Supernatural Encounters

Chapter 23

Startled, Harper falls backwards, wincing when her shoulder strikes the wall.

"Oh, I'm sorry! Are you okay," the stranger asks as he kneels by her side, hands hovering over her like he wants to check for injuries but is afraid to touch her.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Just surprised." She crawls to her knees and offers him a smile. "You must be Yuki. Nice to finally meet you."

"Nice to meet you too," he says, slightly tilting his head towards her before turning his gaze to the stairwell. "I'm sorry for making Kye not well."

"Hey, no. It's fine. He's just feeling guilty about leaving you at the airport. After he eats and gets some sleep, Kye will be a lot better. Why don't you go down and get some food too? I'm sure you are hungry."

Yuki clutches his pant leg tightly, looking torn for a moment, before tangling his free hand into his hair. "I...I need help. Please."

Harper freezes.. Whenever she imagined meeting "the love of Kye's life", she never thought it would be on her hallway floor with Yuki fighting off what might be the start of a panic attack. "Oh, of course. I'll help if I can. Umm... do you want to go talk in your room?"

"Un. Yes, please." Yuki stretches to his full height before reaching a hand down to help Harper to her feet. The two move into Kye's room, and, after shutting the door behind them, take a seat for what feels like a significant conversation.

"So, how can I help," Harper asks as she tries to make herself comfortable in the desk chair. Since Kye now spends most of his time overseas, he doesn't use the room that often, meaning that most of the furniture came from a big box store. Cheap and efficient but not comfortable.

If the bed is uncomfortable, she can't tell because Yuki looks just as tense as he did in the hallway. He also seems to be struggling with his words; not that he didn't know what to say but more like being open and vulnerable is a new and uncomfortable experience.

Eventually his desire for help wins the battle against his nerves. "I need Kye to come back to Japan with me. But he will not listen to me. Please, help me tell him it is the best decision."

"Oh, awkward. Yeah, he did say something about you two fighting about that. But I think that is a choice the two of you have to make. I don't think me getting involved is going to help."

"I understand." The slump in his shoulders and the defeated tone of his voice implies that he expected this outcome, but a small flame of hope and desperation exists in his eyes. "And I am okay if we want to move to America. But we cannot come right now. And if Kye does not come back soon, he dies."

Harper's eyes widen in horror as her breath quickens. She's come to accept that death is waiting for her around every corner but Kye's death is unimaginable. Her brother has been by her side since the day she was born, and, in her mind, he would stay there until the day she dies. In no scenario does she imagine him dying first even if he is older.

"What do you mean 'he dies'? Is it a werewhale thing? Is he sick and doesn't know it? Is someone trying to kill him and he doesn't know it?"

"Yes."

"To which one?! I'm going to need more details!"

"It's difficult to explain. Please give me a moment." Her brother's boyfriend crawls off the bed and begins pacing the wall, pausing for a moment to look out at the view of the moon looming over the neighborhood. "Do you know why there are no octopus creatures like Kye and I?"

"No, I never thought about people who could turn into an octopus and why they may or may not exist. But to be honest I didn't know there were people who turned into whales until Kye told me he is one."