Chapter 14

Danny's POV

I didn't dare leave the water until I physically couldn't stand the cold.

My entire body was drenched as I slowly waded out of the freezing river, my exhausted limbs screaming in protest as I somehow managed to drag myself out and onto the rocky riverbank. My clothes were soaked through and my hair was unceremoniously plastered against the side of my face in a tangled web, my entire appearance resembling a drowned rat (and that was at a good angle).

Teeth chattering, I limped further inland and hauled the banshee's body along behind me-- the broken bow that I'd used to bash its head in now serving as a makeshift leash as its bloodied corpse was dragged out of the river and onto the mossy bank.

Once we were both safely out and on dry land, I took a moment to gather my bearings. I ran a hand through my unruly wet hair, gingerly checking to see if my stitches had become undone to find they seemed tender but still intact. Looking down at my arms and torso, I checked them over to see if there was any serious damage done. There were quite a few cuts and bruises forming, but thankfully nothing looked as if it would cause me to bleed out anytime soon.

Tentatively flexing my fingers to stretch my bruised knuckles that had previously slammed into the riverbed, I rolled my wrist and shook out my hand as I move on to test the weight of my swollen ankle, wincing when a short, sharp pain flashed up through my shin and effectively rendered it useless. It didn't seem broken, only sprained. But I could tell it was going to be a pain to get back to the house in this state.

Knowing that there was no point in dwelling I grimaced, adjusting my footing to put as little weight on my left leg as possible before taking a deep breath. Counting to three aloud, I hitched the longest limb of the bow securely over my shoulder with a low hiss. The bloodied and equally as drenched banshee dangled from the bowstring that I'd thoroughly wrapped around its neck, a mixture of blood and water dripping down from its limp corpse as I insured it wasn't going to instantly come undone and fall to the ground.

I'd considered leaving it in the water, however after some brief deliberation I decided against it for precaution's sake. I had no idea where the river led, and didn't want to risk the body floating off to traumatise an unsuspecting human down the road. Last I checked-- banshees weren't exactly mainstream news.

"Okay," I muttered to myself, finally confident that my makeshift leash was tight enough, "Let's go."

My shoes squeaked loudly as I slowly began limping back in the direction of the house at respectful pace. The once gorgeous pair of tortoise shell oxfords that had earlier earned so many compliments were now most likely ruined-- my clothes equally so; fully amalgamated with black banshee blood and irreversibly torn in several places.

However more so than my outfit I mourned the loss of my bow, with the sentimental value greatly outweighing the price tenfold. I'd had it for years, winning several competitions with it in hand. I had an irrational attachment to the weapon, but eventually accepted the sacrifice and grimly reminded myself that without it-- I'd most probably be dead right now.

Clambering over roots and boulders I began periodically sighing in exhaustion every minute or so. The adrenaline was wearing off, and the fresh cuts that littered my upper body slowly grew to burn more prominently along with my ankle which continued to throb heavily.

God, a bath would be amazing right now.

The temperature began to drop, but on a more positive note: birds and small animals slowly emerged from the shrubbery as the forest began to reawaken. Call me an optimist, but I had a pretty strong suspicion that a lack of banshees was the cause. And I really wasn't in the best shape to be proven wrong.

Hitching the culprit higher on my shoulder after manoeuvring over a particularly large root, I huffed and found myself cursing at the corpse when a particularly sharp pain shot up my leg. If I could be granted any wish in my life, it would be to never have to deal with the menacing little b*stards ever again in this lifetime.

It baffled me how they weren't common knowledge, and that today was my first time encountering, let alone hearing about the creatures. From what I'd seen they weren't exactly discreet, so how on Earth had they gone so long without being detected? Werewolves I could understand to a point. They looked human enough (when tails weren't sprouting out of their arses). But these things...

I tried to wrap my head around how little I seemed to know about the world, my entire perspective now shifting to ponder what I knew to be real and fiction. What else would crawl out of the woodwork, now that I was a part of all of this? Was everything real?

