AIDAN

All around me, the park was still. A stark contrast to the panic rolling through me. The adrenaline from the shock was still lingering in my body. My vision shifted around but kept coming back to the blood.

Gripping my stomach from the pain, I jumped from the platform and slowly walked back to my car. Once in the driver's seat, I breathed slowly and grabbed the steering wheel. My trembling hands made it difficult to stick the key in the ignition. “God, help me.” I rested my forehead against the wheel and swallowed my nausea. With a deep breath, I threw the car into reverse.

After pulling into my driveway, I turned the car off for another round of slow breaths to settle the chaos inside. Images of blood and phantom screams kept flashing through my mind. Staring at my hands, I could still feel the entrails between my fingers.

I unlocked the front door and let it slowly creak open. With heavy steps, I crossed the threshold, but stopped in the foyer, unable to go any further. My vision was blurry and the world felt upside down.

Footsteps coming from the stairs caught my attention. A hazy outline moved toward me while speaking but I could only hear my own breathing. I focused my vision and finally saw her clearly. Nadia.

She was screaming and her tone was full of panic. “Aidan! Answer me! What happened? Where are you bleeding from?” Her hands reached forward to lift my shirt. “Oh, my god! What is this?”

Once I fully processed that she was in front of me, I dropped to my knees and sighed. “It’s not my blood. Not all of it.”

Nadia bent down and softly gripped my shoulders. “You’re scaring me right now. What happened?”

Inside, I wanted to tell her everything. I needed her to help me try to understand what was happening. All I could do was start to tear up before managing a few words. “I was attacked, but I’m okay. I’m not bleeding or anything. It doesn’t hurt much anymore either.”

Nadia looked confused, concerned, and fearful all at the same time as she helped me to stand. “Let’s get you in the shower. Get in with your clothes on and see if you can get the blood rinsed off.”

I didn’t even wait for the water to get warm but rather got in to feel the water flow over me. Nadia brought me another pair of gym shorts and a tank. She even waited till I undressed to take my wet clothes. My hands shook as I grabbed the soap and scrubbed the blood probably harder than necessary.

Once dressed, I followed Nadia’s voice to the living room where she was in the middle of a call. Her tone was agitated and practically yelling. “No, I told you I am dealing with something right now.” She paused, I assumed, to let the other person respond. “I know my sister said I was back, but I’m in the middle of my own thing right now. Can’t you turn the alarm off yourself?” Nadia huffed before turning and catching sight of me. She started to walk toward me but stopped to handle her call. “Fine! Just shut up. I'll be there in fifteen minutes.” She hung up and walked toward me. “Hey, poodle. Come sit, so I can get a better look at you.”

I still couldn’t bring myself to talk. It felt like I was going to cry at any moment. I did, however, give her a nod.

From her sympathetic expression, I could tell she wasn’t going to bombard me with any more questions. Instead, she took my hand and led me to the couch. “Honey, I have to run to the dance studio. One of the teachers set off the alarm and the bitch started losing it when the cops arrived.” She lifted my shirt and looked even more concerned. I followed her gaze and saw the same thing. My wounds looked almost completely healed. She glanced up to meet my gaze. “Wait, when did this happen? This looks like you were stabbed a month ago.”

I was still too traumatized to understand anything. Teardrops fell down my face and Nadia’s expression softened. “We’ll deal with this later. For now, stay here and rest.” She nudged me to lie back before grabbing a blanket to drape over me. “I don’t wanna leave you alone like this, but I promise I’ll only be gone a few minutes. I’ll be there and back in no time.” Nadia rubbed my shoulder as I turned on my side. “Your phone is on the coffee table if you need to call me, but I really will only be a few minutes. Do you need anything before I go? Water?”

I slowly shook my head, prompting her to give me a sad smile. “Okay. Just rest and when I get back, I’ll heat some soup or whatever and we can talk about what happened. Alright?”

I gave her one more nod before she grabbed the keys to Noelle’s car and left. Sleep was an unlikely possibility. My heart was pounding like crazy and my mind was still in a state of shock. Oddly though, the room darkened and my vision became hazy. “What’s happ--.”

