Chapter 55: Not Human

“Don’t do that, Gwen,” Chris said, keeping his voice quiet.

“Look at me.”

She kept her eyes fixed on the corner of the desk, her knuckles turning white as she gripped the laptop.

Chris didn’t move closer.

He simply waited until she finally looked up.

“Something happened on that school trip,” he said.

“What was it?”

“I don’t know.”

“Start with what you do know.” He took half a step forward, his tone firm but calm.

“You don’t need the whole picture. Just tell me what happened.”

Gwen stared at him, and the fear in her eyes immediately caught my attention.

“I don’t know what’s happening to my body, Chris.”

“Tell me what you’ve noticed.” She hesitated before finally admitting, “I’m strong. Really strong.”

Chris’s eyes narrowed slightly.

“How strong?”

“I don’t know!” She looked down at her hands, her fingers curling inward.

“I tore the faucet right off the pipe in the bathroom. I broke the lock just trying to open the door. Things that should need tools to break… I can break them without even trying.”

“And that’s why you’ve been locking yourself in here?”

“What else am I supposed to do?” Her voice cracked.

“If I go downstairs, if I brush past someone in the hallway… what if I slip? What if I break Mom’s wrist just taking a plate from her? What if I hurt you?”

Chris crouched down until he was level with her.

“You haven’t hurt anyone, Gwen. Your body changed. That doesn’t mean you’re dangerous. And trust me—even if you panicked, you couldn’t hurt me.”

“You don’t get it,” she whispered, tears running down her cheeks.

“What if I’m not human anymore? What if whatever got into my system is turning me into something broken? What if I’m a monster?”

My stomach dropped.

In all the years I’d raised her, Gwen had never looked at herself with that kind of fear.

She had always been confident, stubborn, and willing to speak her mind.

Seeing her so afraid of her own body hurt more than I could explain.

“Gwen,” Chris said, his voice cutting through her panic.

“Does having power make someone a monster? Or is it what they choose to do with it?”

She didn’t answer, wiping her face with the sleeve of her shirt.

“You’re scared because your body changed and you don’t understand what’s happening,” Chris said gently.

“That makes you scared, not evil. Look at me.” He paused for a moment.

“I was going to wait until you were older to tell you this, but you need to know now. I’m a mutant.”

I stiffened slightly behind him, while Gwen simply stared at him in confusion.

“A mutant?” she repeated.

“Genetics,” Chris explained.

“We’re basically a cousin species of humans. We’re still people, but some of us have an X-gene that gives us abilities normal humans don’t have. Some are stronger, some have psychic abilities, and others can control energy.”

He looked directly at her.

“It’s biology, Gwen.

Not a curse.” Then he asked, “Does knowing that make me a monster?”

“No,” she said softly.

“Of course not.”

“Then don’t think of yourself that way either. Being different doesn’t make you bad.” For a moment, Gwen seemed to calm down.

Her breathing became slower, and some of the fear in her face disappeared.

Then Chris’s expression changed.

He looked at her more carefully, his eyes moving over her arms before settling on her hands.

He seemed to be looking for something, although I had no idea what.

Gwen noticed it too.

I asked him, “Chris? What is it?”

He didn’t answer immediately.

Instead, he reached for her hand and gently turned her wrist over.

I frowned when I noticed two small marks on the inside of her wrist.

They were easy to miss, but once I saw them, I couldn’t stop looking.

“What are those?” Chris asked, his eyes narrowing as he leaned slightly closer to Gwen’s wrist.

Gwen stared at the faint marks, her expression shifting as if she had only just noticed them herself.

“I…” she began, then quickly pulled her hand back and hid it against her chest.

Chris didn’t let it go.

He gently but firmly caught her wrist again and turned it over, his voice lowering.

“Gwen,” he said quietly, “where did you get those?”

She hesitated, her gaze dropping to the floor.

For a moment she said nothing, as if weighing whether to answer at all.

Finally, she murmured, “On the trip.” Chris’s expression immediately hardened, concern sharpening into something more serious.

“What happened?” he asked.

Gwen swallowed, her fingers tightening slightly as if the memory itself made her uneasy.

After a long pause, she finally admitted, “I was bitten.” My eyes widened instantly.

“Bitten by what?”

“I don’t know.” Gwen shook her head.

“It happened so fast. We were looking at some of the specimens, and something got out. I felt something bite me, but it didn’t seem serious.”

Chris remained quiet.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” I asked.

Gwen looked at me with tears in her eyes.

“Because I thought it was nothing.”

Chris looked at the marks again before asking, “And after that, you started getting stronger?”

Gwen nodded.

“Yes.” Chris slowly stood up.

“That explains it.” I looked at him.

“Explains what?”

He glanced at Gwen.

“Whatever bit her changed something.” Gwen’s face went pale.

“So I’m not a mutant?” Chris shook his head.

“No.”

“Then what am I?” Chris looked at her for a moment before answering, “I don’t know yet.” His answer surprised me.

“You don’t know?”

“I can tell that something has changed in you,” he said.

“But I don’t know exactly what it is.” Gwen lowered her eyes.

“Is it dangerous?” Chris didn’t answer immediately.

“I don’t know.” The honesty in his voice seemed to scare Gwen even more.

Chris noticed and quickly added, “But that doesn’t mean something bad is going to happen.”

He placed a hand on her shoulder.

“We’ll figure it out.” Before either of us could say anything else, Chris turned toward the open doorway.

“White!”

Within seconds, the pale girl who had arrived with him stepped silently into the room.

Chris looked at her.

“Take over Helen’s work for now. The company paperwork, legal documents, meetings, everything. I don’t want Helen leaving the house until we understand what’s happening.”

“Until we know what’s happening to Gwen, I don’t want either of you going anywhere,” he said.

His tone was firm enough that I knew arguing wouldn’t change his mind.

Then he turned back toward Gwen.

“You’re safe here. Nobody is going to hurt you.” Gwen’s eyes filled with tears again.

Chris continued, “And you don’t have to be afraid of yourself.”

That was enough to break the last bit of control she had left.

Gwen suddenly stood up and hugged him tightly, burying her face against his chest.

“I didn’t know what to do…” she cried.

“Why did you have to leave?”

Chris wrapped his arms around her and let her cry.

“I’m here now.” Gwen held onto him tightly.

“I thought I wouldn’t be able to see you again”.

He gently patted her back.

“I’m fine, and I will make sure you are too.”

She continued crying against him, finally letting out everything she had been keeping inside since returning from the trip.

I stood near the doorway, watching them.

Only a few minutes ago, I had been worried because Gwen was staying in her room and refusing to talk to me.

Now I understood why.

She hadn’t been avoiding us because she was upset.

She had been scared.

She had noticed something changing inside her and had been dealing with it alone because she didn’t know what it meant.

I looked at the two small marks on her wrist.

Then I looked at Chris.

For years, I had believed that keeping Gwen safe meant protecting her from the normal dangers around us.

But this wasn’t normal.

Something had happened to my daughter during that trip, and I had completely missed it.

I still didn’t know what she was becoming.

But as I watched Chris hold her, I knew one thing.

Whatever happened next, Gwen wasn’t going to face it alone.

Her family would be with her.