Chapter 37

June 29, 2001 – 16:20

Coralis and Eva looked at each other. Emma turned around and walked to the locked door leading to the patient and examination rooms.

"What did you do with the blue marble?" asked Coralis, then looked at Sebastian. "How were the wards? Have they been compromised?"

"Couldn't find anything wrong with the wards. The ward setup is quite intricate, you have done them, right? I didn't sense any other essence residue lingering in them," said Sebastian.

"Yeah, I have done them recently," said Coralis, and turned her attention back to Emma, who was holding the door to let them pass through it. "Does your pack have any type of ward setup around your pack land?"

"I know we've had wards, but I'm not sure anymore. After what happened 2 months ago, with the fays trying to summon wolves, I advised Alpha Collins to look into them, but I don't know if he did. As for the blue marble, I believe Jessica still has it on her. We kept it, figuring it'd probably be something you'd want to see."

"Don't we love these blue marbles?" said Eva, rolling her eyes.

Coralis struggled to stay serious at that comment.

"I will want to see that blue marble, yes. Do you know if Alpha Collins, or any of your pack members, found more of them? I swear, if fays are involved in this mess, I'm going to offer him free wards when we're done here, but if he does have effective wards covering your pack land, I'll want to inspect them," said Coralis.

As they turned the hallway corner, they saw Jessica staring through the windows of a door to their right. Coralis removed her eyeglasses, pulled a black glove out of her cloak and walked to Jessica.

"I've been told you've got a blue marble for me?" continued Coralis.

"Did he vomit more ghouls?" said Emma.

"Oh yes!" said Jessica. "And no, he didn't vomit again."

She dug it out of her shirt pocket and handed it to Coralis. She picked it up from her gloved hand and hovered her other hand above it.

"Same thing as last year? You know, a part of me is relieved that this ghoul case isn't related to what we've been working on last week, but I think this is worse. We destroyed the witches responsible for them last year."

"This is definitely worse than Grenville's case, and so much worse than last year's," said Coralis, bringing the blue marble closer to her eyes. "Emma, tell your alpha, and all of your staff, that if anyone finds any more of these things, to NOT pick them up with bared hand. Were you wearing gloves when you picked it up? If so, what type of gloves?"

"Yeah, I was wearing latex gloves," said Jessica.

"I'll need to sanitize you, to make sure none of its content spilled into you. If there is a next time, use your anti-silver gloves. Sebastian, mind to prepare a glowing elixir? I'm sure you'll find salt and thyme in the kitchen."

"On it, boss. Where's the kitchen?"

"I'll take you there," said Stephanie.

"This is like the 2.0 version of what we dealt with last year," said Coralis, lowering her gloved hand. "This is not a blue marble, but a spelled cage. Break one, and you get a ghoul. Unlike those from last year's case, an elf made this one."

"Hold on, so this time, you think that their spelled cages don't need to be broken to summon its ghoul?" said Eva.

"That's exactly what I'm thinking yes. It's essentially the same type of spelled cages that caused the ghoul problem in Côtes-des-Neiges cemetery last year, but there is more to them. I'm sensing some volatility coming from its binding agent, it has an elf signature on it. Elves would be able to tweak with the coating of a spelled cage, so that what it's containing could seep out."

"The question becomes, what are they after? If the rogue wolf transporting them was found within Red Crescent pack land… Emma, do you have any corpses buried within your pack land?" said Eva.

"Yes, we have our own small cemetery by the western border," said Emma, as she came to a realization. "Alpha Collins said the rogue was found near it. I need to call him right now."

"Yes, please. Don't forget to tell him about using anti-silver gloves if he sees any spelled cages, and to expect me and Eva later on. All right, let's go check on the patient."

Jessica unlocked the room's door.

"The glowing elixir you asked Sebastian to prepare, what does it do exactly? Does it kill ghoul?"

"It's like a disinfectant for rotten flesh," said Coralis, as she entered the room and walked toward the unconscious patient lying on the bed. "At school, we learn about what to do when we end up on the other end of nasty spells. There are a lot of spells that could cause the flesh to rot and getting into contact with a ghoul can have some ugly side effects. If your pores have absorbed a ghoul, the elixir will destroy all trace of it."

