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A knock on the door.
“Come in,” Lascarone called.
Stanmer stepped through the threshold, a wedge left over the top of her head where her headset had sat. She regarded the Bridge Officer with a solemn look.
Lascarone sighed.
“I’m guessing it’s not good news.”
“They haven’t radioed in for the last hour, sir. There’s not a trace of them anywhere.”
Lascarone sat there, pensive. His faith waned for a moment, giving way to visions of horrid ends for the poor souls in that forest. Valiant lives snuffed out by bullet or worse.
“Sir?” Stanmer asked. “Should I put a call in for clean-up?”
“No no…uh…let me deal with it, I’ll call the gendamerie.”
Stanmer nodded, hesitant to leave the despairing officer.
“Do you…want me to get you another coffee, sir?”
“I’ll fetch one later, thanks. You’re dismissed. Update Rachatelli and then change shift, you’ve worked hard today.”
“Yes sir.”
Stanmer left the office and eased the door shut behind her. Lascarone sighed and reclined in his chair, rubbing his face.
They have to be fine. Brutta Notte don’t die so easy.
Casting aside his mounting concern, he sat up and swiped the phone from his desk. He dialled the three-digit code into the device and held it up to his ear.
Three sharp beeps, followed by an Italian voice.
“Gendarme Duty Officer responding.”
“It’s Bridge Officer Sergio Lascarone. I’m calling to have mission orders delivered, urgent priority. I need to speak to the supervisor.”
“One moment.”
A pause in the conversation dragged out. Lascarone afforded himself the small distraction of watching the ongoing muted sitcom episode on his monitor before a new voice spoke.
“Supervisor on the line. What’s this about mission orders?”
“We’ve got a situation with a Brutta Notte taskforce dispatched a couple of days ago. Radio silence, likely indicator of…of a downed team.”
The clacking of a keyboard spoke in the supervisor’s place for a moment.
“Team leader?”
“Alvotolini, Luciano. Zero-One.”
More clacking followed by a pause.
“Hm…okay. Yeah, I’m seeing a lot about a helicopter crash on the dossier. Recently updated. Radio silence has been maintained for the past hour without any updates as to why.”
“That’s why I’m worried. I need someone down on your deck to get a clean-up crew ready; big team, pilots…you know how this business goes.”
“Yes sir. I’ll roll some people in from the active roster, get some helicopters ready to go in the hangars. When do you need them ready by?”
Lascarone checked his computer clock.
“Five…no, four hours from now. Team’s instruction was to regroup east of the forest by dawn.”
“Roger. I’ll get that all organised. Keep your pager on you, I’ll let you know if I need to update. Anything else, sir?”
“No. Have a good one. Grazie.”
Click.
Lascarone huffed and placed the phone down. Tragic news was the nature of such line of work. The anger and frustration that had once raged in response to his first failures were now nothing more but sputtering embers. The grief of loss was far from a fresh experience to him.
He stood, rubbing his face.
I need a drink.
He crossed the room and opened the door. As he stepped out into the corridor and sealed his duties away inside the office, all he could hope was that - whatever had happened – the team hadn’t felt a thing.
…
Aelwin stared at the tormented statue – at the monument to agony – that had once been her comrade.
A whole life reduced to a rickety wooden imitation.
Aelwin contemplated firing her weapon at the raven chef, at acting upon the irrational fury that came from such horrid sights, but she found herself too late. The raven chef – and any remaining evidence of their existence – disappeared in a puff of blue smoke.
“What…that bastard just ran!” Aelwin cursed.
“Focus Zero-Four,” Alvotolini ordered, pistol levelled at the door. “They’re not our problem right now.”
“What about Zero-Seven? Are we—”
“You want to try and carry a damn statue out of here?” Maxim snapped, not averting his gaze. “Pull yourself together already!”
Such reprimand summoned up a desire to snap back with her own nasty retort, to scold her friend that so readily tossed the life of their comrade to the side, but such thoughts were stopped short by the foreboding approach of those metallic thuds. She trained her weapon on the door, tearing her attention off her frozen ally.
The sight shook, paws unsteady.
Damn it. I can’t stop shaking.
A cone of red light beamed through the door, growing stronger with every step. Aelwin looked back over her shoulder at the sealed elevator. Intertwined roots criss-crossed over their only escape, trapping them with whatever danger neared.
“Brace yourselves,” Alvotolini said. “You’re Brutta Notte. You don’t run.”
