“Well, thanks for stopping her before she did something stupid.”
“Yeah, like rip the poor Cub's throat out.”
Nik clenched his jaw. “Damn Fraya,” he grumbled. He gave Carr a sideways glance. “She must be disciplined. Her behaviour is unacceptable. I don't doubt she'll continue to harass Jaz unless we punish her for her insolence. I won't have it. We'll bring this matter to the Council tomorrow morning. See what she has to say. Meanwhile, keep her under house arrest. I don't want her going anywhere near that site or Jaz until we clear this up.”
“You're the boss,” Carr replied, flashing a bright smile.
Nik gazed down at the phone, wondering whether he should leave it to Edda to call him or ring her as soon as he was done.
Carr studied his face. “Is something wrong?”
Nik looked up. “Has anyone heard from Jaz since she left the site?”
Carr frowned, puzzled. “Not that I know of. Why?”
“I came down to the site today.”
“I saw.” Carr said in a tone that said, 'Obviously'.
Nik paused, nodded once, whilst gripping the edge of his varnished desk.
“And...?” Carr encouraged.
Nik shook his head. “Nothing.” The shrill of the phone ringing broke the silence between them and Nik grabbed it so quickly Carr gave him a curious look. “Hello?”
“Nik, it's Edda.”
He looked up at Carr with implication.
“Okay, I get the hint,” Carr said jokingly, raising up his hands. “I'm going.”
“Carr,” Nik called, covering the phone mouthpiece.
Carr turned round just as he reached the door.
“I want you to fill everyone in tomorrow at the council meeting. You witnessed the incident.”
Carr made a face as if about to come up with an excuse but changed his mind. He rubbed the back of his neck. “Sure. Okay.”
“Also bring two witnesses who saw the whole thing. I'll talk to you later.”
“Alright.” He left.
Nik loosened his grip on the phone and said, “I'm here.”
“She's had her first attack,” Edda stated.
Nik frowned; his forehead ached from the throbbing pressure of blood. “When, and how long?”
“Right after we spoke. I got there not long after and found her on the floor, shaking. She got through it. But it was tough. It lasted an hour.”
“An hour?” He could barely hide the horror in his voice.
A seizure, attack or the 'shakes' was a symptom of the body preparing for the first ever Change. The moment when their human-shaped bodies would break bones, twist limbs, stretch muscles and skin to morph into their other being. It was an excruciating process.
The attacks and then eventually the Changes got easier to manage over time and experience. The more often you Changed the better you could control it, handle it, maybe even get used to the pain. Yeah, right, Nik thought cynically. You know what to expect the more times you do it, but you can never really 'get used to it'. It's always as horrible as the first time. It never gets less painful. You just get more thick-skinned and learn to deal with it.
The shakes continued after the first Change, as an indicator that your body needed to Change. An average Were could last about a week without feeling it but after that they'd get that niggling itch, and then the shivers, until the urge and then eventually the shakes, became so uncontrollable they'd have to Change or they'd wish for death over and over again.
The pre-Change spasms were harsher than the ones after, when they could finally Change; unless a Were left it too long between Changes -though no one had ever been dumb enough to test it.
On average the shakes could last anywhere between five to twenty minutes. Nik remembered Lora having an attack that lasted half an hour. But never any longer. No one had ever had one any longer before. Not on record.
An hour was ridiculously long. He couldn't imagine the agony she must have gone through.
As he processed this, Edda brought him back to the here and now. “She's fine,” she reassured. “She's resting. But she kept asking me something... a lot.”
“What did she say?”
Edda sighed heavily. “She wants her parents, Nik. And her friends. She kept asking, begging me to let her call them. I didn't know what to say. Would it be so bad if she did?”
Nik thought about it for a moment. “I'm coming over.”
~Chapter 23 - Restore~
Sunday June 5th, 4:03 p.m.
Jaz's bedroom
I want to die. Please, please just let me die.
Nothing else but those words repeated over and over again in her head. Her insides were screaming for the attack to stop. Her muscles writhed and cramped and felt like they were being ripped apart by poker-hot claws. Her bones crunched as they dislocated and clicked grotesquely back into place; focusing mainly in her spine, her hips and then her ankles, fingers, knees, wrists and heels. The pain was so unbearable she blacked out several times, only realizing she was lucid when Edda's face appeared through the clouded screen of her vision.
After her body stopped fighting itself like a wild, raging animal, ripping its way through her bones, muscles, organs and skin – a thought that horrified her as it wasn't that far from the reality- she continued to convulse uncontrollably.