Page 64 of For the Strange and Surprising

Connak gives me a tight smile, squeezing my hand as he touches the doorknob. “You sure? It’s madness on the other side.”

That’s an understatement.

Inside, the clinic is beyond chaos. There’s enough blood on the floor to assume the attack happened in the waiting room. The scent of copper and dirt assaults my senses. Down the hall, Imryll shouts orders.

The wounded Mongrels are calm. They don’t even flinch as the doctor’s booming voice reverberates off the walls. It’s as if they’re in a state of shock, completely catatonic.

I’m sure they are.

“They’ve been given a sedative to help with the pain while they wait,” Connak informs me. “They’ll be okay.”

“Ada, yes?” an older man inquires.

I haven’t seen him before, but his chocolate-brown eyes are kind, if not a little haggard. His salt and pepper hair is tied at the nape of his neck, hanging over his shoulder. And his white shirt is as blood-stained as his hands.

“Imryll said you would be of great service. I’m Dr. Graymyst, but you may call me Selmar. It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

I nod and tip my head. “I’m here to help, sir. What can I do?”

“It would be a tremendous help if you could clean up the wounds before I get to the patients. And once I’ve finished treating or stitching them, Connak can come back to bandage them. If we can send the minor injuries home, then I can help Raf and Imryll with some of the more severe injuries.”

Without any further prompting, Connak and I wash up and jump in. This is clearly an all-hands-on-deck situation, so I don’t waste any time asking what-if questions. I know how to be gentle. And if I come across something other than wiping away blood and dirt, then I’ll ask the professionals to step in.

I collect a few needed supplies from one of the exam rooms I’ve been in, and we begin setting up a cleaning station in the waiting area before we get to work.

Some of the wounds remind me of Connak’s back the first day I was here. But the cuts are broader, accompanied by sporadic punctures. The holes are as big around as a pen, and Selmar packs them with gauze-like material coated in crab berry milk. It makes me wince, but they’ll heal faster with the stinging medicine. And definitely quicker than some of the more extensive gouges we find.

Talodus arrives with a group of guards, instructing them to wait outside for orders from Selmar. When I raise a curious brow, he joins me at the counter Connak and I have hijacked. He glances over the array of medical supplies covering the top as I cork the vial of crab berry milk.

“As of right now, there are still fourteen Mongrels in the clinic. Selmar has already sent five lucky survivors home.”

“This isn’t from a Shade attack, is it?” I ask, but I already know.

Connak wipes his hands on a cloth. “No, Ada. This is from a beast; more than one, judging by all the damage.”

“The attacks are getting worse,” Talodus confesses. “It’s rare to see more than one beast in the same place at the same time.”

Selmar calls the guards inside, and several out-of-uniform Mongrels enter with them. He assigns them patients who need to be taken home, careful to explain where their wounds are. The volunteers joke and smile with the injured, lightening the mood as we begin to empty the room.

This is a terrible situation, but the community involvement is an incredible thing to witness.

It’s just another day for the Mongrels, though.

“Do you think it’s the beast we saw at the lake, Connak?” I blurt without thinking.

Maybe it wasn’t multiple beasts. It could have been one with monstrous power, with an impurity so vast that it oozes from its skin.

I need more information before my imagination runs rampant.

Connak glances at Talodus, and they both look at me, weighing their answers.

“What?” I demand.

“We don’t think so.” Talodus sighs, rubbing at the back of his neck. “But there’s no way to be sure unless we saw the attack.”

“There isn’t a system to record the appearance of individual beasts,” Connak tells me. “We don’t mark who’s who, only where the attacks happen.”

“Ada?” Imryll bellows down the hall. “Are you still here?”