It was a cold night. Carissa shivered as she ran as fast as she could. But the adrenaline was enough to blind her body of the frigid temperatures lingering in this place. Though it should've been midnight, the sky held this deep red hue as if it were still sunset. The sky looked like it was being poked and bled by the thousands of leafless trees in the dark forest.
The woman was crying, her feet hurt terribly from stepping on natural sharp objects. She was running with all her might, throwing her arms around to remove any branches blocking her path. Some snagged onto her clothing and hair like deformed hands, as if trying to hold her back. Carissa broke free from them and continued on.
An arrogant laughter came from above. Carissa gasped and kept running, trying to get as fast as she could away from the source.
"Thought you could get away from me, little bird?" A familiar voice taunted.
A hand roughly grabbed her left wrist. Carissa glanced at it for a split second. Its nails were not that of a human's. Instead of see-through and short, they were jet-black, long and honed.
Almost like talons.
The talons of a fierce predator bird.
The action was so quick and forceful, Carissa running forward caused her to slip and fall. Her other wrist was grabbed and she was forced to lay on her stomach. The petrified woman freaked out as those hands started to tear at her clothing. She screeched as she heard the ripping of fabric, becoming more exposed and shamed to her attacker.
Carissa awoke with a jolt. She found herself sitting up straight and breathing heavily as if she stopped breathing for a whole minute. Her heartbeat was fast and she was sweating, ironic since it was so cold. Her hand rested on her heart, her baby-blue eyes closing as she breathed in, trying to control herself.
It was just a nightmare.
A nightmare that…felt so real.
"Thought you could get away from me, little bird?"
That voice made Carissa gasp. She gripped her nightgown where her heart was, piling the clothing in her fingers. An agonizing thought came to her mind.
No. That wasn't him. She thought to herself. The woman threw the bedsheets off her legs and forced herself out of bed. She was wobbly as her body shook from the scary dream, but she forced herself to ignore and go on.
Carissa took a long shower, cleaning herself up and relaxing. After drying herself, becoming clothed in clean pajamas and wrapping her hair up, she went into the kitchen and prepped coffee.
It had been a while since she experienced a nightmare. Usually her dreams consisted of working at her computer, as if she was still in the building actually working on documents. Mr. Baxter had her working so much that her job even invaded her dreams. If Carissa got lucky, she would have no dream or a peaceful vision of nature.
Having experienced something like that was out of the ordinary.
Once Carissa had her coffee ready, she went outside and sat at the old, small table on her front porch. She put a clean towel over the dirty chair and sat down. It was cold outside, but she didn't care. The woman folded one leg over the other, breathing in the morning air. It helped her heated body cool down and relax even more. She took a sip of her coffee while staring at where the sun should be rising. The pine trees were tall, so she couldn't see the sun in the horizon. But that didn't make the older scenery any less beautiful. Her mind drifted off to her job for a moment.
Just liked she hoped, everyone in the building was granted paid leave until they could find a replacement for Mr. Baxter. That meant they were free to do whatever they pleased until then. Carissa wanted to go out and do something, not be cooped up in her home the whole time. Sure she had bills to take care of, but they could be put on hold for the time being.
From the end of the long driveway in front of the few houses on this tiny street, Carissa very briefly caught sight of an older couple walking their Golden Retriever. A young child was with them, happily speaking about something regarding school. Their grandchild, most likely. Carissa couldn't help but smile at them, the thought of her father coming to her mind. She didn't spend as much time with him as she should, making her feel guilty. Wade didn't have a lot of people to talk to except Carissa and his friends at the shop. He never remarried after her mother died, so it was just the two of them as she grew up. Wade probably wasn't available today to hang out, though.
Carissa finished her coffee and went back inside to prepare herself for what she hoped would be a relaxing day.
The sun was out today, a rare occurrence during this time of the year in Seattle. It was still cold, but not as cold as this morning thanks to what little warmth the sun could provide. The streets of the city had more people out than usual, everyone wanting to spend some time out in the fresh air. People looked happy, groups of friends or family cheerfully speaking to each other while going about with their plans. It made Carissa smile to herself. Something about seeing others so happy brought light to her heart, making her smile with them even if she was by herself. She breathed in a large amount of air through her nose and released it, blushing while smiling gently at a small puppy an older lady was walking by the leash. The ball of fur looked so happy, its mouth open with its tongue sticking out, wagging its tail while jumping at some people walking in the opposite direction who cooed at the adorable animal.
Seagulls squawked overhead, also seeming to enjoy the nice weather. A couple of them dropped some small crabs they snatched from the sand below the bridges, the poor creatures landing onto the sidewalks and dying as their bodies split open and exposed their meat. Some were dropped by a few people, too close for comfort as those people shrieked in surprise. The birds paid no mind as they flew down to the dead, mini crustaceans and started eating what they could from the bodies. Carissa covered her mouth, trying to conceal her sudden laughter at the people's reactions. Some cursed while others laughed at the sudden event, maneuvering around the flock of birds. She also avoided them and made it a little farther away from the bridge she was on.
Familiar faces were in the distance, walking on the sidewalk and heading in the opposite direction, toward Carissa. As the woman got closer, her face blanched a little at the sight of the three of her female coworkers: Daphne, Roxie and Emily. Speaking and laughing with each other. They had to be out for the same reason as everyone else. It wasn't long before all three of them noticed Carissa, who decided to walk across the street the opposite direction of the ocean to avoid them. Thankfully the Oceanside Mall happened to be right there, just a few minutes further down the road. The trio would definitely harass Carissa outside of work if they ever got the chance. A tiny influence it had on Carissa all those nights she stayed late at work, so she wouldn't run into any of them on her way to her car. An incident happened in the past where Nicola led the group in stupidly vandalizing Carissa's car once, not considering the security cameras. It didn't take an eighth of the day for the parking guards to call the cops on the four of them. They were suspended from their jobs for a week each and had to pay damages to the car in full.
