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Chapter 15

Mr Smith had been told about Audrey’s condition and had even seen video of her ‘attack’ on the compound. But even with the preparation he still couldn’t stop but stare as the handcuffed equitaur was led through the recently enlarged door of the interrogation room. Mr Smith took a deep breath and let it out slowly.

“You can remove the cuffs, they won’t be necessary.”

“Sir?”

“I’ve been around horses before. If Ms Audrey wants to kill me, she can kick and trample me whether or not her hands are bound.”

“If you insist.” The guard shrugged and removed the cuffs.

Audrey stared down at the government agent as she rubbed her wrists.

“You certainly made quite the entrance.” Mr Smith adjusted his glasses. “Videos of you are everywhere on TV and online.”

“None of that matters. What matters is the ritual being completed before we have an equine apocalypse.”

“I’m inclined to agree with you.” Smith thought about sitting for a moment, but decided to remain standing while addressing the equitaur. “But before we speak on that matter, is it true what you claimed at the gate?”

Audrey looked down and away from the agent. “Yes, it’s all my fault.”

“Tell me exactly what happened, please, this is important.”

Audrey let out a long sigh and paced as best as she could in the small room. “It was such a stupid and innocuous thing. While I was cataloging a batch of artifacts I stumbled across some Latin inscriptions. I was a little rusty from my undergrad courses in Latin and decided to give it a go in translating the inscription.”

“No second thought given over whether there would be any consequences?”

“The only consequence at the time was me mistranslating a bit and getting roasted by my colleagues in the field over it. Anyway, the inscription was old and worn so I was working to properly transcribe the text over before attempting to translate. I was sounding out the words, like I said my Latin was rusty, and I was holding the artifact in my hands and I spoke the words while holding the disk. Everything else is what followed after that.”

“There can be so much power in words when used in the correct way. I wish there was a way to convey that to young people without tipping our hand.”

“I doubt it would have mattered. After all, I don’t believe in gods or magic.”

Mr Smith raised an eyebrow. “Even now?”

“Perhaps there is an…entity known as Epona. Just because she exists wouldn’t mean she is a god. She could be a completely average being of a higher dimensional plane who just happens to like horses and messing around on our level. I’m not about to get down on my knees and pray to her anytime soon. I don’t even know how I could kneel like this.” She shook her head, which looked exaggerated with her equine features. “I can’t fully explain what has happened to me, but I’m not convinced this isn’t just some form of advanced technology that only appears to be magic. Especially given the revelations Katie has come too.”

“You raise a fair point with Katie, her view on magic is intriguing and more nuanced than one would expect from an untrained novice. I have a feeling she’s going to cause waves in my field, assuming we get out of this intact.

“We? What do you have to worry about?”

“Oh, nothing much,” he locked eyes with Audrey, “ just the fate of being incinerated when they fire bomb the area to contain the contamination.”

Audrey reeled back. “What? No! They can’t!”

“I assure you, they can, and will.”

Audrey lowered her head into her hands and started to cry. “No, no, no! Everyone is going to die now because of me! And it won’t even fix anything! The damn disk will either go off like we said or the destruction of it will release the stored energy and do who knows what kind of damage!”

“I agree with you, Audrey. We need to end this effect in the proper way and put a stop to all of this.”

Audrey dropped her hands from her face and glared down her muzzle at Mr Smith. “If you agreed with me we wouldn’t be fucking around here; we would be at the chapel preforming the ritual!”

“I am fighting to get approval, the unsanctioned practice of magic is frowned upon.”

“How do your bosses feel about half the women in the world ending up like me and my fellow students? I’m sure that thought will bring more than a frown to their faces.”

Mr Smith rolled his eyes, but he knew she was right. “I am doing everything I can to facilitate things.”

“Bear in mind, Mr Smith, this situation is a bomb with a ticking timer. And worst of all, we don’t know how much time is left on the clock.”

“That sums up the situation perfectly, Ms Audrey.”

***

Chase pushed the third-hand dumpster-bait couch in his apartment all the way against the wall. After that was done, he flipped the coffee table and stacked it on top. With that done he turned to his girlfriend.

“How’s that?”

Abby looked down at her partner. Being taller than Chase was the second hardest part of her transformation to get used to. Having the lower body of a horse was by far the harder part for Abby at the moment.

