Chapter Six

I sat back in the chair and processed what she had just said or at least I tried to process it.  Shock was the first thing I knew I felt and then confusion.    Confusion was something that I had battled since I arrived in this town and it seemed that it was quite the valid feeling right now. Somehow my eyes found hers and time seemed to stand still as we stared at each other, me digesting the fact that she just said we were not human and she seemed to be watching me for my reaction.    No matter how I tried to spin it her words did not make sense and if we were not human then what in the world were we. We looked human, we acted human, I for sure felt human so her statement just did not add up.

The rational side of me had twenty questions but the one that kept creeping to the front was how could anyone not be human.      I did not feel like an animal nor did I present any signs of being an animal. What even did an animal feel like anyway. There was the alien possibility, I mean people talked about aliens all the time but I think I would know if I had a space ship and reported to another planet.

I ran my hand threw my hair clearly in distress, finding myself break my gaze with Emory and look over to where Aggie stood. She was pale and stood there with her mouth ajar and eyes bulging.    It was evident that she was not happy with Emory and although she was shocked there was underlying level of anger that was seeping from her.    She was livid with her for jumping ahead of her plan I suppose of spoon feeding me information. Clearly Emory had interrupted her slow assent to telling me these so-called secrets she had promised to tell me last night.

I sighed realizing that I had not said one thing in quite a while and they were waiting to see how I reacted to this piece of information.    This led me back to my original question how were we not human, which completely floored me that I was even entertaining this idea.    I internally scoffed trying to not let out a bitter laugh more at myself than anyone else. Why had I not demanded the truth from Aggie, instead I had followed her around like a puppy dog leading me here in this room surrounded by two women who were not telling me anything that I needed to know. So, I decided right there I was taking charge, getting my answers and finding out what was really going on.  I was not going to play anymore games, give anyone else a chance to stall or entertain me with the we are not human shit anymore. 

I reached for Emory's hand and felt the shocks that becoming familiar to me shoot through my hand and up my arm.    What the hell did this reaction to her mean, not that I was complaining but it was just one more unexplainable thing that made up this place and it was starting to weird me out. As if I needed one more thing to ask about I subconsciously added it to the ever-growing list of things that I needed to ask but probably would never get answered. I know I was thinking like a shitty person but again the web of mystery they were spinning was getting old.  How hard was it to just tell someone the truth and Emory was my best bet for answers since she seemed more than willing to get right to the point.

She met my gaze with those stormy grey eyes and smiled at me.   

"Not human" I smiled as I asked this, which earned me a quizzical look from her.

"Yea, not human love" she smiled uncomfortably.

"Please no more riddles or jokes! Just the truth would be nice" I told her running my hand through my hair.

I was beyond frustrated and was growing impatient.

"I am serious, we are different" she said pausing as she looked at me as if she was trying to see if I was believed what she was saying or if I was trying to be sarcastic.

I watched her scrunch up her face at me subconsciously and smiled again at her.    The look on her face showed no deception which hit me in my heart. I did not want to be an ass to her but how could she expect me to believe her.

"Let's see,  I know we are not animals, so are you trying to tell me that we are aliens" I scoffed, which caused Aggie to come out of her trance she had been in for the last bit since Emory had dropped the bomb on me.

"Ethan don't be smart, she is trying to tell you something serious" Aggie spat.   

"So now you want to be on her side, when before you did not want her to tell me anything" I spat right back at her.

A part of me felt bad but she did not get to be mad at someone else because she was the queen of not giving answers.   

"It's not like that at all, I simply think that you could be told things in a more gentler way" she said softly.

I looked between Aggie and Emory trying to get a read on their feelings but both were hiding their emotions well at this point.

It felt like minutes passed before Aggie spoke up again "Before we go any further I need to ask you one thing".

I looked at her silently giving her the okay to continue with her question.   

"Where is the talisman that Fiona gave you" she asked. 

"Up in my room" I said as I pointed towards upstairs.

"Do you normally leave in your room or wear it" she questioned nervously.   

I cocked my head to the side while looking at her "I normally wear it around my neck as do all my family but since I have been here it has been bothering me so I took it off the first night and laid it on the nightstand".

I absently rubbed the spot on my chest where the talisman usually laid, tucked away under a shirt. Since I arrived it irritated my chest leaving it red and blistered so I had taken it off.  I had tried to put it back on a couple of times but it always burned and I had been so distracted with other things I had not had time to really look at it and see what was wrong. I noticed Aggie was watching me rub where it usually rested so I told her about what had happened. She looked concerned and walked the short distance from where she was standing and sat down on the couch. As she sat back she asked me to go get it. 

