“Just try to stay awake.” Nia spoke calmly from the front seat.

Jess was fighting off sleep. Porter had her head in his lap, ready to shake her whenever she drifted off to sleep.

“Why is she suddenly so tired?” Porter asked Nia. Within a few minutes she had gone from sick to sleepy.

“The transformation takes a lot of energy. She’ll be like this for a few days.” She said. “Don’t let her fall asleep though, she might not wake up.”

It was a long way to wherever they were going. Nia had been driving for nearly an hour before we got there.

“Why are we at a cave entrance?” Porter asked as he opened the door to get some fresh air.

“You’ll find out. Stay right there, I’ll be back in a minute.” Nia left and came back a few minutes later with an old, beaten wheelchair. “I only have one of these, so I’ll have to carry… Jessica was her name?”

Porter nodded and got Jess to sit up so Nia could pick her up. Porter manoeuvred himself into the wheelchair with difficulty while Nia carried Jess out of the car.

She went a head of Porter and took Jess into the cave. Porter followed behind as fast as he could in a wheelchair on grass.

Once in the cave, his words completely escaped him. He stared in astonishment, even the walls were amazing.

It resembled the Batcave, only bigger and grander. From the outside, it looked like a very small cave, barely able to fit three people. But on the inside, it was like a mansion. The walls were made of sparkly obsidian, in the darkness of the cave it looked like millions of little stars and above all, it was huge.

The cave branched off into many other rooms. A lot held various weapons, most likely used for killing. Other rooms were bedrooms or training rooms, there was even a gym.

Back in the main chamber, which was where Porter was, many different kinds of vehicles were parked. Porter was astonished to see a small jet parked right in the middle. He decided that the only way to get any of this out was magic. There was no way anything, but the motorbike, could get out of that small entrance.

Porter lost Nia. Even on the flat stone floor, he was having trouble with the wheelchair.

“There you are.” Nia popped up out of nowhere. “Enjoying the view?” she asked as she started pushing the wheelchair.

“Are you like a real life Batman?” he asked. It was his turn to fangirl.

“I guess you could think of it that way, but I use guns.” She pushed him down a hallway where even more rooms could be found. “This is where my ancestors have lived for centuries. It’s pretty nice hey?” she smiled sadly. “You, Kyte and Kylie also lived here before you lost your memories.”

“Wouldn’t I have been safer if I stayed here after I lost my memories?” Porter asked her. He was still trying to wrap his head around this whole situation. How had he known Nia before?

“Not at the time. We came dangerously close to being discovered here by some other werewolf hunters. The kind that don’t care what kind of werewolf they shoot.”

We got to a room that looked like a miniature hospital. Four beds lined the right wall while the other side was covered in hospital equipment. Nia helped me into the hospital bed closest to the one Jess was on. Jess was staring up at the ceiling, which was white in this room.

“What if I don’t want to be a werewolf?” Jess asked Nia as she removed the bandage from my leg. It hurt like hell.

“I’m sorry, but there’s not much I can do about it. Nobody has found a cure, yet, and there’s no way to resist the transformation. But at least you’re not dead!” she said cheerfully. Jessica’s eyes turned downcast. “If you’re worried about turning into a wild werewolf, that only happens if a witch is involved.” She assured her though it didn’t brighten her mood.

Jess watched Nia as she cleaned the blood from Porter’s leg. “Why isn’t he turning into a werewolf?” Jess asked as Nia began restitching the teeth marks. His boss had ripped all the stitches open when he kicked him.

“Yeah. I want to know that as well.” Porter told her. He didn’t think about that until now.

“I thought you’d know by now that you’re not human.” She said as she stabbed Porter with a needle. Even though his leg was numb, he could feel it whenever it went in.

“That’s how I made that shield. What am I?” Porter asked, trying to ignore the needle. “The werewolf called me et nagae.”

“Yes, that’s Latin for merman.” She said as she finished the last stitch and dressed his wound again.

“Merman? How can a merman create a shield?” Jessica asked. This new topic had distracted her from her pain, Porter was glad for it.

“Magic of course. Mer-people are able to draw magical energy from water to create all sort of things, such as shields. The closer to the ocean they are, the more powerful they are. Their bodies are mostly water, even more so then humans, which means they can draw power from themselves.” She gleamed at the chance to teach them something new. “The best thing about the magic of mer-people is that it cannot be used for evil. If the user has ill intentions, they cannot use their power. Water is its own being; it is peaceful and calm. It will always choose not to attack, unless there is no other choice.” She informed them.

“Don’t mermen have tails?” Porter asked, looking down at his human looking legs.

“Only in the ocean. All supernatural species have a way to blend into the human world, that’s why you have legs right now.” Nia put her equipment away and stood up.

She looked towards the door in alarm. “Someone is here. Don’t move.” Her serious tone startled Jessica and Porter. Nia grabbed her cross bow and walked out of the room.