What are we?
851 Words
Lyra, who was silently listening, felt ashamed after having asked several questions without considering how Alex could answer all this to satisfy her curiosity.
Nonetheless, she is somewhat astounded. Thinking about why Alex would have asked her to change the question, Lyra tried to follow his suggestion anyway, “So, what are we?”
"I once heard them talk about turning me into a true werewolf," Lyra added as she couldn’t help thinking about the past happenings. “You said that you were also an experiment, they tried to make a monster out of you, too?”
It was Alex's turn to get bewildered. His eyes turned wide in disbelief at what he heard while he stared at Lyra intently.
Still, he opened and closed his mouth, wanting to speak, but the words seemed stuck in his throat. He really didn’t know what to say, his face suddenly showed a hesitant expression.
In the end, Alex showed a helpless expression. He couldn’t help rubbing his face with both of his hands roughly before shaking his head as he grumbled while asking, "Do you really see yourself as a monster?"
On Lyra's end, she couldn't understand why Alex felt that being experimented on, turning into a werewolf was not reason enough to be called a monster.
She raised one of her eyebrows in surprise at his reaction and asked, "Otherwise?"
Alex was stunned again, but he breathed out tiredly, full of helplessness and headache that Lyra didn't just forget any particular year.
“Sorry, I forgot you can’t remember some of the past." His voice was full of helplessness while he apologized sincerely.
It already wasn't easy to explain matters to a person with selective amnesia, to begin with, but it was a great headache to speak with someone whose memories are disorganized while some parts are missing.
Alex finally gave up on figuring her views out. He could only resign to his fate and say, "Are you sure you are ready to hear the truth?"
He suddenly paused before his expression instantly turned strained, like he remembered something terrible, making his body shudder.
“I remember your reaction back then was terrible,” Alex added. He sounded a bit traumatized by the things he had recalled. He looked at her while rubbing his arms, “You, that time.. were really scary..”
Seeing Alex act like that, Lyra didn’t know whether to laugh or be worried. They were having a serious discussion yet Alex's reactions and expressions made him look somewhat comical.
Feeling complicated, Lyra was not sure whether Alex was trying to hide something.
She noticed that he seemed to perform a tai chi maneuver around her queries, and threw her questions in return. There must be a reason for him to be cautious.
Considering what Alex had just said, Lyra finally confirmed that they really did know each other since he mentioned that they have also talked about these matters in the past. Based on his reluctance, no doubt, her reaction must have been too big for him to have a repeat conversation directly.
Perhaps the truth was too much to bear?
Lyra couldn't help thinking that from then on, she should expect to hear more outrageous things whenever she wanted to know the answers to her questions. Otherwise, she might just suffer a heart attack.
Nonetheless, Lyra was still not used to, nor expected any incredible things out of the ordinary. Besides, she was still unreceptive to such things.
As a result, her little heart wouldn't stop jumping like a startled rabbit, apprehensive of what Alex could tell her.
Unsettlingly, Lyra had no choice but to listen as this was something she needed to know. Her heart kept pounding hard inside her chest, making her breathe unevenly.
Even so, Lyra did her best to calm herself as she took a deep breath then finally nodded as her response despite feeling nervous about the topic.
After finally obtaining a response from her, Alex, who had been outwardly trying to finish his food, had, in fact, been secretly glancing at Lyra to watch all her expressions.
He could see her being stunned, frightened, and nervous after he asked if she’s ready to hear the answer to her questions.
Hence, he decided to act naturally to lighten the mood. Especially after seeing her hesitation to speak. Lyra needed time to think, so he decided to continue eating.
When he saw that Lyra was able to calm herself, he finally breathed in relief.
Placing his utensils down, Alex decided to give up eating since he had to carefully explain some things.
He sat up straight and stared intently at her as he began to speak in a serious tone. "This may sound crazy, like those of you read on books, but try to keep an open mind.”
“There are creatures such as werewolves and vampires and they do exist," Alex began to patiently explain. Observing Lyra's reaction carefully to decide whether he should continue or not. “Their existence is known only in what they call the Underworld Society.”
- Writer
