Pretty Predator

Chapter 17: Michael

A week had passed since the lava monster dream I had. I was honestly still shaken by it because of how real it felt, but I had to put it at the back of my mind and start studying since exams were starting soon. So, the past week was just dedicated to studying and nothing else. I was going to start learning about my true abilities as a supernatural after the exams were done. Moira appeared right in front of my face, and I jumped startled, making me fall off the chair. I took my headphones off and glared at her.

“You scared me.” She laughed before shrugging.

“You would have heard me approaching if you knew how to use your werewolves’ senses.”

“Well, I don’t know, so stop sneaking up on me.” I was getting frustrated because it felt like they were putting pressure on me to start training.

“Okay grumpy, I will stop,” I rolled my eyes and tried to go back to studying, but Moira was still standing there and watching me, so I stopped and looked at her.

“What more do you have to say now?” I asked.

“You have been studying too much. You should take a break.” She said.

“I’m starting tomorrow, so I can’t afford to take any breaks.” She rolled her eyes and plopped down on my bed.

“You are such a bore. Well, I will leave you to your studying but when you are done with your exams it’s you and me.” She pointed at me and then herself. I hesitated for a while because Moira was known as a party animal, and I feared the things she would make me do, but, in the end, I said,

“Deal.” She smiled, and after she left my room, I locked the door. I always locked my door when I was studying, but I guess I forgot about it today. I went back to my study table and saw the coffee, Moira must have put there without me noticing, with a note saying, ‘good luck, baby bro, and study hard.’ I smiled and went back to studying. Nobody disturbed me for the rest of the day, and even though I went to bed very late, I was glad at how productive my studying had felt, and I was ready for the first exam. Immediately after my alarm woke me, I took a shower and wore blue jeans, a white top, and black and white sneakers. I combed my hair back and went downstairs. I ate my mom's pancakes on my own since everyone else had already gone to work. As soon as I was done, I hit the road so that I could at least arrive early at school. My first exam came and passed, I was so glad at how well it went, but I still had some more studying to do. Instead of going home immediately, I joined Emmanuelle at the library. I spent the whole afternoon at the library studying for my next exam and when I got too tired and couldn’t concentrate, I decided to stop and go home. It was already dark when I left the library, so I drove slowly and carefully because I was sleepy. I must have spaced out a bit as I was startled by a loud bang hitting the front of my car. My eyes widened, and I was startled to the point that I started shaking. I was too scared to go out and check what I had done, but I mustered up my courage and got out of the car. I looked at my surroundings and saw I was only a few blocks from home. Great, the world was against me. A blonde-haired girl was lying on the ground, but I could not see her face. I ran over to her and started shaking her.

“Please wake up.” I didn’t know what to do. I was scared, and so many thoughts were going through my mind. ‘I had killed someone, I was going to get arrested, and my future was ruined.’ I was panicking, and I felt like I couldn’t breathe. I heard movement from behind me, but I couldn’t register it in my panic-stricken mind. It was like I was in outer space and could not see anything but a void. There were no voices but just the sound of my breathing. I was shaking or someone was shaking me, I had no idea, I felt wetness all over my face as if someone had poured a whole river on my face.

“Ooh, my goodness. What the freak.” I jumped up, wiped my face, and then I remembered the accident. When I looked around, I couldn’t recognize the house I was in. I was sitting on the couch, and Five guys were surrounding me, I looked at all of them before I came upon a familiar face.

“Jayden why are you here and what happened?” I looked at him, feeling scared of his response.

“This is my home. You hit my sister with your car, man, and then you hyperventilated before fainting , so we had no choice but to bring you here.” I couldn’t help but cry. I had hurt Jayden’s sister. I felt horrible.

“Why didn’t you call the police?” I asked because this whole situation was confusing me. A girl came into the dining room carrying a cup of tea, she smiled before giving me the tea. She was beautiful and had a pretty smile. I would have smiled back if I could, but the situation I was in didn’t allow me to.

“Thank you,” I said when she was leaving. Someone cleared their throat, and I turned back to the group of guys. Two of them were identical, so I guessed they were twins. The one with the huge body was looking at me as if he wanted to kill me, so I avoided eye contact and instead looked at Jayden, who had started speaking again.

“My brother Christopher was angry and still is as you can see. He wanted to do much worse to you before sending you to prison, but our sister regained consciousness and begged him to stop, saying it was not your fault.” I wondered why she defended me, but I was grateful.

“So, your sister is awake?” I asked.

“Yes, she is. The doctor is checking up on her since she hit her head hard on the ground.” Jayden said.

“Can I see her?” I requested.

“Never,” the huge guy, whose name is Christopher, shouted.

“You are not allowed to go near my sister ever.” He said.

“Brother.” A small but elegant voice said, and we all turned to see who it was. The brothers rushed over to her, but I was still rooted on the couch because what I was seeing was impossible. Was I dreaming because it wouldn’t make sense how my guardian angel was here otherwise? I pinched myself and realized this was not a dream.

