Aidan

The door swung open, and I heard a voice that scared me more than the stranger's sword in my face. "Aidan! Where are you? I told you not to go nowhere!" Nadia stampeded into the house before seeing the psycho and I. “Is that a sword? Son of a—I don’t know who the hell you think you are?" Nadia threw her purse on the floor and closed the front door. "But, I'm gonna beat ya Armani wearing ass." Nadia kicked her shoes off before I realized what was happening.

I rushed to her side. "Wait, Nadia. It's okay." My mind was racing so fast. I forgot about everything else and pulled her in for a tight hug, taking in a deep breath of her familiar scent of Chanel and new shoes.

She relaxed before pulling away and glancing at our uninvited guest.

I raised my eyebrows and laughed, trying to think of what to say. "Um, you know what, Nadia? We need to talk.”

She looked at my hand and casually took the necklace. Nadia examined the jewel and its metal bindings. “So, I heard this bad boy is bonded to your bitch ass.”

I grabbed the necklace from her, shoving it back into my pocket. “Um, what the hell? How do you know that?” My head turned to the stranger and then back to Nadia. “How—what—do you two—?”

She stepped forward with her hands raised. “Chill, Aid. Because if anyone is going to freak out, it’s me. Where have you been? I told you I would only be a few minutes but when I got back, you were nowhere to be found. And on top of that, you left your cellphone here. I thought something came and snatched you! Also, why is the word “fab” scratched into the side of your car?”

I closed my eyes and sighed. “I, honestly, have no idea. One minute I was drifting to sleep, and the next, I’m in my frickin' car at Audubon Park. And don’t worry about my car being scratched. How do you two know each other?”

Nadia rolled her eyes and sighed. “At least you ain’t covered in blood this time.”

The stranger had quietly sheathed his sword and moved next to us. “How did you do that?”

I furrowed my eyebrows in confusion before realizing what he meant. “Oh, yeah. How did you take the necklace from me just now? When he touched it, the stone blew him clear across the living room."

Nadia popped her tongue and shrugged her shoulders. "Huh, weird. More importantly, did you start juicing while I was away? It didn’t seem as important earlier, what with you being catatonic and covered in blood, but, Jesus." She squeezed my arms until I swatted her away. “Look, the only thing I know about the stone is that you have it. As for your other question, I went on a date but it was a trap, and I’m alive because stud muffin here helped.” Nadia winked at the stranger. “Oh, and cause I’m a nymph. Like them nature bitches from Greek mythology.”

My anxiety hit again and I used all of my strength to keep standing. “Excuse me?” I turned toward the stranger. “No, see you’re supposed to take this necklace, and then everything goes back to normal. So, yeah.” I clapped my hands and forced a smile. “That’s what we’re doing. And then after you deal with the necklace, you can un-nymph Nadia and we’ll all be good to go.”

Nadia raised an eyebrow at me. “Aidan, calm down because you look crazy as hell right now. Besides, I’ve already had my own heart to heart with tall, dark, and Mr. Serious." Nadia gestured toward the stranger, but I kept my gaze on her.

It wasn’t a bad nickname. “Mr. Serious? Is that like a play on mysterious?”

Nadia stepped closer to look into my eyes. “Are you high right now?”

I could feel sweat building on my neck. “Nadia, I have been beaten, bashed, and brought to the edge of my sanity within the past 24 hours. Now, my best friend is telling me she is a nymph. I’m more crazy than anything else at this point.”

Nadia rested her hands on my shoulders. “I’m sorry, poodle, but honestly, I'm just happy you aren't dead. Between finding out you were caught in this mess too, and then you coming home soaked in blood, this is the first chance I’ve had not to freak out.” Her eyes welled up.

I relaxed my posture and softened my voice. “Is everybody else okay? Are Noelle, Leo, and the baby okay?”

Nadia waved her hand around while nodding her head. “Oh, yeah. They’re fine. I was the only one to go through the trauma. Mr. Serious also did a little mumbo jumbo on their memories so I could come home early.” We both turned to Mr. Serious who looked back and forth between us.

He shook his head at us. “How exactly do the two of you know each other?”

Nadia and I looked at each other for a moment. “Our moms have been friends since before we were born. They got pregnant around the same time.”

Nadia wrapped her arm around my shoulder, picking up my lead. “You realize we basically have the same name, right?” She looked directly at Mr. Serious. “Nadia is Aidan backward and Aidan is Nadia backward.”

I crossed my arms as Nadia moved away from me. "I'm still a little lost on how my hallucinations, not to mention everything else, weren’t caused by the necklace."

Nadia stopped in her tracks and faced me. "Hold on. You had weird memory hallucinations too?"

I tilted my head. "I don't know about the memory part, but I definitely hallucinated. You too?"

Nadia was busy scanning the living room for something. "Let me guess. After the hallucinations, you did the crazy stuff you saw in them?"

