Epiphany

Chapter 36 Part 2~Alright?

Both our heads snapped to the side to see a cloaked figure leaning against a tree, crossing his arms over his chest. His face was mostly hidden under the shadow his hood made but he had a neatly-trimmed beard, and long thick mousy strands were flowing from either side of his face, reaching just beneath his shoulders.

What made me mechanically inch closer to Elijah was the grin planted on his face.

Is that…

“How is the girl doing?” He tilted his face backwards, scrutinizing us—or Elijah only. His eyes were concealed so I wasn’t quite sure.

But this couldn’t be him. The one who visited us in the house had wider shoulders, and a brawnier figure. This guy leaned more on the leaner type. Plus, this guy’s hair wasn’t spotted with a grey hue either. He couldn’t be Edward.

“Who?” I sensed Elijah’s body tense. “Asiya?”

The man’s grin faltered a tad. “Of course.”

“She’s fine,” Elijah quickly said. He clutched my sleeve and gave a polite nod to the man before bustling away. “Excuse me.”

I checked behind me to see the guy’s head following our movement.

Panic filled my voice. “Is that guy Edward?”

He wasn’t because he appeared much younger than Edward, but double-checking wouldn’t hurt. Perhaps the person who broke into our house wasn’t even Edward and had been his helper or something, making this guy Edward.

“No.” He glanced behind him and let go of my sleeve.

“Who’s Asiya?” Our pace returned back to normal.

He casually answered, “My fiancé.”

“Fiancé?”

“My ex-fiancé,” he said in a quick tone as though he wanted to get this off of his chest quickly.

How old was he?

“You’re sixtee…” I uttered the word slowly, not sure if I was right or not.

We slowed our pace down and he perched on a fallen trunk.

“Nineteen,” he confirmed.

This took me by surprise. He didn’t appear nor act this age. I brushed this topic away as it didn’t matter.

“What were you going to ask me?” I sat a meter away and strained my neck to look at him.

He did the same and I noticed that he looked less worn out than before. His brows were raised upwards as though anticipating something and an emotion glinted in his dark eyes.

He twisted his upper body to look behind him again as he said, “You sounded disgusted when I told you about Jesse having dreams.”

He finally affixed his gaze on me. “You do know we’re humans, right?”

“No, he’s not,” I bluntly said, feeling the familiar feeling simmering in my stomach again.

I wanted to tell him that you were—they were—all monsters disguised as humans.

“But not all of you…” I trailed off, not wanting to actually say who wasn’t a monster.

Elijah wasn’t one. But this didn’t mean that I fully, hundred percent trusted him. He was the one who gave them my personal information after all.

But speaking at the moment, I trusted him the most. At the end of the day he did save my friend. I didn’t know about his intentions, but what mattered was his actions.