The first thing I did in my solitude was make my way over to the full-body mirror next to the bathroom door. Standing before it, I examined my appearance.
Pale as fuck, check.
Lanky, check.
Bleached white hair with dark roots showing; also check.
I narrowed my eyes and stepped closer. I really did look the same. Nothing about me screamed demon. Was I actually an Eternal and just had the worst awakening ever? The doctors and my family sure thought so (granted, I have yet to tell them about the reaction I had to Entha). I tilted my head side to side and barred my teeth. I froze then barred them some more, leaning forward.
My teeth were longer. The tips thinned into sharp points. All of them had but especially the canines. I looked like a freakin vampire!
This was the worst thing to ever, ever, ever happen to me!
"Why!?" I sank to my knees letting gravity take my pathetic body. I didn't need it anymore. This was the end. I’ll die a Twi-hard!
"What are you doing?"
I screamed and fell on my side.
I hadn't even noticed Cory opening the door!
"What do you want?" I demanded getting to my feet.
"I wanted to see you, but I can leave if you're… busy."
I grumbled and made my way to the bed. I plopped down and glared at him.
"Thank you for coming," I said quite sincerely.
"You're welcome,” Cory said. “Shouldn't you stay in bed seeing how you were drained?"
I swept my hand. "Nah, Mom says Eternals feel lively and healthy after awakening so I'm all good."
"You still need to recover." Cory came over to stand next to the chair Mom had sat in earlier.
"You can sit down. Dad's bringing food."
"Oh, I'm not staying long. I just wanted to check on you."
I stood up. "You're leaving? Why?"”
“Uh, yes, but first I think I need to tell you something.”
I eyed him, suddenly apprehensive.
Cory opened his mouth but immediately closed it. He seemed as if he were weighing options.
“It’s nothing,” he finally said. “It can wait. Just… try to stay out of trouble.”
I crossed my arms.
“I always do,” I said.
Cory didn’t look amused but he perked up suddenly as if remember something.
“Oh! I also have this,” Cory reached into his jeans pocket and pulled out a miniature bottle. “It’s sleep medicine.” He handed it to me.
I turned it over in my hand and read the label.
“Thanks, but why?”
“I find it helps with the nightmares,” Cory said. “Eternals always have nightmares.”
I stared.
“You have nightmares?”
Cory gave a nod. “Almost every night. But, it should get better as time goes on. Mom rarely has them now.”
I ran a hand down my face. “I didn’t know this. How bad are they?”
A solemn look crossed Cory’s face. “It depends, but for me, they are usually pretty vivid.”
I bit my lip.
“Are you doing okay?”
Cory’s brows creased. “I should be the one asking you that. Are you hurting anywhere?”
“Well, my arm stings sometimes but otherwise I’m all good.”
My body also ached. Sometimes I got weird chills, and hunger gnawed at my stomach much more aggressively than it ever did before I was drained. My side was bruised and it hurt to move. I could complain to Cory about it all, but there was a high chance Eternals weren't supposed to feel that way.
“Is there some kind of healer Eternal we can call? Maybe just to heal my arm?” I asked completely innocently and not suspicious at all.
Cory gave me an apologetic smile. “There are no healing powers. Sorry.”
I huffed. “Nah, it’s cool. It’s cool.”
It was not cool.
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The door opened again and a nurse walked in. It was a woman this time and she had the smile that nurses used with patients.
“Good afternoon,” she said. “I’m Wanda Hite, I’ll be your new nurse.” She came inside with a tablet under her arm. “I need to ask you some questions.”
“Wait, what happened to the other guy?”
“Dr. Rawer got sick and had to go home so I’ll be taking over for the time being. If you will sit down on the bed, I just want to have a basic evaluation of your condition.”
I sat down and watched as Cory backed up towards the door while waving. I waved back.
In my head, I sighed. I really, really wanted to be anywhere but here. Why couldn’t Cory take me with him?
Two officers came to see me the next morning. One was a short woman with tan skin and the other was a tall woman with darker skin. The taller officer was the one to speak first and she seemed sympathetic. She had a comforting look on her face.
“Are you alright talking about the incident?” she had asked.
Seeing how I didn’t have much choice I answered, “Yes.”
I tried not to go in depth. I really did, but their eyes bore into me and my gut twisted uncomfortably.
“What precisely did you hear?” the short one, Officer Simons, asked.
I bit my cheek and forced myself to remember.
“I think it was the word ‘run’.”
Simons nodded and wrote that down on a notepad. Officer Vendal, the taller one, leaned forward slightly.
“Can you tell us what exactly happened to Ellen Reid?”
I stilled.
“Who?”
“She was the woman found dead,” Simons said.
“I didn’t know.” I shifted from where I sat next to the hospital bed, my fingers linking together. “She was drained.”
I could still see her limbs spasming and her body falling limp.
“Did her mask break?”
I could still see Ms. Reid’s eyes, how desperate they looked. And how sad.
