---=Chapter 34: He's not Human---=

Alice brought her group out of the break room, except for Maebe and their empty patient.

"I suppose you already know their names, Dr. Anderson Clark and Dr. Jessica Otten; I don't know why I'm introducing them like this is a symposium. Sorry. Nervous. Umm, I guess you helped bring my Sister Nia here, so you know her. And Denis Conner is our best OR nurse. Everyone, this is Obe- I mean Sam."

"He does remind me of Oberon," Nia said, searching my face.

"He's a victim of more weirdness than even us. You saw the comic. His name is Sam."

"He's wearing my hat," Anderson said.

"It looks nice," Jessica said.

"Aren't those your clubs too?" Denis asked.

"Oh shit, they are."

"Right, so, I guess talking about it, we wanted to say you can stay here with us. You clearly know things we don't, and it can't be easy out there alone." Alice said.

"Even if you can't talk or answer our questions, you're still a person, so you're, of course, welcome," Jessica clarified, as though worried I thought I was only acceptable because I was useful. The truth was, I probably was only being accepted because I was useful. It was nice of her to say, though.

"So, we talked about the monsters you said are coming, and we don't want to sit here waiting for them," Alice said.

I dropped the golf bag from my shoulder and pulled my bat out before pushing the bag toward the group of nervous medical professionals. They all just stared at the bag for a second until Alice nodded and stepped up to take a club. Anderson was right behind her, and soon, the whole group had taken a club, including Nia.

"We're going to go looking for them then?" Anderson asked.

"We can't just leave Maebe and Mr. Peterson here alone, though," Jessica said.

"You and I at least should go with Oberon—er, Sorry, Sam," Alice said. "The monsters are after us, so anyone near us is in danger. Nia, I want you to stay here and lock the door."

"What? No, I want to come with you. I can help."

"If you come with, someone else has to stay with Maebe and Mr. Peterson," Alice said gently. "We won't go far. We need to secure some doors and make sure the area is safe."

"But I want to help," Nia said, punctuating her sentence with a swing of a club.

"I know, and you are. Honestly, I'm already asking too much of you. Maebe and Mr. Peterson are depending on you. Here, take the comic. You know we still have questions about it; see if you can uncover other secrets or find the right questions. We shouldn't be gone too long."

Nia wasn't happy, but she took the comic with a scowl and flipped through it. I removed my backpack, pulled out a notebook and pen, and then offered the bag to Nia as well. She looked at my outstretched arm with a conflicted look on her face. After a second of indecision, she stepped forward and accepted the bag.

There wasn't anything especially useful in the bag, but there were still some snacks—less one bag of chips— and some pretty good books, too.

The bag humanized me and made a decent weapon in a pinch, but it was also bulky and mostly useless now that I had something better. Still, I'd need the notebook if things got complicated, art being my best communication method.

The pockets of my pants weren't big enough to hold a notebook. However, I'd seen a Doctor's lab coat hanging on a hook in the waiting room, and the others looked on with curiosity as I grabbed it. It was a bit small, but it fit much better after I accidentally tore the back open. It had wide pockets and held the notebook with only slight bending.

Alice nodded approvingly, and Jessica smiled. But Anderson laughed, and Denis said, "He looks like a comic book mad scientist who drank radioactive wolf piss or something."

Nia laughed. "Why are you even wearing a mask? I'm pretty sure it's not hiding your identity."

It wasn't like I wasn't already playing the clown, so I just gave her a doggy grin and patted her head.

Nia made us promise not to be gone long, and Alice ensured she knew the path we would take as we cleared Surgery. I'd used the map by the elevator to show them that the ER was off-limits. The last thing we needed was another confrontation with Crowseph. The ICU would need to be sealed off as well. Since the Trauma Crows hadn't attacked yet, my guess was we'd find them there.

We worked our way toward the ICU first, clearing rooms and locking doors as we went. The tension had everybody quiet and on edge. We had all faced a monster recently, and knocking open doors constantly reminded us that anything could be around the next corner.

Even if Alice's group had some limited memories of the loops, most of their recent memories were of an ordinary world without monsters. Sure, it was self-destructing with uncertainty from the events around Silicon Valley. Still, in the past years, the world had constantly felt on the verge of one cataclysm or another, and life always went on. Pandemics, extreme weather, unstable governments; there was always something to be anxious about or grieved over, but usually, there was nothing to do but get up for work and hope somebody knew what they were doing. It wasn't always pleasant, but it was normal.

Now that was gone. For me, it had been less than a week, and even with the answers I'd found, I was still woefully unprepared for this reality. For Alice's group, it must have been surreal.

Eventually, we wound our way back around to the closet I'd locked Slender Hopper in. We hadn't seen any other monsters, and since it was trapped, I'd rather not let them kill it. I stood in front of the door and held out an arm to bar anyone from getting too close.

"Listen," Anderson said. "I think there's something in there." He was right; Slender Hopper was moving around inside, probably getting ready to leap at anyone who opened the door.

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"Okay, Oberon, Open the door. We're ready." Alice said, her voice only showing a little nervousness as she hefted her club over her shoulder.

