She nodded slowly, seeming pensive again, before an unexpected grin appeared on her face. “I guess I can’t wait any longer to kill you.”
“W-What?”
“Oh, yes, that’s the look I want to see.” Her grin widened. “My brother thought he had ruined my fun, but I was able to reconvince you so easily. Such a stupid human.” Her voice was cold and taunting. “But surprisingly you’ve been very useful, so I’ll make your death extra special.”
“Don’t say that!” He exclaimed. “You just told me last night to not let anyone convince me that you didn’t love me, and now here you are trying to push yourself away again! It’ll kill me if you leave!”
“No, you’ll die when I kill you, right here and now.” Her tone was sinister.
Michael couldn’t help but hesitate, because that statement wasn’t something you could bluff for long. Either she was going to prove right now that he’d really been a fool this entire time, or not.
With a humorless grin, Miriam continued. “I want to take it slowly though, so you know it’s really coming when it does. After all, there’s no betrayal sweeter than that.”
Before he could respond, her wing slammed him into his bed, knocking the wind right out of him. He struggled to breathe, but she was pushing against him with too much force with her massive hand-like appendage. His vision quickly began to darken as he tried to reach out towards her, being suddenly filled with grief instead of terror. The look in her eyes, along with that sadistic smiled, told him his worst nightmare had come true. He wondered how things could have turned sour so quickly.
Suddenly he heard the front door to the house slam shut, and a voice called out. “Michael?!”
It was his sister. Why was she here?! He wondered, beginning to panic. His thoughts were quickly becoming incoherent. Would Miriam keep her promise? Was that a lie too?
He heard Miriam curse in that unfamiliar language again, before moving her face close to his. Her red eyes were filled with disgust and annoyance. “I guess we’ll have to finish this later. I don’t want it to end so soon. I need to see that look in your eye as I drain you dry.”
And then she was gone, the pressure on his chest leaving with her. Michael gasped for breath, rolling over to hide his face when he heard his door open. Amelia burst into the room.
“Michael?! Are you alright?! What’s wrong?!” His sister sounded just as panicked as he had been just a moment ago, thinking she might die too. He wondered briefly why she was so upset. There was no way she could have known something bad was happening to him, at least not until she had opened the door to his room. Finally beginning to catch his breath, he answered her in flat tone. “N-Nothing. I’m fine.”
“Don’t give me that crap!” She accused. “You are obviously not fine!”
Michael covered his face with his hand, trying to prevent Amelia from seeing his tears. When will this end? He wondered. Did Miriam love him or not? Was it all just a ruse?
No. He shook his head. There’s no way. She had put too much effort into trying to get him to fear her initially. Surely, she couldn’t have known he would work so hard to break her façade. Plus, she hadn’t technically hurt him just now, only made him extremely uncomfortable.
Amelia began shaking him, pulling his hand away from his face. “Michael! Answer me, dammit!”
Sighing, he tried to give his sister the best answer he could. “She dumped me.”
“Miriam? She did?” His sister stared at him in disbelief. “Are you sure?”
He looked at her then through a teary lens. “Yeah, I’m sure. Why is that so hard to believe?”
“Well…” She hesitated and looked away. “It’s just…” She then shook her head. “Never mind. I’m sorry Michael. Maybe…maybe it’s for the best?”
Now it was his turn to stare at her in disbelief, but he didn’t respond. He just closed his eyes and turned his head away from her.
As the grief in his heart threatened to overwhelm him again, he realized it would have better for Miriam to either finish him off or have her bluff called. Why did his sister have to interrupt?
“What are you doing here anyway?” He snapped, suddenly annoyed.
She leaned away, surprised by his unexpected anger. “Umm…well, when I found out you were going home sick, I was really worried, so I had…Riley take me home too.”
“Riley’s here?!” He exclaimed.
