It’s okay, you’re safe. That movement you’re feeling is because you’re in the back of a van. Don’t worry, I’ve got you stabilized. That arm of yours isn’t going anywhere. Just make sure you don’t pull out the IV, okay? Shhh. It’s all right. We got you out of there, and I’m not going to let it hurt you anymore.
I need to tell you a few things, though, okay? Can you focus on me? Right here. Okay, good. Now, I need you to listen to what I’m saying, because it’s important. All right? Good.
Right now, you’re probably feeling a little confused and disoriented. You’ve encountered something you don’t quite understand, something that’s challenged just about everything you thought was true about the world. The Team Lead told me it was a vampire. Yeah? Well, there’s some good news, then. Yeah.
The good news is you’re lucky you got out alive.
You may have been scarred. The physical wounds we can take care of here in the infirmary. The emotional wounds… well, I’m afraid those aren’t going away on their own. Once you’ve been touched by the Unknown, there’s just no easy way to recover from that. There’s a hard road. A long, hard road. We can talk about that in a second. First, I think I owe you an introduction. And an explanation.
My name is Rachel, and I’m the medic for this team that just pulled you out of the vampire’s lair. Right now, I’ve got you on [insert medical terminology here]. You’ll be all right there. It doesn’t look like the bites on your neck are infected – not with any mundane disease, that is. You’ll be carrying around… no. Wait. I’m going to fast. I’d better explain first. About the team and everything. Like I said, my name’s Rachel, and I work for an organization called “SAVE.”
What do we do? Funny you should ask. You just saw it. We beat the crap out of monsters.
* * *
Let’s start at the beginning. I’m a part of what we call an envoy team. SAVE has lots of envoy teams, combing the world, looking for monsters like the one we rescued you from back there.
How long have we been around? A long time, honey. A long damn time. But, we went quiet for a while. Almost a decade. And things got bad when we did. But, something happened in the last few years. We found our roots again, got back the mojo that was missing.
(Hold still here. I have to give you a penicillin shot… there we go.)
See, SAVE was founded a century and a half ago by three men. They created this little secret society of ours, and for a while, they fought the good fight. But, one by one, they fell. Others tried to carry on the good fight… but it ain’t just a good fight, it’s a hard fight, too.
What are we fighting? It’s the Unknown. That’s what they called it. And it’s where all the monsters in the world come from. Vampires, werewolves, mummies, ghosts, necromancers… even the boogeyman. Lost me a team in a kid’s closet once. It was a dark, mean place. I don’t like talking about it.
The Unknown is this other world, and it’s where all the monsters come from. There are portals all over, and they slip through their world into ours. So, not only do we have to fight these things, we also have to find the portals and shut them down. There’s supposed to be a big portal – “the keystone,” they call it – in Dublin where the SAVE headquarters used to be.
Yeah. Used to be. We got our asses kicked. Lost almost everybody after that. It wasn’t until Michelle found the Mechanic and Strange that…
Well, there’s me getting ahead of myself again. Sorry.
(“Hey! Take it easy on the corners, guys! I’ve got a patient back here!”)
Look, I know you saw it. The vampire. It saw you. What’s worse, you’ve been infected by it. The bites, I mean. That means it can feel you. It knows where you are. It might also know what you know. That’s why I’m telling you all this. Because I want it to know that we’re here, that we’ve got you, and that we’re not gonna let it get away.
See those boys up there, driving the van? The ones with the armored neck braces and Kevlar vests and AK-47’s and crossbows? They’re gonna make sure that sonofabitch doesn’t hurt you. Not ever again. He’s following us right now. You can probably feel him like a nicotine fit. Probably worse. I don’t know what heroin pains are like, but I’ve heard the vampire urge is worse.
No, I can’t give you anything for that pain. Not yet. See, I need you to do something first. What I need you to do right now… what I need you to do is focus. Concentrate. Set your mind on the pain. Isolate it. Hold it tight, right next to your heart.
Can you feel it?
Good.
Because as sure as that bastard can feel you, you can feel him. And I need to know some things. The more you can tell me, the more we can hurt him.
And we want to hurt him, baby.
And we want you to help.