“I’m having second thoughts,” Edmund announced as he brought the truck to a stop.

“Too bad we’re already here then.”

“What if she thinks we’re crazy?”

“We are crazy. We just need a second opinion.”

“Sebastian.”

“Okay, bad joke. I just want to help you loosen up,” Seb said, putting a comforting hand on his friend’s knee. “This is Hayden we’re talking about though. She’s known us for almost our whole lives. She’s got a medical degree and is a responsible adult, so whatever the hell is going on, she’ll help us in the right direction even if there’s nothing else, she can do herself.”

“I know but...”

“But you’re feeling really weird about everything?”

Edmund sighed. “Yeah. Everything is so overwhelming. The sounds, the smells, the colours. I feel like it’s all trying to drown me.”

“Are the sunglasses not helping?”

“They’ve dimmed the brightness of everything, yeah, but I’m still very aware of the sound of your heartbeat right now.”

“Right. Well, at least we know she won’t have any other patients. And the Emporium is normally empty after a rush day, so it will just be Persephone and Hayden inside. Think you can handle that?”

Ed shrugged. “As long as Spot doesn’t try growling at me or anything, I should be fine.”

“Alright. Let’s go inside before you overthink then, hmm?”

As Sebastian had predicted, the Emporium was pretty much abandoned, even Persephone was missing from behind the register. When the pair entered, however, a bell had rung above the doorway, and Seph emerged from the back moments later.

“Well, to what do I owe this unexpected visit?”

Seb smiled. “Hey, Seph. Is Hayden in?”

“She’s upstairs, but what do you lads want with my wife?”

“It’s a bit hard to explain. Do you mind if we go up to see her?”

Persephone shrugged. “Be my guests.”

The boys went into the back room and up the stairs into the living room of the homely little apartment that Persephone and Hayden lived in. Spot, who had been lying in front of one of the sofas, got up and enthusiastically greeted them.

“Gah, my face!” Seb shrieked while Ed laughed.

“Sebastian?” Hayden peeked out from the kitchen, “and Edmund too. Spot, stop that.”

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Spot gave a whimper in protest but went back to where he’d been laying before.

“I didn’t expect to see you pair today. Please tell me you’re both healthy?”

Edmund nervously scratched the back of his neck. “Well, we think so...”

Hayden raised a brow and Sebastian sighed. “It’s... we think that Edmund might be a werewolf.”

“Ah-ha!” Persephone exclaimed.

Seb and Ed both turned to see her standing behind them, looking triumphant, then awkward when she noticed their confusion.

“I mean, what makes you think so?”

Sebastian narrowed his eyes. “Why did you say ‘ah ha’ like that? Like you know something we don’t?”

“Technically I know a lot of things you lads don't, but in this instance, it was just me being proud I noticed the scent change yesterday,” Persephone explained with a shrug.

Edmund frowned. “Scent change?”

Hayden sighed. “I think that we all have a lot to talk about. Shall we sit?”

Everyone nodded and took a seat. Persephone looked proud of herself, Hayden seemed intrigued, and both Edmund and Sebastian were beyond confused at this point. They had known these two for nearly as long as they’d known each other; that was pretty damn long.

While Persephone had always been odd and mysterious, Hayden seemed like a perfectly normal person. She was calm and stoic, with a caring nature that had always made her friends and patients feel safe and understood. Yet she didn’t look at them like they were crazy for thinking Ed was a werewolf and that seemed like it shouldn’t be something she understood.

“So, you think that you’re a werewolf?” Hayden asked once they were all settled.

Edmund nodded. “I- I turned into a wolf last night.”

“During the full moon,” Hayden noted. “You haven’t been bitten, I assume, or you would have come sooner.”

“Yeah.”

“Do you know how the change happened?”

“I- not really.”

“Okay. Around when did your senses heighten.”

“Yesterday morning, I think.”

“And did you encounter anything strange the night before?”

“...I saw a wolf, but it died.”

Sebastian tensed. “It died?”

“I didn’t kill it. My car broke down, and when I got out to check the engine I heard it,” Edmund explained. “It was just lying there not too far from the side of the road. It died soon after I found it, so I buried it where it was.”

Hayden nodded. “They didn’t scratch or bite you?”

“No. It was in too much pain to do anything, I think.”

“When you buried it, did you get blood on yourself? Possibly near a wound of your own?”

“Uh, yeah, I had a cut on my hand that’s completely healed.”

“Well then, there’s no doubt about it. You’re a werewolf.”

Sebastian narrowed his eyes. “How are you taking this so well?”

“Well, Seph could already smell it yesterday. Though I thought it might just have been a lingering scent from someone else. Now that you’ve confirmed it though, there’s no denying that he’s a werewolf. By mixing blood, even unintentionally, he could have woken his werewolf genes.”

“Hold on, werewolf genes? Wouldn't I need to have been born with werewolf blood to have werewolf genes?” Edmund questioned.

“That's where it gets complicated. Some half-breeds either end up as wolves or humans, though the humans do still carry the genes. So, your parents or even grandparents could have been half-breed, which means that you inherited that same un-activated gene. That’s the simplified version of it anyway.”

“How do you know all this. Are you guys werewolves too?” Sebastian asked.

“Nope. I’m a vampire,” Persephone stated, with a grin that showed off her un-retracted fangs. “And Hayden is a wizard.”

Edmund gapped. “I- what- you- she... has the world gone mad?”

“No, but I might have,” Sebastian muttered with a blank stare. “Werewolves, vampires and wizards...”

Persephone leaned over and stage whispered to Hayden. “I think we broke them.”

Hayden gave her a tired look, then turned her attention to the boys. “How about we have some coffee? That might make things a bit... easier to digest.”

“You’re a magician,” Edmund said, still gaping disbelievingly while Sebastian continued to blankly stare into space.

“No, I’m a wizard. Magicians work with deception and charm, while I can actually cast spells.”

“You're a wizard, married to a vampire.”

“Gods, we really have broken them.”