02. The Stranger

Shandra's consciousness betrayed her.

In a moment, she saw the men who had chased her being reduced to ashes by the winged stranger. Less than a second later, the girl fainted.

Minutes, hours or days later, the girl woke up on a bench in a square. It was still early morning. She was sitting up, as if she had just fallen asleep, and next to her was a stranger reading a newspaper.

The man smiled without looking at her, flipping through a page instead.

"Hello, sleepyhead."

Shandra wanted to jump in fright, but the lethargy that was hitting her body stopped her. The locket was still warm against her skin, but not to the point of burning her.

His face was broad, with a pronounced jaw, thick lips, and unsettling fire-colored eyes. His thin, slightly pointed nose matched his other features perfectly, as did his square jaw and pale skin.

A thin beard harmonized the whole ensemble, and he blinks one of his eyes as he notices the girl's careful inspection.

"Do you like what you see?"

Dizzy, the girl raises one of her eyebrows and murmurs:

"What?"

Another chuckle makes itself heard. His voice is incredibly deep and seductive.

"Oh, stop it. You know who I am."

For milliseconds, Shandra sees the tiny glowing embers surrounding him like fireflies, disappearing into thin air soon after.

"Y-y-you..." She stutters.

He scratches his chin, totally oblivious to the whirlwind of feelings going on in the girl's mind, and goes back to reading the paper.

"Yes, it was me. You called me and I came."

Silence.

Still totally absorbed in her own confusion and lack of sense of time and reality, Shandra babbles:

"I... Called you?"

Sighing dramatically, the man's firm, vein-filled hand and long fingers pull the girl to himself, causing the faces of both to become extremely close.

Up close, he is even more beautiful. His skin is absurdly hot, but strangely doesn't burn her or make her feel uncomfortable.

He sniffs her like a fierce wolf, taking in all the information he needs, and then looks down at what's inside the girl's blouse

"The locket." The stranger clarifies, releasing the girl soon after.

Shandra finally regains some consciousness, and panic and survival instincts take over her mind again. After all, what was happening there?

She stands, looking to the sides, and turning to the bench, asks:

"What the hell-"

There is no one there.

She chokes with nervousness. Could it be that she was completely freaking out?

Just as she is about to run off at random, just trying to escape from that delusion, nightmare, or whatever it was, an engine noise catches her attention.

An empty cab is driving down the street. She signals to the taxi driver, and as she gets into the car, she looks out into the street as if expecting the scary, mysterious man to appear. But that's not what happens.

When she arrives home, as soon as she opens the door, her mother goes up to the girl. The smell of cigarettes coming out of her mouth is absurd.

"WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN?!"

Completely ignoring the existence of her own mother-in-law, Shandra just dodged the woman with rollers on her head and walked to the steps of the staircase that would take her to the second floor.

The woman with wrinkled skin and pajamas continued shouting:

"WHY DIDN'T YOU ANSWER YOUR DAMN CELL PHONE? DO YOU THINK WE ARE YOUR SLAVES? WHAT IF SOMETHING SERIOUS HAPPENED TO YOU?"

Shandra almost laughs at the last sentence. Supposedly, the police were supposed to be finding her body in the middle of the woods at that very moment. The cops were supposed to be calling the neglectful and rude parents to warn them of their daughter's death.

How they would react was a mystery to her. They could cry or celebrate with the same intensity.

"YOUR FATHER DIDN'T COME HOME FROM THE STREET EITHER. YOU AND THAT DRUNKARD ARE THE BIGGEST DELAYS IN MY LIFE. I SHOULD HAVE THROWN YOU IN THE TRASH THE DAY YOU WERE BORN!"

The girl ignores the shouting, doing her best not to fight back. Fighting back always made the situation worse, and she was already tired enough.

As she slammed the bedroom door, however, the mask of complete boredom and defiance came off. Tears fell down her porcelain-colored face, and she locked the lock. The only place in the world she felt comfortable enough to be herself, safe and happy, was her sweet little corner.

The walls had posters of her favorite bands, the bookshelves were crammed with books. Throughout the room, crystals, jewelry, incense and amulets were displayed in all their splendor.

Sighing, after throwing her sneakers away, she takes off her jacket and blouse.

As she started to take off her pants, the metal of the medallion began to heat up again. She heard laughter again, but this time it seemed to be ringing only in her ears.

A whiff of smoke penetrated her nostrils, and immediately the girl went on high alert. But nothing had happened. No screams were heard from downstairs, so her parents had not been incinerated. A pity.

Her breathing was loud as she waited for the once evil presence. But everything was apparently in order.

Sighing, Shandra realized that that was a false alarm and nothing would happen. So she started to take off her pants.

Wearing only a bra and panties, the young woman went to the closet to get her pajamas. She doubted very much that she would be able to sleep, but she didn't want to spend another minute having to think about the horrible things that had happened that day.

As she opened the double wooden doors, the girl was almost frightened to death.

Because sitting on one of the wooden supports of the furniture itself, wearing nothing but black social pants, was... Him.

"Boo!"

Shandra takes three steps backwards and almost trips over the floorboards.

The man smiles and blinks one of his eyes, seductively.

"I'm sorry for the inconvenience. I came to explain things better to you."