I arrived outside our house around 12 midnight. The whole street was quiet and I could hear the crickets and some barking dogs. I’ve never been out at this hour, this should be considered as rare occasion.

I glanced at the sleeping figure of the man who came from the laboratory. “Ugh. I want to leave you here to die from carbon monoxide but I can’t do that because my best friend died because of you.” I sounded like a mad woman talking to myself. “Aish! How will I bring you inside? I can’t knock on our neighbors’ door just to ask for help.”

 I picked up my phone and searched for a person who I can easily call and would come here immediately. “Kuya,” I said as soon as he picked up his phone.

“What is it this time Aeri? 12:07 midnight. What’s wrong with your clock? Hmm? I’m trying to get some decent sleep.”

“I know.” Base on his gruffy voice, I could tell that he just woke up. “But I need help,” I added. I could hear Ate Jona asking him who I was.

He groaned. “What is it?” I could hear shifting of sheets on the other line.

“You said I could call you anytime right? If I need help?” I asked and he hummed, mumbling some words I couldn’t comprehend. “I need help now.”

“WHY? DID SOMEONE BARGED IN? CAN YOU IDENTIFY HIS IDENTITY? DID HE HURT YOU?”

“Just… come here, quick!” I told him.

“You’re just ten meters away from us. I’ll be there,” he said. “Wait for me.”

I immediately ended the call and lowered the windows. I glanced at the man at the backseat. “You’re wearing weird clothes,” I muttered while looking at his white turtleneck attire with white tuxedo. “I mean, it suits you but why are you wearing a transparent rain coat? You were in an underground anyway…”

“UNDERGROUND?”

I jumped. “SSSH! Don’t be too noisy kuya. You might wake the neighbors.”

“I don’t care,” he whispered. “Who’s that guy?” he asked, eyeing the guy at the backseat. “Is that your boyfriend? Is he? What is he doing in an underground?”

I took a deep breath before sighing. “I’ll tell you everything later but first, help me carry him inside,” I told him. He pointed at me before he bit his lower lip. “Scold me inside.”

“You… if I hear any pregnancy news in next month, I won’t hesitate to kill him,” he warned and I nodded my head. Why would I be pregnant anyway? It’s not like I’m going to do something inappropriate with him. “Now, go. Open your front door. I think he’ll be easy to carry,” he said so I did.

He pulled him by his arms. “Should I make him face your back?”

“No, let him suffer. It’s like he’s a sleeping dead anyway. He won’t feel anything unless he got broken bones.”

“Alright,” I told him before walking towards the gate. I pressed the passcode before opening it widely for kuya Ralph. He entered and I followed. He walked towards the front door and waited for me.

“Hurry up!”

“Okay, okay!” I answered before opening the front door.

Upon entering, he asked, “Where am I going to take him?”

“In my room.”

“WHAT? ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR MIND? WHAT IF HE WAKES UP AND TOUCH YOU IN SOME PLACES THAT—”

“Don’t worry.” I tapped his shoulder. “He won’t be able to move. After how you carried him, he’ll probably have aching joints or muscles because of that.”

He nodded his head before entering my room, which is the first door on the left. “I’ll check you here when I have time. Other than that… if this guy, do anything to you, don’t hesitate to call me. I’ll make sure he get what he deserve.”

“Okay kuya. Thank you for carrying him,” I told him before kissing his cheek. “Tell ate Jona that I’m sorry for waking you up in the middle of the night.”

“Sure. Sleep well.”

…and he left. I made sure to lock every doors and windows. I can’t have him seen by other people. Unless, he acts like a human… I would certainly take him with me.

I fixed my clothes before putting on my lab coat. I need to take off his clothes to check on him. I removed the sleeves from his arms and letting him lie on it. “He looks natural.”

All of a sudden, wind blew around him. “STOP! TIGIL! HINTO! STUPEO! ARGH! I WON’T HARM HIM!” and the wind calm down. “If I didn’t hold on to this bed, I would’ve flew outside of my house.”

“You were chosen.”

“Huh?”

“I am Blaze.”

I looked up and saw a red gem on the guy’s neck… well, turtleneck BUT it wasn’t there earlier! “What the hell?”

“I know we would find you in time. Too bad, I didn’t get the chance to meet you. Although, I know that already but I still wished we’ve met before they caught me. Anyway, I hope you could teach him some things about being human. He would wake up anytime soon. However, you could study some things about him. I bet you have monitors and some laboratory stuffs same as mine.” The hologram started to get wavy. “Ah. I don’t have much time left. I must meet my end and leave him to you. Take care of him. The sake of humanity is in your hands. Find the others and everything will be in order. Arrivederci! Oh! And keep the gem. Put it on always.”

The hologram ended and I looked back at the gem, which is now connected to a necklace chain. “Woah. This is surprising.” All of a sudden, his clothes opened. “OH MY GOSH!” I exclaimed.

How did this happen? I know should be used to seeing topless men but why am I all flustered seeing this guy all—AND WHY AM I EVEN BOTHERED BY HIM?

With shaking hand, I sticked the round patches on his chest and to his temples. I clicked some buttons on the keyboard and the machine started to beep. So far, his vital signs were good. I think kuya Ralph is right. He’s like a sleeping dead.

He’s breathing but his immovable. “What am I going to observe to you? Hmm…” his body looks normal. He also have prominent nose… much more prominent than mine. Even his eye lashes were longer than mine. His pinkish lips and flawless face made me insecure. Maybe even if he wore girl clothes, he’ll be pretty.

“Aeri! Get back to your senses! You have no time to be insecure! I must observe some things about you even though you’re like a human to me.”

I grabbed my laptop and research about how to tell if someone’s not human. Crazy, I know, but I don’t know what makes someone ‘not’ human.

“Why would I even think youre not  human? What made me think of that? Is it because you’re a beautiful creature? So what if you’re not human or you’re human? You’re still beautiful anyway.” I ran my hand through my hair. “But according to some scientist, there’s a junk DNA in our DNA and we’re humans. Hmm… what if… I find this ‘junk’ DNA within you?”

That’s it!

I inserted a needle into a vein and draw one tube of blood from there. Then, I labelled it 94, as written on his turtleneck earlier. I entered his number on my lab computer. I waited for an hour to finally see the result on the screen.

“No way…” I mumbled. He’s not like us.

---

 

TIGIL! HINTO! STUPEO! = all means stop

Kuya = older brother

Ate = older sister