Chapter 22

There was a man standing in the doorway. Only, he didn't look like he was fully human. His skin was peeling away much like Felicia's, but his body was much worse than hers was.

"Who the hell are you?" Felicia demanded.

"Please, you have to help me!" The man begged her.

"First, tell me who you are."

"My name is Brian, I was told that you could help me."

"Who told you?"

"I don't know, it was a man, that's all I know."

Felicia had a gut feeling that the man was sincere, he looked scared out of his mind. "What did he sound like?"

"His voice was deeper, that's all I know, I swear."

Felicia exchanged a look with Sebastian. The fact that there were more people like her, and in worse shape than she was in, was something that was very disturbing to her.

"Sebastian, I think that you had better call that friend of yours now," Felicia murmured to the detective, who nodded his head. "I'll give her a call, see when she can meet us at her lab."

He pointed a finger at Brian. "You try anything, and it's the end for you."

"I'll just stand right here, I promise," Brian swore, and Sebastian narrowed his eyes at the man before going into the other room.

"He's…intense," Brian stated, and Felicia sighed. "Yeah, sorry about that, things have been kind of wild lately."

"What, someone try to kill you, too?"

"What do you mean, too?"

"It was at the mall a couple of days ago. That was before my body looked like it was dying from the outside in. I just about got my head shot off in the parking lot."

"Do you know who it was?"

Brian shook his head. "Not a clue."

Felicia was wondering if it was the same man that had tried to kill her, or if they were dealing with a second assassin.

"Okay, Noelani is going to meet us at her lab tomorrow morning at eight," Sebastian said as he rejoined them. "For right now, I think that we should all try and get some sleep. Brian can sleep in the living room with me, and Felicia, you'll stay in my room."

"Protective much?" Felicia teased him. "Alright gentlemen, I'm off to bed. Sebastian, try not to kill him."

"Can you tell me where the bathroom is first?" Brian asked her. "I've got some wraps in my car, I'd like to put some fresh dressings on."

"Sure thing," Felicia responded. "I'll help you, God only knows that I've had to put enough on myself."

~

After Brian got what he needed from his car, he followed Felicia to the bathroom, and she motioned for him to sit down on the toilet. "How far has this spread on you?"

"My face and torse, it hasn't spread to my legs yet."

"Do you mind taking your shirt off for me?"

Brian nodded his head before slowly peeling off his shirt. "Sorry if you were expecting to see something sexier." He teased her. "I've got a total dad bod."

"I've seen worse." Felicia grabbed some Neosporin from the medicine cabinet. "This is gonna sting. Not what I want to use, but it's the best that we've got right now."

"Can't be any worse than some of the pain that I've been in with this shit."

"Have you been in much pain?"

"Not all of the time, but I move the wrong way, and I suddenly feel like I'm dying."

Felicia found some latex gloves, and she put them on before slowly stripping away his old bandages. "What animal bit you?"

"What?" Brian gave her a surprised look. "How did you know that I was bit by something?"

"Because that's how it starts. I was bit by my cat, and now my arm looks like it's slowly withering away."

Felicia tried to be as gentle as she could when applying the Neosporin, but Brian still winced a bit.

"Sorry, I know that it probably stings, but we need to make sure that all of the affected areas are disinfected."

"It's fine," Brian muttered, his teeth gritted tightly together.

Felicia quickly bandaged him up. "There, all done."

"Thanks." He pulled his shirt back on. "I'm surprised that cop didn't come barging in here, thinking that I was trying to kill you or something."

"I wish I could say that he was all bark and no bite, but I don't think that's true, considering that he shot someone in the face."

Brian suddenly looked nervous. "He's not gonna do that to me…right?"

"Well…maybe just don't seem threatening to him, and you'll probably be fine."

"That's not exactly reassuring. He seems really protective over you, are you guys a thing or something?"

"What? No." Felicia adamantly shook her head. "I wouldn't even call us friends, really. The only reason that I'm here is because someone is willing to do anything to have me killed. I don't even know who it is that wants me dead. Sebastian just has me staying here so that he can keep an eye on me."

"He said something about a lab?"

"I'm a CDC scientist, I'm going to use his friend's lab to try and find a cure."

"If you work for the CDC, shouldn't you have your own lab?"

"Uh, funny story." Felicia sheepishly rubbed the back of her neck as her face flushed. "Yeah…my lab kind of went up in flames. Literally."

"Jesus, these guys never stop, do they?"

"No, and they're smart, too. Sebastian found out that they were tracking me through my cell phone."

"People can actually do that? I thought that was only in the movies."

"I thought that assassins were only in the movies, too."

"You guys done chitchatting in here?" Sebastian asked as he entered the bathroom, and Felicia gave Brian an exasperated look.

"What?" Sebastian demanded.

"You do realize that I can be by myself for like, ten minutes, right?" Felicia asked him.

"It was too quiet."

"Well, it's not like we were going to be talking at the top of our voices," Felicia stated as she rolled her eyes. "And I'm not some little girl that needs a guard dog following her everywhere."

"You would be dead if it wasn't for me."

"I know that, no need to rub it in. But we're in a safe place, so there's really no need for you to follow me everywhere." She smirked a bit. "Are you jealous of Brian or something?"

"Jealous?" Sebastian scoffed. "I have nothing to be jealous of. He literally appeared on my doorstep, knowing that you were here, and that doesn't make you the least bit suspicious?"

"It doesn't automatically make me think that he's a villain, either. I mean, just look at him, he's in worse shape than I am. If you're going to be such a jackass, then you can sleep in your own room, and I'll sleep out in the living room with Brian."

Felicia stalked out of the room, and Brian looked at Sebastian, chuckling nervously. "Women, am I right?"