Am I going to wake up one morning to find Clifford the big red dog outside my window?

Trying not to dwell too much on the possibility of giant anthropomorphic animals, I trudged on hoping that I was at least headed in the right direction. I only had a general sense to go on--along with the driving motivation to make sure that everyone made it to the house okay. I'd taken out the immediate threat, but Lord knows what happened after I split from the others.

I hadn't fought a banshee only for another to swoop in and kill the group.

Contrary to my earlier belief, I hadn't actually been running for hours. I estimated that it took me about forty-five minutes to finally reach the path that the girls and I had parted ways. Sighing in a mixture of relief and exhaustion, I paused for a moment to take in the familiar woodland path that lay flat about fifty feet away. I could've cried in relief, throwing my head back and shutting my eyes in triumph as I took a well deserved moment to bask in my return. Bath here I come.

I would've been happy to stand and bask for a while longer, had it not been for the sudden thunderous sound of several feet pounding against the ground nearby. Heart jumping to my throat, my eyes flew open as I instinctually stumbled to hide behind a nearby tree, cursing its narrowness but reluctantly accepting my lack of options. Risking a peak, I watched wide eyed as a group of about a dozen or so wolves suddenly thundered down the path; oblivious to my position and running right by.

Blinking, I stepped out hesitantly from behind the tree as the pack ran by unaware, completely out of view after only a few seconds. My heart continued to pound that tiny bit faster in my chest, the shock slowly wearing off only to be replaced by a distinct anxiousness towards the giant canines. I knew that they were technically friendly, but with teeth the size of fingers I was seriously struggling to find the friendliness of their nature just yet. If I could avoid confronting them up close for a while longer, I'd be grateful. That was a whole other situation for another day.

Once I was sure they were fully out of sight, I stumbled out and slowly began limping onwards, pausing as I eventually reached the path and stuck my head out to look left and right. No sign of them.

Deciding that I was better off just continuing back to the house, I stuck to the trail and prayed that it stayed straight. Without a guide, if a fork in the road came I would be done for. And so after a nervous few seconds, I felt another wave of relief rush through me as I spotted a familiar looking opening through the trees to my right.

Confidently deviating from the path, I mentally thanked Frankie as I stumbled through the last few feet of woodland and broke the tree line into the large back yard; still littered with the abandoned party yet seemingly devoid of people. Scanning the grounds for a moment, I saw lights on in the house and took in a long deep breath, having it in sight causing the exhaustion to hit me like a brick wall.

I lazily limped across the grass, my trousers chaffing and shoes still squeaking as I slowly passed by the bouncy castle and abandoned gazebo; still watching for any sort of movement indoors. I didn't see anything clearly, but couldn't find it within me to speed up even when the niggling worry that they hadn't made it back in one piece flashed across my mind. Even after everything I'd just been through, urgency was not at the top of my list at that moment.

In a spiteful yet fully justified move in my mind, I found myself walking by the buffet table and without even pausing-- unceremoniously knocking over the bowl of potato salad that had earlier been such a topic of discussion. It was petty and completely unnecessary, but as the amalgamated pile of white mush hit the ground I did feel a tiny bit better.

Sighing once I finally reached the stone patio, I stopped at the bottom of the two sets of stairs and grimaced up in contemplation. Relenting that it had to be done, I groaned before slowly but surely ascending each step; hanging onto the banister for dear life as I heaved myself up and made my way closer to the backdoor.

This had better be bloody open.

The wind picked up just as I finally reached the back balcony, a light shiver running down my still damp back from the cold. Embarrassingly out of breath, I took a moment to lean against the railing, the banshee's feet knocking lightly against the wooden railing as my ankle throbbed like a b*tch. The house still seemed motionless, and so after gulping in as much air as I could in one breath, I eventually found the energy to stumble over to the glass doors; gazing in to find a cluttered, empty kitchen.

Well, I consider not dying an accomplishment for today. I deserved a glass of wine for that.

