I slouch in front of the TV. my elbows practically connected to my knees while nervousness is prodding at my inner-workings, distracting me every so often from the show Walter and Gabbie are so interested in. The slow introductions to a sort of talk-show, at least that’s what Gabbie called it. A show that specifies in talking to different Vigors in the ‘hero’ business. Apparently, it airs every Wednesday.

The TV shows a scene set up on a stage. A large red carpet with a large sofa and a woman sitting at a desk with a black mug in front of her. The woman has long black hair, tied back into a bun and a confident grin on her fair face. She’s wearing a black suit, a lot of what she’s wearing isn’t visible due to the desk being in the way. She leans across the desk, leaning heavily on her elbows. “Hello again my viewers, today we have a few special guests, one of which is a breakout hero from the CPO. A rookie going at the business solo, much like many of the Directors as well as another well-known team from down under. But without further ado, allow me to introduce, Dragon!”

A crowd, only partially revealed by the screen as it pans around, starts clapping loudly. To the left-hand side of the large stage, a few red curtains part and a large woman steps through them. She’s, for lack of a better word, quite monstrous. She has black scales, some obstructed by her simple clothes, but I can see some climbing up to the bottom of her jawline. She has large bat-like wings and a massive, thick tail and I wouldn’t be surprised if she has razor sharp teeth. Her hair is black, tied back and perhaps singed a little on the ends while her eyes, like most of her, are also quite odd. She has vertical irises the color of emerald with the remainder of her sclera being a lighter color of green. She bears a look of confusion and nervousness on her face. As she leaves the curtains she looks back for a moment, but then turns back to face the presenter at the desk. She gestures at the woman to approach and slowly the monstrous woman approaches the desk before sitting on a sofa next to the desk.

The sofa seems to protest a little under her possibly large weight, even though she’s not fat by any means, though her height and extra parts can’t in any way be light at all. The presenter offers her hand, though Dragon doesn’t take the handshake, either disinterested or confused for mere moments. The presenter withdraws her hand and shrugs. “So, Dragon, you haven’t been around for long and already you’ve shown yourself to be a promising member of the CPO and as a solo hero at that.”

“Is that uncommon?” She asks. Her voice is perhaps deep for a woman, it strikes me as perhaps a little condescending and oddly disconcerting.

“Yes, actually it is, typically the leaders of each CPO quarters in each major city end up solo because of their capable powers. Usually, members of the CPO run in groups of four.”

“I don’t think I would work well on a team.”

The presenter laughs, but it’s clear it’s forced and that Dragon never intended the statement to be a joke. The presenter clears her throat and she looks away, likely concealing a look of embarrassment. “What about your recent success?”

“How does one describe recent?”

“I mean in the past few weeks.”

“So all of them? I imagine they went well enough, but that can hardly be pinned solely on my work alone.”

“So you have been working with a team?”

“I take no pleasure in it, and technically it’s only been once where I worked with someone who I knew I would be working with it?”

“Which jobs?”

“Javelin and his ragtag crew of cronies. I was with Gravel and Atlas.”

“Oh, Atlas? What is your opinion of him?”

“And you didn’t want to ask me about Gravel?” Dragon shakes her head. “Atlas is a thoroughly unlikable person with a more despicable ability. At least Gravel holds to some form of values.”

The presenter seems stunned, but she clears her throat and continues. “And what about the other time. You spoke of ‘knowing that you would be working with a team’. I imagine that means one time you didn’t know you would be working with a team.”

“When I debuted. A group named Grayzone and Deadeye attacked me. Their abilities were complimentary, one can deprive one of sight and the other can make a person miss a target as long as he can see them. Together they can capture someone by inevitably tiring them out. Deadeye was the more problematic, as I couldn’t land a single hit on him. It required a sniper to kill him while he wasn’t aware he was being targeted. That’s when I had assistance I didn’t ask for.”

“So it wasn’t you who killed him?”

“But it was me who was involved in Grayzone’s capture and Deadeye’s elimination.”

“Then considering we’re in this vein of thinking. What about Gigante?”

“What about him? Do you want to know his powers or why I killed him?”

“Uh, I guess both.”

“He could increase the size of all mammals he touched and when he did that, he was capable of controlling them like extremely loyal pets. He could do the same to himself too and I had to kill him because I deemed him too great a threat to run away and to threaten someone another day.”

“Why didn’t you capture him?”

