Firstly, I own nothing to do with the Blacklist. I am just a huge fan.

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Chapter 7

When Liz's alarm went off at seven-thirty the next morning, she rolled over onto her side to turn it off before glancing down at Raymond on the bed, still expecting him to be there. To her confusion, he was gone. The only telling clue that told her he had actually truly been in her house last night were a few bits of shed fur from his coat.

Once she got changed into her workout gear and headed downstairs, the house was just as empty, aside from a small difference in the kitchen. A folded newspaper was sitting on the table, along with one of her pens, but the chair was neatly tucked in where the person had sat.

Had Tom come home early in the morning and, upon discovering Raymond was in the house, had he kicked him back out onto the street?

When she picked up the newspaper, looking at it curiously, she saw it was on the crossword puzzle section. It had already been filled in completely in the across column. The handwriting was by a human, but it didn't seem like Tom's handwriting.

Who had been in her house to fill in a crossword puzzle then? Where was Raymond? Had a human she didn't know about somehow broken their way into her house?

Yet, her dream from the night before seemed to return to her, though Liz wasn't completely sure why.

In it, Raymond had turned into a man. And that man was the strange one she had met at the park, who had seemed to disturbingly know so much about her. Personal and intimate things, like the story of how she had gotten her scar and what her boyfriend's name was. She had only told Raymond the dog those things, and yet, there he was, this Red man, who seemed to know all those things as well.

Could her dream have been true?

Could an animal really have the power to shift into a man? Could a man have the power to shift into a dog?

It sounded ridiculous on so many different levels and yet, Liz found herself unsure. It was impossible and crazy to wonder about such a thing, because surely it couldn't be. But could Red the man be Raymond the Siberian Husky? If she thought it over hard, she realized it could have been one way that Red seemed to know already so much about her. She had told Raymond in confidentiality, unknowing that Red the man was lurking inside Raymond.

Had she blindly given a man permission to sleep over in her apartment last night, who had magically taken the form of her trusty, new canine friend Raymond?

God, the idea that she had unnerved her. But apparently she had- if it was even true, and she wasn't thinking like a crazy person. After all, this Red man had confidently claimed he had exceptional sense of smelling and hearing capabilities; Two traits that dogs were known for.

Could Raymond the dog actually be Red the man?

She figured there was only one possible way to find out. It all depended on his reaction; He may think she is crazy at the end of it, or laugh at her for suggesting such an absurd thing. But did his opinion of her even really matter?

If worst came to worst, the man would only be turned off and he would choose to never see Liz ever again, which in all truth, sounded great to her. He wasn't the most agreeable or easiest person to talk to, and honestly, he scared the shit out of her.

What harm could it do in asking such a ludicrous thing of him?

Slipping into her trainers and tying up the laces, she locked up the house before starting her usual early morning run towards the park. She hoped he would be there, yet on the other side of the coin, she also hoped he wouldn't be there. Just thinking about what she would even say to him- and how to put it correctly into words- while running, it made her stomach curl in uneasiness.

As it turned out, the man was there.

She had run the longer way around the park, entering in through the back way instead. She saw him first minute she got in, sitting in his usual place at the park bench; One arm resting on top of the back of it, his leg crossed over the other. He was wearing a black fedora and she found herself staring hardly into the back of his head as she slowed down to a brisk walk, puffing and panting for air.

Disturbing her, she saw the way his head raised a little. Then he turned to look in her direction, his nose slightly in the air, disturbing her even more. He had to be Raymond the dog, he just had to be. She didn't care how crazy she would sound anymore. He just reminded her of Raymond so much; Particularly with his mannerisms and the way he would tilt his head. The way his eyes seemed to match Raymond's quite a lot in color especially.

He gave her a quick smile, nodding in her direction. "Good morning again, Lizzie."

"Morning." She didn't reply until she reached the bench, and she helped herself to the spot next to him, though she was careful to keep her distance. How he somehow knew it was her approaching him from behind at the bench, it threw her off. She got out in a hurried, exhausted breath, "How did you even know that it was me that was approaching you from behind?"

