Lost Angels Series #1: Alfred Sin

Chapter 6 - AWOL

"I'll open the door, 'La."

Kaelee did not wait for her answer. She headed straight to the door and opened it. Even if she already expected Surgeon Sin, she almost held her breath upon seeing him. He wore his black pair of slacks and a black long-sleeved polo. The corner of his lips lifted to a sinister smile.

"Hi," he greeted with a mix of chuckles in his voice.

How her stomach wanted to turn. Because even his snake eyes seemed to be laughing at her.

"H-Hi..." She cursed at herself because she didn't want him to have a single clue that she was hiding from him. But how could she do that?

Her grandmother appeared from behind her. "Oh, Doc!"

"Good evening!" he greeted, cocking his head to the side.

When Lola Helene glanced at her, Kaelee felt the need to ask for her help. She felt teary-eyed out of frustration, too, because why wasn't she staring at Surgeon Sin? Her smiles for him were so big as well! How was she supposed to have the courage to tell on him if, at this very moment, she could see how her grandmother favored the doctor?

"Come in, Doc! You're just in time, I'm cooking some macaroni soup!"

Then, Lola Helene went back to the kitchen. Kaelee was left with no choice but to let him in. She stepped aside and the doctor walked past her. She hadn't closed the door yet but the doctor was already seated on the one-seat sofa where he sat on his first visit to their house.

Upon closing the door, she followed the doctor.

"So, Kaelee," he grinned while staring at her. "It seems like you forgot our agreement."

"Uh...Y-You bet!" she sat down slowly on the sofa. This time, she occupied the long sofa that was positioned beside the doctor's seat because it was closer to the door, and her weakening knees would really need immediate aid by sitting down to the nearest seat.

"Do you need brain surgery to recover your memory?" he laughed, which added to her terror. "We can check your limbic system, you know. Maybe, I can poke on your hippocampus, amygdala, epithalamus..."

"N-No..." she replied weakly. "I-I mean...Our agreement just slipped out of my mind, because I'm not feeling well. I-I think I'll get sick."

"Is that so?" he said, leaning forward to bring his face close to hers, the only thing between them was the left armrest of his chair and the right of her chair.

At that moment, her heart began racing. It was as if she was standing before death itself.  His snake eyes stared closely into hers, as if peeking where he could poke his hands to pull out her soul. At closer inspection, she noticed that his eyes weren't plainly green. It was a transparent, yellowish-green. She didn't know that the shade is called 'chartreuse.'

"A sick person breathes slower than usual," he breathed on her face, "your breathing is fast."

She gulped.

"Too fast," he stated, the corner of his lips rising.

'Does Surgeon Sin eat people? Will he spare my bones if ever—'

"You are scared," he chuckled lowly.

In this moment, she felt a strong slap in the face by the reality that her biggest mistake was fo pretend to be ill in front of a doctor!

"I don't tolerate AWOL's, Miss Kaelee Montano," he said smugly with a shadow of a mischievous smile on his face. "Where did you even got the audacity to pretend to be sick right in front of me?" He pointed to his left eye, making Kaelee focus on its sharp slit iris. "Infrared too," he said, pertaining to his eyes, his vision. "So, you're basically looking right now at a walking thermometer, Kaelee."