supernatural person drags to the back of my mind. Neal is awake. As one, we straighten up and we all traverse back towards the living room.
When we reach it, I see that Neal is in the awkward position between lying down and getting up. He is trying to lift himself up with the help of his left arm, hooking it against the back of the couch. He looks dizzy, his eyes unfocused. My mother is sitting right beside him, his right arm looped with hers as she helps him get his balance.
“I am Nina. Josh’s mother.” My mother is telling Neal, smiling at him. He looks back at her, disoriented, his eyes slightly droopy, “You’re in our house. Don’t worry, you’re safe.” Mother assures him further.
My father is the first to reach him. We all arrange ourselves, at slight distance away around the couch on which Neal is lying, all of us forming a pattern-less arrangement. My father sits on the coffee table in front of the couch where Neal is half lying now. Neal looks up at the intrusion. When he sees my father, his eyes widen. Slowly, he returns to his senses as he begins looking at his surrounding and everybody standing around him. He immediately makes move to hastily get up.
“You shouldn’t move.” My mother says, her worry emanating from her stance.
“I need to go.” He mumbles, not looking at any of us.
“Son,” my father says in his authoritative voice. “Please sit back comfortably. Nobody is going to harm you.”
Neal looks dubious as he meets my father’s eye. Rome lets out another nightmarish scream, filling the awkward silence. Neal winces. “What the hell is that?” He asks.
Father sighs, “First, we need to have a discussion.”
“I want to leave.” Neal says, his voice firm.
“You’re not safe out there.” My father says, “Trust me when I say that you’ll be the safest here at the moment.”
Neal hesitates. He looks around, his eyes landing on Aakir and I. I see his eyes flickering back and forth between my face and my arms. He is frowning furiously. I give or hope that I am giving a comforting look. He averts his eyes and looks at my father.
“I need to make a call.” He demands.
Father sighs. There is a silent pause as my father appraises Neal, “Listen….Neal. We’ll cut the awkwardness, alright? I am Nikolai, Josh’s father.” father begins in a polite tone. Despite the welcoming tone of my father, Neal doesn’t let his guard down, watching my father with alertness. Well, my whole family has him surrounded and he probably knows that he can’t escape if he even tries to play it dirty. Even if he doesn’t know of our exceptional therian abilities, facing a number of humans alone is no piece of cake, no matter how good at fighting Neal maybe.
“I know,” my father continues, “that you know what we are.”
Neal frowns, looking confused.
“And I also believe that you know what you are.” My father adds.
“What are you talking about?” Neal asks, looking confounded.
“You could see our transformations, Neal.” Father stresses, “You can’t see that if you don’t know of the existence of our species.”
Neal wears a look of recognition, his eyes following my father’s arm and then back towards me.
“I saw…that.” Neal relents, returning his gaze to my father, “But I don’t know how you could do it…or what are you.” He looks calm while he says that, though I can almost hear his accelerated heartbeat.
Father is silent as he looks on.
“But if you don’t know,” Terry uncle starts, “Then you shouldn’t have been able to see it. It means you know of us, so you don’t have to be dishonest.”
“I am not lying.” Neal snaps, looking severely offended at being accused. He shakes his head, “I need to make a call.” He says.
“Maybe he can see it because…” Aakir trails off, clearing his throat.
“Because?” Neal stresses.
“No, his abilities have nothing to do with that.” Father says quietly, answering Aakir’s unspoken question.
“What abilities?” Neal says, his tone suddenly defensive.
“You know what abilities, Neal.” My father answers back calmly. “I know of you, you don’t have to be defensive and hide it.”
Neal’s face contorts with confusion, “I don’t know what you’re saying.”
“It’s upon you to let us in. I can’t force you to trust us.” Father says, sighing. I can make out that my father is displeased with Neal being conservative regarding his identity.
“Ugh,” my mother suddenly interrupts, “This is giving me a headache. Can we discuss this peacefully?” she looks at all of us, then turns towards Neal, “I am sure you must be hungry, dear? Please feel welcomed. None of us is going to harm you.”
