Within

Chapter Four

There was something within the darkness that made me want to wake up. It was like someone from the outside was looking in, calling and beckoning me to come back.

Every fiber of my being told me to listen, so I did. My eyes shot open once I had dragged myself from the smoky abyss of my unconsciousness. Immediately, I was assaulted by a bright light. I groaned, then started to cough loudly. My throat was crazy dry right now.

I moved to sit when a commanding voice stopped me. “Don’t,” it said. “You aren’t fully recuperated.”

I fell back down onto the pillow, my eyes moving back in forth in an attempt to scan my surroundings. I felt kind of high. Like I had popped one two many pain-killers. “Where am I?”

“Safe.”

That was helpful. I turned my head to the side slowly. Unluckily, no one was sitting within my field of vision. “Are the one that saved me?” My hands moved down to my abdomen, feeling where the hole should have been. “I... How?”

“You called me, Cam. Then the line died and you weren’t picking up, so I went searching for you.”

I blinked. I had called someone? Then the memories hit me like a freight train. Arthur. I had called him in hopes of scaring off Coffee Guy. “You...” I sat up, ignoring the advice that he had given me. The sudden movement made me dizzy and my head spun, but I wasn’t going to let that deter me.

My eyes landed on Arthur, now that I was able to see everything now. He was sitting in a chair, looking as perfect as ever. There was blood on his shirt--my blood, I think--but other than that, he showed no signs of injury or fatigue. “What did you do? How did you find me? How did you get rid of Coffee Guy?”

“Coffee Guy?” Arthur repeated. “Oh, the demon.”

Demon? Coffee Guy was a demon? He did not look like a demon. From what I heard, demons were ugly. Nasty things, really. Their corrupted souls had ruined what beauty they might have had. But then I remembered that they could shift, so Coffee Guy had just changed his app--wait a minute, how did Arthur, a human, know about demons. “You’re a human,” I told him.

Arthur didn’t respond; he did cast his gaze to the side, though.

“You’re a human,” I repeated. “Humans don’t know these types of things.”

“I’m not a human,” he said. “And I know that you aren’t either. Rather, I knew from the start.”

I gaped. Was he trying to flip this on me right now? “Back to my questions!”

“You’re not in your right mind, currently,” Arthur said instead. “You should rest.”

“No--”

“Sleep,” he stated again, tone leaving no room for argument.

I fell back down, pouting. “Okay, but I just want you to know that I don’t have to listen to you. And I’m not. I’m just tired.”

“Right,” Arthur repeated. He didn’t sound amused.

I wanted to respond, but the pillow felt amazingly comfortable. Within seconds, I was asleep again.

The next time that I woke up, the high that I had felt from earlier had faded and all I was left with was the grogginess from recently waking up. But that didn’t mean that my main goal from earlier had changed. I needed to get more information about what was going on and what was the deal with Arthur.

I looked around for him almost immediately, throwing the blankets off of me and standing up to search his apartment.

“Arthur!” I shouted, not caring if the neighbors heard (the walls here were kind of thin).

“I’m right here,” he answered, materializing behind me. “You shouldn’t be moving around.” I started noticing things about Arthur that I hadn’t before. Like the fact that his skin glowed a little and the air around him also seemed to be brighter.

My eyes narrowed. “What are you?” I asked him without wasting any more time.

He looked down, conflict clear on his face. “The less you know, the better for you. They’ll leave you alone if they realize we aren’t together.”

I scoffed. “Are you serious? You saved me. You killed that demon, didn’t you? Or at least banished him from this realm. Now I’m definitely in it. As if I wasn’t before when a demon showed up at my job and then stalked and tried to kill me.” I paused then dealt the final line, “Because of you.”

I knew that I was probably being too harsh. He was a good person, I knew that. Nice, generous. He had done all of this to help me. But I was mad. Not because he wasn’t a human or hadn’t told me anything, but because he thought that it would be over with just that much. I knew that I was suicidal and all, but that didn’t mean that I was down for being brutally murdered by a sadistic demon.

“I’m sorry,” he said, and it sounded honest. “Seriously. But I healed you, your life isn’t in danger anymore. And I put a ward on you, so low-level demons like him won’t be able to touch you anymore.”

“That’s not what matters,” I argued. “You need to tell me what’s going on. I deserve the truth--my life is now at stake here.”

“Okay,” he answered, knowing that I was right.

I crossed my arms. “Okay?”

“Yes, okay.” He shifted, obviously uncomfortable with the turn in events. “Can we sit?”

