Chapter 7: Letting Her to get to Know Me

Sirius' POV

My tutor grabbed me by the collar of my shirt as he growled. My feet didn't touch the ground. I was a ten-year-old boy, but at that age, I had to begin to be an independent man in the town.

"You have to improve your skills," he demanded. "So now you're going to get to the other side without falling!"

I had a severe burn on my side that hurt too much, and I felt the pain spreading to my entire body. I had tears in my eyes.

We were in some blacksmith's workshop in the town, and there were containers with liquid metal.

My master and tutor spun to gain momentum and launched me toward the thick chains hanging from the metallic beams. My instinct reappeared. I gritted my teeth immediately and focused on holding on to them with my arms and legs. If I didn't, I would fall and get burned again.

"Come on, Sirius!" Altair, my friend since I could remember, tried to encourage me. "You are strong! This is just a game, grab the chains and go! The wounds will heal. Nothing happens!"

Yes. We, Evolved people, could be 'savages,' as humans said, but since that was my reality, it was normal for me.

My tutor placed flat rocks on my back while I tried to lift my body off the ground with my arms. I had to be strong, obey the rules, and honor my parents. To live for my kind.

"I heard that you started jogging after six in the morning," my tutor reproached.

I accepted my punishments, even if they were horrible.

I grew up knowing only training, hunting, and more training. They made me strong. However, I was always told that humans were worse than us. Still, how could a species which had achieved so much in the world be cruel?

When humans captured me, I began to reaffirm the hatred that my species had for them, to verify that all was true and that they were right to detest them.

When I woke up, I feared they would do merciless experiments on me, the ones the old town leaders told us about. The worst thing was that I had a robe, no longer the clothes I arrived in.

The humans watched me with some fear like I was a beast. They had tied me up. They didn't know that, with my strength, I could free myself if things got bad. I heard them murmuring things. I looked at them with resentment. Had I left a supposedly rough world without freedom to enter another?

"The subject woke up at five in the afternoon due to the induction of the medication," They did not know that I could hear their whispers, "on day number three of the investigation."

Number Three?! Had they had me sedated?!

My breathing became slightly agitated, and I began to tighten my arms and, by that, the straps that held me.

"Dr. Marien is on her way," warned a young woman with curls.

"Thank you, Miss Rosy."

"We could try the Bone resistance test..."

"No. Breaking a bone is not legal in live ones. It would have to be a corpse to do that test."

"I already recollected his blood anyway to do the genetic test."

They were talking about me as if I were some strange specimen. I became more and more tense. I was afraid a growl would escape my throat. I didn't understand. I looked human! Wasn't that enough for them?

"Could you let me go?" I decided to appeal to their kindness as a species. "I'm not an EH."

"Where you come from?" The man had the fake human identification I got. "Do you study? Work? Home address?"

"I don't remember."

"How do you not remember?"

"I was at the university but don't remember the rest. I think I have lost my memory." It was my excuse for my lack of knowledge about their customs and culture.

However, they laughed silently. That reignited that natural fury that they had made me develop in training. Happily, I had also been taught how to control it effectively.

Suddenly, I detected a soft aroma that brought me out of my thoughts. The men moved away and left me in sight of a human, and when I saw her... the world stopped.

What?

She was staring at me, and I couldn't even blink. I didn't do it when I hunted in the village, and now, for some reason, not with her either.

Unlike everyone around me, she gave me her look without malice or hatred. Her cocoa-like brown hair fell in waves. Her face was kind. Her expression was sweet... Quite pleasing to my eyes.

I tilted my face slightly, still not blinking, watching her as she spoke to them. All of her was pretty pleasing to my eyes, which seemed strange to me. Humans weren't... nice.

All my life, I was warned of their hateful nature, and I was trained by an evolved man who instilled all that in me under extreme methods, savage fights, blows, and pain. But seeing that young woman brought me a new feeling.

There was no pain... There were no blows, no more rocks on top of my back because of me getting distracted, nor severity in her voice.

Suddenly, my curiosity about humans returned to me, although this time, it was a curiosity that asked me to get to know the young woman a little more. I just wanted to know why she gave me calm. It was something that did not exist for me in my town.

Now, I had her in front of me. I was partly relieved because she already knew what I was and hadn't tried to run away yet. She looked at me with those big brown eyes. The human iris was not very large or striking like ours, but it seemed sweet to me. Strangely, it was like seeing a harmless bird.

My tutor said that they had a look worthy of forest prey... Maybe...

