It might be a bit sloppy in the appearance and personality description, I was never really good at those, but I hope in general it is acceptable :) [hider=Elena] [b]Name:[/b] Elena Turner [b]Gender:[/b] female [b]Race/Species:[/b] human [b]Age [/b](Real and apparent): 29 [b]Appearance: [/b] Elena isn’t a type of woman you would find “hot” or “sexy” or even notice her in a crowd and she very much likes it that way. She is about average height and tries to maintain healthy weight (which is constantly threatened by her junk food cravings). Her long dark hair is usually tied into a pony tail or a simple braid, so it doesn’t get in the way. She hates using makeup, eyeliner, lipstick or anything of that sort - not that she would necessarily need it, her complexion is clean and healthy, and her emerald intelligent eyes are interesting enough to not require extra highlighting. [b]Personality: [/b] Elena is a kind and compassionate person, who sees helping people not as her job, but as a life calling. She is very shy and a little socially awkward. She is exactly the type of person which when you force them to go on a party, they spend the evening standing alone in the corner sipping wine or petting the dog. She very much prefers to stay at home reading or watching a movie. She is an excellent listener and always has a kind word or an advice for anyone who seeks it (sometimes also for those who don’t). She takes the “do no harm” very seriously, considering herself a pacifist and always trying to pick the non-violent approach, if there is one. She will fight defending herself or someone else, but probably will have a bad conscience because of it. [b]Powers, Traits, and Abilities: [/b] Elena is a fully trained emergency physician, who has experience with treating all kinds of acute injuries and life-threatening illnesses and other conditions. Whether it is a gunshot wound (sadly too common in this part of the world), broken bones or a heart attack, you can be sure that she will always go out of her way to help you. Aside from her “normal” education, Elena also possesses a “power” of sorts – she is an empath. She could always sense and immediately understand other people’s moods and emotions, sometimes to the point of being called a creepy mind reader by other children. Some might call it a gift, but for most of her life she had considered it a curse. Or the worst superpower ever. As a six-year old she asked her father: “Why does mummy feel love when uncle Derek is around, but only not when she is with you?” And surprise, surprise, few months later her parents got divorced. She tried very hard to stop using these powers, but she could never block other people’s feelings out completely. She loves animals (especially the cute fluffy ones), but unfortunately her job is too time-consuming to keep one at home, so she at least volunteers for a local shelter. Ski-ball isnt really her thing. [b]Background: [/b] Elena yawned and stretched her back in a series of creepy cracking noises. The night shift on the ER has been unusually quiet so far, making the time pass slower and slower. Most of her colleagues were in the lounge watching some late-night show on TV, but Elena was deeply submerged in a seemingly endless pile of paperwork. ‘One would think that becoming a doctor meant you treat patients, not fill out papers,’ she grumbled to herself. Stamp, signature, ticking one or two checkboxes, stamp and signature again, current date, yesterday date, signature again. Absolutely mind-numbing. Finally, she sorted out the last document and could take a hard-earned break. She wandered the quiet and mostly empty hallways towards the doctors’ mess to have a cup of coffee, spending a word or two with the nurses and orderlies she met. [i]‘Isn’t life just better with a cup of hot coffee in your hands?’[/i] she thought with a happy smile, enjoying a sip of the hot beverage. She decided to check on one patient from earlier, a young boy who ended up in an infectious disease department. Poor kid. Her fists clenched when she thought of the conversation she had with his mother. “Your son has measles. Why isn’t he vaccinated?” “Oh no, I don’t want him to get autism.” Elena had to take a deep breath and count to ten. “He has severe ear infection and a risk of losing his hearing permanently.” [i]‘But hey, he is not autistic,’[/i] she thought, and it took every single grain of her self-control to not yell at this woman. Elena could feel the mother’s fear and desperation and suddenly felt ashamed. “I know you did what you thought was best for him. Doctor Warren here,” she pointed at her colleague who had just joined them in the emergency room, “is a skilled specialist, who will take good care of your son.” The boy looked so tiny and defenseless lying on the large bed, hooked up to IVs and monitors. Elena was