Aelwin clung to that imperative.
If I’m next…so be it. Crying won’t change anything.
An eerie squeal of the hinges marked the arrival of the adversary as the doors swung open.
The team did not move.
“Hold your fire,” Alvotolini whispered. “Shoot when I say.”
Aelwin’s own breathing filled her ears, bouncing off the interior of the helmet. The team kept their weapons levelled, aim steady.
A cloud of grey smoke, red wisps trailing through the shifting clouds, billowed into the room. The team receded a step, pivoting left and right.
Aelwin couldn’t see anything through the dense fog.
That metallic thud approached, signalling their doom.
“Steady,” Alvotolini whispered. “Steady.”
A shadow broke free of the grey monotony. The silhouette stood taller than even Maxim, challenging the height of the cumbersome Raven Chef. Gangly limbs dangled down on either side of their hefty frame. Steady thuds emanated from within the fog, a result of each ground-trembling step the adversary took.
Alvotolini shifted aim.
“Now!”
Aelwin’s digit yanked on the trigger. A cacophony of raucous gunfire cut the silence in half. Lead disappeared into the clouds. The flash of sparks lit up the smoke like crackling fire. The creature reeled back a step and came to a stop as the barrage preserved. Aelwin did not let up until the gun signalled its insatiable desire for more with a click of demand, dropping the magazine and shoving the next into the slot.
“Cessate!” Alvotolini yelled, reloading. “Hold fire!”
The team kept weapons ready, digits shifted off the trigger.
The smoke cleared, fading into nothing.
All eyes focused on the aftermath. Aelwin clung to dwindling hope.
Standing amidst the dissipating clouds was a goliath; an abomination of fur, flesh, blood, metal and wiring mounted upon plated appendages. Blood oozed from the numerous bullet wounds that had been left upon the target. The shots that missed scratched the numerous defensive plates haphazardly strewn throughout the fiend’s flesh. A deer’s face, once proud and noble, had been disfigured under a scalpel’s blade sharpened by cruel intent. Its rotten tongue dangled from its gaping mouth, sitting between decaying gums and shattered teeth. Cracked antlers protruded from either side of the head, tree branches decorated in crimson and viscera belonging to a hundred victims. Dried mud and dirt spilled from the vacant eyeholes and mouth, trailing down the body and becoming trapped in the matted and coarse fur.
A haphazard combination of screeching machinery and a distorted voice, agonised by its malformed servitude to its torturous existence, marked the beast’s defiance of such a violent barrage. Dirt and blood plugged the bullet wounds, pushing the bullets out of their homes. The dented metal pushed itself back into place. Red light surged from broken component to broken component.
Scarlet eyes regarded the team with lethal intent.
“Cover!” Alvotolini ordered. “Take cover!”
The fiend’s abdomen ripped open as a cannon aimed out, its rim dripping viscera. The amalgamation fired at Maxim, send a wooden shard hurling towards his face. Maxim yelled out as the shot deflected off the mask, stumbling back. Aelwin fired a burst, sending three rounds into the fiend’s throat.
The fiend turned its attention to her and, stepping forward, swung a hand of molten steel claws.
“Shit!” she screamed.
Aelwin dove right and knocked Alex’s statue to the ground, sparing them both a gruesome fate as the extended claws cleaved through the air. Trails of thin red smoke marked where they had cut. Aelwin offered little thought to the fact she had been half a second from being decapitated and rushed to the side of the restaurant, firing futile rounds into their adversary.
The fiend opened its hellish maw wide, sending the top side of its head snapping backwards at ninety degrees, and spewed a beam of dirt in a semi-circle. Giancarlo and Alvotolini flipped tables over, deflecting the incoming projectiles with impromptu cover. Aelwin did the same, putting her paws over her head as she was attacked. Maxim, recovering from the shard, could only stand his ground and fire back.
The fiend’s claws shone a menacing red and, stepping back, slashed through the air. A razor whip of light snapped at Maxim, crossing the distance between them faster than Aelwin could follow.
Aelwin gasped as Maxim’s left paw was cut clean from the wrist.
“Aaaargh!” he screamed.
Maxim levelled his rifle with his remaining paw, screaming.
“T-te kosok dermo! Fucking die!”
