Shadow Mutation (Book Seven) [UNDER MAJOR EDITING]

Chapter 16: Healing His Injuries

"So..." Casey says as they hurry down the sidewalk. "Quick thing you should know, my friends are mutants too."

Shadow nods. "Unsurprising."

He blinks. "Huh? Why?"

"You got excited when I revealed that I was a mutant, which...in my experience, isn't normal. I figured you had seen mutants or at least knew of them," she admits. "Two, most people would just go to a hospital, unless...your friend couldn't, for some reason."

"Maybe he doesn't have a few thousand dollars to spare for an ER visit."

She lets out a soft breath of a laugh. "Good point. But...?"

"Yeah, you're right," he says. He ducks into an alleyway and moves to a manhole cover, squatting to open it. "They live in the sewers. Hope you don't mind the smell."

"I can't smell."

"Damn, really?" She nods. He exhales as he drags the manhole cover off to the side. "That sucks."

"Welcome to my life."

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"So what kind of mutants are they? Your friends?" Shadow asks as she and Casey keep moving through the dank sewer tunnels.

"It's a mix," he says. "Four turtles, a wolf-raven, a cyborg, and a rat."

He turns down a separate tunnel and cringes as he hears a rat squeak and race off into the darkness. He looks back at Shadow, moonlight from the grates occasionally letting him see her more clearly.

"Like a big family, huh?" Shadow asks.

"Yup! It started with just the turtles and their dad and then they just kept making friends and the group got bigger."

"How nice."

He isn't sure whether she's being sarcastic or not. Her voice is so monotone that it's hard to tell.

"How did things at school go?" she asks. "After our...talk."

"Oh. Yeah."

He hadn't given it a second thought since then. So much happened with Raphael and Destiny, the warehouse, Beast Mode and the attack—it's like he hasn't let himself breathe since.

He sighs and reaches to scratch the back of his head, wincing as his fingers brush over the goose egg forming there. "My friend had evidence that I didn't start the fight, so they let me off with a warning."

"Really?"

"Yeah, and some stupid extra assignment about 'finding a healthy outlet' or something. They want me to find a place to volunteer at," he says. "I'm pretty sure they just want to keep me busy so they don't have to spend any more energy on me."

Now that he's letting himself think about it, that ever-present feeling of foolishness cloaks him again. He should have taken those papers from April and thanked her instead of pushing her away. He couldn't call her, not now, and not to ask for her help. Not after how he treated her.

"Hm. Do you have the freedom to choose where?" she asks.

"Probably? Ugh." He groans and twists his neck back and forth, stretching it. "I have 'til Monday, at least. No clue what I'm gonna do." Maybe that inner-city kid thing?

She lets out a noncommittal hum but says nothing more.

Conversation dwindles, but their speed doesn't. The closer Casey gets to the lair, the faster he moves, urgency building, and the shadow girl keeps pace. It's only once they near the bright lights that signal the entrance to the lair that she falters.