Panthers in Hemlock Grove

Chapter 25: Bye-Bye Boogeyman

"She was so cold when we found her." Peter plopped down on the chair behind him and started messing with his hands. "So pale like it wasn't even her. Just dumped her in a hole like she was a piece of garbage." Peter reliving this made Roman feel even more guilty than he already did.

"I know you well enough to know that you're gonna beat yourself up for this, no matter what. Sooner or later, you're gonna have to find a way to live with the choice that you made. Now, you can take comfort that the cock-sucker who did this to her, he isn't breathing anymore. You made him pay for what he did, and that's a good thing. When we get back here, we'll find a proper place for her, okay? Lay her to rest with the dignity and the respect that she deserves. Yeah. But right now, Peter, I need you to help me. Y/n and Nadia, they still need you." Roman had watery eyes and Peter's tears just kept falling. Peter got up and he and Roman left to hit the road.

Spivak's Cabin

Roman and Peter were in Spivak's basement. They saw no sign of Spivak or the girls anywhere. Pryce had called Roman to let him know what he discovered.

"I'm putting you on speaker." Roman placed his phone on the table so Peter could listen.

"Spivak is a sulfur-based life-form. Upir toxin has an extremely high concentration of nitrogen oxide. It would only take a minimal amount to cause an extremely robust reaction, should the two substances come into contact. This toxin is your evolutionary advantage over a competing species, the reason you were able to wipe them out. We're going to need to extract it from the glands in your mouth." Pryce went on a science rant.

"I can just bite him." Roman momentarily took his hand off of his chin.

"You could do that. However, judging from his research into estuarial breeding, you're probably going to be running into more than just Spivak." The friends glanced at each other hearing Pryce's statement.

"There's more of him?" Roman asked.

"If there aren't already, my guess is there soon will be. Now, given that he's the male of his species, as far as I can determine, he would need female ova to fertilize. The most plentiful and resilient are found in infants." Pryce states.

"Nadia." Peter mumbled glancing at Roman once more.

"That's why he took her." Roman told Peter.

"That would be a logical assumption but I was going threw your friends medical records. She has Rhnull blood and she's a-- witch you said. I found that her blood can rapidly speed up the process so we must act quickly. Roman, I need you to get back to the lab immediately. I can perform the procedure and start stockpiling an arsenal." Pryce said.

"We don't have time. We need to keep looking." Roman set both his hands on the table and sighed.

"Well, there is another way, but you would need access to medical supplies."

"Yeah, that's not gonna be a problem." Roman looked around and saw many tools. Like the ones he'd seen in Pryce's lab.

"Well, then, let's just hope Mr. Rumancek has a steady hand and can follow instructions." What Pryce said made the boys look at each other with slightly wide eyes.

After the extraction

Peter had successfully extracted the toxin from Romans mouth, with Pryce's guidance. It was a bright yellow color. He put it in a tube while Roman sat up scrunching his face. They sat there for a moment before a splash was heard making them jump back. 

It came from a tub of acid in the corner of the room.

"Something's in there." Peter gave the tub a wide eyed stare.