I'd been considering how to sketch a simple explanation without taking up much time. I crouched, slightly turning my back to the group so I could use the floor as a desk while drawing.

I reached to pull my notebook from my pocket and was utterly distracted when Denis stepped up beside me and jabbed a needle into my arm.

"Denis!" Alice shouted, sounding shocked.

The needle hadn't hurt, at least not compared to Slender Hopper slamming jagged teeth into me and tearing off flesh. I hadn't actually seen what happened, so I was slow to react as he pushed the plunger in and jumped back.

"Denis, what was that?" Anderson asked.

"Just a sedative. It was getting aggressive, territorial."

I pulled out the needle and was looking at my arm. It did actually hurt, a dull burning that made me scowl.

"From the OR? Which one?" Anderson pressed.

Denis answered, but I missed it as a wave of pain began to radiate through my arm and shoulder.

"Denis, what the fuck, that's meant to be used in an IV."

"What were you thinking?" Alice asked.

"I was thinking I didn't want someone to get mauled." Denis snapped back.

"That's reckless. You might have just killed him." Anderson said

"Well, good thing we're apparently in a time loop," Denis said.

"Yeah. One that he remembers but you don't. Not exactly bright." Anderson replied.

Denis didn't immediately respond, and Jessica knelt in front of me. "Hey, you alright?" she asked gently.

I was trying to keep my breathing even; the pain was getting intense. I was shaking, and my heart was pounding in my ears. I was losing track of what they were saying as my brain screamed insistently that my flesh was being carved from my arm. I held it tight to my stomach and curled around it protectively.

Soon, the pain was pressing across my chest, making my whole body feel like it was caught in a burning clamp. I shook and shuttered in pain, and it took me a minute to realize I was actually whining audibly. It would have been a triumph if it hadn't been so agonizing.

Someone was on either side of me, and they were talking to me gently. I didn't catch much of what they actually said, but I let them guide me onto a gurney, where I curled up in a fetal position. They tried to lay me on my back, but I just curled myself up tighter.

Maybe it was because Denis used it wrong or because I was a werewolf, but this was a terrible tranquilizer. My chest felt heavy, and my breathing had become ragged.

I wasn't stable on the gurney and wobbled on my side as they wheeled me along. It was probably why they wanted me to lay on my back. Disorientation and vertigo teamed up to make me feel like I was falling.

"You're okay, you can relax. You'll be okay. We've got you." A voice spoke soothingly. They were holding my hand and petting my shoulder gently. It helped, or maybe the sedative was finally doing its job, but I was able to relax. My clenched jaw and stomach loosened up a bit; the pain was becoming less, the burning sensation fading to a duller ache.

This was going to cause problems. We had nearly finished securing the Surgery wing, and they could close off the lobby if they didn't want to check it. But I didn't know if locked doors would keep the anticipated trauma crows out. They were mainly meant to slow them down and maybe act as a warning.

I was much happier playing defense and avoiding them, especially since killing them wouldn't stop them. They'd just be back. Until we found my shadow, securing Surgery was the best option. Searching the floor for trouble, let me look for the Shadow and create a safe space to get through the day. Now, that effort was wasted. We'd have to do it all again tomorrow, but I'd have to avoid letting Denis sabotage me.

Fucking Denis.

I understood he was just afraid of what he didn't understand, plus I was huge with sharp teeth and claws, so that didn't help either. Still, I definitely wasn't willing to let him off the hook that easily.

Even if he was worried about me blocking Alice, it should have been pretty obvious I was trying to communicate something. Even if he didn't realize I was going for my notebook, my attention was clearly not focused on Alice or anyone else. There wasn't any reason to think I was threatening or even challenging anyone.

Everyone reacted to me out of fear, but Denis's was most pronounced, and apparently, it never faded entirely. It seemed like he'd just been looking for an excuse to use the sedative; why else would he even have it? I didn't know how long the sedative would last, but I was already writing the rest of the loop off as lost. Hopefully, Alice and Jessica would survive their demons without me. Next time, I'd make sure Denis didn't get a chance to get so close.

"What are you even planning to do? Give it fluids?" Denis complained.

"Sure, and oxygen," Alice said.

"It's not like we can monitor his vitals. We don't know what his normal is. For that matter, you don't know that saline and oxygen are okay for him." Anderson argued.

"That's what I'm saying. That's not a person," Denis said.

"Shut up, Denis," several voices said.

"He's clearly breathing our same air. And yeah, it might not work, but I'm pretty sure it will. I'm as confident about that as I am that he's called Oberon," Alice said.

"But his name is Sam," Jessica interjected.

"Maybe, but I think I remember what Nia named him, not his real name. She said he reminded her of her dog."

"The giant blue werewolf reminded your sister of her pet? Is it the glowing fur or jagged teeth?" Denis asked.

"It doesn't matter. And Jessica is right about one thing: the day will loop, and Oberon- Sam is going to remember-"

"Not with as much Midazolam as I gave it."

"Again, he's not human. You don't know how the drug will affect him."

"And if he remembers any of it. I want him to remember us helping. Either it will help, or he'll know we at least tried. Denis, you, on the other hand, are probably fucked."

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