Dragon snorts and she leans forward. “None of my abilities help me in the apprehension of a criminal like that. I deemed him a threat and I had no other choice. What would you do in my position? Would you let him escape only to threaten people again in the future? I made the harder choice.”

The presenter grins for a moment. “For us, maybe, for you, maybe not so much.”

Dragon doesn’t seem angry, she just nods. “You’re right. It’s easier for me, but what if you were given the choice to pull the trigger or let Gigante go free? A few people died that day, people innocent to the conflict between the CPO and the SYNC. Inevitably it would happen again in the future.”

“Are you asking me if I would kill someone if it would save other lives in the process?”

“The trolley problem,” someone says. I look up from the TV to find Mattie standing there, he must’ve snuck in just a few moments ago without making a sound. “Dragon isn’t wrong, just… She’s one of two things. A psychopath, or she’s dissociated herself with the idea of being Human. Maybe both. She’s probably got a similar mindset to a vigilante, she’s just been employed by us.”

I rise to my feet, almost staggering for a moment as blood rushes to my toes. “I thought you said that vigilantes were- you know, in the spot between SYNC and the CPO.”

“Well… For the most part, yeah. Sometimes you get people like Dragon moving into our expansive team. Probably a lot more to her story than I know, but you know, it’s hard just to accept that she didn’t do as much as she could to preserve life.”

“Maybe that’s just her method for preserving life,” Walter thinks aloud.

“Maybe…” Mattie grumbles.

“Could you not have said that for me?”

“I could have, but then it would have ruined the impact and you wouldn’t have gotten recognition for thinking that way. I’m not going to verbalize your thoughts anymore, nor am I going to bring your secrets to surface-. It was a mistake to do so in the first place and if it means anything, I’m really sorry.”

A quick glance at Mattie’s face reveals a heavy blush setting into his guise. Maybe from embarrassment, maybe just from the fact he’s forced to apologize, but that doesn’t change the fact that I’m glad that he’s already putting into practice what I suggested. Kai seems to look over from his desk at the side, presumably hearing this, he even raises an eyebrow, showing off some form of emotion from his otherwise emotionless demeanor. Walter and Gabbie look perhaps baffled, clearly, they don’t know the impact this will have on further conversations, which might lead them to maintain their actions in the same way as before. It will take some time to break habits, but mentioning changes is a good start.

“Don’t give me that look.” He’s looking in my direction and I can’t help but deepen my smile at that before it was perhaps a bit veiled, but now it’s taken on a more teasing nature. He tilts back his head as if giving up. “Anyway, it’s about time to hit the road Elmira, that is unless you’re having second thoughts about this thing.”

I’ve thought about the whole thing, about dealing with the serial killer, and none of my thoughts have changed, I mean they’ve mostly stayed the same. I’m not so much scared of the serial killer than am I scared of two other things. The threat of potentially seeing other Demons, even though I believe it’s unlikely that they will be flying around the city, there is still a small chance they will be. I think I can fight them, but I don’t want to fight Demons, I want to deal with what I’m ready for. The second thing is that I’m worried about other people. After a few sleepless nights, it became easier to theorize that none of them would want to harm me. In fact, it was when I broke the table that gave me the knowledge I needed to come to the conclusion I have. No Humans would wish to harm me for who I am unless I’m the one to cause trouble. Otherwise, those who want to harm me would likely harm anyone else anyway.

“No, I’m alright to go,” I mumble. I rise to my feet and cast a look toward Sebastian, who is sitting at a table, watching both me and Mattie. He rises and approaches. “Uh, Sebastian wants to come too.”

Mattie looks at Sebastian, and for a moment, there’s a look in his eyes that makes me think that he’ll refuse, but he doesn’t. “I guess it’ll be fine, just make sure you don’t do anything extreme unless we give the go ahead.”

Sebastian grunts an affirmation, though he doesn’t seem to care about what Mattie has said. It’s clear to me that Sebastian will do whatever he wants, but won’t make an effort to make an issue of it for now. Better to ask for forgiveness than to ask permission, though I doubt he’ll even do that.

Mattie stares at Sebastian for a moment. For a moment something occurs to me. “Mattie, can you read Sebastian’s mind?”

He shakes his head. “Nope. I think I can only read the minds of people. Not exactly sure how it works, but I can’t even read his emotions. He’s a blank book to me.” I catch a small grin from Sebastian out of the corner of my eye, though I very much doubt he had any intent to hide it anyway. “Alright, let’s get going. As much as I don’t have any interest in sitting in a car for upwards of three hours, I know Luke and Jo don’t appreciate it.” He beckons to the two of us, pointing out the door in an almost too extravagant fashion.

