It was only when he pulled into the street we both lived on that I realized he was taking me to his house. Maybe he had a dungeon where he could keep me locked up. He pulled up in front of his house and switched the car off, glancing at me. He lived five houses down from mine.

"Don't try anything," he warned.

I didn't think he realized just how scared of him I was. I wasn't going to give him an excuse to hurt me. He got out of the car and walked around to stand next to the passenger side of the SUV while I climbed out. He led me into his empty house. I wasn't sure what I was expecting, but it certainly wasn't what I had been expecting. The layout of the house was similar to mine; it looked homely and normal.

I hesitated for a moment as he led me into the house and closed the door. He grabbed my hand and I followed behind him. He remained quiet as he led me up the stairs and into his bedroom. I was opposed to going into his room, but he just tugged me along and I didn't have a choice but to walk behind him. Once we were in his bedroom, he shut the door and dropped his car keys on a desk. He shrugged out of his black leather jacket and draped it over the chair by the desk.

"Sit down," he commanded me and motioned to the end of his bed. I walked over to his bed and sat down. I was trembling, and I wasn't sure if it was from nerves or the cold evening air. He went to his dresser and pulled something out and threw it at me. "Put it on."

It was a hoodie—he'd given me a hoodie to keep me warm. I didn't argue and pulled it over my head. The shivering continued despite the warmth of the hoodie.

"Thanks," I said, watching him walk over to the window.

"How much did you see, Ava?" he asked as he stared out of the window.

I bit my lip as I contemplated what to tell him.

"How much?" he prompted, looking angry.

"Enough," I said. There wasn't any point in lying. I didn't see his reaction because he still had his back to me. "What are you?" I whispered before I could stop myself.

He turned around and folded his arms. "What do you think I am?"

"I don't know. What you did in that clearing isn't possible..."

I watched him as he contemplated what I said. I was sure he was thinking about the best way to tell me what he needed to.

"Well, at least not for a human." There, I'd said it. Whatever he was, he was definitely not human. My words hung in the air between us, adding to the tension in the room.

"You can't tell anyone what you saw me do in the clearing and you can't tell anyone what I'm about to tell you now. Do you understand?" he demanded.

I nodded my head in agreement. He had that air of authority that made you want to obey what he commanded.

"I'm human," he said at last as he dragged a hand through his hair roughly. He looked at me while I processed what he had said.

I shot an unbelieving look at him.

"Humans can't do what you did," I said in a disbelieving tone. How stupid did he think I was? His features looked so serious as he studied me for a moment.

"I'm human and more," he added.

More. It was so cryptic.

One second of silence led into another.

"I'm an Archaic," he finally revealed. I had never heard that before. I stared back at him with the puzzled look on my face. I just wished he would explain the whole thing outright. Maybe he was telling me slowly so I wouldn't overreact, but it was still annoying.

"Does that mean you're like a vampire or werewolf—something supernatural?"

He threw his head back and laughed. This was serious and here he was laughing at me. After a few minutes and trying to keep a straight face, he said, "No, not supernatural."

"Just spit it out. We could be here all night if I have to keep guessing." I'd finally lost my patience. His eyes widened at my sudden exasperation with this whole process. It was like trying to play charades without being allowed to use my arms.

"I'm human, but I was born with certain powers."

I frowned.

"Are you like a superhero?" I asked, tilting my head to the side as I studied him, trying to imagine him dressed like a superhero with his underpants on the outside.

He shook his head at me as a smile tugged at his lips.

"No," he answered. "It's hard to explain."

"Well, I'm not going anywhere," I replied dryly, crossing my arms.

"It's a genetic mutation."

I frowned as I tried to figure out what he was getting at.

"A few hundred years ago, a meteor crashed into Earth. A few people from a nearby village went to investigate. Afterward they all came down with the same mysterious illness, which spread to the rest of the village. A few died."

I listened intently. It was like stuff that only happened in movies.