“Stop it Michael! I’m not about to have you criticize me for being worried. You’re sick, you look like someone beat you with a baseball bat, and now you might have radiation poisoning?!”
Michael abruptly stared at her, shocked. “Wait…How did you know about the radiation thing?”
Amelia immediately became flustered. “O-Oh. I, umm…I overheard some police talking about it. They were talking about a blood test they tried to get you to do.”
He eyed her suspiciously, wondering if she was being completely honest. Granted, he couldn’t blame her if she was holding back part of the story – he hadn’t been completely honest with her either. He was about to respond when suddenly he heard the front door slam shut again, only to have Riley appear in his doorway a few seconds later. “Hey, is everything alright in here?”
“We’re fine.” Michael retorted in a flat tone.
“Jeez!” Riley exclaimed. “What’s your problem?”
“When I asked you to bring her home, I didn’t mean right away!” Michael snapped.
Riley’s eyes widened, not expecting his hostility. She quickly recovered, seeming just as annoyed. “Well I didn’t do it for you! I did it for Amelia! She was really worried about you!”
“I still am!” Amelia chimed in.
Frustrated, Riley walked over to his desk and made herself at home in the chair. Michael immediately gave Amelia a look, wondering how much Riley knew about the situation, before Riley spoke up again. “Why are you looking up radiation sickness?”
That answered his unspoken question. Amelia hadn’t told her. He quickly lied while carefully observing his sister’s reaction. “Oh, umm, it’s for a paper I have to write.”
Riley sounded skeptical. “For which class?” But then she quickly changed subjects on her own. “Gross. This stuff is nasty.”
Suddenly curious, Michael propped himself up on his elbow to look over at her, trying not to seem too confused. There were pictures pulled up showing some of the worst symptoms. They did look gross, even from where he was laying.
“Jeez Michael, how can you stomach looking at this stuff? Some of these pictures show people’s skin falling off.”
He had to admit it was really disgusting. He wondered if that was what awaited him if he kept being exposed to radiation. He didn’t feel even close to being that sick, but then again Miriam had said he smelled like he was dying. No wonder she had left – she had just found out what would happen to him if she stayed.
“Is it painful?” He wondered out loud.
Riley glanced at him, suspicious of his question, before looking back at the screen. Amelia gave him another concerned look, clearly wondering what was on his mind. After a few seconds, Riley responded. “Well, generally no, actually. It looks like by that point all the nerves have died, so they don’t feel it. But still…what a way to die.”
Michael silently agreed, as he laid his head back down and put his hand over his face again. That did sound horrible, and he realized he might be worse than he thought. At least he had managed to tell Miriam about the cameras before he got his blood tested. If it did come back positive, there shouldn’t be any evidence of where his exposure had come from.
But now what? Was it really over? Was she really gone forever? He doubted she would be back again, contrary to what she had said. He knew Miriam didn’t want to be a monster, and yet she had just discovered that she couldn’t escape that truth.
Even though she didn’t want to kill willingly, she had just been faced with the fact that she could kill unwilling simply by existing. What a horrible realization that
must have been for her. Michael realized that discovering that she was radioactive must have caused her an immense amount of grief and guilt, even though she hadn’t shown it.
Riley suddenly interrupted his thoughts again. “Jeez Michael, what were you doing, just clicking every link you saw? There’s like hundreds of pages opened in the last twenty minutes.”
Michael raised his head, scoffed at her in disbelief. “Are you really checking my browsing history?”
Riley glanced at him again, aggravated. “Well you shouldn’t be looking at anything I can’t see anyway!”
“I wasn’t!” He exclaimed, shocked by her accusation.
Riley sighed in response, and then went back to staring at the screen.
After a few seconds of silence, Michael laid his head back down on the bed, feeling emotionally and physically drained. Amelia placed her hand on his back, only to quickly move it when she saw him wince. She then began running her fingers through his hair instead. He appreciated the affection – it helped alleviate the pain in his chest slightly.
