The lock to the diner clicked as Max turned the key and sighed. It had been a long day and she was thankful it was over. As she turned away from the door she quietly cleared her throat and discreetly checked her surroundings, mentally preparing herself for the unnerving walk home. She was being watched.
A few weeks ago, Max had been serving as a waitress on a quiet Tuesday. She was extremely bored with her job but didn't really have a better option at the moment, so she forced herself to smile and be polite and pretend she was happy to receive a few dollars in reward for forty minutes to an hour's worth of work serving a needy group of people. At first, it had felt like any other day. The bell on the door rang as it was pulled open and a new customer came in and took a seat. She let out a long breath as she walked over and , like a switch was turned on, she put on a bright smile and said, "Hello, my name is Max and I'll be your server today. Our specials today are…"
As she went through the memorized speech she began to feel quite uncomfortable. The man had a young, boyish face but was well over six feet and extremely fit, his eyes fixed, unmoving, on her. His stare made her very uncomfortable, especially when she felt it on her even as she walked away to get the coffee he ordered. It followed her back too. Max slowly set down the cup as she held his gaze and she let out a nervous huff and a half smile in an attempt to break the mood. His face did not change and he did not blink. Max began to walk away, when suddenly a large hand grasped her wrist.
"You're more beautiful than I remember," he said.
She blinked, getting herself together.
"I'm sorry…Have we met?"
He grinned, gently and unnervingly. A few beats were spent in silence and Max began to think he wouldn't answer and was wondering just what the hell was going on when he whispered, "You shouldn't remember me. But don't worry, you'll remember soon enough, I'm sure," and slid his hand off her wrist.
"Wha-?"
"You have a nice day, Max," he said.
She blinked a few times and walked away. That was the first time Max remembers meeting Ari. There was no way she'd met him in school, as he was at least 5 years older than she. She was absolutely certain she'd never seen him before- he didn't look the least bit familiar. Max found herself glancing over at him many times as she walked to and fro other tables. After handing a child some crayons, she turned to see again, but the man was gone. He'd left a twenty on the table for his cup of coffee.
Walking home that night, she stared at her feet dragging along the sidewalk. She'd been standing for many hours and they hurt but she was used to it. She looked up and watched her breath turn a misty white in the cool night air, calm and relaxed, but when she looked straight ahead, she stopped immediately. The same man she'd met earlier was there, leaning against a tall lamp post, grinning at her. Her cold hands clenched tightly in her coat pockets.
"Hello, Max," he said.
She did not return the smile or the greeting. She swallowed.
The man pushed himself off the post and stood up straight. "You know, you really should pay a little more attention when you're headed home. It's very dangerous for a pretty girl like you to be all alone out here in the dark."
Her heart raced but she said, "I can handle myself pretty well." It came out a little bit too delicately, but she was proud of herself anyway.
He began to walk toward her when a group of people her age came laughing and hollering from around the corner. She turned to see, on instinct, and when she turned around again, he was gone. She had hurried home.
Unfortunately, this was not a one time occurrence. She saw him often after that while on her way to her apartment from work and, occasionally, in the middle of the day too. Max was tough, but she had to admit to herself that the whole situation was a little unnerving.
Still, she held her own and dealt with it. However, tonight was different. She was walking at a brisk pace when she felt more than heard someone behind her. She turned around quickly and halted. He was there. Her heart rate came faster and faster and she inhaled deeply. He'd never come this close before. Thinking quickly, she turned to run but there was a vice grip on her arm and hand over her mouth to mute her scream. She kicked out and began fighting with a passion, but he held her firmly.
She was absolutely panicked. The staring and the smiles were strange and scary, but she never thought he'd do anything like this. 'So stupid, so stupid. Run! Run! Run!' she thought.
"Shut up!" he grunted. "You're going to ruin it! I'm trying to help you!"
He sounded almost afraid, but not as much as Max, who began to struggle even harder as she bit down on his hand.
He let out a curse and slammed her into the wall before dragging her into a nearby alley. He was inhumanly strong. She did not let up her fight, however, and was beginning to scream out when a voice stopped her.
"You have always seemed to struggle with your intelligence, Ari, but I'm sure you can see she wants to be left alone."
The voice was deadly quiet,deep and very calm. She could not locate it. Ari blinked before a look of rage came over his face and he looked up with a glare.
"Stay out of it, Fang!" Ari shouted. "You don't want to mess with me!"
Max's eyes followed Ari's gaze. There were two young men on the roof of the building she was pushed against. She could only make out the outlines of their heads as they stared down at them.
"Actually, I do," Fang said and promptly jumped off the roof. Max's eyes widened and she gasped as she watched him fall, and was followed by the other, but true astonishment set in when they both landed on their feet, their knees barely bending from the impact. It was at least a four story drop.
"Leave her alone," the other man said.
There was a stare down, mainly between Fang and Ari. The other's eyes were not focused exactly on them, downcast with his head tilted to the side as if to hear better. Max realized with a start that he was blind. Then Ari said, "No I don't think I will, Iggy. You know I'm stronger than you."
"Let's fight then," Fang said. "You want to take both of us? Here we are."
Ari stayed still for a moment, his only movements his eyes rapidly going from Max to Fang and Iggy, and his hand tightening and loosening around her throat.
"You'll regret this," said Ari and, suddenly, his shirt fell with a terrible ripping noise and behind his back, there were wings. Before she could stop it, Max let out a cry, but the noise was drowned out by a whooshing noise as the wings pushed downwards and Ari was off into the air. On the first stroke,the tips of the wings came together so close to Max that she felt the tips of feathers brush her face. Max thought she'd hyperventilate or die or die from hyperventilating or faint…
She stood for a moment, unsure of everything and what to do and what just happened when a voice said, "Max?"
Her eyes snapped to Fang as she tried to catch her breath. She felt like she'd had the wind knocked out of her.
"How do you know me?" It was meant to be a yell but it came out a shaky whisper. In fact, she was shaking everywhere.
"Max-" he began, but suddenly everything that had just happened caught up to her and with a gasp she pushed herself away from the wall and ran all the way home, not slowing down once even when she felt her lungs would burst from no oxygen. She didn't change her clothes and barely took off her shoes and coat before sliding under the blankets of her bed, wide awake the rest of the night.