Hitching the broken bow further up my shoulder, I reached out and slid the door open, letting go of a breath I wasn't aware I was holding once it was wide enough for me to step through.

It spared me from knocking or going back down and around. And I was too tired to do either.

The first thing that I noted once I stepped into the kitchen was warmth; lovely, cosy warmth that hit like a wall. My clothes and hair were still damp, but at least I wasn't leaving puddles as I softly shut the door and shuffled further into the house-- basking in the much appreciated temperature increase.

The second, and perhaps most prominent, was the sound of frantic voices. From what I could tell there were at least five all talking at once; so jumbled up it became impossible to differentiate one from the other.

Curiously following the commotion, I reached the entrance hall and realised that there were actually two groups of people-- one upstairs and another in the living room. I deliberated between the landing and the archway leading into the lounge, offhandedly noting the overturned furniture and smashed trinkets that littered the ground. The voices upstairs seemed to be shouting, whilst the voices from the living room consisted mostly of sobbing. Deciding against the battle of stairs, I determinedly limped into the living room with a steady stride, pausing at the doorway and scanning the group who were all either sat on the sofa or pacing the floor.

Lucy and Tinsley sat consoling a sobbing Frankie, too busy to notice me stood like a drowned rat in the doorway. The man I recognised as Rich's partner from the day I was first brought here paced the floor with a phone pressed to his ear, not having been introduced at the party which made me think he hadn't even attended.

Surprisingly, Yvane's mother whom I'd briefly seen earlier was also stood with Grace in the corner, bouncing the napping toddler in her arms and subsequently becoming the first to notice my presence with a violent jump and a startled gasp, "Oh, my Christ!"

"Hey," I awkwardly announced, Frankie's gaze flying up in surprise with her hand flying up to her mouth in shock. The entire group snapped to attention rather comically after that, everyone wide eyed with mouths agape as I pursed my lips in an attempt not to chuckle in exhausted relief. They seem okay at least...

"We've got her. Call back the search," the guard lowly instructed after a moment of suspended shock, locking eyes and nodding curtly before stepping through the second archway and out of sight with the phone still pressed to his ear. I nodded back perplexed but rather relieved. Nice to know there was some attempt at a rescue mission.

"...Danny?" Frankie finally asked in anxious disbelief, as if she was scared I was about to disappear before her very eyes.

"Hi, Frankie," I replied with a loose smile, "How you feeling?"

She made a singular squeak of disbelief in return, involuntary tears streaming down her face from her red rimmed eyes.

"You're alive," Tinsley mumbled simply, staring wide eyed like I was a ghost in human form.

Nodding I chuckled exhaustedly, "Last time I checked."

"B-but...The banshee...?" Lucy stuttered, continuing to hold onto the tear stricken Frankie. It dawned on me at that moment that the creature was still dangling from my partially concealed bow, so with a quick 'Oh!'-- I pulled it over my shoulder and dumped it down in front of me; it's now perpetually wet body landing on the laminated wood floor with a foul squelch.

"I brought dinner," I declared casually, trying to offhandedly lighten the mood. A loud shriek left Tinsley as soon as she saw it, her hands flying to cover up her mouth in disgusted shock.

"...Yeah, I wouldn't eat it though," I added in second thought, looking down at it with a frown and nudging the demon with my bad foot. Everyone seemed to stare at the banshee in morbid shock, slowly lifting their gazes up to me in almost unison-- the silence deafening.

"... Who are you?" Yvane's mother asked in disbelief after a moment, holding onto Grace tightly as if to protect the toddler.

Fully intending to deflect with humour in order to get this conversation behind me and me in a bath, I opened my mouth to reply but was interrupted by a particularly loud shout from upstairs, the volume so unexpected that it caused me to jump in surprise, "You son of a b*tch! What have you done?!"

"...Is that Chris?" I asked aloud in disbelief, eyes wide as I turned to look over my shoulder in the direction of the fury filled voice. I'd never heard him sound like that in all the weeks I'd been at the house, the sheer volume and anger behind his words enough to cause alarm bells to start whistling.

