“Oh my god! Zad, I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to.” A black-haired guy came running down the field to the bleachers towards another raven-haired guy who was clutching his stomach, sitting on his seat.

“Are you alright?” He asked the frail boy who was still curling and eyes shut in pain as he held his stomach tighter. Zad gave a nod that he was alright.

“You don’t look good.” The guy now kneeled before him and rubbed his upper arm, trying anything to soothe his pain.

“Let’s go to tell the sister.” He offered but Zad shook his head, still hanging his head low and eyes closed.

“What happened?” They heard a female voice from behind the kneeling guy. He looked in the direction of the voice and saw a woman standing there, arms crossed over her chest.

“Luca took a shot and the ball hit Zadkiel right in his stomach.” One of the boys who were circling both black-haired guys spoke.

“I didn’t mean to. I promise, sister.” Luca, the kneeling guy, instantly spoke.

“We’ll talk later. For now, step aside. I need to take a look at him.” The female said as she stepped forward. Luca stood up from his kneeling position, grabbed his baseball bat from the floor next to him and stepped aside.

“Zadkiel, look at me.” The lady spoke now kneeling in front of the hunched boy.

Zadkiel opened his eyes slowly that were bloodshot red and a little glowing golden but he refused to look up because he knew the crowd around him would freak out.

“I’m fine, sister.” He spoke, his voice was deep and very rough.

Everyone took a step back because he sounded completely different. He sounded angry and Zadkiel didn’t even know that he sounded angry. All he knew was that he sounded different and his eyes would be glowing golden.

“Let me take a look at your torso.” The lady spoke, making him sit up and Zadkiel instantly shut his eyes closed. Zadkiel took a deep breath to calm himself down.

“I said I’m fine, sister,” Zadkiel repeated his words because he didn’t want her or anyone to look. He knew what would be there under his shirt.

“I didn’t ask you. Let me see it.” The lady sternly stated. Zadkiel took a sharp breath, nervous all of a sudden and it wasn’t helping in his escalated heartbeat.

The lady grabbed the hem of his shirt to lift it but Zadkiel instantly grabbed her hand to stop her. The lady looked down at his hand and her eyes widened.

“Your nails…” She stated, making Zadkiel pull his hand back and turn it into a fist again to hide them as well.

“I said I am fine!” Zadkiel growled which was very scary.

Zadkiel did things in the past few years that made everyone confused. He was used to making excuses now. Only Sister Jane and Sister Hannah knew about his condition. Everyone else just knew that he was dying of some mysterious disease.

Jane and Hannah also knew about just a few things. They also didn’t know the reason behind them. They knew Zadkiel’s body was different. He was different. But they didn’t know why and how!

So, seeing him in this state where he growled with his eyes shut, everyone got scared. Luca grabbed the bat in his hand tightly because he and some other students suspected that Zadkiel was possessed with some evil spirit and that’s why in certain situations his voice becomes rough and scary while he keeps his eyes shut as if his body is sleeping but they didn’t know that Zadkiel would be happy if he knew he was possessed by some spirit because then he would have an answer as to why he was so different from others. He did everything consciously so he knew there was no possession or anything like that.

He stood up abruptly from his spot, adjusted his baseball cap, almost placing it over his eyes and hung his head low. He opened his eyes and sprinted inside the building. He didn’t stop his legs until he reached the bathroom door. He turned the knob and rushed inside, shutting the door behind and sliding down the door, crying.

He sat on the floor, sobbing and secured his arms around his knees. He didn’t know what was wrong with him. He just wanted to know why he was different.

He stood up and walked to the mirror. He removed his cap and put it aside on the counter. Lifting his gaze, he looked at the reflection in the mirror. The first thing he saw was

Golden eyes…

They were glowing like a light bulb. He sighed looking at those mesmerizing gold orbs that would’ve been very beautiful if they weren’t strange. Everyone who would look at him like this would think he was some demon or something.

He broke eye contact with himself and his eyes trailed down his body. The next thing his eyes stayed on was his hands that were gripping the sink counter tightly.

He stared at his elongated nails that grew out of his skin. They looked clean but they were black. Shiny black. He had no idea how his nails turned black and grew out of his skin in pointed shape but they were also very beautiful.

He closed his eyes, took a deep breath and tried to calm down his heartbeat. He slowly took deep breaths and relaxed. He could feel the heartbeat going to normal. He opened his eyes and looked at his hand in the mirror reflection.

His nails were turning white again as they were going back to their original shape and size. It was a sight to see. Again it would be really interesting to see if it wasn’t strange.

His eyes snapped up to meet the eyes of his reflection and they were back to hazel brown orbs. He stared at himself, thinking about how close he was to get caught.

He took a step back from the counter and grabbed the hem of his shirt to lift it. He exhaled, making up his mind and the next thing he did was; he lifted his shirt. As he thought he saw what he knew would be there.

Nothing!

His torso was clean. No sign of the ball hitting his chest with the speed of a bullet. It was clean and so smooth. He sighed letting go of his shirt that fell back down, covering his torso.

He opened the faucet and collected some water in his cupped palms. He leaned down and splashed some cold water on his face that helped in bringing down the temperature of his body.

He exited the bathroom after that and headed straight to the store of the building. He wanted to be alone after what happened. He wanted to stay as far away from the crowd as to avoid attention.

He just crossed the lobby when he bumped into someone. The person fell back on his ass from the impact while Zadkiel didn’t even budge. He looked down to see Luca looking up at him.

“How are you?” Luca asked, getting up as Zadkiel helped him up. He dusted his clothes as he was on his feet.

“I’m fine like I said,” Zadkiel answered. Luca flicked his eyes back to Zadkiel who looked fine. Luca was sure that Zadkiel wouldn’t be able to sit up after how hard the ball contacted with Zadkiel’s torso but here Zadkiel was standing tall in front of him.

“How are you even walking?” Luca questioned as he eyed Zadkiel’s torso. Zadkiel put a protective arm across it.

“The ball didn’t even hit that hard.” Zadkiel chuckled nervously, trying his best to hide the fact that how it hit hard that he could feel like an organ just ruptured inside him but now it was all gone. No pain. He was healed.

“I can swear I saw your expressions. It was like you would die any second.” Luca was startled.

“No… You’re just exaggerating.” A nervous and breathy chuckle left Zadkiel’s mouth again. Luca eyed him weirdly but let go of the topic.

“Well, Father was looking for you.” He informed Zadkiel. Zadkiel’s eyes widened.

“Why?” Zadkiel asked, biting his lip.

“He just got to know about what happened earlier,” Luca stated, making Zadkiel more scared.

“Okay…” Zadkiel let out a puff of air. “I must go then.”

“Zad…” Luca called and Zadkiel stopped. He turned around to look at Luca who had guilt in his eyes.

“I’m sorry.” He murmured. Zadkiel smiled and patted his shoulder.

“It wasn’t your fault. The ball didn’t tell you where it’d go, did it?” Zadkiel tried to cheer his mood. Luca shook his head. They both fist-bumped before Zadkiel turned around to go to visit Father.

He knocked on the office door and stepped back to wait for an answer. He crossed his arms over his abdomen. He sighed when he felt only bones and no meat on them. It was just a thin layer of skin on his bones.

Even though he was frail and petite, he was way stronger than the kids of his age. He never understood how because some of the kids who went to the gym were even weaker than Zadkiel. Zadkiel could lift weights easily that left them all in panting. He never understood his anatomy.

‧̍̊˙˚˙ᵕ꒳ᵕ˙˚˙ ˙˚˙ᵕ꒳ᵕ˙˚˙‧̍̊