“A little, thank you.” She carefully turned in a small circle in their living room. “ I wish I could open the balcony doors though, it just feels so small and tight now.”

“It was never a big apartment. I’m still not sure how we’re going to get you down the stairs when the time comes.”

Abby leaned down and wrapped her arms around Chase. “We’ll think of something.”

“Yeah…” He held her tightly, going up on his toes to make it easier.

“Part of me still can’t believe you stayed after all this.” Abby said, looking back over her flanks. “No one would blame you for dumping a centaur.”

“First of all, centaurs are cool as hell. Any man who isn’t jealous of me is crazy.”

Abby rolled her eyes at the conviction in his voice.

“More importantly, I love you, Abby, and nothing is going to drive me away from you.”

Her face softened and she let out a sigh. “I suppose if the cock didn’t drive you away, four hooves and a tail wouldn’t either. Still, thank you, for staying by my side through all of this.”

“I think I’ve proven I’m cool with every part of you.” He smiled widely.

“Yes, yes you have.” She smiled back but was distracted when her phone started to go crazy with texts and other alerts, so much so it almost vibrated off the kitchen counter where she left it. “Oh what now?” She took three steps towards the kitchen to retrieve her phone.

“You are one of the social media managers, could be something along those lines.”

Abby unlocked her phone. As she skimmed through her messages and alerts the smile quickly faded from her face. “Oh…oh my god! Quick! Turn on the TV!”

“What channel?”

“I don’t think it matters.”

Chase turned the TV on and went to one of the news channels. His jaw dropped when he saw a centaur, only with the upper body of an anthropomorphic horse, charging towards the CDC encampment.

“Wow! Who is that?”

“What, are you jealous?” Abby asked as she walked up next to him.

“No, I’m just…that’s more than a centaur, right?”

“Just because I am one doesn’t mean I’m an expert.” she said as she watched the footage play out from a slightly different camera angle. “Look at the pattern of dots on her flank, that has got to be Audrey.”

“Oh shit, you’re right. I had heard she was growing extra legs but I assumed she would end up like you.”

“Apparently she got the entire package.”

“Maybe because she was at ground zero?”

“Maybe.” Abby said as she scrolled through her phone. “Oh shit, this is worse than I thought…Dr Vasseur, Katie, the entire crew working on the chapel were taken in, and now they have Audrey too!”

“But Audrey just galloped up to them, you saw the video.”

“She must be trying to get everyone out of there or something. I wish she had said something about what she was planning.”

“Weren’t they supposed to be finishing things up today to perform the ceremony tonight? What if they don’t? The clock is ticking on this entire situation.”

“You and I know that, as do the rest of HOOVES. But to the rest of the world this is just the equine virus.

“That’s easier to believe than ancient fertility cult magic to most people. Not that you girls announced all of this when you came out.”

“We didn’t know about the ticking time bomb until Katie figured it out.”

Abby watched the broadcast, but wasn’t really focusing on what the anchors were saying. She was thinking, rubbing her chin with one hand while her hoof slowly pawed at the floor. When the idea hit her, Abby stomped her hoof down on the floor.

“I got an idea.”

“Is it a good idea?”

“Probably not, but right now we can’t be picky.”

Chase sighed. “What is it?”

“First thing I’m going to need is to get dressed. Oh, get the comforter off the bed, I’m going to need a blanket for this.” She reached around and patted her lower back.

“Wait, what?”

“Just because I have fur down there doesn’t mean it’s thick enough to keep me warm in the cold. Not to mention, I don’t want the boys on display. I’m probably going to need to invest in a horse blanket, but we’ll make do for now. Grab that coil of paracord you have in the closet, we can use that to tie it on me.”

“We can’t go outside! I don’t even know if you can get down the stairs like this.”

“We got the couch up, didn’t we?” She reached down and took Chase by the hands. “Look, we need to inform everyone what is at stake if the ceremony isn’t completed soon. I know they are messing with our online access, but if we get in front of some of the reporters we can get the message out.”

“But they are all the way at the edge of town, and I can’t exactly fit you in my Civic anymore.”

“Well, you did say the other night that you missed riding me ever since I got too big.” She smirked slightly.