After a while, Amelia checked her phone. “Mom will be here soon.”
Michael’s eyes popped open. “She will?”
“Yeah, the school called her and mentioned that…” She glanced at Riley, knowing he didn’t want her to know, before choosing her words carefully. “…that you should probably see the doctor. Get some…tests done. So, she’s on her way to pick us up – I told her I had come home too.”
“Right.” Michael sighed. He had hoped he could delay the doctor’s visit until tomorrow, but it looked like it was going to happen today, one way or another. At least Miriam would have time to hide the evidence.
Amelia suddenly leaned in closely to whisper. “Why didn’t you just let them do it at school?”
He just shook his head, not having the energy to try to come up with an excuse. She seemed to decide to give him a break from her interrogation, allowing him to rest for a while. Really, he was suffering in silence, trying to hide it as best he could.
When their mom arrived, she had a thousand questions about why he was needing to be tested for radiation poisoning. He just explained the original story Dr. Whitmore had told the students – that there was a hazardous waste leak that some of the students might have been exposed to. Thankfully, she had allowed Riley to leave before drilling him on the way to the hospital.
“But why do they think you’ve been involved?” His mother asked, her blue eyes glancing over at him from the driver’s seat.
Sighing, Michael replied. “Because I’m sick. They literally went through the whole school and picked out anyone who looked ill. They then insisted that we all get tested just to make sure.” He decided to leave out the fact that he had been singled out from a lineup and was probably the only one being tested.
When they arrived at the hospital, he was surprised that the Emergency Room was already expecting them. Apparently, the FBI was involved in this situation, and they had already given instructions to the hospital on who was coming and what tests needed to be done. The lobby had a few people waiting to be seen, but Michael was seen right away.
All the nurses seemed hesitant when speaking with him, especially the one who put on his wristband with all his patient information, as if they thought they might be dealing with a criminal. He was surprised by the prejudice. At least the male nurse who had volunteered to escort him from the lobby had not seemed judgmental. The guy led them through a thick set of double doors and then took them to a private room, away from the other patients.
The entire ER was extremely cramped, as if they only allowed for the minimum amount of space necessary to get the job done. Thin half-walls that only reached about seven feet high separated each patient area, and he could see that there was barely enough space to stand on each side of the beds. The small makeshift rooms that were occupied had a curtain drawn over the entrance, whereas the curtain was pulled back when the beds were empty.
The area that Michael was escorted to was an actual room set into the wall. Instead of a bed, it had an elevated chair that could be laid flat, and there was a small blue counter with a sink. His mother and sister had come with him, despite being asked to wait in the lobby. The fact that he was still a minor had ultimately allowed them to give in to his mother’s wishes.
Although, now that they had been seated in the mostly white space, he realized why they had wanted his family to stay behind. It was extremely small and felt cramped with all three of them inside. His mother and sister would probably have to wait outside once someone arrive to draw his blood.
Sighing, he leaned back in the elevated seat wondering if it really would only be a blood test. The door opened then, and Michael’s heart stopped in his chest.
A seven-foot tall man with blonde hair and green eyes stood in the doorway – Miriam’s brother…in human form. After his mom recovered from seeing such a tall doctor, she got up to excuse herself so the behemoth could get inside.
Much to Michael’s surprise, Amelia didn’t budge, staring at the man coldly. Michael knew for a fact she didn’t know anything about Miriam’s brother, nor had she ever seen him, so he suspected she was just being overly protective.
Without looking at anyone in particular, the man addressed his mom and sister. However, despite his pleasant words, his tone was completely flat. “Hello there. If you will excuse me, I need to draw some blood from the patient. Please wait outside. It will only take a few minutes.”
Amelia paused, before questioning the guy. “Are you a doctor?”
He nodded, still looking away. “You may call me Gabriel – no need for formalities.”
