Fortunately, I did not need to explain my sudden hysterical outburst. The medical staff had blamed my uncontrollable tears and tremors on a state of post-traumatic shock. Considering the mess I was in, they were probably right. When they had finished briefly examining me, they made us all get in the back of an unmarked police car and not in an ambulance, which Worth strongly opposed.

As soon as I sat in the car, I leaned my head against the window and fell into a kind of numbness. I barely realized Worth's arm delicately passed around my shoulders drawing my head against him. As it was more comfortable than the cold, damp window, I let him do it and stayed that way all the way to the hospital. Because that was obviously where we were going.

I finally came out of my catatonia when they wanted me to have a gynaecological exam. The possibility that I was raped had not escaped them either. However, the more I tried to tell them that this was not the case, the more they thought otherwise. Maybe I should have accepted their damn exam and thus had some peace of mind once and for all, but all this reminded me too much of the psychiatric hospital. Not to mention that, since we arrived in the emergency room, a little voice told me that it was a bad idea to be here, without my brain remembering why. Cassie must have remembered because she whispered something to Worth who suddenly seemed to realize something.

Half an hour later, the three of us were outside. Our ears were still ringing with doctors' complaints that it was suicidal to leave the hospital in our states, and our hands were sore from having to sign what looked like at least 50 discharges! The inspector assured them that we would all return once our statements were recorded, and they had no choice but to let us go.

This little interlude had at least had the advantage of making me feel better, and I was relieved to have been able to leave the hospital where my miraculous recovery would have seemed more than suspicious. Although, given what the police had found in the lab and on the farm, the secret would soon be out. I shudder at the thought of the public's reaction to this revelation. Unfortunately, there was nothing I could do about it, so I decided to focus on the present moment, that is, the interrogation room that we had all just entered.

- 'I thought that this whole deposition thing was a pretext to avoid compromising analyses and not a sad reality?' I accused Worth in an unconvincing tone.

He closed the door behind him and I didn't even shudder because I was so exhausted. I didn't even have the energy to be claustrophobic anymore!

- 'In part. They expect you to give a statement, and if they think you did it with me, they'll leave you alone. This will allow us, as an added bonus, to develop our versions without attracting suspicion. I made sure the cameras and microphones were turned off. I will say that in my condition, I forgot to turn them on, and no one will blame me. So this is the place where we will have the most privacy for the moment, while keeping up appearances.'

He then dropped, more than he sat, on one of the uncomfortable chairs in the room with a heartbreaking sigh and a wince of pain.

- 'Sorry. I should know that you always act only after careful consideration and never do things randomly,' I breathed. 'Thank you for reacting for me when I was no longer able to. Not that it's going to change much anyway,' I said quietly, more for me than the others.

I sat down in turn, squirming, so that there was a piece of blanket between my butt and the molded plastic of the chair. This was not an easy task when you are deprived of your hands. They were too busy keeping the blanket tight around me.

- 'Let's hurry up and do your "debriefing", because I may not need to go to the hospital, but you both do, and I wouldn't want your injuries to get worse because of me,' I told them in a determined voice as I looked at them.

The inspector seemed to be doing a little better now that he had cleared his face a little and most of his marks and bruises were hidden by the beautiful depressing grey police tracksuit that his colleagues had provided him. But it was just a cover-up. Considering his breathing and his slumped position with his arm around the ribs, he wasn't getting any better at all, he was just pretending. As for Cassie, she was still standing and looking at her feet with an embarrassed look.

- 'In fact... neither do I... I don't need to go,' she said very quietly.

When his gaze finally crossed mine, I could see the fear and confusion in her eyes. Something was happening to her. She was completely lost and her voice was calling for help.

It was then that I noticed that the nasty cut she had on her forehead a few hours earlier, as well as the various small wounds and scratches she had on her limbs following our crazy journey through the woods, had for the most part all disappeared. I could not help but open my eyes wide, which obviously did not escape Worth, who in turn noticed the phenomenon.

- 'You're also a shape-shifter, then?' he asked her with a resigned look as if he now expected to be surrounded only by monsters.

I wasn't sure how I should take it.

- 'No!' Cassie shouted as if he had just insulted her. 'I mean... I don't know... I don't know anymore,' she said, looking at me with an apology and bursting into tears.

