"You are human." The lie leaves my lips in a whisper. I close my eyes and force myself to believe it. They won't be convinced if I don't. Sweat collects on my forehead at the sound of a mouse darting through the grass. Only the mutts are able to hear a sound like that from the seventh floor. "You are just human..."
The knock on the door sends my head flying up from its bowed position. I'm met with a pair of glowing eyes in the bathroom mirror. Gold. New. Mine.
"Everything okay?" My girlfriend's voice sounds like a loudspeaker from the other side of the door. I wince. Sounds, sights, smells, all of it. There's no escaping. No hiding.
"I-I'm fine." Eyes closed, I swallow and take a breath. "I'll be out in a minute." She stands there a moment longer, her every heartbeat a comforting measure of time. "I'm okay, Laina," I insist. Her quiet footsteps lead back to the bed.
I wash my face with cold water and work up the courage to face the mirror again. When I do, the glow has faded away. All that remains are tiny golden flecks that blend in with the natural brown of my eyes. Golden flecks that won't be missed during the scheduled examination tomorrow.
My face dry, I shuffle back to bed. I keep my back to my girl in case my eyes act up again. She's pretending to be asleep but her breathing pattern says otherwise.
"Arlo..." Her gentle voice breaks the quiet. She turns towards me and places a hand on my arm. "You know you can talk to me about whatever's bothering you." I debate lying, or not answering at all. As time goes on I feel worse and exposed as if she's already figured it out.
"I'm just nervous about the exam tomorrow," I say. She gives a soft laugh that I suppose was meant to be comforting.
"Sweetheart all they're going to do is make sure you weren't bit. You don't even have to study for it." She leans over and kisses my cheek with a smile. "Nothing to worry about." There's a pause and her mood shifts just slightly; something I never would have been able to sense before now. "Unless you were bit." Laina nudges me, lighthearted.
It's an act now. I can feel a difference. I don't know what happened but in the past couple seconds she's developed fear. A fear of me. Out of all the emotions I'm learning to sense, none come close to the strength of fear. I can almost smell it on her.
My mind snaps to full focus when I realize she's reaching for her phone.
"Babe, wait!" I roll over and stop her hand. "I'm fine. I promise."
"They why are you nervous?" The look in her eyes is far from trusting. Lie, my mind tells me. Now is when you lie.
"I—" My voice cuts short at the howl that slices through the night. Every muscle in my body tenses to run. My heart races.
"Arlo?" Laina pulls away from my grip and rubs her hand as if hurt.
"Listen..." My gaze darts to the window. Mutts can be heard all throughout the night far out in the Reserve, but never one with a howl like that. Straining to hear for it a second time, I get off the bed and wait at the window. My patience is rewarded and the howl returns. It echoes in my head and I freeze. The sound is personal. Loud. And haunting. I shake my head and stumble back. It wants me to run.
When I turn from the window Laina is standing behind me looking unsettled. I can't tell if it's her heartbeat that's racing, or mine. She takes my hands in hers and speaks in an odd tone. It sets off a panic inside me.