"Clearing ghouls out of your patient system is the easy part, and we know why he started vomiting ghoul," says Eva, while holding the patient's mouth open with one hand, and shoving a flashlight down his throat with her other hand. "The ugly part is why an elf tried to infiltrate ghouls into Red Crescent pack land."

Coralis removed her glove, wrapped it around the spelled cage, and shoved it into her cloak. She placed her left hand on the patient's chest and closed her eyes.

"I'm sensing more spelled cages in his system, and that elf essence."

"Damn, how many ghouls would he have puked? He's got a lot of ghoul goo between his teeth. I don't think there is a drink strong enough to kill the nasty aftertaste lingering in his mouth when he wakes up."

Jessica couldn't keep herself from laughing at Eva's comments. Sebastian and Stephanie walked into the room at that time.

"What joke did I miss? The glowing elixir is ready," said Sebastian.

"Good, but I'll need to make a lot more of it, like a gallon. Do they have enough ingredients to make more?" said Coralis.

She took the glass containing the glowing elixir out of Sebastian's hands and gave it to Jessica.

"Drink this as a precaution. It has a very foul taste, but I rather not take chances."

"Yes, I'd say they got enough of what's needed to make a few litres of glowing elixir. You need a gallon?" said Sebastian.

"Actually, make 5 litres of it. Jessica, I'll also need a devious moon shot."

"On it, boss."

Sebastian walked out of the room, and Stephanie followed him.

"That shit tasted nasty. That rogue deserves drinking 5 litres of it just for walking into Emma's pack territory transporting ghouls," said Jessica, as Emma walked back in.

"Alpha Collins said the warriors who found the rogue did pick up two blue marbles next to him but couldn't tell me if they were wearing any gloves when they grabbed them. He also said that he looked into having the wards redone, but local witches asked too much for it. He tried to negotiate, but didn't hear back from them."

"When we're done here, Eva and I will need to head to your pack land, to sanitize the warriors who touched the spelled cages and look around your cemetery. I'll do the wards while there and won't charge your Alpha."

"Are you sure? Same kind of wards that you've done here for us?" said Emma.

"We're dealing with elves wanting something from your pack cemetery, I'll do them a little differently than I've done yours. With everything going on among elemental and other supernatural factions, trust me, I am going to refuse any dime from your alpha."

"Think we should be paying a visit to other local packs? Jessica, does your pack also have its own cemetery?"

"Yeah, we do actually," said Jessica.

"I think so yeah, we should try to find the time to visit as many packs as we can," said Coralis.

Stephanie walked back into the room, pushing a service cart. Sebastian followed. Jessica gave a devious moon shot to Eva.

"All right, so here is how we will proceed. I will inject this into our patient to force him to wake up. Emma and Jessica, be ready to restrain him if needed. We aren't sure if he is going to puke more ghouls as soon as he wakes up, but we need to force him to drink the five gallons of glowing elixir, that was so graciously prepared by Sebastian and Stephanie," said Eva. "If we need to pin him and force it down his throat through a funnel, we will."

"I'll do one better, I'll draw a restraining ward around him, so make sure he won't escape until he drank it all," said Sebastian.

While Eva was busy waking up the patient, with Emma and Jessica on either side of him, and Sebastian raising a ward around them, Coralis watched the scene next to Stephanie.

"Obviously, I'm not one to say anything against your two, that'd be hypocritical. I will admit, however, that I'm kinda jealous of the fact that Sebastian doesn't have to hide what he is from you."

"You know, knowing my brother, I really don't think he's going to care that you're not technically human. I mean, not once he understands that there's always been more than humans in this world."

"Him knowing what I am won't make me more available for him, and that's the main issue between us. Why bother going through the risks of revealing myself, if it might not even last anyway? I've been out of the country the entire week, I was supposed to see him tonight, but will instead be spending my evening in the ghoulish mess created by elves. How am I supposed to be able to maintain a relationship like that?"