Oct. 11

What happened last night transferred over in my nightmares. It brought me to a time I didn’t want to remember. It brought me to the first time I encountered the Cerberus.

In my dreams, I stood face first with the demon. The monstrous hound stood over me like a mountain of black fur and rage. The three sets of amber red eyes burned with fury, gazing at my weak, insignificant human body. With one snap of its jaws, I could be just another snack, or even worse.

I frantically searched my person for my mask, the only thing that could protect me. Before I could find it, the beast snarled. It charged towards me, getting ready to swallow me whole. I fell to the ground in panic.

Then a voice yelled over me, “Get out of here young one!” An old hunter stood over me, readying his shield. I tried to remember his name, but it had been so many years. As I ran out of the way, I could hear his scream. When I looked back, other huntsmen were trying to save him, but he was already gone. My last thought was his limp, severed hand in the right heads jaw.

I woke up in a jolt. My breathing was heavy. I could see light particles moving through the air, dancing as if taunting me. I put my hand in my face, trying to relieve the pressure in my head. That was in the past. I’m ok. I’m here.

Jasmine came over to my bedside. She placed her hand over my arm. “Are you okay?”

I didn’t want to worry her. I took a deep breath to calm myself, “I’m fine. Just bad dreams.”

She gave me a hopeless grin. We both knew it was more than that, but she decided to leave it be. “I’m here if you want to talk.” She went back to her desk to continue studying for her Latin class.

I couldn’t understand how she could think about school at a time like this. She doesn’t seem bothered by the graveness of the Cerberus’ awakening. She hadn’t even visited Caleb since the injury. I didn’t want to say I was mad. Jasmine and Caleb had an interesting sibling-like relationship, and not visiting him? It just perplexed me.

I changed out of my PJs into casual outerwear. Picking up my bag, I headed out the door, “Are you sure you don’t want to visit him? I bet he’d appreciate seeing you?”

“No thanks,” She didn’t look at me, too preoccupied in her textbook to show any emotion.

“Alrighty then, have a good day…” I shut the door behind me slowly. There must’ve been something I was forgetting, some reason she acted so passively.

-

It didn’t take me too long to get to the boys’ apartments. I made a stop to the neighborhood McDonald's and picked up some brunch for them.

“Thanks.” Hunter unwrapped his egg sandwich, taking a small bite. He seemed better than he was the past couple of days. With some rest and food, the color returned to his freckled skin. Still, he had an aura of depression.

As for Caleb, he’d still seen better days. He was able to sit up, leaning himself over his bedroom wall. Still, he remained silent, unable to talk due to the pain. Hunter held up his food, cutting it up into small enough pieces for him to eat. He nodded his wrapped hand, trying his best to show his appreciation. The deep red burns on his skin seemed to be healing very slowly, but sure enough, I knew he would be better in no time.

“How was the hunt yesterday?”

The answer that was as simple as giving heart surgery. Against my better judgment, I told them everything. It was a lengthy recounting, which some parts I didn’t even fully understand. But when I was finished, both of them just sat in silence. How could I help the situation?

“We have to take it down. If… whatever keeps happening, it might grow to the size of it being impossible to beat. We could corner it, but we’d need everyone to help…” It looked as if Caleb was about pick himself up, but his arms collapsed under him, and he fell back to the mattress.

“No Caleb!” Hunter jumped up to help Caleb, but he swatted away the aid. God, I could only understand how Caleb felt. So helpless, constantly needing someone to even move. That's how I felt a lot, how I felt the night where I first saw Cerberus.

I placed my hand onto his slump shoulder, “Don’t worry about it, okay? Your top priority is to get better.” I stood up, not wanting to make things any worse, “I have another idea.”

In response, Hunter grabbed my hand. It was shakey in grip, but firm enough to keep me in place, “Where are you going?”

I couldn’t help but assure him with a smirk. “Just gotta do a little shopping.” I turned out of the room, shutting the door behind me. Now in solitude, I took a deep breath. I didn’t know how I would do it, but we had no other choice.

I had to call old Mr. McCyrus out of retirement.