New York City. The city that never sleeps.

Many bustled through the streets during the late-night hours, as the city lights invited everyone to come out and have a good time wandering from one hotspot to the other. Amongst the crowd, a bespectacled crimson-haired young man walked down the path to the subway entrance just ahead, looking behind him every so often. With the bust of Terminus greeting him at the top of the steps, he headed down, his feet light, almost gliding across the stone and metal.

The station was still pretty crowded to the right, even for this late in the evening. Looking to the left, there was only a single girl standing near one of the pillars, and he could tell that she was a bit taller than he was. She was raven-haired, and it covered the right side of her face. She carried an overall goth aesthetic, judging by the dark eyeliner, nails and lipstick. That, coupled with the all-dark clothing, made her appear almost grayscale. The one thing about her that did not seem to match was the scarlet dragon tattoo on her right arm.

She stared at the rails, likely listening in for the train, but then directed her gaze at him. As soon as their eyes met, hers looked startled, before she turned and started walking away. He watched her retreating form for a bit and then began following her at a distance. She picked up the pace somewhat, while he kept at the same speed trailing towards her. She looked behind her and once again gave him that alarmed look, full-on sprinting. So he decided to throw caution to the wind and likewise ran full-speed, catching up to her with ease.

"Think he's still after us?"

She grinned and looked behind her once more.

"I think we lost him."

They both chuckled as they got on the train right as it left. They sat down on an empty corner of the car, catching their breath as the train took them away from the mess they had gotten themselves into.

"Good evening we are having, it seems, Jess."

"Indeed it seems, Mags. Now, at least."

She giggled as she nudged him in the chest with her elbow.

"Oh c'mon, it's been a fun game of tag to play while gambling with our lives."

He crossed his arms while setting his right leg up on his left.

"Well, the part where I fell in the fountain was definitely not one of my most dignified moments, as I recall."

She full-on burst into laughter, almost losing her balance on the train seat. He held her before she could fall, groaning at how she found hilarity in his misfortune. He could notice some stare at the odd scene, averting their gaze soon after.

"Hah-hah, I got all wet, comedy gold. C'mon, it's not that funny."

She was leaning onto him for support as her maniacal fit of giggles kept turning her face a darker and darker shade of fuchsia each passing second.

"Ok, ok, prō Juppiter, calm down. Lest you rush to meet your dad again so soon."

At the mention of her father, she restrained herself in an instant, though her chest still spasmed a bit from the giggles begging to be let out.

"Well played, Jessie, well played."

"I learned from the best."

He gave her a cheeky smile and she raised her brow.

"If you think a compliment and a smug grin are all that's gonna take to get us to have s-"

Before she could finish the thought, a giant bear-like hand engulfed in dark flames burst through the ceiling. It left a huge open gap in the middle of the car, even as the train continued to travel forward like nothing happened. All the occupants on the other side of the car fled at once to the next one, panicked.

"Great."

From the newly-wrecked fissure came forth a gargantuan dark beast with massive bull horns protruding from its temples and sharp crocodile teeth, its eyes two bluish flames.

"Ita Mercurius nōs amet."

Something was wrong, but all he could do was wait and hope.

The beast turned its head towards the two passengers left, its sight zeroing in on the girl. It flashed a menacing grin before bellowing towards the sky. As soon as its booming roar shook the whole place, several fiends identical to it crawled onto the train.

The beast gave out its will in its own words, which were well understood by the young man, translated in his mind to his native Latin.

Ad mortem puerum, ad salūtem puellam

"Lead the boy to death. The girl, salvation."

"Bingo."

Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit.

The two stood side-by-side, her wielding an ax, him a sword. Her previously dark hair floated upwards burning like a great candle flame, and her skin became pitch-black. His teeth were tinged red, as his hair darkened, and his face covered in dark vein-like scars. Both had eyes the color of blood instead of their usual dark hue.

Why was the beast still here?... The thought gnawed at him.

The fiends kept approaching, the beast right behind.

"On three. One…"

One of the fiends readied an attack.

"Two…"

It jumped right at the man.

