Silver Eye

Chapter 5

Catherine and the one-eyed man didn't exactly walk down the road, but furtively hurried through the shadows off to the side of the roads. She had some difficulty keeping up because her knee was hurt, but her savior waited for her patiently if she lagged too far behind. The silent excursion was welcome after the shocking incident before; she kept her mind focused on moving forward instead of how she had just nearly died.

Ten minutes later, they returned to a road and walked along the sidewalk. "Please act naturally." The man told her as she caught up. "I don't want things to look suspicious to the neighbors."

Catherine looked around as she walked beside him. It was a residential area just like Melany's neighborhood; quiet and peaceful. A few lights could be seen through windows here and there, but not in the house where the man was going. As it is often the case in residential areas, the house looked similar to the others on the street: mostly white exterior, single-story building with two draped windows in front and maybe a backyard, but she couldn't really tell. She memorized the address just in case. The door was missing something though: it was just a metal door with nothing on it. No knob, no latch, no passcode, no lock or even a little window to see through.

The man put his hand flat on the door and simply pushed it open. He stepped inside without hesitating.

She watched him through the doorway; a shadowy figure in a dark house. It turned and looked at her; a twinkle in the singular eye was the only visible feature, giving the person an ominous image. Everything bad Catherine had been told about strangers was screaming inside her head.

A light in the room was opened and the man's expression was exposed: not one of malice or unusual kindness, but one of empathy. "You comin' or not?"

Catherine inhaled deeply. What has the world come to if I can't trust someone who saved my life? She nodded and followed him inside. The door was closed behind her. To her relief, the interior looked like a regular modest home. The entrance led into a living room, complete with a sofa and TV, with a kitchen and dining room further back and a few feet higher; they were separated by a ramp in between. A hallway to the left of the kitchen probably led to a bedroom or bathroom, while to her left was an elevator connecting to the basement, all standard stuff.

"Let me get something for your knee, go sit on the couch." He went past her and headed down the hallway on the left.

Catherine sat on the comfy black couch, wincing as her injured knee bent. She hadn't noticed that blood was running down her leg. In fact, now that she looked at it the wound looked pretty bad and her knee throbbed with every pulse of her heart. She looked elsewhere to stop thinking about it. Everything seemed rather clean and tidy, not what she expected from a man; as far as she knows they're generally messy. Maybe his partner cleans it for him. She thought.

The man in question came back into the living room, holding an unfamiliar bottle and a chair. He propped it in front of her, sat down and held out his hand. "Your leg?"

She hesitantly extended her right leg. She noticed the bottle had no label on it. "Is that a disinfectant?"

"It's a little stronger than that, but you have to keep the muscle relaxed, ok?" He answered while grabbing her ankle.

She nodded and tried to breathe as calmly as she could.

"Look at me." He tapped a finger on his jaw. "Your teeth are clenched, just relax."

She looked into his one eye, noticing its pale gray color and loosening her jaw. As soon as she did he dipped the bottle while she was distracted. Only a tiny trickle fell, but she suddenly felt a searing pain as the liquid touched her wound. "AH! WHAT THE HELL?!" The grip on her ankle tightened as she reflexively recoiled and kept her leg firmly in place. She saw the wound bubbling from the inside; the liquid bursting from them spread evenly across her knee and steadily changed the color from red to pink as it became fresh new skin. In a matter of seconds the pain and the wound were completely gone.