She hesitated, but then obediently got up and went to wait in the hall with their mother. The massive guy then stepped inside, ducking his head in the process, and closed the door behind him. Michael found himself barely breathing, knowing exactly who he was alone with. The last time he had seen her brother, he had thought for sure he was going to die. He hoped he wasn’t wrong in believing that he really wouldn’t risk killing Miriam’s love interest when he didn’t know what effect it would have on her – that’s assuming Michael also wasn’t wrong about Miriam herself.
As the monster began preparing to draw his blood in the cramped space, readying the materials on the counter next to him, Michael worked up the courage to find out what was going on. “W-What are you doing here?”
For a second, Michael didn’t think he was going to answer, but then he responded in a low voice. “We can’t have you revealing our existence, so I’m here to make sure the tests are negative. Really, my sister should have just killed you and gotten rid of your body, but she said she was interrupted.” He then finally turned to face Michael. “No matter. She’ll finish it soon enough.”
Ignoring his taunting, Michael retorted. “But didn’t she tell you about the cameras? They don’t hide your true form.”
Her brother’s eyes squinted briefly as he responded. “It’s taken care of.”
Suddenly, Michael found himself hopeful. “Is she here?”
“That’s none of your concern.” His voice was cold.
Desperate to see her again, Michael abruptly found himself putting down an ultimatum. “Tell her I’ll kill myself if she doesn’t do it first.” It was a bluff of course. He would never do that to her – leave her forever. Suicide was ironically the most selfish thing anyone could do. But this horrible form of manipulation was his last line of defense.
Ironically, Michael recalled that a creepy guy had done this to Riley once – said he would kill himself if she didn’t date him. Even Michael couldn’t believe it when some of their peers had told her to give the creep a chance, as if it would really be her fault if he did kill himself. Riley had been pissed of course, venting to Michael about how manipulative it was, and how all that creep was doing was solidifying the fact that she’d never consider dating someone like him.
“He’s responsible for his own decisions.” She had criticized. “I never even gave him
mixed signals. I straight up made it clear I’d never be interested from the start. This is no different than him holding a gun to my head and trying to rape me. It’s virtually the same thing.”
Michael knew she was right. And he felt like a creep now doing this Miriam, but the situation was slightly different. He wasn’t trying to force her to date him. He was only trying to call her out on her bluff – if she didn’t make good on her promise then he threatened to do it for her. Now, she either had to prove she was a monster or admit she wasn’t. That’s all he really wanted.
Miriam’s brother was watching him coldly, evaluating Michael’s expression. “And why should I tell her that?” He demanded.
Now it was time to call her brother out on his bluff too. “So she knows she’ll get to see the betrayal she wants, when she kills me…or else miss out if she waits too long.” He knew her brother wouldn’t admit he had lied, which meant he would maintain the pretense that betrayal was what his sister really wanted.
Plus, if what Miriam had told Michael was really true – that her brother would never risk his death – then it was almost guaranteed that he would tell her. Michael just hoped Miriam didn’t call him out on his bluff.
Unsurprisingly, her brother didn’t answer. Instead, he rapidly stuck the needle in Michael’s arm and then immediately pulled it out, handing him a piece of gauze. Michael accepted it, holding it up to his slowly bleeding skin, completely confused.
The massive demon then revealed a syringe of someone else’s blood, which he used to fill the tube that would be tested. Michael considered asking who’s it was, but then decided he likely wouldn’t get an honest answer. He just hoped someone hadn’t been killed just to fill a small syringe.
As he noticed that her brother was about to leave, having finished his task, he decided to ask him one last question. “Is that really your name? Gabriel?”
The large man eyed him suspiciously, before nodding and abruptly opening the door to exit the room. Michael was surprised his name was also so normal, just like Miriam’s. Granted, he realized that both Gabriel and Miriam were names that had been around for thousands of years, even if they didn’t sound like old names. He knew his own name was actually ancient too, first used well over two-thousand years ago.
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