~BOOK 5/PART ONE~ Paranormal: Too Close To Home (Multi-Bandom FanFic)

"What do you mean that there's nothing more you can do for her?" I asked my personal doctor after he informed me of Rachael's condition. Since I wasn't family, I was forced to sit in the waiting room. He lowered himself down into the chair in front of me so we could have a private conversation.

"I went through all of the books Lynn and Patrick gave me, but they all say the same thing - she's dying one way or another." 

From the looks of things, Rachael and just about everyone else had given up on her. If she died, the city was going to die, but beyond that, I needed her. She was a part of my forgotten past, the only source of my humanity, and I was just getting used to having a friend. I didn't want her to die.

"We talked to Rachael's stepfather, Link, and he told me personally that there wasn't anything we could do to save her. This darkness that's in her has been festering for thousands upon thousands of years. It's too powerful, Kenya."

"There has to be something," I argued, standing up from the waiting room chair. The doctor mirrored my actions. "We have to keep looking." I heaved a large sigh then rubbed my face with my hands, finally giving the physician eye contact. "How long?"

He gave me a sad look before telling me, "Worst case, nightfall. But she's strong, so I'd give her until midnight." I groaned before nodding in understanding. I placed my hand out and he shook mine.

"Do whatever you need to to keep her alive, and if she needs anything, give me a call."

"I think all she wants is to get home," He told me.

I laughed. "She give you the whole 'I have better things to do' bit?" The doctor nodded; the both of us broke out in laughter.

"That's exactly what she told me. I don't think she's fond of hospitals."

"I don't either," I agreed as the two of us went to exit the room. The older physician in the lab coat wanted to walk me out.

"So how have you been?" The doctor inquired. He was one of my oldest friends over the years. He was sixty by now, and his father was my doctor when I first moved to New Orleans. I knew him when he was a pup, but I didn't see him that way. He was a friend, someone that knew all of my darker secrets.

I gave him a knowing look."Are you asking me as a friend or as my doctor?" 

"I'm asking as a friend," He answered with a smile, "Always as a friend. Unless it's for an appointment...which reminds me, you need to schedule one soon. We haven't done a check up since you woke up from your coma."

"Will do if we're still alive by tomorrow." I rubbed the back of my neck while gazing around at the people being rushed in and out of the hospital. "I guess I'm doing fine, still adjusting to being back."

"Have you been home?" He wondered.

"No, I can't bring myself to go." I hadn't since my dad took me away, and come to think of it, I hadn't been to Bruno's and my cabin either. "I'm not ready to live with him."

"How come?" He asked me, turning the corner and being stopped by a woman standing in the middle of the hallway. He was struck silent, and so was I. She seemed eerily familiar. Her scent hit my nose and I instantly recognized it, and her face...I'd seen it before.

"Just the person I was looking for," She remarked, her soothing and charismatic voice filling my ears, "Kenya, darling, I'm glad to see you back in New Orleans. It was...odd seeing you in Texas. You don't belong there."

"Oh, don't let me stop you and your friend here." The doctor smiled towards the woman before excusing himself from the small party.

The woman blew a kiss in his direction as he brushed past her, disappearing down the hallway and going to treat other patients. She grinned and turned toward me, replying, "It's a shame we couldn't talk much in Texas. I have a lot to discuss with you."

"Ma'am, the psychiatric department is on the second floor. You might want to go back there before someone catches you." I wasn't in the mood to figure out who this woman was. I had to get back to the pack house to check on Jack and Bruno, then talk to Lynn about how to hopefully reverse this spell cast upon me. On top of that, Patrick called me earlier saying that there hadn't been any more sighting or attacks from the demons, something that struck me as odd. Needless to say, I had a lot on my mind and this woman wasn't one of them.

"I'm well aware of that, hon, but I'm right where I'm supposed to be." She shortened the distance between us and grabbed me by the arms. "Kenya, I'm going to be blunt here. I hate beating around the bush - it wastes so much time. So let me be clear, I'm here to make a deal with you."

"Look, I don't want anything you're offering, lady," I told her, politely trying to take her hands off me, but she had a vice grip.

"Oh, but once you hear what I have for you, you won't be able to resist," She assured me, closing her eyes and transporting us out of the hallway. I gasped as my surroundings suddenly changed, the two of us standing in the top of the steeple of the church in the center of New Orleans. With windows on every wall, it was easy to view the destruction that filled the streets below. Smoke billowed up into the sky from buildings that had been set on fire, bodies were scattered about, and shrill screams filled the air. It was horrifying. I never imagined my city looking like this, not now, not ever. The woman walked over to one of the windows and sighed. "I don't understand why you chose to come here, my child. This place is nothing but chaos."

My child...I hadn't been called that...ever. This was the infamous voice in my head, this was the legend everyone was so worried about. This was my mother. "This city may be in chaos, but it's my home."

"You belong with me," She murmured, spinning around to face me and crossing her arms over her chest, "And your siblings. It's been long enough, Kenya. It's time for you to come home." Before I can interject, she continued, "Now, I understand that you've formed - what you believe are - strong relationships with some of these-"

"I'm not going anywhere with you."

"I thought you might say that," She replied, her voice soft and understanding, "But that's why I'm ready to negotiate with you."

"No, I don't want to hear anything you have to say." This woman really had the nerve to pop up now. "You haven't been there for thousands of years. You weren't there when I died; you weren't there when I was traumatized by the countless wars I fought in. And you certainly weren't there when I had to run away from my dad. So as far as I'm concerned we're done before we even start." After all this time, she honestly thought she could just walk into my life and I'd open up to her and go wherever she wanted me to, and live happily ever after with my supposed other stepbrothers and sisters? Hell no.

"Kenya, please!" She cried, desperate for me to hear her out, "I want you back home, both you and your brother. You guys aren't supposed to be here. Did you honestly think you were meant to live in this world?"

"Why does it matter to you?" I shook my head. "I'm not leaving my home. Jack might want to go with you, but I'm not leaving. This is where I belong."

She laughed heartily at me. "You're not like these people, Kenya. You don't belong in this world. You never have."

"And what? I belong with you?" I scoffed. "Please, you've been knocked up fifteen times, and you've abandoned all of those children. If this is some family pitch sale, it's not working. I don't want you or any of your other children to be a part of my family. You'll never-"

"What if I can help your friend?" She blurted out.