***

CLOAKED FIGURE

Once the young man's eyes closed and his body went limp, I stepped out from the shadowy corner of the room. After moving toward the unconscious individual, I quickly knelt by his side. I turned him over and gasped. It was not possible. What was he doing in this time and place?

I quickly rifled through his pockets and discovered the Nexus. Upon gripping the jewel, a blast of crimson light repelled me from the boy. Once the fog lifted from my mind, I raised my hand for the shadows to envelop me. “Well, now. Doesn’t this just change everything.”

***

AIDAN

From all of the flesh-slicing and intestines-ripping, it was hard to differentiate my dreams from reality. Though, this one felt more like a memory. I was at the stone archway with the psycho who attacked me. He was about to pull me through the swirling black hole when my hands became monstrous black claws. The next thing I knew, I was on top of the guy hacking into him. I dragged him all over the platform, flesh, and blood flying around me. Luckily, my dream changed when the faceless guy, again, found his way back into my mind. This time, I was sitting with him at the edge of a pond. I gazed at the crescent moon while he stared at me and touched my hand.

“Every night, when you lay,

I am never far away.

You are in my heart forever,

no matter what we endeavor.

Keep me close.

I’ll hold you tight.

My promise to stay

Till morning’s light.”

The words lingered in my mind, and I teared up. One after another, drops fell, wetting my cheeks. The dream faded along with the memory of the man’s face. My eyes opened to the jewel hanging from my neck while my forehead pressed against something. I shot back against my seat, fully awake and in my car. "Oh, what the—how?”

The first thing I noticed was the stone archway. “What am I doing at the park again? Did I drive here?!” I reached for the keys in the ignition and turned the car on. The gas was down a couple of notches. “How is it night already?” I searched for my phone, but couldn’t find it. Looking at the dashboard clock, hours had passed.

I checked my rear-view mirror to back out but stopped when a realization hit me. "Wait a second. Where are the police, or voyeurs, or literally anyone to see the blood?” From one end of the park to the other, not a single person was around. After shutting the car door, I slowly walked towards the archway. Jumping onto the platform, I nearly fell back. The blood was gone. I scanned the arch and sighed in relief at the large holes broken into it. “You know what? I’m gonna go. My head is already starting to hurt again.” I steadied my feet to jump from the platform, but glanced ahead and couldn’t look away. The park pond was black like the night sky and reflected the moon.

In a daze, I stepped towards the water’s edge. The front of my shoe lightly touched the pond, sending a ripple across the still surface. It reminded me of the dream. From the still water to the crescent in the sky. For no sane reason, my eyes welled. I touched one and a tear ran down. Everything was so calm around me.

My serene moment was broken by a roar not heard around these parts except at the zoo. That couldn’t be right. I wiped the tear and quickly walked back to the car. When I was a few yards shy of the parking lot, it landed, massive and crouching, ten feet in front of me. The moment it impacted with the earth, the ground tremored and I fell back. At full height, the beast was a good fourteen or fifteen feet tall. My mouth fell open as I gawked at the bottom of its enormous paws to the top of its lion head and glowing red eyes. Its torso was similar to a man’s except covered in white fur, complete with bright red stains around its mouth. My breath caught at the sight of its long and sharp knife-like claws, each a foot long and also stained red.

There was no way I could fight it. One swipe and it would take my head clean off. I had an idea, but it wasn’t great. I raised my hand and prepared to run. Whether it knew I was about to defend myself or not, the monster crouched down and roared. The lion leapt towards me, and I pushed my hand forward, releasing a pulse of invisible energy. The monstrous lion was a foot away when the force caught the beast mid-air and knocked it back about ten yards. In full panic, I ran to my car like I was on fire. Not wanting to see it chasing me, I kept my ears open and my eyes forward.

Once behind the wheel, I started the engine and didn’t check the rear-view mirror till I was a block away from home. My heart was beating so hard and fast, that I could feel it pounding against my chest. I pulled into the driveway and saw it. The Maserati's black glossy detail reflected the crescent moon. Nadia, thankfully, had not returned home yet. Her absence would give me a chance to deal with whatever trauma was about to happen. I begrudgingly walked up the porch steps and opened the front door.

Leaning against a foyer wall and staring at the floor, he glanced sideways at me. “Aidan, you’ve grown much larger in a day’s time.” The only indication of surprise was his left eyebrow twitching.

