03 | extraterrestrial

Hope

"You're lucky I still gave you a cheeseburger after what you did."

I noticed the irritated glare he sent me as I sat across from him in the living room, the wrapper of his burger already crumpled up in his right hand while I'm still halfway through mine.

"How did I get here?" I asked him.

I'm sure I look far from being fearsome munching a cheeseburger like this, but I needed answers, and time. So, I multitask.

"You tell me, ET." He said. I gave the nickname time to register into my brain before glancing at him and scrunching my eyebrows together. Did he just call me...an ET?

"Did you just call me 'E.T.'?"

"Why? Are you not?"

"I'm not an alien."

"That's exactly what aliens would say... Wait, no. It's actually 'We are here to take over your planet' and other alien bullshits. So, maybe you really aren't one." Tony said, his voice mimicking the aliens when he tried to make an impression of one.

This guy can't be serious.

"What makes you think I'm an alien?" I asked.

I think it was a mistake asking him that. Because the moment I did, his facial expression turned from annoyingly playful to serious real quick. I knew he had some questions. His deep brown eyes are full of it.

"I had your blood tested. Not only did it not match a single ID, but it also turns out your platelets and leukocytes rates are crazy high and your blood was corrupted with a toxic chemical known as wolfsbane, and another one called vervain, which isn't supposed to be toxic to humans, but it is to you. I figured you were just allergic or something. Because of that, your body experienced muscle weakness and ventricular tachycardia, which makes your pumping chambers quiver uselessly instead of pumping blood. So to prevent cardiac arrest, I had to use an improvised defibrillator in order to-" Tony cuts himself off, which I can tell is because of the way I'm looking at him.

I'm not dumb. But the fact that he was rambling too much too fast was overwhelming.

"Oh right, you don't speak genius. Okay," Tony claps and rubs his hands together before trying a different approach.

This man has got to get himself a filter for his mouth because for the very short time that I've known him, he is aggravatingly blunt.

"Basically, the vervain and wolfsbane made your heart beat crazy fast. Before it leads to you having a cardiac arrest and die, I sent an electric shock to your body to normalize the rate of your heartbeat." He explained in a much more considerable pace.

"You saved me from poisoning?" I asked.

I'm not gonna lie. I was impressed. Not that vervain nor wolfsbane could kill me and all. But still, he knew what to do under what I can only assume is a stressful and confusing situation. I gotta hand him that. Though, I'll need to compel him to forget everything later.

"No, but I helped. Your body fought the toxin until there's nothing left. And that's not the only thing that confuses me. It's also the fact that you had 57.16 milligrams of wolfsbane and 52.38 milligrams of vervain in your body but you managed to survive. That high of a dosage should've killed you in an instant. So, if you're not an alien, what are you?" Tony asked, his stern gaze trying to pierce into me as if he's trying to intimidate me.

Who intimidates a tribrid?

"You must be going out of your mind from all that information." I simply said, dismissive of his whole statement. I averted my focus back on my cheeseburger. This man might be weird, but he sure knows where to pick the best cheeseburgers.

"These burger is amazing. Do you have another?" I said, stalling as much as I can before I finish and compel his memories of me away.

"Go buy yourself one. It's $0.91." He retorted.

I almost choked when I heard the price of the burger I was eating. Since when does a fast food cheeseburger cost $0.91?! He must be kidding. No burger is that cheap!

"Ha ha very funny." I simply said. My response seemed to confuse him. He tilted his head as his eyebrows furrowed together, bafflement plastered across his attractive face.

Did I just say attractive? This cheeseburger is really getting to me.

"What's so funny?" He said.

"That's not the real price of this burger."

"Yes, it is."

"Right, when did you buy this, the 90s?"

"It's 1994, what are you talking about?"

Abruptly, I stopped. I whip my gaze towards Tony and find no humor in his face nor in the tone of his voice.

Kai took my werewolf side so that when I got to the pit, neither I or Malivore 2.0 would get destroyed because he has some big punishment for me.

But I got out, right? For some unknown reason, I'm not in Malivore anymore and I'm back to the real world. I'm eating a freaking cheeseburger right now, for God's sake. But why do I suddenly feel like something's not right?

"Speaking of 1994, here." He slid me a folded paper, one of which is slightly stained by what I'm sure is black mud. "This fell out of your jacket last night when I took it off to make you comfortable."

I took the paper from his hand and began to unfold it, all while Tony continued to talk. "I couldn't help but snoop. Weird message, though."

I finally opened the note and there was indeed a message inside, one that certainly makes me want to scream my lungs out in frustration.

'Enjoy 1994. Try Zima. -K.P.'

