Chapter 5.5 Mark of the Shadow

"The hell do you mean I'll die?" I spoke without thinking. I could feel something heavy rising in my chest. Ricky sighed, shaking his head.

"It's just a checkup. Let's just see what we're dealing with."

I removed the bandage and showed him my hand. He looked at it. There was a brief pause before he spoke again. I noticed his face harden.

"It's the mark of a shadow."

I looked down at my own hand. The mark had turned lighter yet more prominent. It had shrunk to the shape of a smiling crescent.

"It wasn't like this before. The marks were… darker and irregular," I told him.

"Did you perhaps come in contact with a creature of the shadow?"

I glanced at him.

"They do teach you these things during your training period. Did you just sleep through all your classes?"

I chose not to respond to that. Ricky sighed and began to explain. He looked somewhat tired.

"Creatures of the shadow are extremely dangerous if they don't have a physical form. Their energy is unstable and touching one can lead to a bit of that energy transferring into you. It's like a poison that should've killed you by now… but somehow you're still alive."

"Lucky me…" I muttered sarcastically.

"I would still keep it wrapped up, though. I'll disable all the sensors in the house for now. You said it got lighter. Chances are it'll go away on its own."

'How many sensors do you have?' I wondered. "Yeah, I don't think I'm going to die from this either. Thanks anyway," I told him.

I saw the corner of his mouth turn up in a slight half smile but the tiredness in his eyes never faded. He rested his chin on his hands as he stared at the blank monitor screen.

I took out my phone to check for any messages.

"By the way, you should refrain from texting your friend for the time being. You don't know who's watching," He said, closing his eyes for a bit.

I paused, looked at him, then slowly put my phone away. Footsteps approached. I turned in my seat to see Cheryl enter the lab. She seemed lost in the middle of all this technical equipment. Looking around skeptically, she inched over to the row of drawers attached to the long table along the wall.

The minute she reached for one, a sudden click sounded from it, followed by a red lock symbol next to the drawer handle. She frowned. I watched her move over to the next drawer, same thing happened. Frustrated, she kept trying each one.

I turned towards Ricky who had his chin resting in his hand, elbow on the table, supporting his head. He watched her fiddle with things and have them get locked the minute she got closer. I saw a smile appear on his face yet his eyes looked very sad.

"Are you doing that?" I asked and he nodded in return, enjoying his little prank.

"Last time I let a kid touch anything, she electrocuted the entire system."

He then got to his feet, "Alright, let me just show you to your room and then you can rest for the day. Sorry for taking the time."

I followed Ricky who took me over to a guest room, somewhere around the middle of the hallway. It was nothing fancy like Cheryl's which was a good thing. The room had all my requirements, a bed, a side table, a closet which was already full with clothes. Ricky told me to use them like they were my own.

"They don't belong to anyone anymore," he said. I looked at his sorrowful eyes. "I mean, they don't smell or anything, either. I keep them clean and fresh so… don't worry about anything."

He studied my face for a second.

"What?" He asked.

"All this, I mean why are you… It's a lot for someone you just met."

He smiled and turned to leave. I heard him say the words, "You're welcome," before he left.