Chase’s cheeks flushed red. “Th-that’s not what I meant and you know it!”

“Oh come on, you get to ride a centaur, everyone will be jealous.”

***

Brett Shepard was smiling widely as he accepted a hot coffee from Tia Mann, the production assistant assigned to the news team.

“That was fast.” Brett said before taking a sip.

“I didn’t bother with the gas station; I picked up a cheap coffee machine at Boxmart last night and a load of coffee.”

“Strictly speaking we’re not supposed to run anything other than our equipment off the van’s generator,” Elliot Harrell, the cameraman said, “but fuck it, it’s cold and I am sick of waiting in line for coffee.” He smirked as he accepted a cup from Tia.

The small crew shared a laugh.

“Think we’ll see anything else today?” Tia asked as she looked through the temporary fencing, “That centaur situation was wild.”

“The entire situation is wild, and it’s not calming down anytime soon. Next thing you know the National Guard is going to start rolling out tanks to enforce the quarantine.“ It was hard to judge by Brett’s expression whether he considered that a good or a bad thing.

“They are calling her an equitaur online.” Elliot said, “But I don’t know if that’s official or not.”

“Tia, run it by the fact checkers, we don’t want to look like idiots either way.” Brett sighed as he looked around the other news teams and various other people camped out along the fence. “It’s going to be another long day, I just have that feeling.”

“So, I’ll be picking up dinner again?” Tia said as she tapped out an email on her phone.

“Most likely. Who is up for Chinese toni-...” Brett trailed off as he saw something in the distance. “What the hell?” he dropped his coffee to the ground, “Elliot! Get the camera rolling, look!” he pointed to a figure in the distance making a beeline for the quarantine fence.

“Holly shit, another one!’ the cameraman swore softly as he got his camera into position.

Tia immediately placed a call directly to the network alerting them of the breaking situation.

“Now that’s a centaur!” Brett whispered before turning back towards the camera.

***

Chase gripped tightly to Abby as she galloped towards the fence. He was pretty sure his heart skipped a beat when she jumped over a barricade. Looking behind them Chase could see plenty of armed men chasing after them. Ahead were the throngs of reporters who already had their cameras trained on them.

This is definitely a bad idea. He thought as he gripped his girlfriend even tighter.

Abby cantered to a stop in front of the fence. Immediately everyone was shouting for her attention and asking questions. The centaur knew she didn’t have long before her and Chase were pulled away by the National Guard.

“Chase! The mic!” she shouted over the crowd.

Chase and Abby had a small karaoke machine. They had gotten it at a yard sale back in their freshman year and usually just dragged it out for parties. It wasn’t much, but she needed something to amplify her voice.

“Here!’ Chase shouted as he handed her the mike and jumped down. He cranked the small unit to maximum volume and held the speaker up.

“Attention! Please! Everyone quiet down and listen! I don’t have much time. You all need to know what is going on here. They are messing with our internet and phones so this is the only way we can get the message out!”

“Hurry Abby!” Chase whispered as he saw the Guardsmen quickly closing in on them.

“This entire situation isn’t a virus or other infection! This is the result of an honest to got magical artifact that was accidentally triggered. If that sounds ridiculous, bear in mind you’re hearing it from a damn centaur! The situation is bad, but it will get worse if we don’t complete a ritual to end the spread and shut down the artifact before it goes off again. If it does, most of the young women in our country and even beyond will be affected! The government is stopping us from saving the world right now! Get the news out! Here Take these!” she tossed several thumb drives over the fence “Spread the word! We-”

The karaoke machine was smashed out of Chase’s hands as he was tackled to the ground. They were surrounded and now held at gunpoint. The situation was made even more tense with the eyes of the world on them. Abby held up her arms in surrender.

“Don’t shoot! We give up!”

***

Tia’s father was big into sports and athletics. As such, he had forced her into playing sports along with her brothers. For Tia it was soccer in the fall and softball in the spring until she was thirteen. At this very moment she found herself thankful her father had forced her into playing as she jumped up and caught one of the flung thumb drives. Tucking it in close, she hurried back to Brett and Elliot.

“I’ve got one!” she cried out, not caring if they were on air or not.

