I thought back over the articles I'd read, projecting the images of text behind my eyes as I skimmed over it, searching for all the things I'd read on wendigos. Once I found it, I skimmed back over the mental page.
Wendigos are known for their tendency to infect others to turn them. This most often occurs through bites or scrapes. Once bitten, the victim will develop Wendigo Fever. During this period, the body will weaken, while it grows longer body hair and fangs and develops an insatiable desire to consume human flesh. It is critical to stop the Fever during this twelve hour period by exterminating the offending wendigo. If the wendigo that infected the victim is not exterminated within that time, the victim will become a full wendigo and have no chance at redemption.
"Shit," I breathed, opening my eyes to the darkness. The Fever took hold relatively quickly from what I recalled, which meant I wouldn't be in action for much longer.
My knees buckled and I slid down the wall as the blackness spun. Gritting my teeth, I pressed myself farther into the wall, sucking in deep breaths as I tried to steady myself. I still had a wendigo to beat. I had to get back up.
Come on, Daisy, get up, I thought. All I had to do was put my legs under me and push up. It wasn't that difficult. Just slide my legs up and…
"Daisy… Hey, come on." Warm pressure ran along my upper arms. A hand slid back down to my wrist and fingers wrapped around it--checking my pulse. "Daisy, I need you to get up. We can't stay out here much longer."
"Mmm." It was so warm and wonderful. I didn't ever want to move. "Fuck the 'go."
"Oh my--Daisy, we're moving." Arms went under mine, and I was hauled upright. I was awkwardly shifted so my arm went around a set of broad shoulders while another arm wrapped around my waist. I rested heavily against the figure and was dragged along as they walked.
"Dallas."
"Yeah?"
Oh shit, that was who carried me. He was okay! "Good." That meant he wasn't wendigo dinner. Score. It would've sucked if my new roommate and friend had become wendigo food so soon.
Dallas sighed and kept dragging me for another three centuries. Finally, I felt him slump me against another wall. That one was so much colder. It was like it was made of fucking ice cubes!
"Cold."
"It's the fever setting in," Dallas said, making me hiss as he prodded at the cut on my cheek. "I found a first-aid kit, so I'm going to clean up your scratch. The alcohol wipe might sting a little, okay?"
I hummed and relaxed against the wall, closing my eyes against the darkness again. None of it felt real. While I knew there was a beast after us, I couldn't even bring myself to care. If it killed us, whatever. I wanted to fucking sleep. What was the worst that could happen?
"Hey, stay with me." Dallas's hot breath puffed against my cheek as he sighed, cupping my face. "I need you to help me finish off the wendigo, okay? Can you help me?"
Dallas. Help. He needed my help. The wendigo… Right, the wendigo still prowled around out there. Forcing my eyes back open, only a sliver of his silhouette was visible in the pitch black of the room. The tension surrounding us was enough to rouse me a bit more, maybe not enough to be of any real assistance, but it was better than becoming an unconscious heap.
"Good, thank you. I--" A low growl silenced Dallas. He moved up and away from me, his body slipping into a defensive stance as he hovered at my side.
Help. I needed to help him. Get up.
The growling grew louder. Footsteps scraped across the tile floor. Sounds of panting filled the air. Dallas's still form sprang into action. My vision blurred and dimmed, everything slipping out of focus as my body convulsed with the fever. A snarl tore through the room, mingling with Dallas's primal, aggressive grunts.
I couldn't tell how well he was doing. Gods, I hoped he did it. Being a wendigo sounded horrible--and I didn't care much for the thought of one of my few friends becoming wendigo food either.
"Fuck!" Dallas's feet slapped the floor loudly as he scrambled back. His calves bumped into my shoulder, making me grumble. "Daisy, hey." He jostled me, making me groan again. I didn't feel well. I couldn't fight the fucking wendigo. "Daisy! Get the fuck up, and help me, you lazy shit."
"Shut up," I mumbled, resting my head back against the wall. He'd be fine for another couple minutes. I needed a second, and then--
White, ethereal light illuminated the room. It coated the walls and exposed the snarling beast. Through the brief flashes I caught of Dallas's face, it was also clear he'd been clipped by the wendigo as well, but his injury was fresh. The blood still dribbled down his face, whereas mine had dried.
"Daisy, push him back!" Dallas commanded, creating a portal around the beast. "Now would be fucking wonderful!"
I waved a hand none too gracefully, imagining the wendigo falling back. The wendigo stumbled, flailing and catching Dallas's face again. Dallas cursed and dropped the portal, stumbling back against the wall.
Shit. Pushing myself up, I thrust a hand out, pinning the wendigo back again.
"Start the portal. We've got him this time." Silence. "Dallas?"
Just then, the lights snapped on. A black silhouette darted from the corridor and slashed through the center of the wendigo. The beast screeched ferally as it vanished in a flash of white. I blinked harshly against the light and sat up, feeling around my face. The cut was gone.
"Dallas?" I stood up, going over to where he still sat against the wall. His cuts were gone too, but the blood remained. His chest also heaved with the force of his breathing. "You good?"
