The Tale of Aeryn Glaze (UNDER MAJOR REVISION)

Chapter 6: Shadow

I put my chin on my clasped hand and let out a long and heavy sigh. I bit my lower lip, sitting nervously beside a bed, as I stared at Jonah for as long as I could remember. There he was, lying on the bed with a bandage strapped around his arms. When we returned here from the mission, I looked for Jonah and found him at the clinic. He had been poisoned, just as Grim said, and it took at least five minutes before it completely affected Jonah's entire body. No one knows how it happens but since Jonah had a wound, we all just assumed the weapon that that creature used had poison in it.

Thanks to Grim's fast thinking, he was immediately brought to the clinic. He was fine when he came back to the headquarters, as I've heard from the nurses. But after a few minutes of treating his wound in his arms, they said he just suddenly screamed in pain until he fell into unconsciousness. His wound was healed immediately by the doctor and was given an antidote for the poison. Although, it was an ordinary antidote for an ordinary poison, luckily, it helped Jonah, and was able to make it through. If Grim hadn't noticed that he had been poisoned, I can't even imagine what would happen to Jonah.

He had been unconscious for about five hours now but the doctor says he will be fine. Of course, he's fine. I'm sure that wound and that poison are just a scratch for a man like him. Besides, it was not the first time he was poisoned. The first time was when he was just starting his hard training as a member of the organization. To withstand any circumstances, he had to survive through being poisoned, just like the rest of us. The second time was when the weapon of his opponent was laced with poison. The last time was when he was so drunk that he didn't even notice that someone had already put poison in his drink. I remember him getting so angry about it and calling himself an idiot for letting it happen. After that, he was even more alert to his surroundings, even to his food and beverages. So I believe he would be okay after his rest.

"You should go to bed, Aeryn. He'll be fine."

I turned to look at Azer who just came in holding what seemed like a vial. He put it down in the small drawer beside the bed and took out something from the top compartment.

"What are you doing?" I ask when I saw a syringe he took out from the drawer.

"I'm going to give him the second dose of his antidote."

I frowned. I watched him open the lid of the needle and then put the needle in the vial so it could transfer the antidote to the syringe.

"He needs a second dose?"

"Hmm." He nodded and checked the content of the syringe before pulling it out from the vial. "The poison in his body is too strong. He couldn't handle it."

I stood up and walked to the other side of the bed where Azer was. I stood beside him, glancing at Jonah before carefully grabbing the syringe from him.

"I'll do it," I said.

I sat on the stool beside the bed and softly planted my hands on Jonah's forearm. Before injecting the needle into his skin, I looked at him and took a long sigh before injecting the needle to the inner surface of his forearm. I noticed Azer sitting on the chair I was using earlier but I didn't bother to look at him. After throwing away the syringe, I held Jonah's hand leaned my forehead to it, and closed my eyes.

My mind immediately remembers what happened earlier, from what I've felt, what I've heard, and what I've seen. I have a bad feeling about this. I have a strong feeling that they aren't humans and they aren't from here. I mean, we have been locked up within these walls after the war and we don't know everything about the outside world. For so many years, our ancestors have searched every nook and cranny of the world to find the remaining human that has survived the war. Of course, that was at least what they said and what they wanted the people to believe.