The office was a bit louder than usual today. People were discussing aloud how things were to play out today. The new methods the boss wanted them to use took some time to get used to, but everyone eventually caught on and were getting the hang of things. Everything was working out better than how Mr. Baxter had it all set up. Coworkers were satisfied and communicating better than before. Carissa could hear two guys outside her office speaking about finishing up their work soon and being able to head to the bar for some drinks.

She was currently typing away at her computer, trying to get her assignments done. The boss asked her to fill in for an employee who called in sick. Carissa said yes since she's used to staying late. It was almost twelve in the afternoon and she was about a third done with the paperwork. She glanced at a pencil holder sitting beside her computer. The lavender lighter she purchased two days ago was sitting well-hidden in there.

There were no signs of any feathers today, just like yesterday. Carissa was beginning to hope Hawks got the message that she wasn't interested and finally left the U.S. Unfortunately that hope went down the drain when a familiar flash of red came into her peripheral vision.

The feather was low to the ground against the wall, quickly disappearing behind the large office desk Carissa was sitting at. She kept her eyes on where it was but did her best to remain calm. If Hawks could hear things with just one feather, chances were he could hear her heart rate speeding up if she let it. Without making it obvious, the young woman took in deep breaths. Her heart sped up a little, but not enough to where it was thumping into her ribcage.

The feather was moving very slowly. Almost like it thought she hadn't noticed it. Carissa's desk was a box with no roof and its only entrance was facing where only a wall and a table for coworkers were visible, so Hawks couldn't see her from here (if he was looking from outside the building). She glanced around as a precaution and didn't see him peeking anywhere. When the feather came closer, Carissa grabbed a blank piece of paper from her drawer before reaching into the pencil holder to grab the lighter and a pen. This was to make it sound like she was going to write something down on paper. The feather had slowed its pace, but sped up when Carissa started writing random words on the paper. She muttered sentences for her job, wanting to sound legit. The feather went next to her leg. She prepped the lighter, clicking it on while closing her pen to try to drown out the sound.

The tip of the feather poked a little too much into her shin. It dragged upward toward her knee. Carissa frowned, quickly yanking her leg back. She whipped the lighter to the feather and put the flame into the feather's vane. As expected, it caught on fire.

At first it paused in mid-air. Then it suddenly swirled around in Carissa's office as if trying to put the fire out itself. Carissa had to back up to avoid being slashed by it. When the fire didn't go out, the feather left her office and flew into a random direction. Her coworkers pointed out the blazing thing and started freaking out in confusion. People yelled out to get water while others tried to avoid the unknown object. Before anyone could get water on time, the feather burned until it disappeared from existence. Some people were questioning what happened while others found it humorous, asking if anyone with a flame quirk tried to pull a prank. The boss didn't find it funny, however. She instantly went around questioning who pulled the stunt. After Carissa was questioned by the boss and cleared of any wrongdoing, she found herself covering her mouth to avoid laughing out loud. She actually set one of Hawks's feathers on fire. For some reason she found it funny herself. Maybe that would teach him that she wasn't interested.

However, fear was also brewing in her stomach. Hawks might not take what she just did lightly. This would worsen the situation. Her laughter died down, now worrying about the consequences of what could happen now.

The fact that Hawks was not appearing in any way was only giving her more anxiety. She kept making several errors and redos on her assignments, not thinking straight.

Her cell phone buzzed on her desk, vibrating and turning clockwise. Carissa picked it up and looked at the screen. It was a text from an unknown number.

Unknown Number: You know what I think? You need a more thorough vacation. I'll pick you up tonight.


The city might as well have been in the eye of the storm. The night sky was once again covered with very thick, stormy clouds. Quite literally every few seconds there was a flash of lightning too close for comfort, followed by a very loud roar of thunder. Billions of thick needles of rain shot down like bullets onto the earth's surface. Powerful wind blew throughout the city and forests. Branches broke off from the trees and flew with the wind before striking into the ground or onto manmade equipment. Windows, walls and doors creaked loudly from the pressure of nature's fury.