The burst of gunfire did little, as did the supporting fire delivered by Giancarlo in a futile attempt to save his friend. The fiend fired out a small wooden javelin from its mouth. Maxim, lost in the throes of pain, could only manage an evasive sidestep. The projectile embedded itself in his thigh, puncturing the flesh.
Maxim, with a despaired wail, hit the ground.
“Oh shit, h-hey!” Aelwin yelled. “Zero-Six is down! Soldier down!”
“Damn it!” Giancarlo yelled. “Cazzo!”
“Get him!” Alvotolini yelled. “We’ll cover!”
Alvotolini and Giancarlo opened fire.
“We’re right here!” Alvotolini yelled. “Come on, stupido!”
The fiend turned, claws swinging. The two soldiers dove beneath the swing and took to their hind paws again, firing. Aelwin sprinted across the restaurant and fell to her knees beside the writhing feline, focusing on his wounds.
“Ah blyat…” he cried, out of breath. “Blin…”
Thin strands of smoke twirled up from the cauterised stub, the fabric of the sliced sleeve sizzling as the flesh and bone did. Aelwin glanced in the direction of the fiend. It swung and shot at Giancarlo and Alvotolini. The two soldiers dove and ducked with wavering strength, panting through their helmets.
“I-I can fight…” Maxim wheezed. “I…I can…”
Aelwin peered down at his leg. The projectile, the length of her forearm, protruded from the impact site. Crimson turned the grey fabric of the uniform to an abyssal black and spread at a lethargic speed across his inner thigh.
Aelwin removed his helmet and balaclava. Maxim’s face strained with pain, eyes clamped shut. Tears trailed down his face and soaked his fur.
“Zero-Six?” Aelwin said. “Listen to me. You’re going to be okay, all right? You’re—”
Aelwin recoiled as a wooden shard flew over her head, shattering against the wall. A glance in the direction of the fight only forecast that further delays would result in Giancarlo and Alvotolini suffering similar – if not worse – injuries.
“Come on,” Aelwin said, heaving the casualty over her shoulders. “Let’s get you out of here.”
Maxim grunted and yelped as he was hauled. Aelwin, straining, ran as fast as she could towards the doors. Every step came with an exhale of exertion. The lumbering beast swung its searing claws and sent wooden debris flying into the air, clattering across the floor. It turned to face Aelwin, flames sputtering into life over the broken antlers.
“Attento, attento!” Giancarlo yelled.
The fiend, unleashing its distorted war cry, rushed towards Aelwin with flaming javelins aimed for her torso. Aelwin dove to the ground, dropping Maxim as she fell. The wounded feline yelled out and rolled, part of the javelin embedded in his leg snapping off.
Aelwin recoiled in anticipation of being skewered as the fiend rushed the wall next to her, antlers piercing the material and sending debris skittering down over the two soldiers’ heads. Aelwin looked up, fumbling for her weapon.
Those two glowing eyes stared right into hers.
A peculiar shiver ran down her spine, caressing every inch as it went. Her weapon fell from her paws as if eased away by some invisible force. A warm duvet cocooned her, nestled in at her neck, and all her troubles faded from prominence. A fog descended upon her mind and, for a few moments, she felt incapable of completing a single thought. Warm water lapped at her sides, coaxing her to collapse into the shallows. She fought to keep her eyes open.
“What…wait…where...”
Aelwin surrendered with a blink.
The first thing she heard was the fatefully familiar beep of a heart monitor.
Aelwin sat in a hospital chair. It was wooden, the seat itself formed from blue linoleum padding. She reclined in it as if she had been sleeping. The clinical white of the room leered at her with such intensity she was surprised she had fallen asleep under its glare. White fluorescent lighting buzzed above her head.
A voice croaked.
“Ael…win?”
She looked left.
Positioned beside a vase of flourishing roses, lying beneath multiple blankets and ensnared by multiple transparent tubes disappearing into orifices, was an old akita. Silver fur streaked through their gold coat. Trembling paws clung to the bedding for dear life. Ears wilted on either side of their head. Their mouth hung open by an inch, bottom jaw rising and falling with uncertainty.
Bloodshot eyes, shimmering with tears, met Aelwin’s.
No.
She looked down. The frail frame of a thirteen-year-old sat in the chair, dressed in a baggy top and shorts that reached over the knee.
This…no, this can’t be real.
The sick akita reached out with one shaking paw; an act of prevailing strength despite their condition.
“Ael…win,” they croaked in Welsh.
Aelwin took her father’s paw.
