Doc's private room is where we come to when there's a serious injury that we don't want the mothers and children to see. We want to keep them as sheltered as possible from the monsters out there; at least until they're ready to know the truth.
I walk into the room to see that the mystery girl has been cleaned up. She looks too pale, and way too thin. She clearly hasn't eaten in what might be weeks or, worse, months. Her breathing is jaded and she has frown lines covering her forehead, almost as if she's reliving what she's been through. I know that look. It's the same look Becca had days leading up to her suicide.
I shake my head as I know where my thoughts are going. I need to stop thinking about Becca for now. Someone else needs my help and I'm not going to ignore the signs this time. What this girl went through was probably as close to hell as we could get.
Her frown deepens even more before she opens her mouth and screams bloody murder. I have to cover my ears because she's so loud. Doc rushes in and tries to sedate her but she opens her eyes and throws him to the other side of the room. Her head quickly turns to me and all I can see are a pair of bloodshot eyes. She looks almost demonic. Before she could lunge at me, she starts to convulse. Soon after, she starts to vomit up the same repulsive black substance that was on her clothes when we found her. She heaves and screams in pain. I try to walk towards her when I notice her trying to scratch her stomach open; almost like something is eating her from the inside. Pools of blood form under her eyes; she's clearly crying but her tears are replaced with streams of blood. The scene in front of me is something that will forever be ingrained in my mind. And there's nothing I can do to help her but stand here helplessly.
She takes one last look at me and mouths the words 'help me' before she faints back into oblivion. I rush to help Doc stand up from where he was thrown.
"What the hell was that?" I ask to no one in particular.
"T-that is torture," Doc responds, "h-help me clean her up, Alpha."
--
After cleaning her up, Doc and I sit in his office contemplating what to do next.
"Whatever this girl went through is not something anyone should have to go through, not even your worst enemies. You already know that she's a vampire, Alpha. And vampires tend to heal just as fast as werewolves, but what she went through left scars on her. Scars that I don't think will ever heal - most likely the work of silver."
"What about the black stuff that she vomited?" I ask.
Doc sighs and pinches his nose, "I'm not entirely sure what it is, but there are traces of blood in it. But that's not all, Alpha. Her body isn't reacting to blood in the way that it should. She could die from blood loss if this keeps up. We need her to be as lucid as possible to tell us what happened to her so that I'll know how to treat her, but that won't work until she's strong enough to keep the blood down."
"How long could that take?" I say as I look towards the door.
"Days, maybe even weeks, if we're lucky."
I sigh as I mind-link my mother, "Meet me at Doc's."
--
"What's going on?" My mother asks as she walks in through the doorway, "And why is there a vampire in there?"
"Mom, I need you to listen very carefully at what I'm about to say," I start, before explaining what had happened in the past 48 hours. She covers her mouth as she begins to silently cry for the girl in the next room.
"That poor girl," she sniffles, "what can I do to help?"
"Are you still in contact with your witch friend? Maybe she'll be able to help us figure out what is wrong with her? Or at least try to keep the blood in her system long enough for her to tell us what happened so we can help her."
"I'll call her," Mom says with determination.
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