"NOW!"

"POSTĪCUM!"

She jumped to the side and he crouched, as a portal materialized on the door behind him. Out of it sprung a black wolf and a red dragon. The wolf sank its teeth into the fiend and tore it to pieces, while the dragon flew ahead incinerating the rest.

"Svaka čast, Oggie!"

"Valentine!"

The wolf turned towards the man as he called, and began sprinting towards him.

"NO!"

The girl ran as fast as she could, but the beast was quicker, crushing the wolf under its colossal hand. The dragon began to fly back to the girl, but the flames covering the beast expanded and swallowed him, as they continued to grow towards the two.

They seemed stuck in place all of a sudden. The fire was mere inches away. She looked back at the man, and that was the first time he ever saw true fear in her eye. That kicked his whole body back into overdrive.

"JESSIE!"

He hurried to pull her into the portal with him as she reached out her hand. He grabbed her, but the fire consumed her then. As it did him.

"NO!"

He woke up with such a violent jerk that he fell off his bed and hit his head on the bedside table.

"FUCK!"

Still agitated, scrambling to get his glasses, he put them on and checked his phone. 5 AM. He was in his room. No train, no fire, no dragon, no wolf, no beast, no girl. He sank to the floor, resting his back against his bed. He heard his dog whimpering behind the door, so he got up and let him in, getting back to where he sat. As he petted the Cane Corso, he kept replaying the insane dream he had just had over in his mind. The weirdest part was how he recalled every single detail about it, something he had only managed with two other dreams so far.

Out of everything featured in it, he was most intrigued by the girl. Every other aspect of his outlandish fantasy could be chalked up to his fertile imagination, except for her.

Her looks, from the raven black hair that covered one of her eyes to the goth make-up, even down to her more… "alluring" features, brought to his mind the image of his ideal girl he had described countless times to his friends. And this was not the first dream of his she had featured in either. He knew for a fact he had never once laid eyes on her, either in real life or online. He just knew. He also knew one could not dream with people they had never seen before, as the brain could not invent faces. So how?

Even if he had seen her before, it would have only been in passing. Certainly not enough to commit such a vivid image of her to memory. And that still would not explain why she was present alongside all the other stuff his mind had conjured up: the beast, the sword, the wolf…

Snapping out of his reverie, he noticed he was no longer petting his dog, who was watching him intently, as if aware of what was going on in his mind. A ridiculous thought, of course. Despite their short yet close bond, neither he nor his dog had achieved telepathy. Though he could not help but stare back at the mastiff, almost recognizing something familiar in his features… Man, he was playing way too many role-playing games lately…

The dog turned towards the window, suddenly alert, as if waiting for something to arrive from afar. He followed his line of sight, looking at the woods on top of the hills, barely visible on the edge of town against the still-dark sky. When he looked back, his dog had left the room.

Although it was still very early in the morning, he figured he was not going to be able to get any more shut-eye after the whole "freakish dream" ordeal. So he got up and went to the bathroom to shower. There was no hot shower in this house according to the landlord, so he had gotten used to taking cold showers even during winter and autumn, as it then was.

He let the frigid water wash his back as he stared at the polished concrete floor. His reflection stared back at him, and for the briefest instant, he swore he saw a different image projected onto the surface. A man blue-eyed, brunette, bearded and buff. Unlike him in every way. When he bent down to take a closer look, however, he saw himself once again, so he chalked that one up to his sleep deprivation.

Done showering and drying himself off, he stood in front of the mirror, scrutinizing his appearance like he did every morning. The unkempt hair and goatee, as red as a rose, were a constant reminder of his status as an outcast. As well as his eyes, which the doctors diagnosed early on as having aniridia, a condition which, as the name suggests, meant he had no iris, just a really large pupil. The only person close to him who never saw him as a freak for these things was the landlord, who was the nicest old lady he knew.

He brushed his hand across his face, feeling the roughness of the skin, marred by the scars left behind by those loathsome pimples, who even at his 22 years of age continued to plague his already hideous complexion. Not only his face, they infested his neck and traveled down his chest, covered his arms and legs and filled his back; his entire scrawny frame acne-ridden. The only places spared this fate were… yeah, those.