“I-I’m here, Dad,” she spoke with a pup-like voice.
Her father wheezed, strength fleeting. The heart monitor’s beeping slowed. Aelwin’s eyes stung.
“I…” her father gasped. “…am…so proud…of you…”
All that terrible emotion returned in one fell swoop. Aelwin’s face crumpled, tears falling.
“Dad? Please don’t go.”
No reply. Her father stared at the ceiling as the heart monitor’s beep stumbled in rhythm.
“Dad?”
The familiar drone of the flatline answered her question with a fatal tone. Aelwin’s mouth hung open. Not a sound came from her. Tears rolled down her face, disappearing into her fur. Grief packed itself into her joints, drove deep between her bones.
She sat there petrified…and alone.
Bang.
Aelwin yelped as she was ripped away from her doldrums by a gunshot. A panicked glance left showed a foolhardy Maxim standing before the fiend, his pistol shoved into the adversary’s cavernous mouth. Maxim yanked back on the trigger again and again and again. Each attack delivered hot lead, searing with hatred, to the back of the monster’s mouth. Flesh flew away with each blow. By the time the gun relinquished its duty with a surrendering click, half the fiend’s head had been reduced to a mess of blood and bone.
“Die!” Maxim screamed, lost in pained delirium. “Die, die, you piece of shit!”
The creature reeled away. The flesh rushed to knit itself back together, ruined fur and rotten meat intertwining to recover.
“Now’s our chance!” Alvotolini yelled. “Zero-Four, get Zero-Six!”
“Come on, come on!” Giancarlo yelled.
Aelwin hurried to Maxim, heaving him onto her shoulders. The delirious feline kept firing at the enemy with an empty pistol.
“Yeah, you run!” Maxim cackled. “Run before I-I kick your ass!”
Alvotolini barrelled through the glass doors shoulder-first. Aelwin and Giancarlo hurried out after him. Beyond the confines of such a pitiful testament to good food was a narrow winding corridor leading through a tunnel of tainted consumerism. Bloodied bodies and crumpled ACMs lay strewn across the glossy linoleum of the shopping trail. Restaurants and cinemas and spas and pet shops flanked either side, every establishment earmarked by eerie scenes of happy families amidst blood and destruction.
“This way, on me! Avanti!” Alvotolini ordered.
The team leader hurried away, hobbling as fast as he could. Giancarlo turned and gestured for Aelwin to overtake. The trio retreated into the recesses of the labyrinth, filling the silence with haggard breath and hurried steps.
A horrid screech echoed from the restaurant. It reverberated off the walls and travelled along the annals of the abandoned shopping centre.
Seconds later, those dinging bells chimed once more.
“Allgemeine ankündigung. Mehrere aälle von unbefugtem zugriff von den Superior Research Quarters auf die experimentelle einkaufsetage vom serviceaufzug aus.”
“What was that?” Aelwin asked.
“A lot more of that thing’s friends!” Giancarlo yelled. “Keep going!”
Aelwin could hear it amidst the sounds of their exhausting retreat. Metal claws skittering through the vents above their heads, making their way towards the location of such a sonorous war cry. The frequency of such sounds proliferated at alarming speed over less than few seconds.
We left Alex behind. We left her behind.
The team rounded the corner. Two corrupted ACMs dropped down off the wall, distorted German crackling from their embedded speakers. Alvotolini raised his pistol and fired twice. The bullet tore roots away from the neck and the head tumbled off its mount. As the first assailant stumbled, the second lunged. Alvotolini sidestepped the callous attacker and, along with Giancarlo, fired indiscriminately into its frame. Root and limb fell away until the golden sphere of crackling light at its centre erupted into fire. The fiend exploded, sending metal and dirt across the corridor.
“Avanti!” Alvotolini yelled.
The blind ACM attempted to impede their escape, flailing its arms, but Alvotolini knocked it aside with a kick and pressed on. The rapid click and clack of approaching claws rose in volume. Aelwin, panting, hurried after the team leader to the end of the corridor.
Alvotolini turned left and stopped before an elevator door. Giancarlo held the rear, rifle aimed at where the enemy would soon spill out from. Aelwin stood holding a trembling Maxim.
“Where…my gun…where…” the Russian heaved.
Alvotolini fished out the key card and swiped it against the console.
A beep of denial replied.
“Zugriff abgelehnt.”
Aelwin’s spirits dissipated in one fell swoop.
