Rebirth

7. A bear of a tale

Angel, Isis, Diego and I rushed down to the infirmary as fast as we could run (which was very fast for me and Diego, and not so fast for my first and second-former friends) in hopes of stopping Shannon and Amiko from transforming into animals and inadvertently hurting someone. The entire time, my mind raced with all that had just happened to me. I mean, Nyx herself had just appeared before me. In plain sight. Guess I must be really special for her to devote so much time into making sure I'm okay. Maybe after I get the other two settled down, I can finish what I started working on with Angel: Controlling that darn telekinesis of hers. Seriously, her telepathy works great. Her affinity alternation, however, is still wild. She works really hard to restrain it all the time and it's taking a toll. She doesn't need to spend so much time bottling it up when she should be spending her energy on her siblings and school.

But that is entirely beside the point. Let's get back on track, shall we?

Anyway, we reached the infirmary, only to hear several animalistic roars (one feline, one not) and shouts of terror. Sure enough, we entered to see a large brown bear and a tanned lynx advancing poor Althea. In her hands was a syringe partially filled with blood.

"Drat. She already triggered it." I hissed, racing in. "Miko! Shannon! Stop!"

The lynx turned its head to meet me. The bear looked for a moment, then focused once more on the syringe. "Shannon, there's not enough blood in that for both of you!"

"What do you mean?" Althea asked as I fought to keep control of my own instincts.

"The transformation is triggered by bloodlust." I said. "They need to drink blood to change back."

"Quite a lot of it." Isis added. "Amy lapped up about half a pint."

"Oh my goodness." Althea breathed.

"We need to send someone after blood." I said. "Angel, contact one of the professors with a free period and have them bring us a whole pint of blood. Now."

She nodded and placed her hands to her temples, closing her eyes in the process. After a moment, she opened her eyes and dropped her hands. "Professor Jephthah is on his way here now."

"Jephthah?" I blinked. Oh no. Not him. Anyone but the new cool British guy. I don't want to scar him for life with my weirdness.

Trust him. A soft voice in my head stated. Well, if Nyx says he's cool, I guess he must be.

Miko seemed to realize that she shouldn't be attacking her teacher. As well she should: she's a fifth former and ought to know that by now. Shanda, on the other hand, grabbed a pouch full of something (I'm guessing healing herbs) with her mouth and began swinging it about.

"Shannon!" Isis declared. "Stop that."

The bear grunted, dropped the bag, and shoved a cot our way.

"I don't think she's interested in your opinion." Angel muttered.

"Maybe she's just confused." I said. "Hang on. I'm going to try to reason with her."

"How do you plan to do that?" Isis asked.

"Speaking her language." I said. "I'm going to turn back into the wolf."

I heard them protesting out loud, not that it mattered anymore. My objective was turning back into the wolf. I let the instincts I'd been fighting for so long overtake me once more and dropped to my knees, turning into the pale wolf once more.

Once I was shifted into the wolf, I took everything in. Every sight, every sound, and every scent. Especially the scent of the bear who was now tearing apart the infirmary.

Shannon. I said in my head, taking a position between her and our friends. Shannon, calm down. It's going to be okay, but not If you keep ripping stuff up.

I can't stop it. Her voice echoed in my head. Wow. Creepy. I was hoping to just use body language, but this works too.

Yes, you can. I told her. I did. Just don't fight it. Let your mind and the bear's merge into one. As I said this, I realized that that was the reason behind my quick return to sanity. Wolves are naturally hierarchal and incredibly social. Bears and wild cats are not. The wolf knew that people didn't taste too good and that people screaming sounded bad. Really, it does sound terrible, like thousands of fingers on a chalkboard.

No. I can't. I'll hurt someone. She said franticly.

Trust her, Shanda-bear. Miko said in our heads as her little lynx body padded over to us. She's right. You're fighting it too much. Besides, I'm sure that Jephthah guy will be here any minute with the blood and we'll be back to our old selves in no time.

Blood? Her voice rose. No. No. I… I won't! I won't drink blood.

It's not like it came from anyone we know. I told her. It's the stuff they keep in bags in the staff refrigerator. It's safe and really tasty, I swear.

See? Donated blood. Miko said. Your local Blood-bank at work.

Even you have to admit it smells good. I stared at her.

Okay, yes, it smells divine, but that doesn't mean I'll drink it. Shannon said.

"Who ordered the Blood-wine?" I heard an English-accented voice call out. Immediately, Jephthah found himself pounced upon by Miko and Shannon. I stayed back. I'd already had my fill of blood for the day and wanted to change back to myself.

"Oh my stars and garters!" Althea breathed as my color vision returned. Hey, it was a lot easier that time.

"You did it!" Isis blinked. "You changed back without blood."

"I don't need any more blood. I've met my quota for today." I said. "I just needed to talk Shannon down and test out a theory. Whaddya know? It works."

"You sure know how to give an old nurse a heart attack!" Althea scolded. "I thought you were going mad too."

"She hasn't been mad all day." Angel said. "Just furry."

"Lucky." Miko—now unchanged—muttered. "So this is what the funky green marks are all about."

"It's scary." Shannon whimpered. "I could have seriously hurt you!"

"Look, just do what I told you and we won't have a problem." I told my curly-headed friend. "You get these stigmas in your brain and then you can't function right because of them."

"You need to get rid of them." Jephthah said, pulling himself to his feet. "And I'll be more than willing to help you."

"Why would anyone help freaks like us?" Shannon muttered.

"Because Nyx told them so." He replied. "Now do what you're told to and don't freak, okay?"

She made some grumbling noises before storming out of the infirmary. Althea wasn't very happy with it, but after we assured the poor lady that we'd consult Eliante about it, she let her go and even discharged Miko. Not that it helps a whole lot, but I'm sure after a good day's sleep, everyone will face this issue objectively.

Why did that just sound so ominous?