The Healers leaped out of their seats soon after Isaac conjured the abomination. Violet remained seated, but at least her attention was pulled away from the window.

Zeke slowly backed away from it and turned back to see the others. Upon looking at the horror on the faces of his fellow Healers, who were much more versed in the supernatural than he was, it was clear that the abomination really was something appalling.

The thing had the body of an average man, a suited one at that—boring workplace attire—and it was marinated with the thick mucus that leaked from under his chin.

Isaac got up and stood by the mutated man. “You’re all doctors of the supernatural kind,” said the deranged zealot, “you shouldn’t be fazed by this.”

The sides of the patient’s greening face were stretched, making it into a misshapen oval, and one of his eyes was enlarged, taking up most of the space on his forehead. He looked like a byproduct of two species that should’ve never procreated.

“The problem is that you brought him here out of nowhere!” Gill chided. “Who is this person?” The large young man’s jaw locked in place, and the rest of his body trembled as the buttons on his suit held on for dear life.

“A patient,” Isaac responded happily. He looked over at the patient, who swayed heavily in place due to the weight of his enlarged head. “He’s dying quickly from an undiagnosed disease. The exact time he has left will remain unspecified, although it ain’t much. Get crackin’, doctors!”

“You are a psychopath and a moron,” Violet criticized calmly.

Ugo gave her a look. “You’re one to say.”

The patient’s vocal sac inflated and came out a thunderous croak that made for a jumpscare that managed to startle only Zeke (forcing his signature yip out of him). The feeling of embarrassment that followed overshadowed the terror quickly after.

The tremors continued to build up inside Zeke and started to show. “Is this for real?” he whined. “Is this a joke or something? Is this some illusionary spell?”

Gill inspected the patient from a distance with his arms folded and one finger on his bloated cheek. “No. No illusionary spell. This is actually happening.”

“Oh God, is killing him an option?” Ugo suggested. “I think he’d appreciate it.”

The patient dropped, Yaalon rushed to action and sank to his haunches. “Doctors don’t let people die!” he shouted as if quoting a line from an action movie. He pointed at Isaac and said, “You’re a disgrace.” He turned to the patient. “If this is a game or not, it doesn’t matter! I’ll solve it quickly without even having to fully examine him!” He took one last glance at the patient and shot up. “This is a 183. Heqet’s Disease.”

“Pfft! It’s not Heqet’s Disease,” Akachi said, giving the Israeli Healer a look of disapproval.

“Yes, it is. I’ve seen this before,” Yaalon argued. “This is what happens when a deity’s blood gets into a human’s system.”

“I’m telling you that Heqet’s my homegirl. I got her on speed dial, and I’ve treated her hundreds of times… if you know what I mean.”

Ashlin groaned as she rolled her eyes and crossed her arms under her enormous breasts.

“I’ve treated people infected with Heqet’s Disease, too,” Akachi added, “and that ain’t it. It’s a 778. Uncategorized Transmogrification. A reverse metamorphosis spell, and he’ll be fine.”

Aida laughed hysterically and then looked at Akachi, throwing her hat into the ring. “And you call yourself a doctor?”

“Watch it, Koshiko,” Akachi hissed.

“Do you have any idea how supernatural genetic mutations work? Tell me which metamorphosis spell you will use on him if you have no idea what his original race is.”

“Human, obviously.”

“And how about if he’s originally a shapeshifter? Or an elf? Even though they have strikingly similar biology to humans, using the wrong spell will worsen the mutation. It’s a 172. Cursed Morsel.”

“What? A dietary issue? Are you insane?” Yaalon rebutted and approached the two making an expression that looked like they offended his entire family.

As the three argued. Zeke nervously raised a hand. “Uhh, what are all these codes being thrown around?”

Kian tugged the top of his mask and looked over at Zeke. “You don’t know the codes? What have you been doing all this time?”

“Wasting my life, apparently.”

“It happens,” Kian said. His voice sounded like he was fighting the flu, but it wasn’t precisely raspy, just weak and quiet, although sweet like a meek child’s.

Ashlin stole a glance at Zeke and scoffed. “Weird, the Diagnostician usually has the most codes in their head. That’s what we were told, anyway.”

“By who…?” Zeke asked.

“Our Healer’s Garbs.”

“You talk to it…?” Zeke shook his head. There were more pressing questions he needed to focus on. “How many codes are there?” he inquired.

Violet yawned and stretched her arms up, sinking back into her seat. “One million… give or take.”

Zeke and Ugo shouted at once, “What!”

Ugo mumbled, “And you guys have how many in your…?”

The patient started to croak repeatedly and shivered while lying on the floor on his side as if singing his own death song. Tiny bubbles of mucus began to erupt all over his slimy, moist skin.

Yaalon let out a loud groan. “We have no time for this. The patient is dying!” He halted for a moment and then forced his resolve on his own. “I’m doing the Hemodialysis spell.”

“Try that, and I’ll have your hand turned into the head of a serpent,” Aida threatened, stopping him in place.

“Fairy Dust Pills. Just pump him up with pills until the pain goes away,” Wade drawled.

“That’s just a temporary solution,” said Gill. “It wouldn’t fix the physical thing, and it won’t matter if he’s dead.”

Wade nested his hands into his pockets. “At least he’ll go peacefully.”

Ashlin chimed in. “Cut off a finger, and we’ll make a clone of him in his previous state. I can use it as a base to make a new Container, and then we transfer his soul to it. Easy.”

“That’s not a fix. He’ll have to keep switching to a new Container every now and then and take Mana supplements for the rest of his life! Also, he’ll need extensive mind training to remain in the Container.” Yaalon argued. “And maintaining that would take a crazy amount of mana.”