Focusing back on his face, he leaned closer to his image on the reflective surface and noticed the dark circles that looked very prominent a few days ago had faded a bit, despite the fact he got even less sleep this time around. This kind of oddity with the way his body worked was nothing new to him. Most days he would feel like shit, barely getting a proper rest and being extremely irritable, but then he would wake up a bit refreshed for some reason two weeks or so later. He had zero clue as to how he was still alive at this point with his many poor habits.

Well, not entirely true. He did know that the landlord was the biggest reason he remained somewhat healthy. After every few days of him subsisting only on whatever cheap takeout he could afford with his semi-decent wages, he would come home to find without fail several meals prepared for the next two to three days, as well as the fridge restocked with some traditional medicinal mixtures. The note left on the counter always read the same singular word: Eat. It did not read like an order, more like an invitation. Someone genuinely concerned for his well-being. That was a rare sight…

The little cynic in him would at times say she only did this to secure her stable tenant, as a means to keep the money coming in every month, but he told that little shit to shut the fuck up. This new life of his was already infinitely more bearable than the hell he spent the first 21 years of his life in. He would not allow himself to dwell any further in self-misery, so he would hold on to the more positive thinking, even if it was only wishful. Better dead than back with them, either way…

Realizing he already spent way too much time standing naked in the bathroom, even if there was no one around, he opened the mirror cabinet and grabbed the only item inside, his toothbrush. After brushing them, like always, he examined his teeth, who were weirdly serrated and sharp, even beyond the canines. No dentist ever bothered to understand what exactly his condition was, and though they told his parents that it was nothing serious and they had already done a thorough check on it, he knew they were the type of people who were just happy to take their money and get the “freak” dealt with before they got their fingers bit off.

He gathered his pajamas and went back to his room, putting them back on his bedside drawer, before getting a fresh set of clothes and heading to the kitchen. It was a Sunday, and though he did not have to attend any classes, he still had work to do for the company in about four hours from then. So he figured he would make himself some semblance of breakfast and use that time to study for the exams coming up next week.

He walked into the kitchen, just big enough to fit him and the mastiff in it, and opened the fridge, getting some cheese and ham, along with the bread he kept on top of it, to make himself a sandwich. Not necessarily the greatest meal to start a day, but it would do. He still could not cook to save his life, but since the cookware was not technically his, he was not going to try to learn it and risk damaging something. So he just threw everything together along with some butter and black pepper and went to the living room to get his notes and textbooks.

He found his dog staring out the window, watching the woods still, like something or someone was about to come out from them. He jumped away all of a sudden, and a second later there was the sound of something hard hitting the side of the house.

"Tatae…"

He left the half-eaten sandwich inside and opened the window, looking around. Turning to the right, he nearly hit his head on the rail from the shock of seeing the ax stuck to the exterior wall. Where did that come from?!

He rushed back to his room to grab his phone and immediately dialed the emergency number, alerting the police of a potential crazed killer in the area. He was so flustered as he spoke to the lady on the other side of the call that he didn't see whatever his dog was barking at out there.

Out of the woods emerged a figure dressed in black, barefoot on the grassy hill. The sound of two black keys jangled with each of her steps. She grinned.

"Found you."

Hope you enjoyed it! Let me know what you think in the comments below! All manner of criticism is welcome ^^

Here's a glossary of terms used in this chapter:

Prō Juppiter - Literally, "By Jove". An expletive in Latin used as an equivalent to the English "By God" or "Jesus". Indicates excitement, surprise, astonishment or shock.

Ita Mercurius nōs amet - Literally, "May Mercury love us". An idiomatic way of invoking mercy upon you from a god (Mercury in this case). Equivalent to the English "God help us".

Postīcum - Latin for "Backdoor" or "Outhouse".

Svaka čast - Literally, "Every honor". An expression in Croatian equivalent to the English "Well done" or "Good job".

Tatae - An interjection expressing bewilderment. Roughly equivalent to English's "What the...".