The Gate

18. The Other Wing

Lena Matthews

"So why did you think it was a good idea to give her her glasses?"

"I don't know."

"We wouldn't be dealing with this if you had just thought it through."

"Well, it's too late now. Is she going to be okay?"

"You know that's not up to me."

"She's waking up."

"You need to go."

"Go? What are you talking about?"

"Get out!"

"You can't make me do anything!"

"Out, Carter!"

The door slammed as my eyelids began to flutter open, taking in the shock of bright fluorescent lights. I was lying on a hospital bed with Jessica standing over me, clipboard in her hand and concern on her face.

"How are you feeling?" She asked gently.

"I'm -" I tried to sit up, but I was handcuffed to the hospital bed. "Where am I?" I asked, struggling against the restraints.

"I'm going to need you to calm down for a moment." said Jessica. She tried to put her hand on my shoulder, but I forced myself away from her, the handcuffs clanking in protest.

"If you let me out, I'll go. I won't tell anyone. This doesn't have to be a problem." I said.

"You're right." said Jessica. She pulled a chair next to my bed and sat down next to me. Her green eyes were calm, without a trace of the violent red I had seen the night before. "This doesn't have to be a problem. We have a protocol in place for incidents like these, and if everything goes correctly, nothing bad will happen to you."

"What does that mean?" I asked, panic starting to rise in my chest. How much did Jessica know about me? About my family?

"Mrs. Pearce will be here at any moment. She is going to explain everything, and walk you through the next steps."

"What's going to happen to me?" I asked.

"That's for Mrs. Pearce to answer, not me," said Jessica. "She runs the other side of things."

She meant the Forbidden side. I stayed silent, and tried to pretend I was clueless. I couldn't tell anyone what I knew, or why my family was here. I may have ruined everything for them already.

"What if this doesn't go right? What then?" I asked Jessica.

"Nothing bad is going to happen to you." Jessica repeated flatly. "Don't even think about it."

"Okay." I said nervously.

Jessica glanced at the door for a second. When she turned back to me, her voice dropped to a whisper. "There are some things that you should know before Mrs. Pearce gets here. Has anyone told you the history of this town?"

"Why are we whispering right now?" I asked.

"Just answer the question," said Jessica.

"I've heard an abridged version from Jane-Anne." I said.

"Okay." said Jessica. "I'm going to assume that Jane-Anne didn't know about the werewolves."

I stared blankly at Jessica. My head was racing in a million different directions. A part of me wanted to dismiss all of last night as a dream, but now Jessica was talking about werewolves. And if she was talking about werewolves, that meant that Jessica and Carter were vampires. Real, actual vampires. I remembered their fangs and distorted eyes, then nothing. I must have fainted last night. And now I was handcuffed in a room with a vampire. As my brain swirled with all of these realizations, my face conveyed absolutely nothing.