Chapter 36

June 29, 2001 – 14:51

Coralis was at her flyball practice, one of the last ones of the season. When she would be up in the sky during a flyball game or practice, she'd usually leave her hologram on the ground or in the locker. However, she was expecting a call from Eva, regarding the ghoul case they had been working on the previous week, so she kept it on her.

The practice was almost over. She stood on the ground, in the middle of the field, listening to Brono's briefing. She felt her hologram vibrating and pulled it out of her cloak. She walked away from the group to answer it.

"Can you come pick me up at metro Henri-Bourassa? Healing Moon is requesting our presence," said Eva.

"Healing Moon? Right now?"

"General Tobly wanted to send me and Emery there, but apparently, the Healing Moon insisted on you and me. High Fay Ellya agreed, because it involved ghouls, and well, it could be related to what we'd been working on in Grenville last week. She warned them that it could take longer because you were technically listed as non-available, so it doesn't need to be right now if you're still busy at your flyball practice."

"It's almost over. I was supposed to meet with Frank after practice, but he's aware that it wasn't a guarantee. Fine if I pick you up in an hour?"

"Yup! Same spot as usual!"

Coralis hung up and went back to her teammates. Brono looked at her.

"Is everything okay, Blue? Or do I need to repeat what I said while you were gone?"

"That depends on your definition of okay, but don't worry, you do not need to repeat yourself. If I missed anything important, I'm sure I can find a volunteer to tell me what I missed."

"You didn't miss anything," said Lydia.

"I'll tell ya if you need, but nope, you didn't miss anything," said Sebastian.

As soon as the meeting was over, Sebastian walked to Coralis.

"Was it CMMA or EBEE related?"

"Yes, I need to go pick up Eva and head to Healing Moon."

"Healing Moon?"

"Yes," said Coralis, frowning, "something happened, she mentioned ghouls."

Coralis took off on her stick, and Sebastian followed.

"What happened?"

"I don't know yet, why you wanna know? Is the CMMA sending you there as well?"

"They aren't sending me there, no. But, uh, do you know if Stephanie is working there at the moment?"

She looked back at him for a second.

"Stephanie? I don't know, but I'm kinda hoping she is, just so she can vouch about me to Frank, cause he's going to be mad if I can't see him tonight. Why?"

"Did you talk to her this week?"

"Hmm no, actually, but Eva probably did. Dude, we've been in South America all week, I haven't talked to her more than you did! Is anything going on between you two?"

"That depends on what you know."

"Wait, what happened between you two after I left The Wooded Tavern last week?"

Coralis was hovering above the meeting point with Eva. There were a lot of humans passing by, but saw another safe spot to land a few meters away.

"Give me a minute, I'll be right back, but you ain't off the hook."

She sent the coordinate to Eva and landed. A minute later, Eva was sitting behind her back, and Coralis flew back up.

"Oh hey Sebastian! Didn't know you'd be joining us!"

"To be fair, I didn't know either, until he did. So, Sebastian, what's going on between you and Stephanie?"

"Ohhh, I see how it is! Stephanie, as in Frank's sister?" said Eva.

"Yes, Stephanie and I been talking, but like you pointed out, we haven't seen each other all week," said Sebastian while trying to keep up flying right next to her.

"Sebastian, with all due respect because I don't actually know you, although I think I know your dad somewhat well, you never ever joined us on a case before, and as far as I know, the CMMA didn't dispatch you with us, so please, for the love of all the gods above… you and Frank's sister? Spill!" said Eva, looking at him.

Eva held tight to Coralis. She was used to flying on a stick with her, it was like riding a flying motorcycle, but as a wolf, she wasn't a fan of being up in the air.

"What can I say? I mean, we spoke a lot that night. Blue, you left The Wooded Tavern early last week, but uh, we exchanged phone numbers, and… remember when we were in Argentina for after-game drinks, and I walked out the bar to take a call?"