This was the worst storm Carissa had seen in a long while. She knew a storm was coming but didn't know it was this bad. It was surprising to see the electricity hadn't gone out. Yet, anyway. She was just finishing her last assignment for her coworker and printing it out, prepared to file it. Carissa was the remaining person in the building. Thankfully everyone else had gone home, so they wouldn't have to deal with this horrible storm. After filing the paper and cleaning up her work area, the young woman turned off all the lights she was required to. While walking through the pitch-black hallway, she turned on her phone light. The automatic lights for the halls didn't appear to be working. Maybe the electricity finally went out. A loud boom from outside made the walls shake and Carissa gasped.

Since at a young age, she had never been a fan of storms. They were always scary to her, having to go into her father's room and cuddle with him so she could sleep. Always cowering under her father's coat whenever they were out and had to take shelter in stores. The memories and still reliving them today made her embarrassed. She stepped into the elevator once the door opened and pressed the button for the parking garage.

The pouring rain was really loud when hearing it without the walls for shields. It was also pitch-black in the garage. None of the lights were on at all. Carissa turned her phone light back on, revealing the floor to be completely covered with water. The garage was flooded. Man, this was really bad. She took off her flats and stepped into the water. The water was only ankle-deep, but still proved to be difficult to walk through as it was freezing cold. The blowing wind outside that pushed its way into the garage nearly made her trip a few times. Carissa found her car and unlocked it, hurriedly getting in and shutting the door. She dropped her flats on the passenger floor and put her key into the ignition, turning it. Her blood went cold as the car wouldn't start. The ignition cried out but the engine wouldn't turn on. Sighing, she got out of the car and tried to find out what the problem was. Checking the front proved to have no luck, but a whiff of gasoline made her check under the car. Even in the darkness, Carissa swore she could see a dark liquid dripping from under the car.

Oh no. Carissa thought. She remembered the text from that unknown number and backed away from the car. Carissa tried to go back to the elevator, jamming the button multiple times. But not even the 'Up' button would light up. She left just in time because the electricity was out completely. The woman was becoming more afraid as she looked around, seeing no sign of anyone. However, the silhouette of a head poked out from the other side of the glass of the booth where the parking guard was. Despite the freezing waters and weather, Carissa made her way over to the booth. She didn't want to resort to having to call her father to pick her up in this heinous weather. It was a slim chance, but maybe the guard had equipment to help her.

Making it to the booth, she knocked on the glass. "Excuse me, sir. Can you please help me?" She asked, staring at the man in the booth. At first it was difficult to see. The person unmoving indicated he was asleep. After an unusual amount of knocking and no response, Carissa shined her phone light onto the person. The man's eyes were closed, by he laid in an awkward position. Carissa blinked in confusion. Was he asleep or…?

Carissa's eyes trailed to a familiar object in the booth. Her blood ran cold at the sight of a single red feather.

The young woman backed up, again recalling the text. Turning around, she quickly reached for her phone in her pocket. Lightning shot a nearby street lamp, followed by tremendously loud thunder. Carissa screamed in fright at the close proximity, nearly dropping her phone. Her feet were stinging and numbing from the freezing waters. She went over to the front of the garage, remembering there was high cement for when these storms happened. After some painful walking, Carissa made it up the steps of the cement and sat down, trying to warm her feet while calling her father. Her body shivered from both the cold and fear. She appeared to be alone, darting her eyes around and unable to see anyone. That didn't mean who she was fearing to see was not around. Not seeing him made it more suspenseful.

Her father answered the phone. "…Sweetheart?" He muttered drowsily, having been asleep.

"D-Daddy?" Carissa asked, unable to hide the fear in her tone. "C-Can you p-please pick me up? M-My car's not working a-and there's a s-storm out here."

"…Oh, honey, why did you even go into work today?"

"I-I didn't think the storm w-would be this bad." Carissa stuttered. "I s-stayed because my boss a-asked me to f-fill in for someone e-else. I-I know it's late, b-but can you please c-come get me?"

"Okay, baby. Hold on, I'll be there in a little bit."

"C-Can you please s-stay on the phone with me? Please?"

"Of course."