reading his file when her pager began beeping frantically. Quickly putting the pad back into place and sprinted towards the emergency department. The paramedics were bringing a man on a stretcher. Elena cursed, because she could see the blood their clothes were covered in. “Come on, give me some details,” she shouted. “Male, in his late thirties, complaining about acute abdominal pain, he seemed to have strong convulsions.” “Location of the wound?” Elena asked while cutting man’s shirt apart. The paramedic gave her a strange look. “There are no open wounds. The blood doesn’t seem to be his.” The patient squirmed and screamed in pain. “Amy, one milligram Midazolam,” Elena quickly instructed the nurse and continued to examine the man. He indeed didn’t seem to have any injuries, aside from a mild irritation in the back of his throat. “So what exactly happened? Who called the ambulance?” “He called it himself, babbled something about a man attacking him and throwing up blood into his face. We didn’t get anything coherent from him in person.” “What the…,” Elena hesitated when she saw the movement in the man’s abdomen. She quickly went through all possible diagnoses in her head trying to figure out what was wrong with him, but nothing really matched. That movement didn’t even look like a convulsion, it was more like… “…a fetus moving?” Could it be? The man didn’t show any typical symptoms of previous gender change, but what else was an option? There it was again, a distinct movement of something solid beneath the skin. “Damn. Amy, two milligrams of Dibucaine into abdomen area and prepare it for an incision.” A minute later she was holding a scalpel right over patient’s stomach. Even though she was confused and (even though she wouldn’t admit it) also a bit afraid, her hand wasn’t shaking. She had only made a tiny cut, when things suddenly turned from bad to utter chaos. A black sharp… something (a claw?) carved its way out of man’s midsection, tearing Elena’s small cut into a huge hole, severing multiple arteries which immediately started splashing blood everywhere. A spider-like creature crawled out of the wound and let out a creepy clacking sound. With a staggering speed it slashed at Elena, its sharp teeth clattering. She screamed out and jumped back just as the creature leaped towards her. Fortunately, its legs got tangled up in the poor man’s intestines and the jump came out a bit too short. It angrily turned around, used the claws to free itself and ran towards a closer target, which happened to be the paramedic. Now when it could move freely, it crossed the distance in a fraction of a second and jumped, burying its claws deep into its victims thigs and crotch. The paramedic let out a tortured scream as the creature climbed up, tearing his body apart. Elena didn’t have any time to think before the critter turned back to her, but some primal fight-or-flight instinct forced her to squeeze the scalpel in her hand tighter and try to hit the creature while it was jumping. At the same time she dashed aside and the claws missed her leg by mere inches. The scalpel pierced what appeared to be the head and the thing squealed loudly. If anything, it seemed to be angrier, not hurt. Realizing she is in the very corner of the room, with no space to dodge the next attack. She could sense the anger and the endless hunger from the creature. Just as she prepared for what would be the last second of her life, the emergency room door flung open and two people sprinted inside. Without any hesitation they started shooting at the creature until it eventually stopped moving. “There seems to be one person alive,” one of the men said to someone on the radio. “Correction, make it two, this one is just unconscious.” He leaned over to the nurse on the ground. “The subject and the host are dead and there is one civilian casualty.” “Hey! W- who are you?” Elena was still stunned by the events in the past few minutes and it was impossible to think straight. “What was that thing?” Who were these people? Any normal being would at least hesitate when entering this room, but these guys didn’t seem to be concerned about the presence of some alien-looking creature. The man just smiled and gestured her to wait. He listened for a bit and then nodded. “Sure thing.” He took a step towards Elena and she pointed the scalpel at him, her otherwise steady hand trembling. The stranger didn’t seem to be offended. “You are a tough one. Well, I am with the Priest & Hawthorne Investigations. One of my colleagues will come down here and explain everything you need to know as soon as we make sure there aren’t any more of those things.” Elena slid down against the wall, her legs suddenly unable to support her. She had a feeling that her life was undergoing some major change and it probably won’t be a pleasant one. [/hider]