I had my first contact with the supernatural when I was seven years old.
My parents and I were going for a walk through the park we lived by. We hadn’t been walking long, at least it seems that way looking back. We had just entered an area of old growth, filled with ferns and trees that seemed to stretch to the heavens to my childish eyes. As a kid obsessed with dinosaurs, it was like stepping back to the Jurassic period.
We walked along the path, an appreciation for nature in our hearts at the prehistoric beauty, though my parents undoubtedly thought of it more as God’s beauty. I could overhear them talking about coming back with the dogs soon. Usually, that would have sent me into a tizzy of excitement, but I couldn’t stop my young imagination from seeing myself riding on the back of a T-Rex through the ferns.
A sudden crash drew all our attention to the line of trees. My mother, the over-loving protector that she is, reached out and jerked me back between her and my father. My parents looked around us, heads on a swivel. Only after a few minutes of silence did they relax and let me go.
“Mama, what was that?” I asked, scared more by their behavior than by the sound itself.
“Probably just a fallen branch, baby. It’s fine,” she said. I would have been way more likely to believe her if she hadn’t held my arm so tightly.
“What do you say we head on back to the car and wrap up for the day?” My dad said, gently steering us back towards the entrance.
As we hurried along, the calm that had been so prevalent when we first came down the path was gone. The air was tense, and the chirping birds had gone quiet, as had my parents’ conversations. I remember feeling as if the world itself was holding its breath.
A crash broke through the tension as something broke through the trees with a halting stumble. I can’t remember if my parents screamed. I can’t even remember if I did. All I see when I look back on that moment is two pain-filled eyes, inset on a woman’s face with one half so beautiful that even a child can recognize it. The other half was burned and bleeding. That condition extended to the rest of the being's feminine body. What really scared my parents, however, were the jet-black, crusty, and cracked wings extending from the creature’s back and the red glow surrounding its body.
Dad began pulling me and my mom along, desperate to get away from the creature. Yet, even as the distance between us and it grew, I could hear it hoarsely whisper, “Help… me… Please.”
I don’t know why that reached me so deeply, but it did. I stopped, pulling away from my parents, and with the fearlessness of a child, I ran back to the creature. As I drew closer, I discovered that the creature, aside from her wings and ominous glowing, was really just a badly wounded woman. I remember looking down at her as my parents scrambled to get back to me. I want to help her, I thought.
Even now, I wonder what I thought I, a seven-year-old, could do. Maybe it was the adrenaline from being so startled by her arrival, maybe it was her own power jumpstarting some deep part of me, or maybe I had just never wanted to help someone as much as I did then. Whatever the reason, my simple desire to heal this angelic woman in front of me aroused my very soul.
With a pulse that almost brought me to my knees, something inside me woke up. Cascading waves of silver light rolled off my little body and into the woman on the ground, and I watched as her deep wounds and burns healed, leaving clean, unblemished skin. Her wings grew new, pristine feathers and the cracking disappeared as the red glow was replaced by a brilliant radiance. It only took a minute or so for her to completely heal, but I remember thinking I could have watched the process forever. It was beautiful.
When I started healing her, or my powers did at least because I had no conscious control back then, her eyes widened in disbelief. By the time I finished, she was clearly in shock. “You… You just–”
Whatever she was about to say was cut off as the worst pain I had ever felt wracked my body. I couldn’t even scream as my arms, legs, and bodily functions completely left my control. I couldn’t even try to brace myself as I dropped to the ground like a marionette with its strings cut.
Just as I was about to hit the ground, I felt two delicate, yet deceptively strong, arms catch me. As the pain overwhelmed me and the world around me faded away, I could hear my parents screaming in the background and the voice of the woman, the angel holding me say, “Thank you, little hero.”
I couldn’t even respond as I passed out.
~~~
Finn woke up gasping at the nightmare, completely soaked in sweat. His heart pounded in his chest at what felt like a million beats a minute. He forced himself to take deep breaths as he tried to calm down. In. Out. In… Out.
Slowly, his heart rate returned to normal, and his mind stopped racing. “Well, that was annoying,” he whispered aloud, careful not to disturb his roommate. He may not have particularly liked the guy, but no one deserved to be woken up before the sun had even decided if it wanted to dawn. Hell, Finn, the morning person that he was, didn’t want to be alive at this hour.
He glanced at his watch. 4:15. He would have to get up in forty-five minutes anyway, so he slid out of bed, climbed down the ladder, and grabbed his laptop before he sat in the recliner that he and his roommate shared. As he opened the screen, Finn desperately prayed that he had remembered to turn the brightness down the night before. Unfortunately, the pain that assaulted Finn’s cornea made it clear that he had not, in fact, turned down the brightness.
