Absent Link

Chapter 7: Recover

Dylan stood outside of one of his friend's houses, the closest one to the incident he'd had a few minutes ago trying to save Amelia. He rang the doorbell urgently, the sound of the elegant chime echoing through the large home. Inside, he could hear several people upstairs, laughing and screaming in a playful way.

This was Makalyn's house, located on the wealthy side of town. The streets were lined with large homes, each one impeccably decorated with beautiful flowers and lights that illuminated the neighborhood. The grass was lush and the trees tall, adding to the sense of opulence. The house itself was painted a dark, but soft shade of blue, with dark wood trim. It was clear that the home was well-maintained and exuded a sense of luxury.

The large door in front of him opened a small amount and a head peeked out, then it was opened wide. Makalyn stood there, horrified. Dylan had almost forgotten how bad he looked, as Emon had numbed his pain. His senses could be reduced as much as enhanced. He ran his hand over his face. It was hard and dry with blood.

"What happened?!" Makalyn screamed, half fainting. She grabbed the doorpost for support and gagged to the side.

"Don't worry about that right now." Dylan limped forward.

"Did you get in a fight?" Makalyn scolded.

"No." Dylan clenched his elbow, "I fell."

Makalyn stared at him with dubious eyes. "Yeah right. Get inside and clean yourself up. Or can you even do that? You know what, I'm calling your parents to take you to the hospital."

"Don't!" Dylan held out his arm in a gesture to stop. "They can't know."

"They'll never let us out of the house again." Emon added.

Makalyn stood horrified for another few seconds then sighed and quickly motioned for him to come inside.

"Mackie, what's happening?" One of her friends peeked her head out from the stairs in curiosity. When she noticed Dylan, she said with way too much excitement, "Why is he covered in blood?"

"He's one of my friends, got in a fight. I'll be up in a minute."

"Did you win at least?" she continued to Dylan.

Dylan winced as he looked down at his torn legs and sighed heavily. "Yeah, of course." Dylan answered unenthusiastically. He took off his shoes once he was inside, and the door shut behind him.

"Did you break anything?" Makalyn asked as she led him to the kitchen.

"No." Emon told him.

"How do you know?" Dylan asked Emon.

Makalyn, who couldn't hear Emon, looked up in confusion. "I'm sorry?"

"No, it's— I'm talking to Emon."

"Emon?" She tilted her head, then remembered the park's events earlier.

"Your body is filled with veins of moss. If something is broken, I can tell."

Dylan contemplated the implications of this for a second. "I guess not." Dylan told Makalyn. She had turned on the faucet and it was running warm water, which she now led Dylan to. She watched him walk up with skeptical eyes, watching the bloody water fall from his arms. Dylan wasn't in danger from infections, as his blood's defense against bacteria and viruses was strengthened by the moss in it, but that also meant that his blood was a danger to anyone who touched it. If too much of his blood, saliva, urine, or other bodily fluids entered someone's body, it could cause the moss to start growing and possibly kill the victim.

"Is this about the girl?" Makalyn said, looking down.

Dylan turned around and looked straight at her, "Ok actually why do you know?"