I stared at Mr. Serious while Nadia reached into my pocket to pull out my metal cigarette holder filled with joints. "Can someone please tell me what is going on?"

He was back to leaning against the foyer wall while calmly regarding us. "It’s what I've been trying to explain. You and Nadia were once warriors from a time long since forgotten. During our skirmish last night, you kept me from seeing inside your mind. When I came across Nadia, I recalled a warrior with the same ability.” Mr. Serious rubbed his chin and ran a hand through this quaffed hair. “He was the only individual able to hide their thoughts from me and was also an ally to Nadia’s previous incarnation, Melinoe. All of which trace back to the necklace. It was forged by an ancient evil with plans to destroy the human race. The two of you were part of a group responsible for reverse-engineering the necklace--the Nexus--to lock away this great evil."

I shook my head and walked to the dining room liquor shelf. After reaching for the bourbon, I poured a full glass. "The Nexus." I let each syllable linger. "Of course it would have a pretentious name."

Nadia inhaled a massive hit from her joint. "Oh, lord. Why don’t you tell it to him like you told it me, sexy?" She exhaled and coughed, before waving Mr. Serious along. "Tell him one of your bedtime stories."

I took a sip from my drink and sat next to Nadia. "He told you a bedtime story?"

She passed me the weed and nodded. "Oh, yeah. He told me this beautiful shit about how I was a nymph and a princess and how I was all badass. Oh, and there was this super fine boyfriend in my hallucinations."

I raised my eyebrows and turned to Mr. Serious. "So, if she's a nymph, what am I? Because nothing I did today could be described as beautiful. Right when the douche bag was about to hit me, the park disappeared into this creepy wasteland. Also.” I turned to Nadia. “I sprouted claws and threw massive worms with teeth."

She sat up straighter and cocked her head back. "Excuse me?"

"Basically, I woke up holding intestines and since then have slowly remembered turning into some kind of monster. My hands became these black claws and all I wanted to do was rip something apart." Nadia's eyes were almost out of her head, though Mr. Serious looked like he wanted me to continue. "Also, and this is a guess, but I'm going to assume the douche bag works with the big bad lion and the jacked-up looking monster from last night.”

Mr. Serious grabbed a dining chair to sit in front of us. “There were five individuals willingly implanted with the great evil’s organs. They received a fraction of his power and became The Prodigies.”

Nadia grabbed my glass of bourbon and took a swig. “Sounds like the name of a band.”

I grabbed my glass back and swirled the contents, watching the Amber color move around. “You're thinking of Prodigy.”

Mr. Serious abruptly cleared his throat. “The two of you need to grasp the severity of what is happening. The stone should not be here and even more so, the two of you should still be dead. Can neither of you understand this?” His voice was low and steady, but I could feel myself shrinking underneath his serious gaze.

Nadia clapped her hands and the sound echoed through the house. “Look, bastard, you need to calm down. You act like you were the one almost murdered today. My blood sugar is too low to deal with you.” Nadia moved towards the hallway. “We still got them hot wings from Rally’s?”

I grimaced at her question. “Nadia, those have been in there since you guys left for Italy.”

The fridge opened before she came back with the wings still in their take-out box. “Girl, please, I was almost shish kebabbed. I don’t care about no chicken.”

I shook my head and turned back to Mr. Serious. “You still haven't answered my question. What am I, or technically, who was I?”

He sighed heavily. “If you've manifested claws, bloodlust, and have summoned imps, then my theory is correct. You are the reincarnation of Zagon, the cambion who betrayed the great evil.”

I shrugged my shoulders and gulped the remaining bourbon in my glass. “I don’t know what a cambion is. Is that like someone from Cambodia?”

Mr. Serious gave me a withering look. “Cambions are the spawn of human and demon copulation.”

I rapidly blinked at his words. “But that would mean, I’m part--.”

Nadia slapped my shoulder and laughed, chicken falling out her mouth. “Demon! He said you is a demon.”

I forgot how to speak for a moment as I connected his words with my savage persona from earlier. As everything clicked together, I found my words. “Uh, no—no, thank you.”

He and Nadia both went quiet as they shared looks of confusion. I was surprised Mr. Serious beat her to breaking the silence. “I’m not quite sure I understand what you mean.”

I looked between them as I stammered. “Oh, you know. I, uh, would rather not be a cambion, so that's why I’m saying no thank you. I rescind being a cambion. You can add it to the list of things to undo after the necklace bond. Thank you very much.” I finished by saluting Mr. Serious and quickly realized I was losing it. Their stares were pushing me over the edge.

I suddenly felt overwhelmingly hot and queasy. Jumping to my feet, I reached for a wall to steady myself. My body felt like it was shutting down. I focused on inhaling and exhaling because I couldn't feel air going into my lungs. Everything was a haze of blurred visions and sounds. I barely registered Nadia’s voice near me. Pressure was building inside of me and rising to the surface. Sweat dripped from my forehead, stinging my eyes on the way down. I lost feeling in my legs and fell back. Upon impact, my mouth opened as the pressure inside escaped, coming out as a roar that filled the house.

