KIERAN
Ava walks out of my room and I wait until I hear her get into her car and drive off. Then I rise to my feet, shaking off the slight dizzy spell that blurs my vision. I take my bath and get dressed in a white T-shirt, a black leather jacket, black jeans and combat boots. Ruffling my messy hair a bit, I grab my phone and wallet. I step into the sitting room. Aidan is sitting on one of the couches, typing rapidly across his phone screen. A scowl appears on his face as soon as he notices my presence.
"Done fucking the slut?" He asks, not taking his eyes off the screen. Usually, that statement would be the start of an argument between us or a session of throwing painful punches at each other. But right now, I'm already running late for work and I'm so not in the mood for all that crap.
Arlie on the hand, glares at Aidan and chucks her eraser at him.
"Watch your mouth, you rascal" she scolds him before turning to look at me.
"Kier, I don't think you should go to work like this. You're still not a 100% okay "
"I'm fine. I'll be back in a few hours. Until then, please don't set the house on fire" I say and she smiles at me. I open the front door and step out of the apartment, breathing in the cold air. Winter's just around the corner and it's already starting to show.
I shove my hands into the pocket of my jeans as I make my way down the street. Midnight Blue is not too far away from our apartment, so walking all the way isn't a hard task. I finally get to my destination, the words 'Midnight Blue' glowing brightly with bright blue light in the front of the loud, slightly cramped bar.
The multicolored lights blind me for a second and I blink until my eyes finally adjust to it. I've been working at this bar for three months but I've still not gotten used to the blinding bright light and the loud music.
"What's up, Kier?!" Max, my co-worker yells over the loud music as he pours out some beer.
"Keep your voice down, asshole. You're gonna ruin my eardrums at this rate" I reply.
He chuckles and slowly scans me with his dark beady eyes.
"You okay?"
"Mhmm"
"You look even more exhausted, these days. Are the girls keeping you up?" He asks, wiggling his brows.
I roll my eyes and set to work. "I don't know what you're talking about"
"Sure. Sure, you don't"
I laugh and take off my leather jacket. Half an hour later, the bar is completely filled up and my exhaustion is quickly catching up to me.
An hour through my shift, a dark shadow looms over me and I look up to see a tall dark haired male, probably in his late twenties. His grey eyes meet mine and I stiffen. His eyes are glowing oddly. So, I try to convince myself that my head is probably just messing with me.
"You look even stunning in person. The photographs didn't do you justice" he says with a smirk on his face.
"What are you talking about?" I say, narrowing my eyes. "Nevermind, Kieran"
A shiver runs down my spine and I glare at him as hard as I can. "How do you know my name?" I ask and he rolls his eyes. "I'll be seeing you, soon" he whispers and in a twinkle of an eye, he vanishes into thin air. Stunned and rendered completely speechless, blood drains from my face. My knees buckle and I grip the counter to keep myself steady. "Max?" I say and my co-worker moves over to me.
"Woah, dude! You're as white as paper!"
"I'll be right back, can you um- cover for me for a moment?"
He nods, his eyes still holding concern for me.
"Thanks" I breathe and shakily make my way to the break room. I end up in the restroom few minutes later. Splashing water on my face with shaky hands, I struggle to maintain my composure. Suddenly, the whole place spins and my vision turns grey, black spots dancing around the edges. I immediately grip the sink to keep myself upright. My stomach churns and bile threatens to travel up my throat. A sharp pain claws it's way from my spine to the base of my skull and a pathetic whimper escapes my lips. With blurry vision, I gaze at my reflection in the mirror only to notice the red sclera that now surrounds my neon green irises. Confused, I blink to clear my vision but my eye color remains unchanged. I immediately start to panic. I am pretty sure my eyes are usually not neon green and they usually don't have grey rings around them. The pain in the base of my skull spikes up and I heave into the sink, my stomach muscles clenching painfully. I'm shaking so much and can barely see straight at this point. My panic grows and I instantly begin to hyperventilate.
"It's okay- you're okay. Just breathe" an oddly familiar voice penetrates through the haze that holds me captive.
A gentle hand caresses my back as I heave painfully into the sink, my body trembling hard.