It wasn't until a large crash rattled the foundations of the house that they began blaring.

"No, Danny wait--!"

Ignoring Lucy's warning, I abandoned my war trophy to seep into the wooden floorboard as I hurriedly exited the room-- reaching the base of the stairs only to flinch in surprise as another deafening crash shook the floor above.

Eyes widening even further, all thoughts of exhaustion quickly vanished as I grabbed the base of the banister to heave myself up the stairs as quickly as my body would allow; reaching the landing at an impressive rate especially considering my condition.

My fight or flight instinct had kicked in, my body having obviously chosen to fight in this instance. The distinct sound of people arguing followed by several more thunderous crashes became frighteningly more frequent, the closer to the noise I got the quicker I realised that it was coming from Chris' office.

Following the ruckus I hurriedly hobbled down the hallway, gingerly using the wall for support as I tried to find the cause of all the noise and discern what in the hell was going on. I was just about to round the corner when I almost ran straight into Cody who was leading an injured Rich away from all the commotion.

"Yvane--!" He called urgently, both men jumping equally as violently at the sight of me stumbling to an awkward stop in front of them, "F*ck me, you're alive."

Having to brush passed that revelation for now, another thunderous crashing noise followed by more arguing caused us all to flinch from the volume, "Yeah, seems to be a shock to everyone-- what the f*ck is going on?"

"It's Chris-- Yvane!" Cody responded frantically, once again calling for his wife when another particularly loud crash followed. Rich seemed pretty disorientated from the looks of it, a trickle of blood dribbling down his forehead as Cody heaved him up and more securely onto his shoulder, distinctly panicked as he briefly explained the situation, "He's lost it. He thinks you're dead, and the sentry who was meant to be on duty during the attack turned up at the house. I tried to stop him but--"

The loudest crash so far followed by an outcry of pain caused my eyes to bulge out of their sockets, the situation dawning on me as I looked at Rich in both concern and disbelief, "--He did this?"

"No, the sentry did," Cody explained whilst aggressively shaking his head, my initial theory that Chris had been the one to hurt Rich thankfully being debunked, "The situation escalated, its--"

"You b*stard!"

"-- Find Yvane," I instructed, tapping his shoulder pointedly as the volume of the ruckus became too loud and too frequent to delay an intervention any longer.

"Danny, don't!" Cody called, frantically trying to grab my arm as I brushed past and shrugged him off, determined to stop this madness once and for all. I was no stranger to breaking up a fight and I'd had a long day, this could wait till next Tuesday for all I was concerned, "Don't go in there!"

"Cody, I'm here!" I vaguely heard Yvane call as she ran up the stairs to join us, but I was too busy trying to get to the office and diffuse the situation to acknowledge her.

"Good, here take him," Cody replied distantly, passing over the lethargic Rich to a disgruntled Yvane before hurriedly following me back into the office, "Wait!"

Reaching the partially opened doorway, I hurriedly pushed it ajar to find the familiar room in complete disarray. Books, papers and trinkets littered the wooden floor, the bookshelf in the corner having obviously been aggressively knocked into as half of its contents were now scattered across the ground.

My eyes narrowed as they landed on the two figures tussling on the floor by the cluttered desk, the chairs that had previously occupied the space having been tossed aside. I recognised Chris instantly, his back turned towards me as both men wrestled for the upper hand before he eventually claimed victory; straddling the unfamiliar opponent's waist as his fist suddenly connected heavily with his jaw.

Leaping in to intervene, he was three punches deep before I was able to grab the back of his shirt and yank, my brain quickly scrambling through the jarring image of finding Chris beating a man to recognise that if he were to carry on; he wouldn't make it out of this room.

"Chris, hey--!" I exclaimed, using both hands to try and pry him off as he continued unrelentingly, "Jesus f*cking Christ, stop it-- get off him!"

