7:43 P.M. 6/2/917

When he woke, Soren was already rustling around in the kitchen. The door was open, light streaming in from the hall. Ethan slowly swung his legs over the side of the bed and stood up, making his way into the kitchen.

He took a seat at the table and glanced around the room. Soren’s house was much nicer than his own. The floor, a fine, polished ebony, and the cabinets, the same, with smooth quartz countertops. Various kinds of potted plants were placed near the windows, and paintings hung along the wall with gold-colored frames. Soren came and set a plate in front of Ethan. Only then did Ethan feel the weight of having been unconscious for a week. He quickly cleared the plate in front of him.

“Are you feeling any better today?” Soren asked between bites. “You were able to get out of bed today.” 

“A little better, I guess,” Ethan said in a rather quiet and monotone voice. He couldn't find the effort for much more. The two of them were quiet for a bit before a thought came to Ethan. “What did you tell Charlie when you called him over?” Ethan asked. 

Soren, looking slightly more tense than before, “Well… I’m not really supposed to tell you. I wasn’t supposed to tell Charlie either, actually, but uhh… I mean you already saw it, so…” Soren trailed off.

“Saw what?”

“The um… The hybrid is what she called it. We don’t know what it is, but it's not fully avian. She told us to be careful if we encountered it. I’m sorry… I shouldn’t have made you alone with it. I didn’t realise that’s what was in the net.”

 “Did she say why she didn’t want us to know about it?”

Soren stood up and grabbed his plate. “No… But I’m sure she has her reasons.” He grabbed the empty plate before Ethan and stacked it with his own. He placed them on the counter near the sink. “Are you ready to go?” 

Ethan looked over to him. “Go where?”

“Uhh… To work?”

“I still have to go to work after that!?” Ethan said, much louder than he meant to, irritating his still-healing throat.

“Yeah… But you’ll be with me so I can help if you have any trouble.”

Ethan sighed and slowly rose from his seat and followed Soren out the door. 

Stepping outside for the first time in a week, he discovered a new appreciation for certain things within himself: The warm, gentle breeze of early summer, the sounds of rustling trees and stirring animals, and most importantly, being able to see Charlie again.

7:58 P.M. 6/2/917

The tall, wooden doors loomed over Ethan. He felt something similar to dread; Perhaps he was nervous to see Charlie again. He could’ve also been slightly delirious from his recovery. Soren pushed the door ajar as Ethan stepped through. The lobby was much less crowded than it had been before. He noticed Charlie sitting across the room, waiting for him. He took a step forward and felt his heart sink in his chest. As Ethan approached, each second seemed to stretch longer than the last. He eventually made his way right up next to Charlie, who seemed to be spacing out as he stared down at a small band of red cloth tied around his wrist. Ethan cleared his throat.

“Hey,” Ethan said, barely loud enough to be heard over the ambiance. Startled by the sound of his voice, Charlie quickly stood and turned to face Ethan. Charlie took a step forward. They stood there staring at each other for a moment before falling into a tight embrace. Neither spoke a word, for they already knew how the other was feeling. After a moment, they released their hold on the other and looked into each other’s eyes.

“I’m glad you’re okay,” Charlie told him.

…

Soren cleared his throat.

“I- uhh… I think it’s time to get going…” 

The two of them took a step away from each other and turned to look toward Soren. Charlie turned his face away in embarrassment as his face grew red.

“Yeah…” Charlie added.

There wasn’t anything special going on today. The cluster of employees had gone down substantially since the last time Ethan had been here, and most of them still had no news of any reason why. They had all mostly forgotten about it anyway. The three of them began to get ready for the day.

“Since Ethan’s with me today, who are you with?” Soren asked.

“Oh…” Charlie looked down at the sheet of paper in his hand. “Some guy called… ‘Nathan Winters’. I think it’s his first day. Says here he’s only 18?” Charlie sighed. “Where is he anyway?” He glanced back down at the photo attached to the paper. Glancing around, no one looked remotely similar to the boy in the picture. He had bright orange hair, his face dotted with dark freckles. His most noticeable feature, however, was his eyes, one a deep teal color, and the other a much lighter blue, almost grey.

They continued to the armory, where they gathered supplies for traps, but just as they were about to leave, someone walked up behind them. Tapping Charlie on the shoulder, there stood Nathan, the light from the window glistening in his eyes.

“Hi, sorry. You’re Charlie, right?” He asked, his voice much higher than any of them expected.

“Yeah, that's me…”

“Great! Well, it looks like we're together today!” He rambled excitedly.

“Yeah, unfortunately,” Charlie muttered under his breath.

They all exited the building together and headed into the forest.