A sharp pain appeared, and I frowned. After the adrenaline and fury that blinded me when I fought wore off, the wounds always started to hurt.

I felt my side and saw that there was blood. It was now that the bruises also began to throb. I had always hated this. The worst thing was that we had to move now before I had to fight again being like this.

"Come on," she said when she realized, "if you have protected me, I won't let anything happen to you either. We must heal you."

Huh?

I denied.

"Don't worry. I'll be fine. I just don't want to wait for our friend to wake up."

"Isn't he...?" She murmured, stunned.

"Dead? No." I smiled and didn't blame her for thinking that since we were savages. "We're harder to kill than you think."

"Oh... Let's go then." She hurried to guide me.

And I followed her, still in surprise, not believing how brave she was to turn her back on me as she walked, confident that I wouldn't attack her. How could Altair then say that all humans were evil?

The lousy person knew things, and I wouldn't turn my back on another of my kind. However, she had done it in a gesture that denoted complete innocence. Being so delicate and fragile, if she were evil, she would have been malicious and tried to keep me in sight.

They taught me to read the body language of prey, and other evolved people. Although we could disguise it almost perfectly, I wouldn't attack her. Was that why she walked carelessly?

Oh, but humans didn't know how to read body language, did they?

Anyway. I couldn't jump to conclusions now. Since I met her, until now, her body, her way of speaking, her gestures, and her essence they only told me that she was very, very sweet. She lost her family and grieved, which affected her to the point of making her shake every time she was scared, which told me that she had held back a lot but was strong and had recovered.

I didn't like that. Evil or not, I wanted to help her heal completely.

***

She had gathered some supplies in a backpack. She found her phone, which every human carried with them, and it didn't work.

"I have an aunt who lives not far away," she said, "I need to use her phone."

After walking through dark streets for almost an hour, we arrived at her relatives, which worried me. It seemed like she had suddenly forgotten what I was.

The woman opened the door and wrapped her arms around her. Oh. I had forgotten that, unlike us, humans did touch each other. Humans did break personal space.

"Thank goodness you're fine! We saw the news! That attack on your laboratory and...!" She turned to look at me and was horrified. "His eyes..."

Marien looked at me too and flinched, then snorted and began to explain to her.

Oh. She had forgotten, or was it that the light from the house door had now allowed her to see my eyes clearly? I shouldn't forget that they didn't see well in the dark. My large, almond-shaped pupils had probably scared her.

"He's not mean, aunt, seriously. I've known him for a while. Plus, he saved my life. Please, we need to stay here, just tonight."

"If you really trust him... I'll let you sleep here."

The woman feared me, and rightly so, but she was doing this for Marien. I saw that not all humans ignored their families, as my tutor said, and I was glad. Now, I knew that this sweet young woman was not so alone.

When we entered the house, I learned she had children. A girl and a boy. They both looked at me, stunned.

The woman told them, "Her cousin will spend the night here. I want you to please..." She was silent for a few seconds. "Stop looking at the young man and listen to me," she demanded.

"Mom," said the child, "it's... it's...

"Yes, Martin..." Marien said. "He is an EH, but he has saved my life. He is on our side."

The boy's eyes lit up.

"Cool!" He exclaimed excitedly.

"Yes, just be careful," his mother added. "Come this way," she told us.

I was still surprised by the hospitality. Her family didn't doubt Marien, even though I was an evolved man.

She led us to a room at the end of the hallway, and I entered while they said a few more words to each other.

I put the backpack on the mattress. It was a single bed, but it was okay. I could sleep on the floor. It wasn't like I never had. I had had to sleep in the forest, in the cold of the mountains, among rocks, and more.

"You owe me a lot of explanations," Marien told me, and I realized we were already alone.

'Go ahead, ask."

"Let me heal you first."

But we weren't alone again. The children were spying on us.

I tried to tell her, but she pushed me back, putting her hands on my abdomen, which distracted me for a second. Her soft touch was always an entirely new sensation for me.

I stayed seated, and her cousin handed her what I assumed they used to treat wounds because of the smell.

Then, I was distracted again when I felt Marien's delicate hands unbutton my shirt. A sweet shudder ran through me, but I couldn't help but glance at her cousins who were watching, once again breaking out of that strange reverie and making me uncomfortable.

Marien looked at the wound on my side and seemed worried.

"I told you it would be fine. I regenerate quickly, too. You don't have to worry..."

She sighed and nodded. She rushed to start disinfecting, and I could only watch her. Her delicate features continued to capture me. It was strange and, at the same time, satisfying.

