A few minutes after Miss Hawthorne left a doctor came into my room to have a look at me. He was an older guy with a greying beard and grey hair, and he seemed nice enough.

He checked my eyes and my reflexes and asked how I was feeling and all that routine sort of stuff. I told him I was mostly ok but I still hurt, so he said he'd make sure I got something for the pain. Then after he left Kaylee rushed into the room to see me.

My parents were still there too, but they both moved to the far side of the room to give me and Kaylee some privacy.

Kaylee stood next to my bed and held my hand while she told me how worried she was and how everyone else in the club was really freaked out and worried and everything. I wasn't sure how much I believed her about everyone else, but from her tone and expression and how tight she was holding my hand I could tell she was worried.

"I'm ok," I told my girlfriend, though I definitely didn't sell it. Not with the bandages and the IV and I probably sounded stressed and tired and everything else. "What did May tell you all about what happened? And what did she tell the ambulance people?"

She grimaced, "I called nine-one-one while Miss Hawthorne got a first-aid kit from her desk, then she tried to bandage your wrists before any of us saw the marks... I think she was panicking though and she started making up some story that none of us believed. In the end she just said that her spell to seal the door was a little too strong and overloaded your natural magic draining ability? Except that doesn't make much sense considering Mrs. Reeves hit you with an attack spell and you didn't even flinch."

I made a face, "Yeah her spell didn't just seal the door. It covered the whole room, all the walls and windows and everything else."

Kaylee gave me a worried look, but she continued "As for the EMTs... It was my dad and his partner. And I have no idea why they didn't call the police or something? Honestly I'm not even sure how they didn't freak out at her because Miss Hawthorne gave them the lamest excuse and they didn't even question it. She said you were messing around with the light switch and got a shock off it. They didn't question the strange burns either, and I know me and everyone else has a lot of questions about that."

I sighed, "May enspelled your dad. Maybe Alison too, unless she's a supernatural. She told my parents she used magic to make sure the 'human EMT' and doctors and nurses didn't notice anything strange."

My girlfriend frowned and clenched her jaw for a few seconds, then sighed. "Yeah I guess I kind of assumed that happened. I didn't want to believe it though."

"Sorry," I said quietly.

Kaylee shook her head, "Thanks for telling me Cass. So um, what's going on? Do you know what really happened to you? And what's going on with May? She looked really uptight when she left your room a little while ago."

It was my turn to grimace and I glanced at my folks as I replied, "I don't know how much I can say, or what's safe to tell you. It's messed up and I don't even know yet how I feel about half the stuff we just found out."

She looked more worried and held my hand a little tighter as she asked, "But you're going to be ok though right?"

I sighed again then shrugged, "I really don't know Kaylee. I -"

Someone else walked into the room so I went quiet as we all looked. It was a tall slim guy in light green hospital scrubs. He had short dark hair and an attractive face that was sort of generic but vaguely familiar. He looked to be in his late twenties or maybe early thirties.

"Hey there Cassandra," he greeted me with a smile. He was sort of soft-spoken and was acting friendly as he continued, "My name's Brian. I'm one of the nurses in this ward, I'm going to be looking after you this evening ok? How are you doing right now?"

I glanced at my parents then back at him and asked, "I was hoping I could go home tonight?"

The nurse gave me an apologetic look as he shook his head, "Sorry hon. Doctor Appleton wants to keep you overnight for observation. You were unconscious a little too long for a normal faint, and he's a little concerned. I'm sure it's just a precaution though ok? You'll probably be home by tomorrow afternoon."

That made me sigh, but I responded "I'm still really sore. The doctor said he'd get me something but he never came back."

"Doctors," Brian rolled his eyes. "He might have said that but what he meant was, he'd put it on your chart and someone else would take care of it. Someone else being me. I'll look into that right now ok? See you in a few minutes."

I just nodded and watched him go, then looked back at Kaylee before glancing at my parents. I asked all three of them, "What time is it? How long was out?"

Mum responded, "It's nearly six o'clock honey. You were asleep for almost four and a half hours."

"We were all super worried about you," my girlfriend added. "I'm glad you're awake now, and I hope you're feeling better soon."

"Thanks Kaylee," I smiled.

