𝑴𝑰𝑫𝑵𝑰𝑮𝑯𝑻 𝑹𝑨𝑰𝑵 • 𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐢. 𝐜 (wolfblood)

𝐱𝐱𝐱. - bewitch

030 | "Great. That's awesome."

As there were only five seats, Ella had to sit on her brother's lap like a small child, which was technically illegal, but she didn't fancy running all the way there.

Eventually, they pulled up at the back of the mansion. It was a Georgian building with perfect white-washed stone and a gorgeous array of lavender and greenery to add some detail - but they didn't have time to admire the scenery, especially when the outside gave a false impression of what was going on inside.

Dr. Whitewood sighed and turned to face the girl in the beanie in the backseat, "As one fully paid-up Homo sapien to another, I strongly urge you to let this go."

Holly shook her head, "I can't. Like she said when she did her... onion thing," she began, turning to Jana, "Carrie needed a friend who'd help, and that should've been me."

The redhead looked to Mr. Jeffries and the doctor who sat in the front, "You two stay here. There's no need for you to get involved."

"Uhh... how are you going to get past the cameras?" Jeffries asked the girl. Ella chewed her lip. She could easily sneak past them, Jana too probably, but TJ and Holly? No. They needed a distraction of some kind. But what... Ella had no ideas.

Jeffries clicked his fingers, "I know what you're thinking. You need a distraction."

Ella sat up a little, "Well, yeah, but-"
It was too late. The ex-teacher had already pulled off his seat belt and hopped out of the car. The brunette sighed, "Great. That's awesome."

The teenagers scrambled out of the car and ran after the bloke, TJ limping as he complained profoundly about how he had pins and needles in his left leg, which the girls ignored.

They arrived at the front lawn of the grand building. The four teenagers were hidden behind a wall and slowly began to maneuver over it while Jeffries distracted the cameras, "Hello! Hello... hello? Ah, hello! Um, yeah, does my National Trust card get me any loyalty points? Or maybe..."

After successfully scaling over the wall, they crouched down behind a lavender bush, "Right, put these on." Jana ordered, handing out four animal masks.

TJ raised an eyebrow, "Are you joking?"

"Would you rather Imara saw our smiling faces on the recording?" Ella asked her brother, to which he held his tongue and stayed silent.

The brunette slid on her cow mask, while Jana put on her giraffe one and Holly put on her fennec fox one. TJ looked like a complete lunatic in his giant unicorn mask, but Ella decided that making fun of him could wait until later, just this once.

While Jeffries rambled on about his National Trust membership, the cameras were all pointed at him, and the teenagers took this opportunity to run through a side gate and into the building.

It was exceptionally grand. Polished wooden floors with red patterned carpet laying over top. Paintings hung high in the corridors and it gave off like it was a decently old building, perhaps centuries old.

The floorboards squeaked underfoot, but they could sense no one nearby. Which was odd, but they didn't complain. The quicker they got out of there, the better. Their eyes dashed around for cameras, but there weren't many, and Ella managed to get the group to sneak past them unspotted.

They approached a light corridor, decorated in potted plants, and, similar to the exterior, the walls were brick and white, making the corridor light up like a beam. It was a completely different setting to the one they were just in, which they all found strange, but they didn't have time to ponder on that.

They could sense Carrie.

Ella turned to look at the girl in the beanie, "Okay, Holly... she might not be the same as the Carrie you knew."

The girl's eyebrows furrowed, "What do you mean?"

"I'm just saying be prepared, alright?" She asked her gently. The girl nodded, "Whatever's happened to her, it's on me."

Ella looked at the girl carefully before nodding over to Carrie's door, "She's in there."

"How can you tell?"

"I can sense her. Pros of being a wolfblood." Ella replied with a smile. She didn't get one back before she walked into the room, reuniting with her old friend.

Ella rested her head against the wall, shaking it with an angry sigh, "I can smell the medication from here."

Jana stepped forward, "I know... just give them a moment, then we'll get out of here, I promise."

The brunette twisted her mouth, "It's not that, it's... how could they do this to someone? It's horrible. It's cruel."

Neither TJ nor Jana replied, instead they all waited, praying that Holly would accept Carrie's fate and also accept the fact that there was nothing any of them could have done. Then this would all be over.

After about two minutes, TJ couldn't hold his tongue any longer, "Guys... we've been here too long."

Jana nodded, "I know."

"This feels too easy." Ella stated, biting the inside of her cheek.

Suddenly, an alarm blared out and they cried out at the sudden pain in their ears. Wincing at the pain, Ella pushed the door open and stumbled in, Jana and her brother behind her. The brunette looked up at the two girls, "We have to get out of here."

Carrie nodded, ushering them towards the window, "It's quicker this way."

TJ fumbled over the locks until it eventually fully unlocked. They all rushed outside, but Holly stopped, turning back to look at her friend, "Come with us."

Carrie shook her head, "Go."

Ella ordered the group to jump down, and they did so without hesitation. Before she followed, she looked back at the girl. A hospital gown hung on her shoulders, her eyes tired. She gave the girl a genuine smile, "Thank you, Carrie."

The girl gave her a faint smile back before Ella hopped down, running after her friends towards the silver car.

They all successfully hopped in as quickly as they could, and the doctor quickly drove away before the men in black chasing them could catch up. Ella let out a breath as she sunk to the floor of the car.

Carrie wasn't okay. She knew that. But she seemed happy. And technically, they were helping her. The medication would have a huge effect on her. Despite all of that, there was one fact Ella couldn't believe.

They had de-wolfed her.

She shook her head, running a hand over her face before looking up at the girl, "So?"

The girl glanced down at her, her gaze flickering between her eyes before nodding.