Either unable or choosing not to listen, I was able to yank him back a good few inches before I was suddenly and unceremoniously shouldered to the side, only just being able catch myself at the last second to thankfully stop any real harm. Not having time to dwell, I scrambled to grab him again, noting Cody running into the room in my peripheral, "Cody, help me!"

After a moment of hesitation, his face hardened to determination as he quickly joined me in trying to restrain his friend. Worryingly, Chris still hadn't relinquished his barrage of punches to the now unconscious man, but thankfully Cody was able to grab his shoulders and effectively pull him back to miss his next blow, "Alpha, you need to calm down--!"

"Yeah, Alpha. Calm your f*cking shit!" I cried angrily, the word alpha slightly mocking even to my ears. We eventually managed to somehow drag him off the now bloodied and disorientated sentry, Cody landing on his knees and using his upper body to partially lift and hold back his almost frenzied friend.

"Get off of me! They're dead because this son of a b*tch wanted to get his dick wet instead of doing his f*cking job!

Noting the fury building in his tone, I knew that he needed to snap out of it and fast otherwise this man was done for. Grabbing his bloodied arm, I somehow managed to get into his line of sight without being knocked out of the way, locking eye contact as my frustration grew alongside my worry.

"Chris, Goddamn it, I'm not dead! It's me; look," I declared, staring determinedly into his frighteningly familiar black eyes, "Look at me-- not dead! Very much alive."

Cody watched uncertainly but held on tightly, having been able to hook his arm beneath Chris' armpits and practically lift the maniac away. He still struggled for a moment, but after a few seconds of connecting the dots he seemed to finally begin to grasp that I was still in one piece.

"... Danny?" He eventually mumbled, his body slowly relaxing and almost slumping in place.

"Yes, I'm fine. Look at me, I'm fine," I repeated, his gaze lowering as he took me in with his eyebrows furrowed, "So we're going to calm down, right?"

"She's okay, man," Cody reassured, "Look, she made it back."

After staring at me for a moment longer, he eventually seemed to accept that I wasn't just a figment of his imagination, slowly nodding in acceptance as I firmly repeated, "Right?"

"Right," he muttered, his voice low and scratchy but without even a hint of the fury that had fully enveloped his previous tone.

Confident that he'd finally calmed down, after a reassuring squeeze Cody slipped his arms away as he slumped back to sit on the heels of his feet in relief, breathing heavily alongside the rest of us as I tried to comprehend Chris' sudden mood swing.

He looked terrible. Worse than when I'd left him in the field; only a couple of hours ago. His clothes were even more torn and bloodied, heavily stained both red and black with a combination of a blood permanently sealed into the once clean, grey fabric. His knuckles were split and bleeding thanks to his recent round of fisty-cuffs, matching the visible gashes that lined his arms and torso and adding to his long list of injuries for the day.

Most frighteningly, his eyes remained pitch black along with the veins that sprawled beneath the skin of his neck and temple; just as the day we'd first crossed paths in the alleyway. I felt myself begin to involuntarily grimace the longer I looked at his features, the uncomfortable feeling of a predator being nearby triggering a primitive subconscious thought of danger in the back of my brain.

Swallowing in an attempt to alleviate my dry mouth, I eventually broke eye contact, turning on my knees and scanning the attacked man's beaten figure, grateful for the excuse to look away and have the uncomfortable feeling diminish. I found it rather worrying that a bloodied and beaten man was more appealing to look at than Christopher at that moment.

When I'd last seen him like this, I screamed and ran away. Now that I knew who and what he was, it surprisingly didn't make it any easier. I wasn't entirely sure how to react; seeing how screaming and running weren't exactly viable options anymore.

Taking in a deep breath through the nose, I pushed through the uneasiness and evaluated the full damage that was done to the sentry's face, wincing as I realised I needed to make sure that he wasn't choking on his own blood, "Jesus Christ, Chris. What were you thinking? You could've killed him."

"Chris? That you buddy?" I heard Cody vaguely call as I worriedly began crawling towards the injured man, not wanting to add another death to today's list, "Danny, wait a sec."

