One F-Bomb and descriptive aftereffects of rape present.

Valerie was troubled and riddled with guilt after her time with Lenora. She’d been fully prepared for Lenora to spew any and all kinds of venomous accusations at her, but Lenora had done the exact opposite. Part of Valerie knew she shouldn’t have been surprised because Lenora wasn’t a hateful person. Still, Valerie felt like the lowest form of life after Lenora displayed nothing but compassion and love toward her.

Lenora’s dire warning about Valerie’s current state of health and Drogo’s orders repeated nonstop in her head. Valerie did feel terrible and had for a long time. There was no question in her mind that she needed to do something, and it had to be done immediately if Valerie was to recover and even survive. I want to die but not at Shane Clayton’s hands. I must make up for at least part of what I put everyone through or I’ll be eternally condemned. I deserve it, but I’m a coward. i want at least some peace in the Afterlife.

“I’m going out for a while,  Shane,” Valerie said determinedly to Shane a while after returning to the living room.

“Oh? Says who? You’re supposed to be babysitting Lenora,” Shane replied.

“Let Allen sit with her for a while. He’d like that. I need to go visit my father. He’s been texting me a lot since Lenora…since we left the hospital. If I don’t go, he’ll get suspicious. You wouldn’t want that now, would you?”

Shane rolled his eyes and huffed in exasperation. “Fine. You have three hours, Valerie. If you’re not back here by then, I’ll come looking for you. If that happens, you will experience hitherto realms of perpetual pain.”

Valerie had to fight the urge to snort. Such a drama queen! What I ever saw in this guy is beyond me. I must have completely lost my mind to have gotten involved with him. “Okay, okay, I get it.” Hurrying upstairs, she quickly changed, ran a brush through her thick, red hair, and applied fresh makeup.

Valerie slid behind the wheel of her car, fighting the temptation to floor the gas pedal until she was out of sight of the dreary house. When the city limits of Aurora Skies came into view, Valerie pulled into the parking lot of a filling station, quickly looked up the address and phone number of Dr. Neil Hughs’ office on her Iphone, and punched in the digits.

“Dr. Hughes and Wood’s office. May I help you?” answered the disembodied, bored voice of a receptionist.

“My name is Valerie Landgraab. I need to see Dr. Hughes urgently. This is an emergency,” Valerie replied.

“Are you a patient of Dr. Hughes, Ma’am?”

“No, not currently.”

“Then, I’m sorry. Dr. Hughes isn’t taking on new patients at this time. You will need to–”

Valerie ground her teeth and did a mental countdown backwards from ten. “Look, I understand protocol, but there’s no time for that. My father is Amadeus Landgraab, and Lenora Landgraab is…was my sister-in-law. I have relevant information about her case that I must share with Dr. Hughes. Please, this is extremely vital.”

“One moment, please. I will transfer you to Dr. Hughes,” the receptionist said.

Breathing a sigh of relief, Valerie drummed her fingers against the side of her jeans and waited. There were times she often frivolously used her family status to get what she wanted, but for the first time in her life, she was grateful to have that leverage to accomplish something so magnanimously important.

“This is Dr. Hughes. What can I do for you?” Valerie jumped when she heard his voice.

Valerie quickly introduced herself. “I don’t know if you remember me.”

“Yes, of course I do. How can I help you, Ms. Landgraab? My receptionist said you have information about your sister-in-law’s case.” To Valerie, the doctor sounded capable but exhausted.

Valerie’s throat went dry. Now that she had Dr. Hughes on the phone, words and coherent thought escaped her.

“Ms. Landgraab? Are you still there?” Dr. Hughes asked.

“Yes, yes, I’m sorry.” Valerie shook her head and mentally slapped herself to attention. It was now or never. “I do have information which you need to know, but I can’t talk about it over the phone. It’s…sensitive, you see. May I see you in person? Immediately? Please, Doctor, it’s imperative.”

“All right. Come to my office right away. Can you be here in ten minutes?” Dr. Hughes asked.

Valerie made it with five minutes to spare.

“Thank you for seeing me so quickly,” Valerie said after being escorted into Neil Hughes’ private office.

“Yes, well, you sounded quite frantic over the phone. Now, what is this about? Please have a seat on the sofa so we can talk.” Neil said, his eyes roving over her.

