Predator

01

Neela remembered absolutely nothing. She didn't know how she ended up in the hospital, all she remembered was going to sleep, nothing before it. Neela laid uncomfortably in the hospital bed as she tried to calm her spinning head.

There was a soft knock on her door, then entered a woman. "Hello, Neela," the woman with piercing red eyes came over to Neela and shined a light in her eyes. "Your family will be here shortly to pick you up," the woman's emotion was hard to discern. She had an almost permanent smile on her face, while her voice sounded monotonous.

After checking Neela's heartbeat and how her lungs sounded, the woman was about to leave. "Miss, wait, please." Neela quickly sat up and held out an arm. "Yes?" The woman turned.

"May I ask what happened to me? Why am I here?" The almost robotic woman's eyes contorted to what looked like confusion, but still kept the permanent smile on her face. "Well—," the woman approached the bed as she opened up Neela's file. "You've tried to overdose on Prozac medication that is used to treat human depression."

Wow, was all Neela could think. She thought she was there for something Ryan did to her, it was her own fault for being there? "N—I don't remember doing anything like that," Neela's eyes shared the same confused expression as the nurse that stood by her. "How long have I been here?"

"Only three nights. The doctors had to be sure all the poison was out of your body. Hospitals for humans in this world are very slow," a buzzer sounded off down the hall and the woman left with no other words exchanged.

Neela stayed sat up in bed for a few more moments until Damien and all the boys walked in. Even though he was furious at her, Ryan still walked over to his little mate and held her in her arms. "We're going to talk about this, about what's wrong with your head." He growled lowly in Neela's ear.

"I don't even remember," Neela mumbled as she tried to not remember his past attacks on her, his growls always reminded her of those terrible times. "We're going to talk about it if I have to make you remember. And I promise you won't like it if I have to make you."

Slowly, Neela pulled away from Ryan and looked at him. He demon wasn't freed, his eyes still held the same softness when he usually looked at her. "You're not even in your demon form and you're threatening me," Neela spoke, shocked.

"Ryan, step away," Damien placed his hand on his sons shoulders and guided him away, "we're all glad you're okay," he smiled once Ryan was out of his sight and pulled Neela into his own loving embrace. "He's gonna hurt me," Neela whispered in her father's chest even though Ryan could hear her, "I swear, I don't know what happened. Please," Neela begged as tears welled up in her eyes.

"Don't worry," Damien whispered back.

Being a mute, Ethan can pick up on signals, body language, and how people talk to indicate if they're lying. From what he has observed in Neela, he had no reason to believe that she was lying. He just doesn't know how she could not remember doing something so drastic.

Now back at home, Neela was welcomed back with a huge meal, all put together by Landon and Damien. Mashed potatoes, fried chicken, and homemade noodles. She and Damien were the only ones who ate together at the table. Ryan, since she's been in the hospital, had been guzzling down blood and still is.

"Remember the last time I've eaten human food?" Damien gathered his daughter's attention, "I've been dabbling in it a whole lot more. Granted, it's not as delicious as blood, but still." He enjoyed just sitting down to a nice meal with Neela; just the two of them together.

"May I ask you something?" Damien made a motion with the fork in his left hand, along with a hum, telling her to go on. "Have you ever eaten human food before I've been here?"

Damien thought for a moment and shook his head, "not that I can recall. I was born like this, a half-demon. I was never exposed to human food until recently, thanks to my human daughter." He motioned toward Neela with a bright smile on his face. "My father was an incubus, who only gained sexual pleasure from my human mother, who was also his mate."

"Last question about demon stuff for a while, I promise. When I almost died, Ryan told me that turning into a demon is incredibly hurtful physically and emotionally. Is that true?" Neela wanted to know if Ryan was lying to her about that.

"Turning into a demon is incredibly painful, yes," Damien grew serious. "It's completely different for humans than it is to be bred as a demon," he scoped a mouthful of potatoes into his mouth a took a drink of his red wine. "When you're a human being turned, the process is incredibly painful and tedious. All of your memories leave you, you only remember when you've been turned and nothing before that. For bred demons, they remember everything the second their brain has grown to full capacity in the womb."

"It seems like you have a lot of knowledge about turning someone to be like you."

"I've only done it once, while Rin was pregnant with the twins. If Sean wasn't able to have saved you that night, I would've done it myself. None of the boys, I feel, would be able to do it properly for you," Damien guzzled down the rest of his wine, "also, you can ask me as many questions as you'd like," Damien shot his daughter a smile, "my boys, they know everything about what's it like, none of my other daughters come to visit, I enjoy teaching people about this life."

Neela's eyes lit up with happiness, "I'm glad you're teaching me, as well. Before, all I thought that demons were just beings that possessed humans."