Not Human

Chapter 20 - Haunting past

"So, it's time, Lily Valerie to wake up." She could hear her father's faint voice calling her to wake up. "You are using too much mind ability right now. Your mind shouldn't be here unless your unconscious is calling you." He said an image of his face was fading. She was back in the spaceship, where she saw controls, seats, and purple technology too.

No dead prisoners yet. Luckily.

"Why did you do it? How could you! You're not my father! You're a traitor!" She cried out. He smiled before his entire being faded. Then she roused up to her bedroom.

It was a dream. It had to have been just a normal dream.

For some reason seeing her real father stirred old feelings in her about how her life was without him, even knowing he existed.

~flashback~

"Oh, what a pretty baby." A well-mannered elderly lady dressed in a green blouse, and black skirt, with black heels, had spoken.

"Remarkable." The younger lady exclaimed. "I found her on the doorstep of our orphanage. Somebody gave her up. Quite sad so many stories like hers."

"Well, she has a name tag. How strange." The elderly lady picked the tag up and read it aloud. "Lily Valerie."

"Very bizarre. Should we keep it?"

The elderly lady thought about it. "Well, it isn't our place I think they wanted her to have the name. It might be special to whoever left her. I know they abandoned the child but it would feel wrong to ignore the birth parents' chosen name for the baby girl." She explained.

The young lady agreed.

"Well, you know what Mary Smith. I've decided I want to adopt her." The young lady beamed. "I always wanted another girl."

"That's quite the decision..." Mary trailed off. "Are you sure, Petra Fink?" She addressed her politely.

"Yes, of course, I am." She picked Lily up into her skinny arms and cradled her small head of pretty blond tresses. "She's beautiful." Petra grinned at baby Lily.

...

~Present time~

There it was new home.

A middle-class house in the back of some woods. It was a two-story with a garage already occupying a car full of gas. It was a van. There were three bathrooms. Eight rooms. Four upstairs and four downstairs. Perfect.

"Just perfect." Andy beamed. "I get my room, alright!"

"Yes, very cool." Jax agreed. He was touching the stair railing and walking upstairs. "I call upstairs."

Zane decided downstairs to distance himself from Jax. He took a room in the halls. It was a good size room. It had a twin-size bed in it. A window by the bedside. The walls were plain white.

"You okay?" Blade looked over his shoulder at Lily's spooked face. He closed in the space between them. Holding her cheek in his hand.

"Uh...yes, fine." She lied. Surprised by the intimate hand holding her face. He was so close she could look in his dark eyes and see something almost hungry.

"Alright." He dropped his hand. "Take the room by mine. Come talk to me anytime." He walked off leaving her shocked.

She took him up on his advice and set her stuff in the room by his. It gave her little comfort. Well, until her eyes closed she saw her father's face again. It sickened her to her core. She couldn't believe that man was her father.

~Flashback~

"You know you're adopted, right?" Sneered John.

"I don't care. Petra still cares for me." Lily snapped.

"Well, not as much as she cares for her real kids." He retorted shoving her to the floor. "You don't deserve to live here. I don't like you here. Got that?" John barked, hatefully spitting on her. Lily was curled up in a ball. A tear formed in her gray eyes. But she didn't dare let it fall.

"Say what you want, John. But I don't or ever will accept you as my brother. You make others feel bad so you can feel better about yourself. But I know you're just insecure maybe that Petra likes me more than you." She spat back standing tall in front of him. He was a head taller than her being the oldest of the kids.

"Oh my f*****g god you are a freak!" John screamed backing up. "Your eyes..." He gasped.

"Stop messing with me," Lily growled. She turned to flick her hair over her shoulder. When she stopped in front of the hall mirror and saw it.

Her eyes were golden. Glowing naturally.

"What the hell." She said, turning back. John was gone. Since that day he kept his distance. However, Caleb, Rider, and Emily still bothered her from time to time. From rude remarks to pushing and shoving when foster mom or foster dad wasn't there to witness it to pranks at random.

"I hate them all." She stared at her room ceiling. Lily was twelve when she figured out she was adopted, of course, this information amused her foster siblings. They bullied her ever since.

