Upon Akachi’s and Ashlin’s departure, the remaining group explored the lab further and discovered much more to see. They had found a basement with rows of clean beds to its sides. Some ornaments and peaceful-looking flowers decorated the ward alongside stained-glass window art. It wasn’t just Yaalon’s lab but his private clinic.
Naturally, they also found bathrooms with working showers and changing rooms beautifully designed with Tuscan-style decor.
Zeke returned to the black-mold-infested resort. Its stench was unbearable, reminding him of rotting vegetables, and the sound of angry, scuttering rats and flies in the air filled his ears. It was hard to imagine that he once compared the spot to a place where celebrities would retreat. He fetched his doctor’s bag from his room, wondering when he’d get the courage to try out a conjuring spell with it.
A lot stopped him from testing a potentially dangerous spell on such a precious item.
Taking the door back to Yaalon’s clinic, he opted for a shower to wash Kian’s bacteria off him, or at least he hoped he could. The lovely Tuscan motif covered everything from the bathroom to the changing room. It maintained a medieval style but was not too archaic (thank God, or he’d have to shit out a hole in the wall).
A warm blend of gray, brown, and gold colored his surroundings. Rivaling Gill’s resort before disease tore it apart. Zeke found winter clothing in the changing room that was his size. There were clothes for virtually every size and every season, each sorted into specific compartments. Zeke didn’t know whether to see Yaalon’s meticulousness as a gift or pure insanity.
He was both thankful and regretful that he didn’t run into Violet while navigating through the rooms. One glimpse of her in a towel might have sent him into a euphoric state of shock that would incapacitate him for the rest of the mission.
Zeke went upstairs and found all the Healers gathered, cleaned up, and with new clothing (except for Wade). Ashlin was performing a spell on the excitable but terrifying-looking black dog that turned it into a Siberian Husky. Now, the beast’s appearance was more in line with its personality: a sweet wolf-like face and piercing blue eyes. It looked ten times more trustworthy after its transformation, making a quote pop into Zeke’s head.
‘If it looks evil, then it probably is evil, right?’
Zeke ruminated on Kian’s words as he watched the disguised demon dog run around. He debated with himself if he’d accept giving it a belly rub upon request, whether it was in demon form or not.
“Everybody ready to go?” Akachi asked the room.
“We don’t really need to move in such a large group,” Violet said. “We don’t need all that attention. Akachi, you stay here with Ashlin and Ugo to watch over or maybe help Wade.”
Ashlin scoffed. “Did you jut give me an order?”
“We don’t have time for another argument,” Ugo said. “Just go and find the carriers. We’ll get them beds when you bring them back here.”
Zeke looked down at his doctor’s bag in his hand. Then he looked over at Aida, who had a backpack and was crouched to the panting dog, scratching its neck. Lastly, he looked over at Violet with her messenger bag across her shoulder.
Aida conjured a black leash marked with symbols and a collar. She attached the collar to the dog. “We’re ready,” she said as she moved up to the door and cleaned off the sigil for a new one.
According to the teachings of the late Esther Rosario scrawled across the tattered pages of the journal she left for her grandson, there are two general types of Transportation Sigils. The first were specific sigils for specific locations. The second type were generic symbols that can take the conjuror to whichever place they have visited and can see clearly in memory.
The generic symbol Aida drew on the door didn’t look hard to remember or draw. It also didn’t look as if it were concealing any hidden meanings. It was a vapid symbol consisting of three lines, two stretching to the sides while one extending upwards. There were circles at the end of each line and one in the middle.
Wade dug through the pockets of his lab coat and handed Zeke and Violet a couple of satin pouches. He explained to them that they were filled with his enchanted sand, which they could use in case any of the infected caused issues.
Zeke and Violet joined their companions, and the four entered a restaurant, forgotten mid-construction.
The dog dropped its head and sniffed aggressively as it led them out of the restaurant and into the snowy streets of Zurich.
“Whoa, boy!” Aida exclaimed as the dog sped up, dragging her along.
Stepping outside, Zeke was hit by an arctic blast, halting him in place. Just after recovering from the cold shock, a sharp twang struck Zeke in his heart as something grabbed hold of his hand. He looked over to Violet by his side, who was gazing back lasciviously. Even under a canopy of heavy clouds where no sunlight pierced through, her sun-kissed-bronze glow continued to thrive. If it weren’t for her dark blue parka, black jeans, and boots with purple shoelaces, she would’ve looked like someone who was frolicking on beach sand, not trudging in the snow.
