He didn't weigh a lot, but it was enough to keep her floored. His clothed form stayed pressing into her naked body, forcing her into the ground covered in dirt, dead pines and twigs. Her palms were flat on either side of her head. Those talon-like hands kept a firm hold on her wrists, keeping her pinned down. She shivered from both the cold and her fear. Her body couldn't handle all of this.
There was an intense, painful pressure between her legs. The slightest movement had her whimpering.
He chuckled darkly at her squirming. She tried fruitlessly to escape, but he was too strong. He leaned in and seductively pressed his lips behind her ear. This only made her cry out and struggle more. This pleased him, grinning evilly. Knowing he scared her brought him a thrill. His honed thumbs gently grazed against her wrists once, making her cry louder and attempt to jerk her wrists out of his grip. He brought his lips to her ear again, shushing her. "I know it hurts." He spoke in this comforting, yet taunting voice.
Thick tears streamed down her cheeks, teeth grinding against each other in her mouth.
Without warning, he slammed into her. She screamed in response, waves of intense pain coursing through her body. Her hands balled into fists, clenching the dirt and pines beneath her. Dirt got into her nails as she dug them into the ground. He did it again, earning another screech. This continued, forming a pattern. Never letting up. It continued on like forever.
Carissa jolted awake, her face wet. Large breaths entered her body as if she hadn't been breathing. Looking on her bed and around her room, she wished she felt relieved there was no one around. It wasn't enough to comfort her even in the slightest this time. Her fingers reached her cheeks, wiping away the tears. The alarm clock read 5:12am. It didn't matter. Carissa shut off the awaiting timer and left the room to make coffee. While the coffee was brewing, she retrieved the cream from the fridge before opening the cabinet door to get the sugar. Opening it, it felt like a hundred needles lightly poked her heart and skin. A red feather sat snuggly between the cabinet wall and a cereal box. She pretended not to see it and shut the door. However, the poor woman was on the verge of crying again.
The morning didn't go by as smooth as expected. It was a Saturday, so there was no work today. But Carissa couldn't feel relaxed. She felt like she was…no, she was being monitored all the time. Admittedly, Carissa had done some research on Hawks to learn more about his quirk. That feather in her cabinet was one of the many she'd thrown away, or was the same one and kept coming back. According to what she'd learned, not only could Hawks move his feathers with no limit, he could even hear things from a far distance with just one of them. It was a constant use when he was working. No wonder he was such a high-ranking hero.
But how long was he going to keep this nonsense up? He should be in his country doing his part in catching criminals. She tried to look up anything about his dating history, how he interacted with other people. The guy was so calm and casual towards everyone, even rowdy children. Short videos of him talking to fans looked so normal, even towards girls. Several girls and young women online claimed they tried to ask him out or have even dated him, but had no evidence such as pictures or videos when people called them out on it.
For an extremely handsome guy, Hawks oddly hasn't seemed to have dated anyone from the looks of it.
So why the hell was he going through such lengths when it came to Carissa?
She didn't know what to do about this. Hawks won't leave her alone. She can't go to the cops. She probably can't tell her father. Wade would go to the police regardless, and getting in trouble with a pro hero could affect his shop. It could mess with his new relationship with his girlfriend. Carissa didn't want that.
As she was preparing breakfast, an unexpected call from her father rang from her phone.
"Hello?"
"Good morning, sweetheart. How are you this morning? Did you get more sleep?"
"…Yeah, sort of. I feel better now."
"That's good! Good, good. Glad you're feeling better." Her father sounded slightly happier than usual.
"How are you this morning?"
"Things are very well!" Her father chimed. "Priscilla and I are going out for the day. Would you like to tag along?"
"Yeah, I'd love to go." Carissa said. She wanted to spend time with her father and didn't want to be alone today. If Hawks was following her around, at least she'd be with people she could trust.
"Great to hear. Would you like for us to pick you up?"
"Sure. I'll be ready in an hour."
"Okay. See you soon."
By around nine in the morning, Carissa was picked up by Wade and Priscilla. Wade was planning to show Priscilla around at places both he and Carissa enjoyed going to. Wade actually purchased three tickets to go whale watching in the early afternoon, so they had plenty of time to do others things.
The day went by pretty smoothly. The trio went sight-seeing, stopped at a couple places for souvenirs and to get maps, and had a quick lunch before taking the tour. Despite it being cloudy, the boat ride was nice. They saw plenty of humpback whales and orcas. Some even came up to the boat, including a mother and small baby who everybody cooed at. One of the orcas had poked its entire head out of the water at Carissa. Surprised and delighted, the woman wiggled her fingers at it while clicking her tongue, saying hello to it as if it were a small child. The whale opened its mouth, smiling as it let out happy gurgling noises like a dolphin would. Everyone laughed at the animal's adorableness.
