Human (4 page)

"Oh." Italia's enthusiasm slowly faded. "You think it's him?"

"I don't know. That man was much older, in his thirties, I think," I said. "But if Devin is this wizard, winged creature or whatever, then he might be able to change appearances."

"What if he's a reincarnation of that man?"

"That doesn't explain mind games," I pointed out. "I don't think reincarnation is supposed to give you any special abilities. Besides, at what point in history did people actually have wings?"

"Maybe he's a reincarnation of an angel, so he got to keep some of his powers." Her voice had this overly excited undertone in it again.

"An angel who murders pregnant women?" I snorted. "Yeah, right."

"He did
what
?" Italia yelled, making me cringe and move the cell phone away from my ear.

"Not Devin. The man who looks like him. He actually stabbed a pregnant winged woman, who sort of... wait, I almost forgot. They mentioned Hell, a demon and the human world. The woman was pregnant with a demon."

"A demon baby?" Italia said incredulously. "And the man and the woman both had wings?"

"Yeah, huge red wings," I said. "And for some reason I know that the man was the father of the baby. So, does that make both of them demons?"

"No, they were just talking," I said, trying to recall as much of that dream as I could. "Something about their son being in the human world and finding some girl before a demon who just appeared got to her. I believe they might be real angels."

"Oh my God," Italia breathed. "Oh my God!"

"What?" I was getting slightly irritated.

"Don't you get it? You're seeing angels and demons! It just has to be related! Maybe Devin is a demon, and you are an angel."

I laughed. Now that was the most ridiculous thing I'd ever heard.

"And what exactly makes you think I'm an angel?" I said. "Do I have blue wings or violet eyes? No, then I don't fit that angel profile at all."

"Then Devin really might be a demon?" She actually sounded scared.

"I don't know. He doesn't have black obsidian eyes, and he certainly doesn't have wings," I said, even though there was no way for me to know for sure. The wings of that pregnant woman had actually been hidden at first, but her eyes had been dark all the time.

"Huh, then I have no idea what's going on." Italia sounded tired.

"We're going to figure it out," I said reassuringly. "I promise. Just don't do anything stupid."

"Why would
I
do anything stupid?" she said, offended.

"I mean, don't try anything that might get you in trouble just to find out who Devin really is."

"Fine, but the same goes for you," she said. "Oh, and if you have another vision, please call me immediately. Even if it's the middle of the night. Promise?"

"Yeah, promise," I said it, but didn't really mean it. I wasn't crazy enough to wake her up just because I'd had a damn vision.

"Great! Well, I need to get back to studying, so..." Italia said, "talk to you later, ok?"

"Yeah, bye," I said and ended the call. Placing the cell phone back on my nightstand, I reached for that paper that had magically appeared in my notebook. It was just black letters on white paper, neatly printed out. I turned on my laptop and searched for that file in my documents. If I had really written it at some point, I'd have a copy of it. And that could also mean that something entirely else had happened.

Just as I was thinking of other possibilities, my search for the file returned nothing. So I hadn't written it. Of course not. But who had the power of making perfectly written compositions appear out of nowhere? Because, hey, that kind of power would really come in handy for any high school student, and it was far cooler than stupid visions.

I left my laptop to shut down and went to the bathroom. Maybe all of this would be gone when I woke up the next morning. I splashed some cold, refreshing water on my face and looked at myself in the mirror. My eyes were still hazel, no strange color changes or flashes. Good. I only hoped sleep would clear my head and not burden me with more dreams of unknown creatures.

The annoying buzzing of my alarm clock brought me out of the world of sleep. Pressing the right button to switch it off, I slowly got to my feet. Luckily, I hadn't had any strange dreams, or at least I couldn't remember any of it. At this point, I wasn't sure not remembering something was a good thing, but I was still hoping things would go back to normal. I considered calling Italia and asking her whether she could remember what we had talked about last night. No, it was too early for such serious conversations.

