“Hidde! Hidde!”

The sound of my mom’s voice, shrill with emotion, woke me with a start. I was engulfed in a firm hug next.

“My baby. Are you okay?” Mom asked in my ear, to which I nodded.

I wrapped my arms around my mom, too. “Yeah, I’m okay,” I said, blinking a few tears that suddenly welled up away.

Over Mom’s shoulder, I saw dad standing behind her.

“I’m sorry we weren’t here sooner,” he apologized. “ We were at Aunt Amy’s house. We didn’t hear the phone.”

“It’s okay, you guys would’ve just been waiting here while they were taking my statement,” I murmured back.

Mom finally released me, and Dad took her place, also hugging me tightly.

“They already caught the bastard?” he asked.

“Yeah, he’s in custody,” I replied. “He- he never left the store so the cops could take him in immediately.”

Both my parents stared at me with eyes wide as saucers.

“You mean you kept him in the store somehow?” my dad broke the shocked silence.

“No… there was someone else, a guy helped me,” I vaguely replied, not wanting to repeat the entire story again after just having repeated to the cops for half an evening. I was too tired. “Can we please talk about this tomorrow?”

Sympathy immediately poured from their expressions. “Of course, you must be exhausted after everything that happened and giving a statement,” Mom said. “You’re free to go right? Let’s go home.”

After handling the last few details at the police station, Mom and Dad lead me to the car. I felt drowsy and woozy, almost like being drunk, on my way to the parking lot. Sometimes my vision doubled and I had to blink fervently to keep my tired eyes open.

I must’ve fallen asleep on the way, because when my Dad shook me awake, we were no longer at the police station, but rather parked in front of our home.

“Wake up, Hidde. We’re here.”

I grumbled something in response. I didn’t want to get up but knowing my warm bed awaited upstairs made me get to my feet anyway.

After Dad opened the door and let me inside, I immediately bid my parents goodnight and walked upstairs. I dropped myself on my mattress without taking my clothes off and landed on something hard and uncomfortable.

Groaning, I reached for the medallion which was digging into my chest. I took it off, placed it on the nightstand, and fell into a deep sleep.

I dreamt of the pale stranger glowing and running into the distance, with the sound of a ticking clock ringing in my ears. I chased him with the medallion in the palm of my outstretched hand but was never able to catch up.

***

The next morning sucked. Putting it lightly.

Every beeping sound coming from my alarm clock dug straight into my skull and throbbed through my brain. When I tried to reach for the button to shut it up, every fiber in my arm protested against the movement. It felt like I had run a marathon and then decided to celebrate with binge drinking; a splitting headache combined with sore muscles all over.

What the hell? This couldn’t be just adrenaline fatigue. Groaning I tried to push myself up in my bed.

“You may want to skip school today. Yesterday did a real number on you, Hidde.” My head snapped in the direction of the unexpected voice, my heart skipping a beat. My pained muscles twitched and seized.

In my bedroom, lazing in my burgundy reading chair with the book Jasmine gave me, was the pale stranger from yesterday.    

The only difference?

Huge feathered, white wings sprouting from his back and draping over the chair.

I gaped.

It was good I didn’t suffer from adrenaline fatigue because pure adrenaline pumping through my bloodstream was the only thing that could force my utterly spent muscles to act. I managed to sit up and scramble into the corner furthest away from the winged maniac. My breathing came out in short spurts.

“H-how,” I stammered. “How are you here? H-how do you know my name? This is break and entry! I’ll — I’ll call the cops on you!”  

My eyes darted to the nightstand. My phone. Shit, it was out of my reach now. How would I get to it in time? I hadn’t thought of it before scurrying into the corner. I turned to the pale crazy guy again.

He shot me an odd look, making the gigantic wings twitch (how the hell did he do that? I’m sure my dad would’ve known. He was a master prankster and would’ve seen straight through that guy’s tricks).

“What’s with you?” he asked.

I didn’t respond. Obviously not. What was with me? What was with him was a better question! Who the hell wore gigantic wings on their back unless attending a cosplaying event or costume party?

Why the fuck was I focusing on that? My eyes darted to the nightstand again.

“Oh no…” Pale crazy guy let out a deep sigh, dragging a hand up his forehead. “Your dad didn’t tell you about me, huh? Oh fuck, I hate it when this happens.”

I ignored him again, my mind racing to come up with a plan. The phone was a no go. Who knew what he’d do? But my parents were downstairs. I could always scream!

Crazy Guy pressed his thin fingers to his face as if pained. “Not again. Please, don’t scream.”

“Get out!” I screamed.

“Damn it! Why do they always scream?”

Promptly, the maniac stood, dropping my birthday gift book on the reading table. His wings folded on his back and his eyes fixed on the wall.

As the hurried footsteps of my mom sounded on the staircase, he started to emit a faint light, before fading right in front of my eyes. I could suddenly see my bookcase behind him. No, through him. Crazy Guy was blending with its wooden surface. I could see my collection of gay romances through his shirt, like he was a 3D projection.

My jaw went slack, and my mom threw open my bedroom door.