I nodded my head and followed Arthur back into the living room, taking a seat on the sofa while he sat in the same chair he had before. “So, what are you?” I repeated my question from earlier.

He took a while before saying, “Do you know what a Nephilim is?”

“The offspring between an angel and a human mother,” I answered instantly. To say that Nephilim were rare was an understatement. The banshee population would be booming in comparison to theirs. Most were stillborn and the few that survived that were hunted by various species for their blood. “Is that what you are?”

“Yeah.”

“Well, it explains the glow,” I muttered. I’d never heard of a Nephilim that glowed--no matter how soft it was--before, but it wasn’t like I had actually seen one either. Everything that anyone knew about Nephilim was all hearsay. Anyway, it also explained why he was so tall. Nephilim were said to be giants, even when they didn’t assume their true form.

Arthur nodded slightly. “It’s my glory.”

“What?”

“The angel... part of me. It shows through. I try my best to control it.”

“I’ve never heard of a Nephilim that shines,” I told him honestly.

Arthur shrugged. “In some Nephilim, the angel part--it’s weak, others they’re completely balanced, and some are more angel than human. I’m the last group.”

My mouth opened a little, but I quickly shut it. That was kind of... amazing. I was sure that amongst the already incredibly scarce Nephilim population, his type was even rarer. I felt a sense of camaraderie with him because of it. “Wow,” was all I said.

Arthur looked away from me, his eyes zoning out.

“So the demon,” I started, piecing the story together from what I already knew about Nephilim, “you’re being hunted for your blood.”

“Yeah, sure.”

My eyebrows raised. Why was he answering like he didn’t know himself? Was he lying to me? I shook my head. Nephilim were supposedly incapable of doing so. Well, it wasn’t like the fae where they physically couldn’t tell a lie, but rather, it went against their holy essence.

And if Arthur took more from his angel counterpart, it was even more unlikely.

“You’re hiding something,” I surmised. “I want you to tell me the truth.”

He shook his head. “You don’t need to know this part. It doesn’t change anything. I’m not lying, okay? I am being hunted.”

“O-kay...” I scratched my chin, noting that the gash wasn’t there anymore. “Why did they attack me, then?”

If they were searching for Arthur, and wanted him... why would they go after me? I was worthless, in the end. Banshee blood didn’t really do much. Also, that meant that they knew where Arthur was, right?

“I don’t know,” he said honestly. “I don’t even know how they found me again, and so quickly, too.”

“That’s reassuring,” I said sarcastically.

Arthur ran a hand through his hair, looking distraught. For a second, I thought that he was a statue and then he moved again. “It’s probably because I used my divinity,” he realized.

I blinked. “What?”

“This morning, when you had to scream--I’m the one that stopped you.”

I leaned back, feeling oddly disappointed. “Oh,” I murmured. I thought that I had done it by myself. That I was capable of controlling myself. “Thanks,” I whispered.

Arthur sensed my disappointment, he must’ve, because his expression changed. “You’ll be able to do it on your own one day.”

“You think so?” I questioned, pulling my knees to my chest.

“Yeah, actually, I do. Your willpower, it’s admirable.” Arthur stood and came closer to me, kneeling in front of me and taking my hand. “Do you want to see?” His eyes met with mine, emotion that I didn’t recognized shown within them.

I felt my heart pumping wildly and was sure that Arthur heard it. “See what?”

He leaned back a little, suddenly letting go of my hand. “Sorry, nevermind.” He stood up, expression still unreadable.

“Uh, okay.” As Arthur turned to go back to his seat, I said, “I’m sorry for yelling at you earlier. You were just trying to help... and you did. And I appreciate it--a lot. I was just,” I trailed off, “upset.”

He paused before sitting back down. “It’s all right, I was in the wrong. I deserved it.” Arthur combed his hand through his hair and exhaled. “In the end, I’m glad that I made it in time. I almost didn’t. You almost died because of me.”

I zoned out, thinking about what had happened... whenever ago. I didn’t know what time it was, currently. It was probably the same day since he was wearing a bloodstained shirt.

“Are you okay?” Arthur asked, pulling me from my reverie. I glanced up for a second, my eyes meeting with his and discovering the concern that filled his.

Then I looked down at my hand, the one that he had been holding before. I could still feel his touch, at least, the heat from it. I pressed it against my heart, finding myself relaxing due to it. I exhaled peacefully, wondering if I felt this way because he was a Nephilim or because he was Arthur. I remembered how calm he made me feel before, too. He had been kind of mean at first, for a reason I still didn’t know, but now he was nice. Arthur was a good person, angel blood or not. “Yeah,” I answered. “I’m okay.”