Beating Heart

Chapter 7

Ana's POV

Swiiiissshh, swiiiish, swiiiiishh

Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr......

Drip, drip, drip

Oh. Owww. What is that?

All these noises, they're amplified. It's like they're inside my head, not ouside, and I can't make them go away. Ahhhh, they're hurting my ears.

Somebody DO something!

Mom?

I realize, and it feels like cold water running down my body, that I can't move. I'm asleep and I can't wake up. Panic surges but this time more like a tsunami wave and I try my hardest to move, to open my eyes, to scream. But nothing happens.

What the hell--?

The demon. That's the last thing I remember. I killed it in my house, with my necklace. 

Shit.

My necklace is gone. That means my scent isn't suppressed anymore.

Oh no. Miles. He was in my house. He found me, straight after the demons demise. I had my wings out and my necklace was gone. I mean pretty shortly after that my wings would've disappeared on their own accord, but still... he saw them.

The last thing I remember is seeing him. Now the question is, where am I now? Surely not in my house. There's too much noise. I may be unable to move but my senses seem to be coming back. My hearing is little loopy right now, but that won't be for long. 

Now, focus, what do you hear? What to do you smell?

Clattering, metal against metal. The dripping of water, hollow and far away. A strange, high-pitched, and to be completely honest, annoying beeping. With my next inhale I focus on my sense of smell, and if I could've moved I would've scrunched my nose. My nostrils are now burning with the scent of harsh chemicals.

HOSPITAL! I have to be in a hospital.

My smugness over being able to deduce that is short lived, because I shouldn't be in a hospital. Hospitals are for humans, not... supernatural creatures. Specially not Cydras. We are, technically, magic itself. Sure we hold a human form, but we aren't born, like Werewolves and Witches, we are created. So I'm not very educated on the science behind it but I'm pretty sure the chemistry of my body will not resemble a humans. Or any other creature for that matter... except maybe vampires. After all they are also the Witches' creation.

Okay! We're getting side-tracked. I hiss internally as a strange uncomfortable ache starts spreading through me, like someone is slowly turning up the dial on my nerves' sensitivity. I can start feeling my injuries.

I'm momentarily distracted by an urgent - and distorted - familiar voice, "Okay, run me through the whole thing again. I need to understand what happened. What the hell was a demon doing at her house?"

Seth? How was he here? Maybe Miles told him. I try to catch a scent to be sure, but when I get nothing I deduce they must be outside the room I'm being held in. 

"They don't attack someone without their master's orders. Someone had to send it—" the guy's words are so mushed together I have to strain to catch them all.

"I'm aware of that, Beta," says another voice, which sounds much younger than the other one. With my hearing slowly coming back, my senses slowly sharpening to their usual point, I recognize the voice.

Miles.

I freeze. Beta? 

No. It couldn't be. Please, no. Miles couldn't be part of this too. The one friend I thought couldn't get any more human. If there's one person who deserves to stay out of this mess is Miles.