Tobey burst inside the elevator of the building of his apartment. He was panting like never before in his life. He was feeling like his heart was going to explode.
'When I was in demon form, I ran for too long and covered a huge distance. Making it to my apartment again was hellish, taking into consideration that I don't have the same body constitution I had back then... Man, I am so tired...'
He leaned his back on the wall of the elevator as he pressed the button to his floor. He let his legs lose the last bit of strength that was holding him on his feet. He fell on his butt on the elevator's floor and passed out for some seconds. His mind couldn't take that pressure anymore, and his body was crumbling down as well.
When he woke up, he was already on his floor and the door of the elevator was closing. Tobey dashed forward and put his arm in the way, not allowing it to close. He didn't want the elevator to go down again with him. He noticed that the floor was soaked with his blood and the water of his clothes. If people saw him inside there in that state, a fuss would surely start.
'I was lucky that I entered this building without talking to the doorman nor the guard. If they caught me in this state, things would turn out to be really bad. Now that I had this chance, I can't allow other people to see me...'
Tobey went to the corridor of that floor, limping towards his apartment and entering there. Once he put his feet inside his home, his body felt like falling to the ground but supported himself onto the doorknob, forcing himself to stay on his feet for a few seconds more.
"I still need to close the door... If I don't do this much, I will be screwed," he thought.
Tobey was going to close the door when someone called out his name from the outside.
"Tobey?" The voice echoed, making him freeze for a moment.
"Damn it... It's Alex... Alex Martinez."
"Is it you, man? Tobey Foster? I can't believe it! Where were you, man? I was afraid that you were kidnapped or killed by that assassin that is lurking around out there! I am so glad that you are good... I thought that I lost my favorite neighbor, after all!"
Tobey put half of his body out of the cover of the door. There was just a small space between the door and the jamb. Alex could see little of Tobey's figure, and so did Tobey since Alex was too close to the door on the other side.
"It's me... It's nice to see you again, Alex. Are you feeling well?" For a moment, barely could believe that this hoarse voice was his. Thankfully, Alex didn't notice or seemed to care little about it.
"I am good! Just a little bit tired, you know? Working on the night shift is killing me, man! Also, I was going out to work right now, and that's when I saw you! Did you just get into your apartment?"
Tobey slightly narrowed his eyes to that dark-skinned man with a bright grin and thick eyebrows. He had an athletic physique and generally wore casual clothes. His round eyes were attentively looking at Clay from the other side of the door. He seemed to be trying to perceive something in his figure... or so Tobey thought.
"No," Tobey lied. "I just opened the door because I heard something happening in the corridor and wanted to check if everything is ok."
"Aah... so, you heard something, huh? Maybe it explains why there is so much blood in the corridor... Do you think that someone got hurt?"
"I am not sure. Most likely, that's the case. Maybe a traffic accident. That's very common on rainy days."
Alex got silent for a while, looking at him as if bothered with something.
"Are you okay, Tobey?" he said as he laid one of his hands on the door, pushing it slightly.
Tobey was still holding the doorknob with both hands and pushed it forward.
"I am... I am good, yes. Why are you asking it again?"
"Nothing. I am just concerned... Are you sure that you didn't just arrive?" Alex repeated the same question another time, which sent a chill down Tobey's spine.
"What are you saying? By chance, did you see me walking in the corridor?"
"No, I just left my apartment and saw you closing the door so..."
"I already explained the reason why I was peeking at the door," Tobey interrupted him, pretending to be annoyed.
Instead of backing away, though, Alex pushed the door with a bit more strength, forcing Tobey to exert more strength as well.
"I can't quite see you, Tobey. The apartment is too dark...", he said.
"I was sleeping. I don't want to light up the lights. And I want to come back to sleep so... leave me alone."
"Tobey..." Alex pushed the door a bit stronger than before.
Tobey put all his weight on that door, pushing her to the opposite side.
Finally, Alex gave in and the door closed with a loud thud. Tobey was struggling not to pant too hard on the other side.
"I am late for my job, man. I am going. I will be back tomorrow and we can talk again, maybe. See you, neighbor," Alex awkwardly said, walking away. "Sorry for bothering you, I was just worried."
"Sure, sure...", Tobey replied, resting his back on the door and sliding slowly to the ground while closing his eyes.
'I can't pass out again... I can't! I need to stop this bleeding before I rest. If I don't do so, I might die. Grit your teeth and get up, Tobey!'
After making sure that the door was locked, he limped across his messy apartment, never wanting so much before to have organized everything so he wouldn't trip so many times along the way.
Once he got to his room, he searched for a first-aid kit, where he could get some things to help to treat his wounds.
"The least I need now is to get these things infected and make it even worst. I won't be able to fight if needed nor run away in extreme cases..."
Tobey needed nearly two hours to treat his wounds. It was very hard to do it alone. Also, despite the harm he got from the arrows, his muscles were quite messed up due to the pressure that his strange demon form applied to his body.
'My joints and muscles got exhausted, and they hurt a lot. I feel like I will get paralyzed in a few minutes. I pushed myself really hard this time. However, I didn't have another choice.'
Tobey looked at his own hands with pensive eyes.
'Also, due to being busy these two past hours, I didn't think much about it but... Alex was acting quite strangely on the other side of the door. It looked like he found it a must to enter into my apartment or, at least, push my door enough to see my state. Was he really worried about me or...?'
Tobey needed to shake his head strongly not to let those thoughts get the better of him. He couldn't get paranoid because of what his grandma said. The only thing he needed to do was to be cautious. Just that alone was enough for him to live his days in the safest way possible. He couldn't allow another scene like the one on the way to the hospital to happen once again.
'Anyway, I can't discard this mindset of suspecting about every person that already made contact with me, and particularly the ones that never made contact. She said that THEY could be among my acquaintances as well, after all, just like her. So, until I can prove their innocence for sure, everyone is a suspect.'
Tobey didn't want to live the rest of his days running away from aleatory nurses or getting frightened about people's stares at the streets. Nonetheless, if it was needed to make him stay alive, then so be it.
"I should take a rest right now, but I can't do it in my apartment. It is already very dangerous to have visited this place, to begin with. Anyway, I need to change my clothes, take some more outside with me, and also pack food, tools, and this sort of thing. I will stay out of my apartment until I am sure that Alex and none of my neighbors are trying to hunt me."
This way, using the last bit of energy that he had before his body collapsed completely, Tobey got as many things as he could remember and considered important in his apartment. Since it was a mess, it slowed the process but he could do it in enough time to fill his backpack, leave the apartment and take a taxi to the nearest hotel of the region.
Tobey didn't register the time when he made his check-in, paid for the night, went to the third floor with an elevator, and burst out into his room. The only thing he remembered was to fall on the mattress and turn to look at the ceiling, just to close his eyes right after and turn off completely.