pills which would help Roy.
"Of course."
Rebecca turned and changed instantly. Breaking into a run she followed behind Hughes as he led her through the forest.
Although she had initially not trusted him, the fact that he had shared his secret regarding his identity meant he trusted her enough. So she would offer him the same courtesy. Having a vampire as an ally would be a big help. Having any ally at this moment in time would help them. Rebecca had made a snap decision and she hoped it would turn out for the best.
The brunette would have to deal with her disbelief regarding Hughes at a later date. For now, she had work to do.
Riza had never moved so fast through the forest before. Underneath the worry and anxiety which had taken up residence in her chest, she felt a slight thrill as she moved. These feelings pushed her forward towards Roy. She was coming up on Hughes' house. She could hear a woman and a small child up ahead. The child was clearly upset, sniffing quietly. The woman was speaking softly to her, telling her not to worry. A weak, male voice also sounded, telling the girl he would be all right.
Riza changed before breaking the tree line and didn't break her run until she hit the front door. Pausing for a moment, she pulled herself together. If they answered the door right now they would see a crazed woman standing on the door step. Taking a deep breath and composing herself, she knocked and waited impatiently for someone to answer.
A shorter woman opened the door with a worried look on her face. Her hair was short, coming down to her chin, and was brown in colour. A small child hid behind her mother's legs, peaking at the stranger in the doorway. She clutched onto the woman's trouser leg, wiping her eyes with the back of her hand. Her blonde hair bounced from side to side as her head moved.
"Can I help you?" the woman asked kindly.
"I'm here to help Roy," Riza explained. "Hughes came to us for help."
"Oh, of course. Please, come in. He is in the living room, just through there."
Riza nodded and forced herself to walk at a normal pace in an effort not to act to strangely. Her eyes found his prone form as he lay on a collection of cushions in front of the fire.
Her stomach lurched as she saw the colour of his face. He was deathly pale, except from around his nose and eyes which were bright red. His skin was wet with sweat. Riza noticed his chest hitched erratically as he tried to draw in breath. Every now and then, he grimaced in pain.
"Can you help him?" the woman asked quietly.
Riza swallowed. I sure hope so. "I can. You might want to move into the other room," Riza warned her, looking pointedly at the young girl. Riza smiled softly to reassure her, but the child simply continued to stare at the man on the floor.
Roy's eyes blearily opened at the sound of Riza's voice.
"Okay. Thank you."
Riza crouched at Roy's side. She could smell the poison in him. Upon closer inspection the skin around his eyes and nose were an angry red colour, the veins under his skin very prominent. Riza's stomach twister as she watched the veins pulse underneath the skin.
"Hey," he whispered, his voice raspy.
Riza sighed. "We just warned you about being careful," she admonished softly. Riza checked his ears and found the same redness, although it wasn't as intense. However there was no fluid around the ears, which was a good sign.
"I know, I'm sorry." Roy coughed violently and retched. Riza grabbed an empty basket which had been placed next to him, holding it up to his face in case he vomited.
Instead of losing his lunch, Roy shook his head feebly. "I'll be all right," he gagged. Riza watched him carefully, determining if he really would be all right. She didn't exactly want him to vomit all over her. "I'm never normally this much trouble, honestly," he joked with a weak smile.
Riza smiled. Despite the intense pain she knew Roy would be experiencing, he was still joking. This man was more like the young boy she knew from her childhood. He had always tried to make her smile or laugh, even if he wasn't feeling one hundred percent himself.
Continuing her survey of the rest of his body, Riza searched for any other injuries he may have sustained. Thankfully, there was nothing. He had only experienced the incense. The first time was always the worst. Riza had grown slightly used to it, in a way that it wasn't as intense as it had been the first time, but it was still incredibly uncomfortable and painful to experience.
Straining her hearing, Riza listened out for Rebecca's approach. Her friend should have been right behind her. There were two sets of footsteps approaching at the same pace. One was human feet, which Riza thought was incredibly strange, and the other was Rebecca's wolf. They wouldn't arrive for another few minutes though.
With a sigh, Riza impatiently sat back on her heels and waited for her friend.
"Aren't you going to help?" Roy asked, but his tone held amusement. He grinned, before grimacing. "You said you would help me in any way you could." Another round of coughing racked his body, causing it to jerk violently. Riza placed a cushion under his head and moved the vomit basket closer, just in case.
"I know we did," Riza began, lowering Roy's head back down to the cushion slowly. "But I thought maybe putting the fear of God in you would be a better idea." Riza heard Rebecca change. They were just at the treeline. Roy's coughing stopped abruptly. His gaze met hers, alarmed.
"What?"
Riza shrugged. "Think of it as payback for that time you were particularly unpleasant towards us."
"What?!" Roy exclaimed as the coughing overtook him.