I got up forgetting the blanket that fell at my feet and leaned on the table. Even though I was a partly metamorph, broken ribs couldn't be repaired in a few hours, even for us. Worth, out of reflex, began to get up to pick it up but quickly gave up, an evocative grimace distorting his face. I approached Cassie slowly and had the reflex of wanting to take her in my arms, but given her vehement reaction to the inspector's request, I hesitated and finally preferred not to.

She realized it and gave me a distressed and contrite look before throwing herself into my arms. I took the shock without flinching so as not to frighten her, but it wasn't easy. Her action hurt my ribs but above all it hurt my heart. She didn't reject me, unlike the others, which proved that I could really trust her. I kept her in my arms until her tears subsided and then she pushed me away gently, took a deep breath and spoke without any urging from us.

- 'When... when I was there, they kept me sedated most of the time. But when I managed to emerge to feed and... I noticed puncture marks on my arms and legs sometimes. Earlier in the ambulance, I started to realize that my scratches were fading away and I made the connection with the trans... with Adam. I was hoping to ask him if he knew what they had done to me but... he didn't come back with you so... I didn't say anything,' she said pitifully.

Her speech was shredded and not very coherent, but enough for us to fully understand her confusion. I took her by the hand to reassure her and looked at her.

- 'Don't worry, I'll ask Adam for you. And if I were you, I wouldn't worry too much. You will surely be like me, with a hellish constitution but without the hairy inconveniences,' I said to her with a smile, hoping to make her laugh.

I only got a shy little smile, but it was already better than nothing.

- 'Why didn't you tell me about it? You didn't trust me?' she asked painfully.

I just stared at her for a few seconds without reacting. I was afraid she would reject me, not be mad at me because she thought I didn't trust her! This only confirmed the fact that my trust and friendship were more than well placed.

- 'I didn't hide it from you, I didn't know it myself. The truth is, I found out the day after you disappeared, and I agreed to help them so they could help me find you. The only thing I didn't tell you was "the voices"... well, what I thought were voices. I was afraid you'd think I was crazy, like everyone else. That's why I never talked about it. The good thing about this whole thing is that now at least I know where it came from and I'm sure I don't need a straitjacket.'

I managed to sketch a half smile, but from the looks they gave me, I must not have deceived anyone. After my explanation, no one brought the subject up again and we tried to compare our versions so that the facts would look as unlikely as possible. The inspector had done his best to keep the shapeshifters' secrets, even going so far as to drop the few blood samples they had found at the farm. As far as the lab was concerned, no need to worry because everything had gone up in smoke.

On the other hand, the man everyone called the professor had disappeared without a trace. He hadn't even been involved in the hunt in the woods, someone having warned him in time. Thanks to the call records, Worth's colleagues had quickly traced back to the man responsible for the leaks, who was none other than the little pimply young man at the reception desk. No wonder they came down on us so quickly after I left the building!

All that remained was to create a credible story, and that was the problem! Fortunately, Worth assured us that he would take care of it and that we no longer had to worry about it. I was so tired that I took his word for it. Before we left, the inspector insisted that I put on one of their horrible grey sweatpants. Although it was three times too big for me, he assured me that it would be much warmer and more comfortable than my poor blanket, which was, admittedly, anything but practical. So the three of us left the police station, as if we were going back to the hospital. We took my car, stayed around the police station, and dropped the inspector off at the emergency room.

- 'Take care of yourself and thank you for everything you've done,' I told him gently as he was painfully getting out of the car.

- 'You're welcome, the pleasure was all mine,' he said ironically. 'The least we can say is that you're not boring. I would like to tell you that I hope I never see you again, but that would not be realistic. Under different circumstances perhaps? And if you ever have any more problems... don't hesitate to call me.'

He smiled at me, waved at Cassie, and left with difficulty to the brightly lit entrance of the hospital, before I had a chance to answer anything. I set out again and we finally got home. The apartment was still in the same catastrophic state as last time, and Cassie had a desolate expression when she discovered the extent of the damage. We looked at each other and ended up laughing. A liberating laugh and a bit hysterical that made us slide along the wall, only to end up both on the ground breathless and empty. A little tidying up was really nothing compared to what had just happened to us.