“I need to make a call.” Neal sticks to his mantra.
“To whom?” my father suddenly asks.
Neal hesitates, “I just need to call.”
“Neal,” father begins, sighing exasperatedly, “You know what you are. Let’s not play ignorant at that, at least. And as my wife said, we are not going to harm you. We are on your side, alright? But we can’t help you if you be in this defensive mode. That guy who just attacked you? He is going to be back with his army, literally an army, so that he can make use of your abilities which I am sure you are aware of. And trust me when I say that we want to help you against them.”
Neal tortures his lower lip, taking in my father’s words. He still looks guarded, but seems to be contemplating hard, “I need to call my aunt.” He says quietly. His tone is far more compliant this time, making me quietly breathe out in relief. And also making me believe that Neal definitely knows about himself.
My father nods, “Alright. Is she a therian like us?”
“What?” Neal frowns, a seriously confused look on his face.
Father hesitates, “You…do not know about therians?”
Neal shakes his head no, looking weirdly at my father, frowning at the unfamiliar term.
Father is silent for a moment, then, “Has your aunt ever told you about humans turning into animals?”
Neal’s mouth hangs open at that. He closes it after a moment, licking his lips, “No…but I have heard of some sort of stories when I was…” he lifts his hand, petting the empty air, indicating when he was small. He grimaces all of a sudden, “I need to call her.”
“Neal,” father says, “Does she know about you?”
Neal looks apprehensive as he measures up my father. He purses his lips, “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
Father suspires, “Until and unless you’re not going to trust us, I can’t help you. On the contrary, you can’t just trust anyone when it comes to what you are, not even your long known aunt. I know that you can see the future,” Neal’s eyes widen at that, but my father continues, “So, please don’t act as if you don’t know about it-”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Neal snaps.
“-Furthermore, my whole family is at risk here.” Father ignores Neal,“Not just for your sake but for my family’s sake too I can’t let you contact a wrong person-”
“My aunt is harmless.” Neal interrupts, though I notice that he doesn’t entirely sound confident over that.
Father tiredly rubs a hand over his face. “You’re stubborn.” He says. My lips twitch on their own accord as I resist the urge to suddenly smirk at my father’s helpless stance in front of my adamant partner.
“Let him make the call.” My mother says, getting up.
“Nina-” father objects.
“No.” she cuts him off, “You’ve had your time. Clearly your method is not appeasing. Now leave him to me.” my mother actually looks….sort of pissed off. Now that is new.
“Nina, we need to ask him-”
“You can carry on your interrogation later.” My mother cuts off my father in a sharp voice again, “The boy has been through enough already, stop pestering him.” Mother rarely uses this tone of voice, the one where you can’t answer her back. But even more astoni
shing is my father’s response who simply slumps back, not at all protesting.
My mother asks Neal if he can get up from his place. I can see that he has immediately taken a liking to my mother, as she has been defending him. He readily complies with her request. My mother leads Neal out of the living room, holding his elbow and dodging us. I follow them, leaving my father behind as he shares exasperated looks with Terry uncle. My mother enters the kitchen, Neal right at her heels and I right at his heels. Somehow the situation of Neal knowing about us doesn’t seem significant anymore. Because he himself is hiding something far more important; at least in my father’s opinion.
“Keep your hands away from me.” he mutters while sitting down on the high stool. He is warily eyeing my arms.
I roll my eyes. “I am going to believe you when you say that you don’t know about us. Because if you did then you would have probably known that we can convert whole of our body into an animal, not just our arms.”
He looks at me as if he has suddenly seen an alien. I shrug at him. He gives me a bewildered look. “I seriously hope that I am having a nightmare.”
I settle down next to him, “You’re one to talk.” I drawl, “You’re not completely normal either from what I am making of this situation.”
Neal grimaces, looking away. Before, however, he can say anything, my mother gets the kitchen phone towards us.
“Sweetheart,” she begins, looking at Neal, “Are you having a headache? I can give you a pain-killer.”
Neal shakes his head hastily, “No, no. It doesn’t bother much.”
“Okay, you can call.” My