Call it Curiosity

Objects of Study


To know a beast’s physicality and origins was to understand it. To understand it was to have power over it. While Daniel and Keoma were not interested in that power, they were interested in study. Data. Could they learn something new? Could they find new ingredients for their poisons? Their antidotes? Could they create new medicines from a substance? Could they learn something never before recorded about a beast?



These seemed innocent enough pursuits compared to the sometimes brutal experimentation done by the Warden of the Australian chapter. Knowledge was a power Daniel and Keoma admired. Knowledge was their reason for following Sasha Zarkhov to the Candle Cult. Knowledge was their reason for getting close to the townsfolk and beasts they desperately wanted to learn from.



Knowledge was the reason they currently had beasts on their tables.



“You are the most unprofessional—”



“You cannot complain but so much. They are both here aren’t they?”



“I at least asked to study him first.” Then he’d stuck the needle into Tea’s neck. Keoma had waited until Lola was putty in his hands, whispering and seducing and enticing her. Then, out of nowhere, she had been partially sedated.



Now they lay on the tables set up in their makeshift lab, in a room in their rental. They were due to come to soon, and when they did Daniel had the next round of drug ready. “We don’t know how they’ll react,” he continued in Portuguese as he moved towards a trunk where he had stored a fourth of his supplies. Pulling out straps and buckles, he offered them to Keoma and declared, “They may try to run.”



Keoma scoffed at the suggestion to strap them down. “She is small.” Before Daniel could argue with him, Keoma’s face bloomed with realization. “But we do not know what she is.” At that, he took the straps and they proceeded to secure Tea and Lola to the tables. A strap across the upper arms and chest, another across the elbows and ribcage, another across the wrists and hips, and two last straps above and below the knees. Daniel set a pair of straps at the head of the table, in the event that their heads needed to be secured. Once the pair of beasts were ready they removed their gloves again and re-gloved, disinfecting their hands and forearms as they went. Keoma wheeled tables of tools, beakers, and syringes to each of them as Daniel waited for Tea and Lola to awaken. “Have you started the recorder?” Keoma asked.



In one fell swoop, Daniel picked up a pencil and used the eraser end to press and button and do just that. Then he started speaking clearly, “Subject one, hybrid, half human half skinwalker. Former beast of Liam Evermine, former Puppet Master of North America.”



Keoma then declared, also clearly, “Subject two, hybrid. Dichotomy unknown. Origins unknown.”



Tea stirred on the table, eyes rolling behind his head. Daniel readied the syringe. “Subject one is coming to.” Tea’s head started turning, the half skinwalker stiffening as soon as Daniel placed his hand on his forehead. “Administering drug.” The needle pierced Tea’s neck once again, and a canine whimper passed through his lips.



As the liquid entered Tea’s vein, Keoma declared, “Subject two coming to as well. Administering drug.” Keoma proceeded in the same fashion as the Puppet Master, but unlike Daniel the Grand Editor then proceeded to pet Lola’s furred neck and shush her. As soon as the pair were drugged they went limp on the tables, the only difference being they were still conscious at this point. Conscious and whimpering. Keoma murmured sweet nothings to Lola, who in her weak state was having difficulty struggling against the binds. “Docinho, it is alright,” he said in English.



Then he broke one of Daniel’s cardinal rules by leaning down and kissing her cheek. “Play later,” Daniel ordered. “Study now.”



“Her little chest is fluttering,” Keoma protested.



Daniel noted that while that was indeed true (Lola’s breathing was certainly elevated and shallow), he still did not believe Keoma was being as professional as he should be in this situation. Then again, Daniel was lucky he had at least convinced the man to tie his hair up. Putting a mask on however? He had blatantly refused. “Do what you must. But be respectful to the others in your presence.” And don’t blatantly molest Lola while Tea was here to hear her panic. “Are you certain the subjects should be kept in the same room?” While he’d like to ensure Keoma continued to remain professional (as professional as Keoma could be), he also didn’t want to risk Tea and Lola possibly egging each other’s panic along. Tea was fine now. His breathing was also elevated, but not to the extent of Lola’s. Tea was, however, strong enough to truly make the straps creak and give from his attempted movements.



“They are close,” Keoma said.



“That’s why I ask.”



“Close enough to call to one another should they be separated.”