"What?" I questioned, pausing in place as I gestured towards him with furrowed eyebrows and slight frustration, "Cody, he could choke. He needs help."

"I know, just-- wait," he repeated, holding out a hand warningly as he turned his attention to the back of Rover's head, "Chris...? You good?"

I uneasily flicked my gaze back to Chris, Cody's foreboding words causing me to freeze in place and watch him with a new level of anxiousness as he slowly began readjusting his sitting position.

"Yeah, I got it," He reassured in the same low voice, stiffly bringing his knee up to lean his elbow against and tiredly rub his eyes. His mood had changed so much from his previous fury I was perplexed, my eyes darting between him and Cody with a frustrating confusion as I tried to piece together the two men's strange behaviour.

I recalled Chris and I's conversation in the cellar, and how he claimed that he couldn't shift due to being cut by silver. I remembered laughing at the ridiculousness of it, only to be reassured that it was in fact a real thing. But Cody was acting as if he could turn at a drop of a hat, and by his worried, almost scared body expression-- we'd obviously be in trouble if he did. But I was under the impression they had full control over their actions; even when in canine form.

So why was Cody acting as if he was going to turn into a monster any second?

"Okay, we're going to help him. Alright?" Cody explained slowly, as if speaking to a toddler who was on the edge of a meltdown. My figure remained frozen as I waited for the reply, the confusion and frustration steadily growing as I began to consider that this was something to do with their weird hive-mind mentality. Did he have to ask him for permission? What kind of sick dynamic was this?

"Yeah," Chris nodded, looking at his friend almost dejectedly but tensely adding, "Help him."

Cody waited a moment longer, watching him sceptically before deciding that it was safe to proceed. He stood from his sitting position and made his way over to the unconscious man, coming to a stop by his side and leaning down to place a hand on his shoulder, "Matthew, hey. You still with us?"

I couldn't move, still trying to wrap my head around the exchange and piece together was the Hell had just happened. I stared at Chris dumbfounded, mouth slightly agape and eyebrows furrowed in confusion as he dropped his head back into his hands, "What kind of f*cked up situation is this?"

"Danny, not now," Cody muttered, looking up from Matthew with a warning as he placed him in the recovery position.

"What do you mean, 'not now'? This is...!" I began to argue, glancing back towards Chris only to do a double take when I found him collapsed and violently shaking on the floor, "Shit, Cody, Cody, Cody--"

I scrambled forward in panic, Cody abandoning the sentry and following suit as we both landed by Chris' side after only a few seconds of reaction time.

"-- Ah crap, Yvane!" Cody shouted loudly, stepping over the violently shaking body and hurriedly tapping down Chris' pockets, "Hey--! Where's your pen, man? Is it on you?"

"What's going on? Is he having a seizure?" I asked in panic, watching the situation unfold and not knowing how to react. Cody seemed to find whatever he was looking for rather quickly, exclaiming in triumph as he pulled out a rather strange looking epi-pen from Chris' back pocket. Uncapping the lid he plunged the concealed needle into Chris' left thigh, leaving it in for a few second before pulling it out and massaging the area that was struck. Is he having an allergic reaction?

It didn't look like a fit I'd ever seen.

Chris face was contorted in agony, the occasional cries of pain escaping his tightly sealed mouth as Cody tried to calm him down and I sat uselessly beside him. I knew that you weren't meant to touch people having a seizure and had to wait for them to ride it out, but it didn't make standing by and doing nothing any easier in my mind.

"Danny, stay back," Yvane's familiar voice suddenly instructed in my ear, her hand landing on my shoulder and gently but firmly pushing me aside as she hurriedly joined us unnoticed. I complied without a word, scooting to the top of Chris' head and watching worriedly as she took my place and sat down at his side, "What happened?"

"I gave him the pen, it's not working."

"He might be too far gone," Yvane muttered in reply, leaning over Chris' body whilst pinning down one of his arms and instructing Cody to grab the other, "Hold is arm-- Chris, can you hear me?"

