Thornvale Therapy with Miguel

## Synopsis

Bjorn, Henry, and Sammie talk about what happened to them at the country club with Miguel, who acts as a 'therapist' of sorts to varying degrees of success.

## Episode Description

It's been a rough two arcs, and our heroes need to talk about it. Miguel is going to be there for them, whether they like it or not.

## Key Events

* Bjorn and Sammie are both temporarily living at the Fort after what happened.
* Miguel explains that werewolves are only created by witches and that he believes they can cure Bjorn by killing the witch that created the werewolf that infected him.

## Summary

Bjorn, Henry, and Sammie have gone through a lot in the past week. Miguel tries to get them to talk about what's happened to them, with varying degrees of success.

Henry goes in to talk to Miguel in his workshop. He sits across from him and Miguel asks him what it was like to see the monster that had killed his mother. Henry says it felt like a knife through the heart. Miguel says he knows it's been a few years since the events took place, but he asks to talk about what it was like to find his mom when it happened. Henry describes the best he can, but is obviously still hurt and moved by what happened. Miguel then asks if he's scared of the monster. Henry says that's what getting him through right now is preparing himself to kill the monster some day.

Miguel then switches to a different room. He asks Henry why he chose to save Sammie instead of Bjorn. Henry explains it was simply a matter of Bjorn being more capable of taking hits than Sammie was. Miguel asks if it felt real when he watched Bjorn die in that room. Henry says yes. Before he goes, Miguel asks him one more question. If the thought of giving up scared him when he was in the void. Henry says yes and he's glad they didn't have to find out what would happen if he did. He also talks about the relief when he saw Sammie and she helped him out of the void.

Henry thanks Miguel for meeting with him and Miguel says someone has to and Stanley isn't much of a people person. They both share a laugh.

Miguel meets Bjorn down in his cell. Bjorn is not doing well. He has dark circles under his eyes and his knuckles are bleeding from punching the walls. He says it's the only way to get the anger out. Miguel asks him if he's okay to talk about the rooms he experienced where he was in Afghanistan and in the graveyard. Bjorn agrees. Miguel asks what got to him about the graveyard room. Bjorn explains its because the room was a testament to his failure, that he hates what monsters do to people and that he can't save everyone. Miguel reminds him that the fact that he feels so guilty is a good thing, that it shows his character and drive to save people.

They then discuss how Bjorn is now a werewolf. Miguel apologizes for not realizing he needed to help Bjorn sooner and explains to Bjorn again that he didn't know werewolves were even real. He says that werewolves are creatures that have to be created. There are none in the Rifts for them to come through. They are only made by witches, which means there are witches nearby. Miguel says there hasn't been a known werewolf sighting for over a hundred years in this area.

Bjorn asks if Miguel knows how to reverse his curse of lycanthropy, saying he's become what he hates - a monster. Miguel says he's been doing some research and it says to kill the one who infected the person. In this case, Miguel believes they need to follow the bloodline, since they killed the werewolf and nothing happened. Which means they need to kill the witch that created the werewolf. Bjorn says it'll feel good to kill two birds with one stone - killing a witch and curing his lycanthropy.

Sammie is a much more unwilling 'patient.' She's been staying at the Fort since the events happened and Miguel is using this as leverage to make her attend these sessions with him. As she enters the room, she gets a call from Elise. She declines the call and puts her phone back in her pocket. Miguel notices and motions for her to sit. He asks if they're going to talk about her ignoring calls. Miguel says that she can't keep ignoring her friend, her best friend. He says that she needs to see that what she saw happening to Elise wasn't real. Sammie says that she can't be around Elise without endangering her right now. Miguel says that Sammie is cutting out someone that could be important to her healing process and that she needs to get over it. Sammie erupts into anger and refuses to talk about it further.

Miguel switches topic to the wendigo. He points out it seems she was more scared of it than she let on. Sammie says it was the first time she almost died on a mission, the first major time she questioned her capabilities. Miguel asks if that's why she's started using magic more, and Sammie says that using magic was more triggered by an eruption of emotions - anger and frustration. Miguel cautions her and says the more she uses her powers, the stronger she'll become. She needs to work to control them so that she doesn't accidentally unleash them in the heat of the moment.

Miguel moves on to the next room he has on their list to discuss and asks what Sammie thought when Henry stabbed him. Sammie says she was just trying to protect him and she felt like she'd lost him when he disappeared. Miguel talks about the next room she entered, the endless hallways. Sammie says the hallways reminded her of when she looked into the mind of the men they'd investigated. Miguel is shocked that she looked inside the minds of two people. He says that its incredibly dangerous to do that without the proper training, that she could get trapped inside of their minds. Going back to the hall, Miguel asks what she would have done if she couldn't find a way out. Sammie says she'd keep walking and trying doors and Miguel compliments her on her resilience.

Miguel ends their discussion with talking about her getting buried alive. He asks what it was like for her and she likens it to sleep paralysis. She asks Miguel if he's ever experienced sleep paralysis and he says no, but Stanley has. She then explains what it was like and Miguel says he's glad she was able to see past it and get out. Satisfied for now, Miguel asks if Sammie wants to go throw some fireballs. Sammie agrees.

## List of Appearances

* Henry Marlowe
* Miguel Rodriguez
* Bjorn Olafson
* Sammie Overbrook