I don't know which description is more accurate to what I'm feeling right now: my blood boiling in anger or my blood running cold in anxiety.

I'd say both.

"Is K.P. your boyfriend? Is he an alien, too?" He asked.

"Stop with the alien thing." I said before standing up and attempting to walk away.

"I will as soon as you explain to me." Tony said as he followed me, finding ourselves in another one of his living rooms.

"I don't owe you an explanation." With a wave of my hand, the television mounted to the wall switched on and it immediately played the news.

The date at the bottom of the screen...August 22, 1994.

Kai Parker, you son of a bitch.

"Okay, it's either you are a fucking alien or a wizard." He said.

I groaned before turning around and facing him, witnessing the bafflement in his face while he tried to make sense of every weird action I was doing.

"Like I said, I don't owe you any explanation." I said before walking past him.

But I didn't get far when I felt his hand wrap around my left arm and yank me back, forcing me to face him again which caused a shocked expression to reach my face. He was determined and I can tell from the way he was gripping my arm and from the look in his eyes. His deep brown eyes that are eagerly searching for answers he knew were going to be bad for him.

"Actually, you do." He said, the absence of anything smug or playful in the tone of his voice made me actually take him seriously as he began to speak again. " I'm not dumb nor am I insane. First of all, I was supposed to take you to the hospital last night. But one little command from you and I was driving back home with you in my backseat because I don't know where else to take you if you didn't want to go to the hospital. Now, if I didn't know any better, I'd say I'm just submissive. But I know that I'm really, really not. So, the alternative is that you mind-controlled me."

All the words shooting out of his mouth are like bullets from a machine gun. Hard, fast, and continuous. His grip on my arm was firm and desperate, matching the gaze he was holding with mine. His deep brown eyes are in need of answers. And if I'm not mistaken, every second that passes by without an answer to this very weird situation, was driving him insane.

"Second, look at yourself right now. Hours ago, you were riddled with a generous amount of toxin enough to kill you. And might I remind you that I accidentally hit you with my car? You're supposed to be crippled by now. Don't get me wrong, I'm glad that you're not. But looking at you right now, it's like that didn't even happen. I may not be an expert in the medical field, but I'm sure as hell nobody heals that fast." Tony added.

It was only when silence fell that I realized how close we are to each other. I could feel his chest rising and falling against my shoulder as he held my arm. I had to look up since he was taller than me. I could tell he got tired from rambling that fast from the way he was breathing loudly through his mouth, his warm breath gently caressing my face. I thought he'd smell like cheeseburgers. But it was a mix of mint and scotch.

He was close...too close. But I get to take advantage of that. And so I look straight into his eyes.

"You don't remember anything from last night and earlier today." I started. "You never met me. You will go on with your normal life and forget everything that you've known since I came. No aliens, no wizards. Nothing. You were tired. You went home and did the usual. Do you understand?" I compelled.

"I understand." He answered.

I gulped and sighed deeply before removing his hold on my arm. I held his gaze for a second more before turning around and walking away. This part of the process was supposed to go smoothly. It was the easiest, as a matter of fact. Letting everyone forget what they had witnessed . Because it was better for them not to know. I knew that even if I was compelling them, I was doing them for the right reasons—to keep them safe.

But this one was far from being smooth.

"I understand perfectly." He added. "Because you just confirmed my theory."

I turned around but I was unable to move from my position. Like I was nailed to the floor. I only watched as he went to the kitchen which was just a room away before he returned with a crystal glass in his hand, and in it, is a single malt scotch.

He stood close in front of me, though not as close as before, then reached for my hand and held it before him before pouring little liquid on to my palm. My skin immediately stung.

I whimpered at the contact of vervain on my skin as I yanked my hand away from him, looking down on my palm where a spot had already turned red as thin smoke danced around it.

"Last night, while eagerly trying to figure out whether or not you were an alien, I stumbled upon a book—a very old book. One of which said that vervain is a herb poisonous to...certain creatures. In addition to that, wearing or ingestion of said vervain as its liquid state would inhibit the effects of one of the useful tactics those creatures use. Mind compulsion." Tony explained.

He sets the glass down on the table near him which stood beside the couch behind him, all while not letting his gaze rip from mine. Once again, no sign of humor, no sign of doubt. He was calm, composed, and confident. And I wish he wasn't.

"You're a vampire." He said, not flinching or blinking. Not even a sign of slight fear was to be seen from him. He was simply...stubborn.

I stared up at him with widened eyes, clenching my jaw at his conclusion. It might not be as accurate, but that doesn't mean that he wasn't right.

"Like I said, I'm not dumb."

—

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