I feel sorry for making Hercules wait but not quite the same about making Nav wait. I guess I’ll maintain a grudge for a while, but I really deserve to exercise that right. I’m sick and tired of people testing my emotions and I just want to show them that I can fight back too, even if it isn’t literally. I can’t really take out my grudge on Hercules now anyway. I lead the way toward the door and Sebastian follows, with Mattie taking up the rear.

We take no detours and proceed directly to the car, a usual proceeding whenever I leave the building, which is becoming increasingly common. But I don’t find the car and trailer I was expecting to see when we arrive, but rather a large, truck, similar to the vehicle Mattie was using when we first left the CPO building. “What about the trailer,” I inquire. Surely that means that at least me or Sebastian, or both will be forced to sit with the other two. Perhaps I’m a little worried about having to deal with Nav is such a close environment.

Mattie leans on the roof of his car, and he looks back at me. “So as not to rouse suspicion. We’re going to be sitting out there for hours and if the killer gets a bead on a trailer that’s been sitting in front of their hunting zone for hours, they’ll get antsy and they might just go somewhere else.” I can’t argue that point, but I don’t quite know the rarity of trailers. By observations they aren’t exactly common, so I guess he is making a good point.

There’s a moment of awkward silence before he pulls open the door, and beckons me inside. Sadly, it’s the backseat, worse still, I’ll be sitting next to Nav. I look wearily at Nav, almost wishing I brought Valor with me, but considering how out of place Valor looks, looking even more out of place on me than my horns and tail, I decided to forgo bringing it with and instead shoved it under my bed wrapped in silk. Mattie nods and shrugs, I guess there’s no better way to do this. I slip into the seat, apprehensively and slam the door shut, before leaning up against the window as far away from Nav as I can. It’s almost an afterthought because it’s still new, but I even sweep my tail over my legs, keeping as much of myself away from Nav. I don’t even want him touching me by mistake.

He has a computer over his lap, with a small box sitting on top of it. It’s not a cellphone, it’s just a small black and silver box, and I can see the hinges that it opens with. For a moment, Sebastian is outside, talking to Mattie, his face is perhaps impassive, but his eyes give off a more severe gaze. It’s hard to hear them from inside the car, I can only make out a few words, and while I can string together Sabastian’s issue, I can’t figure out Mattie’s response. It’s clear Sebastian would prefer to sit next to me, though even in spite of Sebastian’s personality, the issue is resolved with a few words.

Sebastian pulls open the door on the opposite side at the front and Mattie takes up the driver’s seat, sighing loudly. He seems uncomfortable for a few moments, and he moves his wings a few times, trying to shift in his seat, he only stops when his wings are slightly open, though the look on his face, as shown by the mirror over the center of the car seems no more happy with the position he’s in than when they were closed behind him.

Mattie leans forward against the steering wheel, and before long, the car is moving forward. Not so much as a word is said, though Nav is fooling around with the box in his hands. He’s doing the same as me and leaning heavily on Hercules. Likely because he’s scared of me, or he despises me. I don’t care, whatever keeps him away from me. Hercules clears his throat, and he pushes against Nav, sending him toward me, Nav flails, kicking the front chair making Sebastian look back at us. He doesn’t quite reach me, but it still doesn’t exactly make me feel any better.

A small amount of golden light is thrown through the front window of the car as we leave the car park. Hercules leans over, placing a heavy hand on Nav’s shoulder and Nav quivers, his face twisting in pain. “Get your shit together, Jo. Get over your fear, at this point, we’re doing things to keep Elmira safe.” Hercules releases Nav who groans and releases the clasp on the box. Inside the box is a tiny, circular, plastic tube. Nav carefully pulls it out and holds it in his hand.

“Uh-” Nav grumbles. His brow furrows as if he’s fighting himself to get any sort of information out of his head. “This- this- uh… This thing is- it’s a- it’s an earpiece, so we can-” He pauses and scratches his head. “So we can hear what you hear, but also, so no-one can see that you’re- wired.”

“Wired?” I cast a look at Hercules, asking him the question.

“Wired means recording a conversation. It’s pretty much how some criminals know there’s a trap in place. It’s a pretty simple solution, though getting it out can be a bit of a bitch,” he explains.

