12 Awaken

Tori Grimes could hear rhythmic beeping coming from nearby. Her other senses came to her in stages. Her hearing slowly got better as she heard muffled voices beyond the beeping. She became away she was lying in a rather stiff bed, covered in a thin blanket. She became aware there was a needle stuck in her arm. The air smelled musty, as if she were in an older building that had not been thoroughly dusted in a while. There was also a distinct, musky smell she could not place.

She opened her eyes and noticed the beeping spike. Tori was a brick room. The bricks looked old and weathered. The only door was arched with iron fittings for decoration and reinforcement. She was lying in a bed which seemed newer, but the wooden frame still seemed a few years old.

Her bed was part of a set of four. Two of the others were also occupied. The fourth, the one on her left, was empty and freshly made. Tori craned her neck to see the faces of the other two in the room. She felt her heart beat faster when she saw one of her roommates laying in the bed next to hers.

Layla, her face had a slash along her cheek that had been stitched up. Her head was wrapped. She had an IV tube stuck to her arm, and a long bandage was visible on the other. In the other bed was Maddie, not looking as bad. She was awake. Tori could see tears streaming down her cheeks as she stared up at the ceiling. Tori quietly called out to her but got no response.

The door opened a few minutes later, making Tori's heart skip a beat. A stout man entered the room. His glasses sat near the tip of his nose as he looked down at a clipboard in his hands. His hair was greying and thinning, but he did not look old enough for greying hair. He was dressed in a button-down shirt and bowtie and slacks that were just a touch short. He closed the door and finally looked up from his clipboard. His eyes locked with Tori's and a kind smile formed on his thin lips. It was then that she noticed, as he came into the light, the four long scars running down his left cheek. She stifled a gasp as he started toward her.

"Ah, you're awake," He said, his voice soft and warm. He looked back down at his clipboard as he walked over to Tori. "How are you feeling, dear?"

Tori did not respond. She felt tears welling up in her eyes and tried to fight them back. Her heart was trying to escape her chest through her ribcage. She tried hard to control her breathing.

The stranger looked at the heartrate monitor which was now beeping rapidly along with her pulse. He pressed a button on the monitor and the beeping ceased. He smiled back down at Tori. "I'm sure you have questions, and I promise they will be answered. My name is Alistair, the physician here. I've been taking care of you."

Tori tore her eyes away from Alistair and looked up at the stone ceiling high above her head. "Where am I?"

"Safe," Alistair said in response. "I'm going to give you a mild sedative to calm your heartrate. Then we can talk. Alright?"

Tori nodded, feeling a treacherous tear escape and roll down her cheek. She looked over at Alistair who was injecting a clear liquid into the IV tube. He placed a gentle hand on her shoulder before leaving the room. Questions swam in her head, awaiting Alistair's return.

She felt her heart starting to settle back to a normal pace when the door opened again. Alistair had returned, carrying a chair into the room. He set the chair next to Tori's bed and sat, leaning toward her, pressing his fingertips together. "Do you feel better?"

Tori nodded.

"Enough to talk?"

Tori nodded again. "Yes." Her voice was a rasp.

"Good," Alistair reached over to where he had left his clipboard before leaving the room. He flipped to a new page and set his pen against the paper. "Can we start with your name? Do you remember it?"

"Tori," She said, her voice a bit more confident. "Tori Grimes."

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Tori," Alistair said with a smile. The smile faded as he scribbled quickly across the page. "What is the last thing you remember."

Tori took a moment. Her memory was hazy. Searching for a specific memory was a challenge, like swimming through murky water. "There was a party, our classmates were there. Layla invited some guys we hadn't met before. They…" Tori trailed off. Tears started streaming down her face. She saw images. She saw red eyes, dark hair. No…fur. It was a beast, larger than anything she had seen before. There were three of them. They were attacking her and her roommates.

"It's alright," Alistair said softly, setting the clipboard aside. "That's about what we got out of your friend as well, he gestured toward Maddie, still quietly sobbing in her bed, but was now looking toward them.

Tori wiped her tears away. "Is this a hospital?"

Alistair shook his head. "I have enough to keep newcomers alive, but we are far from a hospital. I'm sorry to say you are far from home. We had to get you away from Salem for observation."

Tori looked back up at the ceiling, trying to process what he said. "What happened to us?"

"You were attacked, and caught a poison when you did. Some of our youngest recruits were in Salem and lost control. We have disciplined them properly, but I am sorry to say, the damage is done." Alistair's voice was solemn toward the end.

Tori kept her face stoic. "Am I dying?"

"No," Alistair said. "It is a fate much worse. And before I explain, you need to open your mind."

Tori looked to him again. "To what?"

Alistair paused. "To the supernatural."