"What the fuck is that!" Damien yelled, gawking at his bare chest.
The doctor, too. His eyes widened, and he looked curious as he stood and walked around his desk to get a clear view.
"Marvelous," he blurted out, much to Damien's dismay.
"What do you mean 'marvelous'? My skin is cracking, damnit!" Damien cried, his eyes watering at the sight before him.
Where there had been delicate skin this morning, there was now a layer that looked like scales surrounded by a deep red blush spreading to Damien's neck and belly. The boy hesitantly touched it, expecting to feel the coarseness once his fingers ran over it, but to his surprise, it was quite soft.
"Turn around for me, please," the doctor urged Damien, and he followed his instruction, surprised by the sudden chivalry he was showing.
Without wasting any moment, he ran his fingers over Damien's chest, a knavish look in his eyes when he reached the space where the gem was resting.
It was glowing a dim golden color that was only visible when one looked closely, and if they had eyes as sharp as Damien's—who was beginning to notice it now—they'd see a strange, almost transparent smoke-like substance emitting from the gem and seeping into Damien's chest.
'So that's what Ahara tried to warn me about,' Damien thought to himself, trying so hard not to curse out loud.
He should have listened to her warning and not put the damned artifact around his neck. That was a stupid move for someone who knew his sister wasn't a normal human.
'I had one job,' Damien sighed in his head, feeling a tug come from his neck.
"Can you take it off?" The doctor asked.
Wrapped in his palm was the gem, his gaze on it strong as he lightly traced his fingers on its rough edges. Damien's body stiffened at the doctor's expression. It was predatory, like a beast that just found its prey and was about to pounce on it.
Forcefully untucking the grip the doctor had on the gem, he snatched it from his hands, returning it to his chest before covering it with his shirt.
"No can do, it's not mine," Damien announced, squirming in his seat and wishing this meeting would end quickly.
The doctor's forehead wrinkled when he raised his brows, a sickening smirk forming on his lips. "No wonder why I couldn't feel its aura this morning. You were the one absorbing it."
"I'm sorry, what?"
"You don't say. Are you perhaps oblivious to that stone's uses?" The doctor asked Damien, his smirk turning into a sneer now.
Realizing what the doctor meant, Damien pulled his seat closer to him, glancing at the door to make sure Ahara wasn't listening in on their conversation. Fuck the doctors scary demeanor. If this was his only chance at knowing what Ahara was, then he was willing to take the risk and be a bit naive.
"Do you know what its uses are?" He whispered at the doctor's face, arching a perfect brow as he waited for an answer.
"Matter of fact, I do. But I can't tell you at the moment."
"Why?"
The doctor pointed his eyes at the door, and Damien glanced behind him to see Ahara peeking through the small window placed by the door's upper middle. His heart almost leapt out of his chest, but Ahara was quick to remove her unwanted presence.
"Your sister is hiding something from you, isn't she?" The doctor asked, his gaze still fixated on the door.
'How does he know?' Damien wondered, scrunching his eyes at the doctor who was now smiling at him. The scary air he was exhibiting a while ago had disappeared, and in its stead was a much calmer feel to him.
"You can call me Doctor Kaos," he announced, extending his hand to Damien, who shook it more out of respect for the elderly than anything. "I think I know what your sister is hiding, and I'm willing to help you find out, but under one condition."
Damien tilted his head. "And what might that be?"
The doctor smirked once again. "You come wearing the necklace to the location I'll send you tonight."
A cold chill ran down Damien's spine.
Why did it have to be tonight and not early morning tomorrow? He wanted to ask, but Kaos was the only weak link he had to figuring out Ahara's secret. He couldn't shake him off.
Now he was stuck on a do-or-die intersection, and there was only one way that could solve all his problems at the moment.
"Noted. But how do we communicate? My phone is dead."
"Don't worry about that," Kaos assured him and turned on his heel, circling his desk before ducking under it and rummaging through his drawers.
After a few seconds of fidgeting and racking the drawers, he popped back up with a small device that looked like a smartwatch.
"I'll text you the location here, so keep it near you. And make sure you hide it from her," he pointed at the door again, where a portion of Ahara's braided hair was showing.
Accepting the device, Damien stood from his chair and thanked the doctor, but stopped after taking a few steps away and turned around.
"What about my fever and the rash?" He asked, concern masking his voice.
"Oh, right," Kaos took out a sheet from the flat file full of papers resting on his desk before writing a prescription for the boy and handing it to him.
"Go to the pharmacy two blocks to your right once you exit, and buy this, it'll help you with the fever. As for the rash, don't worry about it. After tonight, it'll disappear on its own."
Not about to listen to any more of the doctor's strange riddles, Damien accepted the prescription and left the office, bumping into Ahara, who was still waiting for him to come out.
