Some kind of creature.

       Out there.

       That half our patients have seen.

       "So that means-" Sissel nodded.

       "They aren't all crazy." we said in unison. I laughed. "This is amazing- can we tell the-"

       "No." interrupted Sissel. "They would leak the information." her answer seemed so immediate. As if she was preparing for this

       "But-"

       "The answer is no, River." I'd never heard Sissel this firm before. It was weird.

       "But it could change some of their lives-" I exclaimed, raising my voice more to match Sissel's. Sissel pinched the bridge of her nose. Plopping down in her chair, she opened one of the many drawers in her desk. Pulling out a very shabby and old-fashioned notebook, she placed it in front of me. Hesitantly, I reached for the delicate journal. Inside were pages upon pages of snippets of the newspaper. The journal was almost completely full, the last page filled being the seventh to last. The newspaper clipping was from yesterday's paper. The only thing clipped out was the headline and an entire paragraph dedicated to the title.

       "'Researchers in Magical Creatures'," I said aloud, reading the title. "It has now been declared that people who do research in magical creatures will be executed. President Crown declared earlier today that the researchers in these creatures will pay for what they're doing. For those unfamiliar or unclear with the subject, research in magical creatures has been unofficially banned for the past seven years. Now, the President has declared otherwise. 'They must pay for their crimes,' President Crown said during his state-wide announcement. 'Magical Creatures are not to be messed with, even if we have no proof of their existence.'" I looked up from the clipping back at Sissel. "We'll all be killed." I whispered, trying not to blink as tears filled my eyes. I ended up smearing them away anyways.

       "Yes, thanks, I hadn't gotten that." Sissel chuckled softly, although a hint of fear still lingered in her voice. I didn't smile.

       "How can they ban it? I don't see how anything bad could happen- I mean- like he said himself; we have absolutely no proof of their existence!" my voice kept elevating, growing louder and louder as I continued to complain.

       "He's just afraid," Sissel muttered under her breath. I looked up at the time. Seven-fifty-three.

       "Oh crap-" I muttered. "Ah- Sissel- sorry but I really have to go. I promised my parents I'd be home by seven fifty." Sissel gave out a soft chuckle.

       "Okay. Try to get some of the research done tonight. And- River?" I paused where I was, just about to walk out the door. 

       "Yes?"

       "Maybe watch the news tonight. I heard good ol' dependable prez is giving another presentation about the Mythical Research problem." she continued, offering a swift wink as I walked out the door.

⛯

       I swear my continuous groans woke up the neighbors -on both sides- multiple times. It was ten thirty, and I had been researching since eight o'clock for some sort of answer. The thing was, it was probably going to be impossible to find anything at this point. All articles that I found that I had the smallest amount of hope for, went to a blank screen with big, bold red letters that sayed 'RESTRICTED'. It was as if they were purposely trying to make me fail at my one job. I exited the page, which I was genuinely familiar with doing, and definitely not because I had just spent the last two and a half hours of my night doing the exact same thing hundreds of thousands of times. I swear I could now do it in my sleep.

       Exiting back onto the search engine, I scrolled down to the next few websites. There were two that sparked my interest. The first one was titled 'MCRS - Finlei Strange', because it was the first website title announcing a name, and the second being 'Update On Magical Creatures Research'. The second title reminded me of something. Then it clicked. Sissel had reminded me that the President was giving an update. Without hesitation, I clicked on the link, thankful that all government-related websites weren't blocked off or restricted.

       The link took me to a website, but a video started automatically playing the national anthem, which consisted of practically an entire orchestra, ending just as I arrived at the website. So it was still live, or otherwise still starting. The presentation opened with, of course, the mayor staring obliviously at his thousands of online viewers.

       "Hello, and welcome." he started. For some reason, I could almost make out sadness- or even fear, in his eyes. "My name is Isaac Crown, President of your home country, Ocili." I saw the online chat from the video going viral, from people saying 'I love you" too questions about the laws. Some were even hateful, such as questioning his position of government given the things he has been making illegal recently. I could see him avert his eyes from where he could see the chat. "You must all be wondering why you're tuning in." He gave a short pause after that, which I assumed he was reading some of the comments, chuckling sometimes as he read them. I looked over at my clock, given the short pause, to make sure I had gotten the time right. Sure enough, on both my computer and the wall clock, it read 10:36.

       A weird time to be filming an announcement. I thought, but ignored it. The world was weird sometimes. 

       "Most of you may have heard that this would be an announcement about-" he took a deep, shaky breath, and put on a big smile. "About research in magical creatures. I do know that not all of you will agree to my terms of service, but it is for the best of you all." Crown didn't have to raise his voice at all because there was nobody to stop him. Nobody to shush, make him raise his voice at, or argue. In the corner of my eye, I swore I saw transparent white text at the bottom of the screen. I leaned in closer, and sure enough, the palest text ever, read 'Caution; Gore'.

       What the hell does that mean? I thought. Maybe it was an error of printing- or maybe even my laptop was glitching. I just waved it off.

       "Today, we have an... interesting guest." the President sniffed, almost looking like he was about to turn his nose up at everyone. Two men dressed in completely white uniforms stepped steadily into the frame. Each man was holding one of the two arms of a man. He wore a black dress coat that looked like it had been torn, reassembled, and torn again, as well as rolled in the mud five or so times, as well as missing an entire arm, showing through to his skin. He was skinny as a stick, which gave every viewer the ability to see his rib cage, and he looked like he hadn't shaved in days, with patches of hair all over his cheeks, and bruises and blood covering the majority of his head in general. I felt the icky bile rise in my throat, but I pushed it back down.

       What could Crown want with that poor man- but my question was horribly answered when ninety percent of the viewers dropped out of watching the video.