I heard voices, one I recognized as Scott with a very sarcastic tone and the other was a woman with an equally sarcastic tone but it almost sounded angelic. They were talking about something but I couldn’t hear what. The only words I could hear were “mask” and “disappeared”. Opening my eyes, I see a strange light hanging above me. It was similar to a lightbulb but those hadn’t been invented yet so what was it? It blinded me momentarily before the woman whose voice I heard before stuck her head between me and the light. “Ahh, you’re finally awake.” she said in a calm voice, very unlike the sarcastic tone I heard earlier. 

“Where am I?” I asked, trying to sit up but instead was met with a lot of pain. Having forgotten I had been stabbed, I laid back down with a groan and a pained chuckle.

“I see you’re feeling better already.” Scott said sarcastically with a shit-eating grin plastered on his face.

“Well, fuck you too.” I replied as we both began to chuckle. The woman in the room whom I now realized wasn’t wearing the normal clothes that women of this era would normally wear but in fact, was wearing a dark brown suit. 

It was similar to that of a businessman or a banker, except the coat was hanging on the wall and she had no tie. She was standing beside me at the bed or table whilst rolling her eyes at our attempts to laugh off the pain. Although I couldn’t see her face I could make out a slender frame that was around a full head shorter than Scott.

 “I don’t believe we’ve met, I am Lou Barret.” I said extending out my hand for a handshake as I was laying down. It wasn’t very proper but I couldn’t sit up so this was the best I could do.

“Elysif Avian.” she said shaking my hand. “I am surprised, you’re the first person I have worked on who didn’t ask if I was qualified to heal them.” She said before turning to Scott. “You bring in some weird people.”

“I don’t see why anyone would ask if you were qualified?” I said with a confused and subtly worried look.

“Usually they're concerned that a woman is a doctor.” Elysif replied.

“I don’t see what that has to do with your qualifications.” I said honestly.

“I like him.” Elysif said to Scott with a proud look.

“Whatever, can you fix him or not? I know you’ve stabilized him already but will he pull through?” Scott asked. I was now worried that my life was being brought up. I thought she had already taken care of me. 

“I am a witch, not God. I can only heal him to a point, he will need rest to heal what I cannot.” Elysif replied.

“Okay, do what you can. Kid, I am heading to Mama Louise’s to tell her what happened and to Iscariot’s to see if he can track the changeling. I’ll be back in a couple of hours.” Scott said before walking out the door. After a few minutes of watching Elysif mix ingredients in a bowl, I decided to speak up. “I thought you were a witch. Aren’t you doing what normal doctors do by making medicine?” I asked as it was probably normal practice for the time.

She continued with what she was mixing as she replied. “Doctors make medicine from what they find in the realm of humans such as plants or minerals, I mix parts of magical creatures and the supernatural to make instant cures. I also throw in a little of my own magic to enhance the medicinal properties. If I wanted to I could cure you with magic alone but I would be so tired from it I would probably sleep for a week.” Elysif explained.

“I see. So that’s the difference. And how long do you think it will take to heal?” I asked now that I understood what she was doing.

“I have already stopped the bleeding. As for fixing your damaged organs, it will take a splash of this potion I am brewing and a few days of rest.” She said without any doubt in her voice.

“Well, that’s good.”

“Now a question for you. How did you meet Scott?” Elysif asked curiously.

“He saved me from some changelings and I killed one of them so he took me under his wing I guess. All this supernatural stuff is new to me so it’s a little strange.” I replied. It was the honest truth and kind of weird, to be honest.

“You killed a changeling without ever knowing they existed in the first place? That’s impressive.” She said with an impressed look.

“Yeah, well now I know that a ton of monsters exist and so does magic. It’s a lot to take in.” I said with a tired sigh.

“I would expect that it would be. I was raised in a witch's coven so I knew about all that stuff from birth. I guess I can’t relate.” she said standing up from her workspace and facing me. I didn’t realize it before but she was quite beautiful. She had short brown hair that went to her shoulders and a tanned face. Her eyes were a light brown but seemed to glow orange in the light of whatever that device hanging above me was. Her mouth was small and her lips were naturally a bright red that faded perfectly with her tan face. She was like an angel.

“Well, it’s not too much of a shock… Aagh-” I shrieked as she dumped the contents of her potion onto my wound. It burned like fire on a petrol-soaked carpet.

“Maybe, I should have given you an anesthetic?” she asked herself aloud quizzically.

“Ya think.” I shrilled sarcastically as the burning sensation continued. When it finally stopped I sat up without any pain and looked over my wound. It was gone! Why am I even surprised anymore, I found out that magic was real. At this point, I could meet God and not be fazed.

“You scream like a bitch.” She said whilst badly attempting to cover her smile with her right hand. I take back what I thought, she is no angel, but the devil.