Nav holds the earpiece out to me, getting a better look at it, it seems to widen at the end. “Make sure the widest part is pointed to the outside of your ear.” I gingerly pick the earpiece out of his hand and then push it into my left ear. It feels strange, but I imagine I’ll get used to it.

I clear my throat. “Mattie? Don’t you think my horns and tail will give me away?”

“I doubt it. Honestly, people will first assume you’re dressing up for some sort of costume party or something, and if they don’t they might just think you’re some sort of Vigor at worst. In most cases, people thinking you’re a Demon is the last thing that will be on their mind.”

“And the other times?”

“The other times had less to do with you being a Demon and more to do with you being strange. You pretty much give the same aura as a massive, tattooed, bald guy on the street wrapped in a leather jacket. Not exactly good, but they’ll tolerate you as long as you don’t- ya’know, break tables or something.”

I can’t help but flinch at the last few words. I feel like he could’ve told me all about this before, it’s not like I had the knowledge of what people think. Might’ve helped me feel a bit more comfortable amongst others, though- maybe not.

For a few minutes after, we draw closer to the park, without much speaking. There isn’t much to talk about, though I’m sure there will be something mentioned about what will be happening. Mattie scratches his head, and the car starts to slow. “Basically, you’ll sit on the bench and we’ll wait until someone makes a move against you, when you find a threat, we’ll respond as soon as we can and deal with them. Hopefully, we’ll capture him, but on the off chance we can’t and he poses a threat to either you or the rest of us, we’ll have to either injure or kill him.”

“Kill?” I ask.

“Sometimes there’s no other choice. It’s the worst case scenario, but it’s better than him killing us.”

“Then it isn’t the worst case scenario, and rather the latter is,” Sebastian points out.

“Purely contextual,” Hercules grunts. “Talking about death is a crux in our business, call it inspiring Murphy’s law. We talk about it and someone’s bound to die. Not necessarily true, but-” Hercules shrugs. “Even if it isn’t I don’t want to take a risk. There a stranger things in the world than the idea of good luck and bad luck.”

“Not to mention guys out there who say that they have the ability to manipulate luck,” Mattie agrees.

“Not much proof out there,” Nav grumbles.

“And there wasn’t much proof out there about the existence of Demon Lords either, and now we’re in a car with one.”

“But we believed in the existence of them anyway.”

“Purely because of Ash,” Hercules says.

“Ash?” I ask.

“Ashley,” Mattie explains. “Gates.” Ah. Nav mentioned Ashley before, but at the time, I didn’t really notice. Names slip in so often and it doesn’t always seem right to ask about them. The car comes to a halt and Mattie pulls it over to the side. “Alright, out you go, Elmira. You should be able to find a bench easily, just look like you’re waiting for someone, shouldn’t be too hard, because that’s exactly what you’re doing.”

“Mm, and don’t look too nervous, we’re nearby,” Hercules joins in.

Easy for him to say. “Oh, and Sebastian. Wait until we’re far enough away before you get out. Don’t want you drawing unnecessary attention.”

I expect Sebastian to resist, but he simply leans against the door and nods his head. I- I clearly don’t know Sebastian well enough yet, but then again, I haven’t known him for long. Sometimes it’s hard to remember that I’ve only known him for a few weeks, many of which were spent in a cell. I open the car door and step outside. I have no complaints and I’m as ready as I’ll ever be. I guess I just feel… Nervous. Anyone would be, right?

It’s cold outside, cold and dark, with only a few stars and a solitude moon in the sky, a crescent cutting through the night. The light of the city burns away at the few stars, making them all the harder to see and everything seems deathly quiet. But it’s nothing compared to how cold it is. I can see the frost on my breath, collecting at the edges of the grass. I shiver and draw my jacket closer. I draw my hood over my head until it’s touching my horns, though it doesn’t quite make me feel any warmer than before.

The park looks different in the dark, perhaps it’s the little light shed by the moon and the light posts, or perhaps because it’s so quiet. Not a single person seems to be present and it does make things seem almost worse. I find my way to the bench and sit down, wrapping my fingers around the seat, the wood feels coarse against my cold fingers.

From here, time passes slowly, I’m waiting for something to happen, what that is, I’m unsure. I know someone is watching me, and it creeps me out, but at the same time I’m aware that it’s probably Sebastian. It’s difficult to keep track of time and it’s so easy to just do a lot of thinking that I don’t want to do. Remembering my brothers, it’s like staying awake at night, just waiting to go to sleep. When you have nothing better to do, bad thoughts are all you have to keep you comfort.

