“Alright, you sure your friend is going to pick you up? I know you have some weird trust in these guys but I still think you just joined a cult.” Kaley was getting out of the plane, stretching and heading out to refuel again.

“It is fine, she should be here in a few minutes.” It was strange to know about Liz without ever actually meeting her, it felt like knowing someone online. I knew about Tony, I knew that she was infected and had to be cured by Myc. I also knew that we had to head to grab a two ton rock monster and haul it back home. “Can’t wait.”

“God damn, is that her?” I looked over to see Liz getting out of the SUV, it was clear Myc had been doing some modifications on her. Instead of the small, 40 year old asian woman, wearing glasses and an old t-shirt. She was taller, maybe 5’ 10”, she looked like she could easily be in her twenties.

She pushed the sunglasses up to reveal two teal eyes that looked like they were made of crystals, and long flowing black hair ran down her back. The outfit she was wearing was snug around her new form, the tank top was more like a belly shirt, revealing smooth flawless skin.

She took off the now much smaller jacket revealing the long black dragon tattoo running up her right arm and into her shoulder. When she turned, the other arm was covered in a twist of vines and branches, they were covered in thorns and little blooming buds. She walked over in a casual manner, revealing her long eyelashes and steely look.

“Woah.”

“Close your jaw, moron.” Kaley looked at me, it was hard to not pay attention to the woman looking like a runway model. She brushed the hair out of her face, and I gulped like an idiot.

“Hey Rein, come on we gotta grab a truck and pick up Tony.” She spoke casually like we had been friends. She looked at Kaley up and down, then back to me.

“Um, alright. I’ll be right there.” She turned to walk back to the SUV, I tried to look at my sister but couldn’t help but keep staring.

“Jeez dude, what is up with you. I thought she was part of your little click or whatever?”

“She, uhh, she is kinda new.” I turned toward Kaley as Liz closed the door. Taking a deep breath I thanked Kaley for the ride as she continued to berate me for my ‘unsettling’ behavior. I turned to walk to the SUV trying not to think about anything but being alone in the car with her for the next couple days.

We were driving away from the runway, it would only be a few hours till we were able to sell her SUV, grab a truck for Tony and get there. We pulled up to the manor with only a mild amount of awkward silence.

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“Well, this should hopefully be easy, he usually listens when I tell him something. Although I don’t know if he will sit still for the entire ride.” She looked at the back of the truck like it was a prison we were going to hold Tony in forever. It must have been hard to see one of the few people you had as family waste away like this. I mean it was a similar albeit not the same situation when my grandpa got dementia. He forgot who I was pretty quickly, always scared to leave the house even just to go to the doctors. It was rough to see someone you once respected and loved, start to fear their own family and forget who they once were.

“I’m sorry. It must be hard to see him go through this.” She gave me a look, I wasn’t sure how strong her connection was but she seemed to understand.

“Thanks Rein. It’s been rough, I mean I know that I couldn’t have stopped it even if I knew but still…” She felt guilty, it was natural. When there was nothing to blame for something terrible people usually just ended up pointing the finger at themselves.

“Yeah, I know. Well let’s get him back home, if anyone can help him, it's Myc.”

“Yeah, home.” We headed inside the manor, it looked the same as when John was here. Tony must have barely left the basement since then, the same scuff marks on the walls and the same two broken stairs. I looked over to the basement door, it was closed and Liz needed to grab a key to unlock it. Probably a precaution if someone tried to get in, it would help keep Tony from being seen.

We headed down the stairs, the four tunnels that had been here when John saw it were expanded into nearly a dozen different holes. There was very little light in the basement, however the tunnels were lit with small chunks of yellow stone. They barely glowed, but it gave just enough light to see how deep some of the tunnels went.

“TONY! Come on out. We are going on a road trip.” Liz shouted down one of the tunnels, there was a faint scraping sound coming from within. Then after a few seconds, a skittering came from a different side tunnel. The creature to come out was the same massive rock creature that John had seen, pillars of amber and stone made the towering creature a sight to see.

“Damn. He is big.” The creature was still at least eight feet tall. The lights from the tunnel made the amber shine like the sun, reflecting rays all over the tunnel walls.

“Yeah. Alright let’s go big guy, we are going down south. Maybe find you a nice mountain to dig through.” She looked at Tony like she was taking her dog to be put down. The fear and guilt on her face, she knew this was the only option and he couldn’t even understand why. “Alright I am gonna back the truck into the front door, just get him to follow you upstairs.”

She went up the stairs only taking a quick glance back at the creature that watched her leave. Then he sat there, unwilling to move. The large chunks of stone that made up his body and legs slowly lowered themselves to the floor. Until there was just a pile of rocks and amber scattered on the ground.

“It’s alright Tony, I’m sorry there was nothing we could do to help. Liz was left here alone to deal with this, no one to turn to, no one to help ease the burden. It’s hard and I know that you don’t understand but if you are still in there, you gotta give her something. Try to do anything to tell her that she shouldn’t blame herself, terrible shit happens and sometimes all you can do is deal with the consequences.”

“Hey, come on, I wanna get back to camp. These clothes are too tight now.” She stood at the top of the stairs, looking down at us.

“Alright, come on Tony, follow me.” We got the lumbering creature into the truck, the truck creaked and sank with his massive weight. We told him to sit and wait, then we got on the road and headed back south.

“Hey, thanks for that. I appreciate it.” Liz gave me a side glance from the driver's seat. I suppose she overheard me talking to Tony, I thought I would be embarrassed but knowing that everyone already knows what you are thinking just makes it tiresome.

“No problem.” I turned to look out the window with a small smile on my face. It was going to be a long journey back but I was hoping to enjoy it.