SUNNYVALE

(37) NEVER TRUST SHADY DOCTORS

Kristie watches in horror as yet another death is announced on live TV - she was sitting on the couch with Sam and her friend Rose, knowing very well that Leah Williamson's murder and the lack of memories from this morning couldn't be a coincidence, especially since she woke up on her bedroom's ground, with blood on her vest. 

Feeling nauseous, Kristie just closes her eyes, wishing that all those abject feelings would go away, but they never do. 

Her head was hurting more and more, and the sounds of the TV weren't helping - neither did Sam and Rose's laughs. Excusing herself, trying to do as if nothing was happening, Kristie gets out of the house, holding her head in between her hands, grunting in pain. Little did she know that someone was observing her.

She doesn't even see the woman's face clearly, but she had a medical blouse on.

"Are you okay, young lady?" the woman asks, and something in her voice would just make Kristie's body shiver in dread.

"Y-yeah, u-uh..."

As she almost falls on the ground, the woman grabs her arm with authority.

"My name's Dr Alyssa Naeher, I am a general surgeon in Boston, actually here because of medical research" the woman says, and her face becomes clearer and less blurry in Kristie's eyes. As she frowns - she had seen this face before - the other woman says: "We've met in the past, actually: I treated your sister when she was younger."

"B-but Sam doesn't have health issues..."

"Oh, but she did, believe me: she had an inexplicable condition, and it is partly because I want to help her that I am back here. But, for now, you seem like you need the more attention, Miss Mewis."

Kristie frowns.

"It's just... my head hurts, and my whole body's on fire..." the blonde stammers, obviously suffering.

Dr Naeher smirks. 

"You're a lucky girl, Krisite: it appears that I have the perfect treatment for you right here in my vest: those (she takes a small, transparent bag out of her pocket, with no inscription whatsoever, and small purple pills inside the bag) are working well against your current headaches - you will feel their effect immediately."

"But... Don't I need a prescription for those? And how come you've got them on you...?"

"Honey, I am a doctor - and a very good one for that matter" Dr Naeher insists, before handing Kristie the pills. The blonde hesitantly takes them, before the doctor hands her her visiting card, adding: "Take the pills for two or three days, and then come in for a consult to do a follow up: I assure you you'll get better in no time."

Kristie nods, as the woman walks away, saying:

"And say hi to Bob from me, please!"

"Will do" Kristie lets out, before taking one of the pills out of her bag and swallowing it.

And, indeed, the headache stopped only minutes after she took the pills - thank God, she thought, knowing very well that taking pills was something she often does, so why not doing it when it could help?

***

Christen walks into the classroom in advance, in which Abby Dahlkemper was already sitting in - and has been for a moment. The blood had dark circles under her eyes, tributaries to her struggle with sleep lately, as well as her mind overthinking her relationships with Tierna and Sam. 

Deeply emphatic, Christen immediately sits down next to the Westsider - to her, there wasn't much difference between the two parts of the city, especially now that they were bound by something greater and even supernatural - staring at her with softness. Unused to such good attention, Abby frowns, troubled.

After a moment, Christen states:

"I know that face oh too well: you're paralysed by fear, am I right?"

Abby nods her head.

As she is about to get up and just leave the room, having trouble to share her thoughts with a complete stranger, Abby's arm touches the mug she had put on the table, making it fall on the ground: instead of hearing a breaking noise, the blonde watches as the mug levitates in the air, before returning to its original spot. In shock, Abby stares at Christen, whose eyes briefly turned all black, before becoming normal again.

Abby is shaken up.

"Damn" she comments, her breath getting taken away, "I've heard about your psychokinesis abilities before but I gotta admit, seeing it in person is pretty awesome."

"Right?" Christen laughs softly, before turning to face Abby fully. As the blonde looks away, feeling uncomfortable, the dark-haired states: "You know, despite our obvious differences, I think you and I are the same: we're both terrified of something that's inside of us that we can't control... Well, I've got a good news for you, Dahlkemper: if, after three weeks of training, I managed to make a freakin' mug levitate in the air, then I am confident you can learn and control your powers, just like you did at the party when you saved Shelina's life."

After a long silence, Abby whispers:

"What if I really am Satan's heir? I mean, he wasn't quite a good person, does that mean that this darkness that's been hiding inside of me since I was born will just blow up in everyone's face and I'll become Queen of Hell or something?"

"Honestly?" Christen asks, before grabbing Abby's arm with confidence, "I've got no idea. But I promise you you're not alone: what if, when you can't sleep, you text me, and if I'm awake we just get together and try to tame our powers, uh?"

Abby seems quite troubled and shocked. 

"Why would you do that for me?" the blonde then asks, honest.

Christen smirks. 

"You know, it doesn't matter if you're Satan's heir or not: you're Abby Dahlkemper first and foremost, and I don't want you to feel abandoned or lonely, 'cause I know how it feels. So, what do you say, uh?"

Abby cracks a smile, visibly relieved, before grabbing Christen's little finger with her own in a sort of pinky promise.

"That'd be cool, thank you."

"Now" Christen continues, letting go of Abby's finger, a smirk on her face, "what's going on in your life that prevents you from sleeping - other than being Satan's favourite grandchild?" 

They both laugh, before talking about their lives for an hour, as students start walking into the room, quite surprised to see a Westside senior hanging out with an Eastside junior. Right before class starts, Christen leaves to go to her own classroom, as Abby nervously watches in turn Tierna and Sam walk into the room, each of them completely ignoring her.

She sighs: this is going to get even more complicated, she knew it - because she loves them both equally and wouldn't be able to chose.