Shadow Mutation (Book Seven) [UNDER MAJOR EDITING]

Chapter 36: Losing Him

No one responds, every pair of eyes on the teen. His face blazes with heat as he gets to his feet, instantly wobbling and having to grip the table again, his limbs shuddering.

"Dude...what's up with you?" Raph asks, visible concern on his red-masked face.

"N-Nothing! I'm fine!" Casey insists, blinking rapidly as he exhales, the sound audible to everyone in the kitchen.

Leo appears at the kitchen entrance, confusion evident in his entire persona. Destiny turns off the element and puts down her spatula as she turns around, her body completely turned to Casey.

"Now, that's just a lie," Donnie says. "Something is wrong. What aren't you telling us?"

"I told you! Nothing!" Casey repeats, pushing off the table and turning around.

His legs buckle beneath him, instantly pitching him forwards. Leo reacts in a snap, catching him as his body sags against the shorter boy's. Raph launches to his feet as Destiny brushes past everyone in a blink, next to her boyfriend and best friend within a second or two.

"Casey? Casey, talk to us," Raph demands, joining his other two family members.

Leo shifts Casey's limp form, carefully lowering the both of them to the floor. The others lean closer, their eyes wide with shock at the turn of events. Destiny's ears flatten as her wings tighten against her back, leaning closer to Casey as she sniffs a little. Her stomach twists.

"No...no way," she mutters.

"What is it, Des?" Donnie asks.

Destiny blinks a few times as her nose wrinkles. "I...I'm smelling something weird on him. Like...rotten ice, if that's even a thing."

"Rotten ice?" Mikey echoes. "That sounds weird, dudes."

"Des, Raph, watch him. I'm getting Splinter," Leo says, scooting out from underneath Casey's head and hurrying from the room.

Raph kneels and takes charge, turning his friend's head as he checks for a pulse. Destiny sniffs again, looking more and more put off by the second.

"Perhaps you're smelling some sort of infection," Sarina comments. "Dogs and other animals have shown to be able to detect diseases in humans much faster than medical personnel can."

That makes the wolf-raven tense even further as her wild green eyes widen. "Raph, get his shirt off."

The red-masked turtle's face flickers with absolute confusion. "Uh..."

"Oh don't even start. Just do it," she snaps, giving him her best glare.

He nods, Donnie getting up and helping his brother. They pull the boy's sweater and shirt off, instantly making everyone's stomach drop. There's a deep purplish gash crossing from his shoulder down to below his left pectoral, dried blood festering along the edges and veins of the same violet hue spreading out from the spot.

"Oh no..." Sarina squeaks, covering her mouth with her hands.

"What? What is that?" Annalise demands, her blue eyes going wider by the second.

"To be brief...he's been shaded," Donnie says thickly. "And it's infected." Casey groans, his eyes opening a crack. Everyone jumps at the movement, Donnie leaning close to his friend. "Casey, when did this happen?"