"Yeah, I remember that, you gave her your satellite phone number?" Coralis said while focusing on where she was heading. "So, you and Stephanie have been talking. I take that you like her? As in… are you two seeing each other or something?"

"We spoke afterwards yes, when we were in Argentina. I don't know what to tell you, because you know we just got back in town, like, this morning, but yeah, I think I like her. I'm supposed to see her tonight when she's done working. If you two are heading to her workplace for a case… I wanna help. I don't want to be in the way, but uh, Blue, I heard too much about the mess you're involved in…"

"Aight, fine by me, but one condition: SPILL THE TEA! I mean, I will expect Blue to tell me all about it if you two become an official couple, but more importantly, whatever we tell you, YOU LISTEN!" said Eva.

Sebastian looked at them both, as Coralis looked down, searching for a spot to land. She pointed at a dense patch of forest west of Healing Moon's front parking lot, and headed down toward it. He followed and jumped off his stick right after she landed.

"I guess I need to master the art of stick landing," said Eva. "I mean, I've been flying with you for quite some time, you'd think I'd been a pro by now. I know that Sebastian being better than me doesn't count, but damn, if he is going to start coming with us to Healing Moon, I gotta start beating him at landing."

"Good luck with that, you know that I'm going to be his captain next season, right?"

"Minute detail," said Eva, as Coralis turned her stick into a keychain.

"Hmm I guess I need to get myself a new stick, one that I can turn into a keychain."

"Don't worry about it. If you and Stephanie actually start seeing each other, I'll tell you all about where I got mine, and about other paraphernalia we can turn into keychains."

"Meanwhile, you stay silent and do whatever we tell you to do. I'm serious. I'm sure you're competent, but I've never worked with you. I trust Blue, and she didn't force you to go home, so I'll assume that she has faith in your abilities," said Eva, while polishing off her clothes.

"How good are you with wards?" said Coralis, putting on her eyeglasses.

"I'm as good with keeping lands protected as I am to protect our net on the field," said Sebastian, with a wide smile plastered on his face.

"Excellent, so can you please inspect the wards here for breaches and see if they've been compromised? Meet us in the reception area when you're done."

"On it, boss."

Coralis and Eva walked toward the front door, while Sebastian went deeper into the woods to reach the Healing Moon land border.

"Boss? Oh yeah, you'll be his captain on the flyball field. Does he always call you like that? Note, that's good then, we could introduce him as your apprentice."

"He started calling me like that a few weeks ago, to annoy the current captain. Don't worry about introductions, Emma and Jessica already know him, and well, so does Stephanie, obviously."

They entered the clinic and saw Emma covered in ghoul blood talking to Stephanie, both were standing behind the reception desk. Coralis looked around and saw no one else in the waiting room.

"Ah finally, you're here. I don't know what is going on, stranger things keep happening. I swear, it gets weirder each time," said Emma.

"What happened this time? I've been told it involved ghouls, but there are no cemeteries nearby. Although, you clearly look like you've been hugging ghouls," said Eva.

"Is there any human in the clinic at the moment?" said Coralis.

"No one else is here, I asked Stephanie to reschedule appointments. Like I said, it keeps getting stranger. My Alpha brought in an unconscious patient this morning. We don't know his name, Alpha Collins said he's a rogue wolf they found within the pack border. He was found unconscious. A few minutes after he arrived, he started vomiting a greyish substance, which then formed into a ghoul. Jessica beheaded it, but he vomited another one," said Emma.

"Was he unconscious while vomiting the ghouls?" said Eva.

Sebastian walked in at that moment, and looked straight at Stephanie. She blushed and tried to look away, which didn't go unnoticed by Coralis and Eva.

"Hi Sebastian! I didn't know you'd be coming," said Emma, and brought her attention back to Eva and Coralis. "Yes, he's been unconscious the entire time. I'll take you to his room. Jessica beheaded the second one too. He didn't vomit a third one, but he did spit a blue marble after vomiting the second one."