Davis Lycanthropy Clinic

CHAPTER 1

    4:13 AM

    The bright green numbers on the alarm clock had me squinting my eyes closed again, but the quiet buzzing sound led me to investigate. 

    I blearily peeled my eyes all the way open, blindly reaching an arm over to my nightstand. When my hand came into contact with my phone—still buzzing—I squinted and read the screen. 

    Davis Lycanthropy Clinic calling. . .

    I let out a soft groan and forced my body upright, sliding the green button to the right and pressing the phone to my ear, "Hello?" 

    "Hey, Finn. I'm sorry to be calling you so late—or early? Uh, we have a victim that was rushed in tonight and I'm really hoping you're able to come in and see him. His case is more suited to your. . .skillset." Aaliyah Davis' voice crackled over the line.

    I blinked. My sleep addled brain was trying hard to catch up and when it did, I shot out of bed, cursing under my breath. 

    "Another victim? Shit. I'll be there as soon as I can." 

    I didn't give the owner of Davis Clinic a chance to respond before I hung up the phone and began scrambling around to get ready. 

    I threw a clip in my hair to pin the ginger bangs out of my face and pulled a crew neck sweater over my sleep shirt. Shoving my legs into a pair of washed out blue jeans, I grabbed a pair of sneakers and ran out of my room. 

    It was at times like those—with me rushing about my apartment at four in the morning and stomping like an elephant—that I wondered how much my downstairs neighbors hated my guts. 

    I didn't even allow myself time to grab a pair of socks or even something light to eat before I was grabbing my keys and sunglasses, beelining towards the front door. 

    I was grateful for the blanket of darkness covering the city while I drove to the clinic. I hated driving with sunglasses on. At least this way I had enough light to see by, but not so much that it was overwhelming. 

    Davis Clinic was only a ten minute drive from my apartment when the city was asleep and in no time I was pulling into the staff parking lot and scurrying inside the big brick building. 

    I pushed the sunglasses up my nose and walked through the automatic doors. Bright lights lit up the pristine white lobby of the clinic and I found myself squinting even through the heavy tint of the sunglasses. 

    The lobby was empty, as expected. Davis Lycanthropy Clinic specialized in werewolf healthcare and there generally wasn't very much of us left. Especially at a time like this—the only patients that came in were emergency cases. Just like the one I was called in for only moments prior. 

    I walked briskly through the white halls of the clinic and soon found my way to the ER portion of the building. 

    "Finn! Over here!" The loud shout rang in my ears as I looked for the source. Aaliyah. 

    The ER was the same as the lobby, white and pristine. The only difference being that the waiting room was marginally smaller than the main lobby. Two hallways branched off to either side in the back and they each led to five different patient rooms. Aaliyah was standing by the hallway to the right, waving me over in a hurry. 

    I sprinted over to her and got a better look at her face. Her dreadlocks were still up in her purple silk bonnet from sleep and her brown eyes were glazed over with concern, eyebrows and the corners of her mouth dipped down into a frown. 

    "Give me the rundown while we walk." I muttered, lifting an arm toward the hall in a 'lead the way' gesture. She gave a sharp nod and started down the hall. 

    "Eight year old Caucasian boy. Blue eyes, brown hair. 4' 3" and severely malnourished. Lacerations on chest and arms, as well as an abundance of scars littering the torso. Is not speaking as of yet, but it's clear he escaped from hunters with the wolfsbane we found in his bloodstream. Shaken up and does seem to be in a state of shock." By the end of her description, we stood in front of a patient room with the number "7" plastered on the dark wooden door. 

    "I'm hoping you can get through to him. We don't even know his name. We have the Lycan Police Department running his prints through the system as we speak, but I doubt they'll find anything. Our best bet is getting him to talk." 

    I gave a sideways glance toward the group of uniformed men at the end of the hall, dressed to the nines in LPD gear with the typical golden logos on the top right of their shirts and handguns on their hips. Heaving a sigh, I nodded an affirmative at Aaliyah. 

    "Alright, I'll see what I can do. For now, please keep the LPD from questioning the kid. If they need to watch our interaction, I understand, but getting too close or trying to talk to him will only make matters worse." 

    "Understood. I'll stand out here and keep an eye on you through the window. Dr. Chen is with the boy, but she hasn't gotten him to say a word." 

    I took a quick peek through the window and saw the short and usually bubbly Dr. Chen, but she wasn't acting like her quirky self this time. It seemed like she was trying to tone it down so as not to scare the little boy huddled up in one of the visitor chairs. Of course he doesn't want to sit on the exam table. I thought with a grimace. Clearing my throat, I opened the door gently and stepped inside. 

    Dr. Chen glanced up from her paperwork and offered a small smile, "Dr. Hope, I'm glad you could make it."

    I shot another glance toward the kid. He seemed almost in a daze, like the adrenaline of escaping had worn off and now he was just frozen in shock. 

    "Me too, how's the kid?" I asked quietly as Dr. Chen walked over to me by the door. I already knew the answer, but I wanted to know if anything had changed that Aaliyah hadn't heard about yet. 

    "Still not talking. We need to treat his wounds sooner rather than later. The wolfsbane won't allow his healing to kick in until it's fully out of his system. There's no saying how long that'll be, but at least a week." Dr. Chen spoke in my ear, making me tense, but I focused all my attention on her words. 

    "Alright, I'll handle it from here. Thank you, Dr. Chen." I immediately put some space between us and gave her a jerky nod as she stepped back out into the hall. 

    Alright, here we go.

A/N~ AHHH NEW BOOK! I have a few chapters written for this already, so my main focus is still Alone in Love until it finishes in a few weeks! I've been super stoked about this story, far more than I was with Alone in Love. I love it so much already but I haven't been wanting to write more for it because I'm terrified I'll ruin what I have. I was going to continue writing this offline, but because of the hesitance to write it, I've decided to move it to online so that I can push myself into writing more for you guys! Let me know your thoughts! 

QOTD: Do you like the cover? I made it using Procreate with some free brushes I found on Gumroad and the silhouettes are from Canva!:)

Read chapter 2 of What is a Victim now on Patreon and Ream! Linked below<3

https://linktr.ee/Eli_Kay