In the center of my chest, there’s a feeling of discomfort, a bubbling warmth of fear and nervousness. It’s more intense than when I had the option to say no, but now, the feeling of regret, the feeling of regret is more intense the expectation. Now I really don’t want to be here, why did I say yes?

”Because you’re a coward.” I’m reminded of what Sathanus has spoken to me about in the past. ”You’re a coward, and thusly, it’s so much easier to do something and regret it. It’s just your nature. You’re a coward, so it’s so much easier to be reckless. To do something you don’t want to do. Because you don’t want to do anything.”

I still remember his rough voice, his build, the chill it leaves on my ears. Sathanus might not be the smartest, but he definitely knows a lot about emotions. He understands the effect one’s desires have on the person they are influencing. He’s more ready to accept his rage than any of us would be accepting that which personifies us. It’s not that I’m a coward though, it’s just like everyone else said, I’m reckless, and cowardice goes hand in hand with recklessness. It’s who I am, but I’d prefer to make a mistake based on being over-excited rather than feel the pain of debilitating fear. I don’t want to do this anymore.

Someone shocks me out of my stupor a voice, laughter, a peel of a man that cuts through the quiet. The sound of heavy uneven steps, and a second man slurring some story that I can barely make out in his strange words. I look up and illuminated by the light is a group of five men, in varying states of disregard, their clothes hanging from their shoulders and glazed looks on their faces. As if their half asleep, but their acts are much like they're intoxicated, which they must be. The serial killer isn’t part of a group, is he?

“Hey, hey, hey!” One of the men yells, a man with graying black hair and a white dress shirt spotted with moisture and bloodshot green eyes. “Lookie here,” he grins, pointing the others in my direction.

His friends follow his finger and those who aren't smiling now have their own grins spreading across their faces. They stumble over to me and I grow even more nervous. I don’t think they're what I’m looking for, but at the same time, I really don’t want to deal with them. “What are you doing here, sweetie?” Another man asks this one is younger than the others, with oily black hair and a wide build, an overweight male wearing a wifebeater. The way he refers to me makes me shiver and he gives me a nasty vibe.

My words seem to be stuck in my throat and it appears to be a battle just to get the first word out. “I-” I grumble.

“Whoa, look at this!” This first guy yells, pushing the fatter guy out of the way and pacing right up to me. Without warning or even saying he grabs one of my horns and wrenches at it, pulling my head painfully forward. I can fight it, but the suddenness prevents any sort of response. I grunt in surprise and discomfort. He wrenches harder, this time I fight back, drawing my head back, though the guy seems to not notice, only laughing. “It really won’t come off, think it’s real?”

“I dunno. Maybe it’s just stuck on there with really strong glue,” one of the guys behind him asks. I’m not sure whom, they’re obstructed by the other guy.

What do I do now? I mean, I don’t think they’re who I’m looking for, but if I fight back then I might hurt them, what do I do? “Uh-” I try to speak.

“Holy shit is that a tail!” The asshole who grabbed my horns releases them, then snatches my tail. I tend to avoid doing anything to my tail, a lot to do with the fact it’s new and it feels like it’s incredibly sensitive, but suddenly is wrapped in this man’s tight, calloused hands and it feels like my tail has been set ablaze. I squeal in pain, and immediately respond by grabbing the asshole’s hand and putting a lot of force on the back of his hand. He releases my tail, yelping and then stumbles back, his face growing red.

Just as suddenly as any other times, he makes a move and I’m of course, not ready for it. There’s a loud slap and I look into the eyes of the man assailing me, the man who just hit me across the face. It didn’t hurt this time, but now I’m just more tongue-tied than the beginning. “Bitch,” the man spits at me. He wraps a hand around my neck, leaning toward me and I push him back, sending him to the ground. Alright, I’m done doing nothing. I stand up ready to run, but they all move around me, blocking any escape. There’s a look on their faces that creeps me out, the same look that Asmodeus has at all times, lust.

“Hey, assholes,” someone yells. It’s a woman’s voice, rough as it is, but it is definitely a woman’s voice. I turn to face it to see a woman, who is partially illuminated by the light of a lamp. She's maybe in her late twenties with blonde hair and green eyes. She’s very thin with a face covered in freckles. She has a gun raised toward the men, though it might be difficult to see. By the reactions of the intoxicated men, it’s clear that they know exactly what it is.

