AIDAN

My eyes opened to prismatic light. The foyer chandelier glared at me while a voice nearby called out. “Aidan! Aidan, what happened? What you did, now?”

Ears ringing and vision blurry, I propped myself up to get my bearings. “Nadia?” I reached for my phone with her still set on speakerphone.

From her tone, one would think it was her who woke up on the floor. “Boy, it is four o’clock! You think I got up in the middle of the night to hear you put yo' ass in the hospital on your birthday?”

I was disoriented to the point I almost fell over as I stood. “Stop yelling. Also, it’s not midnight--oh, my frickin’ head!”

Standing on the tiled floor, the TV distracted me from my throbbing temples. After grabbing the remote, I glanced at the scroll bar underneath the news anchor. "Son of a--is that really the time?!” I grabbed my book bag and stumbled out of the house. “Girl, I gotta call you back. Christine said she would rip my nut sack off if I was late for another project session.”

“Well, whatever you do, don’t turn yo’ back on crazy eyes.”

I hit the call end button and threw my backpack in the car. "Please, baby Buddha, no red lights.” I was about to roll down my window when I caught my reflection in the left-hand mirror. My dark hair was oily and the New Orleans humidity was only going to make it worse.

I pulled up to the university library and parked near the building’s entrance. With a deep breath, I glanced at the dashboard clock. “For the love of all things good and pure, let Christine have gotten laid. I need her in a good mood.”

The library was already crawling with the usual number of students cramming for midterm finals. I was standing in an academic apocalypse. The energy was always raw at this point in the year, but the tension was especially palpable this time.

I headed to our group’s regular table in the center of the library. Dante was seated with his hairy soccer legs propped up next to my usual chair.

He saw me and threw the book in his hands on the table. “Well, if it isn’t Mr. Navarro. Charoúmena genéthlia. Did your balls finally drop?”

His smug look earned a middle finger from me. “If that's Greek for happy birthday, you’re about three hours early and someone already beat you to it.” I put my book bag on the table and breathed deeply to settle my throbbing head.

Dante flexed his arms and gave a scruffy smirk. “But I’m the first one to give you a gift. You’re welcome for the gun show.”

I pinched the bridge of my nose. “Please, D." My hands shot up to stop him, not bothering to hide my aggravation. "My head is killing me, Christine is probably going to murder me and we both know you haven’t even glanced at last week's work.”

His eyebrows furrowed in confusion. “What’s up your butt? Not literally. I mean, what you and another guy do is fine, but I don’t need to hear the graphic details. Not again.”

I was having trouble breathing with the pressure in my chest. “I don’t know. I’m really stressed and your level of testosterone is a little too much for me right now. Not to mention I fell down the stairs leaving my house.” I rubbed my head to ease the pain before reaching into my backpack for the psychology textbook. “Where is Christine? Shouldn’t she be here making sure we thoroughly hate working with her?” Our conversation was cut short by the thud of something falling onto the table from the book in my hand. We leaned forward before I lifted the antique-looking necklace by its red jewel.

Dante’s gaze moved between me and the necklace. “Dude, are you doing drag now? I got a cousin who does that. He's more convincing as a woman than my sister.”

I gave him a withering glance. “It’s not mine. It must be part of one of Nadia’s dance costumes.”

Dante’s face lit up far too much. “It belongs to that hot roommate of yours? Oh man, I still can’t get those dark curves out of my head. Maybe I should hold on to it for her. Swing by and go all prince charming, returning her stuff.” His grin stretched from ear to ear.

I rolled my eyes so hard they nearly popped out of my head. “Uh huh, or it could be her sister’s since Nadia and I live in her house. And don’t talk about my best friend like she’s Kobe Beef.”

Dante threw a pen at me. “You think you could still put in a good word with Nadia for me?" His tone changed back to camaraderie. "I was kind of hoping to hang with her this weekend.”

Unable to look away from the jewel’s blood-red color, I answered. “Won’t matter how many good words I put in for you. Nadia’s not hanging with you this weekend.”

