Reaching the small machine sitting outside the gate. Mardea slipped her ID out of her shirt and pressed it up against the city's panel reader, pricking her finger on the thumb panel.

It typed out, Name: Mardea Bem Agrinya. Age: 23. Blood stat: Active.

Just then the gates began to alarm.

"OOOh no no no." She panicked smacking the screen. As she hit the Panel reader tears flooded her face—overwhelmed with everything that had just happened.

This can't be happening! I thought I got away.

A person wearing a white hazmat suit stepped through the side gate. "This way Miss Agribya." He guided her.

She could only anticipate the next part with the stories she'd heard. She had to go through what everyone called the chamber. The guy handed her a laminated chart. Unable to clearly see it—She smeared her tears as they mixed with the demon's blood on her cheek.

Mardea followed the yellow tile-stained floor it was guided by the light green walls. She read the laminated diagrams on her paper; the small pictures informed her to strip down and go through the detox chamber. She was glad she got to clean up before entering the city.

Entering the changing room, her eyes caught herself in the mirror. Four punctures in her chin and forearm, from creature's nails. The demon had held her in an inescapable grip.

She moved her braids out of her face, "Oh my God!" She stared at the glowing red mark on her forehead—feeling like it was going to overtake her face. Placing her forgotten pistol on the table.

She stared, horrified at the pistol while a rock sunk in her stomach. I Could have used my pistol! I could have shot him! Why did I forget it!! I mean ahhh... I barely take it. The feeling of utter disappointment in herself radiated from her bones. She couldn't bear to focus on it any longer.

Unbuckling and zipping off her boots, jacket, pants and every piece of clothing. She stepped into the shower as it triggered the detox pour and the room sealed itself. The blood, dirt and tears washed away. She stood there motionless as the rings of water melted beside her small sensitive feet. Feeling numb with everything—she wondered if she'd fade away.

The fleeting time that felt like minutes on an endless clock. Mardea breathed calmly with her eyes closed. The rain ceased and she folded the towel around her body that hung on the other side of the door. Following the corridor—leaving watery steps behind as she dried herself. She slipped into the gown effortlessly as a woman dressed in scrubs held it out for her—taking the towel. The same woman directed her into a room to take a seat and wait.

She recalled the last check-up and it was quite a long time ago. She concluded that her mark must be the reason for this one. Usually, she didn't have to go through detox but she was filthy. At least now they could see every cut and scrape on her body. Noticing she had some cuts and scrapes from the sticks on the forest floor.

Will they give me my clothes back? I hate waiting.

Mardea studied the wooden wall clock with its obnoxious ticking. Twisting her butt in the worn and pad-less chair—feeling the metal poles that held it together. A frustrated sigh left her lips and her fingers tapped the plastic table as it echoed the unhappy colourless room. On the sill was a buzzing fly spinning on its back, the two-way mirror cloned an extra one. She wished waiting for these appointments wasn't a normal occurrence in her life.

Just then the door screeched open and an old man with speckled grey entered the room with his clipboard. "Sorry to keep you waiting. "He said.

"I'm Doctor Ashleigh. I'm guessing you know why you've been called in for this appointment." He said pulling up a chair on the other side of the table.

"Yeah." Mardea pointed sarcastically to her forehead. "Am I going to die?" she got straight to the point.

He placed his clipboard down. "Umm, we're going to run some tests. Do some blood work and check your entire system. We have some things that could help your mark, but it depends on your body and how it responds. " He explained laying his clipboard down.

Mardea snarled "I get it's your job to be calm!" She stood up smacking for palms on the table. "But what about the monster that attacked me! Are you going to send out armed forces? Or the whole army?"

The doctor's face was unfazed, "Were you armed?"

Bewilderment clouded her face and she sat back down. "What? Yeah, I had a pistol." She shrugged, "But I..... Forgot. I had a pistol—Wait! Why does any of that matter? She huffed irritably.

"What if it attacks other people?" she pointed furiously at the doctor.

"That is not for you to worry about. You need to prioritize yourself and what's happened to you." He said taking notes.

Mardea leaned back against the bony chair and folded her arms in disgust. Is he even listening to me?.... This is so unbelievingly outrageous.

She waited as the doctor kept writing on his clipboard with his black ball-pointed pen.

"Okay, follow me. A nurse is going to examine you." He stood up and headed for the door.

Reluctantly, Mardea followed. It was a sharp quick walk to the next room. The doctor pushed open the door, staying outside. Mardea entered as the door flew closed, gently clicking shut behind her.

The nurse smiled, "Hello Dear, I'm Maria. Please lay down." She motioned towards the examination table. She was a young lady, pale and very doll-like. Her limb movements were stiff and gangly.

"Yeah." Mardea shuffled her bum onto the table and lay down. The nurse shoved her table of sterilized tools up beside her.

"I see here you're currently on birth control." She said flipping the page over on her clipboard.

"Yeah." Mardea agreed, laying still and wondered if she should sit up.

"I'm going to have to change it. The mark can affect the hormones in your system. Rendering it less effective." She explained.

"Oh, yeah that'd be a good idea." Mardea agreed, surprised by the news. Does the mark do other things too?

"But if you could sit up for me first. Then I'll take blood. After that, I'll give you some anaesthetic so we change that birth control." She took out a needle.

Mardea sat up—dangling her feet off the table. She lay her wrist on the portable side table—gripping her fist. The needle pieced her skin with ease and she relaxed her arm. The nurse quickly swapped all the different vials to make sure she had got all the samples. She yanked the needle out—hastily placing a plaster pad on the wound and tapping it down.

"Right!" The nurse grabbed the anaesthetic needle.

"Umm, can I ask something first?" Mardea remembered something she kept forgetting to tell the doctor.

"Oh, of course." She paused.

"I've been getting, like really bad ovulation cramps. Like debilitating, I get vomiting, diarrhoea and fatigue. Can barely walk." She complained.

"Oh my! That's not normal. That's honorific. That is mostly likely... Endometriosis." Marie was taken aback.

"Yeah, so will the new birth control fix that?"

"Aaah." Marie froze—glitching, as she was trying to think. "It should, hopefully. Look if you're still getting horrific pain after this new one. Please do bring yourself back in." She swapped her needle out for the clipboard to note down the possibility of endometriosis.

"Have you had that pain this month?" The nurse asked.

"No, last month," Mardea said watching Marie jot down everything.

"All right, anaesthetic." The nurse pulled the curtain across Mardea's legs.

Mardea lay down and took a breath—the needle was injected into the mucosa of the cervix. She continuously breathed slowly and calmly. These procedures always made her uncomfortable. Waiting five minutes for the paracervical block to work.

Laying there Mardea was biting her nail while Marie removed the IUD and inserted another. She couldn't feel anything or see, and she was glad.

Once it was all done the curtain was removed and Mardea sat back up. The nurse gave her ibuprofen and Paracetamol for when the anaesthetic wore off. Afterwards, she was checked all over to make sure she had no life-threatening lacerations. The last room she had visit was for an IR scan.

Finally when it was all over her clothes were returned washed and dried. Stepping out of the building and onto the busy street of the city Coasto.

Relief rushed over her body. "That was too much!" She groaned, almost stumbling on the paved stones. She definitely did still feel tingly and numb. It was very strange to have to walk and it didn't take long until the pain arrived.