After a quick visit to the bathroom and putting on my favorite blue jeans and a warm green sweater, I picked up my backpack and started stuffing books and notebooks in it, examining each for any mysterious papers. There was nothing out of the ordinary, but Devin's damn paper remained where I had left it. So much for my wish for normality.

When I was ready to go, I nearly bumped into my sister in front of the door of my room. Judging by the white wool cap covering her brown curls, warm black leather jacket and black boots, she was going to school again and didn't show any signs of the flu. What I wouldn't give to have my sister's talent to fake anything she wanted!

"Wow, isn't this a miraculous recovery?" I said bitterly. She just rolled her eyes and walked past me, mumbling something under her breath about having an annoying sister. I followed her down the stairs, wondering how she always managed to make mom believe her every word. She went to the kitchen, probably to grab something to eat before the bus came. I could never eat so early in the morning, so I went outside into the freezing air and nearly slipped on a thin layer of ice on our driveway. Stupid winter.

A soft humming sound drew my attention, and I ended up walking towards the street. My breath caught in my chest when I recognized the Honda Civic that was parked on the curb. What was Amadeo doing here? I casually walked over to the car, my hands sweating in my pockets despite the cold. Amadeo opened the door and gracefully got out of the car, flashing me a smile.

"Hey, Ariel," he said, walking towards me, his black boots crunching on the snow. He ran a hand through his tousled dark brown hair, making my pulse speed up. Why did he have to be so damn hot?

"Hey," I finally found my voice, which was a bit shaky. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm going to drive you to school." He came to a stop only inches away from me. I tried really hard not to get lost in his gorgeous brown eyes and stare like an idiot. He smelled of summer and salt and the ocean...

"Did Ita send you?" I asked, concentrating on his full lips instead of on his distracting eyes. Only that was probably even a bigger mistake, because my mind started wondering how kissing him would feel.

"Yes, she did." He seemed to be embarrassed about it.

"Oh," I said, "you don't have to..."

"But I want to." His hand ended up on my shoulder, his touch sending warmth all over my body. I was going to have a serious talk with my best friend because I didn't like the way she was trying to set me up with her brother.

"Umm, thanks," I said, and his long fingers curled around the strap of my backpack, pulling it off my shoulder. I let him take it, instantly feeling relieved when its heavy weight left me. Sometimes I wondered if my books magically turned into stone when I put my backpack onto my back.

"Is your sister coming?" he suddenly said. "I'd love to meet her."

"Christina will be here soon," I said, shocked that he actually knew I had a sister. And he wanted to meet her. Oh. Maybe he had seen her somewhere and thought she was pretty. Who wouldn't? She seemed to have this charming personality, almost like she radiated cheerful and friendly feelings all the time, except when something wasn't like she wanted it to be. Then she would just get grumpy.

"Good." He carried my backpack to the car, motioning for me to come with him. Exactly at that moment my sister walked onto the street, looking great despite all the layers of clothes on her. Amadeo stopped and turned his head to look at her, his mouth slightly open. Then his eyes turned violet. I gasped, my head suddenly spinning.

"What's going on, Ariel?" I heard Christina's suspicious voice. She stopped where she was, away from me and Amadeo, and I willed myself to look away from Amadeo's violet eyes and turn to her. But when I did, I thought I was going to faint because her eyes were violet too. I blinked, and her eyes were green again.

"Hi, Christina," Amadeo said. "I'll be driving you and your sister to school. I'm Amadeo, brother of your sister's best friend."

"Oh, great!" Her face lit up, but she didn't seem as fascinated by Amadeo as I was.

"Ariel, are you ok?" Amadeo asked. I nodded and started walking towards the car, feeling like my knees were going to give out under me at any moment. What was wrong with me? Why did I keep seeing these things?

"Are you sure? Maybe you should stay at home," Amadeo said, his eyes their normal brown color.

"I'm fine, really." I got into the backseat since my dear sister had already settled herself in the front. Maybe that was good, because I wasn't feeling like talking to Amadeo or anyone.

