The ride to Area 49-B was probably the most anxious time of my life.

We'd taken a week to let the military staff and scientists perfect their containment methods for the Ventil. We'd also taken the time to let the news about the 'Flying Mystery Woman' die down. As luck would have it, Mary Wang showed up at the Battle Of The Bands, and she had a 2 minute video of the Ventil flying around the clearing. She'd posted it on her FaceSpace, and it had gone viral in about 10 minutes.

We eventually convinced her that it was special effects, but that didn't stop the people from the concert interrogating us about who she was and how she was flying. Luckily, Costas was one step ahead of them, and posted a news article about the girl a couple of days later, under a false name of course, giving her a full fake identity.

The report said she was an out-of-town stunt performer who wanted a change of pace from the busy city of Las Vegas. Everyone bought it, just as we'd hoped. Even Mary had to admit that a flying woman was a little far-fetched, even for Arcadia.

Now, we were going to see who this girl really was, and why she was at the concert.

We arrived after four hours of winding roads and recycled air. Toby had been stress eating a lot of Stuart's burritos the whole way, so the air got pretty rank towards the end of the drive. We couldn't even open a window; there were none. We were literally encased in a huge, metal box of flatulence on wheels, in the dark, with no breeze or natural light. I was really starting to envy the scientists in their airtight suits, even if they were a ridiculous canary yellow.

Once we arrived, and we got through security, we were greeted by a Costas that looked like he had been through the worst week of his life.

His hair was singed off and blackened on the right side of his head. His face on the right side was also covered in red marks that looked like seriously bad burns. They also looked incredibly strange, shape-wise. It looked like a hand made of molten fire had grabbed the right side of his head. His burns and the patches of missing hair were shaped exactly like fingers.

There were enormous bags under his eyes, and the left side of his cheek was swollen and bruised. So was the eye on his left side. Crimson fluid leaked from under his nose and dripped onto his lips. "Hey. How was the drive," he asked halfheartedly, all formality and business gone. Probably along with his sanity. 

"We're doing wonderfully," Archie said. "Aside from Tobias and his incredibly large appetite for burritos." Toby paused, about to take another chunk from his Diablo Maximus 3-Meal Giga-Sized Burrito. "I like food! Is that a crime?" he asked, then continued to devour his meal. "It is when you're sitting in a literal can of farts," Steve said, casually slinging his baseball bat over his shoulder.

"Sargeant, let's cut to the chase," Douxie said, stepping forward. "Is the Ventil still in the lab?"
"You mean the demon who's been driving us off the deep end for a week," Costas asked, and he seemed to internally wince at the mention of her.

"Yep, she's still here...unfortunately. We're keeping her under 24/7 constant surveillance, and heavy sedation, but for some reason she's still active and moving around. She hasn't tried to pull any crazy stunts yet, but we'll be ready for her."

"Costas, you'll never be ready for what magic can throw at you," Archie said flatly. "There's a reason magic is used to define the unexplainable; It defies the laws of physics, and can never be scientifically explained because no two tests, even if it's the same spell, are identical."

Costas suddenly became very interested in his own shoes. He wasn't used to being told he was wrong. "Well, are we gonna just stand here or are we gonna go inside," Jim said, breaking the silence. "Let's go meet the most dangerous creature known to mankind."

**********

Entering the lab was like stepping into a movie set, a science-fiction lab and a horror scene all rolled into one.

There were suspended animation tanks filled with liquids of all colors and creatures from all sorts of planets. There were tables with trays of organs and other pieces of interplanetary lifeforms, ready to be dissected and shoved under a microscope in a moment's notice.

I recognised a lot of them, but now wasn't the time to sightsee. We made our way to the huge, glass wall in the back. The wall was translucent, and the only way into a giant cage that had once held a friend of mine captive. Now, the cage was filled with white mist, blocking our view looking in.

We carefully approached the wall, hoping the creature inside wouldn't see us. "I-is that..." I stuttered, gesturing to the wall with a shaky hand. Costas just nodded. Audibly swallowing my fear, I walked up to the wall. The others hung back a little bit, but eventually curiosity got the better of them and they too approached the glass.

"She's been hiding in the mist for about 4 days now," Costas said, coming up right behind us. "We don't know how it got in there, but we think she created it to hide from us. We aren't certain what it does to people when they breathe it in or when it makes contact with skin, but so far it hasn't affected any people who've gone in with their suits."

"Have you tried going in without the suits yet," I asked, Douxie and Archie looking at me like I'd grown a second head. "The fog could be poisonous," Archie said with a 'I thought you knew that' tone. "It could put you to sleep, or paralyze you, or give you really painful acne," Douxie added.

