Inhuman

Kerry woke up with a headache. It wouldn't be the first time, and she was already starting to get used to it at this point. She expected to wake up in a strange room, tied to a chair or something. Or maybe Asher might decide to mess with her head, make her forget things. It all sounded like the kind of thing the messed-up bastard would do. But no, she woke up in the familiar bedroom of her Hawaiian house.

"How do you feel?" Silas was beside her. He hadn't left her side since he brought her back home. He had even thought about taking her to the hospital, but he had been assured she would be alright. Just stress—it was normal for someone in her condition. "Kerry? Talk to me."

"I feel fine," she said with a sigh. "Apart from the headache, that is."

"Do you need me to bring you something for that?"

She thought about it for a second, then shook her head. She already felt like she was going to be sick; she didn't need anything bitter right now. Maybe if the headache didn't go away in half an hour, she would consider it. "What happened?"

"You passed out in your school parking lot. Thankfully, there was someone there to take care of you. I'm sorry, Kerry. I should have known better than to let you go to school when you weren't feeling well."

"It's not your fault." It wasn't anyone's fault. Only one person was to be blamed for this, and that was Asher. She hated the way he toyed with her. One second, she thought he would let her go, and the next, he attacked her with full force, saying stuff about her seeing things his way. What did he even mean by that? What did he want her to see? Did it have something to do with her dad? Did he know what she was? "I found my dad."

"What?" Silas's eyes widened in surprise. "That's good, isn't it? You don't look very happy."

"He didn't wish to be found. He would rather I had spent the rest of my life without ever seeing him again. And maybe it would be better if I had."

"I'm sorry, baby. I wish it didn't have to be that way."

Kerry wished that too. She wished things wouldn't always have to be so complicated. How good would it have been if she were normal, if Silas and everyone else were just human? But that wasn't the case. "I found out what my dad was, what I am."

"An Incubus?"

Kerry gave him a stunned look. "What makes you say that?!"

"Your ability to attract every goddamn guy who comes close to you," Silas said with a straight face. His eyes, however, flashed with malice as he recounted how many times he had stopped himself from snapping every time he saw another guy close to his girlfriend. Kerry couldn't hold back her laughter. Even though he hadn't been joking, his lips tilted up in a fond smile. At least everything was as it should be now. "Honestly, it doesn't matter what you are. To me, you will always be the girl I fell in love with."

"I don't deserve you." She threw herself into his arms, and those protective arms wrapped around her, making her feel the safest she had ever felt. To think that all along, Silas had been the one for her, but she had been too much of a weakling from day one to give their relationship a chance. Silas had been patient, staying with her every step of the way until she finally realized her feelings. It mustn't have been easy, but he loved her enough to wait, and for that, she was forever grateful.

She would do whatever it took to ensure she conquered all the challenges that came at her. For her and Silas’s relationship, she was willing to fight. "A Nephilim. That's what I am."

"An Angel?" Silas didn’t sound surprised, or maybe he was very good at masking it, not wanting her to think it was a big deal. "I didn't think those existed."

"Me neither. But Dad changed into an Angel right in front of me. There is no denying his claim."

"How do you feel?"

"Confused, tired, angry. I feel like I've lost him again. What's the point of finding someone who doesn't want to be found? He believes that as long as we stay together, bad things are going to happen. I just... wish things were easier. I want him back, and I'm afraid I'm going to lose you too, or Mom, or..."

"Woah, what gives you the idea that you are going to lose anyone?"

"I... It doesn't even matter! I won't let anything bad happen! I will protect all of you, I promise."

Silas looked down at her. His lips curled up in a smile. He leaned forward to place a chaste kiss on her lips. "I believe you," he said. And those three words alone managed to slow her rapidly beating heart; it calmed her nerves. Kerry smiled back at him. She wanted to curl into his arms again, but a sharp pain in her stomach had her groaning. Silas’s hands were around her in seconds, his eyes filled with worry. "What's wrong? Are you hurt?"

"N... No... my stomach... h... hurts," she gasped.

"Drink this." Silas held a glass to her; she hadn't noticed it before now. Kerry looked at the red liquid in the glass that looked a lot like blood. It was the same she had taken earlier that day. "Trust me, it'll help."

Hearing his reassurance, she reached out a hand and took the glass, hesitantly bringing it to her lips and taking a gulp. Silas had been right. The moment the red liquid slid down her body, she felt the cramping ease, and it even seemed that she was less tired than before. "Gosh, this stuff is awesome. Is this some kind of herbal tea?"

Her boyfriend gave her a stiff smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes. "Don't worry about it."

Kerry had a feeling he was keeping something from her, but she didn’t want to pry, so she let it go. Slowly but surely, she emptied the contents of the glass. Then she curled up against Silas and let herself fall into a comfortable sleep.

---

Kerry jolted awake, gripped by intense stomach pain that radiated through her entire being. Fear and confusion enveloped her as she struggled to make sense of the sharp discomfort. "Oh God!" The moment she tried to move from the bed, her entire vision went white with pain. It felt like her insides were being twisted.

"Kerry?" Silas, who had been engrossed in his phone, noticed her pained groan. He was by her side in seconds, his eyes filled with worry as he held her in his arms.

"Take me to the h... hospital!" she cried out, tears running down her face. She had never experienced this level of pain before, and she had no idea what had caused it.

"It's alright. You are just hungry."

"What the fuck... ah! Silas, I'm serious, take me to the hospital right now! I think I'm just dying."

Silas sighed. He turned his face away before she could see the guilty expression on his face. He reached for a glass on the bedside table; he had suspected something like this would happen, so he had come prepared. "Drink this."

Kerry stared down at the glass of red substance for the third time. She knew that Silas looking guilty could only mean that he was hiding something from her, and it likely had to do with whatever this stuff he was feeding her was. But Kerry trusted Silas with her life. Even though she didn’t know what he was thinking, she was certain he would never give her anything he knew would harm her. And the last time he had given her this, it had helped relieve her headache. So, she reached for it with shaky fingers and gulped the liquid down. She sighed at the immediate relief it brought her. The awful pain in her stomach was now nothing more than a small throb.

"What are you hiding?" she asked in a serious tone. Silas wouldn’t meet her eyes. Kerry found herself getting more worried with each passing second. The more he acted like this, the more reason she had to be suspicious of him. "Silas! What are you hiding?!"

"It's nothing. You don't need to worry about it."

"But the pain..."

"It's temporary, a phase that will pass by. I swear that I will never let anything bad happen to you. Just trust me. You do trust me, right, baby?"

Kerry had always trusted this man, even when she didn’t dare admit it herself, even during her 'Fear of vampires' era. She trusted him. But now... no! She needed to trust him. If he said it wasn’t anything bad, then it had to be. "Yeah," she said.

A pleased grin stretched across his lips. He leaned forward and pressed a kiss to her lips. Kerry returned the kiss, but her hand strayed to her stomach. Something was up; she knew it.