บท 31: Dependable
(Meghan)
Meghan watched from the balcony as the boys entered the F block building. Leon looked hurt. The other two basically had to drag him all the way from the pool. Meghan breathed a sigh of relief when she saw them go through the entrance. But suddenly, she remembered that her little prank on Samantha had lured a Deathless to the elevator area. She hadn't seen it clearly but she had definitely heard it scamper inside just as she closed the fire exit door.
Her eyes widened in apprehension. Meghan rushed out of Ray's flat, intending to go downstairs to help them, when she noticed that the elevator was moving upward. She stopped in her tracks and stood in front of it.
'Is it them?' she asked herself, 'But why would they come up using the elevator? Ray knows how risky that is.'
She fidgeted with her nails as she tried to think of what might have happened down on the ground floor. She questioned whether it was safe for her to be standing so close to the elevator. If it was actually a Deathless inside instead of the boys, Meghan would be powerless to defend herself. In her haste, she had forgotten to bring her weapon along. She merely stood there, empty-handed and vulnerable, in the corridor of the fourteenth floor.
The number on the digital dial increased steadily.
Ten… Eleven… Twelve… Thirteen… Fourteen.
Meghan stiffened as the elevator gave out a ding. She inched her foot back, preparing to run back inside the flat if needed.
The elevator doors opened. Ray and Rody raced outside, pulling along a weary looking Leon in between them.
"Huh? What's going on?" Meghan asked, watching them rush towards the flat.
"Later." Ray replied.
Meghan opened her mouth to talk but Ray didn't even look at her. Irritably, she followed them as they scurried inside. She closed and locked the door behind her before stepping into the living room.
"Baby!" Samantha said loudly and skipped towards Rody for a hug.
"Hold on, Sammy" he said, holding out a hand.
Meghan noticed Samantha's expression harden in an instant. She glared at his back as her boyfriend walked past her, supporting Leon by the shoulder. Samantha then turned haughtily, sat down on the couch and began to sulk.
"Rody, take Leon to the main bedroom and help him out of those clothes." Ray said, "I'll go get something he can wear for the time being."
Meghan stood in the middle of the living room and tilted her head quizzically. She had no idea what was going on or why Rody had to strip Leon down. She watched the two of them enter the master bedroom while Ray cut left into his own room. Not wanting to be left in the dark any longer, she followed Ray inside.
She saw Ray open his wardrobe and start to rummage for something. She waited for a few seconds for him to notice her and offer an explanation but he seemed way too absorbed in what he was doing.
"Hey," she said impatiently, "what's going on? Is everything okay?"
"Oh hey," Ray replied without looking at her, "Leon's hurt pretty bad. He's got a nasty bruise on his chest. His clothes are also soaking wet from that dip we took in the pool. He needs to get out of those before he falls sick and makes it worse."
Meghan looked at Ray, he had been completely drenched as well. "You aren't exactly dry either."
Ray glanced down at his clothes, "Ahh… Yeah, I better change too."
He tossed two sets of clothes onto the bed and closed the wardrobe. He gathered everything in his arms and turned towards Meghan. This was the first time she saw his face properly since he came upstairs.
"What happened to your face?" she asked, "The right side is kinda swollen."
Ray quickly cupped his cheek and focused his gaze towards his feet. "It's nothing…"
Meghan furrowed her eyebrows, "It's not nothing. You're hurt too. Let me see."
She extended her arm forward but Ray stepped out of her reach. He met her eyes and said, "I'm fine. Honestly, I am. And besides, Leon is in a far worse shape than I am right now. I need to tend to him first and make sure his condition doesn't worsen. I'll worry about myself after I've done everything I can for him."
Meghan looked at him, not knowing what to say. She didn't know whether to be impressed by his camaraderie or punch him for not taking care of himself. Before she could decide, Ray walked past her and left the room.
"Okay then" she said to no one in particular.
Meghan went back to the living room and sat down opposite Samantha. She threw her head back against the cushions and got lost in her thoughts. She breathed out deeply as she closed her eyes. A slight frown fell on her face. She didn't know what it was but ever since Ray had sent her upstairs to be the lookout she had been in a bit of a foul mood.
Every little thing annoyed her now. Even Ray not asking her help to fix Leon up was bothering her. She wasn't an expert in first aid or anything but the mere fact that he hadn't reached out to her was irritating. She felt like Ray didn't think she was dependable enough to hold her own when things looked dire. She softly clicked her teeth and drew in another deep breath.
Then, to worsen her mood, Samantha decided to break her peaceful silence by talking.
"So, what did Ray say to you?" she asked.
"Uhh—nothing much," Meghan replied unenthusiastically, "Leon is hurt pretty badly it seems. They're trying to patch him up the best they can."
"Well that isn't new information." Samantha said, "Even I could have told you that."
