ARROW BERLIN
Arrow and Andrei sit in the backyard at the Valentins' home, both holding their laptop with earphones plugged in. "Any chatter at the gym?" Arrow asks her brother with a nudge. "Nothing," Andrei replies.
"I was afraid of that. With what went down there last, I don't know if they'll be using that location again," Arrow comments with a sigh.
"What about uncle Elm's office, anything?" Andrei asks in return.
"Nothing alarming. Just him playing boss."
"Did he really hold a service for dad without us? Cremated him and spread his ashes?" Andrei asks.
"It seems so," Arrow replies softly, the guilt creeping up on her.
"What's going to happen now? Between us and him." Andrei asks to which Arrow replies with a shrug and sigh, staring off.
~
As Arrow heads into the kitchen, she sees Bell making her way back to her bedroom. "Bell," She calls out loudly. Acting as if she hadn't heard her name being called, Bell continues walking - Subtly picking up the pace. Arrow runs toward her, using her hand to stop the door just as Bell was about to shut it.
"Bell, talk to me. How are you feeling? I haven't gotten a chance to see you since," Arrow says to her standing outside the door.
"Listen, I'm tired. We'll catch up another time," Bell answers dryly, avoiding eye contact with her.
"Bell, are you mad at me?! Because lately, it seems like you are going out of your way to avoid me," Arrows says to her softly.
Bell sighs, slowly raising her head to look at Arrow. She opens her mouth to speak but then shuts it shaking her head.
"Talk to me," Arrow says softly, moving her hand to place it on Bell's shoulders. To her shock, Bell recoils at her advance - Her hand falling past Bell.
"Bell?" Arrow asks sadly.
"I have to rest, Arrow," Bell says avoiding eye contact once more. She fully steps into her room, grabbing the door handle as she did so. Arrow steps back from the door, watching in dismay as Bell closes it in front of her. She stands in shock, staring at the closed door for a couple of seconds before heading back outside to her brother. Taking a seat next to him, she puts the earphones on, listening to the live feed from the bugs in Elmann's office.
He was talking to another man, a voice she didn't recognize. "Everything is in place, things are running smoothly. I'm thinking I might be able to start the trails sooner than the projected date," the man spoke.
"That's good news," Elmann replies.
"How are things on your end? It seems you have full control around here," The man says. "Where're Allister's children?"
"Yes. I run things now. Allister's children are out of the picture for now, but I know the eldest would find a way to poke her nose in my business. I'll have to keep an eye on her. For now, she is in the company of some rather despicable people - People I would rather not have around."
"Noted. I have to head to another meeting now. I'll be in touch Elmann," The man says. Arrow hears the scrape of a chair against the floor followed by footsteps and a door closing.
She sits and listens for a bit longer just about to log off when she hears a knock on Elmann's door.
"Enter," he calls out. "Ah, did you get the safe open?"
"Yes sir, but there wasn't anything inside."
"What?!" Elmann asks in shock.
"The safe was empty."
~
Walking out of her temporary room, Arrow walks into the living room spotting her brother, Bell, and Beau sitting on the couch, looking at a video on Andrei's laptop. She walks over to the couch, sitting on its arm – Next to Bell. As she peers over, to see what was on the screen, Bell gets up from her seat to head out of the room.
Seeing this, Arrow jumps off the arm of the chair, reaching out to Bell, grabbing her gently by the shoulder. To everyone's shock, Bell spins around, pushing Arrow's hand – Subsequently sending a fist flying at her. Arrow ducks, Bell's fist passing over her head. Bell lets out a growl as Arrow takes two steps back from her. Taking a large step towards her, Bell aligns herself to deliver a blow at Arrow. Seeing the attack coming, Arrow was ready – using her hands to block Bell's punch and push her away. Bell goes to advance again but this time Beau intervenes. He stands between the two girls acting as a wall. Standing with his back to Arrow, he holds Bell off with his hand. "Bell, what are you doing?" He asks in shock. Bell lets out a growl in response.
"Did, did you just growl at me? You growl now?!" Beau says in shock staring at his sister wide-eyed.
Realizing what her brother had said to her, tears begin to fill up Bell's eyes. With a sniff, she turns and runs out of the room, going straight to the front door.
"Bell, wait!" Beau shouts out to his sister's retreating form – But it was no use. Not slowing, Bell runs out of the house and out of their sight.
~
NAOMI REID
"Today looks like it'll be just as busy as yesterday!" Naomi comments to Avery as they drive off from the firehouse. Naomi expertly maneuvers through the streets, speeding towards their destination. "Something 'Lycan-y' is going on isn't there? All those scratches and bite marks we saw."
"The bites and scratches are Lycan related, yeah, but I have no clue what's going down. I've never seen or heard anything like this happening before," Avery says to Naomi. "It doesn't make sense to me though."
"Which part?" Naomi questions.
"How so many people have bites and scratches - I mean, just looking at the persons from our call alone, none of them live relatively close to each other," Avery elaborates. "Even the guys from the other shift said they saw a lot of cases like those and spread out through the city too."
