The Doctor by Jennifer Bull Page A

did you mean by non-paranormals—are there more of you? Of me? … And where are we going?’
    Jack looked like he was in a much better mood now. I imagine Tez was not quite so happy at the moment. Personally I thought we’d be lucky if we made it out of the parking lot before the ‘backup’ arrived.
    ‘We,’ Jack said confidently, ‘are off to find the Doctor.’
    ‘Can he help me get rid of the werewolf?’
    Jack hesitated for a moment. ‘Yes, and no.’
    I was after a little more of an explanation than that. Jack seemed to be pondering what to say next. He drove out of the parking lot with no problems, and turned onto the dark street. He kept glancing in the rear-view mirror, making sure we weren’t being followed, but there was no sign of other cars on the road. It was a few minutes before he spoke again.  
    ‘The Doctor is someone we’ve been after for a very long time. Tez and I are part of the Paranormal Agency’s Detective Service. We attend paranormal—and yes there is a whole paranormal world out there, but I’ll leave that for another time—as I was saying, we attend paranormal crime scenes and pretty much fight the bad guys. Only difference is, our bad guys are paranormal too.’
    ‘So who’s the Doctor?’
    ‘He is a paranormal who has taken to creating monsters within his unwitting victims.’
    My whole body went cold as I processed this. My voice came out in a croak, ‘You mean like me?’
    Jack just nodded. There was silence for a while. I couldn’t quite understand. I’d always wondered how the wolf came to be inside me, but I’d just assumed it was who I was, something I’d been born with. It was as if I should have known it all along; someone had done this to me.
    ‘I believe the Doctor is a telepath,’ Jack said quietly, ‘who is convincing his victims that they have these monsters inside them. I also believe that you can overcome this.
    He glanced at me, ‘Daniel, it’s all in your head. I know you have physical symptoms, but the mind is a powerful thing. If you can convince yourself that the wolf is nothing more than your imagination, I believe you will be free of him.’
    No, that wasn’t possible. I looked down at my hands. They were covered in fur. How could my mind change my body like that? It wasn’t possible.
    ‘The mind is capable of so many more things that you servas realise,’ Jack said, ‘It shouldn’t be possible for a man to turn into a werewolf, and yet here you are. Is it that hard to believe that the mind is able to make such changes?’
    ‘I guess not,’ I said. What he said was true. By all rights I shouldn’t be able to turn into a werewolf. Jack shouldn’t be able to read my mind. Tez shouldn’t have been able to stop me mid fall and keep me hanging in mid air. After the last 24 hours, I was just going to have to accept I would not understand this new world. Actually I’m not sure I wanted to understand it.
    We turned down another road and I watched out the window as we drove. The sun had come and gone, and rain was pounding noisily on the car. I’d always liked driving in the rain. Beth had too. My thoughts drifted to what she was doing now, and I hoped the others were safe, that Jeff and Ty were being treated. But I couldn’t think about Rex.  
    My chest felt tight and I held back the tears. I couldn’t believe he was gone. It was this Doctor. He’s done this to me. He made me into this creature, into the thing that had attacked Rex. The tightness in my chest remained but the tears turned to prickles of anger. I would do everything I could to rid myself of the wolf. Then I wanted revenge.
    Jack was humming to himself now, and he seemed preoccupied. Suddenly a question came to my mind, ‘How do you know where to go? Those memories you got from my head barely showed anything. It was dark and rainy, but apart from that there was very little to see.’
    He hummed a little louder and I thought he was just going to ignore my question. Pretend