“Ngh…”Ethan whined in pain.

Light blinded him as he regained consciousness. His whole body ached, and he felt something wrapped around his head. Reaching up, he felt some sort of cloth bandage. Shifting his hand back to his face so he can block the intense light, he lets his eyes refocus on his surroundings.

“Ethan! Thank goodness you’re awake!” A feminine voice softly exclaimed across from him.

He shifted around in his…bed? But, the material was different than he was used to. It felt firmer and colder. Sitting up to look over to where he heard the voice and he saw the vague shape of Octavia who was making her way over to his side of the bed until he was able to see her face. The edges of her though were still blurry.

“Ms. Harmonia? Wh-why are you here in my apartment?” He tiredly asked. He was sure he was seeing the white wall of his apartment and the large window that led to the city outside. But, why did he feel so tired? He wasn’t this tired ever since he ran at least seven miles for his military training.

“Ethan, I need you to stay calm and listen to what I have to say. We…aren’t in your apartment.” She said hesitantly. Her eyes were shifting side to side, as she tried to directly stare at him.

“What do you mean? Isn’t this my ro-?” He stopped talking once his vision was cleared up.

She…she was right. They weren’t in his apartment. The white walls were different, two horizontal lines ran across the room, and they seem to sparkle slightly. A large window was on his right side, but it seemed that it was too dark out to see the city.

His gaze went back to her, to which he was shocked to see her in some strange clothing. A milky white robe with red details was loosely hanging around her body. Under need that was some sort of black skin-tight suit.

“I-if I’m n-not in my room, then…am I at the hospital?” He asked, getting more anxious by the second.

“Well, sort of. Do you…remember how you got injured?” Octavia hesitantly asked, her knuckles turning white since how tightly she was gripping her robe.

“Y-yeah, I was running for cover and I fell onto the ground. It must’ve been bad since I’m here, right?” He inquired, hoping that it just that and nothing else that is threatening his health. Though, he wasn’t too ecstatic when he saw Octavia’s face pale slightly.

“Do…you remember why you were running?” She pressed further. Ethan was puzzled that she was asking for more information. She knew, right? There was a massive storm and it was too dangerous to stay outside.

“U-uh, I-I was running from the huge storm that hit the city. Those lightning strikes were so powerful that they made the ground shake.”

That didn’t seem to be the answer that Octavia was looking for since her expression grimaced.

“Those…that was…oh gosh…” She seemed at a loss for words. No matter what she tried to say, she looked as if something was holding her back. Her hands came to her face as she thought intently on what to say to him.

Confused still, he went to push off the bed until he felt a sharp pain in his hands.

“OW!” He cried out.

Looking down to expect some sort of wound, he gaped in shock of his hands covered in glowing markings running up his forearms and just stopping short of his shoulder. He pressed into his skin, hoping it was some sort of illusion made by his concussed injury, but to no avail, the markings didn’t disappear.

‘Wha-WHAT?! WHAT IS THIS?!’The voice in his head shouted. He shook in fear and confusion, his mind trying its best to recall what happened to him. Expecting for his panic attack to hit him, hunched over and brought his knees up to his chest, waiting for his senses to explode. He didn’t notice Octavia abruptly stand and come to his side and clasp his shoulder.

“ETHAN! PLEASE, LISTEN TO ME, CALM DOWN!” She exclaimed, hoping that the volume of her voice grabbed his attention away from his hands. It did, as he focused on her now, though his breath was starting to get out of control.

“I know this is very shocking…but what I’m about to tell you is very important, ok? Just…” She frustratedly sighed, before reaching out and grabbing Ethan’s shaking hands so he had something to grip and looked him in the eyes.

“Just breath…and listen.” She desperately pleaded. 

His mind was a complete mess, thoughts about if she had something to do with this and how he wanted her to stay away clashed with wanting her to help him seek medical attention and ignore how she was calmly handling this situation. All that he could do was listen to what she needs to say and do as he was told.

Staying silent, he nodded his head, signaling that he will listen to what she had to say, meanwhile he tried to regain control of his breathing but huffing out the large amount he inhaled during his shock.

“Ok…Let’s start with what you last remembered. And you can answer with a simple nod or shake of your head. So, you were dropped off by Charlotte outside of your building, yes”

He quickly nodded. His shaking was now small shivers that, stopping and starting every second or so and his breathing was slowing down too.

“Good start, now…did something happen after that? We had found you unconscious and bleeding from your forehead.” Octavia pressed further, gripping Ethan’s hands tighter.

‘We?’ That was odd. He was sure that Charlotte wasn’t there to see him get injured. How can she, since there was fog in the ar-!

That thought caught his attention. His mind now cleared from the cluttered mess from before as he remembered the events that transpired. A cry for help, the dense fog obscuring his sight, wandering around until he came across an open field, finding the girl, then the…black beast.

“…yes. Something did happen.’ He didn’t realize that he spoke, nor did he intend to stop either. Octavia remained silent as she listened intently to his words.

“I had heard something call for help. And I thought it was Charlotte, but when I turned around, she was gone. The fog was too thick that I couldn’t see anything in front of me. All I heard was a consisting thumping noise and the ground shaking.”

He paused, waiting to see if Octavia would cut if him and not believe him, but no objection came from her, only the intense concentration from her eyes gave him the courage to continue.

“Then, I heard the voice again. It sounded like a young girl and I did what any person would do when they hear a child yell for help. I frantically ran towards her voice until I came across some sort of open plaza. There I saw the girl trip over her feet and injured herself. So, I ran over to help her and that’s when…”

“That’s when you saw the monster that was chasing her.” Octavia was quick to finish that last sentence of his as if she knew what he was talking about. But rather than voicing his concerns, he continued with his explanation.

“Yep, and seeing how she was running away from it, I picked her up and ran. I didn’t get far though since I tripped over and blacked out from hitting the ground. After that…”

He stopped to take back his left hand from Octavia’s grip and held it out, inspecting the markings that were now glowing dimmer than they were before.

“After that, I woke up to see that the monster was charging at the girl. I leaped to my feet and held out my hand as if that would stop it…and it did.” Ethan didn’t need to elaborate further, knowing that Octavia could figure out what he meant.

And she did, as she finally released his hands and sighed tiredly. He didn’t need to press since he knew he had the right for answers.

“Ok, where to start…” She began, staring at the ceiling while thinking of what to say, before sitting upright to look at him.

“Well, for starters…I’m not human.” She casually admitted with no sense of regret in her voice, not bothered by how stupefied Ethan was in his bed.