Chapter 102 - Here Comes The Change

  Maggie moved to the first bed, her hands already glowing with a soft white light. I followed a few steps behind, watching as she pulled back the curtain to reveal a middle-aged man with deep gashes across his chest and shoulder. The wounds were ugly, ragged tears that looked like they'd been made by something with very large, very sharp teeth.

  What caught my attention more than the wounds, though, was the handcuff securing his right wrist to the metal bed frame. What the hell was that about? I pursed my lips and kept my thoughts to myself, for the moment. I didn’t want to interrupt Maggie’s focus.

  Maggie placed her glowing hands over the man's chest. The white light intensified, washing over his injuries. I watched in fascination as the wounds began to close, the torn flesh knitting back together like someone was running a video of the injury in reverse. The man's breathing, which had been shallow and labored, deepened and steadied. Color returned to his pale face.

  "There," Maggie said softly, pulling her hands back. The glow faded. "That should do it. How do you feel?"

  "Better," the man rasped. "Much better. Thank you."

  "Rest now. We'll check on you in a bit."

  Maggie moved on to the next bed, and I followed, but the image of that handcuff stayed with me. As soon as we were out of the patient's earshot, I touched Maggie's arm.

  "Why was he cuffed to the bed?" I asked quietly.

  Maggie's expression darkened. She glanced back toward the curtain, then led me a few more steps away before answering in a low voice. "Two of the most seriously wounded transformed into werewolves within minutes of being bitten. They just changed, right there in front of everyone. One of them killed another patient before anyone could react. Then they both ran off before anyone could stop them."

  My blood ran cold. "You mean the bite is infectious? Like a real werewolf curse?"

  I remembered everything Alex had said in the dungeon about magic shaping itself to match our legends. This was more evidence his theory was correct, and he’d want to hear about it for sure. But beyond the element of academic curiosity I knew my friend would have, this was serious nightmare fuel.

  Zombies were bad news, but at least the real-world zombie bites didn’t automatically turn you into a zombie. It was only if you died within a short while of being bitten that you turned. That was still exceptionally dangerous. That pack of zombies I took down a couple of days earlier could have doubled or tripled in size, given more time to grow.

  They were only tier one, though, and they moved slowly. It wasn’t impossible to run away from them. What tier were werewolves? How fast could they run? My guess was they were a lot tougher and faster than zombies. If it turned out that every werewolf bite turned the victim into a werewolf, they represented an existential threat to humanity.

  "We don't know for sure. It might be that way, or it might just be random. But we can't take the chance." She gestured helplessly at the rows of beds. "Most of these people were bitten. We don't know which ones will turn and which ones won't. So we had to restrain them all, just in case."

  "Jesus," I muttered.

  "I know. It's awful. These people are victims, but we have to treat them like they're dangerous." Maggie rubbed her eyes tiredly. "We're doing the best we can with a terrible situation."

  I looked around the makeshift infirmary with new eyes. There were a lot of victims lying in those beds, and all of them could potentially transform into monsters at any moment.

  “Will the handcuffs be enough?” I asked.

  Maggie gave a small shrug, but the worried look on her face spoke volumes. “I hope so? They were enchanted by someone with a crystal that makes things stronger, so they might. Worst case, they’ll probably give us time to get away.”

  "I'm going to stick around for a while," I said. "Just in case."

  Maggie met my eyes, and I saw relief there. "Thank you. I was hoping you'd say that."

  "Where's Emmy?" I asked, suddenly realizing I'd lost track of the kid.

  "Probably in the waiting area. She knows to stay out of the way when we're working." Maggie gestured toward a doorway. "Through there, first door on the left. Could you...?"

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  "I'll keep an eye on her," I promised.

  Maggie squeezed my arm gratefully, then turned back to her work. I watched her move to the next bed, that white glow already building in her palms again. Tara was working on another patient across the room, doing her best with more traditional methods. She might not have magical Heals, but she could still clean wounds, change bandages, check patient vitals, and so on.

  I found Emmy exactly where Maggie had predicted, sitting in what had probably been a study room before it was converted into a waiting area. She was playing with a small doll made of what looked like scavenged cloth and twine, making it dance across the arm of a worn couch.

  "Hey," I said, settling into a chair across from her. "Looks like we're hanging out for a bit."

  Emmy looked up and grinned. "Maggie's busy helping people, huh?"

  "Yeah. She's really good at it, too."

  "She's the best," Emmy said with fierce pride. "She saved my life, you know. Bad green things attacked the sports place, where we live. When everything got scary, she kept me safe.”

