Content Warning! Some swearing and one F-Bomb.

With a defeated sigh, Neil Hughes sank, exhausted, into his office chair, feeling like Atlas holding the weight of the world on his shoulders. He hadn’t held out much hope for Mrs. Landgraab’s survival, but he was deeply saddened by her death nonetheless. She’d been a beautiful, vital woman, so there was no plausible explanation for her sudden illness and death. From what Neil knew of Mrs. Landgraab, she was a lovely, kindhearted woman who didn’t deserve this.

Some cases got to Neil more than others, but this one haunted him at every turn. but then, it got personal the instant he’d received that threatening call from a mysterious blackmailer. He rubbed his eyes and groaned, mulling over the long night of work he had before him. “Well, I’m not getting it done by just sitting here. May Ariadne forgive me for what I’m about to do.” Heaving himself to his feet, he trudged to his personal lab feeling as though his soul was already in damnation.

“Oh, Neil, there you are!” came the cheerful yet distracted voice of his research partner and fellow colleague, Dr. Blythe Wood, as he shut the door behind him. “How is Mrs. Landgraab?” she asked, not looking up as she pushed buttons on her research station.

“She passed away about an hour ago,” Neil said flatly.

Blythe let out a long, melancholic sigh and turned to face Neil. “I’m so sorry, Neil. I wish we’d been able to find an answer so she could have been saved. This is going to be such a blow to her fans and especially her family.”

“Her husband is devastated. I’ve never seen someone look so…empty and broken.”

“I can see you’re deeply affected, too,” Blythe said softly. Sliding her arms around him, she squeezed him in a tight hug. “I’m just so damned sorry.”

“Yeah, me, too.” Neil returned her hug then stepped back enough to take her by the shoulders and scrutinize her. “You look tired, Blythe. You should go home.”

Blythe gave a fleeting glance at the research station and shrugged. “To be honest, I am tired. It’s been a long day.”

“You shouldn’t be exerting yourself in your condition. Your heart–”

“Neil, I’m okay for the time being. I’m on the transplant list, and I have to keep working and believing that a new heart will come for me. I-I just wish someone didn’t have to die for it to happen,” Blythe replied.

“I know, but I worry about you,” Neil sighed. “I just wish I could use my magic on you so I could repair your own heart. I can’t clone one for you either because of your type of infection.”

Blythe produced a wry laugh. “It’s ironic, isn’t it? I’m a witch wannabe and a Supernatural junkie. I have great knowledge in the area of the Supernatural, but because I’m not magical myself, you’re prohibited from using healing magic on me without a special dispensation.”

“Sometimes the system sucks,” Neil groused.

“I guess no system is perfect. Well, no matter. Things happen for a reason, and I’m just going to have to be content with going through regular medical channels. It could be worse, you know.”

Neil chuckled, then gave her a sad smile. “Always looking at the glass half full, Pollyanna,” he teased gently.

“It beats wallowing in the mire, and I’ve got too much to accomplish to do that,” Blythe said. “Now, I’m going home, and so should you.”

“I will soon,” Neil lied. “Listen, Blythe. Tomorrow before you come in, can you put together some sources about earthquakes and also werewolves for me to read? I’d do it myself, but there’s going to be a lot of fallout with Mrs Landgraab’s case with the media and shit.”

“Yeah, sure,” Blythe said.

“You’re a gem, Blythe. Thanks.”

Once Neil was certain she was out of earshot, he blew out a long exhalation through pursed lips. Nothing could go wrong or his mother would pay the ultimate price. Neil knew “they” weren’t fooling. His hands shook as he prepared for the long night ahead of him.

Taking the glass tube from the inside pocket of his jacket and emptied the contents into a large cauldron. Then, he waved his hand, gesturing purposefully over the cauldron and chanting in a guttural dark sounding language. Steam erupted from the cauldron as the contents bubbled to life. Soon, what looked like electric shock waves sizzled through a bright blue liquid. Once again, Neil gestured over the cauldron and chanted, and an ominous humming thrummed around him. The sound reminded Neil of a powerful transformer, and he shivered, knowing what this liquid was to become. “Ariadne, forgive me,” he whispered, rubbing his arms where goosebumps erupted.