Brian came back in at that point, he had a cup of water in one hand and in the other he was holding a plastic sachet with two little white pills inside. He tore open the plastic then carefully tipped the two pills out into my hand, then gave me the cup to wash them down with.

"What are they exactly?" mum asked. "What did the doctor prescribe for her?"

The nurse sounded apologetic as he replied, "It's just regular strength tylenol."

He looked to me and added, "If that's not enough let me know ok? They like to start with the light stuff just in case, since it has the fewest side effects. If you're still in pain though let us know and we'll get you something better."

I glanced at my parents but they seemed ok with that answer, so I took the pills.

After that the nurse said, "Unfortunately you slept through dinner, but if you're hungry I could maybe find you a snack? Or maybe your moms could grab you something if you like? There's a cafeteria that's open till eight, and a coffee shop in the lobby. There's also a drive-thru burger place not far from the hospital."

"Thanks Brian," mum spoke up. "We'll talk to Cass and sort out something for her."

He nodded and gave me another friendly smile, then reminded me to call him if I needed anything. He pointed out the button on the side of my bed so I knew how to reach him, then he headed out again.

After that the four of us talked, and in the end mum headed out for a bit and she took Kaylee with her. She was going to drop my girlfriend off at home, then pick up some things for me at our place, and finally she'd grab some food on her way back to the hospital.

Kaylee and I said bye and exchanged a gentle hug, then after she and mum were gone my mom pulled a chair over then sat right next to my bed. She held my hand and we talked a bit more, but not about any of the big stuff. Mostly it was just safe topics. Or embarrassing topics, like how things were going with my girlfriend.

We even figured out how to use the little TV that was attached to my bed, and the two of us ended up watching some cartoons together, till mum got back about forty-five minutes later. She had an overnight bag for me, and she had some burgers, fries, and sodas from the drive-thru place nearby.

She found another chair and the three of us sat together and ate our burgers and watched cartoons and it would have almost been a fun evening if not for being in hospital with bandages and an IV and everything.

The overnight bag had one of my nighties and my big bun plushie, plus a change of clothes for tomorrow. So after dinner I got out of the hospital gown I'd woke up in then mom helped me put on the nightie around the IV which was complicated and needed like three hands.

Getting changed also let me see the bandage on my chest, and that left me feeling bad. It was a big square of gauze and tape about twenty centimetres across and covered the whole upper middle part of my chest, and I couldn't help worrying I'd end up with ugly scars. I knew there was more important stuff going on, but it felt like I'd only just got my perfect body less than a year ago and I hated the thought of it getting messed up already.

Then mom noticed I was getting upset so she gave me my phone to distract me. Apparently someone gave my backpack to my parents when they got to the hospital so none of that stuff got lost. Which was a big relief.

We all talked and stuff a while more after that. Eventually mum hugged and kissed me then headed home, while mom planned to stay the night.

I curled up on my side with my plushie then exchanged some texts with Kaylee. I also caught up on all the group texts that happened this afternoon. Melanie confirmed the other EMT Alison was supernatural, she had the same scent as Melody so we assumed Alison was another shapeshifter. And there was lots of speculation about Miss Hawthorne, and even more speculation about me, but I was kind of happy when I realized most of the texts about me were everyone being worried.

Apparently while Kaylee was here waiting with my parents the others kept asking her for updates, and she'd tell them what she could or whatever she found out. Seeing all that helped me feel a little better, like maybe they were all still friends with me after all.

Eventually I fell asleep like that, curled up with my phone and my big bun while my mom sat on a visitor chair next to my bed and watched over me. It wasn't the best evening, but I definitely felt better than I had at the club meeting.

Once I drifted off I slept pretty well, there weren't any dreams it was just a deep quiet sleep until something woke me. I was groggy as my eyes fluttered open, and the first thing I noticed was movement. I was gliding quietly down an empty hallway, passing through open doors and going around corners.

I blinked a few times and slowly realized I was in a wheelchair. The IV tube was gone from my left hand, but the connector thingy was still there. Like it had been unplugged but hadn't been fully removed. I was still in my nightie, barefoot, and my plush bunny and my phone were both missing.

I felt a moment of panic, like someone was trying to kidnap me or something, and sat up and looked around. That's when mom put a hand on my shoulder and said, "Shh Cass. It's ok, it's your mum and I."