"Oh, I can smell you from a mile away."

She found it difficult to talk while out of breath the way she was, so she kept silent for a moment, waiting until she began breathing normally again.

The man didn't say a word either, though out of the corner of her eye, she caught him looking at her a few times.

Once she felt ready to begin, Liz inhaled in and out through her mouth slowly. "Okay, so... I have something to ask you, and I know its gonna sound really strange."

"Strange?" When she let her eyes flit over to him nervously, she saw he was still smiling at her, his head tilted. "I love strange. Frankly, these days, life is never strange enough for me." His words reassured her to continue and speak what was on her mind, whether he meant for them to be or not.

Liz crossed her leg over the other, shifting on the bench so that she could see him completely. She wanted to keep him in her sights so she could see what his reaction would be.

"Are you Raymond?" she asked, deciding to get it over and done with. "Raymond the dog? My... my new canine friend that I have previously mentioned about? Are you him?"

Red glanced away from her for a moment, chewing the inside of his cheek. Liz couldn't read what he was thinking at all. When a moment passed and he never gave her a verbal answer, she continued, her voice going shaky in all her desperation to understand.

"It's just that you... you remind me of Raymond somehow? I've noticed that when I come here every morning, Raymond the dog is here and you aren't. Or when you are here, Raymond isn't. I know I probably sound crazy- especially with what I'm daring to imply- but... I was just wondering if you were Raymond?"

When he finally looked at her again, he simply smiled a closed-lipped smile. Again, he never confirmed or clarified it. It was the most infuriating thing in the world.

"You knew personal things about me, things I don't remember telling anyone but Raymond?" she went on, searching his face carefully. He really wasn't giving much away at all, and the way he was staring at her, his gaze so piercing and arresting... it unnerved her yet again. "I told Raymond the story of how I was saved by a dog when I was a little girl, how he gave me the scar I have now. I even... spoke to Raymond about Tom. He even met him, and yet, you knew his name and I'm pretty damn sure that I never told you any of that?"

She really wished he would say something, anything, to ease her mind. Yet, the bastard did nothing but stare at her.

"Tell me," she demanded urgently. "Tell me that I'm not crazy for thinking like this?"

A throaty laugh escaped him.

"I can assure you that you are not crazy, Lizzie. This world, this... life, it's an extremely complex place."

Was that his way of confirming that he was, in fact, Raymond? That he could somehow mysteriously transform into a Siberian Husky? Liz wasn't sure.

"So are you saying that you are Raymond? That I'm right in what I'm asking?"

"I'm afraid I cannot give you a definitive answer on that." She parted her lips in irritation, about to speak, only he interrupted her, "But what I can tell you, is that the world in which you think you live in is far more than what you know. There are certain... things that are happening in this world that not even you yourself can possibly begin to imagine."

His words suddenly came back to her from their last meeting. She still didn't understand what he had been trying to tell her. "You said when we last talked something about a first time? That I'm very nearly thirty and that something will happen to me? What did you mean by that?"

When he turned to look at her again, she saw the way his mouth gave off a slight twitch. "Do you really think it is possible for you to have a normal life, Lizzie?" His eyes moved back and forth between hers, his gaze unsettling. Again, he was speaking as if he knew something she didn't, and Liz hated that. "Do you really think you can carry on and have a normal life with Tom?"

Liz ignored him with some determination. She really loathed the way he bought her boyfriend into the conversation with apparent ease. "Why can't I have a normal life? Are you saying somehow that it... it's impossible? How can you know that?"

"May I have a good look at it?" She stared at him in confusion, unsure of what he was talking about. But then it all made sense when he dipped his chin, motioning to her hand. "The bite on your wrist? May I have a good look at it?"

Liz considered for a moment. She couldn't see why not. She shoved her palm forward, showing her scar to him. "Why do you need to look at it? What does it mean for me?"

