Chapter 5 -- Burned!

"You listen here," Silky growled threateningly. "I told him to watch for those creatures, so if anything happened to him as a result then I have a right to know."
Noah's shoulders sagged as he let out a long sigh, "He was burned real bad and that's all I saw. Honest."

"I believe you," she replied solemnly. "He must have gone after one of those things."
"Look I'll take you over there to see him. Maybe he'll say something if you're there."

"Give me 5 minutes."
Only 3 minutes had past when Silky came out of her door to find an anxious Noah waiting. Without a word the two started their journey to see their friend.

Apparently the whole town had come to see how Chris was doing. Everyone parted ways as Silky made her way to the front door. She knocked tentatively and waited for Betty to answer. When she finally opened the door her eyes were so red from crying Silky feared the worst.
"He's not . . . I mean he can't be . . . " was all she could stammer out, not able to bring herself to say the word dead.

"No, he's alive," Betty replied, her voice surprisingly even. "But I fear he might wish he were."
"Why?"

Betty motioned her in, "Perhaps you might like to sit while we talk."
Silky breezed through the door and went straight to the sitting area. "What happened?"

Betty sat down across from Silky, a forlorn look on her face. "I didn't know what else to do. This town can't lose him. I had to save him any way I could."
"What are you talking about?" A thought crossed her mind. "What did you do?"

"I used the journal experiments to help him. It just came so natural, it was almost like I had done it before," Betty's voice sounded distant, like she was in a daze. After a moment she shook her head, her eyes full of panic as she turned to look at Silky. "There was something we missed in the journals. A page we overlooked."
Silky shook her head. "What is going on? What happened to Chris? I need to know what happened to Chris."

Betty relaxed before speaking, "He will be fine, I think, and you can even see him in a moment. There is something I must discuss with you first. In the jour-"
"ENOUGH WITH THE JOURNALS! I only want to know about Chris! What have you done to him?"

"I told you already! I used the experiment to save him, but what I'm trying to tell you is you are in the journal. Silky you're one of the experiments."
Silky thought a moment before answering in a calm voice, "I don't care what you did or did not find, I only want to see Chris."

Betty nodded toward the back room, "He's in there but he is asleep after the procedure. Be warned he may appear different now."
"Thank you," Silky walked past her and stopped short as Betty grabbed her ear.

"We need to talk about this. Don't think you can brush it off."
"I know. We'll talk when I come out." Betty nodded and sat back in her chair.

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