Meghan lifted up a hand and placed it on her forehead, "What were you hoping to find out then?"
For some reason, Samantha leaned closer and spoke in a quieter voice, "I don't know if it's just me but didn't it look like they were hiding something?"
Meghan sat up straight and gave Samantha a look, "What are you even talking about?"
"I don't know if it's just me but I kinda got a feeling like they were trying to sneak Leon away before we could get a good look at him."
"Uhh—why would they do that?"
Samantha shrugged, "Not sure. But… what if Leon doesn't just have a normal injury? What if… he's been bitten?"
"Huh?" Meghan said a lot louder than she meant to, "You're not serious right?"
"Hey I'm just saying, okay?" Samantha said waving her hand in the air, "But it would explain their behaviour so far, right? I mean, Rody basically pushed me away when I went to greet him. I can't imagine him doing that if it wasn't something as serious as this."
Samantha flipped her hair back and Meghan thought she might gag.
Just then, as if to save her from having to give Samantha a reply, Ray opened the door of the main bedroom and walked out.
He had changed into grey track pants and a dark T-shirt with the words 'Campaign of Immortals' written in aggressive font. Meghan figured it was probably the name of another game that Ray was a fan of. He also had a towel around his neck. He lifted up one end of it and mopped the right side of his head. As he came closer, a faint herbal scent caught Meghan's attention. Seeing how swishy his hair looked, she presumed it was his shampoo.
Ray walked out into the balcony and draped his towel over the railings. He soon came back inside and said, "Thought it might be a good idea to shower. Leon's gone to take one now. If you guys need to go to the bathroom feel free to use the one in the guest room."
Meghan gave a few nods in reply.
Samantha crossed her arms and asked, "Where is my boyfriend?"
Meghan rolled her eyes.
"He was helping me with Leon." Ray said simply.
"Didn't you say that Leon's taking a shower? So why hasn't Rody come back to the living room? He isn't in the shower with him, is he?"
"No," said Ray with a scowl.
"Then why isn't he here?" Samantha demanded.
Ray looked at the ceiling and ran a hand down the bottom half of his face. Meghan almost burst out laughing seeing his frustrated expression.
"Good question." He said before raising his voice, "Rody, Get out here! Someone VERY important wants to see you immediately."
Rody came shuffling outside. "What's up?" he asked.
Samantha didn't utter a word. Instead, she stoop up promptly and walked right up to him. She grabbed onto his T-shirt and marched towards the guest bedroom, pulling a confused looking Rody along. He gave Ray and Meghan an apologetic look before he disappeared through the doorway. The door shut loudly and a soft click told them that she had locked it too.
Meghan looked at Ray who met her gaze at the same time. Unable to control his amusement, he smirked wide and nudged his head in their direction. For some reason, that cracked her up. She giggled loudly, placing a hand against her belly.
"Oh no…" she said, still in fits, "what was all that?"
Ray laughed with her as he sat down. "No idea. I feel bad for him sometimes."
"Yeah, same."
Meghan composed herself in the next few seconds. She looked at Ray's face and saw his injury more clearly.
"Looks like you got whacked in the face by someone." She said.
Ray nodded, "It was Leon. He thought I was a Deathless and clobbered me with a mop."
"Pffft… seriously?"
"Yep," said Ray, "Guess that proves that men are more dangerous than monsters."
"Alright, no need to go all philosophical on me." Meghan said.
"Oh and by the way," he started, "your quick thinking saved both of our lives back there. I had pretty much given up at that point. I had no idea how we could get out of there alive. My mind just went blank."
"Huh? Ahh, you mean when I asked you whether the Deathless could swim or not?"
"Yeah. How'd you know that they would drown?"
"Oh, well… They're practically walking corpses right? I know that dead bodies sink when dumped into water and I figured that the same thing probably applied to the Deathless."
Ray raised his eyebrows and looked at her with a wary expression, "How on earth do you know that?"
"Ahh, N—no. Not like that. I've watched a lot of serial killer documentaries so…"
"Right…" said Ray.
"I'm serious. Stop looking at me like I'm a murderer or something."
"Argh, I'm sorry!" he said flinching in pretence fear, "I believe you. Please don't kill me."
Meghan gasped, "I'll seriously punch you!"
Ray broke into a laugh and Meghan couldn't help but giggle as well.
"Jokes aside," Ray said, "Thanks. I wouldn't be here if it weren't for you."
Meghan beamed, "You're welcome. Also next time, don't make me sit on the side-lines while you run head first into danger. I can be dependable too."
Ray smiled sheepishly and nodded, "Noted."
Just then a loud crash came from the main bedroom followed by an unsettling screech. Meghan jumped to her feet. Suddenly, she remembered what Samantha had told her about the nature of Leon's injury.
'No… It can't be.' She thought, 'He wasn't bit, right? Right…?'
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