The hurt on his face reflected in his tone. “Why? Because I want to get a piece of that delicious chocolate? You don’t like the idea of me dating your friend?”

Once again, I rolled my eyes. “Au contraire, mon frere. I'd say you guys are probably perfect for each other. Unfortunately, she’s in another country.” I lifted my gaze from the necklace. “But back to my point. I told you last week, she went with Noelle and Leo to Italy for two weeks. Now, can we please start? You need a decent grade on this as much as I do.”

His mischievous smile frightened me. “So, you have that big house all to yourself?”

From the corner of my vision, I caught sight of a tall redheaded girl with homicide in her eyes. Christine picked the perfect moment to intrude on our conversation. The she-devil glared at us from behind her thick glasses much like a prison warden. “Are you shitting me right now?”

Dante readjusted in his chair and I shoved the necklace into my jean pocket. My voice became unnaturally high-pitched. “Hey, girl, hey. I was asking D, here, what you wanted to do tonight in regards to whether we continue the project outline or start analyzing the results from the research we did last week on classical conditioning.” I barely took a breath.

She leered at us for a long moment without blinking. “I swear, if I fail this project because of you two idiots, I'm going to beat you both to death with your textbooks. And in case you morons haven’t noticed, you’re in a library. Less talking and more working.”

The whole situation felt like a test from God. When Christine turned away, I narrowed my eyes at her and muttered under my breath. “I don’t know why she has to be such a bitch all the time.”

Reaching into my pocket for my phone, something round and smooth brushed against my fingers. The necklace. A warm sensation ran through my body and my vision blurred. Dante’s feet propping back up on the table snapped me out of my trance.

I grabbed the nearest notebook and dove into the material. The last thing I needed was to spend the whole night at the library. Christine sat at her own table mere seconds before Dante's phone started buzzing. I nearly highlighted the wrong page when he shoved his cell phone screen into my face. A pair of surgically enhanced boobs in a lace tank stared back at me.

Dante scrolled through more pictures with the same theme. “Check it. I know it’s not really your thing, but whaddya think? She’s hot, right?”

I leaned back to allow Dante and I a chance to inhale our own oxygen. “For one thing, it looks like she’s got a lot on her mind. Those boobs are definitely going places.” I started to turn back to my work, until a light bulb in my brain lit. “Actually, I could use your brand of advice. I went on a date the other night and can't decide if the guy was nervous, or obnoxious. I might be biased since I want to have sex with him.”

He dropped his phone to cover his ears while shaking his head. "Nope. You can show me a pic if you want, but after last time, you're not allowed to go into detail anymore." Dante’s hands dropped from his ears, but his eyes remained tentative. That would buy us some time to focus.

Dante and I worked quietly, checking each other’s notes while enjoying the lack of Christine's input. After about an hour, his growling stomach became too much to ignore. Dante covered his abs and stood. "I'm gonna go grab some snacks.”

Fifteen minutes later, he sauntered back with half a vending machine worth of food. “Dude, you’re not going to believe it. I met the most incredible woman I’ve ever seen.”

I raised my eyebrows and looked behind him, but no one was there. “Yeah, I’d say being invisible is pretty incredible.”

Dante’s face twisted in confusion until he followed my line of sight. “What? Oh, she’s grabbing something and then meeting me outside. Anyway.” He dropped the procured snacks on the table. “I was hoping I could bribe you with salty goodness to let me take off.” Dante was giving me puppy dog eyes. “She’s really hot. Like hot-tub-and-Gatorade hot.”

I cocked my head back in shock. “I have no idea what that means but please leave before you have the urge to explain.”

Dante fist-bumped me and left. With a sigh of relief, I focused back on my work. “Thank. God. Maybe now I can actually get this done in time.”

Once I wrapped things up with Christine, I headed out. Upon reaching my car, I dropped my book bag and gasped. Scratched into the driver's side was a phrase I had heard a lot growing up gay. The hate filled word glared at me. I wanted to cry and scream. Emotions boiled to the surface, but I wouldn’t let them get to me. After pulling out my phone, I called Lana.

