Chapter 6 Fear
She clamped her hand over her mouth and stayed like that, keeping her breath locked in despite her lungs screaming for air. She was shaking all over, and her back was against the cold wall. She couldn't make sense of what she was witnessing. It had all happened too fast, too strangely, and too far outside anything that made any sense.
Her eyes stayed glued to Ethan, though she didn't know why. She could still see the claws. She could still see his face and his teeth had turned into something that didn't resemble anything human at all. None of it made sense, and yet even though she tried to tell herself she'd made it up, she knew she hadn't deep down.
She breathed a small, shaking breath and could feel her heart pounding in her chest so fast it ached even to think of it.
The fight hadn't lasted long. It was over before she could even grasp it had started. Ethan was in the middle of the alleyway, his chest still heaving, but he didn't seem like a man who'd just barely escaped with his life.
He looked fine and not a mark on him. There was something dark on his hands, however, and she realized after a split second that it was blood. His fingers were smeared with it as he pushed his hair out of his face.
Then he froze for a moment too long.
Hee stomach did a flip.
She had no idea why at the time, but then she saw his head shift, until his eyes were facing in her direction. They weren't the same ones she knew. They still glowed, and she immediately knew that he'd seen her.
He wasn't surprised.
He did not flinch or stiffeb and he did not even appear confused. It was almost as if he had known she would be there, watching, and somehow had sensed it.
Her heart constricted, and she felt a chill scurry across her back and down her arms.
She stayed there, gasping for air, her mind scrambling to catch up with what she had just seen. Her fists were still clenched at her sides, aching painfully from being clenched so hard, but she didn't feel it. She had no clue what to do or where to go or even if running would help.
Ethan looked at her, and he didn't look away this time. His face wasn't serwne anymore, not as it usually was. His lips were still slightly parted, and his eyes were still aglow. They weren't quite as bright as they'd been before.
She sat there, looking at him, her legs stiff, her mind in spinning with thoughts that refused to form a narrative.
He took one step closer.
Her body didn't move, though her brain was screaming at her to move. She had no clue why she couldn't. It was like her feet weren't listening. Her eyes stayed locked on him as he moved on like someone not wanting to scare a stray animal.
"You shouldn't be here," he whispered.
She parted her lips, but nothing came out. She had to swallow hsrd.
"You. you—" Her voice stuck again, and she had to inhale deeply and battle through the fear sitting on her throat. "What was that?"
"You didn't see anything," he stated.
That made something inside her twist up, because it was so obvious that he was lying.
He had to know that she wasn't that stupid.
"I witnessed all of it," she said to him, trying to stay calm even though she was still in shook. "You fought. You moved like them... fast ... With fangs... What are you?"
He tilted his head ever so slightly to one side and regarded her the way people regard puzzles they cannot solve.
"I have no idea what you are talking about," he replied.
She laughed, brief and arid. "Really? So I just dreamed it all up? The eyes? How you walked? The part where you picked someone up and hurled them across this alley?"
He stepped closer again.
"Zara," he said, soft enough that she almost leaned forward to hear him. "You’re in shock. Your brain is trying to make sense of something it can’t. Sometimes people see things that aren’t there when they’re scared."
Her heart rate rose once more. He was still lying to her. Worse, he was trying to get her to think that she was the one who wasn't sure what was real.
"No," she shook her head. "That's not what's happening. I know what I saw. I'm not dreaming, this is real."
He let out a weary, long breath and then rubbed his hand across his face like he didn't know what to do with any of it.
"You followed me tonight, didn't you?"
She didn't answer at first, but after a moment she lifted her chin.
"Yes."
His mouth compressed into a thin line as if he didn't enjoy that.
"Why?"
"Because you've never made sense. Something about you's always been. off." She breathed rapidly and stared at him unwaveringly. "Now I know why."
He glared at her, then shook his head as if he was annoyed with her.
"I wish you hadn't," he said. "But it doesn't matter anyways. This... Did not happen."
"What'd you mean?" She asked him in a breathy whisper.
He moved closer again.
"I want you to listen, Zara," he said to her, his voice slower now. "You followed me to the library. Then you watched me get coffee, and then I took a cab home."
She narrowed her eyes. "No, I—"
Something was off in a way that made her feel sick to her stomach. What he'd said just now seemed to press into her mind, like something was trying to write something new inside her.
She shook her head violently. "No. That's not what happened. That's not right."
His lips twitched and for a minute, she could swear she saw his confidence waver.
"Yes, it is," he replied. "You walked with me to the library. Then you watched me get coffee. Then I took a taxi home."
She scowled, folding her arms across her chest. "Are you seriously trying to hypnotize me?"
His face went completely blank.
She stared at him incredulously. "Because it's not working."
There was too much silence between them. The way he was looking at her had changed once again.
He tried again.
"You followed me to the library. Then you followed me over to Wendy's while I waited for coffee. Then I—"
Zara cut him off. "Called a cab home. Yes, you already said that. But that's not what happened Ethan. I'm not stupid, and this... This is not a dream.”
He fell silent after that.
He just looked at her, and his mouth opened like he was going to speak or something, but he didn't.
He backed up a step, his eyebrows furrowing in confusion as he stared at her.
"You." he said to her, not taking his eyes from hers. "You can't be compelled."
Zara blinked at him.
She wasn't even sure she had any idea what he was talking about. But the way he spoke scared her more than anything he had ever done before.
"What do you mean by compelled?" she asked.
But Ethan didn't answer. He just kept looking at her, and now there was an expression on his face that wasn't there before.
Fear.