Awakened

Delusions

"Wh-what do you mean?" I stutter. Fear slowly creeps into my thoughts.

Harry turns away and doesn't speak. I can tell he regrets saying anything at all, but he can't just leave it at that.

I move in front of him. "You're scaring me! What are you talking about?" Tears form at the corners of my eyes and he wipes them away before they can fall.

"I don't want you to hate me for telling you this," he whispers.

"For telling me what? You aren't making any sense, Harry."

He briefly closes his eyes. "I already knew who you were before we even met. I knew you were going to be at the park that morning."

"Oh my god! Did you have something to go with the car that almost hit me?"

He tugs at his hair. "No! Of course not. I just-"

"You just what? Followed me? Stalked me?"

He drops his hands to the side. "Y/N, no! It wasn't like that."

"Then what?" I practically cry out.

"The thing is that," he takes a deep breath and stares deep into my eyes, "You're not entirely, one hundred percent... human."

I unconsciously step back, gasping. "What?"

He closes his eyes, as if he's the one in pain, though he probably is. "I said that you're not-"

"I know what you said!" I study his face. This all has got to be a joke, right? A sharp breath escapes from me. "This isn't funny, Harry."

"I'm being serious, Y/N. When you were born, your DNA was tampered with. You were born weak, and you're parents, they couldn't bear the thought of losing you, so they took a chance on an under-the-radar medical treatment that hadn't been approved yet, but it worked and you survived."

I hold up a hand, already shaking my head. "Stop. That can't be true."

"But it is true."

"My parents have never mentioned that to me before."

He sighs in frustration. "Why would they say anything when everything turned out fine? At least, that's what they think."

I tug at the roots of my hair. "Even if it is true, I'm still human."

"I never said you weren't. Just that you aren't all-"

I cut him off. "How do you even know this?"

He lets out a shaky breath. "Because I'm like you."

"What does that even mean, Harry!" I yell. A dog barks nearby so I lower my voice. "You keep saying that I'm not 'fully' human and that my DNA has been altered, but how does that affect me?"

Harry just shrugs and shoves his hands deep into his pockets. "It means we have superpowers."

I'm speechless for a few seconds and multiple thoughts run through my mind. Now I understand. Harry has lost his mind. How have I not seen it? I knew he was too good to be true.

"You're crazy, Harry. You need help." I slowly start backing away from him. He's not the person I thought he was at all. How did I miss the signs?

He takes a step towards me. "Y/N, wait-"

"Leave me alone! Just stay the hell away from me!"

Harry drops his hands to his sides and looks at me, defeated. "If that's what you truly want."

Once I make sure he isn't going to come after me, I run back home. The wind helps dry my tears as I focus on keeping one foot in front of the other. Not once do I turn around.

*

It has been about three weeks since I have last seen Harry. I stopped running in the mornings and instead go late on afternoons that I have free, making sure that I am on a different path. I don't want to risk seeing him again.

Harry doesn't work as a lifeguard at the pool anymore, which both relieves and disappoints me, so they brought in a new girl to take his place. We get along just fine, but I still half-expect to see him sitting in the chair when I look up. It's a painful reminder every time.

My weird dreams happen almost every night now, but I barely remember them since I am too focused on the headache I wake up with. I routinely have to take an Advil with my breakfast now in order to get through the day. Maybe I should see a doctor about them. They don't seem to be normal.

I am sure Jacob knows that something happened between me and Harry. He isn't pushing to know all the details, though. He thinks that our relationship turned out to be a summer fling. Maybe that's all it truly was. Something that was never meant to last.