You’ve got to be kidding.
Alvotolini stood there for a moment, stunned by the horrid realisation, before swiping again.
“Zugriff abgelehnt.”
Alvotolini swiped again.
“Zugriff abgelehnt.”
“Che cazzo?” Alvotolini said, rubbing the key card against his uniform to clean it.
The approaching horde grew louder.
“Sir,” Giancarlo said. “We haven’t got much time.”
Alvotolini swiped again.
“Zugriff abgelehnt.”
“Damn it, why isn’t it working?” Alvotolini hissed. “Come on you stupid thing!”
Maxim groaned.
“We’re going to be okay,” Aelwin said. “We’re okay, Zero-Six.”
Giancarlo’s aim did not sway. He stood ready, waiting for escape or death. Alvotolini swiped again.
“Zugriff abgelehnt.”
The team leader turned, unsure of what to say. The crew stood together, cornered and vulnerable. The horde of flesh-rending and mind-warping drones neared, intent on delivering horrid demise upon them all.
Aelwin loathed how terrified she was.
It can’t be now. I have so much to do. This isn’t fair.
Alvotolini drew his pistol and took position beside Giancarlo, pistol raised.
“We’re Brutta Notte,” he said, panting. “Not a step backwards.”
As dizzying as it proved to be, Aelwin placed Maxim down and took position in front of him. She rested her digit against the trigger and swore herself upon a gruesome end; upon a bloody conclusion to a turbulent life.
Maybe this is what I deserve. Maybe dying painfully where no one will find me is the kind of death I ought to get.
The horde neared the corner to the elevator. Aelwin snarled.
Fuck it. I’ll take as many as I can with me.
The first drone came.
A jumble of metal and root - of violence and servitude – looked in their direction. That shimmering gold foretold their end in every twisted hue. In every indent of the deflective plating was one of hundreds of painful deaths.
Aelwin stared down her doom as she pulled the trigger.
Click.
Nothing.
Aelwin frowned.
What?
She looked down to examine her weapon. The magazine was still full and the safety latch was off.
“Eh?” Giancarlo said, examining his weapon.
Alvotolini inspected his pistol. All armaments fell silent in the face of such an overwhelming enemy, too terrified to attack, yet the horde bizarrely did not take advantage of such vulnerability. The first drone hurried past and, with it, came thirty more. Some crawled across the ceiling, some scuttled across the walls, but all travelled forwards in search of the intruders. They all glanced in the direction of the team but continued on without regard.
The horde disappeared around the corner with haste.
“What just happened?” Giancarlo said. “I couldn’t fire my gun.”
“Me too,” Aelwin said. “They…they looked right through us.”
Alvotolini stared, stunned. Not a word came from him. All four surviving members of the team just inhaled and exhaled, appreciating the mere sensation of living.
A voice, frail and timid, emanated from the left.
“Hello…”
The team spun around, weapons raised.
A solid wall leered back.
“Who was that?” Giancarlo whispered. “Come on out.”
A section of the wall wobbled. Its surface rippled like water, shifted like a mirage, and seconds later the illusion faded away. A pair of glass doors, polished and spared from the bloodshed, materialised before them. A flashing neon cross sat mounted above it, beckoning the team in with every green pulse.
“You’re kidding,” Giancarlo sighed, issuing a scorned laugh. “God…what is going on down here?”
Alvotolini holstered his pistol and heaved Maxim up.
“We haven’t got a choice. Andiamo.”
Alvotolini marched towards the doors and eased them open with his shoulder, disappearing inside. Giancarlo and Aelwin hurried after their leader, weapons held at low-ready.
Behind the mirage entrance sat a classic establishment of the local high street. White walls and tiled floor bounced light across the sizable room, ricocheting off the shelves of similar intense colour. More imagery of smiling families – of giggling pups and kits beside beaming parents – promoted the racks of medicine and cosmetics with their supposed familial unity. It made every purchase more than just putting money in the pockets of tyrants; it made it seem like a chance to be as perfect as them.
Aelwin looked over her shoulder as the glass doors shook and disappeared.
Better in here than out there.
At the opposite end of the maze of aisles sat a curved pharmacy desk. A white surface, clean to the millimetre, was positioned atop a baby blue base. A white-framed monitor displayed its list of orders from above.
Blank.
“Come to the desk,” the voice said. “I-if that’s okay, I mean.”