My Physics class was the most boring thing ever. I kept staring through the window and hoping the bell would ring soon. Italia was drawing something on the desk that looked like a bird, her face serene and smiling. Did she even remember what we had talked about last night? I tore a piece of paper from my notebook and wrote my question on it. When I was sure the teacher's attention was focused elsewhere, I passed the note to Italia.

She took the note, hiding it under the desk. A few moments later, she scribbled something down and handed me back the note. I immediately read it and felt like I was going to be sick. She thought we had talked about her brother, going shopping and her paper. So whoever was messing with students' minds had somehow found out about our conversation and done his little trick again. But how could I still remember everything then?

The bell rang and I sprang out of my chair, going for the door. I didn't stop until I reached the girls' restroom. Splashing some cold water on my face, I looked at myself in the mirror. A few drops of water ended up in my eyes, making me squint. I could hear the door open and close, but I couldn't see who it was. Someone handed me a paper towel, and I took it gratefully, wiping my eyes.

"Thanks." I finally opened my eyes and found myself only an inch away from Devin. He was dressed in blue jeans and a black wool sweater, which seemed to be completely new.

"Hey! You can't be in here. Wrong door."

"Yeah?" He smiled. "Are you going to kick me out?"

"Whatever." I threw the wet paper towel in the trash can and started going for the door. In one smooth movement, Devin stood in my way. I glared at him.

"Get out of my way!" My heart started jumping in my chest, my hands shaking.

"Not so fast," he said as his eyes turned from cerulean blue to obsidian black. Was he going to kill me? No, I wasn't going to die in the school's dirty restroom. I backed away from him, looking around for something I could use against him. Just what exactly do you use against someone with supernatural powers? Yeah, I was out of options.

"What do you want?" My voice sounded so small and frightened, but I couldn't help it. He simply came closer to me and my back hit the sink. There was nowhere for me to go. No escape. He reached out and placed his hand on my cheek. I wrapped my fingers around his wrist, squeezing with all force I had in me.

Dark. It's so dark around me that I can't see anything no matter how much I try. Something is cutting into my back. A sharp edge of a rock.
A cave. I'm in a cave. My pulse speeds up as I hear two voices yelling somewhere near. He'll be mad at me again. I know it.

Fear ripples through me as something clicks
, and a large stone covering the door moves. Firelight spills through it and I close my eyes, not brave enough to look into
his
eyes. A dull thud of boots echoes through the small space. My breath catches in my throat as he painfully grips my wrist, his fingernails digging into my flesh.

I found myself staring into Devin's now blue eyes. He was looking at me with a shocked expression on his face, his pupils slightly dilated. Somewhere during my vision I'd let go of his arm.

"What are you?" He glared at me, his beautiful features distorted by anger. I raised my eyebrow at that. Maybe I should say I was a vampire. That one seemed to be popular these days.

"I should be asking you that." I held my hands at my sides, ready to reach out for him to distract him, even if it meant having another vision. He obviously didn't enjoy me doing that, but I didn't know would it work.

"How can you still remember everything?" He frowned. "That wasn't supposed to happen."

Huh, nice to know. I wasn't just a freak in the human world for having visions; now I was a freak in the supernatural world too. The only thing I needed to figure out was what kind of the supernatural world we were talking about.

"Are you a demon?" The factor of weirdness in this question was huge, but I just had to ask. Something flashed across his face, and he hesitated, observing me so thoroughly like he was trying to see through me. Could he do that? Could he read my mind? Damn it, I was watching too many TV shows. But his silence confirmed my thoughts; he was a demon, and those people with black eyes were probably all demons too. Ah, great. Now I could film my own show.

"What do
you
know about demons?" he finally said.

"Nothing." I swallowed, realizing I must have said too much. Fear spread through me like fire, destroying any hope that I would come out of this unharmed. Devin's attention turned to the mirror, which now had a faint glow on its surface. This was my chance to run, to get out of there, but my feet were glued to the spot.