I was hesitant to leave Emory down here with her since she seemed to want to rip her to shreds just minutes ago but when I looked at each of them both Emory and Aggie nodded at me to go on.    I reluctantly let her hand go that I was still holding and walked to the stairs, looking back I watched as both the woman had stopped watching me and were looking at each other with the appearance of silently communicating. 

I got to my room and went straight to where the talisman laid and picked it up.  It immediately burnt my skin and made my head spin.  I let it drop from my hand onto the bed and stepped back looking for something to grab it with other than my aching hand. My eyes landed on a t-shirt of mine that was draped over the couch at the other end of the room and went and picked it up. As I walked over to the talisman I thought about everything and could not help but think that somehow all of this was directly related to that object that laid right in front of me. I honestly did not want to touch it again and almost called down to Aggie to come get it but a coward I was not.    I reached down and wrapped the t-shirt around it and scooped it up in my hand. As I turned to head back out of my room I leaned down and grabbed my phone and slid it into my front pocket of my jeans and walked out the door.   

I took the stairs two at a time as I sprinted down trying to get back into the room and get this talisman out of my hand. I made it to the first floor and walked quietly into the living room watching curiously as Aggie and Emory talked in a low tone to each other. As I stood there I watched as Emory turned slowly to me and motioned for me to come in with her hand.  I walked in hesitantly not knowing what was going to happen but I knew I wanted to deposit this talisman to Aggie immediately and find out what its significance was.    I sat back down in the chair I was previously in and handed the wrapped talisman over to Aggie's open hand.

"Why did you wrap it up" she asked puzzled.

"It tried to pick it up and it burned me, I don't want to ever touch that thing again" I exclaimed loudly.   

Truth was that thing was creeping me out and I wanted her to deal with it.   

"That is strange that it would burn you, may I see you hold it?"

I looked at her like she was crazy, I did not want to hold it again but the look in her eyes told me that she was not taking no for an answer. Once again, this old woman had reduced my 32-year-old self to a sniveling child. I blew out a frustrated breath and reached for the shirt to get the talisman when she held her hand up stopping me. She quickly unwrapped it placing it flat in her palm and reached it out to me.  I just stared at it willing myself to pick it up I looked up at her with pleading eyes begging her to not make me do this. She nodded to it and I slowly picked my left hand up and placed it in her palm grasping my fingers around it flinching as the feeling of fire engulfed my entire hand.

The burn was slow and painful, the sizzle crashed into my ears loudly sounding like bacon frying. She placed her other hand on top of mine before I could pull away causing my hand to be trapped between both of her hands.

"Ethan let the burn finish" I heard Aggie say but my mind was on this awful burn that was eating my hand alive. 

I could see smoke coming from in between our hands and heard Aggie chanting something which I thought might be her native Scottish tongue. Honestly, I could not make myself care because the pain was becoming unbearable and just when I thought I could no longer take it anymore the burning stopped and the pain went away. Aggie tightened her grip on my hand and continued to chant lowly.     The fire and pain from my hand immediately kicked back up traveling through my left hand and started slowly inching through my body causing me to try to get a way but she held me in her vice like grip.    As I tried to pull away  she would tug me closer to her as the hot flame like feeling licked every inch of my body and flew through my veins like liquid lava. I could feel sweat dripping from every pore of my body and my hair was damp and stuck to my head. My brain was in a hyper aware state with memories flashing before my eyes like I was walking down memory lane, but there were other pictures that were strategically placed that jogged an awareness awake within me.    

As she continued to chant my head began to pound and my body ached causing me to yell out in distress but Aggie remained in control of me.    I felt a surge of power come from Aggie's hand as it moved through my hand and inched into every fiber of my being, consuming me and causing me to feel like I was going to explode from the inside out.  My breathing was becoming ragged and I was greedily gasping for air to fill my lungs as I felt like I was losing control.    The flames from within my veins felt like it was turned up a notch as Aggie's voice became louder and louder drowning my brains own attempt to rationalize what was happening to me.  It was as if my body was obeying this woman's commands and I had no say in it.    

I no longer could see and I only heard the roaring of my own lousy attempts to draw air into my lungs.  I faintly could make out my own heartbeat which was beginning to sound weaker and weaker as every last syllable flew out of Aggie's mouth.  I could feel it, my own body was betraying me and giving in to the fire that roared through me and there was nothing I could do to stop it.    The pain became too intense and my will to try to fight it was gone.  My lasts thoughts were of Emory and what she had told me but even if I had wanted to I could not hold on any longer, as Aggie's loud mumbles over rid all my senses and I could feel myself drift in to the darkness.

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A/N: If you like what you are reading make sure you hit the star. I am going to let my readers decide if Chapter 7 is Emory's pov or Ethan waking up from whatever Aggie just did to him. Obviously Aggie is not human either lol

Don't forget to leave me a comment on which chapter seven you want. Either one will have some big revelations :)