"All these people, are they Lycans now?" Naomi asks softly.
"Pretty much, yeah."
"How does that work," Naomi asks in return.
"We'll explain it when you and Calvin come over again later. He's probably seeing a lot of cases like this too." Since the day of their talk, Avery and Sean had taken it upon themselves to educate Naomi on all things Lycanthropy - An by extension, Calvin as well.
~
Having picked up their victim, Naomi and Avery rush him to the nearest hospital which happens to be Oak Crest Medical. They wheel him on their gurney, assisting the doctors with the transfer before exiting the room. "We're low on some stuff. I'm going to restock. Wait for me by the ambo, yeah?" Naomi says to Avery.
Avery replies to her with an "Mmhm" before walking out of the hospital to the ambo. Naomi makes her way through the hospital walking to the supply closet. The room was located next to a patient room – A man and woman inside arguing in hushed whispers. Naomi presses the buttons on the console to input the door's code just as the two of them barge out of the room.
"You caused this! You! Vanessa, I can't believe you would do something like this! To Yara! To me!" The man says to her angrily. "She hasn't woken yet, the Yew from that damn bullet..." He says trailing off at the end of his sentence. Unconsciously, Naomi had stopped inputting the code at the man's words. She'd remembered Avery telling her Yew was one of the poisonous herbs used against Lycans. Realizing that these people were Lycans she couldn't help but continue to eavesdrop.
"I can't even stand to look at you right now, Vanessa!" He says to her angrily.
The girl looks at him with tears streaming down her face, "Clay please, None of this was supposed to happen. I would never intentionally do anything to hurt Yara like this," She cries to him. She moves her hand toward him but he pushes her away with a growl that made Naomi flinch.
"You drugged her, you keep her locked in a room and you lie to me the entire time. Don't stand there and tell me you meant no harm!" The man says to her, his voice low and threatening. "Get out! Just leave," He orders with a disgusted tone The girl goes to plead her case once more but he growls at her. Accepting defeat, the girl slowly walks away, glancing back multiple times before she's out of sight. Naomi stands there at the door, staring at the man. Unexpectedly, the man turns to Naomi making her reflexively take a step back – A tiny gasp escaping her. "Can I help you?" He asks her, his voice still conveying anger.
"Uh, um. No, uh no, nope," Naomi stutters out before quickly inputting the code and rushing into the room. She waits a couple of seconds before peaking out the door and seeing the man heading towards the main area of the hospital. Letting out a sigh, she begins grabbing all the supplies the ambo needs. Locking up the room behind her, she begins to make her way out of the hospital, stopping when she sees the commotion playing out near the nurses' desk.
She walks up to the side of the desk, eyeing the scene. A disheveled-looking man who wore stained, wrinkled clothes was shouting aggressively. He spins wildly, stepping toward people as he did so, struggling against the security guard who was trying to move him away. The head nurse stood before him, trying to reason with him but the man paid her no attention – Flinching away in disgust at her advances.
"YOU CREATURES THINK YOU CAN DO THIS AND GET AWAY WITH IT! I KNOW WHAT YOU DID! HOW DARE YOU! HOW DARE YOU CURSE US WITH YOUR DESPICABLE AFFLICTION?!" The man shouts out struggling. His next sentence was cut short as another security barrels into him, sending them to the ground.
Naomi glances across the room. Several people stood around watching the scene. She sees a couple of parents holding their scared children, pulling them away from the commotion. As her eye survey the room, they fell onto the man from earlier. He was now standing next to a vending machine, a bottle of water in his hand watching the security try to detain the man. Naomi begins to walk toward the door as the man starts again.
"YOU CREATURES DON'T DESERVE TO WALK THE EARTH AND SPREAD YOUR PLAGUE!" He shouts out.
Naomi feels an intense heat brush against her skin as something hard collides with her body. The container of supplies falls out of her hand and she finds herself falling backward. A loud noise sounded in her ears. She squeezes her eye shut as falls, waiting for the impact of the hard floor. Instead of her head banging against the ground as she thought – Her landing is cushioned as something slowed her head's descent.
A high-pitched sound rings in her ears as she opens her eyes. Above her, she saw the man from earlier peering down at her. His lips were moving but all she heard was the ringing.
Glancing past him, she sees the scorch marks and damage around them. Pieces of the ceiling fell around them, fires across it. As her ears begin to clear, she could hear the panicked screams and pained cries around.
Naomi moves her hand to her radio, another blast rocking the building. Pushing the button on the radio she begins to speak, "Ambulance 31 to main. Multiple explosions at Oak Crest Medical. Additional support is needed. Multiple Victims."
"Copy that 31," The voice on her radio replies.
Naomi moves to get up off the ground, the man helping her up. "Are you okay? You were close to the blast," He says to her. Turning her attention to him, she notices the wound on his head. "I'm fine," She says to him immediately going to check his wound – Taking her penlight out of her pocket and checking his eyes. "You seem to be fine too," She says to him. "That wound will need stitches."