Eventually the tour ended and they returned to the mainland. After taking one more stop at another souvenir location, they headed to a close mall they've never been to before. Since they had a couple more hours on their hands, stopping at a new mall felt fun.
They were currently in an expensive furniture store looking at matching pillows for couches and beds in an aisle. Priscilla was pointing out different countries of where the fabrics came from. Wade and Carissa both listened while feeling the different material.
"This one is both soft and smooth. I have one of these at home. I instantly feel relaxed and fall asleep when I lay on it." Priscilla said, patting the plush pillow on the shelf, indicating for the two to feel it.
"It does feel soft." Wade complimented on the texture, testing it with his fingertips.
"Mhm." Carissa agreed, grazing her whole hands against it.
"These ones are good, too. My grandmother purchased these all the time." Priscilla said, referring to a different type of neighboring pillow close by as she led them over to it, trying out the pillows.
"They feel really nice." Carissa said, also feeling the next one.
"Yeah, you should get some. They'll help you relax better."
Carissa froze, her hand still on the nice fabric of the pillow. But she couldn't feel it anymore. Her whole body including her fingertips felt numb. All of the happiness she gained today with her father and his girlfriend melted away like it was never there. All of the lightness in her heart from having such a good time today was weighed down by fear. She felt as if she let her guard down. It took Carissa a moment to move, her body giving off the slightest tremble when she turned to the source of the voice.
Wade and Priscilla also turned to the new voice, viewing the unexpected presence of a foreign pro hero standing there before them. His eyes were half-closed and he held this carefree smile. His entire posture gave off a carefree vibe, his large wings closed but still visible. He didn't have his goggles on this time.
Priscilla's eyebrows raised while Wade let out a sound of surprise. "Are you…?"
"The number two hero of Japan, Hawks." Hawks introduced himself while giving a gesture with his hand close to his face. "Nice to meet ya."
"Ah, you're Hawks? My daughter mentioned you were in her work building." Wade brought up. "I'm Wade. It's nice to meet you as well."
The two men shared a handshake like it was any normal intro. Carissa watched, apprehensive as her father and Priscilla introduced themselves.
"My name is Priscilla. It's lovely to meet you." Priscilla greeted brightly before shaking the hero's hand, too.
Hawks smiled at them warmly before looking to Carissa. He could tell just by looking at her that she was uncomfortable. A dull annoyance bubbled in Hawks's stomach but he didn't let it falter his appearance. He simply gave her a wave. "Hey, Carissa."
That might've been the first time Hawks ever called her by her real name, rather than the constant pet names. She shifted uncomfortably, bundling up the hem of her sweater in her fingers. "…Hey." She nearly muttered.
Suddenly Hawks went around the group, attempting to stand next to Carissa's side. "Haven't seen you in a little while." He obviously lied, though Wade and Priscilla were unaware of that. "How've you been?"
His sudden movement alarmed Carissa. She shuffled backward, closer to her father. "Fine." She replied, staring at him nervously before looking away.
"Heard you were sticking around Seattle to look for villains." Wade mentioned what his daughter told him some time ago. "We're really grateful of you for doing that."
Carissa slowly gazed at her father, seeing his oblivious expression. That's not what he's here for. She wanted to say to him, but kept it to herself.
"Eh, no need to thank me." Hawks said. "It's what heroes do."
"Did you find any yet?" Priscilla asked thoughtfully.
"A few. They tried to hide, but couldn't get past my eyes." Hawks answered with a grin, earning a laugh from the two older people.
Carissa nervously stood there, seeing the interaction between Hawks, her father and Priscilla. The hero said something else to make them laugh harder. He was already gaining their favor. They weren't suspecting anything. It made Carissa want to tear up. Not even her father was noticing anything suspicious. Hawks must be that good of a charmer. Was Hawks doing this on purpose? Why was he even here?
Was he following her again today? The thought made Carissa sick.
"So what brings you over in this location?" Wade asked.
"Caught another villain trying to hide out here. There appears to be an unusual amount of them hiding in Seattle." Hawks replied, glancing at Carissa. "I have to get all of them. Wouldn't want to risk them returning to building where your daughter works."
"Yes, absolutely." Wade said, turning to Carissa as well. "Have you two been interacting a lot? Hawks mentioned he hasn't seen you in a bit."
Carissa froze again. "Uh…" Her father didn't do social media a lot, so him asking this question proves he probably didn't see the accusations people were making online about her and Hawks possibly dating or at the very least hooking up. Priscilla didn't seem to know either with her lack of mentioning anything.