My breathing was raspy and throatier. Through the haze, I could see Nadia and Mr. Serious standing over me. I reached toward them, but my hands were no longer my own. My arms were blackened and jagged, leading to sharp, elongated claws. There was a disconnect between my logic and what I was seeing. Another roar came out and the next thing I knew, I was on top of Mr. Serious. I watched as my hands tried swiping at his face, but each time, he blocked them. He pulled his knee towards his chest before slamming his foot into my torso. I hit the ceiling and then landed on the floor. Everything went black.

When my eyes finally opened, I felt a small puddle of drool pressed against my cheek. I pushed up and groaned at the pain in my stomach. Surveying my surroundings, Nadia was sitting on the steps while Mr. Serious sat on a dining room chair. Both were watching me intently.

I rubbed my head and moved next to Nadia. “What--um—what happened?”

She handed me a joint and another glass of bourbon. “Well, according to hot stuff over there, you lost your damn mind.”

I shook my head and looked between them. “What does that mean?”

Mr. Serious crossed his arms and legs as he regarded me. “It means the same thing that happened at the park almost happened again. That you have no control over your transformation. And, most importantly, it means you are a threat to anyone who is around you. Do you frequently get panic attacks?”

I sipped the bourbon, allowing the burn to work its way through me. “I used to get them all the time when I was younger. I haven’t gotten one in a long time. But honestly, this whole day has been one giant panic attack.”

Mr. Serious regarded me. “Aidan, I can’t stress enough that if you cannot control your anxiety, you will change in the most inopportune moments and very likely hurt innocent people, if not outright kill them.”

Nadia lit the joint for me as my hands were still shaking. After taking a generous hit, I collected my thoughts. “So, I’m just an invincible killing machine?” Breathing deeply, I kept myself from freaking out again.

Mr. Serious furrowed his eyebrows. “Invincible? Why would you think that?”

I widened my eyes; unsure if I had missed something. “Because my body can regenerate. The guy at the park stabbed me a crazy amount of times and I healed.”

He raised a finger as he glared. “His mistake was assuming those blows would be fatal. In your case, Aidan, a mere stabbing is not enough to kill you. However, if you were to have your head severed from your body or your heart ripped out, that would certainly be fatal. I’ve come across thousands of beings with the same durability over hundreds of years.” Mr. Serious stood, towering over me and Nadia. “And like them, I will dispatch you in the same way if you are unable to gain restraint over your demonic side.” A chicken bone flew through the air and hit Mr. Serious’ mouth.

I looked at Nadia and saw she was ready to throw another one. “First of all, how freaking old is your fine ass, and secondly, go ahead. Threaten him again. I don't care what you is. I will feed you a frickin’ wing. So, you best get your blood sugar in check.” Nadia narrowed her eyes at him.

I stood and raised my hands between them. “No, he’s right. I don’t want to be responsible for accidentally hurting or killing anyone. If that’s the only way to stop me, then I’d rather he did it. At least I know it would be for the right reasons. Also, I’m feeling a lot better about turning tail and running when I saw that lion thing considering one swipe could have easily taken my head off.”

Mr. Serious wiped the chicken grease from his chin. "That ‘lion thing’ was an Aswang, and you’ll want to stay far away from it. They are vicious bloodthirsty beasts that go for the heart first before it eats you."

His description coupled with my encounter was nauseating. “Okay, so, it’s literally built to kill me.”

Nadia puffed on the last of the joint. “Girl, you’ll be fine. Just stick to the flight instead of fight. Plus, you got me to help zap that kitty till its fur falls off.” Nadia stood to throw the empty wing box into the trash before heading upstairs. “If anybody needs me, I will be showering."

I refilled my glass with more bourbon. "So, what are we supposed to do now? If the necklace is back, doesn’t that mean that the evil dude that we trapped is out?"

"His name is Amon, and no. He was the intended target for capture, and as such, it would require the Blood Moon to release him as it did to imprison him. Adding to that, for a Prodigy to come to collect the stone like an errand boy tells me that Amon's generals have no more of an idea as to why the stone has returned than we do."

I nodded along with his words even though my mind was kind of hazy. "So, the monsters are just going to keep coming until they get it."

Mr. Serious breathed deeply and paced. “Anything is possible. The only advice I can give is that you and Nadia should stay together to protect one another. I would offer assistance, but I must look into why Amon’s generals are so determined to get the stone. Then there is you and Nadia. Two ancient warriors reincarnated during the same lifetime, not to mention the same city. The stone’s return must be correlated to why yours, as well as Nadia's powers, have only now manifested. In my absence, do your best not to kill anyone." Within a blink, he was literally out the door.

I could barely think of a response before his car roared away. “Why does he need a car if he can move that fast?”