She smiled, putting the poor man out of his misery. "Relax. I'm just messing with you. Rebecca has the kit to help you. She has just arrived with Hughes. I need to wait for her because she knows how to help. I don't."
As if on cue, the two entered the room. Rebecca got to work instantly, opening her bag and pulling out the syringe and various other instruments.
"They are through there," Riza motioned to what she assumed was the kitchen. "The girl is quite upset." Hughes nodded in thanks and left to attend to his family.
"Can you help him?" Riza asked, trying, and failing, to hide her anxiety. All joking aside, she truly feared for Roy. She had never experienced this happening to another person before. She had no idea how to help.
Rebecca nodded. "I'll talk you through it."
"Excuse me?"
Rebecca pulled fluid out of a small clear bottle and into the syringe. Once it was full, she cleared any air bubbles and handed it to Riza.
"Roy?" Rebecca asked, drawing his failing attention to her. "We are going to inject you with a vaccine, but we are going to put you under first, okay? Don't worry, we have this covered."
His face twisted in pain, eyes squeezed tightly shut, but he nodded. "Do it," he whispered, voice strained.
Rebecca covered his mouth and nose with a mask. Roy gasped in pain at the contact on his swollen areas, eyes flying open.
"Sorry," Rebecca murmured. "Just relax."
A few seconds later, Roy was unconscious.
"What else do you have in that bag?" Riza asked in disbelief.
"Find his jugular and press the needle against it." Rebecca ignored her. She was all business now. "Insert it slowly but firmly and apply the vaccine."
Wasting no time, Riza did as her friend asked. She was nervous, she hadn't expected to be actually doing this. Rebecca had been the one who was training to be a doctor. Surely she would have been better to do it? Forcing down her anxiety, Riza willed herself to calm down.
Now was not the time.
"It's done," Riza announced as she extracted the needle from his neck. The vein pulsed as the vaccine began to work its magic.
"Good. Now take this." Riza swapped the needle syringe for a thicker one made completely of plastic. Riza recognised the instrument. She had seen mothers use them to feed their young children medicine when they were ill. "Place it in his mouth and empty the syringe."
"What will these do?" Riza asked. She figured she may as well learn on the job.
"The first on will enter the bloodstream and clear the poison from his sinuses, ears and nose. This second one clears the throat and enters the stomach to provide a second dose of the vaccine in case it has been ingested."
"Is this all we need to do?" Riza pulled away from Roy's mouth and watched for any changes in his expression, but there were none.
"At the moment, yes. Once he wakes up we will give him the tablets you took. He will need a steady amount over the course of a few days in order to combat the poison."
"How long until it takes affect?"
"I couple of minutes. Because it enters the blood stream immediately it can get to work quickly. You can apply it to any vein, but the largest vein nearest the point of insertion or ingestion works the best."
"How is he doing?" Hughes asked quietly as he entered the room.
Now Riza's worry had dissipated slightly, she remembered she had changed into a werewolf right in front of him. Her face fell as she realised the careless mistake she had made in her haste.
"It's okay, he knows," Rebecca announced suddenly, surprising Riza. Turning to look at her friend, Rebecca nodded. "We can trust him."
When Riza looked back towards Hughes he flashed her a smile. Two fangs popped out over his lips.
Huh, Riza thought. That was not what she had expected to see. However, it would explain why she heard his approach along with Rebecca's. A human wouldn't be able to keep up with a werewolf on the run.
Hughes placed to fingers over his lips, retreating his fangs. Riza caught the message.
"He'll keep our secret if we keep his," Rebecca added quietly. Riza nodded towards the vampire in understanding.
"We'll take Roy back to our place," Rebecca explained. "I think it would be best for you if we did." Rebecca motioned with her head towards the door Hughes had entered through.
"Thank you. That would be very helpful."
Looking back to Roy, Riza noticed the red colour around his nose and eyes had dulled slightly. The grimace had left his face and his features had relaxed. The breathing was still erratic though.
"We'll move him now and let you guys settle in for the night. Feel free to visit whenever you want," Riza offered.
"We will need to tell his family," Rebecca reminded them.
"I'll do it," Hughes offered. "I'll tell them he will be staying with us for a few days."
Riza nodded. "That would be a good idea."
"It will take Roy about a week to recover. If you are available, Hughes, I would like to discuss recent developments further."
"Of course. I'll visit tomorrow."
The pair bid their new friend goodbye. Riza carried Roy back to their house while Rebecca changed into a wolf to ensure there were no Hunters nearby and they could move safely.
After reaching the house – the walk took longer than Riza anticipated – the pair were exhausted. It was past midnight and having spent an hour or so running on adrenaline, all they wanted to do was sleep. Riza gave up her bedroom and placed Roy on her bed. The redness had cleared almost completely, but Roy was still drenched in sweat. However, overall, he was on the mend. His breathing was more even and his pulse was regular.