ELUSIVE (Book 2)

CHAPTER 2

I slowly get up and walk to the door. Whit is standing there and he takes one look at me and smiles.

"I thought I'd let you sleep in. But your day will not be wasted and don't expect this the whole summer." He says and leads me downstairs to the kitchen.

I stop listening to his rant as soon as food is placed in front of me. Avocado toast with macaroni salad and water melon.

"Tell me, Maeve, are you easily inclined to vomit?" He asks as he sits across from me. I stop mid chew and look up at him.

One thing about my uncle is he loves to show me the weirdest things he finds from all around the world. Sometimes I think it's his mission to actually make me vomit, but my stomach is pretty strong and I don't get grossed out easily.

"Don't think so..." I tell him and he nods, curiosity filling his eyes.

"Meet me down stairs as soon as you're done. Your first lesson shall begin.." He says with excitement and he marches downstairs.

Downstairs, the basement. Me and basements really don't get a long. Still getting over the couple of times I've accidentally locked myself in a basement and having to stay in a dirty dark place.

I take my time eating, dreading every moment I have to go downstairs. When I take the last bite my stomach sinks.

Just get this over with so you can go back to reading.

I walk downstairs and I see Whit writing in a journal and doing a voice recording.

My eyes scan the large room, books everywhere. A couch that's indented in with the shape of my uncles body. A large table in the middle of the room and see through refrigerators with different colored vials of liquid.

I would be terrified if I were a random stranger who stumbled upon this room, but knowing my uncle is a doctor and researcher it puts me slightly at ease.

"Freeze." My uncles says as I hit the last step. I stop and watch as he continues to write. "Put on a mask and a gown." He says and points at the locker that's to my right.

I suit up and wear the protective gear he wants me to wear and walk over to him.

He points behind me and I turn around to the large table. I walk over to the table and see something large with a blue cover over it.

"Remove the blanket." He says. He still hasn't look at me and I do as he says.

The smell hits me first as I slowly remove the blanket. I was not expecting there to be a sad body, but lo and behold, a dead body. I know he wants a reaction from me so I stay put. Every fiber in my being just wants to run back up stairs.

"What do you think is the cause of death?" He says and he lifts his head up to look at me.

I examine the face of the patient. Hmmm, it's a women, in her late forties, can't really tell.

"Has to be some kind of disease...look at the face." I point. Whits brown eyes are fixed on mine, his eyes hold interest at what I'm saying, and he softly chuckles.

"Do illnesses just happen? Can a disease manifest in a body with no help?" He questions and I look at the body again, the large boils on her face, the dried blood running from her mouth, ears, and nose.

"Sure?" I question, not really knowing the answer.

"Well then, do you know that diseases can move from one person to another, but how?" He questions.

"Contact." I say, not really knowing where he's going with all of this.

"So then you agree that when something moves from one sick person to someone healthy then they get sick as well?" He questions further, but I just stare at the boils that look like they're ready to burst. He doesn't wait for me to answer and continues with a story.