Help

Sometime later...

Ezekiel mounted the front porch steps panting harshly. His lungs begging for more air then he could actually draw. He cradled a giant bag in his arm that was packed full of surgical supplies ranging from surgical needles, thread, gauze, antiseptics, scalpel's, peroxide, alcohol and a box full of surgical gloves and masks.

Ezekiel held all of this stuff close to his body. He'd run all the way to Kim's healing home. It had taken time for him to get her to swear an oath of silence and even longer for him to detail the mortals injuries and, then to recount the story to her, before she had conceded and offered her help.

Then once she had loaded him up moment later he had paid her, then made a beeline back to the mansion. For all of his haste the whole outing had taken him nearly two hours to complete, not for the first time Ezekiel thanked God for grating him his own innate abilities. Ezekiel knew that no other Shifter in his entire Clan could have done what he had done in so little amount of time and in mortal form no less.

With a happy little snort to release most of the air he had just in-hailed Ezekiel straiten upward and climbed the steps to his front door, but before he could juggle the bag in his hands out of the way and reach for the door knob, the door flew open. Missing Ezekiel by a shoulder, Landers snarling voice could be heard as he brushed past his sibling.

"God what took you so long?" Lander growled, part Leopard...part man, as he jumped off of the porch and began pacing back and forth across the dirt path before the tall grass.

Ezekiel spun on his heel. "Don't start with me! You try doing all of this in mortal flesh and then you can complain...." Ezekiel trailed off as he took a moment to really look at his brother. Landers hands were clenched at his sides as though he was in pain. His eyes were wide, darting from side to side and shifted. Glowing a fierce green, as he walked first one way and then another. Looking for all the world like a frustrated beast in a cage.

"What's wrong with you? I went as fast as I could, but..." Ezekiel began in concern only to be cut off.

"Nothing wrong with me!?" Lander hissed. "It's that damn mortal. Two hours....for two god forsaken hours it's been screaming like a stuck pig!"

"Screaming?" Ezekiel asked him frowning. "Why is the mortal screaming? Is he awake already?"

"God I hope not!" Lander barked on a dark laugh. "There's something wrong with that damn thing if you ask me." Lander grimaced as he pulled a hand through his golden hair. Then he eyed the package in Ezekiels arm and rolled his eyes. "Go and give that stuff to mom Ezekiel. Help her get him patched up. I can't be near that until it shut up. And the sooner she gets that needle and thread the better..." Lander commanded; under his breath he said. "Maybe then she can sew the guys mouth shut..."

Ezekiel wanted to listen, but he did still remember that he wasn't supposed to go near the mortal. Something his older brother seemed to have forgotten in his frustration. Instead of reminding him Ezekiel lifted his chin and hedged. "Aren't you gonna stand guard like Dad asked you too?"

"No." Lander said bluntly. "I can't even go up those stairs without my head nearly exploding. I need a break. Ill trust you to watch moms back....for now"

"But...." Ezekiel began. He knew that his brother was serious, but he wasn't exactly on good footing with his father just then for him to be jumping back into the line of fire.

"I can't..." Lander snarled cutting him off. Bright green eyes glared at their house as though it was some giant monster that was about to pounce on his brother and pummel him. Lander grabbed his temples suddenly and hissed in pain, closing his Shifted eyes. He enunciated all of his words next few words. "My heads gonna explode, Ezekiel! I'm not going to go back in there until you make it stop!"

"OK...OK. I won't tell dad if you won't." Ezekiel tried to soothe slightly unnerved at what had agitated his brothers so badly. "I'll take care of it."

"Big words little bro." Lander growled as Ezekiel turned back towards the door and grabbed the knob. "But I doubt you powers are gonna be of much help here."

Ignoring his jib, Ezekiel punched open the front door and steeped inside. His mother out in the hall, by the spiral staircase. She was chewing her lip, rubbing her arms and tapping her small slipper. Her hair was still bound back in a braid, but while he was gone she had changed from her dress into a simple pair of jeans and a lack tank top.

"Mom I've got the supplies." Ezekiel called to her.

But he never got the chance to hear here response. It was like him opening the door was some kind of silent trigger, because three second later a scream, half sob, half rage, all terrified tore across his senses. Not only making him jump, but the leopard deep down inside of him roar in red hot confusion and anger. Ezekiels jumped in shock. His head whipped up to the second floor landing where the scream had crawled out from.

"What the hell..." He breathed.

The broken wail came to an abrupt end, Ezekiels eyes were ripped from there a moment later when he suddenly felt h=the bad in his arms being removed. His mother touched his bicep with calming cool fingers that countered the hot heat that popped across his skin. The Shift mingling with his concern and the anger.

"How long has that been going on?" Ezekiel asked her softly.

"It started a few minutes after you left with your father...." She explained. She looked a little pale and shaken to him, but also determined. Her big green eyes locking with his.

"Is he awake?" Ezekiel questioned her putting a hand on her shoulder.

"No...He's unconscious." Glen told him, putting a hand to her heart. And looking down in concentration when the mortal whimpers began once more. "He....he seems to be dreaming, but he won't wake up, so he could also be halucinating."

"Is he speaking.... has he said anything to you?" His mother shook her head in denial. Ezekiel cocked his head. "Well, can Lander read his mind? "

" No. He's even blocking Lander out." She sighed as she swiped an errant curl from her braid back behind her ear.

"What?" Ezekiel gasped at her. He was three parts shocked and one part envious. Ezekiel, unlike his father and Walter wasn't impervious to Landers abilities and it was startling to realize that the mortal could do something that only a select few men and women in his entire Clan could do.

She just nodded at his shock. "Lander couldn't touch his mind at all. And all the stranger does is scream." She said and as if to prove her point, the mortal shouted again. Chills bit into Ezekiel's skin as the scream poured across the entire house.

What in god's name is happing inside this guy's head?
Ezekiel asked himself.

His mother took the strap of the supply bag from him then and slung it across her small shoulder. With a sad smile she turned to the steps and Ezekiel followed. She shook her head.

"I know that you shouldn't be in here, but..." She shrugged away the rest of her sentence as she climbed ahead of him. "Come with me for now...I think Lander is at his limit and I'm gonna need you to help me put the stranger under for surgery."

***

Ezekiel followed his mother up the spiral stairs, down the halls and up to the Mortals door. And as they stood outside Ezekiel found that he could barely breath for all the tension and....protective energy pulsating around inside of him. Every scream was so visceral. So damn agonized that he could almost feel the fear, and the pain.

Standing outside of the mortal's door he brimmed with a ....unbelievable, but completely uncontrollable need to sooth this hysterical intruder. To make the pain the intruder was so obviously in just go away.

Ezekiel instantly began to see the naiveté in this train of thought. He didn't know the first thing about this strange man or even mortals in general.

Whatever he did. What ever he tried to do, could potentially make the situation better....or much worse.

If I used my power on him......
Ezekiel started...then shook his head in denial.
I'm too anxious right now. So if I used that on him, he might just...

Ezekiels train of thought was cut short as he suddenly realized that he and his mother had arrived at the mortal's sick room.