Valerie sat and squirmed under the scrutiny. Neil’s gaze was penetrating, and Valerie felt as though he was scanning through myriad layers leading to her innermost secret soul. “Yes. Um…before I begin, I must ask you to check for possible bugs in this room. I mean, not insects, but listening devices.”

Neil raised an eyebrow. “I understand topics of sensitive nature, Ms. Landgraab. I assure you, this room is devoid of listening devices of any kind. I value my patients’ privacy and therefore continuously magically soundproof this office. You are free to tell me anything you need to. This room is perfectly safe.”

“Okay.” Valerie looked at her shoes, contemplating her next words. “I…uh…have information, but first, I need something from you. It…it needs to remain absolutely confidential. My family must not know or lives will be lost.”

“I see.”

“No, Doctor, I don’t believe you do, but please believe me that it’s true. I’m in a terrible situation that is centered around Lenora and what happened to her.”

“Go on,” Neil persisted.

“Before I give any information, I need you…what I mean is…I need medical attention. Something is very wrong with me. I’ve been losing time. That is to say, there are large holes in my memory and spaces in time I can’t account for. I’m a werewolf, but something is keeping me from transforming. I was told to seek treatment or I would soon die.” Tears swam in Valerie’s eyes and spilled over.

Neil’s gaze sharpened, and Valerie felt him studying her even more critically. “My instincts were telling me that something was off the minute you walked into my office. Valerie…may I call you Valerie?”

“Yeah, sure.”

“Valerie, if I’m going to examine you, I’m going to have to ask you some very pointed questions. It isn’t going to be easy, but you must be absolutely truthful with me if I’m to help you,” Neil said, an element of sternness in his voice.

“It can’t be any worse than how I’m feeling now,” Valerie muttered.

“First, let’s discuss you symptoms. Then, I’ll examine you, and we can talk about how you got to this point.” The stern demeanor relaxed into a kindly, attentive one.

After expounding on said symptoms, Neil gave her a thorough examination, which confirmed everything Lenora had told her. “Valerie, I’m going to take a blood sample so we can see just what we’re up against. I want to make sure I give you the correct reversal treatment so we can knock this out of your system as harmlessly and efficiently as possible,” Neil said, gently grasping Valerie’s arm, rolling up her sleeve, and prodding for a good vein. “Because your werewolf abilities have been sorely affected, I’m certain this is magical in nature.”

Valerie could only nod as Neil secured a tourniquet on her forearm. Once started, the flood of tears wouldn’t stop. Neil patted her hand and murmured soothing reassurances to her. As Neil gathered the sample, Valerie’s mind returned to the terrible, dark place it had been since all this started. She barely registered the hypodermic need piercing her skin and exiting it once two large vials were filled with her blood. She stared off into the distance as Neil examined her blood under a microscope, then began murmuring spells over it. She was lost in a world of misery as Neil continued to work.

Valerie jumped and squeaked, startled back into attention when Neil swore colorfully in an explosion of what sounded to Valerie like disgust and distaste. “Valerie, who did this to you? Who’s been fucking you over like this?”

“I…I…he’ll kill me if I tell you,” Valerie squeaked, covering her face and sobbing.

Neil turned his back, seeming to need a few moments to compose himself. When he turned around to face Valerie, his lips were set in a grim, thin line, but his eyes were full of undeniable concern. Stepping over to where Valerie sat, Neil took her hands in his and squeezed them gently. “I can treat your illness,  Valerie, but this person will do this to you again if you return to your current situation. I want to help you, but you must allow me to do so. You must trust me and believe that I have your best interests in mind. Now, who has done this to you?”

At Neil’s display of kindness, Valerie crumbled altogether. Dissolving into incoherent weeping, Valerie didn’t resist when Neil pulled her into a comforting embrace. “It’s going to be okay, Valerie. I can help you, and I want to. Valerie, please trust me and tell me who’s been beating and drugging you.” Neil paused before asking his next question. “Valerie, who’s been raping you?”

“How…how…did you know?” she hitched.

“You have bruises on your exterior genitalia. You are torn…on the inside. This tells me you’ve not been having consensual intercourse,” Neil said gently.

“I d-don’t remember it happening, at least not most of the time. But…but I suspected he was…” Valerie trailed off, closing her eyes to attempt to ward off the flood of shame.

“Tell me who,” Neil prodded softly.

“It’s…it’s the same person who is blackmailing you.”