Twisting around I saw both mom and mum were with me. Mum was pushing the wheelchair, mom was walking alongside.

"Where are we going?" I asked. "What time is it?"

Mum replied quietly, "It's just after three in the morning. And here we are."

We passed under a sign that read 'Radiology', then mom moved ahead and opened a door labeled 'X-Ray' so mum could wheel me through and into that room. It was a large room with a big machine in the middle.

Off to one side was a familiar-looking older man. He wasn't dressed like a doctor or an orderly or anything, he was in slacks and a cardigan sweater.

The man didn't waste time with greetings or pleasantries, he just gestured "Let's get her up on the table. Laying down, flat on her back."

"Thank you Isaac," mom said as she helped me up out of the wheelchair.

Hearing the name reminded me who he was. Isaac Roslovic, the necromancer. He told mom what to do and she got me into the right position, then he started moving the big overhead part into position above me. The platform they had me ontop of was hard and uncomfortable, and there was just a tiny thin pillow to rest my head on.

When everything was ready Mr. Roslovic went behind a protective barrier to trigger the machine, but my parents both stayed by my side. I didn't ask, but I figured they were probably immune or something. Like they'd been around for more than six centuries, x-rays probably couldn't hurt them.

After the first one they repositioned things and did another, then another. In the end they did seven or eight x-rays in total, of my chest and my arms and my legs. Then all four of us crowded around the display in the booth to look at the images on the screen.

My stomach lurched and I felt cold and numb again as I stared. The markings in my arms and legs were faint, and maybe normal people would ignore them or assume it was a glitch or something, but they were there. Complicated runes were somehow drawn inside my body, out of sight and completely unknown to any of us.

Then the x-ray of my chest left me even more nervous.

There was some kind of solid object right in the middle next to my heart. It was oval, about an inch and a half long by an inch across, and it was surrounded by a circle of those faint runes. There were some other markings around that which looked smeared and broken, but it wasn't hard to guess there'd originally been three rings of runes. The outer two had been lost though, only the inner-most markings were intact.

"Please forward these to the email address I gave you," mum stated softly. "Then purge everything from the computer here."

"Yes ma'am," Mr. Roslovic replied.

Mom gently guided me back to the wheelchair and said, "Let's get you back to your room hon, sorry we had to wake you for this."

I just nodded quietly but I was still numb from what I'd seen. I stayed numb as my parents wheeled me back out the door.

As we left mum said, "Thanks again Isaac. We owe you one."

"No you don't," he responded. "I'm just returning the favour you did me and my wife. Good luck to all three of you."

As my parents wheeled me back to my room I asked quietly, "Can't we just go home? I don't want to stay here anymore."

"Sorry hon," mom replied. She lowered her voice and added, "If we could heal you with magic we'd have already done so. You know we can't do that though, and considering what we've all just learned I don't think it'd be safe regardless."

I tried to argue, "I could heal myself with magic, I've done it before. It'd be worth a few seconds of pain to be able to go home right now."

When we got to my room mom helped me back into bed and pulled the sheet up over me while mum gave me my big plushie. Then she reconnected the IV tube to my hand. And finally she gave me a worried look and asked, "What do you mean about getting pain from a healing spell? They don't hurt, that's the whole point of a healing spell."

"Um," I grimaced as I lay back and hugged my bun. "I did a really strong healing spell on myself around new years? And it hurt, like my whole body stung for a few seconds. It worked though? I thought I was coming down with a cold, but after that I was fine. No cold or anything."

Mom sounded anxious as she asked, "Cass? Have you ever been hurt by magic any other times?"

I shook my head, "Not that I can think of? I mean, other than what happened in May's class yesterday. That hurt whole lot."

My parents exchanged a worried glance, then mum sighed. "Three circles of binding and containment runes."

"The first was probably broken at new years," mom responded. "And the second circle was destroyed yesterday."

They both looked at me then mum whispered, "Only one circle remains, to contain whatever that is inside you."

"The next large spell or enchantment you absorb might be all it takes to break the final seal," mom added softly. "So please Cassandra, no more magic. Not until we've had time to figure this out."

I gulped, but nodded as I held my plushie bun a little tighter.

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