I couldn’t speak so I nodded instead. I found it hard to meet the officers’ eyes.
Luckily, the officers left a few minutes later. They told me that I didn’t have to worry about anything and that I did a good job. didn’t feel like I did a good job but I thanked them anyway.
When they were out of the room I pulled out my phone. I decided that while I wait for Dad I would scroll on social media for an uncertain amount of time.
I almost cried when my doctor said that I could be released tonight. I never wanted to see another hospital room again. Dad said he’d call a cab for the two of us which I was grateful for, the subway was another thing I wished to avoid.
As I swiped from one post to another, most of them being fanart and memes from movies and comics I liked, a thought came to me. My fingers paused and I stared at the blinding screen. I swiped out of the app and pushed the search icon. In the search bar, I typed, ‘
What came up was a mix of religious history, ghosts, and the ones I was thinking of-- the ones from Entha. I added to the search. What came up first was an image of a deformed person with wings sprouting from their back. I’ve seen the photo before. It was one of, if not the, most famous image taken of a demon. This one in particular was the one to ever be transformed.
I pressed on the link to the article underneath the picture and it took me to a page that seemed to be taken from a smart person textbook. I was drawn to the first heading with another image under it.
I crossed my legs and made myself comfortable and plopped my phone down on the blankets on my lap. , I forced myself to read the flowing words. I found my attention being sucked up rather quickly though. That almost never happened with textbooks (or reading in general seeing how my brain liked to mix up the letters and mistake words for completely other words.)
The demon in the famous photo had no name, which made me blink. Ireland, being the first country to have a demon threat, didn’t know how to deal with it. When the demon did not respond to bullets or gas and had killed over a dozen people the government had sent a drone with an active explosive. The demon had been blown to pieces. They could not tell who it was from the remains so the first demon to appear has gone unnamed for twenty-five years. Most were convinced that it was a college student in her thirties named Sarah Fendricsa woman who disappeared a few days before the demonization. But no one knew for certain.
After ‘maybe’ Sarah, demonizations happened all over the globe. Over 6,000. Most were either captured or killed that same month. The demons themselves had killed over 10,000.
I exited the article and with quick fingers, I typed,
My brows creased. That number seemed far too small. I deleted the search.
I frowned.
No.
I rubbed my brow. If I had to guess the first number that appeared, 30,000, was just an answer to how many demons were still alive. But that doesn’t answer how many there have been. I supposed it didn't technically matter but it bothered me. How many demons had to die over the past two decades?
Biting my lip I typed,
I ran my tongue over my sharp canines. I reread the physical strength sentence. If I have increased physical strength that would explain how I could jump over a Giant. I reached over to the chair beside the bed and grabbed it. It lifted easily off the floor as if I was holding a pillow. A queasiness settled in my stomach.
My phone had a notification.
It was a text from Mom.
Not a second later I texted,
And as I promised I texted Dad,
Dad responded:
I groaned and flopped down onto the bed.
When Dad texted me it was time to go I was already changed and wearing clothes. I quickly jumped for the pair of Converse next to the bed. I pushed my foot into one of my shoes and pulled the laces to tie them when one side snapped. I studied at the string and then the shoe. They weren’t worn out. Did I pull on them too hard? Or... My shoulders slumped.
The possessions that I had on me, like my pack of gum and gloves were returned to me. I slipped on my gloves almost immediately. My umbrella, though, was being used as evidence so I’m not sure if I’m ever getting that back.
I stepped out of my room- excuse me, my old room and marched down the hall. I got in an elevator with two other people and traveled down to the first floor. The lobby that I entered was a place I had yet to see. It was big and had a patterned carpet. Large glass windows stretched above automatic doors that led out to a parking lot and a busy street.
“Cain!”
Dad, wearing a mask, waved for me next to one of the doors. I smiled and went to meet him.
“Mom called a driver for us,” he said when I got close.
“One of the fancy ones?” I asked. “That’s nice of her.”
Mom didn’t usually organize rides like that. Then again, she rarely invited me anywhere.
I pushed away the implications of why that was.
The car that Mom called for us was indeed fancy. It was sleek and black with expensive leather seats. The screen installed in it was gigantic and the sound system was crystal clear. The driver at the wheel greeted us both politely and referred to me as ‘sir’ with every other sentence. That level of respect was not something I was used to either.
My phone pinged as the car started up. I glanced at it and frowned.
I turned to Dad, thinking.
“It’s odd,” I said eventually, playing with the strings of my hoodie.
“Hmm?”
“You know, with me being… different. Cory is telling me things I never knew before, Mom had invited me to the headquarters. We’re not taking a bus or train. I… Do you think it will all change now? ”
Dad shrugged. “It can.”
I twisted the strings together.
“I want it too.”
Here's my for all of the extra stuff I do with this story (playlists, art, tiktoks, deleted scenes) and if anyone's interested in donating. It would help out a lot but no pressure.