Like an automated robot, she immediately sprang into action, examining him and asking questions. "Done already? Are you okay? Do you have a rash? What did the doctor say?"
"Yes, yes, and no. I'm fine. I just need to buy these pills from the pharmacy, and I'll be good to go." Damien handed her the prescription form, and she accepted it, immediately engrossing herself in it even though the doctor's handwriting was beyond readability even to Damien's eyes.
Then she raised her eyes to meet his, her gaze unwavering. "Are you sure that's all you guys talked about? Did the doctor say anything strange or funny to you?"
Her question might have come off as her being worried about his safety to the unlearned Damien from three days ago, but now that he knew she had a reason to be wary of Kaos since he somehow knew about her identity, it came off sounding as her wanting to make sure there were no loopholes to her secret.
Nodding, Damien gave Ahara a faux smile. "Yes, that's all we talked about, nothing else. Unless you have something you wanted me to tell the doctor, then I can go back in and-"
"That's okay," Ahara cut him, her sudden relaxed posture not escaping Damien's notice. "I was just worried that he looked a bit shady, that's all. Now let's go to the pharmacy and buy these pills…oh, and your phone. We can't have you visiting Lucy every time you want to call me, now can we?"
Cursing himself for not taking the doctor's digits, Damien followed behind her and disappeared down the corridor. Tonight was the night he figured out Ahara's secret.
Tonight, he was going to face her once and for all, never again to have her hiding things from him.
*****
It took an entire day of being peppered, spoilt, and catered to by his sister for Damien to feel some of the symptoms lessen a bit. His fatigue in particular.
By sunset, he was able to stand on his own, and by 10 PM, the time when Ahara usually encouraged him to go to bed so she could disappear on him, he was able to walk without needing assistance.
What didn't want to yield was the rash. The scales on his chest were now a bit firmer, and they didn't allow him to feel any pain. He knew that because he had tried scraping on them with his fingernails and felt nothing. Needless to say, his favorite shaving stick's razor was now destroyed thanks to his dangerous experiment.
He hadn't removed the necklace after leaving the hospital for fear Ahara might 'feel its aura' as Kaos had implied in his office, whatever the hell that meant. Damien wasn't about to take any risks of his sister finding out he had the gem before Kaos told him her secret.
Who knew what she'd pull on him the moment she'd find out. Not that he thought she'd kill him, but hey, people can change, especially when they have dangerous secrets to keep hidden for life.
"Are you feeling as sleepy as I am?" Ahara yawned, lowering her head to look at Damien, who was lying on her lap, letting her stroke his hair.
"Matter of fact, I am," Damien immediately replied, languidly moving himself from her lap and standing. "I'll be heading off to sleep then."
Ahara could only nod as he left for his room, but right when Damien was about to open his bedroom door, she felt it—the sickening aura she had sensed coming from the doctor this afternoon.
Doing her best not to lose her cool in front of Damien, she waited for him to close his bedroom door before springing into action.
With practiced movement, she rose from the couch and headed into her room, changing into a black high-collared jumpsuit made from spider silk that clasped onto her body like a second skin. Wrapped around its waist was her weapon, a silver belt-like whip sword with sharp edges that retracted after every fight.
Without waiting for Damien to sleep, Ahara stealthily escaped from the living room, locking the door just in case rogues were lying around. Then she glared at the purple substance rising in the air like smoke at a distance of a few blocks from her.
That was him alright, the shitty doctor who couldn't keep his eyes off Damien when she peeked at them through his office door.
She didn't know what the two had talked about, but she knew the moment they met at the hospital that the doctor was no ordinary guy, that he was a powerful rogue, probably an S-ranker like her, and that they were bound to fight sooner or later.
However, if he thought she'd back away from that half-baked aura of his, then he was mistaken, for she too was an S-ranked Gibbit, soon to turn X if she worked hard enough.
Cracking her neck, she took in a deep breath and squared her shoulders before closing her eyes. Her canines elongated as veins protruded all over her body, bringing out the vampire within her into the show. Then she opened her eyes and stretched herself, letting it come out.
HISS!
Like smoke coming from a rocket during its launch, Ahara's aura leaked out of her body, filling the air with a grey aura only visible to a Gibbit's eyes.
If there were any Gibbits ranked lower than her lurking around, they'd be suffocating from the overwhelming power, for Ahara had released an entire 50% of her aura in rage—the maximum a hero was allowed for intimidation purposes unless they wanted to arrive at the battle scenery already weak.
"I'm gonna smoke his ass," Ahara growled angling herself just enough to aim for a roof a block away from her house before leaping, leaving a trail of her heavy aura behind as if to mark her territory.
Unbeknownst to her, Damien was preparing himself to leave the house too. Kaos had texted him on the small device:
Come to the park near the Old people's home now, and don't forget to bring the necklace.