Page 28 of Origins
“Bianca.” Damen snapped his fingers in my face, causing me to jerk back and refocus my scattered thoughts. He frowned at me, his eyes blazing with anger. “Whathas he done in the past?”
I was stuck in a daze—numb. Cursing myself for my stupidity.
Indistinctly, I realized that I was sitting on the couch again, and Damen was on his knees in front of me. From this position, my face was even with the middle of his chest and his arms surrounded me on either side. I could barely see Miles, but I did notice that he was perched on the arm of Damen’s chair.
Both of them watched me with concerned expressions. Why did they care so much? We had only just recently become friends.
But would Damen rescind his offer to help me if he knew?
I had not yet revealed everything—but both were watching me, waiting for me to tell them what was wrong. And I knew what they wanted. I had gotten them involved. Finn would blow this up, I was sure. They had to know—at least the history. It was only fair.
“I’m adopted,” I began, my feelings fading into numbness. “I grew up in foster care until I was eight.”
Damen shifted in front of me, and his hands rested on my knees now. But neither he nor Miles said anything, waiting for me to continue.
“I lived in three homes before I was adopted. The last two places were…strict. The couple in the first home taught me to hide the fact that I could sense, or see, things. Hiding my abilities became the only way for me to survive.”
Damen started to say something, but I cut him off. I needed to get this out before I lost my nerve.
“When I was finally adopted, I started a new school. That’s where I met Finn—he was in my class. Finn was always alone too, so I thought that I had found a kindred soul. I sensed that he was being stalked by something malicious, and I couldn’t ignore it. If I had, it would have killed him.”
Damen seemed to be more contemplative than concerned. “Do you know what it was?” he asked.
I shook my head and glanced back at my hands. “I never saw anything like it before, but I also didn’t know a lot either. It wasn’t a human spirit though, I did know that. I had no idea what to do, so I tried talking to it.”
“I’m not sure what happened next, but it attacked me.” I tried to be brave, as I recalled the dreadful events and the guttural fear churning deep within. “I woke up in the hospital, and it was gone. Finn was there. The doctors said that my heart had stopped, and Finn found me. We became close friends after that.”
“A few weeks later it came back,” I continued. “I was afraid to talk to it alone again, so I told Finn what I saw. At first, he was interested in what I had to say. So I told him more—about being able to see and feel the presence of spirits. At the end of the day, we went our separate ways, like normal.”
“The next day—after homeroom started—I was called to the principal’soffice. Finn was there, so were my parents…and some strangers.”
Damen’s white-knuckled grip on my knees turned painful, and I squirmed. He noticed, and released his grip with an apology. He abruptly stood up—livid—and glared into the fireplace.
“I can imagine what happened next,” Miles interjected as he sat on the coffee table in front of me. “And before you say anything else, I want you to know that Damen and I reallydobelieve you. Weallbelieve you. We’ve all felt that same loneliness in our lives. Please don’t allow Finn’s actions cause you to not trust us.” He took my hand in his, and his deep eyes only reflected genuine sincerity. “We will never abuse the trust that you place in us.”
“I was diagnosed with acute schizophrenia,” I admitted, staring at our entwined hands. “It was considered a serious case, and I was institutionalized. The only way for me to ever leave the facility was to admit that I was sick, to give in to their treatments. So I conceded and did what they wanted me to do. I didn’t want to cause my adoptive parents any more stress or concern.”
“But, I wasn’t sure about myself or what I had experienced.” I bit my lip, wondering if it had been my imagination. “I felt deep down that Finn really did believe me that day. Something about the way that he responded—it was like he knew. I certainly wanted him to believe me. I was only trying to protect him. So afterwards, when a blatant supernatural event happened again, I tried to bring it to his attention to get his reaction. But he wouldusuallyreason it away—or just remind me that I was sick. I never knew how he would react.”
“In retrospect, I shouldn’t have said anything to him this time, either.” I let go of Miles’ hand. “But I thought that if he came with me to my professor’s home—if he heard the noises, then I thought he’d have to believe me. Rational people can’t remain in denial about an obvious truth, right?”
The silence in the room was deafening. I raised my eyes to witness the barely-restrained fury in Miles’ expression, and the blazing anger in Damen’s eyes.
I was suddenly unsure of my confession—why were theythisangry?
Finn had only acted that way because he was concerned about me. Surely, they had to see that. He thought he was serving my best interests. After all, he didn’t believe in the paranormal.
Right?
I attempted to alleviate the tension in the air. “It’s not all that bad,” I added. “You can’t force someone to believe. He cares about me, that’s why he gets concerned. His heart is in the right place—”
Damen barked out a short laugh—the first sound that he had made in a while. My eyes shot up to meet with his disbelieving ones. “Seriously?” he asked.
The inevitable conclusion was undeniable, but that didn’t make it any easier to comprehend.
“Damen?” I forced his name out, scared to hear the words that could shatter my world.
Miles cut off Damen’s response. “Damen, not now.”