Ashlin laughed. “Maybe for you. Your sixty-percent is my… twelve-percent.” She laughed harder. “I make new Containers every week.”

“You’re bluffing.”

Ashlin rolled up her sleeves (probably making Ugo’s heart stop for a moment) and showed her flawless arms covered in multiple square-shaped patches marked with symbols.

This was enough to make Yaalon’s face drop and say, “You son of a bitch….”

“It’s most likely a curse,” Gill pitched. “917.3.”

“I don’t sense black magic,” Aida said.

“Given that Isaac is behind this, he used his White Magic to cloak the Black Magic, making it Gray Magic. To throw me off.” He looked over to Isaac, who smiled back at him. “It looks and feels like a straight-forward Black Magic curse to me,” he continued, “and curses have requirements, conditions that make the curse appear or disappear. We just need to figure out what the condition is.”

“You may be on to something, Glasses.” Violet yawned once again in her seat. “Since Isaac is behind this… it could be something childish.” She got up and walked up to the patient, who was now croaking weakly.

“Don’t do anything stupid, Violet!” Aida said and made a growl.

Violet stopped for a moment and stared back at a fuming Aida. “Now, now, don’t slobber all over Gill’s nice floor.”

Keeping her teeth clenched, Aida checked the corners of her mouth and passed her sleeve over them. “Gene Therapy is the way to go,” she added.

“Who here has time to monitor this random dude for months?” Akachi said. “We gotta be aggressive to get it over with!”

Violet shared a look with Isaac. “You didn’t only make this with Gill in mind… this is for Ugo and Zeke, too.” She looked over at the brothers. “Does this remind you of any video games or comics?”

They thought.

“The only thing I can think of is… well, fairy tales,” Zeke said.

“What do you…?” Violet stopped herself. “Oh…”

She shoved Yaalon out of the way and crouched to the patient. Without caution or care for the patient’s comfort, she cupped his slimy face and lifted it off the floor. Her eyes narrowed as she looked into the disproportionate shape of his eyeballs. The rest of the Healers stayed silent and watched as if a miracle was about to be displayed.

Zeke definitely was not a fan of what transpired right after.

It was like he had taken a quick stab and bullet to the heart at once as he, alongside his fellow Healers, witnessed Violet planting her lips on the froggy mouth of the diseased man. As Violet pulled away, the man’s face glowed, and through a painful-looking transformation, he was back to being the proud owner of the face of a generic businessman.

Violet wiped the mucus left on her lips with her sleeve and got up. “Occam’s Razor.” She said, sounding a bit satisfied with the answer. Then, her expression shifted drastically, and she pointed at Isaac. “You’re an idiot.” and she walked toward the door. “Keep an eye on Wade,” she said as she left.

The Healers all looked over to Wade and caught him extending a bottle of pills to the patient. He froze once he realized he was caught in the act. “Come on, he almost died. He deserves to celebrate….”

“Get away from the patient!” Gill said.

As Wade tried to defend his case and another heated argument amongst the Healers arose, Zeke went after Violet.

Zeke spotted Violet from behind, pacing past the rows of large windows as he walked into the main floor’s corridor. “Vee!” he called and then made a face, hating himself for how desperate he sounded.

Violet wheeled back slowly, forcing his heart into overdrive. “Yes, Rulitos?” she said.

It had been a while since he heard that nickname. He couldn’t help but smile.

“Oh, there’s that smile,” she said endearingly.

Now, she was just teasing him. Darn you, he said to himself in his head. After curing his mother, he promised himself that he wouldn’t treat Violet the same way anymore or at least not make it obvious he has deep feelings for her. She was, essentially, an enemy. She did allow his mother to almost die when she could’ve cured the curse much earlier. She brutalized him. She was—and could still be—murdering angels regularly. How could he have feelings for someone like that! He needed to focus on these aspects of her and remember his mission: To stop her.

But as she approached him and focused her violet gaze on him. His directives began to blur.

“Rulitos,” she said again, with a voice as smooth as chocolate. “You look… good.”

Zeke paused for a moment, internalizing whatever the right word would be for the emotions that came up upon hearing her say that. “I just… wanted to let you know…” he looked over at the windows and the scenic view past them. Focusing on them would be much easier than the alternative. He continued, “What you did back there was pretty cool.”

She put an arm on his shoulder and said, “it was also thanks to you.”

The comment made Zeke look back at her, and he instantly regretted it.

And then came the smile that could be considered a nuclear weapon to Zeke’s psyche.

“Rulitos?”

“Hm?” Zeke responded, perking his head up with his lips pursed.

“Be careful. I don’t know exactly what he wants with this retreat, but you can’t trust Gill. He is a good-for-nothing schemer and wants to take advantage of your and Ugo’s naivety. Don’t let him do it, and don’t ever, ever sign anything he gives to you. Do you understand me?”

“Yeah, got it.”’

She rested her hand on his cheek. “You trust me, though, right, Rulitos?” Then she stretched her hand forward and grabbed some of the curls on the back of his head.

The solace he felt when she played with his hair was unparalleled. It also messed with Zeke’s thinking ability spectacularly—like whenever he stayed awake past his scheduled bedtime. “Mhm,” is what he decided to say.

Violet pulled her hand back. “Good. I’ll see you around.”

As Zeke watched her walk away, he was left with feelings of disgust and warmth, realizing how much of a hold she still had over him.

And then he realized something else that made his eyes pop out as if he had swallowed a marble. He would be staying in the same house as Violet for the next couple of days. Sleeping way closer to her than he ever had before.

This was bad. Yet he smiled anyway.