Chapter 50

February 17, 2002 – 5:45

The left side of her face was still swollen from the troll's attack. Crusted dark green and red blood was covering her entire hairline, ears and forehead, and she had several scratches across her neck. She pulled down the hood from her cloak and Frank could see more crusted blood throughout her hair. He saw what looked like an animal bite near her right collarbone, but her cloak was covering half of it, even if it was shredded in some places.

He wasn't frightened by the sight but was worried. Coralis looked down and pulled her eyeglasses out of her cloak. She put them on and looked back up at Frank.

"What happened to you? Do you need to go to the hospital?" said Frank, getting closer to her.

She pulled a mute-ball out of her cloak and activated it.

"I fought in a vampire war involving goblins. I cannot go to a human hospital, but don't worry about it, most of that blood isn't mine. I will not be using your dorm showers, but I do need to clean up. I must leave in an hour to go to London, but I'll return to Montreal afterward before going to Winnipeg tomorrow. I would have flown directly to my London flat for a shower, but you wanted me to come here first, so well, here I am."

"That doesn't tell me what happened to you. Stephanie also said you've been fighting vampires and goblins, and Sebastian said something about your employer involved against you? Can you wash up by the kitchen sink? I got soap and towels. Oh, and my sister activated one of those balls."

"Hmm sure, I suppose the sink would do. I shook off the chunks before taking off," said Coralis, walking to his kitchen. She turned the taps and felt for the water temperature. "Wars between non-human factions do not involve guns. Tonight, I battled rogue vampires, goblins, trolls and a djinn, using my hands, a sword and some elemental magic. What happened to me is what I do for a living, among other things. As for my employer, Sebastian isn't wrong."

Frank dropped a few towels on the countertop next to his sink, along with a soap bar and a bottle of shampoo. She took her cloak and clothes off, and dropped them on the floor at the end of the countertop. Her arms were covered with a mix of crusted blood, deep gashes and tooth marks.

"You want coffee or something else? You sure you don't need to go to the hospital?"

"Sure, I'll have a coffee. The mute-ball your sister activated ceased to function the moment she opened your door to leave."

Frank grabbed the coffee pot and was about to fill it with water from the sink, but saw her scrubbing blood off her arms, so he used bottled water from the fridge instead.

"It's not as bad as it looks like," continued Coralis, cleaning the injuries on her arms. "I heal fast, not as fast as a vampire or a werewolf, but faster than a human. I cannot go to hospitals, or I would probably become a lab rat. They won't understand what they'd find in my blood."

"Steph convinced me to go to a flyball game. She called Sebastian so he could tell you, but he wasn't with you. When he called her back later on, she said she heard someone yelling in the background 'Blue, No!', what happened then? Is your employer really against you? She didn't tell me about the mute-ball and well, we spoke on the phone afterwards."

She froze for a few seconds and stared at her arms.

"I don't think Sebastian is wrong about my employer, but I can't prove it. You need to understand that a lot of people want me dead, and it mostly has to do with what my parents were involved in when they were alive," said Coralis, rinsing her arms, "hmm I now owe Sebastian $50. Stephanie either forgot that detail about mute-balls, or Sebastian forgot to tell her."

Frank was thrilled that Coralis was now opening up about what she does. Despite the disbelief from what he heard so far, regarding the supernatural world, he couldn't deny what he saw from his own eyes when she transformed from a cat to herself. He wanted to know more about her.

"Why do you owe him $50?"

"He thought Stephanie could convince you to come to a flyball game, and I wasn't so sure about it, so we bet on it. As for your earlier question, when I returned to the group, two trolls attacked Charlie, the heir of the Chicago vampire king, and I stepped in to help. As I was restraining the trolls, I remember someone yelling after me, but I don't know who it was. It turned out that a djinn was controlling the trolls. I killed the djinn and the trolls were taken prisoners to King Matthew's dungeon."

Coralis wetted her hair and rubbed shampoo through it.

"I want to go watch a game."

"I'll arrange that on Tuesday when I'm at the flyball field, just let me know if you want to come to the Thursday or Saturday game."

Frank served Coralis coffee while she was still busy washing her hair above the sink.

"So, vampires exist, so do werewolves, witches, goblins, trolls and djinns. What else is real? Is that situation with the vampires in Chicago over or do you have to go back there?"

"Hmm I'd say most of what you'd consider lore is real, but for the most part, stories aren't accurate," said Coralis, stripping down to her underwear to wash her body. "Elves, fays, pixies, goblins and djinns are also considered elemental beings, just like mages. As for the Chicago vampire situation, I think it's over for now, but I'll probably have to go back there at some point. I'll know more in a few hours."

Watching her washing off blood and injuries like she was currently doing by his kitchen sink, Frank became more convinced that if she meant to harm him, she would have kept her secret to the grave and wouldn't be opening up about it. He wished she would have told him sooner, but he couldn't stay mad at his sister. He trusted that she would have said something if Coralis meant trouble to him.

"I want to go to Thursday's game, would that be possible?"

"Yes. We'll be playing against Spain, it's a good team. However, keep in mind that I won't be with you during the game, neither will Sebastian, because, well, we'll be playing the game. As per our bylaws, for humans to be allowed to get into our stadium, they have to be accompanied by an elemental to vouch for them."

She took a sip of coffee and scrubbed the crusted blood off her ankles.

"Sebastian's brother usually takes your sister in, but I won't have trouble finding someone who could take you in. If Lydia's sister comes or Sebastian's dad, or any other team member relatives, well any one of them would do it for me."

"I'm still upset at Vic, but could she do it if I ask her?"

Coralis stopped what she was doing to look at him.

"Yes, she would, unless she's working or got other plans for Thursday. Victoria is a huge flyball fan and, well, she knew the day would come when I'd have to tell you about us, so, honestly, she would probably cancel her plans to take you to the game. You figured for Victoria?"

"I asked Steph about Seb and Vic when it dawned on me that Seb worked with you, and well, I met you through Vic and you two are close friends. I'll call her then. Is it going to cost me something?" said Frank while picking up a piece of crusted green blood from the floor. "Is that blood? Or something else?"

"It won't cost you anything. We have a box reserved for friends and relatives. I'm their team captain, so I can invite whoever I want," said Coralis, glancing at what Frank was holding in his hand. "That's goblin's blood. When I warned Victoria that I was going to tell you about us tonight, she wanted me to mention to you that her dad is human if her name came up in our conversation."

She turned off the taps and grabbed a towel to dry herself. She looked at the clock.

"I have to get going. I should be back in town later today, probably early evening. If you want to see me again for another round of questions, I'll answer anything."

"I work this afternoon, but call me when you get back, and we'll figure out a time to meet again."

Coralis dressed back up in her bloody clothes and drank the rest of her coffee.

"I suppose I'll have to use your window again," said Coralis, looking at herself.

She went to his window, transformed into Cheetah and jumped through it when Frank opened it. She flew directly to the London EBEE Headquarters and met with Andrew before entering the meeting room.

"Blue Thunder. We heard many stories, but we want to hear them from you. What happened in Chicago?" said Elder Phraton.