The team advanced to the pharmacy and came to a stop. Beyond the desk were cylindrical shelves of medicine bottles and packets, each marked in German. They spun slowly, displaying their plethora of remedies.
“We’re here,” Alvotolini said. “Show yourself.”
The air on the other side of the counter shifted and contorted. Seconds later, from nothing, appeared a timid beast. It stood shorter than the raven chef, only two heads or so taller than Maxim, and its frame was far thinner. Two long ears protruded from the back of the head and a short snout twitched in their direction. Vibrant blue mascara and eyeliner accentuated their purple eyes, almost fluorescent against the white fur. A dark leather choker clung to their throat. A long pale green nurse’s uniform encompassed the lanky figure, tightly-fitted around the waist and billowing out over the legs.
Aelwin stared at the rabbit nurse and hated how she was already used to such an entity.
“Welcome,” the rabbit nurse stammered, eyes to the floor.
Maxim grunted, blood dripping against the floor.
“Did you help us?” Alvotolini asked. “That was you who made the door appear?”
“Yes. I can make things appear and disappear.”
The rabbit nurse looked across the desk and set their eyes upon a box of pamphlets. Their pupils widened to eclipse the rest of their eye and, as they did, the object warped and disappeared.
“See? That’s what I do…I can hide things. That’s how no one has come here. I saw those monsters chasing and I made a wall to fool them.”
“You jammed our guns too?” Alvotolini said.
“Yes. I’m sorry. I only did it so you wouldn’t give yourselves away.”
Maxim cried out, heaving.
“Our friend needs help,” Giancarlo said. “We need somewhere for him to rest. Do you have a hospital bed? A chair?”
The rabbit nurse nodded and padded to the left of the pharmacy to a section of wall. It shifted, revealing an open doorway into a dark room.
“In here.”
The rabbit nurse disappeared inside. The team followed them into the dim den. As Aelwin entered, she noticed the stark change in decor. Clinical white was replaced for crimson and pink drapes. Reflective tiles were exchanged for soft carpet. Harsh lights were replaced by soft purple candles.
Shelves discarded for large four-poster beds, each one draped in thick curtains to disguise the furtive perversions of guests.
Trails of rose petals across the floor.
Aelwin preferred to not know what happened in that sordid chamber.
The rabbit nurse led the team to a bed at the back. The fae eased the curtains aside.
“Here.”
Alvotolini stepped forward and eased Maxim onto the bed. The feline cried out, tensing and straining. Aelwin hurried to his side and eased out her medical kit, although hesitant to approach the bed.
“Max, listen to me,” Aelwin said, rummaging in her bag. “Listen to my voice.”
“My paw…” Maxim sobbed. “My fucking paw…”
Aelwin took out a knife and snipped away the fabric of his uniform around the wounded leg. Giancarlo helped peel it off, discarding the blood-laden pant on the floor.
Aelwin stopped.
“What is it?” Alvotolini asked.
Her medical expertise fell into redundancy as she stared at an ailment beyond any manual or guide.
“Blyat…my leg…it won’t move…” Maxim panted.
Crawling out from where the javelin had struck, moving with malice, were spindly tree roots. They swerved left and right across flesh and fur, disappearing below the surface before reeling their heads once more. The fur in the surrounding area withered and the visible flesh blackened.
Aelwin took her knife to Maxim’s wounded shoulder, tearing away the fabric there.
More of that insidious growth bloomed from where Maxim had been struck, writhing beneath the bandages and reaching out with parasitic desire.
“Oh shit,” Aelwin said under her breath.
Maxim shifted, whimpering.
“It’s…it’s that bad?”
Alvotolini turned to the silent rabbit nurse. They loomed there, solemn.
“What is that?”
“It’s an infection,” the rabbit nurse answered. “The monster that attacked you fires javelins smeared in dirt from the fae realms. If that dirt gets inside a mortal…”
The rabbit nurse pointed a crooked finger at the wound.
“…the seeds it carries start to grow inside the body.”
“What happens if they keep growing?” Giancarlo asked.
The rabbit nurse’s hesitation to answer was foreboding.
“It will use that body to fully grow. Eyes, mouth…all orifices. He’ll be alive for all of it until it gets to his brain.”
Maxim’s breathing became rapid as panic set in.
“Oh blin…I’m dying…I’m…”
Aelwin took his paw.
“Max, listen to my voice.”
The stalwart warrior lay crippled and broken, unable to be dissuaded from focusing upon the certainty of his approaching agony.
