Chapter 43: Control Required

Scarlet’s mouth was tight as she studied her. "So...we’re going to have our brains checked by a shrink? Is...that how this was supposed to go because...I’m nervous now."

Rachel scratched her temple and rose to her feet, rolling around her shoulders. "Captain Hall was there to call out any inconsistencies with my story and offer advice from a legendkin standpoint. That ending, though... It tells me that General Dallas has something else cooking in the background, and he needs model mythickin and legendkin to set an example for it."

Arms folded, Rachel’s eyes narrowed while drifting to the left; in all honesty, she wasn’t even sure what she wanted, and maybe that was what he got, which was also why he was sending someone to further dig into her emotional state and focus.

On the other hand, it appeared the goddesses had their own plan that they were trying to steer her down, and why was it necessary for her to meet with them in the first place? Sure, she could ask all sorts of questions, yet there was also the potential danger of stepping into a trap.

Overall, it was her only direction thus far, and a goddess could potentially give her more solid information on Twilight, their change, and the Scarlet Hand. For that to happen, she did need to play nice with the general.

"You don’t have to go into everything, Scarlet; this testing phase is primarily for me, not you, but your actions will affect the results since they see me as keeping you in check."

Scarlet held up her hands. "I’m fine with that! I don’t want to go through a psych session and be told what I already know... I’m a little broken—okay, more than a little," she mumbled at her smile. "Still, you have helped me keep my cool... Thanks, Rachel."

Chuckling at her tone, Rachel sighed and opened her arms. "I’m not a hugger, but I do enjoy going outside of my comfort zone from time to time."

"Hehe. Thanks for being a casual friend," she joked, coming in to get a hug. "Just...having someone with me helps so much."

Easing her fears, Rachel rubbed her back and messed up her hair a bit to get a light glare from the vespertine reaper before informing the Green Berets of the plan; they were as shocked as they were to hear a female special forces officer would be flying down to oversee things.

A Marine Corps Captain was the same rank as Lt. Thomson and a rank above Mateo, albeit the fact that all of them were from different military corps. Well, technically, so far as she’d heard from word of mouth passed between groups of soldiers, the Coast Guard was both a federal law enforcement agency and military branch with the Department of Homeland Security, which put them in a leading spot domestically, even under martial law.

On the helicopter flight to the hospital, Rachel reflected on how things were progressing. Personally, she didn’t see a future ahead of her as she was, and the fear of not being in control had likely spurred her to this length. It was a bad habit, but she had to feel in control, presumably linked back to the trauma of seeing her dead cousin in the car accident, where her entire life changed.

It made her chew at her lower lip while considering what it must have been like for her mother when she’d been the one driving, not to mention how her aunt blamed her for it, even if it was the drunk driver’s fault; he’d died, so there was no one to dump the blame.

It caused a rift that only grew over time between her father and his brother’s family. Soo-Geun was probably too young to remember his big sister all that much, but he went by Mason now, hating the Korean culture his parents tried to infuse into him, unlike Rachel, who was proud of her heritage.

My family is more messed up than I thought it was when I was trapped in my little bubble world; I wanted to forget that incident altogether, so I suppressed everything involving my cousin.

"Ugh..."

Scarlet frowned at her tone. "Still hurting?"

"I...guess you could say that," she mumbled through the microphone, staring out at the illuminated cityscape. "Just a lot to process."

They touched down on the outside helipad, with it taking off after they jumped out, allowing the hospital to keep the lifeline clear for those who required immediate care. Naturally, in the subsequent chaos that overtook the city, the other facilities were already overburdened with patients and needed to move critical patients around.

Ears tilting left and right with her head, she proceeded into the hallways, scanning the area for voices and conversations. She swiftly identified her parents, Anthony, and the mythickin unicorn. A few other things caught her immediate attention, but she had to put them on the back burner.

Mateo shifted his gun, eyeballing the packs of people walking around or loitering near the hospital with the Coast Guard soldiers patrolling the area. "We’re heading to your parents first, or do you have anything else that we need to do?"

Scarlet fidgeted nervously at the inquiry, no doubt thinking about her own family or how they’d react to her; she was the type of girl who hated causing others trouble.

Rachel played with the base of her tail while pondering the best course of action; her parents hadn’t seemed to have slept for over forty hours by the conversation they were having, but her mother had to make sure she was alright before even considering anything else.

Wanting to go right to her to let her know she was alright, Rachel groaned upon hearing a rather tempting scenario she could capitalize on. She zeroed in on the Spanish-speaking gangs that had basically taken over a particular side of the hospital cafeteria—the unicorn gangster was her target, and helping out one of the boys close to her gave Rachel a way in.

Everything she’d heard from the soldiers and citizens’ gossip told her the unicorn had a very distinctive personality; who knew a hardcore Mexican gangster girl would take on the form of the mythical horse?

"In one moment...I have a live stream to crash," Rachel chimed, motioning to them to follow her toward the front lobby where companies had been organized throughout the previous day to provide relief for those taking shelter at the hospital. "Stay back with your men if you can, Mateo—you too, Scarlet... After all, it’s only a prank," she giggled.

Confused, the pair glanced at each other as they complied, making sure to keep an eye on her as Rachel put on a dumb, aimless expression and entered the front lobby.