Aw shit. Finn thought, right as the pain dialed up dramatically, forcing him to grab his eyes with a whimper that he thanked whatever deities existed his roommate was not awake to hear. Fortunately, his eyes stopped hurting a second later and were fully adjusted to the light difference. Even still, Finn decided not to be a douchebag in case his roommate woke up to a tiny sun in the dark apartment.
He quietly cursed his constitution for the billionth time as he set the brightness on the laptop to the lowest setting and logged in. “What the hell is the point of a body that heals and adjusts at a hundred times the speed if it makes me wanna jump off the tallest building I can find each time it happens?”
Finn checked his emails to see if anything important needed to be done. Fortunately, most of his assignments were due at the end of the semester. He recalled a phrase he’d seen online and chuckled to himself, “If they aren’t due till tomorrow, don’t do them till tomorrow.” He could practically hear his mother and more conscientious friends losing their shit at that.
He spent the next couple of hours taking care of some minor business before he noticed a new email had arrived in his inbox that forced him to stop. The subject alone put him on edge: I Know the Truth. Normally, Finn would have instantly just marked something like that as spam and moved on with his life, but he stopped when he saw that it was from one of his closest friends.
What the hell is this, Luce? Just as he went to click on the email, Finn’s seven o’clock gym alarm went off and startled him. He sighed as he closed the tab, promising himself he would come back to it later. He stood up and changed into his gym clothes before he left the room. He closed the door gently behind him as he left.
Finn walked out of the building and shivered at the brisk air of a mid-October morning. He felt his body reacting slightly as it adjusted, but he shrugged it off with a wince. He broke into a slow jog that he held up for the mile to the campus gym. As he passed by the other dorms on the way, some others fell in line with him, mostly freshmen and sophomores who had started copying him over the semester. He nodded and shot a smile to each one who joined. What had started as just him had rapidly grown into a group of over fifteen people all cheering each other on.
While the fastest of the group could have easily made it in less than ten minutes, the group kept a more manageable pace for the slower members of the group, cheering them on as they ran. It was only about five minutes more as it was, and Finn had seen the positive effects it had. He had been there himself before he started working out.
Soon enough, the group arrived at the gym. Finn scanned in and held the door open for each one to go in ahead. The students at the reception smiled at each one. Their group had become fairly well-known throughout the semester, and in the physical fitness sphere at least, they were quite well-liked. The thought gave Finn a smile as he encouraged everyone on a job well done as they passed by.
“Nice job, Tim. Jennifer, great form today. Hey! John! Glad you and Henry could make it! Hope your weekend went well.” Finn smiled as a pale-skinned girl with dark lipstick and a pentagram necklace walked up. “Well, hi there! You’re new.”
The girl tucked her black hair behind her ear and held out her hand, “Yeah, I’m part of a short-term exchange the school’s doing. Name’s Rhea.”
“Cool. Nice to meet ya, Rhea. I’m Finn.” When his hand touched hers, Finn felt a shock run up his arm.
“Sorry about that,” Rhea said, dropping his hand quickly and talking over her shoulder as she went through the door. “You’re little group is pretty impressive.”
“You’re fine, and you’re right. They certainly are. The Dawn Runners all chose to do this without any prompting.”
“The Dawn Runners?” Rhea snickered as she scanned in.
“Yeah, I know it's kind of dorky, but that’s what people started calling us. The name just stuck. At least, we don’t have a T-Shirt,” Finn shrugged as he spoke, an exasperated grin on his face.
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“That’s just because you won’t let us!” One of the group in front shouted back.
Finn rolled his eyes and flipped whoever had spoken off, causing the rest of the group to break out laughing.
Finn looked back at Rhea. “Can you believe this disrespect?” Despite the words, there was a smile on his face.
She chuckled at his antics. Just as she was about to say something, she stopped and looked forward in confusion. Everyone in front of the pair had come to a stop and split apart to line the two sides of the hallway. She looked at Finn in confusion, and seeing the flat look and red blush on his face, assumed this wasn’t the first time something like this had happened.
She opened her mouth to ask what was going on when the man and woman at the front of the line opened the double doors, and in unison, they said, “Announcing the arrival of the Captain of the Dawn Runners, Finnegan Hawthorne!” As they finished talking, every single member stood up straight and placed their right arm across their chests in a weird salute.
Finn’s face could not be redder at this point, and it was all anyone could do to not break out laughing, especially the students who worked at the gym. He sighed and shook his head before he said, “I hate you all.” He reluctantly strode through the salutes into the weight room but came to a stop at the sight of the women’s basketball team, including the coach, all staring right at him. “Morning, ladies,” he said before hanging up his coat and acting like everything was normal. He walked to a bench and began stretching.
