She stood in front of him without moving, breathing through her mouth, expecting a detailed explanation. But the details never came, as Eric moved closer to her and her body instinctively retracted a few steps behind.
"Don't be scared, I would never hurt you," she heard Eric say with a hint of desperation in his voice. "I could never hurt you," he added as a statement to reassure her. "I'm sorry this came too soon, and you couldn't prepare yourself, but it was necessary. I couldn't delay it anymore."
"What do you mean? I don't understand anything," Raina said, desperation audible in her voice. "What is happening? Where am I? Where's my son?", she started throwing question after question, without letting Eric respond to any of it.
"Raina, please hear me out. Your son is here, but you cannot meet him yet. You are not ready, and you might end up hurting him. You must get used to your new condition first. I know you are confused, but please trust me. If I had a choice, I would have prepared you beforehand. But the situation was critical, and I couldn't leave it as it was. You remember you were involved in an accident, right?"
"Yes, I was with my son on our way home. I remember something appeared out of nowhere in the middle of the road and I tried to avoid it, but the car crashed and flipped upside down.", Raina recalled.
"Not something, Raina, someone.", Eric said. "Someone jumped in front of your car. That someone was after your life. Your life after the car crash was in danger, you almost died. So I had to move my plans ahead of time and had to make your transformation earlier than planned."
"Transformation?", Raina asked confused.
"Yes. You feel it, don't you? You are not like before.", Eric responded. "You were meant to be one of us long before you were born, but I wanted you to enjoy your life as a human for as long as you could before I activated the genes."
"Genes? What genes? Long before I was born…? I don't understand.", Raina repeated confused.
"Raina Reed, you are not a normal human, you are a superior being and you were destined to become one. Your genes were dormant until now, but I have awoken them. I initially planned to approach you in a couple of years, when you were 35, and explain everything to you before turning you. But that plan was destroyed by our enemies."
Raina, tried to digest the information that came her way, but she was getting more and more confused. What superior being, what transformation? She was an ordinary woman that led an ordinary life. She was a divorcee and a single mom. She wanted to live her life the way she always had. She wanted her son.
She was starting to lose her temper more and more as she thought about what he said to her. The rage within her started to grow uncontrollably and, in no time, she charged at him again, going for the kill. But then, a strong force repelled her, and she found herself backing down. It was as if a glass was hitting a concrete wall, and she subconsciously fell back until she hit what she thought was the bed. She climbed on it and crouched, holding her knees in fear.
"Raina, please…", Eric trailed off, not wanting to agitate her any further. "I told you I can't hurt you, so don't fear me. I'm sorry, my natural instincts kick in if my body is attacked, but I won't hurt you. I would rather let you hurt me instead."
"Why?", Raina asked through her clenched teeth.
"It's a long story, there will be another time for that. For now, let me help you with your new condition. I have given you some explanations, but there is more. You asked me why you are blindfolded, and I told you it's for your own sake. When the transformation takes place, all your senses become ten times stronger than before. And your senses weren't ordinary before either. It's sometimes overwhelming, so I tried limiting the impact it has on you. You remember what hearing those loud noises provoked in you, and the smell is the last sense that heightens, so I wanted you to get accustomed slowly. I tried to keep you from touching too many things. And the blindfold is there to let you accustom yourself to the other senses before adding vision to them.
You should keep it on for now, as your smell is already almost at its peak, and we wouldn't want your vision to deter your accustoming. Although, because of this, your instincts might kick in more often than not, and you might attack at any point. That is why, until you are in full control, you cannot meet your son, do you understand?", Eric concluded.
"No!", Raina shouted. "Why are you doing this to me? Who are you? What do you want from me? I want my life back!"
A pained voice came from Eric. "I'm sorry, Raina, but there's no turning back. I know it's hard to comprehend, but you have to. It's your destiny, and though it began sooner than planned, you have to go through this all. I'm sorry, if I had a choice, I would go through all this in your place. But I can't. I'm sorry…"
"Get out!", Raina shouted in a fury. She heard the footsteps and the door closing. She thought of all he said, and she became more and more enraged. Why? She had her son, she had her plans, she had her life. Now what? As she went through these emotions, fury took over her body. It was as if her body had its own mind and she began destroying everything she touched. She couldn't cope with all that was happening, and her body wanted a release. She didn't know what she was grabbing, and she didn't care. It was like all she could feel was fury. She crashed everything she put her hands on and kicked everything that came to her feet. She didn't bother with the loud noises her movements provoked. She didn't care what her hands were smashing. At some point she kicked what seemed like a wall and she sensed a hole forming in it.
She gradually snapped out of her mood when she touched the hole made by her foot. She realized the force she used when she touched the wall and realized the strong material it was made of. When did she become so strong? Is this part of her transformation as well? This thought made her stop completely.
After a few minutes, the door opened again. Another voice, which Raina recognized as the man called Howard, called to her. "Geez, Raina, do you want to tear this place apart? Goddamn, girl, we need redecorating now. Maybe some pillars to be replaced. Thank God you finally stopped, if not, this place would have been leveled down completely." He started laughing shortly after finishing speaking.
"Eric's going to have a lot on his plate with you. It's making me laugh so hard. Huh, let's see the almighty Lord dealing with you. It's going to be a good show to watch.", Howard continued with an amused voice.
"I dare you to say something like that again", Raina spouted, taking an attack stand. Howard stopped laughing and tried to pacify her. "There, there, I was joking around a bit, you don't need to get so feisty. I only came to check if you are alright after all those crashing sounds and to ask you if you are hungry."
Raina stopped and wondered if she was hungry or not. It seemed not, and she still felt very energetic. She felt like the bunny in that advertisement for batteries. "No, I'm not hungry," she replied. "But I feel a little thirsty," she added.
"Hmmm…you have to hold it a little longer, sweetie, it's not time to quench your thirst yet.", Howard said in a matter-of-fact tone. "Let's see if you're ready for the next step."
And as he said this, he made a loud noise, crashing something near her. She immediately charged without warning, but she was held back by a strong arm. "Seems not.", Howard said. "You have to work harder, sweetie, if not we have to move around for a long time. Concentrate harder and keep your focus. Otherwise, you're like a ticking bomb, ready to destroy everything at any point in time."
Raina became aware of her stance in that moment. She tried breathing deep through her mouth, as she remembered the smells that were also confusing her. After some more deep breaths, she calmed down.
"Alright, let me go already, I'm calm now," she said grabbing Howard' hand. "I haven't processed anything yet. I feel like a cat thrown in the ocean right now. Let me process things through," she tried wriggling her way out of the strong arm holding her.
"Sure, sweetie," Howard said, letting her go. "Let me take you to another room, this one is unusable now. Ah, the things I need to do to please the Lord," Howard sighed with a self-mockery tone.
"Could you stop calling me sweetie? It's unnerving and I am supposed to calm down. My name is Raina, not sweetie," Raina said irritated.
"Fine, fine, your majesty. Your wish is my command," Howard replied easily. "Follow me," he urged her.
"I can't see you," she complained. But she could sense she could follow him without her vision.
As expected, he said, "You don't need to see me, what are your other senses for?" and he started walking. She followed the sound of his footsteps without any issues and stopped when he stopped. A door opened and the footsteps were heard again. She was mystified by the fact than she could even guess his body weight by the sound of his footsteps. She realized that if she accepted things coming her way, she would be amazed about her new abilities.