Aria opened her eyes and found herself facing the creepy creature she saw before. She turned and sprinted away from the creature. She ran until she began to feel her legs aching and her lungs burning every time she drew a breath. From time to time, she checked if the creature is behind her. She wanted to stop to catch her breath but every time she nearly did, a wail would resound from a distance.
She resolutely kept dashing because she knew that it would be over if the creature ever catches up. Lost in this thought, she tripped on her foot and stumbled forward. Closing her eyes, she braced herself for the fall but she did not feel the ground. Instead, something lightly coiled around her abdomen suspending her in the air. She looked down and saw a pair of pale remotely human hands was encircling her midsection.
Aria sensed it breathing down her neck. She attempted to wriggle out of the creature's hold but she could not break free. The hands tightened around her and she found it very painful to breathe.
When she could not bear it anymore, she did the only thing she could do.
She screamed.
"AHHHHHHHHH!"
"Miss! Please calm down." Aria heard a female voice. "Somebody, please call the doctor."
She opened her eyes and saw a woman wearing scrubs towering over her.
Aria had many questions she wanted to ask the woman. She kept her gaze focused on the woman and when she was about to speak, she felt her consciousness slipping.
"W-What…" She managed to say before she fainted.
**********
"Aria."
"Hey, Aria."
"Aria, wake up. Please wake up now."
Aria heard a familiar voice urging her to wake, then she felt someone holding her hand. The first thing she saw upon opening her eyes was the worried face of Cassandra.
Aria never liked seeing her sister wearing that expression so even though her whole body is aching and her head is throbbing, she still managed a smile. Cassandra's worried expression replaced by a relieved one. She wanted to lift her hand to reach her sister but her body as did not obey her. She clenched her teeth and tried again.
"Aria, it's okay. Don't try to move yet. You've been unconscious for three days now, ever since the incident. Let me call for some help." Cassandra let go of Aria's hand and reached for the wheels on either side of the chair she was sitting on.
"Cass…" Aria said when she noticed Cassandra was sitting in a wheelchair.
"Aria, I'm okay. They assured me that I'll be back on my feet in a week at most." Cassandra assured Aria as she maneuvered the wheelchair a little to reach the button on the side of the bed where Aria lay. "I already called the college and they agreed to excuse you two weeks at most. As for your part-time job...I'm sorry. They had to replace you."
Relief and sadness filled Aria. She was grateful that the college excused her but losing her part-time job put her close to tears. Her heart felt heavy when she thought about Cassandra shouldering all their expenses.
"No..." She gripped Cassandra's hand when she realized she hasn't gone to work because of what happened to them. Tears filled her eyes as held her sister's gaze. As she rapidly blinked away her tears she noticed a faint gold glow flickering around her sister.
"Cass…gold…" Her parched throat prevented her to say what wanted Cassandra to know. Cassandra raised her eyebrows at her quizzically. Before Aria think of a reply, a fair-haired woman wearing scrubs entered the room.
"Hello, I'm Ms. Maria Nate. You can call me Miss Nate." The woman greeted as she approached Aria's bed. The steady light blue glow around the woman caught her attention. She felt clueless about what is happening to her.
[Did the incident somehow mess with my head?] She remembered the woman that turned into that creepy creature. [Am I going crazy?]
Aria was startled out of her thoughts when felt the upper half of bed slowly tilting. She saw that Miss Nate was already beside her pressing the control button for the bed. Miss Nate helped her get into a comfortable reclining position. Afterward, she was made to drink warm water, which soothed her sore throat.
"How are you feeling, Aria?" Miss Nate asked after she finished drinking.
"I-I feel like…I've been run over by a car,"
Ms. Nate chuckled slightly. "Don't worry, dear, you'll feel better in a day or two."
"How? I mean, you're not administering medicine or something."
"That's because you don't need one, dear." Miss. Nate gently stroked her head. "I know you have a lot of questions but I'm afraid I'm not the right person to answer that. Somebody will be coming shortly to do that."
She turned to Cassandra who sat beside Aria. "Cassandra, dear, you should rest. Let's get you back to your room."
Cassandra nodded. "Get well really soon, kiddo." She said then she let Ms. Nate push her towards the glazed glass door, which automatically slid open when they drew near and closed after they left the room.
Aria kept her gaze fixed on the door. A few minutes later, she saw a familiar young man enter. When she first saw him, she was not able to see some of his features because stood afar. Now that he stood by her bed, Aria observed him clearly. He is tall and well-built and his posture exuded confidence. He had an attractive face with high cheekbones, perfectly shaped lips, and a prominent jaw. What fascinated Aria, though, was his deep-set crimson eyes and the faint deep red glow wrapped around him, hinting something otherworldly about him.
"Miss Aria Selman, I'm Agent Jules Frey of the Cerberus. You may call me Frey. I'm sent here to answer your questions." The young man spoke with a familiar calm yet authoritative voice.
"So..." Aria started, "Frey, where are we?"
"In our city base. I and my colleagues brought you and your sister in here for treatment."
"Treatment?"
"Both of you were hit by the banshee's strong spiritual attack. I don't know how it's possible but both of you survived and awakened dormant abilities instead. We had to bring you in here to help you complete your awakening."
"Wait! You lost me after the banshee there. Can we start again?"
"Sure."
"Okay, then. Is the banshee the one with hollow eye sockets and creepy mouth?" Frey's eyebrows shot up.
"Did I say something wrong?" Aria was puzzled by Frey's reaction.
"No, you did not say anything wrong. On the contrary, your description was accurate. Too accurate." Frey touched his chin and directed his gaze upward, looking uncertain about something. "How do I explain this?" Aria heard him mumble.
After a few minutes, he snapped out of the pensive state he was in, looked at Aria and cleared his throat.
"The banshee that you saw is one of the creatures we collectively call as the underworlders-which is a misnomer," Frey emphasized, "but that's not the point." He quickly added.
"Usually, normal humans would not be able to see the underworlders once the release the physical form they took and returned to their real forms because they are spiritual beings. But you were able to see the Banshees true form even before you awakened."
"So that means I'm not normal?" Aria asked. It bothered her that she seemed to have accepted everything Frey told her quite easily.
"Yes, it does...You know, you seem to be taking this really well. You don't seem to be bothered by anything I told you." Frey remarked when he saw Aria's calm expression.
"To be honest, I'm not bothered by any of that, instead, I feel weird for not being bothered when I should be. I should be panicking and denying the heck out of everything right now, but I'm not. This is just so weird." Aria confessed.
"Hey, Frey, can I ask you something?"
"Ask away."
"What's the weird glowy thing that I'm seeing around people? Is it related to the awakening thing you mentioned?"
For the second time, Aria saw Frey's shocked expression.
"Oh, hell." She heard Frey whisper. Then she saw the corner of his lips curl slightly upward for a moment. "Yes. Yes, it is. Miss Selman, you are full of surprises."
[You are the one that's surprising, and you totally don't make sense.] Aria mused. "You're confusing me, you know. What do you mean by that?"
"The 'glowy things' you are seeing are auras, and being able to see them is considered a rare ability. Currently, there are only two people who can do that within our headquarters. The rest of those with awakened abilities can only sense them." Frey explained. "By the way, the awakening is the process where a person becomes able to use a dormant ability inherited from an ancestor."
Aria widened her eyes and slightly shook her head. "So I inherited a rare ability from an ancestor who had it? My sister did too, right? Because she had a gold glowy thing around her."
"Yes, you both did."
"Can a person inherit more than one ability?" A feeling of excitement filled Aria.
"Yes."
"How will I know what kind of abilities have I inherited?"
"We need to get you tested."