“Ladies and gentlemen, that’s our production assistant Tia Mann, who managed to get a hold of one of the objects. Great job Tia!” Brett continued the broadcast, “What is it?”

“It’s a thumb drive!” She held up the device for the camera, “This must have more of the centaur’s story!”

“That would be a sound guess, but we will need to investigate further. You better get it to the van before things get any crazier here. We will keep everyone in the loop with further developments here at Silver Mountain Creek. This is Brett Shepard, signing off.”

“We’re good!” Elliot shouted over the crowd.

“Come on, we need to get that drive back to the van and lock the doors, the other vultures here are going to want it badly!”

“Hey Brett, since I got the drive, can I pick dinner tonight?” Tia smirked as they pushed though the crowd.

“Tia, I will airlift in whatever food you want for snagging that drive!”

***

A rapid series of knocks sounded out the door on Mr Smith’s side of the interrogation room.

“Excuse me, Audrey,” Mr Smith hurried to the door and cracked it open. “What is it?”

Dr Helen Madsen was behind the door, and looked upset. “We have another situation. One of the girls ran up to the fence and in front of the media spilled the beans about everything, the magical nature of this situation, and that we are stopping the ritual that will save the world from this thing spreading.”

Mr Smith’s eyes went wide. “How did she get past the guards!”

“It turns out centaurs can be pretty hard to catch.”

“Gods…” He slapped his forehead.

“Oh, it gets worse. She apparently tossed several thumbnail drives out to the crowd of onlookers and media with more in depth details about the situation.”

“Is the centaur in custody at least?”

“Yes, along with her boyfriend.”

“Boyfriend? How did he get past the guards?”

“He was riding on her back, apparently. I think Private Bell was jealous about it from the way he told the story.”

“This is only going to make the entire mess worse!” Mr Smith closed the door and hurried back over to Audrey. “One of you fellow students just blew the whistle on exactly what is going down, including the fact there is a ticking time bomb to the world-wide press.”

“Who was it?” Audrey asked, rather curious.

“I don’t know, just that it was another centaur-like one.”

“I see. So what is it going to be now, Mr Smith? Do you burn everything to the ground or do you let us finish the ritual and end things.”

“You have no idea the amount of paperwork this is going to mean for me, do you?”

“Paperwork? That doesn’t sound very fireproof.” Audrey smiled slightly.

Mr Smith sighed, “I already said I agreed with your plan, I was just trying to get authorization. But at this point you’re forcing me to beg for forgiveness rather than ask permission.” He shook his head and removed his glasses to rub the bridge of his nose. “This clusterfuck of a situation is going to dog the agency for decades at this point anyway. Who and what are we going to need for this ritual?”

***

Dr Laura Vasseur shook her head as Abby and Chase were placed into a holding cell.

“Abby,” Chelsea called out, “ I’ve been to your place before. How the hell did you get down those death-trap stairs like that?”

“Very carefully.” Abby sighed. “The worst part was squeezing through the apartment door. Chase had to help squeeze my rear through the door frame.”

“There’s no way I’m letting you try to go back up those stairs.” Chase said as he sat down on a cot. “Then again, who knows if we would even get a chance to go back?”

“I know, babe, but we had to do something. We had to let the world know what was at stake here.”

“And who to blame if shit hits the fan.” Katie added.

“Abby, you risked an awful lot coming here.” Summer said softly.

“I had too. And it’s not like you and your Uncle aren’t sitting in jail with me right now.”

Joe Hooper laughed slightly. “I’m in good company at least. The world needs to know what is going on, you did the right thing, Abby.”

“At the very least, I got to ride on the back of a centaur. They can’t take that away from me.” Chase smiled.

“Lucky you.” Dr. Schmidt sighed. “Though to be honest, A younger me would have taken the opportunity.”

There were a few chuckles in the holding area.

“I think Mr Smith understands what we were trying to do.” Katie said as she looked at her watch, “But if he can’t convince his bosses to let us complete the ritual there’s going to be a significant need for centaur accessible housing in the near future.”

“As if the housing market wasn’t already bad enough.” Dr Vasseur sighed. “I hate bureaucracy.”

“Us cogs aren’t necessarily fond of it either.” Mr Smith said as he entered the temporary holding facility.

