A Wolf's Spirit

Confrontation and Escape

          Kai started to panic. What Dr. Julien said was true; the burn mark was no longer there – he couldn't feel it.

          He thought his suspicions were confirmed, that Cole's healing abilities were coming into effect. Cole had only healed his arm, though, and nothing else! That bite mark was the only thing that had vanished – it wasn't possible that it would work on other injuries.

          It couldn't be possible. Unless Kai was very, very wrong.

          "What do you mean, it's gone?" he asked Dr. Julien, incredulous. He tried shifting around to see better. "That's not possible!"

          "Believe me, it just disappeared," the doctor muttered. "How fascinating... it's unlike anything I've ever seen..."

          Suddenly, Kai sensed Dr. Julien stiffen. The shift in the man's poise made him apprehensive as well. Before Kai could say anything, Dr. Julien stood up and beckoned for him to follow. The look in his eyes made Kai realize that he shouldn't ask any questions.

          Surprised, and extremely confused, Kai reluctantly followed him. Questions swirled in his mind, and he wasn't sure why Dr. Julien wasn't recording the injury, or alerting the other doctors, or acting calm during a time like this. Instead, they made their way towards the back of the medical ward, where Kai noticed a large wooden door, locked and untouched.

          "This is where our patients can wash," Dr. Julien told him. He pulled a steel key from his pocket and inserted it into the keyhole. "We usually aid them into the basin, but clearly you're well-off walking by yourself," he said with a small chuckle. They were further away from the other patients and doctors now, so Kai deemed it an appropriate time to talk.

          "What's really going on here?" he asked quietly, anger and fear boiling up within him. Dr. Julien had opened the door, which led inside a spacious room with a massive washbasin at the center. On a couple of wooden shelves sat shampoos and swabs, leaving the room dancing with the fragrance of sweet honey. There were neat piles of towels resting on top of a cupboard, and they looked soft to the touch. Kai tried his best to concentrate. He ignored the sugary scent, but oddly enough, it was coming to his nose a lot better than he expected. "Why are you bringing me all the way back here?"

          Dr. Julien sighed. "In truth, sonny, this is something none of us of have ever seen before... except for me," he told him carefully. Kai's heart abruptly plummeted to the pit of his stomach. Before he could say anything, Dr. Julien continued to talk, "With a burn that severe, no one could have just made it out alive, at least, not without life-threatening risks." He hesitated before moving on. "In your case... you were able to withstand it; not only that, but you also healed incredibly quickly. Less than a day, to be precise. To the normal eye, that would be superhuman. Others would want to experiment on you, investigate, exploit you."

          Kai was speechless. What in the world was Dr. Julien talking about? Was he trying to save him? Or was this some kind of trick?

          "How... how do you know about this?" Kai asked tentatively. He was still puzzled, but he mostly wanted to make sure Dr. Julienwasn't talking about Cole and his healing remedies.

          There was a moment's silence until the doctor replied. For just a second, Kai noticed a far-away look in his eyes.

          "Because the same thing happened to my son."

          Kai's eyes shot wide open. His heart began to hammer in his chest, and suddenly his knees felt extremely weak. There was a terrible chill that crawled up his spine after he heard those words.