Chapter Seven - The doctor

Doctor Jansen was deep in thought when the knock on her office door alerted her of a visitor. “Come in” She called out, not bothering to stand from the computer too busy looking for something - anything. Her office was littered with papers of all kinds, old records and newspaper clips she had printed that morning. Ever since the ID came back on the young girl Lilith had tried to work out where the girl came from, and then what had happened to it. But there was nothing but news about the fire in the papers, and it wasn’t like she could call any alpha and ask for information about this pack. She wouldn't even know who to ask.

It didn’t matter how much she knew about the werewolf kind, or that she had grown up inside a pack, she was and would never be a full werewolf, thus making the old-fashioned kind of wolves lock down on her. But not the man who was entering her office. “Adam” She smiled brightly, gathering her hair in a messy ponytail while Adam made room for himself to sit on one of the chairs, careful not to make a mess of the stack of paper while he moved it away from the chair.

“You’ve not slept” Adam stated, looking at the papers in his hand. Records of some sort, but he couldn’t tell for sure. “I have” She answered, and Adam raised a brow at her. “In the chair” She added, a slight blush creeping up her cheeks. She hated how he was able to take one look at her and tell just how much she had worked and how little she had slept.

She was a mess, she knew, and he could tell just how much of a mess. They hadn’t known each other for long, Adam had been kind enough to offer her a safe place to stay when her old home fell to pieces. And now she had a new life, living in town with a man who loved her beyond reason, not because he had to, but because he wanted to. Still, her life fell apart from time to time. Overworked and over worried like her friends liked to point out.

“You should get some proper rest, in a bed, where your body and mind can both relax and heal” Adam stated, and Lilith nodded agreeing. “As soon as we’re done here” She said. “There is something I need to show you” She ruffled through some papers before she found the clip from the fire back in Russia. It wasn’t much detail to find, everything was written in Russian, but she had managed to find some pictures.

“Looks familiar, doesn’t it?” She handed the papers over to Adam, who quickly flipped through them. “A camp in the middle of no-where, wooden cabins that burns easily, no one left behind” She looked at Adam, his browns knitted together and golden hair hanging over his face, making it impossible for her to read see his face. “Like with Camp Čárajávri” Adam said slowly. “Among others” Lilith found another pile of papers, clips from other newspapers. She handed them to him, and Adam flipped through them.

A new headline on any other page, pictures from different camps across all of Europe. Adam sighed once he got to the last page. “So, several camps have burned to the ground over the last decade, I don’t really…” He stopped himself when he saw Lilith’s eyes. Her warm chocolate eyes had a fire in them, telling him to slow down, to see the big picture.

“All these where packs – small, safe places for supernatural creatures to hide out” Lilith pointed to the records. “I reached out to my old alpha, one of the few who didn’t shun me once they realized I would never be like them. He told me about all the safe havens, places for supernatural’s on the run to hide and build a new life for themselves, far away from anyone and everyone” Her eyes burned even brighter, this case lighting a fire within her, a desire to help.

“Someone is targeting the safe havens, burning them to the ground, leaving no one behind. Except this one girl, who goes rogue and gets killed by a huntress acting on behalf of mankind” Lilith didn’t believe Ariel to be one of the bad humans, she only did what she was told to do, saved herself and others from the rabid jaws of a werewolf who lost its way.

“It’s not coincidental, and you know it” Lilith locked eyes with Adam, a determined fire refusing to let him look away before he agreed with her. He may be an alpha, but Lilith gaze made him feel small. “I…” Before he could continue, they were disturbed by the ringing tune on his phone. “Have to take that” He finished, fishing the phone out of his picket. ‘Devan’ light up, and he quickly answered.

“She’s here, she’s safe” Devan said, making Adam sigh out in relief. “But there is something you need to know” Devan continued. Adam turned his back to Lilith, giving himself the illusion of privacy. Lilith busied herself with some papers she had tucked away on the shelf.

“She remembers” Adam’s heart sunk. He had waited for this day to come, but he couldn’t have been any less prepared. “I’ll be back shortly” He ended the call and turned back to Lilith. “I need to tell you something. It’s strictly confidential” Lilith looked up; the determined fire now replaced by a curiosity. “Go on” She leaned back against her chair as Adam rose, taking a few careful steps to stand by the window.

From the second floor of the hospital, he had a perfect view of the shoreline, watching as blue ocean sparkled as far as he could see, oceans and sky blending at the horizon. It gave him inner peace, and he needed it. What he was about to tell Lilith had been hidden away from everyone for the last decade, and for a good reason. Though there was a part of him that doubted that Lilith would understand his side of things.

“Ten years ago, this town was a peaceful place, sleepy, almost the same as now. But then something happened that shook the community to its core” Adam started; his eyes still focused on the horizon. He could still remember that day like it was yesterday, the images was burnt into his mind until the end of time.

“When one of the towns most loved family experienced a tragedy so brutal it caused ripples through the entire community. It started with one, but ended with many families falling apart, moving away” It was a dark stain on the town’s history, something no one talked about now.

“I think I know the case” Lilith’s voice was a small whisper as she opened one of the drawers in her desk, pulling out an old file. It caused Adam to turn, looking at her with a puzzled expression.

“When I first started working here as a doctor and pathologist, I read up on all the old cases, trying to get an idea how what to expect from the job. There was nothing much out of the ordinary before I came across this one” She opened the folder, the images turned upside down to spare herself from the gruesome scenes they showed.

“Talia” Adam said low. “Her injuries…” Lilith started, tears welling up in her eyes. “Were gruesome” Adam finished. “I’ve never seen anything like it, and I worked as a doctor for a pack for some time. The wolves there could be brutal, but this” She flipped one picture around, forcing herself to look at it.

The image showed a girl. Her face was mostly unharmed, except from being covered in blood. Her once blonde curls were died red from blood. Arms and legs had deep scratch marks, one hand barely hanging by as muscles and flesh had been torn apart. But the worst injury was to her torso and chest. There were deep penetrating bitemarks over her waist, her chest was so damaged the ribs were exposed on the left side. Her chest was a muddled mess of muscles and tissue, her breast the result of being used as chewing toys.

“This wasn’t just any ordinary fight” Lilith said low, turning the image over again. “The beast who did this, it wanted her to be hurt. And it wanted her to feel everything. Her death, it was slow and painful. She didn’t die from a blow to the head or a gunshot to the heart. No. She died of…” Lilith had to take a break to catch her breath, just talking about it made her feel disgusted and unwell. “She didn’t die” Adam finished, making Lilith’s draw drop.