"What do we do? Is he going to turn?" Cody asked, his tone subtly laced with worry as he briefly glanced in my direction. I didn't even notice-- too busy staring at Chris' body with a growing sense of confusion and worry as Yvane continued to pin down his upper body. Should they be doing that?

"I don't know," Yvane replied honestly, looking up briefly to her husband with a grimace as they both lowered their gazes down to Chris in unison.

"I'll get the others out," Cody suddenly declared, making a move to stand and leave the room urgently.

"No, I need you here," Yvane declared after a moment of hesitation, reaching out to grab his wrist just as he got to his feet, "I can fix this. Hold his shoulders. Danny, here-- grab his arm."

In a trance like state I slowly shuffled back to where Yvane was sat, the words that had been flashing across my mind finally escaping my mouth in an unsure jumble of words, "If it's a fit we shouldn't touch him..."

"It's not a fit, now get over here," She instructed firmly, grabbing my hands once I was close enough to pin Chris' arm to the ground. He continued to shake beneath my fingertips, the feeling of his body jerking and actively resisting my grasp causing me to tense uncomfortably.

"Why is he like this? What's happening?"

"He can't shift there's silver in his system," She replied plainly, hastily beginning to unbutton his grey shirt to slowly reveal his blood ridden chest, "It temporarily locks away the gene that lets us turn. But sometimes he can't control it, so his body still goes through the process. But it doesn't shift it just..."

She grew quiet, pursing her lips as she struggled to find the words that would adequately describe what was happening. After a few more moments of her grimacing in disdain I pressed her for an answer, "It what...?"

She sighed, looking up from Chris' violently shaking form to lock eyes properly since the first time she entered the room, "... His body is slowly breaking its bones in hope that it'll shift."

I blinked, my breath catching in my throat as I swallowed to try and alleviate my suddenly dry mouth. I eventually broke eye contact with the doctor to look down at Chris' writhing form with a new sense of fear, the agony in his face suddenly that much more prominent as the situation suddenly grew in morbidity, "Oh, God... What do we do?"

"Stay here, hold him down. I need to go grab a stronger dose," Yvane instructed after resuming to unbutton the top half of his shirt. The sight of his bloodied chest with the visible black veins lying beneath his skin did nothing but worsen the situation in my mind; the intense sight causing me to take a nauseatingly deep breath and glance up towards Cody who looked equally as worried. Yvane stumbled to a stand and hastily exited the office, calling over her shoulder as she went, "Try to calm him down!"

Readjusting my position, I better rooted my knees as I gripped his arm more firmly-- trying my best to think of things I could say that would calm him down before realising I had no idea where to even start. The shaking almost seemed to intensify along with my panic, Chris' cries of pain becoming louder and more frequent by the second; doubling my worry each time one escaped his mouth.

"Chris we're here, buddy. You've got to fight it. Come one you can do this," Cody tried as he cried out in a particularly intense wave of agony, his body lifting from the ground before slamming back down with an aggressive thud. His teeth clamped together painfully as he began to try and breathe through it, his upper body once again physically lifting from the ground as if he was trying to escape. By his reaction it looked as if he was being burned from the inside out, and by what Yvane had told us I wouldn't have doubted it, "Danny, talk to him."

I looked up at Cody in frantic panic at his words, "And say what?!"

"Anything," He instructed firmly, pushing down on Chris' chest as he began twisting beneath our hold, "Like it or not, you're the mate. He's turning involuntarily-- if anything's going to calm his monkey brain down right now, it's you. Now do something!"

Taking in a shaky breath I turned my attention back down to Rover, my heartbeat in my ears as I tried to think of what would help. I hesitantly began rubbing Chris' upper arm, rocking back and forth onto the heels of my feet uncertainly as I shook my head to try and think of something I could say.

"Ugh... Chris, hey-- stop it," I said, lifting my hand for a moment and shakily pointing at him warningly as if I was subconsciously scolding a dog, "Stop it."

It didn't work.