They back up, hands raised toward the woman, any thoughts of what they were planning to do, abandoned for the sake of their own safety. I watch the one which hit me out of the corner of my eye, and he has a look on his face that makes it look like he’d rather be shot than let me off so easily, but he keeps backing off, mostly because of one of his friends holding onto his shoulder. “You’re lucky,” he hisses. He turns around and they all start running, leaving me with the woman who saved me.

I look at the woman, perhaps with a little bit of suspicion. What is she doing out here at this time? “Oh, it wasn’t any trouble,” she says sarcastically. She pulls a small box out of her trousers and removes a white stick from it and pushes it into her mouth. She raises the gun up to it and pulls the trigger, but instead of a gunshot ringing out, a small flame flickers to life, lighting the end of the stick. “I guess I should be glad they weren’t stupid enough to call my bluff.”

She took a risk I guess, but, “What are you doing here?” I ask.

She shrugs and takes a deep breath before breathing out a stream of smoke. I can smell a terrible aroma in the air, almost like a mix of soot and something else that I can’t pick up. “Well, it’s not like it’s the first time those idiots of come through here and they did seem a little like trouble, so you might say I was stalking them from the shadows.”

“That’s dangerous.”

“I have a gun,” she says turning the lighter in her hand to the side.

“That’s not a gun.”

The corners of her mouth turn up. “People think it’s a gun. Anyway, I answered the question, what are you doing here? Missed a costume party or something?”

“Uh- Well, I’m waiting for someone-”

“Who?”

“Friends?”

She clicks her tongue and shoves the lighter into a bag at her hip, then she beckons to me. “Well, you should probably wait elsewhere. It’s not safe at this time of night for a girl like you. I’ll take you to my place and we can wait for your friends there.”

For a moment I stutter. It’s not something I expected, and it’s kinda disconnected from what I’m doing here, but I think at this point it’s too late. Those other guys might actually be part of the whole kidnapping and serial killing thing, so I’ll set Nav after them to figure it out. Maybe I can stick around a little longer to see if anyone else forces me to come with them, but I’m betting this woman will just watch me until someone comes to fetch me. “Alright, lead the way. I’ll contact them when we get to your place.”

“Huh, kinda expected you to be the kind of person to say no.”

“I won’t say no to a random act of kindness.”

“Damn straight. Glad you aren’t gonna get pissed at it, people these days are just pricks.” She beckons to me, before turning and starting her way forward. I start walking to and come up by her right side. “So, what’s your name?”

“Uh, Elmira.”

“Interesting name. Interesting accent, you’re not from around here, are you?”

I’m glad that I’m with someone who doesn’t wish harm on me anymore, in fact, I’m starting to grow a bit more comfortable, so much so that I snort in amusement. “No, no I’m not.”

“And where are you from?”

“Not from around here.”

She holds out the small stick and turns to me, a small grin toying at the corners of her mouth. “I guess that,” she laughs. “Anywhere in particular.”

“Hm,” I say non-committedly. It’s not exactly something I can easily say, but at the same time, I don’t know many other places with which to lie with.

“Alright, it’s fine if you don’t want to tell me anymore, I’ll just pout.”

“I’m sorry.”

“I’m teasing, just teasing, it’s fine if you don’t want to say anything else.” She exhales, blowing out that thick, almost choking smoke and I can’t help but cough, trying to hide it a little. She clearly notices it, but she doesn’t stop smoking the stick. Instead, she seems to shrug. “Haven’t been around cigarettes often, have you?” I shake my head. “Good, they aren’t good for you.”

That’s just mystifying. “Why would you smoke then?”

“Because sometimes we don’t care what’s good or bad for us. Especially someone like me.”

We’ve long since left the park and are walking down the dark, concrete path. “So, uh, are we nearby your place?”

“We’ll get there soonish. It’s just a few blocks away.”

Suddenly, I feel incredibly nervous. It’s not like before, it’s not that fear of that what I’m waiting for, of something ominous that’s coming. Instead, I know I’m being watched and what’s worse is I know it’s not Sebastian. I know he’s around, but I have this horrible feeling like he’s not the only one watching. Something’s giving me the creeps and it’s making me tense up, my breathing becoming short as if I’m going to be discovered. “Do you feel that?” I mutter.

“Feel what?”