A woman cries out from beside them, grabbing Naomi's attention. Turning from the man, she heads to the lady – Grabbing her supply bag as she did so. Crouching down, she begins to tend to the lady on the ground. She was missing a leg.
Naomi and Avery work alongside the doctors as they do their best to save lives. Firetrucks and Ambulances arrive at the scene, putting out fires and transporting victims to the nearest hospital. Several times, Naomi found herself reassuring Avery and her brother that she was fine, the two of them continuously fussing over her – Having been so close to the blast. Even as everyone worked, two more explosions shook the building, causing more damage.
~
DEAN STRAKEN
Dean and Calvin pull up outside Oak crest Medical along with several other cop cars. "What kind of people blow up a hospital!" Calvin exclaims as they walk to the building. Dean lets out a breath as they enter. The area was covered in scorch marks and rubble. Overhead lights hung precariously from the ceiling by their wires. Doctors, nurses, firefighters, and paramedics run up and down tending to patients. Blood decorated the floor and large pools at several spots.
Dean lets out a heavy sigh before looking to Calvin who gave him a somber nod in return. The two of them split up, going to their witnesses to collect statements.
Seeing a familiar face, Dean calls out to the paramedic running past him. "Hey, uh Naomi!" She skids to a stop at the sound of her name. Spotting him she approaches, Dean taking in her state. She was covered in dust and bloodstains on her uniform.
"Holy shit, were you in the blast?" He says to her, his eyes wide in shock.
"Next to it, yeah," She replies sounding winded. Seeing his wide eye on her clothes she waves her hands at him, "A guy pushed me out of the way. I'm fine. This isn't my blood." Dean nods, looking at the tired haunted expression on her face.
"Listen, I got to run. I'll give you my statement later. But, uh. The guy who saved me saw pretty much everything. Go down the hall, the room next to supply closet B2." Naomi says to Dean in a bit of a rush.
"Thanks," Dean says to her retreating figure.
Following her instructions, Dean heads to the room spotting a man standing next to a hospital bed. He held onto the hand of a woman laying there, hooked up to the machines and a series of drips.
"Was she injured in the blast?" He asks as he steps slightly into the room, remaining close to the door.
The man looks up at the sound of his voice, Dean noting his clothes were also covered in dust. He had blood near his hairline but no visible wound. The man's eye scrutinizes Dean before he finally answers. "No, we were here before," He answers, not giving up much information.
Nodding Dean speaks again. "I'm detective Straken. A Paramedic out there told me you possibly saw the entire incident. Can I ask you a couple of questions?"
"Sure," He replies curtly, placing the woman's hand down gently and moving from the bed. He walks to Dean, stopping beside him at the other side of the door. "Ask away."
~
"The hospital was a target. Five persons hit different areas of the building. Joe is working on security camera footage now to see if we can get an ID on them," Dean informs their captain. He and Calvin stood in his office, having returned from the hospital.
"Witnesses tell us the attack was personal. They had a vendetta against the type of folks that run the place and go there," Calvin pipes in.
"And what kind of folk would that be?" Their captain questions.
"Beats me, but that's what many of my witnesses told me," Calvin replies. Dean eyes his partner, wondering if he was truly still in the dark. He didn't seem too confused by the cryptic responses he'd gotten from the witnesses – Even as he relayed the news.
After filling in the captain some more, he dismisses them. The two walk out of his office and head to their desks. As they sit, Joe walks up to them with a laptop in his hand. "Got footage from the hospital's main area and the back ambulance bay," He says to them placing the computer on the desk. Calvin and Dean huddle closer as he presses play, watching the videos in silence.
"Monsters, creatures, abominations, devil creatures! These people sure had a lot of colorful adjectives to use," Joe comments.
"We have any IDs as yet?" Calvin asks, Dean noticing he didn't have anything to say on Joe's observation. "Nothing as yet," Joe replies, "I'll keep you guys posted."
"I ran into your paramedic friend at the hospital. She was there when the first explosion took place," Dean says to Calvin.
"Yeah, I saw her and her friend. They filled me in too," Calvin answers. "Hey, what do you make of all the things these bombers were calling the people?" Calvin asks, watching Dean intently.
"Must be some kind of discrimination there. Maybe the heads of the place angered a powerful someone. We've seen gang attacks at hospitals and clinics before. People retaliate in major ways when they feel as if they've been wronged," Dean answers.
"But the part where they screamed about the people there spreading their curse. Their plague. Changing them into monstrosities," Calvin pushes on - Dean getting the feeling that he was fishing for a specific response.
"Can't say, man. Hopefully, we'll get more answers when we get some IDs," Dean answers. Calvin nods, turning back to his desk, and opening his laptop.
From everything they'd seen and heard, Dean could piece together exactly why the hospital was it. This was clearly retaliation for the mass turning during the 'Lycan Revolution'. Things were getting unbelievably messy in Tares City and Dean feared this was just the beginning.