After a quick assessment which caused a grim look to appear on the man's face, he said "My god, you're in such a terrible state. Were you caught up in the crash?"
"Honey, I think we need to call an ambulance—" the lady who looked really worried about Avery said, but was interrupted when Avery coughed and started panting.
"Avery!" The man yelled as he rushed to help Avery.
Avery was confused at first because his vision was starting to come back, but then he saw who was next to him, and he said "Mr. Prince, it is you and…your wife? What is two of you do here?"
Mr. Prince and his wife looked at each other skeptically, wondering why Avery's grammar had gotten so poor all of a sudden, but then they ignored it and focused back on Avery, who they were more worried about than anything else.
"We saw what you did through the security camera footage sent to my phone. Not everyone would risk their safety to protect the shop from those hooligans, so because of that we came to thank you while we were in the area. We were on our way into your apartment when we heard a loud noise that came from here. Little did we know that you were part of the—" Mr. Prince, who is the owner of the convenience store that Avery works for, said but was interrupted.
"Where is he?!" An exhausted Avery asked, causing Mr. Prince and his wife to wear a look of wonder.
"Where is who, Avery? Are you talking about the other guy? I think he's gone, but don't worry about him right now. I mean, look at your condition. I don't think you should be talking right now. Just stay quiet and conserve your strength" Mr. Prince said with genuine concern.
"Honey, I'm going to call for an ambulance, so Avery please stay quiet and rest—" Mr. Prince's wife said as she took out her phone and was about to put out the call, which made Avery's heart skip a beat as he remembered something very important.
Avery quickly checked his pocket and took out his phone, only to see the devastating condition it was in.
Pressing the power button did nothing. The screen wouldn't come on but, as an unexpected result, it allowed Avery to see what he looked like.
His eyes widened when he saw his broken reflection on his broken phone's screen.
"Mrs. Cherry, please help me with your phone," Avery said as he stretched his hand and waited to receive the phone. All this while, he had his head lowered so that none of the two could see how progressive the blackness of his eyes had gotten.
"My phone? But I was about to call an ambulance for you" Mrs. Cherry said while Mr. Prince looked at Avery, wondering why he was looking down.
'Does his head hurt? Is that why he's looking downward?' Mr. Prince asked himself.
"If you don't want to take me your phone, then it is beautiful, but instead of call an ambulance please call the urgent line of the Shadow Loss Fever response group," Avery said, and both Mr. Prince and Mrs. Cherry grimaced with confusion.
They first had to decipher his strange grammar, but when they did, they couldn't understand why he wanted them to do that rather than call an ambulance for him when he clearly needed it.
"The Shadow Loss Fever? That stuff from the news? Why would we need to call them—?" Mr. Prince asked, but Avery cut him off.
"That is because, now moment in the kitchen, my sister is suffering from the fever," Avery said, and both of the couple's eyes widened.
"What? Cassandra has the Shadow Loss Fever—?" Mr. Prince asked but was cut off when Mrs. Cherry covered her mouth and gasped.
Mr. Prince quickly looked at her, saying "Honey, what's the problem?"
Shaking with terror, Mrs. Cherry pointed down at Avery while also stepping back, stammering "Honey, it's, its…"
"It's what? What are you scared of?" Mr. Prince asked with an annoyed tone.
"Honey, it's Avery, he also has the Shadow Loss Fever. Look down where the streetlamp has your shadow showing. His is nowhere to be found" Mrs. Cherry said and Mr. Prince's heart skipped a beat.
Slowly the man turned to look at his shadow on the ground. Since he was next to Avery, the retired boxer's shadow was supposed to be right next to his too, but he saw nothing.
Mr. Prince gasped just like his wife did, then fell to the ground, trembling. Since everyone knew little about the Shadow Loss Fever, the married couple were afraid, thinking it was communicable, which to them meant they were at risk of contracting it.
"Avery, you have the fever too—?" Mr. Prince said shockingly but swallowed his words when Avery looked at him, and he saw the terrifying symptoms of the fever on his employee's person.
"Don't worry sir, you and wife are secure. The fever cannot be contact and don't ask me how I knowledgeable," Avery said, as he slowly stood up while Mrs. Cherry rushed to her husband's side and tried helping him so that both of them could keep their distance from Avery.
It was after she had helped her husband to his feet that Mrs. Cherry saw Avery's completely black eyes and realized just how pale his skin was, which had gone unnoticed because it was night.
"Please promise to ring urgent number for fever response. Sister really needs both help" Avery said in such a sad manner that both of them couldn't help but feel bad for him.
Though he looked scary right now, both Mr. Prince and his wife couldn't help but feel sorry, which without realizing, their fear of him went down.
"Okay Avery, we're going to call the number of the Shadow Loss Fever response team and get both you and Cassandra the help you need. I promise" Mr. Prince said, and Mrs. Cherry, who was still a bit scared, wanted to contend with the decision of not creating more distance from Avery, but her courageous husband didn't want to hear it.
He had known Avery longer than she had, so he showed more empathy.
"Just stay put and help will be on the way—" Mr. Prince said, but Avery cut him off.
"No!" Avery yelled, making them get worried "I have to get shadow back. I have to…" Avery said then, without warning, looked in the direction the hooded figure had gone through, and then he too started limping in that direction.
"Avery, where are you going?!" Mr. Prince asked but was left on deaf ears.
All he and his wife could hear was Avery repeating his last phrase "I have to…" over and over again as Avery struggled to limp with his broken leg.
***
Avery appeared in the alley that connected to the one beside his apartment building where he was just in with Mr. Prince and Mrs. Cherry. This alley had a dead end not far ahead which Avery took note of as he looked around for the hooded figure.
Until he got to this alley, Avery could feel his shadow calling out to him, but not anymore. Even if the hooded figure had hidden somewhere in the alley, he would have been able to find him through the connection he felt to his shadow, but sadly, there was nothing.
Avery's desperation increased as he didn't know what to do.
At this point, he was almost completely taken over by the symptoms of the Shadow Loss Fever— dragging his feet and slouching as he increasingly got closer to going on all fours like Cassandra and there seemed to be no hope as the hooded figure was gone.
Avery didn't know what to do, turning around and walking toward the wall blocking his path as he tried looking for the hooded figure but still found nothing. If only he could feel where his shadow was like he used to a few seconds ago.
It was over for Avery, or so he thought, when suddenly he tripped from having issues controlling his legs and fell backwards.
He expected to hit his back and head on the ground, which would have been it for him, as he knew he wouldn't have the strength to get up again. However, the next thing he knew was that he was looking at the sky… The brightly lit sky.
It was daytime all of a sudden and a serious cold enveloped his body as he felt the force of the wind underneath him.
"What t-this?" Avery asked himself as he looked around and saw clouds all over, and he realized where he was.
"I'm in sky?" Avery asked himself, completely shocked.