Oddly enough, Nicola wasn't with them today. Carissa didn't know them well enough, but was sure all four of them seemed pretty tight since they were so friendly with each other at work. Maybe Nicola was busy today. Regardless, that took some heat off Carissa.
Carissa quickly got to the mall and entered through the front doors, mixing in with all the people entering as well. She quickly got to the escalators and ascended up, trying to get as far away as possible. She didn't want to quarrel with her coworkers today. Finding a random store that looked suitable for hiding, she quickly stowed away in there and hid behind a few rows of aisles.
Time went by as she looked through the aisles, catching interest in a few items until finally deciding to check if the coast was clear. Slowly stepping out of the store and looking all around, both on this floor and over the edge, she saw no sign of anyone familiar and left the store.
It looked nicer in the mall with the sun out. The natural lighting helped colorful, decorative glasses on the walls gleam against the inner part of the establishment. People briefly turned different shades of colors as they passed underneath the lights. Carissa did the same, admiring herself while staring at her clothed arms change color while walking through them.
The distant shrieking of girls caught Carissa's attention. She jerked her body around, half expecting to see her troublesome coworkers behind her. But no, there was no one familiar around. Several people in the area did look to a specific spot in the mall and started walking toward it. A famous hero? The nightmare from last night entered her mind. Carissa shook her head and turned away, quickly heading a different direction of the mall.
It wasn't him. It couldn't be him. No way would he still be here, right?
Carissa made it to a different part of the mall, looking back one more time for reassurance.
"You coward." A familiar voice snickered.
Carissa sighed, mentally facepalming. Of course.
"You were actually running from us?" Another familiar voice chuckled in disbelief.
The lone woman turned to see who she feared she'd run into. "I don't want to deal with any of you."
Emily gasped as if to sound offended. It was more like a scoff. "That's harsh."
"Not to me, it's not." Carissa said, turning to leave.
"You're leaving?"
"I need serenity."
"Who's 'Serenity'?" Daphne snidely asked.
"Leave me alone, please."
"Sounds like you need 'Serenity' more than you do Hawks." Roxie giggled.
Carissa inwardly groaned and started walking faster. She could hear the three women's footsteps following her. Not many people were in this part of the mall, so she undoubtedly knew it was them. Seeing an exit to the mall, she headed in that direction.
"What is it with you and Hawks, anyway?" Emily spoke up.
Carissa didn't stop walking, but her pace slowed down. Admittedly, that was a good question. She recalled yesterday morning when Mr. Baxter's body was found. How Hawks held Carissa as if she were in serious need of comfort. That severely intense look in his eyes. Even now, it sent chills down her spine.
"Are you two dating?" Roxie cheekily pried.
Carissa snapped out of it and started walking faster.
"You said you had no interest in dating anyone." Daphne pointed out this fact from long ago. "What, did he change your mind?"
"We're not dating." Carissa nearly growled. Redness grew in her cheeks. "Nothing's changed."
"Oh, so you're just paying him to satisfy some desire?"
The redness boosted tremendously. Carissa snapped her head around at the three women. "Absolutely not! I don't do that!" She practically yelled at them, not caring if anyone close by heard.
The three women stopped walking for a second, looking shocked at their quiet coworker's reaction to their question. But they continued following when Carissa started walking again, giggling mockingly.
"Well, it's not like it matters." Daphne said a little too cheerily. "He's totally out of your low-class league."
Carissa rolled her eyes, recalling the way girls spoke in high school. They were probably just jealous that Hawks was showing more attention to her than them. Carissa honestly wished it was the other way around. Then they'd not be on her ass about it.
"There's no way he'd date some nobody like you."
"You know we're not in high school, right?" Carissa asked, not bothering to look behind her. "You're acting immature. Like typical, spoiled high school girls."
"At least we're normal." Roxie scoffed.
"Yeah, why can't you just be normal?" Emily asked.
As if they didn't even process what Carissa just said. She glared back at them. "If being 'normal' means I have to be heartless people like you, I don't want to be normal." She declared.
"She's got a point."
The four women froze at the familiar masculine voice too close for comfort, the three oppressors seizing their obnoxious behavior. After some glancing around, they caught sight of the red-winged hero leaning against the wall with his arms crossed, watching them with a skeptical look, a bushy eyebrow quirked upward.
"What makes you think I'd date heartless women like either of you?" Hawks asked, darting his golden gaze at Daphne, Roxie and Emily.
Getting over their shock, the embarrassed women became red in the face as they scurried out the awaiting exit doors, nearly tripping over themselves with all the bags they were carrying. Hawks watched them go before looking to Carissa. She was still red in the face, probably mad from the harassment. Her head turned to the side, her hair siding her face. Hawks pushed himself off the wall, stepping toward the humbled girl.
Seeing Carissa still sheepish, Hawks gave her a gentle smirk. "Were they harassing you because of me?" He cooed, revealing he overheard their conversation.
Carissa's bottom lip quivered, her face getting redder again. She still looked away, not wanting to look at anyone. But the fingers of a gloved hand gently grabbed her jaw and made her look directly up at Hawks. His smirk became a gentle smile, his eyes half-closed and appearing serene. Their lips were so close together, the birdman's hand now holding her chin. Carissa tried to step back but Hawks's other arm wrapped around her middle back, holding her there.
"Y'know…" Hawks barely muttered, his hot breath on her lips. "We can prove those women wrong. Right here, right now."
His lips gently pressed into hers.
Carissa's heart stopped.
