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It was the morning of the day that Wolf had been dreading; vaccine day. She was reluctantly holding hands with Kipo, needing the comfort more than she did, although she would never admit it. Because of her entire life having been spent on the surface, the young girl had never taken a vaccine, which Lio and Song of course had to take note of and inform the school nurse.
Kipo was about to get another vaccine shot just like the other children her age, so their parents decided to let Wolf get her shot at the same time as Kipo. Wolf wasn't sure if Kipo's presence made her even more anxious or if it reassured her. She didn't want to be alone with the nurse, but she also didn't want to be vulnerable around her sister.
As the two walked inside the school building, Wolf felt the familiar feeling of fear. She wanted to run and hide, but she couldn't. She was sure that everybody could hear her heart beating out of her chest. It was so loud that she almost didn't hear Kipo talking to her.
"Wolf? Are you feeling alright?" Kipo's voice echoed in Wolf's head as she stared straight ahead.
"Mhm," she managed to sound out.
"Are you sure? You're quieter than usual."
Wolf didn't answer more than a blink.
"Hey, you can talk to me, you know that! Are you nervous?" Kipo pressed, squeezing Wolf's sweaty hand reassuringly.
Wolf just nodded and Kipo sighed, deciding to drop the subject for the moment to not upset her sister any further. It didn't take long before they had arrived outside the nurse's office.
Kipo knocked on the door and it soon opened to reveal a female human, which calmed Wolf's nerves only for a little bit. The woman was called Ms. Lindsay and she had worked as a school nurse in the Clover Burrow before it was destroyed. Kipo trusted her, but Wolf was still wary of her, because it was always the people she trusted who hurt her the most.
"Welcome, girls! I promise that I won't keep you for long. Who wants to go first?" Lindsay started, looking at the girls expectantly as she pulled on a pair of latex gloves.
Wolf looked up at Kipo with an unsure expression, silently wishing to not have to take a shot at all. Kipo took the hint and stepped forward.
"I'll go first." she volunteered, sitting down on the chair as Lindsay got the needle ready.
"Wolf, you can take a seat on the couch if you want." Lindsay offered and Wolf did as she was told, placing herself so that she would still be able to see the procedure.
Lindsay talked to Kipo as she got the needle ready, like what she had eaten for breakfast. Kipo answered the questions as if she had been talking to a friend, not a single sign of nervousness evident on her face. Eventually, the needle was ready and Lindsay asked Kipo to keep her arm still.
A ball of cotton dipped in alcohol was pressed on the spot where the needle would go. Wolf's heart started to beat harder than ever the second that the needle was pressed into Kipo's bloodstream. It was over in a second and a purple band-aid was quickly put over the dot of blood on Kipo's arm.
"Good job, Kipo!" Lindsay praised before she looked over at Wolf who looked like a deer caught in a headlight. "Your turn, Wolf."
Wolf started shaking like a leaf the second that Lindsay looked at her. Fear was evident in her eyes where she would have to sit and get a needle stabbed into her arm. Wolf stood up on shaky legs and slowly made her way over to the chair to sit down. Lindsay threw away her gloves only to put on a new pair. Wolf could feel her breathing picking up as she watched the nurse get another needle ready. Kipo had taken a seat right beside her, content with just holding Wolf's right hand.
Wolf flinched when Lindsay turned towards her, needle in her hand. Wolf didn't see a human girl in front of her, she saw a mute wolf. She had a big, blood grin on her face and her eyes were hungry. Hungry after a young human girl. Blue fur, pink eyes, a white pearl necklace hung around her neck.
Lindsay approached Wolf slowly, asking the younger girl if she had taken a vaccine shit before. Wolf shook her head. Reading the terrifed expression on Wolf's face, Lindsay knew that there was a risk that she'd move her arm when she tried to inject the needle.
Wolf's breath hitched when Lindsay wrapped a leather belt around Wolf's arm and the arm of the chair, keeping her still. She couldn't escape now, she was stuck.
"Don't worry, it will be over in a second." Lindsay tries to reassure Wolf, but it was impossible at this point.
