Exhale

Chapter Ten

Chapter Ten

That night I couldn't stop thinking about what I had witnessed earlier that day. Whatever he was, it wasn't just that one thing he was turning into. I remembered the hotel room, and how he had vampire-like characteristics. At first I was beginning to think that maybe he was one of them, but that didn't explain his telepathy ability, or the sudden shift of his eye color during different heightened emotions. Yet he was fast, and from what I could tell by the size of his biceps and toned body, he was strong.

But then why did one of his buddies mention fallen angels? It didn't make any sense. He could have been a shape-shifter. Although I don't think shape-shifting would have happened involuntarily, the way it seemed to have earlier.

When I was little, I remembered my dad having this big book of mythical/supernatural creatures. An Encyclopedia of some type. I remembered that he told me I couldn't look at it at such a young age because then it would give me nightmares. He kept it on his top bookshelf because he knew I'd try to sneak it out to look at it.

I was sure it had been in one of the boxes my mom unpacked in the room she was turning into a study. So, I'd might as well go look for it, to investigate, if anything - maybe it had the answers I was looking for, in it.

I dragged my tired self out of the tv den and down the hall to the study. The walls to the study were brown mahogany, and the floor had a deep red carpet. The wall on the south side of the room was lined with light brown bookshelves made out of oakwood, which my mom filled with books. Right next to the bookshelves was a brown desk I had never seen before, with a small, cream colored reading lamp she must have gotten from Ikea a lifetime ago. A computer monitor sat to the lamp's right.

I clicked on the reading lamp and began my search for the book. Paranormal creatures were always super intriguing to me. For a while I was bitter that my dad didn't let me look at his book, but I quickly learned to get over it.

My fingertips stroked the binding of each book as I searched, and occasionally I would pull one out to check behind it, to see if it was there. I didn't think it would be hiding behind anything currently at my level; the shelves were smaller and only seemed to be able to hold novel-sized books. The one I was looking for was the size of a dictionary.

At one point I stopped and peered up at the shelves above me. Was I really this desperate for answers?

Yes, yes I was. If this was going to be my new normal for a while- dealing with Adrian who was different - and I wasn't so sure it was in a good way - I was going to do all it took to receive some answers. After all, with the type of hell on earth he'd been putting me through, I had a right to know.

I pulled over the stool that was shoved beneath the desk, and was about to use it when a box next to it caught my eye. Carefully, I pulled it out and dusted off the flaps. Opening the top, I gazed in, and realized it was one of the boxes with all of dad's favorite stories in it. As I began to pick out different books, a big blue book with black writing caught my eye. I pulled it out and dusted it off with my hand. The title read, Paranormal 101: 100+ Paranormal Creatures From A-Z From Around the World.

Bingo.

Smirking to myself, I tucked the big book underneath my arm and shoved the box back underneath the desk, before padding to the door and shutting off the light.

I took it upstairs and locked myself in my room, before settling down on my bed and opening it to the first page.

The first creature's name that stared back at me read, Angel, and I immediately shivered. He was far from being an angel, on so many different levels.