“Max, listen to me. I need you to calm down.”
Maxim reached out to her.
“I…I need your gun.”
“Max—”
“I don’t want to fucking die like this, give me your gun!”
“Max!”
Maxim tried to snatch her pistol from its holster. Aelwin caught his attempt by the wrist and stepped back from the bed. The wounded feline cried as he lay on his back, roots snaking towards his torso.
“There has to be something we can do for him,” Alvotolini said. “You’re a nurse. You can heal him.”
“I can,” the rabbit nurse said.
Aelwin sensed something sinister to the altruism.
“But you want something in return…don’t you?”
The rabbit nurse nodded, bashful.
“Your friend…he stays here. With me.”
“For how long?” Giancarlo asked.
The rabbit nurse said nothing. Alvotolini gave an exasperated sigh.
“In return for saving our friend’s life…you want to keep him? As what, your pet? Your…your toy?”
“I get lonely here,” the rabbit nurse said, eyes still to the floor. “All the clients we’ve been tested with…they’ve hurt me. I want a friend. That’s all.”
“You can’t just disappear the roots?” Aelwin said. “Or are you refusing to do that because you’re too greedy?”
“I can’t make things disappear completely. It’s an illusion. Your friend would still die even if you couldn’t see them.”
“What if someone else stays?” Giancarlo said.
The rabbit nurse shook their head.
“Only him. The rest of you go on without your friend.”
The team looked over at Maxim. The feline lay there, crying, as he drew shaking breaths in and pushed them out.
“So we either let him die…or we leave him behind forever,” Giancarlo said.
The rabbit nurse, hesitant, nodded.
“Yes. That’s the deal I’m offering.”
Aelwin shook her head, stepping back.
“I can’t do this. I can’t.”
Not a word was offered in response. Alvotolini walked over to Maxim’s bedside and sat beside him. Maxim looked up at his team leader through tears.
“Sir…I’m not scared of dying…”
“I know.”
“You h-have to believe me.”
“I know, Max.”
“I…my shoulder…my leg…I can’t feel them. I can’t move. This is…it’s too much. If I have to die…I want it to be quick.”
Alvotolini didn’t reply for a moment. Giancarlo and Aelwin watched in silence.
“I’m…so sorry about Alex, sir. It should have been me…that should have…”
“That’s not your burden to bear. Alex wouldn’t hold that against you.”
“She…wouldn’t?”
“No, she wouldn’t.”
The team leader removed his helmet and pulled off his balaclava.
“Do you trust me, Max?” Alvotolini said.
“I’d d-die for you, sir. I would. For anyone here.”
“I’m not asking that. I’m asking if you trust me.”
Maxim nodded.
“Yes, sir. I trust you.”
Alvotolini took his paw.
“Then I want you to stay here. You’ll be healed. You won’t have to die for anyone.”
Maxim didn’t respond for a moment. His glistening eyes looked up at the ceiling, ruminating on such a command.
“I…okay. Yes. I’ll stay here and…you three go on.”
Alvotolini smiled.
“You’re a brave soul, Max. Bravest I’ve ever known. You stay strong here. We’ll get something figured out.”
Maxim nodded but said nothing, mind focused upon his fate. Alvotolini stood and turned to the rabbit nurse, helmet tucked under his arm. The rabbit nurse kept looking at the floor.
“If he agrees to stay and you heal him…you’re going to look after him as if he’s royalty.”
The rabbit nurse said nothing. Alvotolini took another step, forcing himself into their gaze.
“Look me in the eye, you wicked bastard.”
The rabbit nurse met his gaze. Alvotolini spoke.
“You’re going to treat my friend well. You’re going to look after him and ensure he’s safe. You’re going to do everything to treat him like the friend you want so damn much. And if I find out that you hurt Max – that you did anything to bring him pain – I’ll come back down here and I’ll kill you.”
“You cannot kill—”
“I’ll fucking find a way.”
The rabbit nurse said nothing. They looked over their shoulder at the back wall. The section shifted and a pair of small elevator doors appeared.
“This elevator hasn’t been used in some time. It’s a back-up. It will take time to get down to security. The moment you step inside and descend…the deal is sealed.”
Aelwin looked over at Maxim. The feline met her gaze with a faltering smile.
“Go on,” he said. “Get down there and end this whole shitshow…for me.”
Giancarlo walked over and took his paw.