Dr Vasseur stood up and walked to the door of her cell. “Listening in on our conversations now?”

“Please, we’ve been recording you since you were brought in. Cameras are cheap these days. But expectations of privacy are not why I’m here.” He motioned towards Abby. “Thanks to the Lone Ranger and Tonto over there, we have a panic on our hands, both here at the quarantine fence and all over the world. I can’t even get through to my superiors right now, so I’m just taking the initiative.” Mr Smith turned to the door and Audrey stepped into the room. “Dr Vasseur, I am authorizing you to perform your ritual, on the condition that I will be in attendance. To be frank, you are all amateurs and there should be at least one person with experience there to assist.”

Dr Vasseur stared him down for a moment. “Very well, but if you grow a tail or any other extra parts that’s on you.”

“I’m coming too.” Helen said from the doorway. “The CDC still has operational control over Silver Mountain Creek, even if this isn’t a biological infection.”

“Isn’t Dr. Graham the lead here? Shouldn’t it be him?” Mr Smith asked.

“I volunteered, Will is going to stay here and hold down the fort while we’re out playing wizards.”

“Can we please get going?” Audrey was getting more impatient by the second.

“She’s right.” Mr. Smith went to Dr Vasseur’s cell and released her. “Here is your phone back. Call whoever you still need for your ritual. Dr Madsen, go see about transportation, we need something we can load our two centaurs into as well as the rest of us going to the ritual site.

***

The old elevator seemed to protest more than usual as it lowered Audrey into the basement of the Calumet Building.

I hope this box can get Abby and me back out when we’re done. She thought as she waited for the doors to finally open.

Once she was out, Audrey hurried down the hall, minding the pipes and conduits that ran through the basement corridor. The door was already open and she ducked down to enter the chapel. It was a flurry of activity as Katie directed Mack, Dannie, and Kaylee in the final layout. Dr Vasseur was going over the incantations Katie had come up with and made corrections with a red marker. Mr Smith was watching over her shoulder, but so far offered no input. Helen was just observing everything with a rather incredulous look on her face.

“Wait, where is Summer?” Audrey noticed her absence immediately.

“She went to reassure and comfort the other women on campus.” Joe answered, “She figured there were already more than enough members of HOOVES here for the ritual and it was her duty as the president of the organization.”

Audrey nodded. “She always has put everyone else first throughout all of this mess. Abby should be on her way down by now. what do we do when she gets here?”

“It's simple, we all gather around the disk and hold hands while the priestess, er, Dr Vasseur” she corrected after getting glared at by the doctor, “reads out the incantations. Then we all place our hands on the disk and then…poof, I guess.”

“Poof, there's a scientific term.” Helen shook her head.

“There should be some kind of physical indication upon completion,” Mr Smith said looking up from the edited Latin, “though it may only be noticeable to those already affected by the botched blessing.”

“I have a question,” Chelsea asked as she looked around the chapel, “I'm not the most religious person, but shouldn't we be wearing special clothing for this?”

“You mean like vestments?” Joe suggested.

Katie's face fell. “Oh crap….I didn't think about that!”

“Relax, Katie,” Mr Smith placed a hand on her shoulder. “Epona is a Celtic goddess. You will probably want to be skyclad for the ritual.”

“What?” Katie was unfamiliar with the term.

“That's a neo-pagan way of saying naked,” Dr Vasseur sighed, “he's probably correct, however.”

Helen's eyes went wide. “Whoa, hold on, are you serious?”

“Relax, doctor,” Mr Smith smiled slightly, “you are not one of the participants. You can remain in your hazmat suit.”

Audrey shrugged her shoulders. “I'm only wearing a bra anyway. Besides, I think we're all well past modesty.”

“That’s true.” Chelsea said as she leaned against Audrey.

“Maybe I should wait outside.” Joe said with a bit of a nervous smile.

“All of us males should, I just wanted to make sure everything was perfectly set. We only get one chance at this.” He handed a heavy case to Audrey. “Here is the disk. I will escort the rest of the men outside the chapel and wait for the hopefully good news.”

“I started this mess with the disk, I should be the one to end it. Thank you, I know you're probably going to catch hell for this in the morning.”

“Hopefully I'll have till morning before getting chewed out.” Mr Smith smiled slightly. “Good luck.”