“Are you okay?” Christopher asked her, and she nodded.

“Yes, I am okay, brother. The doctor said I must take medicine for my headache and told me to get plenty of rest. Otherwise, I am fine.” She assured her siblings before making her way to me, and instead of standing like the rest of her siblings, she sat beside me.

“Are you okay, Michael?” She asked, and I just stared at her.

“Wait, how do you know this guy?” The other brother asked.

“He is my friend.” She said sternly.

“You are friends with guys now?” He shouted, clearly disregarding her tone of voice.

“Suki please, I do not have the energy to fight right now, so let us talk about this later.” He kept quiet, but I could see that he was holding himself back.

“Why are you lying, Meadow?” I didn’t want to do this when her siblings were present, but I had no choice because I wanted answers, and didn’t know when I would see her again.

“What do you mean?” She asked. She was still so elegant even in this situation, and now I realized why I thought she looked like Jayden because they were siblings. She looked more like Jayden than her other siblings. They both also had golden eyes, but that didn’t mean that the others were not good-looking, they were, and their beauty was out of this world.

“Until today, I didn’t even know that you existed. I thought you were my guardian angel since I only saw you in my dreams.” Jayden gasped, and Christopher’s jaw ticked. His hands were clenched into fists while the others looked at Meadow like she had grown another head.

“We are going to talk about this later, Meadow,” Christopher said calmly, which was even scarier. Meadow just nodded and turned to me. She gave me her phone and told me to call someone to fetch me. I could go home on my own, but I didn’t say anything and just called Austin. He told me he would get here in a couple of minutes.

“I am real Michael, and everything I told you was the truth, but you never told me what you were.” She said.

“I told you I didn’t know what I was. I lived as a human my whole life. I thought I was a regular human being who only had to worry about exams, school, friends, and girlfriends, instead I am being haunted by a monster, changes I never imagined are happening to my body, my family lied to me and now I also discovered that faeries are real and that you and your family are fae.” I told her, hoping she would let it go because I wouldn’t reveal my identity to her and her family. I didn’t trust her yet, so how could I possibly trust her family?

“I can not help you if you do not tell me what you are, i***t?” She shouted.

“I am an i***t as you said, and I don’t want your help. My family is there, and they will protect me.” I shouted back.

“You were always crying out for help when I was in Melodia. You might not know it, but you always asked for my help in my dreams. I am your protector, your guardian, and the only one who can keep you safe. I do not know what is so special about you that I, a whole fae princess, was assigned to be your protector but here I am, and I take my responsibilities seriously so you will never be able to get rid of me. Will you tell me what you are or not?” When she was done shouting at me, I just smirked. She looked hot when she was agitated and angry.

“My brother is not obligated to tell you anything. We have been protecting him thus far and will continue to do so.” My brother Austin said as he was coming to stand beside me.

“So, Austin, you are related to him?” Christopher asked, pointing at me, but how does he know my brother?

“Yes, he is my younger brother,” Austin replied.

“How do you know them, brother,” I asked him.

“I’m a real estate agent, is the more to say?” He said, and I shook my head.

“Nope, noted.”

“We knew that you were not human, Austin, but we could not fathom what you were.” One of the twins said.

“Well maybe my kind does not exist where you are from, and I’m sorry, but I can not tell you. Michael, come on let’s go. Mom and Dad are worried, and you must study, you have an exam tomorrow.” I nodded, and we left. My brother was silent on our ride back home, but I knew I would be interrogated as soon as we got home. Before I could even enter the house, my mom hugged me.

“I was so worried about you,” she whispered, letting me go.

“Come inside and tell us what happened.” Yep, I knew it was coming.

“It was nothing, mom.” I insisted.

“We will decide if it was something or nothing.” She said, and I rolled my eyes. I begrudgingly went with her to the dining room where my father and siblings were.

“What happened? Start from the beginning, and don’t leave anything out.” My father demanded, and I sighed before telling them the whole story.

“I was tired from studying, so I told myself that I was going to drive slowly and carefully, but I must have fallen asleep or something because I hit some girl. I didn’t know what to do as I was panicking, and I fainted. When I came to, I was in an unknown house surrounded by a group of guys, and it turned out they were the girl’s siblings. I asked them why they didn’t call the police and they told me that their sister defended me by saying that it was her fault that she got hit. The girl is fine now so you don’t have to worry about anything.” I kept quiet. There was no need to say more.

“Have you met the girl you hit before?” Austin asked, and I gave him the stinky eyes because why was he asking me that?

“No, why would you ask me that?” I lied through my teeth.

“Because it was strange how comfortable she seemed around you, questioning you about personal matters. Dude, according to her, she is your protector or guardian, and she is the only one who can protect you, which is bullshit because she is so tiny. Now, will you tell us the truth? That girl knows you and even knows you are not human.” Austin insisted. Why didn’t he become a lawyer since he was so good at questioning others?

“What?” My father shouted.