After a few rings, she answered. “Hey, bitch. What’s up?”

Her cheery tone only made me want to cry more. “Lana, it happened again.”

She paused for a moment. “What happened again? Are you okay?”

I took a deep breath as I brushed my fingers along the indented word. “Remember prom?”

“Yeah. We had a great time. Well, until it was over and—oh, my god! Someone keyed your car again?”

I nodded even though she couldn’t see me. “Yep. They even used the same word.”

Lana shouted a handful of expletives. “Ugh! What the hell is wrong with people? Screw them!” She went into graphic detail of what the culprits should do with their backsides. “Well, I guess you’re getting two birthday gifts from me because we’re fixing that tomorrow morning. Any idea who did it?”

My eyes welled. “Thanks, hun. It was probably just some random person who didn’t like my rainbow equality bumper sticker. Anyway, now I have to figure out what to do till then. I can’t drive my car around like this.”

There was another pause from her end. “Oh! Change it to “fab.” Yeah, you can make the top part of the “g” into a “b” and then turn the bottom part into a flower or something.”

I frowned at the suggestion. “I guess that’s the lesser of two evils.”

***

Driving home, most lanes were empty, allowing freedom of the open road. I couldn’t hold back my tears anymore. I felt so violated and attacked. It was even worse knowing I was heading to an empty house. I was going to end up talking to myself, or worse, the dog.

I pulled into the driveway and noticed the sleek, black Maserati parked by the neighbors. Sports cars always reminded me of Lana and her psychotic driving. Even that sounded appealing. With a sad sigh, I climbed the porch steps toward the front door.

After Nadia lost my last house key, the replacement turned out to be a piece of crap. I was usually stuck jiggling the lock for fifteen minutes until the key would turn. This time, my frustration got the better of me and I lost my footing by pushing too hard. If not for instinctively grabbing the frame, I’d have fallen through the doorway.

The pitch-black interior triggered my unease of walking into unlit houses. “Wait. I didn't turn off the lights when I le--.” A hand reached out from the darkened house and grabbed my throat. Panic rushed through me. I was pulled forward and slammed face down on the floor. At the sound of a sword unsheathing, my head jerked up. The blade’s edge was against my neck before my lungs could take a breath.

His voice, though calm, resonated through the house. “Your chances of escape are beyond unfathomable. You would be unwise to even try.”

“Please.” My voice was shaky and barely above a whisper. “Plea--” I spasmed at the pain of his knee pressing on my back.

His tone grew more sinister. “How did the stone come into your possession? Whom are you working with? The quicker you answer me, the less agonizing your death will be.”

I slowly rolled onto my back, but the foyer was still so dark, building my fear. The only thing I could perceive was a shadowy silhouette standing above me. The sword, inches from my face, reflected a small portion of light coming in through the windows. Even with partial light, then man was shrouded in shadows.

It didn’t occur to me anything more terrifying could happen until an invisible force grabbed my wrists and pulled me away from the swordsman. As I was dragged toward the living room, the man with the blade rushed towards me before something flipped me upside down. My head spun in every direction, but I still didn’t see anyone else.

Pain overwhelmed my body and I screamed at the top of my lungs. It felt as though serrated blades were running over every nerve ending and pain receptor in my body. Between the rush of blood to my brain and howls of agony escaping my mouth, I barely heard the growl near me.

I closed my eyes hoping it would ease the dizziness until my back slammed against a hard surface. It took me a second to realize I was staring at the floor from the ceiling. The grip on my wrists and ankles fell away before my body dropped. After impacting with the floor, I groaned and slowly turned over. This time, the growl was much closer. I looked toward the sound before the invisible attacker revealed its grotesque humanoid form. The monster’s glowing red pupils pulsated in the dark. I was frozen in horror as its limbs bent in unnatural ways to quickly crawl towards me. The sword-wielding stranger suddenly appeared behind the monster and sliced it into a vaporous nothing.

I stood to run for the front door and nearly reached it when the stranger grabbed me and threw me on the couch. The realization I was lying on my back didn't hit me until his shoe plunged into my gut. “Son of a--.”

