Forlot: Monster Protector - Book One {Completed}

Chapter Thirty-One

"Ah!" My eyes fluttered open as I felt pain in my waist. Extreme pain.

"Shh. It is okay," somebody reassured me. "Besides, it is good to feel this kind of pain. That means that the wounds are not infected."

By the sound of the person's voice, I immediately recognized who it was.

"Lean?" I turned to face her. "What...what happened?" I could not recall what happened a few minutes ago.

"You fell," she answered. "You slipped and fell to the ground, and when you did, you were knocked out."

I slipped? Huh. That did not seem correct. I had a feeling that someone knocked me down on purpose. But who? I could not remember.

I noticed that I was lying in the chair, and Lean was next to me, sitting on a stool. My shirt was lifted halfway, revealing the wounds that the Colnox caused.

"Do not worry though," Lean continued. "You did not get any bruises or other marks from the fall, and I am tending to the wounds on your waist as we speak."

Really? Well, that is—whoa, whoa, whoa. What did she just say?

"Um, Lean?" I spoke up. "What did you just tell me?"

A surprise look appeared on the ghost's face. "Were you not listening the first time?" she wondered. "I do not like repeating myself."

"No, I heard you. I think that I just misheard you. Would you say it again? The last part only?"

The ghost girl let out a heavy sigh. "As we are talking to each other at this very moment, I am fixing the wounds that the Colnox made on your waist."

"Oh. That is what I thought that you said." Ladies and gentlemen, something is definitely wrong with this picture.

Lean should not be trying to fix my wounds. Why?

Think about it. She drove us off a cliff! And she probably would have still done that even if she were not blind! You see where I am going with this, people?

If she could drive us off the edge of a cliff and put my life at stake, then imagine what damage she could do to my waist! A Colnox had already implanted those injuries using its sharp talons and causing them to bleed. Lean did not have to make it worse.

Then I got to thinking.

Why did Lean not mind putting my life on the line? She seemed nice and misunderstood.

And she is a victim.

Perhaps she is a person - a ghost - who likes to take risks. But why?

Then, out of nowhere, the ghost said something that I did not expect her to admit, especially since we had that small fight that took place after the crash a few chapters ago.

"Margie...I owe you an apology."

My eyes widened. "Apology?"

"I...I thought about what you said. That you could not relax because you were concerned that you were going to get hurt. I even drove the truck off a cliff! That was stupid of me!" She paused and rubbed her eyes. I guess that she was starting to tear up. When she was done, she continued. "It was wrong of me to scare you like that, and I now realize that I was in the wrong. I...I am sorry, Margie. Can you ever forgive me?"

I slowly smiled, and a wave of relief washed over me. I was happy and relieved that Lean was finally owning up to her mistakes, and she met it too. I could tell.

I nodded. "Yes. I forgive you," I told her. "Everybody does stupid things every once in a while."

The ghost girl smiled, but then her smile instantly disappeared, and she hung her head. "You...you are the only one who has ever forgiven me," she stated.

"Pardon me?" I said.

"Compared to some other things that I did in the past, I am shocked that you actually forgave me."

"What do you mean?"

"What I did tonight was totally out of character. I have never done anything that was so dangerous until tonight. I do not know what came over me."

I was confused. "You said that you have done something like that before."

"Yes. However, I am usually by myself and have never driven off a cliff." She sighed. "I should not be surprised. Strange things always occur in Forlot."

"Huh? Strange things?"

The ghost nodded. "Mmm-hmm. Forlot is no ordinary town. It has deep, dark secrets that nobody can begin to comprehend."

Hmm. This reminds me of what Dr. O'Connor told me.
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"Forlot really is a dangerous place. Not a ton of people live here, and that is not surprising, seeing that there have been many reports of monster sightings."
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"You know, I should not be bringing this stuff up," Lean said, interrupting my thoughts. "We are here to get your wounds treated and find my eyes, not to chit-chat. We can always do that at the mansion." She set a tray of tools on her lap.

I shook, noticing the sharp tools that were lying on the tray. "I-is this going to hurt?" I choked out.

She patted my arm. "Hopefully not. I will be careful. I promise."

I believed her. I looked at the ceiling and breathed heavily as I waited for more pain. Another thought crossed my mind.

Why did she need to find her eyes? She is blind. Are they not in her eye sockets?

I was about to ask her, when she stated, "Margie, I am not really blind."