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“She’s burning up! She should have taken her damn medicine. I told Kelly to leave the explanations until she was out of the woods.”

“What are we going to do, Doc?”

“Get her back to the hospital. What else can we do? You all need to be prepared to lose her. I’ll put her on the strongest antibiotics I’ve got, but I don’t know if they’ll help much against the Tirian strain.

If I was in a major hospital with more resources at hand…

. Get her in the van. I’ll hook her up and do my best.”

“Is that wise? What if this is the change? She’s been here for days, the full moon is coming…”

“She’ll be dead before then if we don’t get her sedated! She’s knocked the fucking line out. You two, hold her down, I don’t care if you bruise her, just keep her steady. I need to get this back in, and I don’t want to rip a hole in her vein.”

“Arrrgh!” I shrieked as bars of iron were wrapped around me.

I needed, had to move, to somehow get away from what was going on.

My throat felt like it was scraped with glass, but I screamed and screamed.

It was the only way, either that or let the pain take me whole.

Something cold and hard was shoved in my arm, I tried to yank it from the harsh grip but instead, was forced to fight for breath as I was squeezed inexorably.

I panted madly and moaned, then felt the spread of a cold heaviness inside me.

I whimpered, not yet willing to believe that there was a way out of this hell, that I might not have to endure this agony.

“She’ll be out in 3…2…”

Somehow, I was standing on a plain of grass.

It spread out towards the horizon until it shifted into some bluish coloured hills.

I heard a slight hiss and looked down to see the grass ripple as a light breeze swept through it.

Where the fuck am I? I heard something move behind me and spun around to see another of those smoke wolf beasts standing before me.

“Fuck, fuck, fuck,” I said, jerking back from it and ending up on my knees.

I scrabbled away but it merely stood there, watching me with curious glowing green eyes.

When it became apparent it wasn’t going to chew me up right now, I stopped where I was and took a closer look.

It seemed to have the body of a normal wolf, just much, much bigger.

Its fur was indistinct, though. In places, I could see the strands of grey ticked fur clearly, and in others, it looked as if the fur was made of smoke, wisping away and dissipating into the air.

It didn’t have the usual greenish yellow eyes of a wolf, instead it regarded me with eyes that seemed little more than glowing lights.

Noticing that I was no longer retreating, the wolf settled down onto the ground, eyes on me.

“What the fuck are you?” I whispered.

I didn’t see the wolf’s mouth move but I distinctly heard someone say, You .

“What’s happening! She’s fitting again!”

“Febrile convulsions. She should have taken those fucking drugs! The antibiotics aren’t working, we need some of the little used ones they save for resistant strains, but god knows if they’ll sell them to us, or we can get them in time. There’s every chance she’ll go septic.”

“We need to keep her alive until the full moon. It will take care of it.”

“Forgive my concern, but you don’t know that. I can’t plan her care assuming she’ll turn.”

“She’ll turn. I feel it.”

“Are you sure what you are ‘feeling’ is real? Or is it just wishful thinking? How the hell did the dark one get past the guards anyway? She should have had a guard on her at all times.”

“We haven’t had a serious incursion for years. That’s what convinces me that she’ll turn. They know, we know. Just keep her alive, nature will take care of the rest.”