"Yeah, we've been friends for a little while now." Hawks spoke up, taking advantage of Carissa's failure to respond. His golden eyes stared down at Carissa's hand. His cheeks warming, he reached his gloved hand toward hers, daring to go further with the deception. "In fact, we're…"
Just as Hawks's fingers started to intertwine with hers, Carissa quickly pulled her hand away from him backed further toward her father. "No." She said rather flatly, shaking her head before shooting a dull glare to Hawks. "We're not friends. We're not anything." She knew what he was about to say, and that would just make matters worse for her.
No. This was going too far. She couldn't let this continue. Hero or not, a wedge had to be driven into this before it got out of hand.
Hawks tilted his head and raised an eyebrow. "What do ya mean?" He asked, a hint of confused pain in his voice.
"We're not anything." Carissa repeated truthfully. "I never agreed to that."
Hawks feigned surprise before giving her a sad expression, humming and pouting his lips. His wings lowered a little to further express his 'depression'.
Wade blinked at his daughter, glanced at Hawks and looked back at Carissa. "Sweetie, what do you mean?" He asked.
"I wanna go." Carissa said, turning to Wade and Priscilla. "Can we please leave?"
Wade gave a tiny frown of confusion. "Carissa, why-"
"Please, let's go." Carissa said, revealing a hint of desperation in her tone. She grabbed her father's hand and started to pull him away.
"N-No, no, it's okay. I'll go." Hawks said, holding his hands up while backing up. He smiled warmly at Carissa, still holding that sad expression. "I'm sorry, Carissa. I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable. I thought we were getting along pretty well."
Carissa didn't bother to hide her grimace. A tingly feeling between her legs made her feel sick. She knew for certain he was lying. Her body slightly trembled, practically hiding herself behind her father now, still holding his hand. She felt so pathetic. It was like she was a little girl again, trying to hide behind her father from someone she considered scary.
Hawks's smile shrunk at Carissa's reaction, but he continued to walk backwards until he was at the end of the aisle. "Have a good rest of your day." Were his final words before disappearing in the direction of the store's entrance.
The day soured a little after that interaction. Her father tried to ask her what happened back there, hardly ever having seen his daughter behave that way in front of someone else before. Carissa refused to tell the entire truth out of fear of her father going to the police, so she just told a vague version of it.
"He was a jerk to me."
"What? How?"
"Just…bothering me. Deliberately doing things to mess with me. I don't wanna discuss it."
Wade pressed Carissa for more information, but Carissa firmly stood her ground on the matter. Priscilla suggested they drop the topic for now as she sensed the tensions rising. They did and went to eat dinner, soon forgetting about the encounter as they talked about the whale tour.
At the end of the day, Carissa asked if Wade and Priscilla could spend the night at her home. She felt disturbed that Hawks actually followed her when she was with her father and his girlfriend. She dreaded being alone tonight, afraid of Hawks confronting her in her own home. After several moments of convincing without revealing the truth, Wade and Priscilla agreed. However, they wanted to stop at the gas station to get gas and some snacks before going to the house.
While Wade was pumping gas, Carissa and Priscilla went into the station to retrieve their items. They spoke about what they were getting before breaking off into their own directions. Carissa went into the wrong aisle, finding some camping equipment, car tools and other things. She was about to leave the aisle for the next one when she spotted a section of items hanging from the shelves. They were lighters, the small disposable ones you use to light cigarettes. She found herself staring that them for a while. They were only a couple inches long, few different varieties of colors.
She had to return to work on Monday. Hawks would come back, and she had a feeling he would do something to get back at her for exposing the truth that they weren't actually friends to her father. Like how he's been harassing her using his feathers in her own office, probably to get back at her for kicking him in the crotch.
Carissa reached for one in the front, a lavender-colored one, and pulled it off the shelf. She looked at it, and without giving too much thought, the woman purchased it along with her snacks and hid it from everyone using her bag and coat.
There were no issues overnight. There hadn't been any sign of Hawks. At least not from Carissa's view, though she worried that he might be waiting on the roof. Her home was also in a very dense and thick forest. He could've been hiding anywhere. Wade and Priscilla never left the home until the morning, having spent time with Carissa and slept overnight. Carissa made breakfast for them. Wade tried to bring up what happened to them the day before, but Carissa did her best to assure it was just a small miscommunication and bothersome scenario. They thanked each other for the things they did together and Wade and Priscilla eventually left.
Sunday went by as usual. Hawks hadn't attempted to bother her at all today. There were no feathers levitating around, trying to sabotage her work outside the office. However, she decided to sleep in the closet tonight in case. Hawks never did anything when she was in the closet. Only when she returned to her bed did he start coming into her bedroom when she slept. Not that the closet could stop him from doing anything.
Carissa eventually fell into a surprisingly deep sleep, wondering how the day would unfold tomorrow.