"Once the village recovered, they carried on as usual. But the children born in the village were different. They had powers, and the ability to heal."

My eyes widened. It was like science fiction.

"It's a long story," he added, clearly not wanting to go into all the details.

I had so many questions flying through my mind. There were so many that I struggled to pick one to ask.

"You can shoot energy out of your hands. What else can you do?" I asked as I crossed my arms again and looked at him expectantly.

"You just get right to it, don't you?" He was clearly enjoying this. I shot him a dirty look and then he proceeded to tell me more.

"We heal quicker than other humans. I can harness energy and exert it. It does tire us out, so we only use it when we have to."

"Like in the clearing?"

"Yes."

"So how do you recharge?"

"Rest. We can also recharge by draining energy from another life source."

"Define life source," I asked, feeling a little apprehensive.

"Any living creature."

I was a living creature, which meant he could drain me. I didn't like that idea at all.

"Who were the strangers in the clearing?" I asked. I saw anger flash in his eyes, and I could swear I saw his eyes darken as the anger flowed through him. His hands slowly fisted at his sides as he struggled to control his emotions. It took him a few moments to calm down.

"We call them Hue. In the first generation of mutations, some children were born Archaic and some were born Hue."

"How are the Hue different from the Archaic?" was my next question.

"The Archaic mutation allows us to embrace our human nature as well as our powers, but the Hue are different. Their mutation has kept their human side limited, almost like a defect."

"What does that mean?" I asked out loud.

"They might look like they're human, but they don't feel emotions like humans or we do, they only feel a little of the negative emotions like anger and jealousy. They have no empathy and no sense of what is right or wrong. They're cold-blooded killers."

That sent a shiver down my spine. I couldn't imagine only feeling those types of emotions. It would be like having a really bad day every day.

"They look different," I observed.

"Archaic have colors similar to humans but the Hue always appear as the exact same color. Blond, blue eyes and pale skin," he further explained.

He continued to watch me intently with a serious face and waited for me to ask my next question.

"Are your friends like you?" I asked.

"All except for Felicity."

I gave him a questioning look.

"Most children born from an Archaic parent carry the mutation but there are rare occurrences when a child is born without the mutation, a human."

"So are the other Archaics the same as you?"

"Like with humans, not every Archaic or Hue is exactly the same. Some of us are more powerful than others. From what we've been able to understand, the villagers who'd gone to investigate the meteor crash seemed to have been more affected than the others. Maybe it's because they received a bigger dose of the radiation."

He paused for a moment.

"Their children were more powerful than the others. The Archaic and Hue that descended from them are called Descendants."

I arched an eyebrow at him. I knew the answer before he even gave it.

"Archaic Descendants have a white scar on the palm of their right hands," he said as he held out his open right hand for me to see. In the middle of his hand was a white jagged scar that looked like a lightning bolt. "I'm an Archaic Descendant."

Great! Just what he needed, a bigger ego.

"Do the Hue have the same?" I asked, lifting my eyes to his.

"They have the same red scar in the palm of their left hand."

I wasn't sure why I asked the next question but it just seemed to pop straight into my mind.

"What do they do with the humans born to Hue?"

He paused for a moment.

"They kill them."

I shouldn't have been surprised. He'd said they were cold-blooded killers but his words shocked me. It was something I couldn't comprehend.

"Why did you pretend not to see me in the clearing?"

"The argument in the clearing was explosive enough. If you'd been found, it probably would have escalated and you would have gotten hurt." He sounded like he actually cared. Then he opened his mouth again. "I have enough to worry about without having to worry about you as well." And with that he put me back into my place.

"I don't need you to babysit me," I replied angrily at him. My temper sparked to life. "If you had been doing what you were supposed to and that was keeping your secret, we wouldn't be in the predicament, would we?"

"If you hadn't been so nosy we wouldn't be in this mess either," he fired back.

It didn't matter now. I knew. Nothing was going to change that.