“True,” Daniel conceded. The two calling for one another could cause chaos. He only wanted so much chaos during this tender time. Daniel absently stared down at Tea as the giant of a beast adjusted to his situation. He looked like he was about to start thrashing his head, so Daniel caught his face between his hands and proceeded to calmly massage the giant’s temples. Once he had Tea still, he lost focus on what Keoma was doing and started narrating his own actions. He described Tea’s physical features, listing off hair color and texture. Then he moved onto eye color and other descriptors. He saved scars and obvious features for last as Keoma repeated the process for Lola in his own slow fashion.



Tea was thoroughly decorated in tattoos in much the same way as Lola was covered in brands. And they were essentially brands, not tattoos, complete with raised skin and sensitivity. He glanced over at Keoma as he listed off the feel of each brand, taking interest as well as ensuring that his running his fingers along the nude Lola’s body didn’t turn into anything that may be perceived as sinister by the heavily breathing subject.



Part way through describing the brands, Keoma stopped, then looked up at Daniel with wide eyes. “They are summons,” he murmured in astonishment. Keoma returned his gaze to Lola’s body, leaning closer and with more interest and amazement. “Summons!”



As Keoma marveled, Daniel warned, “Don’t do anything to enact them.” Then he started describing Tea’s markings. He didn’t trace them with his fingers the way Keoma did, simply described them. As he listed off the number of places they were it, he wondered if they had always been on the body of the half skinwalker. He did not recall ever having fully glimpsed the face of Liam’s beast. “Perhaps these are markings of the breed.”



“No,” Keoma declared. Daniel looked up at him. “Skinwalkers do not have stripes.”



“Tribal?” Keoma held up his arm to show Daniel what his tribal markings looked like. Daniel hummed. True, South America wasn’t as different from North America as to warrant vastly differing tribal markings. But they were still different.



Snapping their fingers by the subjects’ ears, they found the both of them to be incredibly sensitive. Lola’s especially. Keoma spent a great deal more time touching and inspecting her long, rabbit-like ears than Daniel thought necessary.



Then Keoma stopped. “There are traces of a brand.” As Keoma inspected it, Daniel ran his fingers over Tea’s own brand. It was grossly obviously on the side of his neck, with one of the black marks cutting through it. Daniel’s nose wrinkled in disgust at the crudeness in the brand. It was perhaps one of the worst he had seen, and he assumed that it had been outrageously painful for the beast to wake up to. He pitied Tea, not quite thinking of what he was doing before he scratched the top of Tea’s head. The half skinwalker closed his eyes and Daniel was glad of the mask on his face. Keoma didn’t need to see him smile at the blonde creature’s reaction.



“Proceed with an incision in the arm,” Daniel declared. While they waited for the cut to determine whether or not the pair had regenerative healing, they would check their teeth for venom.



Keoma and Daniel picked up scalpels, both choosing spots on the arms that were unmarked. “Making an incision,” Keoma and Daniel declared simultaneously as they placed a scalpel against the inside of Tea’s and Lola’s arms and dragged the blades.



It was Daniel’s turn for his eyes to go wide. “Subject one has black blood.” He stopped, utterly bemused. Keeping a mind as clear of excitement as possible, he set aside the scalpel and moved to open one of Tea’s eyes. Black vessels. How had he not noticed them earlier while talking to the beast? When Tea’s cheeks were tinted purple, he had thought the other was choking. Now he saw that he had been flustering. Pulling Tea’s lips open, he stared at his gums and tongue once again. Black. Black and purple. How? How had he not noticed? “Are—?”



“Must be an external influence. Skinwalkers do not have black blood,” Keoma clarified for him.



External influence. These creatures, from what they had learned, gave their souls in exchange for . . . something to a much older, more powerful creature. Perhaps that was the external influence. But that also implied . . . .



These were not tattoos littering Tea’s body.



“What was previously believed to be tattoos on subject number one may in fact be scars,” Daniel said. It was Keoma’s turn to glance at the Puppet Master with concern. In mere moments though, Daniel had dropped the realization and proceeded with his tests.



While neither turned out to be venomous, both subjects displayed regenerative traits. Collecting blood samples, they continued testing for reaction before giving a physical. Both were healthy. Blood pressure and heartrate were fast, but that was understandable Daniel thought.



“They’re beautiful,” Keoma and Daniel agreed in unison. As they continued to examine, Daniel prepared to end the recording. He was eager to get back to his room and start taking notes on what he’d learned of Tea. And he could also focus more on what Keoma was actually saying of his own subject.



Just as he was about to hit the button on the recorder, Keoma stopped him. “One last test.” He picked up a vial of liquid Daniel did not have on his own table. “Reaction to topical ointment sample fifteen.” Keoma had developed this ointment to test for reaction to magic, or to induce magic.