Slowly, my body relaxes and I slump down the wall, pulling my knees to my chest as I drag in air into my starved lungs. I rest my head against the wall and close my eyes, fully aware of someone else's presence in the stall. My mind slowly starts to replay everything that has happened today and I clench my fist. I finally realize that I'm not normal. Something is awfully wrong with me and I need to figure out what it is. Moreso, the grey eyed mystery man I'd seen didn't seem to be human and whatever he is, I can't take him for granted. I need to know what he wants from me.
"Are you okay?" the female sitting beside me asks and I instantly recognize the voice. My eyes fly open and I turn to look at her. She's wearing a black leather jacket, a black T-shirt, blue ripped jeans and black biker boots. She's also wearing a lip ring and a black beanie. She's got the whole bad girl thing going for her.
"Sapphire. W-what are you doing here?" I ask
"I came here tonight with my friend. I didn't know you worked here. I noticed that you didn't look okay, so I followed you to make sure you were alright" she says and I stiffen, several thoughts arising in my mind.
Had she seen me hyperventilating?
Had she seen my weird coloured eyes?
With a loud gasp, I rise to my feet and gaze at my reflection in the mirror. To my horror, my irises are still neon green with a red ring around them.
Oh my God!
"There's really no need to hide such beautiful eyes" Sapphire says from behind me and my blood runs cold.
"What are you talking about?" I say, looking anywhere but at her.
She lets out a long sigh and grabs my hand.
"Look at me" she breathes.
"What?! No!"
"Come on. Please? Just a glimpse"
I frown and slowly turn to look at her. Her blue eyes are so bright, they are actually glowing. My heart sinks when I notice the grey ring that surrounds her irises. "H-how? Your eyes weren't like this earlier today" I say and she smiles at me. "Now you don't have to handle this secret alone. This will be our little secret. We're both the same, see?"
I stare at her, gobsmacked.
"You know what I am?" I ask, cautiously and she nods, her grin not leaving her face.
"My dad was an exiled angel. I guess that makes me a Nephilim"
"W-what?"
"I would show you my wings. But, this place is kind of small" she says without a hint of sarcasm or amusement. She looks totally serious and that frightens me even more.
"If you're a Nephilim, what am I?" I say.
"You're a hybrid, Kier"
"What's a hybrid?"
"One who has both angel blood and demonic blood running in his veins. No one can know about what you really are or they'll hurt you. They might even kill you. You're so powerful and you don't even know it. But since I'm your new friend, I'll help you keep this secret" Sapphire whispers.
I give her a small smile, grateful that I won't be handling my new problems alone.
"Thank you" I breathe and she chuckles.
"You're welcome, K"
I turn back to glare at my reflection.
"Now, how do I hide this?" I mumble.
"Your powers are fueled by your emotions, K. All you have to do is relax and allow yourself to calm down"
"How do I do that? It's not everyday that I find out that I'm not a human! My entire life has been a lie! A bloody lie!" I exclaim.
"I know you desperately need to let out all this pent up anger and emotions but, you can't do that here right now. Someone might hear you" Sapphire whispers, her gaze softening. Ashamed of myself after the sudden outburst, I lower my head and mutter an apology.
"This is really a bad hair day for me. It's like all my misfortunes are happening in one day and it's overwhelming"
"I understand. Now, breathe. When you get home, you have all the time in the world to think about this. But right now, you really need to calm down"
"Right. I need to calm down" I mutter and close my eyes. I inhale slowly and let my shoulders slouch slightly. When I finally exhale and open my eyes, they're back to normal.
"Nice. Now, let's get out of this place. You need to go home and get some rest. You shouldn't be working at a time like this" Sapphire says and I nod. We both leave the stall. Then I inform Dave, the owner of the bar that I needed to leave because I wasn't feeling good. Sapphire and I walk all the way to the front door of my apartment.
"Don't forget what I said, okay? I'll see you tomorrow, K" she says and winks at me.
I watch her as she walks away, my heart feeling heavier than usual.
"I'm so screwed" I mutter as I open the front door. The house is eerily silent and dark. Biting my lower lip, I reach out to the wall to search for the switch. My fingers brush the cold switch after a few seconds. As soon as I switch the lights on, two people jump into my line of vision.
"Happy birthday, Kier!"
"Happy birthday, baby boy!"
I gasp dramatically, clutching my chest for a more dramatic effect.
"My goodness! You nearly gave me a heart attack!" I exclaim. Mum and Arlie burst into laughter and embrace me. I close my eyes, wishing that everything is still normal because my life is more or less soon going to become a lie.