"Actually, we have," Costas said. "They didn't have any negative reactions to the fog, but they've all needed to be kept in intensive care here at the base."
"How come," Claire asked. "If the fog didn't get them and the Ventil's scared of us, then what did?"

Costas looked around, to make sure nobody was eavesdropping on us. Gesturing to a side door, he whispered to us, "Follow me."

**********

We walked through the door and we were instantly greeted with a scene out of a horror movie.

There were men and women of all kinds laid out on cots, covered in all forms of weird, purple afflictions. One middle aged man who looked about his mid-50s was covered head to toe in magenta fungus.

Another man, this one no more than 30, had huge, lilac boils all over that he constantly scratched at. A young woman in her early 20s had amethyst fur growing on her arms and legs, with eggplant-colored rosettes.

"W-what is this," I asked, fearing I'd already know the answer. "These are the results of when our troops went into the fog," Costas replied gravely. "Even with the suits, it didn't stop...this."

Creeping amongst the ailing humans, I dove deeper into more and more horrors. A man with eyes in a multitude of sizes and shades of purple all over his face.

Another man, screaming at the top of his lungs, who seemed plagued by wild hallucinations. A woman who had roots and leaves growing from her ears, nose and even growing from her navel. I could've even swore I saw a toadstool or two on one of her larger roots.

"This...this is horrendous," I exclaimed.
"This can only be the work of a Ventil," Douxie said gravely. "No other creature has such raw magical talent."

"Uh, quick question," Toby said, studying one of the woman's branches. "Is this normal for a Ventil? Because this is totally crazytown bananapants!!!! How are we supposed to keep something like this under control?!"

"With persuasion and reason," Steve said, crossing his arms over his chest. Every one, myself included, all turned and stared at him. "What? Can't I have a thought that doesn't include beating someone up?"

"Steve, are you sure you didn't hit your head on the car ride here," Claire asked. "'Cause you're not acting like yourself."

"What? This is Persuasion, and this is Reason," Steve said, holding up each of his fists with each introduction. We all breathed out a sigh of relief at his answer.

"To answer your question, Tobias, no, Ventils are not normally this powerful," Archie mused. "We must have an exceptionally strong one in this facility, which would definitely explain how they've been able to use magic and stay active, even under heavy sedation."

"Yes, active is a good word to describe her with," Costas said, his hands absentmindedly drifting to where his hair was scorched off.

"Are you certain it's a female," Douxie asked. "Ventils can change their forms and genders at will. It could be all an illusion."

"Wait wait wait wait wait," Toby said, making a timeout gesture with his hands. "Hold on. You mean that she, or he, or whatever it is, can change into whatever it wants whenever it wants?!"

"No, not exactly," Archie said. "It's true that they can change their gender at will, but that's no mere parlor trick. It takes a great deal of concentration, and it's immensely painful. And only the most powerful Ventils can actually change their molecular structure to an entire other species.

Even if the one here is one of those incredibly powerful Ventils, the transformation would take more magic than it currently has, especially being sedated the way they are. They'd have to be more powerful than Merlin to pull a trick like that out of their sleeves."

"And what if the Ventil happened to be more powerful than Merlin," I asked, for the sake of curiosity and to explore all of our worst-case scenarios.

"There has only been one Ventil more powerful than Merlin," Archie said gravely. "Eclipse, the Ventil's deity and ruler. It is said that she created the first Ventil sisters, the first Alphas, from the soil, breeze and seaspray. She is the one who moves the sun and moon in the sky, and moved the stars to become the constellations, telling the stories of Ventils past."

"Wait," Steve said, putting a hand up. "The Ventils are made of dirt?!"
"Can we please get back to the subject at hand," I practically begged. "What are we going to do about this...creature, and how are we going to do it?"

Silence ensued. Not even Archie had a smart remark to my question. Then, Costas cleared his throat. "Well, we have the most advanced technology this country has to offer," he said. "We might as well use it."

Dun dun duuuuuunnnn!

Okay, I had to do that. Come on, I had to do it at least once. I also just finished Wizards, the TV show. Yes, that's right, we officially have the trilogy finished!  

Well, almost. Not sure if a season 2 of Wizards will be out next year or what, but I know for a fact I'll need to make some serious edits. Like, adding in Jim Lake, for example. 

Also, BTW, there will be huge spoilers for Wizards in this book. Watch it first if you don't like spoilers. I hope you Snowflakes are doing well and enjoying my book! Seeya next time!