The rest of the Dawn Runners came in behind him as the basketball girls left. Everyone exchanged pleasantries as they passed each other by. As the women’s coach was leaving, she turned back and said, “Have a nice day everyone.” She looked like she was about to turn away, but almost as a last-minute thought, she turned to Finn and said, “Oh, and well done with this group, Captain Hawthorne.”
It was the final strike. At the coach’s words, everyone, including the basketball players waiting in the hallway, burst into laughter. Finn’s face was redder than any tomato at this point, and he dropped to his hands and knees, causing the laughter to grow even more raucous. Even Rhea, the newcomer that she was, had to giggle at the group’s antics.
After a moment, Finn recovered and stood up. He turned back to the group and said, “All right! That’s enough for today. Get to work, you lazy assholes!” Despite the harsh words, his smile told everyone he took the joke for what it was. As everyone went to different machines and apparatuses, he turned to the pair that had started the joke. “As for you two,” his smile changed, and the pair felt sweat gather on their backs. “Since you seem to be so eager for my guidance, you two are gonna work out with me this morning. How lucky are you?”
“Oh no, no, no! You don’t have to do that!”
“There’s no need to go out of your way for us!”
“Oh, I insist. After all, it’s only right for a Captain to support and guide his loyal subordinates.” The pair quickly tried to turn him down as they turned to run away, but he was having none of it. He quickly grabbed the back them by the back of their shirts and dragged them away into the body weight room. As the three disappeared, Finn popped his head out and looked at Rhea with a cold smile, “Why don’t you join us, Rhea? Since you seemed to like them appointing me captain so much, you can see how we work out here at Hope U.”
His smile brooked no argument, so with slumped shoulders, she followed them into the body weight room. Within ten minutes, grunts and screams of horrible effort alongside Finn’s barking orders and rep counts sounded out through the doorway. Everyone left in the main room took a moment of silence for their lost comrades, Thank you for your sacrifice.
~~~
A half-hour passed to find Finn standing over three barely moving bodies with the ground around them soaked in sweat and spit. He looked down at them with a smug smile on his face, even as pain wracked his body, his torn and weary muscles recovering and growing denser. Wiping the sweat off his brow, he said, “Well done, ladies and gentleman. What a good warm-up for the day, don’t you think?”
The three looked up at him with resentment in their eyes but were too tired to speak. Monster! They all thought simultaneously.
He chuckled, guessing at their thoughts. He helped them up and handed them their water bottles, which he had grabbed while they were down. They snatched the bottles from his hand and began chugging the water down. He chuckled at their actions, not feeling too bad about pushing them. He knew the Dawn Runner’s limits after working out with them all for months. “Take a moment to rest, but don’t forget to stretch, okay? I’m gonna head out to the Dining Hall, but you two did a good job,” he said to the two worn-out jokesters before turning to Rhea, who had already recovered enough to stretch. “I know I pushed a little hard for a newbie, and a visitor at that. Can I make it up to you with breakfast and a protein shake at the Dining Hall?” She had held up against his drill sergeant ways pretty well, but he still went pretty hard on a newbie.
She gave him a black-lipstick smile, “Sure. I’d like that.” Finn chuckled as he held out his hand to help Rhea up. She took it, pulling herself up.
“Sweet. Then, I’ll see you two later,” he said to the pair who had finally recovered enough to sit up. They nodded, not quite ready to speak.
As the pair walked out, Finn nodded to everyone who was still working out, as well as any new arrivals. Just as they were about to leave, Jill, a girl who had joined the Dawn Runners only the week prior, called out to Finn. “Captain, hold on!”
Despite the tomfoolery of the morning, Finn actually didn’t mind the title his group had bestowed on him, so he just smiled as she jogged over. “What can I do for you, Jill?”
Surprised that he remembered her name, she suddenly grew shy and looked down at the ground before saying in a quiet voice, “Would you mind coming to the debate team’s competition tonight? It’s in the auditorium.”
“Sure,” Finn said. “Sounds interesting. When should I be there?”
Shocked at how quickly Finn agreed, her brain stuttered for a second before saying, “W-we let people in at six forty-five.”
“Okay, sounds good. I’ll be there to cheer you on,” Finn said with a smile.
“Really!?” Jill shrieked in happiness before grabbing him in a hug. Finn shot Rhea a helpless smile as she giggled at him. After a second, Jill seemed to realize what she had done and pulled back with a blush. “W-well, th-thank you, Captain. See you tonight!” She shouted before running back to the bench where she had been lifting with one of the other Dawn Runners.
Finn shrugged at Rhea with the same smile on his face as he opened the door for her. She returned the favor at the exit, and Finn began leading her toward the Dining Hall. They exchanged some idle chit-chat as they walked, which surprised him. Finn was not usually one for small talk. Something about her just clicked with him well.
