"Do you think we don't trust you?"
"No, it isn't that... it's just, I felt I had a lot of explanations to do. I felt that you might have believed that news, they were just so much," Denzel replied to his dad, trying to decipher that fact. He didn't expect them to have that much confidence in him.
"Dad, are we sure we are not speaking with a ghost?" Carrie presumed, a slightly funny look showing up on her face. She began to poke Denzel's body little by little.
Denzel looked at Carrie as she poked him, he had an unamused look on his face. 'You hugged me earlier,' He thought before he faced his dad to say something to him. "But... how have things been for Carrie? School and stuff..." Denzel asked his dad, he looked at Carrie when she refused to stop poking him.
"I dropped out," Carrie finally took her finger off his arm. "It wasn't easy for me, I was getting so close to-- No, my own friends were already treating me like shit, and classes were hell for me, so, I dropped out. It was the best thing to do to help myself."
"I am sorry, Carrie," Denzel kept looking at Carrie. He already guessed how much things were going to be bad for her, but it was worse than he expected.
"Why are you sorry? I didn't say it was because of you, and I am sure you didn't do those things you were accused of," Carrie reasoned with him.
"What makes you so sure?"
"I know my brother, you can't kill someone,"
When Carrie said that, Denzel thought back to the things he had already done, he had even killed someone, even though he didn't do it knowingly
"You must really trust your brother, but I would say that you shouldn't," Denzel got up and walked towards his room to drop the backpack he carried at his back, taking off the little pockets he hung on the side of his trousers.
His Dad and Carrie couldn't see them because his hoodie covered them. He changed his stuffed hoodie to a single shirt, it was very stuffy for him during summer, that was the only thing he could wear out. He had already even dyed his blonde hair black, and he made sure to carry a nose mask all about in case anything were to go wrong.
He dived on his bed to rest. "Damn, I missed this bed so much," He thought to himself.
***
"Dad, is it just me that thinks Denzel has changed a lot?" Carrie said to her dad when she saw him walk towards his room.
"Yeah, he has grown up much, even his voice is now deeper,"
"No Dad, I don't mean that... I mean... He is no more as playful he was when I last saw him. He always wanted to lift me, not minding how heavy I might be, and he always disturbed me a lot. But now, even while I poked him, he just gave me a blank look, like he didn't care," Carrie said, bowing her head afterwards.
"He is probably tired, he just got back. Let him rest a bit," Chris said that, but still, he got up to Denzel's room.
"Denzel, we have to talk," Chris said, and that tone wasn't new to Denzel, his dad was ready to have some intense discussion.
*****************************
Grayson was in the parlour in his house, scanning through his phone, looking at the messages that he had, but unfortunately, no one had messaged him.
"Damn, I live a boring life," He thought to himself as he looked at his phone.
He turned the phone horizontally, getting ready to play his favourite game, Afterlife.
The game had already loaded completely, he was getting ready to start the online game when he noticed a shadow of two people at the entrance of his house.
"Who could that be?" He stood up to take a look. He guessed that it might have been the Zoo Keepers, and he immediately ran to the door to open it because he knew that they would want to break themselves in.
Just as he thought, when he opened the door, he saw that Ryder had already transformed into a Rhinoceros, preparing to barge at the door with his head containing three horns.
"Ohh, seems like he reduced our work for us," Sony said, taking his hands away from the back of his head. Ryder reversed back into his human form. "Since you have helped us open the door, I would like you to also help us submit M.D," Sony added.
"If that's why you are here, then I would like to tell you that he is not here," Grayson said, preparing to slam the door back.
"Wait a minute," Grayson took a look at the door when Sony said that. He was unable to close it, and that was because Sony used one of his legs to hold the door back.
"Sony, you should wait behind, let me handle him this time," Ryder walked forward, getting in a stance to attack Grayson. And then rushing towards him.
"Huh? Wait! why don't you come in?" Grayson opened the door for them, making a gesture to welcome them in.
Surprisingly, Ryder stopped in his tracks, walking in afterwards as Grayson asked.
"Ryder, why do you have to listen to him, let's just end him and get M.D," Sony reasoned, he looked dissatisfied.
"It would be better to keep the fatalities minimum if he is ready to let us have M.D," Ryder replied Sony, walking into the house.
Sony followed him, reluctantly strolling into the house. When he got in, he began to sniff in the air, sending out his snake's slimy long tongue to confirm what he smelled.
"That guy was here, I can smell it,"
"Are you sure?"
Sony had an ability. Once he had used his webs on someone, and it came in contact with that person, he could tell if that person was present at a particular place or not, deducing it by the smell of his webs.
He nurtured his snake's sense of smell to get so used to the smell of his webs so that anywhere he goes, he would be able to tell if anyone he had used his spider web on was present there.
"So, where is he? I can tell that he was here," Sony said, placing his hand back to the back of his head.
"He is not here right now," Grayson said, looking at the both of them, and then at that parlour to check if there was anything that he could use to weaken them in that room.
"Are you playing games with us?" Sony rushed towards him hauling his hand to land a punch on Grayson's face.
But acting fast, Grayson held Sony's fist in his hand, avoiding that attack.
"Huh? Yeah, it was you that kicked me that day," Sony recalled that attack, and it pissed him off when Grayson stopped his attack. He wanted to pull his hands off, but Grayson didn't allow him.
"Seems I would have to weave something new," Sony began to release webs from his hands, trying to wrap it around Grayson's hand.
Grayson didn't know what was coming, so he pulled off his hand.
'This guy is strong,' Sony thought to himself. His hand felt a little stiff when Grayson pulled off his arm.
"Sony, let's not fight pointlessly," Ryder turned to face Grayson. "Please, we are trying not to fight here, and we are both sure that you took him away that day," Ryder added.
"As I said, He is not here, but why don't we talk a bit," Grayson turned around to get a cup of tea.
When he walked out of that room, he saw Leo watching them from afar. 'He probably doesn't want to interfere for some reasons,' Grayson assumed.