The entrance was right ahead but the figure paused. Did he dare enter into someone's life again? Was this the right thing to do?

Part Two: Him

I cleaned off the dishes and dried them with a rag that almost resembled road kill. Guess a lot of things need replaced in this house...

Ven was in the other room, now on a call with someone, his voice lowered to a whisper yell. I couldn't hear him and honestly didn't want to. It's his business.

After putting the clean dishes away in the cabinets, I learned against the kitchen counter to look out the window. Some dew drops clung to the flowers growing below the window on the soft ground. They were beautiful.

Something rustled in a bush across the yard. It didn't seem to be a person but it was hard to tell. I squinted my eyes to try and place this figure to a name or creature.

It was definitely not human. Possibly a deer or even a big dog. Maybe that lady down the street let her giant freaking dog out again? No...this thing was much bigger.

A giant inky looking paw stepped out from the bush. It seemed to drip some sort of black stuff. It's claws were huge and it's paws didn't look like anything I've seen before. It's skin wasn't only covered in a strange substance but it was hard textured, like bones were fighting to get past the skin.

This appeared to be a humanoid creature. I glanced behind me to see if Ven was still talking on the phone. He was, and was also facing away from me.

I went out the back door and slowly approached the creature. It didn't move, didn't even seem to be breathing. But then it let out a low huffing sound. Was it sick?

My hand reached out almost on its own.
"You okay?"

The creature stared right through me. It's eyes we're pure white but it could in fact see. The feeling of it's stare on me almost put me back into a shocked state just like this morning. But I fought back and stepped forward again.

"What are you?"
My hand was only inches away from its nose. I could feel it's hot breath on my skin, causing goosebumps to rise.

No matter how scary this thing was, I couldn't help but feel safe for some strange reason. And when my fingers finally touched just the tip of it's nose, the rush of a new emotion hit me.

The creature mood closer and seemed to purr. It's eyes were close now, allowing me to relax once more. I rubbed it's head, the inky substance feeling different from what I imagined. It was warm and didn't stick to me at all. It felt...alive.

"What the hell?! "
Ven's voice yelled from behind me. The creature opened it's eyes and let out a menacing growl. I hugged it, wrapping my arms around it's neck.
"Don't hurt him."
I whispered to the creature.

It relaxed and followed my command. Ven came over and pulled me away from the creature by my shirt."What is that thing?"

"I don't know...but it seems to know me or something."

We stood in silence and watched the creature lay down and rest it's head on it's paws. The huffing sound was getting louder. It must be exhausted.

"Let's leave it alone. Okay? " I told Ven. He nodded and grabbed my hand gently. We went back into the house and decided to rest together for the afternoon. We snuggled in bed, arms wrapped around each other and skin refusing to not touch.

"I love you..." Ven whispered in a sleepy voice. He was already almost asleep, but he heard me say "I love you too. " before his eyes closed and his breath slowed.

I stayed awake, unable to rest since my mind was racing. The creature outside must know me. It just...seemed to. When I look into it's eyes it brings me a sense of home.

Home wasn't what it sounds like. I don't mean living with my family or being here in this house I own.

Home is where I was created. The place that formed every part of me in a tiny bottle. Where scientists spent weeks trying to get everything perfect so that I'd be invisible to the people around me. So that I'd appear normal to everyone except them.

But they didn't do this just so I'd fit in. The main reason was because of my abilities. Something I wish they didn't give me.

Ven rolled over beside me. He groaned in pain. I placed a hand on his shoulder and gently massaged around his neck. This allowed him to relax again and fall back into a deep sleep.

Learning about humans was interesting. They always seemed to feel emotions even when they say they feel nothing. Their bodies work in ways they have yet to understand completely. It was amazing they still lived here on this planet. Why haven't they evolved to leave?

I looked up at the ceiling and then the question hit me. Why haven't I?

Why am I still here? If this place is just a mess and my life is a disaster of being on the run and leaving everyone who cared about me...why do I stay?

Why don't I just die?
Why can't I just die?
Why won't they let me...die.

Around 3, I feel asleep. It was just emptiness among my dreams. A dark void with no sounds nor movements.
Just...empty.

When I woke up, it was to the sound of something rustling under the blanket. I blinked my eyes open, but it was still an empty void. The warmth beside me was now gone.

"Ven? "
No response. I sat up in bed and looked around. Completely dark but I felt the presence of something in the room with me.

My body ached and it hurt like hell to finally get out from under the blanket. Whatever was under there with me had crawled out and left to some where else. I stepped down onto the floor, the cold texture not bothering me as much as the feeling of something watching my every move.
"Hello? "

Now, after watching many horror movies in my life, saying "hello" to the darkness is usually how the characters die. But it just felt like this thing watching me wasn't here to kill me.

A soft yellow glow appeared in the corner of the room. It look like...and eye. Just one big eye.

It moved closer and the outline of a body formed. It was tall and it's body was inky just like the creature outside. It's big eye was narrowed and stared at me. It didn't respond.

"Can you talk? "
It didn't respond.
"Are you another creature? "
Silence still.
"Please...just say or do something."

It finally spoke up, but I wish he had stayed silent because the voice that answered was dreadful to hear. It was like a whisper but was loud. It hurt to hear but not in an annoying way...his voice was deep and smooth. But it brought me back to the lab, in my cell, where I cried myself to sleep because they wouldn't stop examining me and creating me.

"You're Loren."
I nodded my head.
"You need to leave. Go take the bus to a town called Unia. Stay at a hotel until Thursday and then go to the place that never wakes."

"W-what? " I was confused but now light was beginning to shine. The eye blinked and then vanished. The whole room seemed to fade away, my feet no longer touching the cold ground.

And then the light got brighter until suddenly I opened my eyes. Ven wasn't beside me but he was still in the house. I could smell French toast cooking. The curtains were open and the sunlight was shining directly into my eyes.

For once, I embraced the light and took a deep breath. Just a dream...

(Be prepared for part three!)