He nodded jerkily. Our gazes slotted together. I grinned at him, and he laughed breathlessly, almost as if he couldn't believe we'd made it out alive. I extended a hand to him and pulled him upright. As I started to ask if he was all right again, I caught his gaze wander to the side of me.
Upon turning, I found Channing and the girl from earlier--Kassidy--standing next to her. The sword that'd exterminated the wendigo rested in her grasp.
"Thanks for the save," I said, nodding at the girl. "And we did text you this time, to be fair."
Channing kept her arms crossed over her chest as she nodded. "Thank you for that, Daisy. We were actually already on standby tonight, though."
I blinked owlishly. "What?"
"Why didn't you come help us after Daisy was attacked?" Dallas demanded, jaw set stubbornly as he folded his arms over his chest.
"To run this test in its entirety, she needed to see both of you in action," Channing said.
"Who?"
She tilted her head toward Kassidy. "Ms. Saito, the Exterminator Academy's head of admissions."
At the dumbstruck expressions Dallas and I offered them, Channing forged ahead in her picture painting. "The security detail I placed on the two of you have noticed your efficiency at neutralizing supernatural threats. Reviewing the footage of you in the supermarket and at your apartment, I'm inclined to agree that for first and second year trainees, the two of you seem to be remarkably well-suited for extermination training."
"That's where I come in," Kassidy said, grinning at us. "Obviously, I'm not a fellow classmate. I sat in on a lecture today to give you the illusion I was, that way I could approach you and go ahead to get the feel of the two of you. After seeing the way you work with one another, as well as how you handled a red-level threat like the wendigo, I have to admit that I'm pretty impressed. I've seen sixth-year trainees that didn't do as well as the two of you did."
"So, what's this all about?" I asked.
"Well, I've come to offer the two of you spots in the Extermination Academy. You'd be learning information you need here in conjunction with the extermination training you'll need to eliminate supernatural threats to the human population," Kassidy said. "It'll prepare you for your futures in the supernatural side of the universe, as well as give you tools you'll need to keep up your curent lifestyle without exposing us or killing yourselves." She grinned toothily.
I snorted, "Good job, Channing. Thank you."
She shifted her weight onto her left leg. "I thought you'd like it. You won't be bored, and you'll stay the hell out of my hair."
"Wait a second, so if we do this, we'll be expected to become Exterminators eventually, yes?" Dallas asked, looking between them.
Kassidy shrugged. "It isn't absolutely required, but it is preferred. Even if you don't want to specifically be an Exterminator, there are other positions within the agency that you could do, like medical, instruction, or research." She propped her fists on her hips. "I don't need a definitive decision from you two yet, but I'd like to hear something by this time next week--before your next training session, if possible."
"I'm in," I said. "This shit is pointless. I've been reading extermination articles during the lectures anyway."
Kassidy grinned. "Glad to have you aboard, Daisy. Dallas, once you have a decision, just give me a call." A black business card materialized in her hand. She passed it to Dallas, who took it with a quiet thanks. "In the meantime, if either of you have questions or concerns, don't hesitate to call at any time. As a part-time Exterminator myself, I've learned to keep weird hours."
"If you can't get her, feel free to call me. I don't know as much about that field, but I'm not useless," Channing said. "Now, get back home and get some sleep. You both have class in the morning."
They vanished from the room, leaving Dallas and I alone. He sighed and leaned against the wall, shaking his head.
"I can't believe that was a fucking test."
"It was efficient, even if it scared the shit out of me. I thought you were gone for a second."
"So did I." Dallas ran a hand through his short hair. "Gods, I like this, but I don't know if I want to do it for the rest of my life."
"She already said you didn't have to."
"I know but…" Dallas shrugged and shoved his hands into the pockets of his jeans. "I don't know. I have a feeling like I shouldn't do this."
"And why shouldn't you?" I asked, glancing over at him as I took the spot on the wall at his side. "Maybe we haven't known each other long, but I can already tell you we're cut from the same chaotic cloth. You like danger and exploration. The mundane is dull and horrible, for both of us. You live off this shit the same as I do. Maybe we haven't done this for long, but without it, how happy would you really be?"
"I don't know, Daisy." He stared holes into the floor, head constantly swinging back and forth. As if he squinted and shook hard enough, the answer would reveal itself to him via tile. "I guess I have this mental image of settling down and having a family eventually. I'd be a family physician or an accountant or something like that."
"And how do you feel when you think of having to do that for several decades?"
"Happy."
"And after your job is routine and your kid is always at school and the love is dead between you and your spouse?"
His face scrunched up like a bad taste formed in his mouth. "Restless."
"And what about when you think of chasing after all sorts of creatures and learning about them and traveling to different realms of existence?"
He scraped his teeth over his lower lip for a moment before he said in the smallest, quietest voice, "Free."
"Well, you've got a week to decide whether happiness and eventual restlessness is better or worse than being free." I patted his shoulder and pushed off the wall, tilting my head toward the door. "Let's go home."
"All right, I'm behind."
We walked out of the warehouse in silence. The drive back to the apartment was the same. We told one another goodnight, and there I sat on my bed, typing up my night before I passed out.