Chapter 3

Dawn Turner

My eyes fluttered and it was a struggle to keep them opened. Light seared in through the curtains, forcing my eyes shut from the fear of going blind. "She's waking up." I heard someone say. I wasn't able to recognize who the voice belonged to. My memory seems to be toying with me because the last thing I remember is waking up in my bedroom, feeling uneasy. After that? Nothing. Blankness.

When my eyes finally managed to open, with difficulty, I noticed that I was in the hospital. My mom rushed to my side, tears in her eyes. "I was so worried about you." Her voice was shaking.  She grabbed my hand as she sobbed and I couldn't hide how confused I was.

"What happened?" My voice came out quivering, my breath ragged. I was thirsty but I didn't comment on that because I needed answers first.

"I wanted to check in on you yesterday. When I entered your apartment with the extra key you gave me, I saw you on the floor covered in blood. I thought you were..." A loud sob escaped her throat and my heart broke at the sight. My mother's eyes weren't deserving of any tears, especially not because of me. "The doctors said you hit your forehead against something. Why aren't you careful with taking the stairs, Dawn! You had me worried sick." Wait, she thinks I fell off the stairs and hit my forehead? Well, did I?

"I….um. I'm so sorry mom.” I tightened my hold on her hand. “I'll be more careful next time." I assured her and stared out the window of my hospital room.

Why can't I remember anything? The past few hours of my life are all blurred out from my memory.

My mom offered to drive us back home and I was too tired to say no. On our way back, all I could think about was if I’m starting to lose my mind. I know I’m not young anymore but I’m definitely not old enough to be forgetting a whole damn day of my life. Something weird is happening and it’s driving me crazy not knowing what it is.

"Okay, I'm staying over today.” My mom said once we got back home. Before I could even say anything, she continued, “No. Stop giving me that look! I'm going to watch over you all night, you clumsy child." She pointed her fingers at me accusingly.

"You don't have to worry about me, mom. It was an accident." I assured her. But was it really? If I am so sure, then why is my mind travelling back to a strange man every time I try to remember the incident. Did he have something to do with this? "I think I'll go to my room now." 

I stood up from the couch and walked towards the stairs.

For some reason, the closer I got to the stairs, the faster my heart started beating. I felt a sudden jab in my stomach when I stood in front of the staircase and it confused me. Do I have a phobia of stairs now?

I tried to ignore the weird feeling I was getting and started going up the stairs but a sharp stabbing pain in my head made me halt. I shut my eyes tightly, leaning my body against the bannister as the memories started flooding in every corner of my brain.

I finished counting, Rapunzel.

I pictured the man from yesterday standing in front of me and my stomach lurched at the vividness of the memory. I ran back downstairs , trying to get to the bathroom at an immense speed.

"What's wrong?" I ignored my mom and opened the bathroom door. Soon I was on the floor, emptying my stomach in the sink. My mother held my hair back and rubbed my back soothingly. When I was done, she handed me a tissue paper to wipe my mouth. I stood up and caught a reflection of myself in the mirror. I was paler than a sheet of paper. My skin was lathered in sweat. What is happening to me? "Come on sweetie; let's get you comfortable on the couch." She whispered calmly. I allowed her to walk me there.

She walked me slowly towards the couch, making sure I didn’t fall, but the sight I saw in front of me once we got to the living room was enough to make me feel like passing out again. I halted in my tracks. "Honey, why did you stop?" My mother asked me, looking as confused as ever.

I’m not  sure if it’s my imagination playing games with me right now but I remained frozen in place as I watched a certain man smiling and twirling his blade around his finger as he sat quietly on my couch. Let's just say, I definitely need to get tested for any heart problems after today because my heart beat was far from normal.

"Hi babe, missed me? Anyways, the doctor whose body I just drained of blood told me where to find you! Isn't he the sweetest?" He asked sarcastically.

"Stop following me, you creep!" I yelled at him, shaking with anger.

"Sweetie, relax! Who are you talking to?" My mother asked, concerned, as she looked around the living room. Her eyes did not falter at all as she skimmed over the couch where devil man was sitting.  

She can't see him.

"Oh, she can't? Too bad! I was really looking forward to having a cup of tea with her and discussing a certain pan-holding psycho." He sighed dramatically and stood up. I can't believe how tall he is.