In my town, no one cared for you. We all knew that we could heal by ourselves, so it was something new that she wanted to take care of me.

Something very new that made me feel a strange warmth.

Once she was done and satisfied, she sat next to me. I noticed it was in her nature to want to fix everything to be calm, but she didn't need to worry about me. I could put up with a lot of things. It was customary for us evolved people.

"You've always had a good sense of smell and hearing..." she suddenly commented.

"Yes. I already knew beforehand when you were near my room."

"How come you looked human?"

Oh yeah. The great mystery.

No. I couldn't say it. I was against my rules. Although she had proven to be trustful, at least so far, the children were still here. Human children talked too much.

"Do you work out?" the girl asked, and I just looked at her with intrigue.

Why was she asking that? Everyone did exercise, right?

As I meditated on their physical habits, Marien explained to her.

"The evolved people are pure fiber and are in excellent shape." She looked at them calmly. "Please, uhm... I need to talk to him about something."

"Oh, of course!" And finally, they left.

Marien looked at me, hopeful.

"Now you can tell me. You can trust me," she insisted in a sweet, soft voice that made me want to tell her even more things that I didn't even know.

Well. She deserved to know.

"I was in a transition stage. We are born with evolved features, but approximately at eighteen and twenty years old, the iris of the eyes shrinks, the pupils become rounded, and our eyesight fails a little. The fangs fall off, and at the same time, others grow, but they remain a normal size, like that of humans." I saw her very attentive to my words. "I always wanted to know what you humans were like. We are a very different culture. So I escaped by taking advantage of my appearance."

It was true that I was always curious about her species, although it wasn't as much as I was now about her... Just her.

"I see. You took a risk. You could have ended up on Marcus' table, ready to open your belly, seriously," she said between soft laughs, and I couldn't help but laugh, too.

Suddenly, she stood up and grabbed my chin, producing a whole host of sensations and making me look into her eyes. Her beautiful eyes. Her thumb ran over my bottom lip, and more shivers ran through me.

Then I understood she wanted to see my teeth, so I opened my mouth slightly. While she was looking at my canines, her thumb gently ran over my lip again, and I was once again a victim of that kind of electricity.

She shook her head and walked away.

"Your upper canines measure almost three-quarters of an inch from the gum; the lower ones are almost normal, but they do protrude a little." She looked at me with... endearment? "You are a healthy young and wild EH."

I smiled widely. She reciprocated, and my stomach bothered in a strange way. In fact, it wasn't the first time it had done it. Had I contracted some human disease? A parasite?

Her aunt showed up to let us know that dinner was already served.

We went to the dining room. There were two plates together on the table. The little kid, whose name was Martín, came and sat, looking at us with enthusiasm. After a while, his sister, who I also heard was called Lucy, followed him.

"Children, you already ate!" their mother told them.

"Mom, I want milk!" Martín answered her.

Oh. The milk! I liked that. I looked at Marien, and she immediately understood.

"Auntie, could you give me some too? Please."

"Sure!"

I smiled at her again, and that made the boy exclaim.

"Cool! Real fangs!"

"Martín," her mother reproached him.

"Mom!" he replied.

"You're very handsome," Lucy said suddenly, without looking away from me.

I hadn't stopped to think about it. I thought I was terrifying for them. I hadn't been very aware of my appearance either until I saw that humans were almost surrounded by mirrors, unlike us.

"I don't know," I answered honestly, "I couldn't say, young lady."

"Lu, don't harass the young man," her mother scolded her.

I glanced at Marien, and she kept a slight smile. Did she think that about me too? Something inside me wanted it, and I didn't know why. In reality, I was conscious of wanting many things.

Dinner was pleasant. The lady's children were quite entertaining, too.

Before I knew it, I finished the milk they gave me and Marien's too, after she offered it to me. I licked my upper lip, and Lucy compared me to a cat because of that. The boy contradicted, saying that we were like lions.

Ha. I hadn't thought of it like that either.

"And what is your normal diet?" The question took me by surprise.

The children looked at me, waiting.

"It's mostly protein. Since childhood, almost everything is meat."

"Awesome," the boy spoke. "Raw meat?"

What? I couldn't help but let out a light laugh. I remembered my tutor's words when he said humans were kind of sadistic. They found funny or cool things that they shouldn't, but anyway.

"No. We do cook it. Sometimes partially and sometimes completely. We're not that wild," I clarified.