It was the longest five hours of Neil’s life as he waited for the mixture in the cauldron to be completed. The blue liquid changed to a frothy white substance that expanded and contracted as though it were breathing. The substance grew and swirled around the cauldron, completely covering it from sight. “Emerge!” Neil commanded, drawing his hands apart and forming a circle with his fingers.

There was a bang followed by a series of blinding flashing lights that left afterimages of stars and fireworks on the backs of Neil’s eyelids. When Neil was finally able to open his eyes and see clearly, the cauldron was gone. In its place was a body that looked exactly like Lenora Landgraab.

Neil quickly garbed “Lenora” in a hospital gown, picked her up, and lay her on a gurney. Looking her over, he noticed the very slow heartbeat and almost nonexistent respiration. This clone would never know awareness or consciousness because, as instructed, Neil equipped her with only a rudimentary brain stem, just enough to sustain basic life functions for a short while.

“At least you won’t suffer, poor thing,” Neil whispered, taking “Lenora’s” hand as she began to die. “I am truly sorry, my dear. Since you did live, you have a soul, and I hope there is a special place for you in the Hereafter. May you not be punished because of the acts I have done.” As “Lenora” took her final breath, Neil kissed her brow and gently folded her hands over her stomach. After covering her body with a blanket, Neil left his lab, did a cloaking spell to hide himself and the corpse from any security cameras that would spot him otherwise, and pushed the gurney toward the morgue.

Upon arrival, Neil kept the cloaking spell activated to avoid needing to sign himself in. Luckily, nobody was in the cool storage area, but Neil didn’t believe in pressing his luck. He had to work fast and make sure everything was done before an undertaker came to claim Mrs. Landgraab’s body. Neil hurriedly found what he was looking for. Folding down the blanket to reveal Lenora’s face, Neil bit his lip as self-disgust rolled through him. “Forgive me, Lenora. I’m so sorry…so very, very sorry. I have no choice,” he whispered, gently laying his hand on her brow and smoothing down a lock of her hair. “I don’t know what they want with you, but at least you’re beyond knowing or feeling any pain.” Neil touched her hand then blinked in surprise at the warmth of it.

Neil cursed under his breath, wishing he had his stethoscope with him. Lowering his head to Lenora’s chest, he listened intently for a heartbeat and lung sounds. Hearing none, he straightened up and took out his penlight. Raising one of Lenora’s eyelids, he shined the light into her eye, then did the same to the other. Both eyes were glazed over, the pupils fixed. He closed her eyes again with a tender, respectful touch and curled his fingers under hers. “What has happened to you, Lenora? What in the blue fuck is going on here?”

Neil shook his head and mentally slapped himself back to attention. Rolling the blanket back over Lenora’s face, he unlocked the wheels of the bed she was lying on and rolled her to the side. Then, he put the bed with the clone in Lenora’s place, locked the wheels, and pushed the real Lenora toward the door. Thankfully, the morgue and Room 22 were in the basement, so he didn’t have far to take her. Neil made quick work of stashing Lenora in Room 22 as instructed, then hurried back to the lab, deactivating the cloaking spell once he was inside. It didn’t take him long to put everything back in order and erase all signs of his sinister doings. Before leaving for home, Neil picked up his phone, punched in a complicated code to hide all traces of the call, then entered the secured number his blackmailer gave him. “It is done,” he said the instant the line was picked up. He immediately disconnected the call, shivered, and locked up the lab.

A short time later, a figure clad as a lab assistant, complete with latex gloves, entered the basement of the hospital. With ninja-like footsteps, the figure entered Room 22 and exited pushing a gurney with a covered body on it. Under the cover of night, the figure exited the hospital through an unused door and pushed the gurney to a black car. Opening the back door, the figure easily slid the body from the bed and onto the backseat. Closing the door and pushing away the gurney, the figure ran to the driver’s side, slid behind the wheel, and drove away.

Author’s Notes: Thank you to PiazzaGirl for Blythe Wood. We will be seeing more of her in future updates.

Just a little heads up, I did not feature Robin and Alina here although they know of the family crisis. Instead, you’ll be seeing their reactions in my story Heartsongs and Enchantments since they are the main characters in that story. However, we’ll be seeing Robin’s twin sister, Lauren, who will be a supporting character appearing in both stories.

As always, thank you for reading, liking, commenting, subscribing, and lurking.