“Is there a problem?” She asked softly as she interlocked her fingers with his.
Oh, how Zeke wished their hands weren’t gloved, but the sensations pinballing across his innards were intense enough, so he settled with it.
She squeezed harder, kindling a pleasurable warmth in Zeke’s chest.
A foolish grin stretched across his face. “Not at all,” he said, like a mesmerized minion—a happy minion, at that.
The couple walked forward, catching up to Aida without haste.
Indifferent Swiss pedestrians walked past them as they moved across the black ice with mounds of snow carpeting the sides of the street. Zeke had a different idea of what a city facing an endemic would look like in his head.
The round lamp posts they walked by looked like they were wearing white hats, and the trees were like giant white candy treats. Zeke checked again to see if he was actually holding hands with Violet.
He was.
He could feel the questions trying to escape his lips.
Are we boyfriend and girlfriend now? If I were to lean in and kiss you, would you turn away? Can I call my mom and tell her about this?
“What’re you thinking about?” Violet said while lasering him with those vibrant eyes of hers.
For all he knew, Violet reading his mind was a literal possibility. Yet, he decided to lie anyway.
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“Just thinking about why Kian would do something so terrible.”
“Some people are just crazy,” Violet said as she shrugged.
She started to swing their hands back and forth.
Even after visiting a literal pocket of Heaven, the stroll was the most dreamlike environment Zeke had experienced.
The black dog-turned-husky’s loud barking suspended Zeke’s dreamy stupor.
They were at a bus stop, and the dog sat before the only person waiting there. She was a beautiful Swiss woman in her late 30s’. The canine grabbed her attention immediately, and she spoke in her language as she happily petted it all over.
Violet looked over at Aida. “So, she’s sick.”
Aida nodded, pursing her thin lips.
“Okay, then,” Violet said, letting go of Zeke’s hand. Her hands did a little dance, and one pink flash later, the woman was idle. She was staring at Violet with an open mouth and her eyes glowing pink, awaiting instructions. “I’ll get rid of her. You two stay here.”
“Are you going to just take her back to your lab and torture her for your experiments?” said Aida.
“I never have and never will do that to a human. Now, stay, mutt.” Violet walked off with the woman following behind. They entered a designer clothing store.
Aida snarled. “I wish she was the one who got killed.”
“Hey!”
“Zeke! I just don’t get it. You’re such a smart guy. Why are you letting her wrap you around her finger like that? She is using you. Can’t you see? She needs something from you. She wants something from you, and sooner or later, she’s going to ask for it—”
“Aida, I don’t want to hear it,” Zeke interrupted as civilly as he could. He imagined the field of worry lines hiding behind her voluminous bangs as she brought her brows together. But he decided not to show his frustration explosively. With a cold look close to experts like Ashlin and in a sharp voice, he went on, “We need to focus on the mission, alright? For the sake of this city… or possibly, the entire world, so shut it about Violet, okay?”
She stared at Zeke, frowning, almost looking like a sad puppy. Aida was just an inch shorter than him, but somehow, he felt much bigger in this scenario as he maintained his cold look. She relented and shifted her focus on the dog, crouching and giving the blissfully unaware animal affection.
Zeke relaxed his expression, returning to his default meek look, exhausted from the act but a bit proud of his first successful intimidation move. He crossed his arms, still feeling the tension. “So, is it a live summon or an empty summon?”
With her hand on the dog's head, Aida turned back to him with a scowl. “He has a name. Shadow.” She refocused on the dog and explained but in a biting tone. “I don’t like to use summons, neither live nor empty. I use calling spells when I need help from my farm, and if they accept my request, they appear.”
“You have a farm? Just filled with magical creatures?”
“It’s mostly for endangered creatures that shouldn’t be hunted for sport. It’s not just in their own Realms. Sometimes, during Halloween nights, they wander off to the human world and are murdered or captured. When Halloween ends, if a magical creature is outside their own realm, they simply teleport home, but if they are dead, their body disappears. This was all before the Seals were broken, of course.”
Zeke thought about how that must explain all the urban legends across the human world. He began to notice the fury behind her eyes fade and overtaken by a somber look. She continued with her expression growing more distant and her voice less excited. “My farm is a refuge for the universe’s rarest creatures to be safe and watch over their breeding so they won’t go extinct, with their consent, of course. I have rare plants there, too,” she smiled and hugged Shadow absently. “Unlike other Healers, I believe creatures have the right to choose whether or not they want to help you. With this leash, I can see the general area where the infected are, and Shadow takes me to the exact location.”