Glancing up after my unsuccessful attempt, I was met by Cody's deadpanned expression, "Really?"

"You said anything!"

"Yeah-- not literally anything!" He cried back equally as frustrated, adjusting his hold on his friend's arm that had somehow shaken its way loose.

"Okay, umm... Chris, calm down. Shh, it's okay," I attempted once more, continuing to rub his arm more firmly as I tried to have a reassuring tone of voice; but it sounded weak even to my ears, "You don't have to turn, you can stop shaking now--"

The deafening crack of a bone breaking followed by Chris' leg suddenly snapping unnaturally to the side cut across my reassurance, the agony filled scream that escaped his mouth causing both Cody and I to violently jump as we both turned to look at the newly broken limb.

"--Oh, f*ck!" Cody and I cried simultaneously in shock at the sudden ordeal, my hand instinctually flying down to hold down his leg which only caused his screams of pain to worsen.

"Oh, God," I panicked, flinching my hand away once I realised that I was only making it worse, "Oh, my God. I broke his leg!"

"I got it!" Yvane thankfully called in the distance as she audibly ran down the hallway back into the office, flying through the doorway and joining us once more but this time with large silver case in hand and heavily out of breath, "Here, I'm here!"

"Thank f*ck, hurry up!" Cody cried as he tried to hold down Chris' other intact leg, "Before he breaks his goddamn neck."

"Right," Yvane said, falling to her knees and dumping the metal case with a loud clatter on the ground next to her. She hurriedly opened it, pulling out a sealed pair of blue, disposable gloves and an antiseptic wipe. Ripping the wipe out of its packet, she threw it aside and shuffled closer to better lean over Chris' chest. Motioning for us to move, she quickly used her fingers to navigate the left side of his heaving ribcage, finding the desired spot relatively quickly and using the wipe to remove the blood and sweat that lined a decent patch of skin right above his heart, "Fingers crossed this works."

Once satisfied that the area was clean, she threw the wipe into the lid of the case and quickly pulled on the pair of blue gloves, returning to her medical supplies to retrieve a large syringe with a small vial of medicine. The label was obscured from view as she carefully uncapped the needle and pierced the film lid -- pulling out a decent amount of the clear liquid before dispersing the vile back into the case, "Hold him still. This won't be pretty."

Complying with the doctor's instructions, we both held him down as best as we could. Flicking the side of the syringe she brought it up to eyelevel, checking the dose and expelling any air from within by squirting a small amount of liquid from the lip. It was one of the largest needles I'd ever seen, and even with the violent scene I'd just witnesses, it made my eyes widen in trepidation at the sight of it, "Sorry in advance, Chris. This is going to hurt."

Placing her hand on the right side of Chris' chest for stability, she took several deep breaths before bringing the syringe up high, lining it up with the cleaned patch of skin and plunging it firmly between the ribs, the sight causing both Cody and I to flinch away in a mixture of disgust and horror as Chris cried out in the worst scream yet.

"Oh, my God," I muttered nauseously, eyes wide as I tried to focus on anything that wasn't the three inch needle that had just been stuck in a chest in front of me. My eyes instinctually landed on the unnaturally bent leg instead, causing me to curse aloud and quickly close my eyes in frustrating disgust.

"We good?" Cody questioned expeditiously. also unable to look down as his wife slowly pulled out the needle.

Worryingly, he continued to shake, "Give it a minute."

Thankfully, Yvane's plan seemed to have worked. After a tense few minutes ticked by, his shaking began to gradually subside. His entire body relaxed, his jaw unclenching and his jerking eventually reduced to a few twitches here and there. The black veins beneath his skin soon followed, his breathing evening out but still erratic as Yvane sat back on her heels and sighed loudly in relief, pulling off her gloves and chucking them into the case lid alongside the wipe, "Some birthday."

Once we were sure he was in the clear, Cody and I both slumped back in exhaustion, his head lolling back on his shoulders as he took a deep breath through his nose and exhaled slowly, "Some birthday."

This was not how I imagined my return to the house to turn out.