Daniel tensed. “If those are summons—”



“I will not put it on the summons.”



“Still. I would rather you try for subject one first.”



Keoma nodded. “Ready a sedative.” Daniel did so. Holding a syringe aloft, Keoma tilted the vial over Tea’s forehead. “Reaction to ointment, subject one.” A drop fell on Tea’s head. At first, there was nothing. Rubbing the drop into his skin, Keoma and Daniel watched with interest.



Then Daniel caught the faint glow of gold under Tea’s eyelids. Lifting one eye open slightly, it revealed, “Irises aglow.”



“Subject one’s magic has been untapped.”



“Explain?” Daniel asked.



Keoma obliged, “Skinwalkers are, in a sense, witches. They have the ability to shape shift, and have a natural inclination towards conjuration, poisoning, and sometimes summoning.”



“Witch doctors.” Like them. “His magic is untapped?” Keoma nodded. “Is there a way to—?”



“You do not want that,” Keoma quickly stopped him. “A skinwalker on the Witchery Way is, for lack of better terminology, less human and more animal. To get him to the point where he has access to the magic, he would have to have committed a crime offensive enough to get on the path. He would need to continue committing similar crimes in order to pursue the path.”



“What sort of crime?”



“Murdering, defiling, or otherwise dishonoring a family member or loved one.”



Daniel could not see this particular half skinwalker committing any of those crimes. But still, he had to ask. “Can you tell if he’s on the path?”



Keoma shook his head. “He would have reacted more than this, I believe. If he were far along the path. And he certainly wouldn’t be able to converse with you.”



That was somewhat reassuring. “Now for subject two.”



Keoma nodded, then performed the same action with Lola. Her reaction was more immediate: all of her markings started to glow. Keoma stared in bemusement, Daniel still holding the syringe aloft in the event more happened. He was wary. He hoped this did not enact the summons or else they would—



She had a third eye.



It opened on her forehead, and with it both of her other eyes. They all opened wide and she.



Screamed.



Keoma fell across the small beast’s body, holding her down as she started to arch against the straps and twist on the table. “Sedate! Sedate!” he cried over her screams. He held her head still as Daniel rushed forward. “Docinho no. Docinho—”



“She’s not listening right now,” Daniel declared sharply, jabbing the needle into her neck. She let out a piercing shriek at that, tears spilling from her eyes as she writhed under Keoma. The sedative was fast acting, but not fast enough it seemed. She continued to scream for the next few minutes.



And Daniel was immediately rushing to fill another syringe full of sedative, as Tea had started growling and writhing in response to Lola’s panic.



As Lola settled back down into sleep, markings still glowing, Keoma moved to hold Tea still. He had to strap his head down so they didn’t get bitten, and that was a struggle in and of itself. The sound of Tea’s jaws slamming shut repeatedly was chilling, and his snarls were gut wrenching. In an additional bid to keep them both safe from Tea’s jaws, Keoma had taken the second leather strap and shoved it between Tea’s teeth. When both were finally sedated and still, the two relaxed.



Keoma let out a harsh exhale, removing a glove and saying, “End of session,” before stopping the recorder.



“That could have been worse,” Daniel decided.



Keoma tilted his head in agreement, eyebrows raised. “Could have lost a finger.”



“They could have gotten loose.” Or . . . Daniel stopped. He went still. “Tell no one of this.”



Keoma’s brow furrowed. “Why?”



Daniel pointed to Lola. “Do you know what she is yet?” When Keoma didn’t answer, he continued. “Keep your notes to yourself. The fewer who know we’re studying her, the less likely she is to accrue interest.” Keoma thought about it, then nodded in agreement. “And,” Daniel ran his fingers through Tea’s hair almost affectionately, “his prospected owner wouldn’t take kindly to this.” Keoma also agreed. They weren’t interested in getting shot, even over a creature as rare as the half skinwalker. That was exactly what would happen if Sasha Zharkov knew they had possibly caused the beast he was fond of (and the one Daniel was steadily growing more fond of) undue amounts of stress. “Let’s get them cleaned up and dressed.”



“Yes.”



“And back in their rooms.” That won Daniel a massive pout from Keoma. “Fine, do what you wish. But Tea needs—”



“He lives amongst many others. You cannot sneak him in without being noticed.”



This was true. After another few moments of pondering what to do with the half skinwalker, Daniel sighed reluctantly. “Alright. We’ll keep them for the night.”



He was sure he’d never seen Keoma so excited before.