As the dog unleashed its licks on Aida, the light returned to her eyes, and excited giggles came out of her. The sight of the breeder and her pet was delightful, putting a smile on Zeke’s face that grew wider as Violet returned to them.
Violet sauntered over to Zeke’s side and grabbed his hand in such a natural way it made Zeke feel as though they had already been together for years.
“I’m cold,” Violet said, pressing herself against Zeke. “Still so cold,” she reiterated in an effective, childish voice, pushing her cheek against his chest.
Zeke put his other arm around Violet for an amorous embrace while staring at an unamused Aida.
He waited for her to comment, and she remained quiet. His gamble worked. Aida didn’t mutter a single word about them for the rest of the scavenger hunt.
###
Shadow, the dog, led them up the steps to a residence the group let themselves into.
Carrier #2 was a work-from-home dad they had to abduct from his humble abode. They pushed him into Yaalon’s clinic after knocking his teen kids out with Wade’s sleeping sand. Zeke had to remember that their actions were for the greater good and tried not to think about the wife when she returned home.
Starting from carrier #3, the group decided to have their Garbs and masks on whenever they were about to abduct the infected. Better witnesses talk about masked LARPing weirdos kidnapping people instead of three 17-year-olds. At least that way, cops will be more confused. The patient in question about to have her day ruined was a tween girl whose epic snowball fight with friends had to come to an early end. The group stepped into the middle of the battlefield and grabbed hold of the girl, taking her to the front door of a nearby house, where they transported her to the clinic.
Carrier #4 was an elderly security guard bored to death in an empty, small public office where most workers behind the desk were either asleep or playing on their smartphones. Nobody in the building noticed the security guard’s abduction. They simply grabbed hold of the man by his arms and used one of the doors in the building to send him to the clinic.
Carrier #5 was a young woman walking through a gated neighborhood alongside her group of Christmas carolers on their way to their next performance. Her companions put up a good fight during her abduction. But with Violet’s magic, she hypnotized them into acting like chickens. They took the woman to the front door of the house nearest to them and pushed her into Yaalon’s clinic.
Carrier #6 was a burly hockey player they abducted from the locker room right before the start of a game.
Carrier #7 had the group venture to the Riviera of upper Lake Zürich; they snuck into a small home in an old coastal, medieval town. The infected girl, maybe 6 or 7, was gaunt and sleeping on her sick bed. She was the same girl Yaalon mentioned in his journal. They picked her up from the bed and took her to the clinic. Unfortunately, the family would learn about her disappearance when it was far too late.
The next carrier was the most urgent case.
They were located at Zürich airport.
Airports were the last place a Healer would visit with their instant travel capabilities.
So the group had to take a cab, and Violet, thanks to mind magic, got them a free one without hassle.
As Zeke was subjected to an impromptu cuddle session with Violet, he could hear the groans coming from Aida in the front seat while she held Shadow in her arms.
Once close to their destination, Violet did a spell that covered the three of them in security uniforms.
They got out and entered the terminal. Zeke was dazed for a moment by the commotion. Travelers from all over the world zoomed across the hall, making a chaotic blend of sounds featuring infants’ crying, the squeaking of encumbered trolleys, heels clicking across the epoxy floor, and different languages being flung around: from friendly chatter to people arguing with confused employees about delayed flights to security guards reporting into their walkie-talkies and announcements from the loud speakers.
Aside from the rabble was an odd mix of smells: the caramelized, almost nutty aroma of coffee, the sweet fragrance of cinnamon rolls, and the merging of perfumes.
Zeke’s senses were taking a beating by all the different sensations, and his claustrophobia was kicking in as he bumped shoulders with travelers repeatedly and the air became heavy.
Nobody bat an eye at them as they walked around with Shadow sniffing the place, although some looked puzzled at Zeke and his doctor’s bag.
“Good thinking,” Zeke complimented Violet as he tipped the brim of his cap. He thought about grabbing hold of her hand again. As he cautiously reached out, Violet halted with a disturbed, glazed look on her face.
Zeke stopped, turning back, and then raised a brow. “Vee?”
A short, eerie pause followed as he stared back at her.
After the sound of a plane taking off boomed in the distance, she opened her mouth, trembling, but no sound came out for a while. “I have to go,” Violet finally said in an uncharacteristically small voice.