I finished entering the house but kept the door unlocked. "Oh, you know my name, now? What’d you do? Go through my mail? Cool, cool. And I am fully aware of my juiced appearance. As you can imagine, nothing fits right anymore." I stared at the stranger even though he was looking at the floor. “Don't you need to throw me around the room and threaten my life? I thought that was your thing.”

He lifted his head at my question and steadied his gaze with mine. “Did anything unusual happen today? Other than your growth.”

I slowly nodded my head. "Did anything unusual happen today? I’m, honestly, not sure where to start. Everything that could go wrong did in the most unimaginable ways. Does that answer your question?”

He looked surprisingly confused. "I don't know what you mean."

I sighed while trying to find my words. “Well, I spent the better half of my day going insane at home and the rest at the park getting attacked by a psychotic frat-bro and a massive lion from hell with razor claws. It has not exactly been the most stress-free of days. Not to mention, I hallucinated hardcore during my encounter with the mega douche, and I haven't even mentioned the number of times I’ve passed out. So, yeah. If by unusual, you mean terrifying, life-threatening danger, then yeah, it’s been an unusual day.”

He became rigid. “This ‘mega douche,’ did his eyes, at any point, change to completely white, except for black pupils?”

I walked over to the couch and plopped down. “Yeah. And if you wouldn’t mind, could you maybe tell your friends you catch more flies with honey than with vinegar?”

He followed me into the living room while narrowing his gaze. "The individual you encountered is no associate of mine. I work alone. And.” He pointed at the stone hanging from my neck. “It looks as though the bond between the stone and yourself is still intact.”

I slapped my knees and widened my eyes. “You mind if we talk about the whole bond thing? Because you forgot to mention the part where all anyone has to do is kill me to take the frickin’ thing. That's the kind of information you’re supposed to share if you don't want the person you left it with to die.”

I almost missed his small smile. “The stone has not been seen in centuries. Not since the night, a group of warriors used it to lock away a great evil for all time, after which, it was banished to where nothing and no one could ever get it.”

I kept my gaze on him while trying to remember the location of my joints. “You’ll have to excuse me because frankly, I’m not in the right state of mind to process anything you’re saying.”

He moved uncomfortably close to me. “Aidan, I don't have the time to tip-toe around your comfort level."

I stood up to put a little distance between us. “You just said the necklace was banished after it was used hundreds of years ago. We’re talking way before I was born.” I finally remembered where my joints were and reached for them on the bookshelf. After lighting one, I threw the front door open. “I don’t mean to be rude, but what does any of that have to do with me?”

His expression was a sea of confusion as he stared at my joint. “What are you doing?”

I exhaled the smoke through the front door and turned back to my uninvited guest. “Getting in the right state of mind. But more importantly, how do we unbind me from this necklace? Look, I get it. The necklace turns you into Wolverine and gives you all these crazy powers. I'm sure that sounds great to someone else, but that’s not me.” I took another hit from my joint. “I don't know how this thing ended up with me, but I need you to take it far, far away so I can go back to my normal stress. This life and death shit is not good for my anxiety.” I extinguished the joint and sat back down on the couch. “Besides, as you mentioned, I’ve grown quite a bit and now my underwear doesn’t even fit. I’ve had a wedgie all day.”

The stranger began pacing around the living room. “Your growth and everything accompanying it was not caused by the stone. The only thing it is responsible for is the signal it’s giving off."

I pulled the necklace off and held it like I needed a hazmat suit. “Mmkay. Yep. That tracks. I probably would’ve figured it out sooner if people and things weren’t trying to kill me all day.” I was disappointed with myself for taking so long to realize it.

He nodded his head while locking eyes with me. “Yes. As soon as the necklace bound itself to you, it became a beacon.”

To stay calm, I counted to ten because he was sidestepping a crucial detail. Keeping my tone light and easy, I stood to address the issue. “So, you knew the necklace was leading things right to me and you still left it here?”

Without turning his stoic face from me, he unsheathed his massive sword and pointed it at my head. “The real question is why would the stone come to you in the first place.”

I was so confused; my body froze as I stared at the blade’s tip. Still in those same positions, we turned when the front door unlocked.