“Dad, please calm down. I am sure there is more to this story.” Cassie tried to calm him down.

“I want to know everything, Michael, now.” He said. He sure was making lots of demands today.

“I had only met her a couple of times in my dreams, and today I found out that she was real,”

“What do you mean in your dreams?” Moira interrupted.

“It means exactly what it sounds like. I first saw her when I started dreaming about the lava monster. In my dream, she was running away from me. I ran after her, but I couldn’t see her face. Then I saw her again, and this time we had a conversation, and she told me that she was assigned to be my guardian and that she left her home to come and protect me from the lava monster.”

“That doesn’t explain how she knew you were not human unless you told her?” My mom inquired.

“She said my aura and scent were different from humans, but she had no idea what kind of species I was, and I didn’t tell her, I just said that I recently found out that I was not human.” I was getting tired of explaining myself.

“That girl can walk into your dreams, see your aura, and smell your scent, so she is not human. What is she?” Justin questioned.

“She is some kind of princess if I heard her correctly,” Austin said.

“Her name is Meadow. She is from Melodia, and she is a fae princess. According to her, she moved to the human world to protect me from the monster that is after me. She left - “

“That’s enough,” Father shouted before going upstairs. He looked angry and shocked as if I had just dropped a bomb on him. My mom followed him, and I was left with my siblings.

“Okay, I think that’s enough for today. Michael, you can go to your room and study or sleep if you want. What time is your exam tomorrow?” Justin asked.

“In the late afternoon,” I replied.

“That’s good then. You can go and sleep and you will study tomorrow.” I stood up, saluted, and said,

“Sir, yes, sir.” They laughed at me, and Cassie said,

“What a joke,” I smirked at her. When I got to my room, I was about to make myself comfortable in bed when Moira barged in.

“Get out, I’m tired,” I said, but did she listen? No, instead, she plopped down on my bed, and I was forced to sit up.

“Is she pretty?” She asked, and I couldn’t help the smile that came to my face.

“Pretty doesn’t do her any justice. She is gorgeous, ethereal, out of this world, she is an angel.” She smirked.

“You are even blushing. You are a gone boy.” She said, and I rolled my eyes.

“I wouldn’t go that far. I am only complimenting her beauty, it’s not that deep and I just came out of a relationship so I’m not ready to rush into another one,” I told her seriously and I meant it.

“At one point in my life, I loved Mia and even thought she was my forever. She meant so much to me, and I appreciated and cared for her, but she hurt me in a way I didn’t imagine she would. I didn’t think about it until now, but I’m hurt, and I guess I’ve been feeling hurt since I found out about her betrayal, but I didn’t show it. I had so much going on that I put it at the back of my mind, but now it’s starting to sink in that she cheated on me. How did I not see it, Moira? I loved that girl with everything I had and I know I didn’t tell her that but I always thought that my actions spoke louder than words and the volume was on high but I guess I was wrong.” I broke down, and Moira embraced me while whispering soothing words into my ears.

“It was not your fault. You are better off without her anyway. You are a good person; you didn’t deserve what she did to you. You know what they say about karma, right? She asked.

“What?” I asked.

“It knows the right address.” She said, and I laughed.

“Now please stop crying.” She comforted me.

“How can I trust another girl again?” I asked.

“When you find the love of your life, her actions will determine whether you can trust her or not. What I mean is that you should give her a chance to prove that she is not like your ex and not judge her because of what you experienced with your ex-girlfriend.” She said, and I got out of her embrace.

“I understand what you are saying, Moira. Thank you.” I smiled at her.

“Get some rest. We will talk tomorrow.” My phone rang as she left my room.

“What’s up, Mel?” I picked up the call.

“Do you consider me your best friend?” Melissa asked, and I could detect some hurt in her voice. I knew that I was distant the past few days, but I didn’t think it would affect her that much since she had a boyfriend.

“Of course, I do. Why would you ask me that?” I asked even though I already knew what it was about.

“You are never there for me anymore. When was the last time you checked up on me? Don’t even bother replying to that. I miss you, dude. I miss my best friend, but you have been treating me like a stranger, and I don’t like it. I mean, dude, we freaking live in the same neighborhood, but we haven’t seen each other in days, and I don’t even see you at school because of our different schedules. Do you still care about our friendship?” She asked, and I felt my heart sinking. I realized that I had been neglecting all my friends except Emmanuelle because I see him every time at campus, and we hang out. I had so many unanswered messages on my phone, and that made me realize how selfish I had become.

“I’m sorry, I was going through some things, but I promise to become a better friend to you and the others. How about you and I meet this weekend for lunch at our favorite restaurant and catch up on stuff.” I suggested.

“I would appreciate that, but remember I still haven’t forgiven you.” She said, and I smirked.

“Okay you big baby. You know that I love you, right?” I asked her.

“Yes, I love you too.” I smiled at that.

“I’m tired now, so let’s catch up this weekend.” I told her.

“Good night.” She said and then hung up. I set an alarm to wake up early to study, then went to sleep.