~Present time~

It was night. Everyone was asleep, well mostly everyone.

"Today was scary wasn't it?" Angelica peeked at Zane. He kicked his legs up on the couch and leaned his head back on a couch pillow.

"Yeah, sure. To be honest I never felt more alive. Killing those Oculos and saving our team. It felt good." Zane sighed.

"...yeah..."

"You're staring again." Zane pointed out. His tone was unreadable.

"Sorry." She tried prying her eyes from the scar on his chest but she couldn't.

"You just can't help it, can you?" Zane smirked. He stood up raking a quick hand through his black hair. Then his piercing blues eyes locked onto Angelica.

She felt a shift in his mood. It felt like his eyes were drinking the image of her up. Roaming her body head to toe.

She wore a black loose nightgown.

"I-I don't know..." She stammered.

"Why do you keep looking at it?" He glared at her. Now he was being his dark cold self again. "Why do you keep looking at it, Angel?" He asked, again. "Tell me." He demanded, a sad expression flashing on his face before it turned to stone. Unreadable again.

"I just-

"Do you pity me?" His eye contact broke. He couldn't look up at her.

"No, but I might understand if you tell me-"

"No." He said cornering her to a wall. He placed his hands on either side of her trapping her there. "Don't." He stopped. His words fell away. "Angel." He looked back up at her with an intense stare. "Don't ask me where it came from."

Angel lifted her small hand placing it on his chest, pushing him back like a challenge. "I want to know, Zane."

"It's not your business to know." He peered down at her outstretched hand touching him. He didn't move it.

"I think it'd help to tell someone. To talk about it." Angelica slowly traced her soft fingers over his chest halting at the scar. Zane watched her hands move closer then they landed on his past reminder.

"Why are you touching it?" His face changed to something new.

"I want to understand." She said, quietly.

"You want to know?" He quirked a brow at her. "How my father did this." He placed his hands over hers to the scar she was touching carefully.

"Your father would do this?" She gasped.

"Yes, he was an alcoholic. He beat me mostly. But this scar was from him throwing a bourbon bottle at me." Zane paused realizing what he just said aloud to her.

"It's okay." She reassured him. "My stepmother wasn't so great either." She lifted her nightgown.

Zane stood back knowing he should look away but couldn't. His eyes traveled her thighs to her red lacey panties. He tried to act unbothered but failed at this.

"Angel..." He croaked. "Why are you showing me you're-" Then his eyes stopped on a horrifying burn on her upper thigh.

"I'm sorry." He said, a seriousness replacing his shy tone before. He kneeled next to it. Then reached out and touched it. "Zane." Angelica gasped.

His hand was too close to her private areas. He rubbed the scar on her thigh with feather-like touches.

This was so intimate. Angelica blushed, feeling a tingle in her body.

"Oh, I didn't mean to." Zane stopped. "Thanks for sharing this with me. I didn't know."

"It's alright. I told you I would understand." She dropped her nightgown covering her past reminder.

"We are the same." He laughed. "I wish you didn't understand. Now you're hurt just like me." He looked at her small frame. Her pretty red hair. Her green eyes caring.

Everything about her was great.

He without another word-wrapped his arms around her middle, and laid his head on her shoulder breathing in her scent. "We both got through this. We are both stronger." He spoke softly, stroking her hair.

"Yes." She nodded. Feeling his warm body pressing on hers. His scent is intoxicating. It smelled of clear sky, fresh flowers, minty toothpaste, body shampoo, and pines. "We are both okay."

They both stayed in that embrace. In each other's arms breathing in one's scent as if it was all they needed. What they were looking for.

"We should-" Angelica started to speak.

"We should," Zane repeated looking into her eyes deeply. "We should...." He couldn't finish it. Angelica placed a hand on his face smiling at him. It made his heart rate go up.

"Angel." He called her name.

It was quiet for so long that they stared at one another Zane leaned into her hand feeling like a small boy again. He felt like someone for the first time cared for him.

"We should head to bed." Angelica finally finished the sentence. She got on her tiptoes and swiftly placed a tender kiss on his forehead. "Good night, Zane."

"Goodnight, Angel."

It ended on the same note: Good night.