Chapter 5.6

I noticed a man cautiously pop his head through the door, then, when his eyes meet mine, he brazenly walks in and stops a few feet from our group. "I've come to meet your creature." He stated boldly.

"What?" I blinked, slightly confused at his sudden explanation. I'd never seen the man before, but he looked like he could do with some lessons in hygiene. He had long black scruffy hair pulled back into a lop-sided bun and had food stains on his shirt (which was also buttoned up wrong). The guy looked like he hadn't slept in a while, with large dark circles under his eyes, and a complexion that pointed at multiple vitamin deficiencies.

"The creature. The thing that no one else can see. Is it some kind of spirit?"

Spirit? I never thought of it like that, to be honest, I've never thought too hard about what he was. He was always just Shadow.

"Who are you?" Theo look an offended tone, her eyes narrowed suspiciously.

"No one in particular. I just want to know the truth. Let me study the creature." He demanded, oblivious to Theos rising anger.

"Excuse me, you can't just barge in here, not introduce yourself and demand to study my friend." She rose and stood between me and the man, blocking me from view.

"I'm Stewart." He peered past her at Tommy and me.

"I don't care what your name is." She grabbed him firmly by the shoulder and escorted him out, trying to keep enough distance between them as possible, but also close enough to use enough force to make him move. He struggled and tried to shake her off, but with enough conviction as possible she added "You are leaving."

Once he was gone, she flopped back down and spat "Weirdo." She looked at her hand that had touched him as if it had become infected. Anna took pity and squirted some cleanser into her palms.

"I'm afraid that you might find more people like that. We're all stuck in here, and half of us are scientists that want to understand the unknown. The other half are soldiers who need us to understand the unknown so they can counter it. You and Tommy are the most unknown thing we've ever encountered, it's natural to want to study it."

"I didn't want to reveal Shadow to anyone, but they thought Tommy was crazy." I sighed, troubled. "I think I've made a mistake." Unease settled through me; I didn't know what to do. I didn't want to be studied, but what if they made us? In this crazy new world, Garlantia has forced us into, did human rights even mean anything?

Theo, reading my mind added, "I won't let them do anything you don't want to do."

"How would you stop them?"

"I don't know but I would find a way." She countered, determined. Theo was relentless, and I wanted to believe that she could do it, but the truth was, we were at their mercy.

"Do you… Do you think it would hurt?" Tommy asked timidly. He hadn't said anything since the man entered, when he spoke, it was soft, so soft that we almost couldn't hear him.

"Hurt?" Theo blurted, confused.

I had an incline of what he experienced in the hands of Garlantia, to Tommy, to be studied meant torture.

"We'll leave. If they try and hurt us, I'll get us out of here." I tried to comfort him, but he was scared, I don't think there hadn't been a day when he wasn't scared. Truth to be told, maybe we needed to be. I trusted Sean and Anna, but the rest of them… I don't know what they would do. "I think I should try again with Shadow. To make him visible so we can fight if we need to."

Reluctantly, Theo agreed.

"Isn't it better if he's invisible?" Anna asked, she curiously watched us, and didn't protest when Theo bolted the main door shut.

"You would think so, but they're pretty badass when they're together."