“I can’t explain over the phone. You need to see it for yourself.”

“Aidan…”

“Please, Amelia.” I let the desperation seep into my voice, knowing it would get to her. “I promise, after this, if you never want to see me again, I’ll respect that. We need to meet up tomorrow morning.”

Silence. Then, “…Fine. Where do I need to go?”

I gave her the address.

“I will wait for you,” I said.

The next morning, Amelia arrived first, just as I planned. The inside of the old warehouse was dimly lit, its steel walls echoing with every sound. It was secluded enough that no one would interrupt what was about to happen.

“Aidan,” she said, her voice wary. “What is this place?”

“You’ll see soon enough.” I stepped forward, my eyes searching for hers. “Just trust me for a little while longer.”

She exhaled, clearly conflicted, but she didn’t leave.

“You have to stay in this room, you’d get to see everything from here. Please don’t leave the room. All you have to do is watch everything going on through this window. I need to reveal something to you.”

“What’s with all this mystery Aidan?”

“You’d find out soon enough.”

Amelia entered the room and minutes later, some men arrived carrying an unconscious Finn and tied him to the chair.

“What the hell is going on? Finn!” Amelia exclaimed as she rushed out of the room.

“Amelia, please trust me, he is completely fine.”

“How the hell do you expect me to trust you? He isn’t moving, what have you done to him?”

“I know that I have broken your trust, but I really need you to just be patient with me after what you see today, then you can decide if you want me out of your life for good.”

“Fine … don’t hurt him,” Amelia said as she reluctantly walked back into the room.

Finn slowly regained consciousness.

Present time …

I leaned on the railing, watching Finn recover from his transformation, blood dripping from a gash that would soon heal. Amelia stood frozen, pale and shocked, as morning light spilled through broken windows.

"Finn?" Her voice was barely above a whisper, but I heard the fear laced within it.

Finn swallowed hard, his golden eyes fading back to their usual blue color.

"Amelia, I…"

"No. No, this… this isn’t real," she stepped back, shaking her head.

I scoffed, pushing off the railing and shoving my hands into my pockets.

"Oh, it’s very real, love."

Her gaze snapped at me, anger flashing through the confusion. "You knew about this?"

"I just found out," I said smoothly, watching her carefully. "I just thought you needed to know too."