Before she could even gather her thoughts or attempt to yank her arm free, he lifted his hand, closing his fingers over her arm. She didn't exactly enjoy a stranger touching her or getting grabby. He guided her wrist up higher towards his face, perhaps so that he could see it better; she wasn't sure. She felt his thumb stroke the inner skin on her wrist a few times before he released her at last.

"The... the dog that saved you the night of the fire, it would seem that they have... infected you."

"Infected me?" she hissed back doubtfully. "Infected me with what?

When she glanced up at his face, she saw that he wasn't looking her way this time. He was looking at something far-off into the distance across from the park. She thought he looked almost guilty and regretful somehow, though she didn't know what that was all about.

"No, it couldn't have." She couldn't say she believed him for a second. "I went to the hospital where they stitched it up. They also took some of my blood, ran pathology tests before giving me immunizations. The results from the blood-work came back clean? They couldn't identify any transmitted pathogens in my bloodstream so... what you're saying, about the dog infecting me, you're completely wrong."

"The virus I'm talking about, Lizzie, it is... far too advanced for any modern science to detect. No countless number of tests could ever detect it because, as far as the common world knows, no such virus currently exists."

"And so what are you saying? That I'm... infected with some disease that no one even knows about? That there's... no cure for whatever infection you think I have?"

"That is precisely what I am trying to tell you." Red nodded once.

"But don't you think I would know if I was sick with some virus? That I would feel... lethargic or ill? I'm twenty-nine, almost thirty, and all I have to deal with, has been getting the flu every eight or nine months or so. I haven't felt sick at all? I haven't had any... symptoms to make me think an infection was within me in the first place, so how can you possibly say that?"

"We're all symptomless carriers, Lizzie. It is how this thing works. Not only is it completely untraceable through scientific means or pathology tests, it is also silent. Silent and symptomless. Most are not even aware they have been infected until the change happens."

She was struggling not to laugh out loud at what he was telling her. She couldn't believe him, not for a second. "Right so... just say I went home to Tom tonight and bit him, would he be infected with this mysterious virus you claim I have as well?"

She wasn't sure if he could tell she was making fun of what he was telling her, but when he focused on her again, he did not look amused in the slightest. "No, no matter who you bite or however many times in which you do so, you yourself can never transmit the virus onto another person."

"Oh? And why can't I? You're telling me that this dog that saved me as a little girl somehow infected me with a mysterious virus by saliva contact when he accidentally bit me in order to get me away from the fire. If I have the virus like you say I do, what stops me from being able to infect others?"

"Because, Lizzie, it is very... gender-specific." He started using his hands as he spoke, and Liz could see that he was really getting into explaining the mechanics of why. He actually believed this load of crock. "The dog that transmitted the infection onto you was a male, therefore you are... unfortunately now what he is."

"Okay, so... if I was a male, I could infect anyone I bite?"

" Exactly, but... usually, one female is more than enough. It's solely about companionship and-"

"- You realize this is bullshit, right?" She slipped up, laughing incredulously. "Everything you are saying? There is no such thing as a-"

"-I don't expect you to understand what I am telling you. I certainly don't expect you to believe me, but what I can do, is try to help guide you and assist you to ensure it goes smoothly when the time comes."

"I'm not sick or infected with anything," she said defensively, standing up from the bench. She had heard more than enough for one morning. "Far as I am concerned, I am healthy as a horse! There is nothing wrong with me and, what you're telling me, it isn't true! It's insanity, that's what this is!"

"I understand how difficult this may be for you to believe. But, perhaps, once the... change occurs, you may start to see things differently."

She felt overwhelmed with all this information, with all these things that he was telling her. It didn't make sense at all. He hadn't even confirmed if he was Raymond the dog, like she had begun to suspect. He was just giving her all these cryptic answers and comments.

What made it worse, was that when she glanced down at his face, she could see he believed what he was telling her one hundred percent. He actually felt what he was saying was true.

Because she didn't know what more to say or how to handle what he was telling her, she did the one thing she could only think of doing. She turned, and left him sitting there, abruptly ending their conversation.

Hope this one was okay? :P Thank you so much for the alerts I have received, as well as the reviews!