"Get out, now.” I said coldly. My mother looked at me, still confused, and tried holding me in place. "Mom, he is going to kill us! Call the cops, please!" I yelled frantically, pushing her behind me protectively.

"Who's going to kill us? Honey, you're not making any sense! Just take a seat on the couch and get some rest, you'll feel better." The creature rolled his eyes at my mother and clicked his fingers. My mom suddenly fell to the ground in front of me with a loud thud. The creature smiled innocently in my direction.

"Mom!" I ran over to her and felt tears building up in my eyes. "What did you do to her, you monster!" I shook her body lightly and she didn’t react. I moved to check her neck for a pulse.

"Oh, would you relax? She's asleep." He rolled his eyes. The urge to pluck them out and feed them to my neighbor’s dog was getting higher by the second.

"What are you?" I asked him. He leaned against the couch and shrugged. "Seriously? You're going to have to be a bit more cooperative." I shot him a cold glare.

"What do you think I am?" He asked with an amused smirk.

"An asshole."

"Guess again." He glared at me.

"Maybe a devil?"

"And what gave that away? Was it the wings or the fangs? I'm making a study." He answered sarcastically.

"So that's a yes?"

"That's a partly." He answered.

I raised my eyebrows at him.

"Partly a devil? And what's the other part? Vampire?" He shook his head.

"Daniel Grigori..." He trailed on. I remained confused. He sighed and stood up straight. "I'm a fallen."

"Fallen? You're an angel?" I backed away and dissolved into a puddle of laughter. My stomach was shaking now. "Oh-oh my God." I continued laughing and turned to look at my unconscious mother. "He's an angel." I told her, laughing even harder.

The 'fallen' looked at me weirdly. "I have met a lot of weird and psychotic human beings but you, Dawn Turner, are by far the worst." I stopped laughing and glared at him.

"Look who's talking, Mr. I sucked the blood out of your doctor for absolutely no reason but my pure enjoyment. I can't tell if it's just me, but that sounds incredibly weird and… quite creepy." I shot back.

He opened his mouth to say something when a butterfly came out of nowhere and landed on my shoulder. My eyes widened and I jumped around in circles. "Get it off, get it off!" I continued jumping in pure fear while he stood there enjoying the scene.

"You're afraid of butterflies?" He asked with a wicked smile. I immediately stopped jumping. He slowly brought his hands up towards me and closed his eyes.

"NO NO NO NO!!!" I turned to run away from him but froze when I saw like 10 butterflies positioned in front of me, waiting for an order to attack. As if that wasn't scary enough, they continued multiplying and I gulped down the bile that was starting to rise in my throat. If there is anything I'm completely terrified of, it's butterflies. My heart was beating fast but my legs were faster as they rushed towards the kitchen in panic. I looked around to see if there was anything I could use to defend myself and then grabbed my pan.

This sounds like a bad idea but I don't see anything else in sight.

"Again? Don't you get tired of routines?" The fallen laughed and came closer to me.

SLAM.

The sound of my pan hitting the side of his face echoed throughout the kitchen.

"I guess not." He growled. I watched his eyes turn red as he cupped his cheek in pain and backed away. I didn’t know what was happening until I saw something move in the corner of my eyes. Before I could even react, the butterflies he summoned attacked me and my only defense was... a pan.

Pans? Good with protecting you from fallen angels. Bad with protecting you from butterflies.

I felt on edge and my skin tingled with disgust at the feeling of butterflies fluttering against my arms. I felt so nauseous and my entire body was shaking. The pan fell out of my hand and I forced my hands against my head , praying to God I would wake up from this nightmare soon.

Tears were falling from my eyes and I choked on my loud sobs. I was now shaking on the ground and leaning against the counter. "Dawn?" I heard my mother yell, bringing me back to reality.

"Relinquo!" The fallen yelled and suddenly everything around us disappeared. No more butterflies, no more him.

My mother ran into the kitchen and saw me sobbing on the floor. "What happened? I was having a nap and I heard you cry." She looked concerned as I was shaking on the floor, tears running down my face.

"You were having a nap?" I tried wiping my tears away.

"Yeah? I told you I was going to nap when we came back from the hospital." She looked at me like one would look at a crazy person and in this moment, I couldn't tell if she was right or wrong.

Did I imagine all of this?

My gaze fell on the floor where a dead butterfly was sitting, reminding me that this is all real and I have made an enemy that is too powerful for me to get rid of. 

Oh my God.