“We’ll come back for you. Okay? Just take it easy.”
“You too. D-don’t have too much fun without me, eh?”
Giancarlo managed a chuckle. Aelwin approached.
“You’re going to be okay. I’ll…I’ll see you soon Max.”
“I’m counting on it,” Maxim said. “Now go. Go on. I’ll be fine.”
“He’s right,” Alvotolini said. “We need to go. Come on.”
Aelwin knew where her duty lay – where their mission rested – but stepping away from the bedside proved dizzying. The stoic Russian lay there, face slick with tears, but met their parting with a smile. For Aelwin, she looked down upon that old hound once more. The heart monitor beeped in her ears.
I’m sorry, Max.
The team took to the elevator. Alvotolini swiped the key card. The console trilled.
“Zugang gewährt. Willkommen, soldat.”
The doors squealed open. The inside proved far less spacious, offering only a tight squeeze for their descent. Alvotolini turned.
“Get in.”
Aelwin and Giancarlo entered the elevator, shoulders touching. Alvotolini followed them inside.
His digit hovered over the button.
“Vive lupo, Max.”
Maxim smiled.
“Vive lupo.”
Alvotolini tore his gaze away and hit the button. The elevator doors squealed shut. Aelwin watched as Maxim’s face disappeared behind unkind steel and, within two seconds, was fully obscured.
The team descended once more into that hellish labyrinth with yet another twisted deal sealed.
…
Maxim watched as his friends disappeared into the elevator, leaving him behind. A tremendous fear crept upon the feline – one that whispered grave implications into his mind - but he shed them.
They’ll come back for me. They have to.
The rabbit nurse padded over to his bedside. Maxim met their gaze.
“Is this going to hurt?”
The rabbit nurse said nothing. They eased one mighty hand against their leg. Maxim winced under the slight pressure. The rabbit nurse’s eyes became eclipsed in black and purple light congregated at the wound. The roots disintegrated into dust. The blackened flesh recoloured into pink. The withering fur stood tall once more.
The pain, in seconds, dissipated.
Maxim scoffed.
“Are you…how did…”
The rabbit nurse levelled such care at his shoulder wounder. The insidious infection withered and died as it had intended to make Maxim perish, the tainted flesh revitalised once more. Maxim laughed.
“Blin, this is crazy!”
The rabbit nurse placed both hands upon his stump. The sudden move cut Maxim’s laughter short, summoning a cry of pain as molten steel was pressed into the wound. Tears came forth once more as flesh knit itself back into existence, crawling into position.
As Maxim threw his head back and screamed, the pain abated. Maxim heaved and panted, raising his arm up to his face.
He gasped, staring.
A paw formed from purple light shone before his eyes. It was solid and opaque. It was no more than an imitation of his appendage, he could see that, yet it did not dissolve his curiosity. As he sat up, he flexed his paw. He closed and opened it. He moved one digit at a time.
It responded to him as if it was the real thing.
Maxim, smile upon his face, looked over at the rabbit nurse.
“Wow…this is...you really know what you’re doing, huh?”
The rabbit nurse blushed, looking away.
“J-just my medical training.”
Maxim looked around, filled with the joy of life. All the pain and chaos before meant nothing in lieu of such a miracle.
Yet there he sat, confined.
“So…I guess I’m going to be here for a while.”
The rabbit nurse nodded, not a word uttered. Maxim spoke.
“Well…you uh…you like movies?”
The rabbit nurse looked back at him, mouth open wide in a gasp.
“Those moving things you mortals watch in your free time?”
“Yeah.”
“With all the weird contraptions you use to capture footage?”
“That’s the one.”
The rabbit nurse beamed.
“My goodness, I love movies. We have clubs for them back in the fae realms. We seldom get to watch many, if any at all, but it’s one of my favourite mortal art expressions. There's so much to look at!"
"What's your favourite genre?"
The rabbit nurse thought for a moment.
"Oh goodness...what are those movies that talk about real-life? Ones about specific events or history?"
"Documentaries?"
"Yes, yes! Those are so interesting."
Maxim stood.
“Well, we have a lot of time to kill. Maybe we could...I don't know...binge some documentaries? I don't know how to thank you for saving me, otherwise."
The rabbit nurse blushed again, giggling. Such a sight proved oddly intoxicating – entrancing, even – and Maxim felt a great affinity for the cumbersome medic.
“Sounds lovely."