  "That sounds like Maggie," I agreed. I’d have to ask her about the attack. Harvard seemed to be getting more than its fair share of monster attacks. That was probably just bad luck, but if they needed more help, I wanted to be there for them.

  Emmy went back to playing with her doll, humming tunelessly. I paced back across the room to peek through a window into the infirmary. Everything remained calm. Maggie moved from bed to bed, that white glow appearing and fading as she worked her magic. It was remarkable. A week ago, magic hadn't existed. Now here we were, using it to save lives.

  Maybe twenty minutes passed. Emmy had tired of her doll and was now drawing pictures with a few crayons on scraps of paper someone had scavenged. She was actually pretty good at it—her sketch of a building was recognizable, with clear lines and decent perspective.

  Then I heard the scream.

  It was a man's voice, high and agonized, coming from inside the infirmary. Emmy's head snapped up, her eyes wide with fear. I was already moving toward the door.

  "Stay here," I ordered.

  I burst into the infirmary to find chaos. One of the patients, a younger man, maybe in his twenties, was thrashing violently in his bed, his screams echoing off the walls. The handcuff securing him rattled against the metal frame as he jerked and twisted. Maggie was already rushing toward him, Tara close behind.

  "What's happening?" Maggie demanded, reaching the bed.

  "I don't know!" Tara replied. "He was stable, vitals were good—"

  The man screamed again, his back arching. His free hand clawed at his chest, fingers digging into his own flesh.

  "Hold him down!" Maggie said, her hands already beginning to glow. "I'll try to Heal him!"

  Fred appeared from somewhere, grabbing the man's shoulders and trying to keep him still. I moved in to help, taking hold of his legs as they kicked wildly. The man was stronger than he should have been, given how badly wounded he'd been just an hour ago. Eyeballing him, I saw he was tier two, but he felt stronger than even a tier two Strength should provide. Something was very wrong here, and in my gut, I already knew what we had to be looking at.

  Maggie placed her glowing hands on his chest. The white light washed over him, and I saw the massive bite wound on his forearm seal itself closed completely. Fresh, pink skin replaced torn flesh.

  But the screaming didn't stop. If anything, it got worse.

  "It's not working!" Maggie said, panic creeping into her voice. "The wound is healed, but something else is wrong. Something is—“

  That's when I saw the hair.

  It started on his arms, dark bristles erupting from his skin like grass shooting up in time-lapse. Then it reached his face, coarse hair spreading across his cheeks, jaw, and forehead. His ears began to change shape, elongating and moving up the sides of his head.

  "Oh God," Tara breathed. "He's changing."

  The man's mouth opened impossibly wide, his jaw distending as his teeth lengthened into fangs. His screams turned into something more animalistic, a howl that raised every hair on the back of my neck.

  Then he jerked his cuffed arm and the handcuff snapped.

  "Get back!" I shouted, yanking Maggie away from the bed.

  The transforming man lunged forward, his newly freed hand reaching for Maggie with fingers that were already curving into claws. I rushed in. There was just barely time to slam my open hand into his chest, shoving him backward onto his bed again. His Strength was incredible and growing fast. It was like trying to wrestle a wild animal.

  Behind us, more patients began screaming.

  I whipped my head around to see two other beds suddenly alive with thrashing, howling figures. One was a woman, the other a man. Both were cuffed to their beds. They were beginning the same transformation, hair sprouting across their skin, bodies convulsing as that terrible magic rewrote their biology.

  "Cameron!" Maggie screamed.

  I turned back just in time to see the first transforming man tear himself completely free of the bed. He landed on the floor in a crouch, his body still changing, still growing. His clothes ripped as his frame expanded, lanky muscles bulging beneath a coat of dark fur. His face was barely human anymore. It was already far more wolf than man, with eyes that glowed an eerie yellow in the infirmary's dim light.

  And those eyes were fixed directly on Maggie.

  Fred and Tara had backed away, pressing themselves against the far wall. Other patients who could move were shouting with alarm, but they too were handcuffed to the beds. There was nothing they could do to get away from the transforming victims. The whole place was rapidly descending into chaos.

  The man in front of me was gone. The werewolf he’d transformed into snarled, a deep, rumbling sound that I felt in my chest. Saliva dripped from his fangs. Every muscle in his body was coiled, ready to spring.

  "Maggie," I said quietly, not taking my eyes off the creature. "Get behind me. Now."

  She didn't argue. I heard her footsteps as she backed away, putting me between her and the monster.

  The werewolf's ears flicked toward the sound. His lips pulled back further, revealing even more of those terrible teeth.

  Across the room, the other two transformations were nearly complete. In seconds, we'd be facing three of these things. In an enclosed space. With innocent people all around.

  The first werewolf tensed, preparing to pounce.