Eight: Oh, Doctor, I'm in Trouble
Once Fritz has been laid gently onto the wooden floor, you gather around him. There's something about the missing limb—or the space where the missing limb should be—that draws the eye.
For a while, no one says anything. Fritz doesn't appear to be entirely conscious or unconscious, but rather drifting between the two. You can't tell whether you're waiting for him to wake up or for him to pass out completely.
"What happened?" Will murmurs, staring at the ruined limb. "Who did that to him?"
Val and Romilly exchange a glance, clearly deciding between the two of them who will recount the story. In the end, it's Val who replies. Even with her vampiric coloring, she looks pale, either from shock or from weariness. For a moment, she almost seems to sway on her feet.
"We…we left St. Mary's when you told us to," she says. "And we set off to find the others. We…Fritz and I…we remembered where they'd gone, and Fritz could smell them, so we went off looking for them."
"And then what happened?" Sonia asks.
Romilly gives a bitter laugh. "We found them."
"For a while, we couldn't see where they were," Val goes on. "Fritz had the scent, but he said that it was…wrong somehow, like it was tainted by something. But we thought…well…we thought that a lot of strange things had been happening, and it must have just been another one."
Val glances down at Fritz, and there's so much empathy in her expression that it almost borders on affection; you can't tell if the others catch it or not.
"So…we got out of St. Mary's," Romilly says, taking over. Unlike Val's low, somber tones, her voice is high, with a tightness to it that makes it seem as though she's doing everything she can to keep it under control. "We went across the big road and into the fields. That's…that's where Fritz said that their scent was coming from." She glances around your group. "You know the fields, with the farms and everything? That's where he thought they were, even though we couldn't…couldn't see them." She shakes her head, her eyes closing for a moment. "I'd swear that there wasn't anyone there."
There's a moment where no one speaks before Sonia asks quietly, "And then?"
"And then…they came at us," Romilly says simply. "The vampires and the werewolves. It was like they didn't recognize Fritz and Val. They…they were trying to…"
She stops, the silence sudden, and she drops her gaze to the floor.
"They were trying to kill us," Val says, her voice hollow. "The werewolves, the vampires…they were trying to murder us. Like…actually trying to kill us." She shakes her head. "I've heard the stories; I know all the legends; I know what it's been like here. But…" Her voice tails off, like Romilly's had before. She struggles through it, however, raising her head to look at you. "It was…awful."
Sonia moves over to Val, placing a hand on her arm. The taller vampire doesn't react. The rest of you are silent, gazing at Val.