Poison

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Fifteen

After retrieving her birth certificate the previous night, Melanie and Talon had gone to bed exhausted. Talon woke up early to go to work and Melanie had been so tired, she didn't even wake up when he did. In fact, she didn't wake up until well after noon.

She made something to eat and then decided to take a shower. While she was showering, it occurred to her that she hadn't even looked at her birth certificate yet. She didn't know her parents names, or even where she was born. She resolved to fix that as soon as she got out of the bathroom.

She had almost finished showering when she heard the door to the apartment open and close, quickly followed by a loud thump. "Talon?" she called out. "Talon?"

There was no answer but Melanie couldn't blame him. She was sure that he simply came in, dropped something on the floor and went to sleep. She knew he hadn't gotten that much the previous night, or the night before. In fact, she wasn't sure when he last had a decent night of sleep. She finished showering and put on her underwear, then decided to peak out to see if he really was asleep.

As soon as she looked out the door, she saw that something was wrong. Talon was laying face down in front of the apartment door. She ran to his side and shook him gently while calling his name over and over again. When she got no response, she started to cry. She couldn't lose him. She just couldn't.

She knew she had to do something to help him and she reached into his pocket to get his phone. She started to dial 911, but remembered that she couldn't send him to the hospital – someone might figure out he wasn't human. But she had to do something. She opened up his contact list, searching for a name she recognized. Finally she found it. Sophia.

"You have some nerve calling me up after disappearing for five damn months! I swear, I'm going to murder you when I find you and – "

"Please," Melanie begged. She had wanted to hang up as soon as the angry voice answered, but she had to get help for Talon. "Please help!"

"Who is this? Nevermind. Is my brother in trouble?"

"Yes," Melanie said, barely holding back tears. "I don't know what happened. I think he collapsed or… I don't know. He's not moving!"

"Where are you? I'm heading over now." Melanie quickly gave her the address. "Okay," Sophia said. "Just stay calm. He's going to be fine. I'll be there in twenty minutes or so, okay?"

"Okay," Melanie said. She hung up the phone and then laid down next to Talon, stroking his hair gently. "Please be okay," she whispered. "I love you."

She remained at his side until she heard footsteps coming up the stairs. Thinking it might be Sophia, she remembered she hadn't gotten dressed yet and rushed to fix that. She found Talon's clothes first and threw them on, not caring that they were far too big for her. Soon, there came a knock on the door and Melanie was glad she had gotten dressed.

When she opened the door, she found two people standing there, a man and a woman. She assumed the woman was Sophia. She certainly looked similar to Talon. She was tall and well built, with dark brown hair and eyes, although she was far more intimidating than Talon – she simply looked angry and ready to tear anyone apart.

The man was a little shorter than Sophia and a bit on the chubby side. He had blonde hair, and oddly enough, yellow eyes. Although he appeared much friendlier than Sophia, Melanie found his eyes unsettling.

"Haven't seen this in a while," the man remarked as he walked into the apartment and looked at Talon laying on the ground. "Thought he learned he needed sleep."