Carissa shook harder as a powerful whirl of wind and raindrops hit her in the side. She gazed outside the front entrance. As suspected, the entire streets were flooded with water. Street lamps were now off due to the power outage. The rain was deafening.

"Okay, I'm in my car." Her father informed her. "I'll try to be there soon."

"Okay."

Carissa sat there on the cement, waiting for her father. She kept glancing at the booth, remembering the feather.

"How was work today?" Her father asked, probably to lighten the mood and calm her down.

"I-It was okay. Just the usual." Carissa partially lied, recollecting when she remembered burning the feather.

As if one cue, a shuffling noise made Carissa jerk her head. She shrieked at the sight of a large, familiar figure barely noticeable in the darkness, having appeared out of nowhere, standing there at the edge of the higher cement. Yet she could clearly see his eyes lingering on her, as if they were glowing.

"Carissa? What's wrong?" Her father asked, having heard his daughter.

"Oh, my poor songbird…" Hawks cooed pitifully while taking in the woman's trembling form.

Carissa scrambled to her feet. They ached from the cold but she didn't care. Something broke within her. Her inner child busted out due to all the fear tearing her apart. "Daddy!" She cried in panic into the phone, not taking her eyes off Hawks.

"What's wrong, Carissa?" Her father asked in concern. "What is it?"

"Daddy, help me! Please!" Carissa cried, trying to keep the space between her and the pro hero. That stopped when her back hit a thick cement pillar. "He's here! Help me!"

"Who's there? What's going on?!"

Carissa tried pushing herself into the pillar as if trying to sink into it, the paranoia biting into her with every step Hawks took toward her.

"Mhm…you must be so scared~." Hawks cooed, smiling gently.

A very close flash of lightning lit up the area, revealing Hawks to be holding a bottle and a cloth. Thunder roared, rocking the building and ground. Carissa screamed in terror.

"Carissa?!" Her father called. "Carissa, I'm coming! Just hold on!"

"It's okay." Hawks cooed, closing the gap between himself and the frightened woman.

Tears of fear rolled down her cheeks. As soon as Hawks was close enough she tried clawing and scratching at him. He was wearing thick clothes, so that wasn't helping much. The man started drenching the cloth with a thin substance. Carissa tried to get away as he was doing this, but yelped in pain. Several sharpened feathers were floating by her sides, boxing her in.

Suddenly the cloth is shoved into her face, Hawks gently pushing the back of her head into the wall. A surprisingly pleasant odor filled her nostrils as she tried desperately to rip her face away. She cries through the cloth while gripping his wrist, trying to get his hand off her mouth but failing. She dropped her phone during the struggle.

"Baby, can you hear me?!" Her father yelled out for his daughter.

Hawks smiled gently, his finger an inch away from his lips as he shushed her. "There you go." He muttered as she started getting drowsy.

Gradually Carissa's senses dull, her eyes fluttering. She looks fearfully up at Hawks in the eye and another flash of lightning strikes, revealing his face. Hawks's eyes were kind of red, almost bloodshot, and there were bags under his eyes. A second of genuine concern coursed through Carissa, recognizing those features as her own in the past. She didn't see Hawks for two days. Had he not been sleeping since then?

Her grip on Hawks's sleeve tightens as if trying to keep her consciousness active, but everything goes black and her hand falls to her side.


Wade broke the traffic arm forcing his way into the parking lot. If there was one, the parking guard would not respond to him. He drove into the flooded garage, searching for his daughter. Her car was still sitting at the end of the garage, and Wade could smell gasoline dripping from it the second he pulled the window down.

"Carissa!" Wade called. When there was no response, he started calling her from her phone. There was nothing from the car. No movement or lighting from a phone. Panicking, Wade continued to call Carissa both verbally and by phone while searching around the garage.

"Baby, where are you?!" Wade yelled out, trying to outmatch the roaring of the rain.

Something caught his eye, making Wade stop the car. A dim light shined from the front of the garage, sitting on higher cement. He drove over to it, quickly getting out of the car and splashing up to the stairs.

Buzzing on the wet cement, revealing a lit screen with "Daddy" as the labeled caller, was Carissa's cellphone.