I woke up on my stomach with pillows and blankets suffocating my body. Someone was holding my hand, and the steady beeping made me realize that I was in the hospital.

I used my right hand to feel my back and lightly winced when I felt feathers instead of skin. I stroked them, and it felt like someone rubbing my skin- but it also felt I was like stroking a bird. I sighed and let go of my wing.

My hair was plastered to my skin and flew when my breath pushed against it. I turned my head towards the hand, holding it, and I was surprised to see Donna sitting beside me on a chair.

“Donna?” Her head snapped up to meet my eyes. They were hidden under strands of hair that made me feel like I was looking through a forest.

She opened her mouth but said nothing. She stood up, with my hand still in hers, and finally spoke. “Kye? I’m so glad you’re alright- you frightened us last night” She bent down and moved my hair out of my face. Donna cupped my face like fragile glass while her eyes screamed in concern.

My body was extremely sore, and my voice felt raw to the touch, but I continued talking. “Everything hurts, Donna.”

She slowly nodded. “The doctor said that the pain is to be expected. I’m going to get everyone and tell them that you’re awake.” She let go of me and walked briskly to the room.

My hand reached for her presence and stayed there before lifelessly flopping the side of the bed. Wires were coming out of my hand, but I ignored them as the soreness of my limbs thumped against my skin. I noticed my heavy breathing and the annoying beeping that bounced off each other. I closed my eyes, in hopes of the pain releasing, but my prayers haven’t been answered lately.

“Kye?” Liam spoke, and I opened my eyes. Behind him was Donna, Xavier, Nicole, and Kyle. Liam took long strides to get to my bed, and everyone followed at a slower pace.

Liam pulled up a chair and held my hand. He gently smiled at me, and I returned the gesture. I looked at everyone and noticed that no one changed clothes from the night before. Upon further examination, dry specks patterned everyone, and my mind notified me that it was blood. I tried not to get carried away in guilt, but the emotional wave drowned me.

“I’m sorry for putting you all through that. Something came over me, and I honestly don’t know what it was but-” I shook my head to clear the jumble of words. “I’m sorry.”

“You have nothing to be sorry for Kye” Kyle grabbed a chair so he could be level with me. “I’m pretty sure that everyone agrees with me when I say this, but we will literally do anything for you” I looked at everyone, and they all smiled at me.

“I told you I’d protect you and I meant it” Xavier smirked.

“I second that” Donna smiled.

“I third it!” Nicole jumped like a giddy puppy, and it made me smile.

“I’d do anything for you” Liam spoke softly, and he rubbed my knuckles with his thumb.

“See? Everyone is here for you, so no need to apologize,” Kyle shuffled my hair like a deck of cards. “At least, we know what you are.”

I scrunched up my face. “You didn’t think I was human?”

Xavier scratched behind his neck. “When you told us, what Jeremy did to you, it became clear that no human could go through that kind of torture and survive. But you survived, with minimal damage. Our suspicions were there, but we didn’t know it was a harpy.”

“Are harpies unusual?” I was curious.

Donna finally took a stab at the conversation. “Yes and no. They were here since the start of humanity, but no one has seen them in centuries- well, until now.”

I let her words wrap around me, and I internally smiled. They seemed a bit sad, but I saw the ray of hope in her words.

34. There are others like me- maybe the rest are just in hiding.

Liam let one of his hands touch my wings. The sudden movement made me jump, and I held in a whimper as he caressed them. I closed my eyes as I felt the gaze of others shower me.

“A harpy- I never thought I’d live to see the day,” Nicole whispered. I opened my eyes and saw her hand reaching towards my wings.

Trying to be helpful, I tried tilting them her way so that she wouldn’t have to move that much, but instead, they started flapping. Red hot chili pepper pain shot through my back as medical equipment in the room moved clockwise around me. Papers that weren’t held down flew around the room and flowers I haven’t seen before danced among the debris that danced in the air. Everyone cowered against the wind, and my hair was bent beneath the mercy of my wings.

I closed my eyes and tried to get them to stop, but they had a mind of their own and flapped harder.

After numerous attempts of trying to stop in a small amount of time, my wings finally stopped and folded into my back on their own accord. My breathing pounded in my ears as everything died down.

My wide eyes searched the faces of everyone in the room for injuries.

“Is anyone hurt?” My voice weakly wobbled out. I thought no one would hear me, but everyone responded by looking at me.

“Us? What about yourself- you’re shaking!” Donna put an arm on my shoulder to stop the shaking I didn’t know I was emitting.

“I’m sorry. I don’t know how to control this yet,” I craned my neck to look at my wings. I tried to move them, but they wrapped tightly around my back like a cocoon.

“It’s alright, Kye,” Xavier spoke up. “We’ll take this one step at a time. This is a learning opportunity for all of us. I’m pretty sure there are some books in the library that can help our situation.”

“I have a better idea,” Liam pulled out his phone and scrolled on it. Xavier looked over his shoulder (as did the rest) while my curiosity seemed peaked but a bit dulled. When Liam found the name of who he was looking at, he put the phone to his ear while Xavier gave him a nod of approval.

“Who are you calling?”

Liam gripped my hand a bit tighter. “Some very good friends of mine.”