"I know you're not," the girl murmured this time, "even though Marien always said you were monsters."

...Oh.

I felt Marien tense up next to me, and I could even hear her gasp. So, indeed, she thought that about us, but this time I understood her. Her parents were not with her, and it was because of my species.

An evolved girl would have avenged the death of her parents out of honor, but she...

"I didn't know him before," she stammered with shame.

"No, you're right," I wanted to calm her down. "I can't deny it. We are monsters."

She gave me her innocent look, even with concern, but I shook my head, implying that there was no problem. Everything was fine.

After finishing, Marien could use her aunt's phone to tell her friends that she was safe and that we didn't need a helicopter. She also insisted that we would go to the capital on our own.

I assumed she was going to want to sleep alone after all. In my town, it was like that. Ladies, in fact, were rarely alone with a guy unless he was her eternal companion. That was our society.

I was about to move the big sofa a little to see if I would fall asleep there, and the boy climbed up.

"If you're strong, you'll move it anyway!" He wanted to play.

I smiled faintly and pushed the piece of furniture, making him laugh.

"Well, let's go to sleep," said Marien, "tomorrow we leave for the capital. Anthony, what are you doing?"

Oh, right. I had gotten used to that name.

"I'll sleep here."

"What? No, go to bed. You need it."

"But..."

"Come on. I'll go in a moment."

"Will you sleep together?" the girl wanted to know.

"They are husband and wife," her brother said in a strange tone, to which the sweet and reticent Marien complained softly.

Those words intrigued me.

"And what is that like?"

And Marien seemed to get more embarrassed.

"Nothing!" She made me walk towards the bedroom. "It's no big deal. Go to sleep. I'll be there in a bit!"

I was much more intrigued but decided not to ask any further... at least for that moment.

Upon entering the room, I found it dark. I could see, but I remembered that humans couldn't, so I turned on the light so Marien could find it like that.

Maybe I should sleep on the floor. I didn't want to make her uncomfortable.

My eyes found a frame on one of the nightstands, and I approached it. It was her in the photo. She looked much younger, and I assumed the woman hugging her was her mother.

I saw how affectionate humans were with just a picture. They were interesting.

I was going to shower, but I heard Marien talking to her aunt in the living room.

"What a day, huh? And how do you plan to travel?" the woman asked. "They wouldn't allow you to go on one of the armored buses."

"We'll find a way, don't worry. I have contacts and an EH protecting me," she said that last thing between soft laughs.

I smiled, feeling that weird tingling in my stomach.

"Just be careful. Your mother told me many things. They really are very different from us. I know he looks human, but believe me... They think completely different. Sometimes, there is no way to know what they have in their heads. They are unpredictable as predators."

I looked down. She wasn't wrong. We sometimes didn't understand humans, and it was reciprocal.

"Sometimes I feel like I'm starting to understand Mom. The curiosity they caused her. I want to know more about them and feel close to her..."

I suddenly felt guilty for listening, so I hurried to the shower.

When I finished, I dressed in some pajamas Marien had packed before leaving the bathroom. Marien entered the room with a face that worried me.

"Are you OK?"

"Yes, don't worry." She lied.

No. I didn't like seeing her like that. Was it because she started remembering her mother? Of course, it was.

"You're sad," I didn't know why she wanted to deny the obvious. She deserved affection. She no longer had the hugs from her parents, but I could give her the affection that I had. I leaned down, without thinking twice, to put my forehead against her, and I closed my eyes, breathing in her soft aroma, also managing to hear her heartbeat, sweet breath on my skin, and the tip of her little nose with mine. This was the maximum display of affection and trust between evolved people. "You will be fine. You can trust me too," I assured.

I pulled away, feeling my heart losing control, but I was relieved to see her smiling with rosy cheeks.

"It's your mom, right?" I pointed to the picture, and she nodded.

Suddenly, she reacted.

"I'm going to take a shower too."

"No problem. I'm going to settle on the floor."

"No. Please, use the bed."

"But I won't let you sleep on the floor."

She shook her head after chuckling.

"We can share the bed."

I was stunned.

"Are you sure we can sleep... in the same bed?" Sleeping so close to her didn't seem unpleasant at all, but the rules...

"Of course, we can. There is no problem. Come on, lie down, and I'll be out in a bit, okay? You should rest."

I blinked a few times and ended up smiling back at her.

"Well. As you wish, miss."

That increased the red color in her cheeks, and she seemed happier.

She couldn't be evil like Altair said all humans were. I had met many good humans.

***