The hooded girl tightened her arm around my waist, inching the knife closer to my Adam's apple.
"Where is Zela?" Anger pulsed in her words; I could tell her teeth were gritted from the sound of them.
I was frozen, death upon me. I couldn't move. My life played before my eyes—the life I dreamed of could be gone in an instant.
"You gonna answer me?!" she demanded.
"I'll take you to her," I quickly replied. Questions raced through my head. I carefully kept my hands where she could see them and made my way down the hall to the bedroom door. I placed my hand on the doorknob and paused. Could this girl be trying to hurt Zela?
"Come on! Open it!" The girl shook me, snapping me out of my thoughts. I turned the knob and we walked inside. The girl scanned the room, her eyes locking onto the bed. This is where I lose my life, I thought.
"Zela!" the girl shouted, pushing me to the floor and running over to the bed.
"Zela! Wake up!"
I threw out my arms to break my fall and rolled like a ninja, staying kneeling as I craned my neck to peer at the edge of the bed where the newly unhooded girl stood.
She stood there, eyes wide, shaking the lump in the bed. Her green hair swayed as she kneaded the mass in the center of the bed. I noticed two small horns protruding from her head—just like Zela's.
After a few more shakes, Zela was abruptly woken up. It was something I never dared to do; the consequences could be dangerous. A demon without her beauty sleep was a recipe for disaster.
"Ngh," Zela groaned.
An instant later, a pillow flew off the bed and into the girl's face, knocking her off balance and onto her butt. "Shut up! Be quiet!"
The force of the hit would have been enough to knock me out, but the girl took it like a champ and stood up effortlessly. The only thing out of place was her hair. Zela turned to see who she had just pummeled, her eyes widening and her mouth dropping open.
"Sister?" Tears bubbled in the corners of Zela's eyes. After seeing the horns, I concluded that the two were related in some way. It seemed they were sisters. Zela would have gotten up to hug and greet her sister, but all she could do was sit and hold her arms out, waiting for an embrace. Zela's sister noticed the stump of her arm but avoided saying anything.
"I am here now," Zela's sister said, embracing her in an emotional display—a rekindling. I kept quiet, not wanting to ruin their perfect moment together, but attention was soon brought to me.
"What happened?" Zela's sister asked, holding Zela's shoulders at arm's length and looking at her arm, then her eyepatch, before eyeing me, assuming I was the reason for her injuries.
Zela didn't say anything and simply uncovered herself, revealing the state of her leg. She also removed the eyepatch. "A lot has happened over the years," Zela said, smiling, though her expression eventually wavered, leading to looks of sadness and a few sorrowful tears.
Her sister gritted her teeth, exposing a long canine, before turning all her attention to me. In a flash, the girl was holding me by the collar of my scrubs, cursing me. Death would come soon.
"ZURI, STOP!" As if she were a savior from on high, Zela intervened with an ear-piercing scream. "Do not harm Dobin!"
Zela's sister, Zuri, furrowed her eyebrows, looking from me to Zela. "Put him down!" Zela commanded, her voice filled with such conviction and poise that it almost sounded like a threat.
Zuri obeyed her sister's command, throwing me to the ground.
"Has he brainwashed you? This filthy human?" Zuri asked Zela, standing over me, her face full of disdain.
"Sister, he is different," Zela said.
"Hahaha! Don't make me laugh, Zela. You should know best—there's no such thing as a 'different' human. What has he done to you?" Zuri asked, laughing, as if the idea of a good human was impossible.
"Sister…" Zela said, staring down Zuri. "It's because of everything I've been through that I know he is different." Zela spoke with grave intensity—a sure sign she was telling the truth. I knew my words would do nothing to convince Zuri, so I kept quiet, watching the showdown between the two demon sisters.
"I understand, Zela. If you say things with such conviction, the only thing I can do is believe you," Zuri admitted, though she still stared daggers at me.
Just then, I saw the front door of the clinic open. I was stuck in a predicament. Should I let the door open and risk the people outside seeing Zuri standing over me, her demon horns on full display? Or should I risk my life by lunging toward the door and shutting it before they could enter?
I made a split-second decision and dove for the door under Zuri's legs. "What?!" Zuri shouted. I managed to slam the door before the patients made their way inside, and I was still alive. I heaved a sigh of relief.
"Hello?" A man's voice came from the waiting room.
"I'll be out in one second, sir!" I shouted through the door, which was met with an "Okay!" from the man.
If the social stigma around demons hadn't existed, it would have been fine for the patient to see Zuri. But with how things were, he could have reported a demon in Ultsar and started a witch hunt.
"I'm sorry," I said to Zuri, bowing my head. "I moved without saying anything, but if he saw you, the consequences could have been bad." Zuri furrowed her brow once more, looking from me to Zela.
Zela looked back proudly, as if saying, See? He's not a bad one.
"I'll excuse myself; I need to help this patient," I said to the two of them. Zela nodded, and I left the bedroom, letting the two rekindle their relationship in private.
Dobin left the room, leaving me alone with Zuri, my twin sister. A girl I hadn't seen in years—she wasn't a girl anymore. She'd developed into a full-grown woman, exuding confidence.
"So…" I said, the silence awkward.
"Tell me everything, please," Zuri said, sitting on the edge of the bed and offering a hand, a shoulder to rest on. The most I had told anyone was Dobin. Could I really tell my sister everything?
I shared as much as I could, squeezing her hand harder and harder as the conversation continued. I remembered the feeling of my hand being purposefully crushed by a boulder, the agony of my leg being sawed off, and how I was constantly brought back to consciousness by a drug.
I didn't share everything—I couldn't, not now. Maybe one day. But for now, I told her about the major events and moved on to the recent events of my life. I told her about Dobin, how we first met at the slave house in Ultsar.
I shared how I was skeptical at first, but his actions—like ripping up the ownership papers and feeding me good food—earned my trust. I told her about the trauma of the maggot infection in my leg and how Dobin calmly treated me.
I contemplated not sharing how he bathed me and treated me with respect but chose to anyway.
"He doesn't leer at me. I truly believe he wants me to genuinely get better, expecting nothing in return," I said. Every human before him had been horrible, lustful. But Dobin was different.
"Do you think he can make you better?" Zuri asked—the question I had been pondering since the moment I arrived.
"He gave me the option to leave, and that still stands. I can leave at any moment. But, yes, I believe he can treat me," I said. I'd never said it out loud before; I'd only held my true feelings deep in my heart.
"I understand. So that must mean you don't want to come with me when I return to the Roark tribe?" Zuri asked. The Roark tribe—it was home, a place I hadn't seen in decades. I dreamt of returning, but with the possibility of being healed, I chose to stay.
"I don't. I want to face them healed, with the ability to walk. Returning any other way, I would just be a burden," I replied. Zuri shook her head.
"You know you would never be a burden, but I understand what you're saying," she said. I wanted to face them as a complete being, like before I left.
The conversation died out, and we just sat there, hand in hand, processing everything we had discussed.
"I'm glad I found you," Zuri said, not looking at me. "It took years, but every second was worth it because I knew I would get this moment—when we would be reunited." Zuri turned, tears flowing down her cheeks. She moved her hand and fell onto me, crying into my chest as I stroked her hair.