She was from New York, while Finn was a travel brat. He’d lived mostly on the West Coast, but he’d been all over the place. They both liked dogs more than cats and that the original Jurassic Park was a cinematic masterpiece. She liked bands like Cinema Therapy, which Finn had never heard of. He listened to just about anything. Rhea was majoring in history and religion, and Finn was studying linguistics and communication.
“I’m also minoring in studio art,” Finn added.
“That’s awesome! So am I!” Rhea’s face lit up at the mention of art. “I’m a painter. What about you?”
Finn scratched the back of his head with an embarrassed chuckle. “I do a little bit of everything, but most of my stuff has been drawing or painting. I’m not very good, though.”
“Ah, come on! Now, I have to see some of your work.” She said, shooting down his self-deprecation. “No one who’s any good thinks their work is worthwhile. You got any pics of stuff you’ve done?”
Finn was saved from having to answer as the pair walked up to the doors of the dining hall. He held the door open for Rhea before following behind her. He followed behind her to the receptionist’s desk. “Use one of my guest passes please,” Finn said to the receptionist. He handed her his student ID to scan.
“Finn, you don’t have to do that,” Rhea said, trying to protest.
“It’s fine. I get like six of those with my meal plan, and I never use them. Besides, I told you I would. At least this way I’m taking full advantage of what I’m selling my kidney to pay for,” Finn said. The receptionist cleared her throat and glared at him as she handed him back his student ID. “And may I say that you look lovely today. Have a great one!” He said as he grabbed Rhea and rushed through the doors to the dining hall to escape her glare.
Rhea laughed at his antics, which caused her necklace to bounce and catch his eye once again. On the second look, he noticed that the star in the center had more than seven points, instead of the usual five points. “That necklace is pretty sweet. I’ve only ever seen the pentagram ones,” he said as the pair got in line for the eggs and bacon.
Rhea looked down at her necklace in surprise. She had forgotten she was wearing it. “Thank you. My mother gave it to me. The heptagram is pretty important to our family, and it’s a tradition to give your daughter one that you designed on her eighteenth birthday. I practically never take it off.” An embarrassed smile crossed her face at the intimate memory. Finn’s breath was taken away at how beautiful it made her already pretty face.
Realizing he should probably answer her rather than stare like a creep, Finn coughed and said, “Ahem. That’s so awesome, and so is the design of the star itself.” He meant it. The lines of the star had a delicate curve that made them vaguely reminiscent of interwoven vines.
Her embarrassed smile turned into a full blush at his compliment, but selecting her food and putting it on her plate distracted her from answering. By the time both Rhea and Finn had their food, the blush was gone, much to Finn’s disappointment. The pair began to make their way to a table. They set their plates at the table before they got their drinks from the soda machine.
When they returned to the table, the pair ate in silence. Finn was surprised at how comfortable the silence felt. The other times he’d eaten with new people had felt awkward like conversation was the only thing keeping everyone from bursting into flames. Of course, most of those memories were family dinners with cousins he didn’t know, so that could have been part of it.
After the pair finished the food and set their plates aside, Finn asked, “If you’re only here for a week, what’s your schedule like?”
“Oh, uh…” She stuttered, reluctant to answer.
“You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to. I was just curious,” he said, worried that he had made her uncomfortable.
“No, you’re fine. I actually don’t have a schedule,” she admitted. “I’ve just been given a list of classes close to my areas of study that I can sit in, and I need to sit in on at least four classes.”
“Huh, that’s weird,” Finn said, brow furrowed. After a second passed, his expression cleared and he shrugged. “Oh well. What classes are you looking at today then?”
Rhea sighed in relief before saying, “Well, there’s a history class on cults that I can visit that seems up my alley.”
“Oh, I know a guy who took it last semester. Said it was pretty interesting. There were some mentions of witchery cults he’d never heard of, though.”
“W-well, I’ll probably take that one,” she stumbled over her words, but Finn ignored it. “I also wanted to sit in on the acrylic and oil painting class that’s later today.”
“Damn, you’ll have to tell me how you find the class. I’m in the prerequisite for it right now, Intro to Painting,” Finn said.
“Sure. I’ll let you know on the run tomorrow,” she said.
Finn’s eyebrow rose. “Oh, really?”
“Yup, the Dawn Runners have a new member, Captain.” She giggled as she spoke.
Finn rolled his eyes. “Yeah, yeah,” he said as he stood up.
Rhea copied him. “See you around, Cross.”
“Later, Rhea,” Finn said as he split off from Rhea and walked towards his dorm.
His was too far away to catch her softly muttering, “I can’t tell if it’s him.” Even if Finn had heard her, he would have had no idea what she was talking about, his mind already too preoccupied with the busy day ahead.