Another cotton ball with alcohol was pressed on a spot on Wolf's arm where the needle would go. Lindsay removed the lid on the syringe and approached the terrifed girl. Wolf flinched, but her arm was stuck which caused her to stay in place. Kipo squeezed her other hand, but it did nothing to calm Wolf this time.
The needle was sharp, sharp like claws. Claws from the wolves. Wolves who hurt her.
The needle forced its' way into her skin and Wolf bit back a scream. She was paralyzed with fear. The needle was sharp as claws, stabbing into her skin. Fangs, sharp as knives, were ripping her apart. Lindsay's soft voice translated into howls, echoing in Wolf's head. She looked down and all she could see was blood. Her bloody uniform had been ripped apart and she could feel her skin burning as if it was on fire.
Wolf's eyes were clamped shut and she was hyperventilating. Her entire body was shaking and her head was pounding like the drums on a rock concert. She wanted to scream, but her voice had betrayed her and she couldn't get a sound out. She could feel multiple hands on her, drawing more blood and making the burning worse. She couldn't see anymore, her eyes were bleeding. All she could do was squirm to try and keep the hands away. She could hear a voice calling for her, but it was too far away for her to be able to hear it. It started to get closer, and eventually, Wolf was able to make out a few words.
"Come back!" "You're safe!" "It's okay!"
It was Kipo.
Wolf was confused, Kipo wasn't supposed to be there. She didn't exist yet. It was a trick. The wolves were trying to distract her. But eventually, the bloody uniform turned into a perfectly clean black t-shirt and grey jeans. The forest turned into a white tile room. The howling turned into two soft voices speaking to her and the claws and paws turned into a pair of pink human hand that were holding her against a warm body.
Wolf finally managed to open her eyes, and she didn't see an evil grin. She saw Kipo's face, filled with worry.
"There we go, breathe, Wolf, just breathe," Lindsay spoke from beside her and Wolf did just that.
Her breathing turned into sniffles that turned into sobs, and in a minute she had broken down into tears into Kipo's shoulder.
She was safe. She was safe.
Wolf couldn't do anything else but to cry, and Kipo and Lindsay let her. They would speak to her every once in a while, but Wolf wasn't ready to talk yet. After a while, her tears died down and she found it easier to breathe. Her mouth opened and closed several times as her voice didn't seem to work. She took deep breath before she tried to speak again.
"Wh-... What h-happ-ppened?" she managed, focusing on her breathing to not get worked up again.
"You had a panic attack," Kipo answered, a lump forming in her throat as she remembered how scared she had gotten when Wolf turned unresponsive.
Wolf frowned at the answer. A panic attack? Only people who weren't feeling good had panic attacks. She was fine. She had a family who loved her and she was safe. Sure, she hadn't had a good life before, but she had moved on. The wolves didn't affection her life anymore. She didn't care about them. She had put her past behind her, right?
Upon Wolf's conflicted expression, Lindsay decided to explain the situation to her.
"We've all got something in our lives that troubles us, something that we aren't too proud of or a memory from an event that has scarred us. While we can always try and forget the past, it will always be there. Something will always remind us of our past, it's inevitable, but you can always find a way to not let it affection you badly. You've got monsters in your past, Wolf, and while you might think that ignoring your last and turning away from it will make you forget it, that will only make it worse. You've got to learn how to cope with your past and realize that it can't hurt you anymore. I would suggest that you see a child trauma psychologist to help you find different methods to cope." Lindsay lectured.
Wolf nodded slowly, repeating the words in her head until she understood what had been said. Somehow, she suddenly found herself standing in the hallway with Kipo. Her older sister bent down to her height to look her in the eyes.
"We'll get through this together, alright? I'm here for you and I always will, I promise." Kipo promised, recieving a hug as an answer.
The two just stood there, in the middle of the school hallway, enjoying the embrace for a while before they decided to go to class and get through the day like usual. Wolf felt slightly better as she walked into english class.
Sure, she did have a bunch of trauma, but she also had her big sister.