Each word he spoke sounded carefully crafted and dripping with danger. "Don't scream and, most importantly, don't run." He kicked off my stomach, pointed his sword at my head, and turned on the lights. The room’s brightness was blinding at first, but I wanted a clear look at my attacker.

His tall stature and wide shoulders filled out his designer suit. It agreed with his strong jaw and dark hair. The man’s face, though tan, didn’t have a single wrinkle or line, yet he appeared to be in his mid to late thirties. His dark amber eyes bore into mine as he sheathed the blade behind his neck. I blinked a few times after noticing the sword had disappeared.

The abusive visitor took two fast steps towards me and I backed up against the couch. Unfortunately, the man was relentless. With both hands, he grabbed hold of my face. I immediately squirmed at the freezing temperature of his palms.

He slammed my head against the wall and I paid full attention. He leveled his eyes with mine and spoke calmly. “Why do you have the stone?” During the mayhem, I hadn’t stopped to ponder anything I was asked. Remembering the necklace, I dug into my pocket. The stone was still there, even after I was strung upside down.

My shaking hand held the jewel by its thin black chain. “Here! Take it! I don’t even know where it came from. I thought it belonged to my friend, but it clearly doesn’t. Take it!” The stranger gripped the red stone, but when I let go, he stopped moving entirely. His features became rigid, almost like he was petrifying. "Hello?"

The veins under his fingers became bright red. The color snaked its way from his hand to his face and filled his eyes.

My mouth fell open. "What the fu--" Red light erupted from the jewel that blasted the stranger to the other end of the living room. I fell with, once again, cloudy vision and ringing ears. On my hands and knees, I noticed the jewel hanging from my neck. I looked up at the man and he was standing seemingly unharmed while staring daggers at me.

I knew nothing good was to come, but I still yelled. “Oh, god, no!” The man yanked me up, and pinned me against the wall. His hand reached behind his neck, undoubtedly for his sword. "No, no, no, no, please. Please, listen to me. The necklace is not mine. I swear. I don't know how I got it."

His dark eyes penetrated my own. “And I am to believe you have absolutely no idea of its significance? That it happened to fall into your possession by chance? And bond to one who knows nothing of its purpose?”

I tried continuing this milder conversation. “Like I said, it’s not mine. Maybe it fell into my bag.” The stranger’s stance didn’t waver at my words. In my mind, The Lord's Prayer was running on a loop.

My breath caught when he pulled me two inches from his face. “Listen to me carefully. If you so much as think of leaving this city, or try to hide from me, I will know the moment the idea forms in your mind.” He threw me down and headed for the door.

My bones cracked from sitting up. “Wait!” I wasn’t sure if he would even help me, but I needed to try. “After all that, you're going to leave? What if one of those things comes back?”

It could've been my imagination, but when he turned, his expression appeared tired. “You should be thankful they only sent for the stone and didn’t come themselves.” He grabbed the doorknob. "I will return soon enough. Try not to die in the meantime."

“Who are ‘they?” The door was closed before I even finished yelling. “What the hell?”

After his car roared away, I sat motionless on the floor. The adrenaline pumping through me paralyzed me. “What hap—that couldn’t have been—no. Tha—that wasn’t real. I’m--.” Eyes welling, I hugged my knees to my chest and rocked myself.

Eventually, I stood but it felt like the floor was falling under me. I had enough energy left to walk upstairs.

My left leg felt unsteady, which could have meant something was sprained or bruised, but thankfully not broken. Limping up the stairs, I tried my best to walk off the pain. Once at the top, I regretted not getting ice first.

I entered my room, shut the door and carefully crawled into bed. Nothing made sense. I wanted to call the police, but I didn’t have a clue how I would explain what had happened. I couldn’t even explain it to myself.

I wrapped the necklace around my wrist and entangled the chain between my fingers. Staring at the jewel, the deep red felt like it was pulling me into a trance. I averted my gaze and carefully rested my head. "Why did you have to be in my bag?" Happy birthday to me.