The men filed out of the room. Just as they were leaving they ran into Abby and Chase.

“Your boyfriend will have to stay outside with us.” Joe nodded to the young man.

Chase’s face fell. “But I…”

“It's a girls only kind of thing.” Dr Anderson said with a shrug. “But It won't take that long.”

“Yes, before you know it you'll be riding off into the sunset with her.” Mr Smith smirked.

“It's alright, Chase.” Abby leaned down and kissed him softly, “I'll be ok, stay here and guard the door.”

“Just be careful.” He replied softly.

Abby ducked down and entered the chapel. The door was closed and the men heard the bolt slide into place.

“Do you think anyone is actually going to show up and try to stop us?” Joe asked after the door was locked

“I don't think so, but better safe than sorry.” Mr Smith said as he leaned against the wall to wait.

Back inside the chapel, Audrey carefully opened the case she had been given. She looked down at the disk inside. The gem in the center was visibly shimmering now. As she picked it up it felt heavier than she remembered. She wondered if it was actually heavier or if it was just in her mind. Either way, Audrey didn't have the time to investigate. She placed it into the pillar in the middle of the room where it slipped in perfectly. Audrey was certain she saw a flash from the gem as she rotated it into alignment.

Chelsea, Mack, Dannie, and Kaylee started to light the candles while Katie started the incense burning. With that done, the gathered women started to strip out of their clothing. For Audrey it was just a matter of unhooking the oversized bra she was wearing. Dr Vasseur delayed removing her own clothes by reading through the incantation a final time. She took a deep breath and let it out slowly.

“This shouldn't really be that big of a deal. I've been to plenty of beaches in Europe where I bared it all.”

“Really?” Audrey's equine ears perked up at the revaluation.

“Yes, but I was a much younger woman at the time.” Vasseur admitted as she unbuttoned her blouse.

“At least you don't have any extra parts on display.” Chelsea said as she removed her skirt.

There were a few chuckles as the women prepared themselves. Helen continued to observe, trying her best to not appear to be staring at affected women. She made her way to the edge of the room and waited quietly. Dr Vasseur was now only wearing her necklace. Despite everything that had happened, she still couldn’t be without it after all these years.

“Alright everyone, let’s gather around.” She said, taking a few steps towards the pedestal.

Audrey towered above Dr Vasseur on her right. She was followed by Chelsea, Mack, Dannie, Kaylee, Abby, and finally Katie to complete the circle. Dr Vasseur took Audrey’s and Katie’s hands into her own and everyone silently took each other’s hands.

O magna Epona!

Filiae tuae auxilium tuum implorant.

Benedictio tua sine Sacerdote ad regendam feram cucurrerit.

Hac necessitate, foedus inter me et te invoco.

Accipiantur benedictiones, sed ad finem largitatis permittant.

Sed permitte ianuam manere apertam omnibus filiabus futuris dona tua accipere.

Hoc rogamus in nomine sancto tuo.

As Dr Vasseur spoke her words began to reverberate through the small underground room. The gem in the center of the disk glowed brightly by the time the invocation was completed. The women gathered looked at one another then back to Dr Vasseur. She gave a small nod and released her hands. As one they reached out and hovered their hands over the disk.

“On three,” she whispered, “one, two, three!”

In unison, eight fingers touched the now warm disk. Audrey gasped and closed her as she felt the same sensation she had over two months ago, like her stomach was falling away from her. Only this time it was followed by a warm comforting energy flowing over her body. It was almost like she was enveloped in a loving hug from the tips of her ears to her hooves and tail. Opening her eyes she could tell from the looks on everyone’s faces they must have had the same sensation.

“Did it work?” Chelsea broke the silence in the candle lit room.

“Look at the disk!” Katie said in an excited whisper.

The gem at the center of the disk had stopped glowing. The only glimmer now was the flickering of the candles reflected on its surface.

“That was quite the show.” Helen said as she approached the gathered women. “But how do we know if it worked?”

“Well, you could take off your helmet and make out with one of us and see if anything happens.” Katie offered. “If you don’t start to change, then we know it worked.”

“You know what? I think I’ll go and ask our resident wizard what he thinks first.” Helen pointed to the door.

