Miles’ Warning

When she got out of the room, revealing her full body, I notice that she was a bit uncomfortable and her expression is a little twisted. It's as though she is suffering from something.

I looked at where her two hands were. She is scratching her arms. Too hard that some parts are already bleeding. I saw that there were many red bumps all over her skin. They look like they contain some liquid and that they would explode with just a mere touch.

On some parts of her arms were patches that looked red and scaly. Silvery-white flakes are falling to the ground as she continued to scratch her arms.

I squatted down and look at her face. "Hi! My name is Jack!"

"Miles"

"Hello, Miles! Is there anything I can help you with?" I asked. Though I promised myself not to bother with other people anymore, she's still a kid. Besides, this will be our first and last meeting so it wouldn't hurt to help her a little bit. Also, this is part of my job.

"You're hurt," she said with her tiny voice.

"Huh?"

"Your right arm is hurt."

I noticed that she is looking at my splint.

"Is it bearable?" she asked. There was a noticeable hint of empathy in her tone. "I'm sorry. I can't help you."

"It's fine. It doesn't hurt that much anymore."

I can no longer stand watching her scratch her arm any further. They're already bleeding!

I took my handkerchief from my pocket. "Stop scratching! Come here."

She didn't say a word and just followed what I told her. Though it's obvious that she's just barely able to stop herself from scratching.

I gently pat the streaks of blood and the transparent watery liquid. She would twitch whenever I try to press it any harder. "Does it hurt?"

She nodded—teary-eyed. "And it's itchy."

Is she sick? Is this the reason why she wouldn't let Dr. Stitch touch her? But he should be able to treat this.

"Did Dr. Stitch do anything to treat this?" she flinched just as I said that. She then nods violently.

"He said that I have psoriasis. And he is researching for the cure to treat me. But I don't like him." I cocked my head to the side, intrigued by what she said.

"Why do you hate him?"

"He always takes some blood from me using a syringe. Whenever he calls for me, he always does that and he would put different creams on my skin and it hurts so much." her voice is a little shaky.

Was he making her act like a guinea pig?

"You're not the only one here though. The three of us agreed to help him with his research in exchange for shelter and food." Kobi interjected.

"He makes me do weird things as well. He would also ask me weird questions while sitting on a weird-looking chair."

"Right? It's not just you, me and Nash too. So we would be very happy if you would stop screaming like a pig whenever Dr. Stitch comes for you."

"But he doesn't hurt you! You also don't have these annoying red things on my skin!"

"But it's still better than having no home!"

"If I only knew, I would never accept the shelter and the food. It's not just itchy now, it's also sore. It's hard to sleep at night!"

"Would it be any different had you not met Dr. Stitch? You're even the first to say yes!"

"Kobi, Miles. Stop it, you two." Seeing that the situation is about to escalate, Nash interjected. "There's no point arguing. We're already here. It's done! It's finished!"

There was pin-drop silence as soon as Nash finished talking.

"You're right," Kobi said before he returned to his bedroom. Miles did the same but did not speak anything.

"I'm sorry about that, uhh… Mr. Jack."

"It's fine."

"They're always arguing whenever they get the chance."

"It's normal. Even adults argue too."

He shrugged and climbed on the couch. It seems that he is done talking to me and now his focus is solely dedicated to the picture book which he is now reading.

Only then did I remember Ethan. I sweep over the room and saw him in one corner, watching us with his red rounded eyes. I should probably ask him what's the deal earlier.

"Nash, can I use the toilet?"

"Sure, it's the blue door," he answered but his eyes are still on the picture book.

I turned and found out that on the far right corner opposite the three green doors is a lone blue door. That's probably it.

"Thank you."

I gave Ethan a knowing look before I went to the toilet which he, fortunately, understood as he followed me inside. I didn't worry Nash will see this little interaction because Ethan is in his rabbit form and as far they know, he is my pet. I don't think anyone will find it suspicious.

When we got inside, I realized that it is a toilet and bath. It's very small and felt suffocating but it is big enough to fit a non-full-sized sink, a toilet, and a shower.

"And here I thought I could finally transform into a human but turns out we'll become canned sardines if I do," he complained as he hopped onto the sink.

"So? What's the deal earlier? Why were you trembling." Though I probably sounded arrogant and confident with the way that I speak, I am in fact nervous and I badly want to run away from this damned laboratory.

When I reminded him of earlier, he suddenly become stiff and somewhat uncomfortable.

"He has the same scent," he said in a very low voice—almost whispering.

"What do you mean?"

"He has the same scent as those people who are after me."

"You mean those who are hunting shapeshifters?" Because if he is, then it means we're damned. We need to get out of this place as soon as possible.

"Yes," I sucked in plenty of air as soon as he confirmed it. My heart is erratically beating.

"What should we do?" What else, Sean? You should get out of there!

"Act normally. Don't let him suspect us. If we get out of here now, he will be suspicious of us for sure. Though he is old and probably can't chase after us, he has plenty of ways to do so. He's influential, don't forget that."

"What if he notices us?" Then you're dead, Sean! There's no need to even ask that.

"He will not. As long as you act like how you acted around him earlier. Let's just hope he's not a peculiar."

Peculiar? As in strange or unusual?

"What do you mean by peculiar?"

"Oh shoot! I haven't explained it to you yet. I will give you a full explanation when we get back to the apartment. For now, the only thing that I can tell you is that peculiars are people with certain abilities. They're called peculiars because they don't fit into the category of humans. They used to be humans but due to different factors, they somehow ended with a quirk. Thus, turning them into peculiar."

I can feel my head exploding due to the information overload. Humans? Quirk? Peculiar? I find it hard to deny this information as I am currently looking at a shapeshifter. He is a very strong evidence that creatures I could only see in fantasy movies might actually exist here.

And that carelessness means death here. I felt like a bucket of iced water was poured on me as the situation finally sink into me. Of all places to transmigrate to, why here? And why me?

"How do you know if someone is a peculiar?" I should be able to recognize them at least.

"It's hard to identify them from normal humans. I mean, look at me. Whenever I transform into a human, can you sense anything weird from me? Were you able to tell that I was a shapeshifter when we first met at the tunnel?"

"...no"

"But you don't have to worry about him noticing. Because if he indeed turned out to be a peculiar, I don't think he has the ability to distinguish normal humans from not. He wouldn't probably let you in when he saw me at the entrance earlier."

Yes, Ethan has a point, Sean. So calm down and think of the situation rationally.

"You're right! Let's act normally."

Staying inside the toilet for too long might be too suspicious even for the kids, so we decided to get out of there.

I saw Miles standing by the door as soon as I stepped outside.

"Miles? Were you waiting for me?" She jumped as soon as she heard me speaking behind her.

"Uhh… Yes, I have something I needed to tell you," said while frantically glancing at Nash's way who is still reading the picture book he took a while ago.

"What is it? Tell me."

She motioned me to lean closer to her and I did.

"Be careful of the giant metal door. Don't get inside."