NDAM Casefiles: File 1-The Awakening

Yuri watched the creature with eerie fascination. Nicholai stood by his brother, watching Yuri closely.
“Is the energy too much?” Nicholai asked, touching Yuri’s wrist.
“No,” came Yuri’s short reply.
Travis Anderson was floating in front of the creature like a limp puppet. Claw marks were on his arms and and chest and his right arm looked broken and misshapen. His eyes were closed and Nicholai couldn’t really see any sign of life. Soft light seemed to connect Travis to the creature.
A light hiss drew Nicholai’s attention to the left of the creature. A younger looking girl with raven hair was crouching next to a figure slumped against the wall and bloodied. Nicholai approached the girl, hands raised in a peace gesture.
“Coeunt.” She hissed, staring frantically at Travis. She reached her hand out a whined helplessly. Nicholai leaned down and checked the pulse of the person slumped behind Nyx.
“Ash? What in the hell happened?” Nicholai asked. With a groan, Ash coughed and then laughed.
“God, Elf, I never thought I’d be happy to see you,” the Australian grimaced in pain and touched his ribs. When he drew his hand away, blood painted the tips of his fingers. “Heal me and then I’ll tell you.” Nicholai shook his head with a smile and then nodded. Nicholai quickly healed Ash and helped him stand.
“Hey, the ginger was saying something about a little girl named Mary. I’m gonna go look for her for him.” Ash told him, going into the fourth car to begin looking.
Rebecca and James opened the door and Rebecca froze. “No…” She whispered softly. “No! No, no, no! Make it stop!” Her voice slowly got louder and louder. “It’s killing him!” She shrieked and ran forward. James grabbed her around the waist and pulled her back as Yuri walked forward.
Nicholai was by his side in an instant, grabbing Travis’s right wrist as Yuri grabbed the left and pulling Travis away from the creature, all the while chanting in Latin. Yuri pulled the redhead away as Nicholai’s chant continued. The younger Russian closed his eyes as the darkness threatened his senses again. This time Rebecca grabbed his hand and chanted with him, keeping him grounded as the screaming assaulted his mind.
Yuri watched his brother and Rebecca struggle for what seemed like hours though only a few minutes passed. Slowly the creature began to fade away until it was just a shadow, and then it slipped across the ground and disappeared into Travis’s form. Nicholai closed his eyes and walked shakily over to Yuri.
“We’ve done it. You clean up the rest.” Yuri snapped at James as the Russian dragged Travis to the captain. Yuri wrapped his arm around Nicholai’s waist and led Nicholai back to the train station.
James leaned down to check Travis’s pulse as Rebecca kneeled and opened her medical kit. Rebecca checked his pupils, his blood pressure, his heartbeat, and did a few other tests that James wasn’t familiar with. Then Rebecca placed her hands on Travis’s chest and closed her eyes. Rebecca’s hands glowed a faint lilac color, the color slowly radiating from her hands across Travis’s body. Rebecca shivered as she felt energy pulsing within Travis.
“Well?” James asked, concern etched in his features. He watched the medic pour more energy into Travis’s form. Nyx kneeled beside Travis and mewled pitifully, holding his hand and nuzzling against his neck.
“He’ll live. It’s amazing, how much magic he has. I’m not sure he can access even half of his reserves.” Rebecca explained, keeping her eyes closed. “God, James…We need him, this is…this is wonderful.”
James rubbed his jaw and shook his head. “You know he won’t stay, Rebecca. You know he won’t.”
James stood up, watching the civilians being lead through the train cars to safety. He contemplated how they had all got here, what choices had lead James, Travis, and Rebecca all to this situation. Travis’s passion for not using magic had made the past four years difficult for James, having only minimal contact with his best friend other than a scrawled letter on a napkin here or a postcard there, occasionally a phone call from a run down inn. Rebecca repeatedly asked Travis to join them at NDAM and allow James and Rebecca to help him with his self-appointed task. Travis, of course, had refused with the reasoning that it was his problem to deal with, that he wouldn’t use magic to solve his problems.
How he had wound up with a shifter, James couldn’t fathom. His first question was whether Travis even knew she could shift. Of course he knew, James thought to himself. Travis was stubborn but not stupid. James also had to wonder what would draw a shifter to Travis. The noises Nyx was making showed that she was very attached to him.
“Hey…can I ask you a question, ma’am?” James asked, crouching next to Nyx.
“Nyx,” She hissed, “Me name Nyx.”
“Alright, Nyx. I’m told certain shifters are attracted to magic. Are you attracted to Travis’s magic?” James asked, touching her hand. Nyx hissed once more and pulled away.
“Shifters are like lizards attracted to warmth,” Rebecca explained. She had opened her eyes and was putting away her supplies. “Shifters have little magic of their own, but because they are magical beings they do require magic to survive. Nyx actually most likely absorbs part of his magic. God, James, that’s insane. Travis…There’s no way he can be human.” Rebecca shook her head. She had bandaged his right arm. “Let’s get him out of here,” Rebecca said, standing. Nyx lifted Travis, cradling him close to her chest and hissing at James.
“She hates me,” James sighed, shaking his head. Rebecca just chuckled and hugged James. Nyx followed them back to the train station. Civilians were milling around like sheep, complaining and shouting insults at officers who wouldn’t answer questions. Seeing Nicholai and Yuri were nowhere to be found, James sighed and shook his head.
“He is very angry.” Rebecca told James as she walked around, checking injuries.
“How do you know? Can you sense it?” James asked. He really didn’t want to have the person on their team with the most experience in mixed martial arts to be angry at him. That never ended well and Yuri had a horrible temper as it was. Put his brother in danger and the older Russian was a run-away freight train loaded with angry bulls.
“There is a whole in the wall that wasn’t there when we came in. Sparky says Yuri did it. Sparky also says that he’s staying with us tonight so you better go clear things up with Yuri,” Rebecca told James, checking a man’s vitals, “I’ll take Trav to the hospital and you go find the Russian.”
James shook his head, mumbled, “Why do you get the better deal?” and left. Sometimes his fiancée could be so cruel.