“Wait! Let us get dressed first!” Dr Vasseur called after her.

***

“Are you alright there, Chase?”

“I, uh, yeah,” Chase blinked and rubbed his forehead, “I feel pretty good, actually.”

“That’s a good sign, this blessing was affecting the males on campus as well, if in a less dramatic way.”

“The young ones anyway. There’s been no change in my shorts in the last two decades.” Dr Armatage smirked.

The conversation came to a stop when they heard the door being unlocked. Helen opened the door.

“Give them a few more seconds, they’re still getting re-situated. The damned thing isn’t glowing anymore at least. Mr Smith, can you confirm the situation is now under control?

“I will need a few moments to set up my equipment, but I’m hopeful after seeing the effect on Chase here.”

“Avoiding an equine apocalypse is a good thing, but we need to confirm this infection won’t spread to anyone else.”

“I understand, Dr Madsen. However, now we have the time to fully confirm.”

“That’s the easy part.” Joe cracked his knuckles. “The hard part is going to be what happens next with the world having to accept what has happened here.”

“That is going to be on all of you.” Mr Smith said as he picked up his heavy metal case. “Though I think things are going to change for my agency very quickly in the wake of all of this. Dr Madsen, you can inform Dr Graham I will be back with my findings as soon as I can, but that the crisis is averted for the time being.”

***

“You what?” Will slammed his hands down on the table as he got out of his seat. “Helen! What were you thinking?

“What was I supposed to do?” Helen stayed in her chair, remaining calm. “It’s been a week and we had no real confirmation the infection was eliminated, only the opinion of Mr Smith that the ritual was successful. I couldn't use a lab rat or even a pig to test if the infection vector had stopped. And I wasn’t about to ask for an outside volunteer.”

“You experimented on yourself! You exposed your body to sexual fluids!”

“I was as safe as possible,” Helen broke eye contact, “I ensured the samples were clean of any STDs. The point is, we needed solid confirmation that the ritual was a success, and now we have it. I’m still one hundred percent boring old dickless female after exposure to samples from both affected females and males.

He slumped back into his chair. “What if you had gotten pregnant?”

“Not that it’s any of your business, but I have an IUD.” She took a small sip of her coffee. “I also did a full blood work before and after as part of my testing.”

“It’s not just about you, they are going to hold me responsible for human testing.” Will tapped on his chest to emphasize his point.

“At the end of the day, it was the only way to be sure. Professional fallout for us besides, it’s time to end the quarantine and let these students go home to their families.”

Will leaned back in his chair and sighed as he stared up at the ceiling. “After we both get raked over the coals for this you will be buying the drinks.”

Helen chuckled. “Don’t worry, I know the perfect hole-in-the-wall bar back in Atlanta.”

***

If it had been a media circus outside the fence during the quarantine, it was overshadowed by a large margin when the gates into Silver Mountain Creek were opened wide. Police were keeping the road clear of the press, protesters, and the overly curious to allow the students and their families to leave the university grounds. Chelsea and Audrey watched the exodus from the windows of their apartment.

“At least they can be home for Christmas.” Chelsea said as she handed a cup of hot cocoa to her roommate turned lover.

“You could too, you don’t need a horse trailer to get down the highway.”

“I’m not about to leave you alone on Christmas, even if you don’t celebrate it. Besides, Mom and Dad will drop by to visit us on the twenty-sixth.”

Audrey took a sip of her cocoa. “I don’t know whether I’m more worried about seeing my parents or yours.”

“Meeting the parents is a big step, especially around the holidays. But my parents are actually pretty excited that I found someone at Silver Mountain, just like they found each other.”

“Family legacy, huh?” Audrey chuckled. “I’m pretty sure my family thought I would never have a partner. Throughout high school and my undergrad I didn’t have time for dating or relationships.” She looked down at Chelsea and smiled, “But now, I think what I’ve found with you is the best thing to come out of all of this.”

“I didn’t know you could be so romantic,” Chelsea wrapped her arms around Audrey and leaned against her body, “it must be a Christmas miracle.”

Audrey snorted loudly and rolled her eyes, but smiled softly as she pulled Chelsea in tighter.

_______________________________________

Characters and setting belong to Journeymanic

Writing by Syntaxerror37

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