I woke up in my room the next morning after Mom came in and said Tory was outside. He had called last night after he made it home to check if I was good, leading to me telling him everything that went down after the party was aired out.

He didn’t believe any of it of course, and who could blame him? It was something straight out of a movie.

I threw on a T-shirt and some shorts just as he walked into my room with a look of doubt. “I can’t see it,” he said, shaking his head. “Ain’t no way you KO’d a whole squad. Absolutely not.”

“I told you what happened, aight? I can’t make you believe me, but it really did happen.”

“Bro, you don’t even have the reflexes to get through the first boss in Dark Souls, and you expect me to believe you was in there weavin’ blows and droppin’ dudes like John Wick? You trippin’.”

Whenever Tory had his mind made up, it was always hard to convince him otherwise. The only way to do that was proof, so I had an idea that would reveal the truth to him and maybe give me some answers as well.

“Let’s ask Ashanti.”

His face lit up with surprise, replying, “Well damn, maybe you ain’t cappin’, ‘cause I’ve tried to get you to talk to her for days now, but you chicken out every time.”

“Whatever, bro.” I waved him off. “Forget all that. Let’s go ask her what’s up.”

I put on the first pair of sneakers closest to me and tried to walk out of my room, but Tory stopped me.

“I can’t let you do this,” he said, standing in my way.

“Do what?”

“As your best friend and future Best Man, I can’t let you talk to the love of your life for the first time lookin’ like this.”

He gestured his hand up and down at my clothes, leading me to examine my stained and wrinkled attire. He had a point; I looked a hot mess.

“Aight, aight. I’mma hop in the shower and throw on somethin’ different. Stay here. I’mma show you it was all real.”

He laughed. “Yeah, okay.”

After about twenty, maybe thirty minutes of freshening up and putting on a better fit, I looked in the mirror mounted on my closet door and combed my fro while thinking about Ashanti. She had to have known something about last night because the way she ran off felt too suspicious.

If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.

With my headphones now around my neck, I looked into the mirror one last time before Tory and I left out of the house and walked over to Ashanti’s apartment unit. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t nervous. I mean, yeah, we danced last night, but going over to her place felt more personal—even if I wasn’t going inside.

I approached the front door, sensing Tory’s cheesy smile behind me. He was loving every second of this.

“Go ahead, bro. This a special moment,” he teased. I turned and mean-mugged him. He wasn’t any kind of support.

With a deep breath, I knocked on the door. Confidence had nothing to do with it, I assure you. My action came solely from the eagerness to learn more about what was happening.

Oh, and to prove to Tory that I was right. Can’t forget about that.

A woman opened the door wearing a headscarf and a sundress. Her eyes swayed back and forth between me and Tory before asking, “Are you two here to see my daughter?”

I cleared my throat before answering. “Ye—”

“Yes, Ma’am,” Tory interrupted. He ogled Ashanti’s mom as she turned around and walked inside the house with the front door open. “Damn, you see all that ass, Z?”

I didn’t say anything back. I was too captivated by Ashanti, who stepped out right after.

“Um, hi?” she said, confused. “You two were at the party last night, right?”

“Yeah,” I replied. “So, I was wonderin’ if you knew somethin’…you know…what happened with those guys…and how I—”

“What my boy tryin’ to say is,” Tory jumped in yet again, “do you know anythin’ ‘bout him havin’ superpowers?”

Her expression went blank before her brows furrowed and her eyes started to dance. “I’m sorry, but I don’t know what y’all talkin’ ‘bout.”

B.S.

Not only was I baffled and somewhat annoyed by her clueless act, but Tory’s grin further raised my frustrations. “I knew ya ass was cappin’,” he laughed out.

“You don’t remember hittin’ that guy in the head with a bottle?” I questioned her. “Or before that when I punched those dudes? They had these dark shrouds around them, and—”

“I said I don’t know what you’re talkin’ ‘bout. Maybe you were wasted or somethin’.”

Bruh, what? Unbelievable.

In a last-ditch effort, I blurted something out as she turned to walk back inside. “What about the man who was in your house yesterday?” She stopped in her tracks. “A shroud was surrounding him, too. You’re tellin’ me you don’t know anythin’ ‘bout that?”

Without looking to face me, she uttered in a low voice, “Wait here.” She then walked back inside, leaving me and Tory confused.

“This is weird and annoying,” he complained, his smile fading away. “Like, what’s the deal? Someone gimme the truth.”

“I already did.”

He sighed with a shrug just as Ashanti came back out with her cell phone in hand. “Mom, I’m gonna go get the rest of the groceries for dinner tomorrow,” she called out into the house before closing the front door and locking it. She then looked at me and said, “I’m calling a cab to the supercenter. I was being secretive to avoid gettin’ you more involved, but since you obviously know what’s up, hop in with me and we’ll talk about it on the way there.”

“Hold up,” Tory began, “you’re tellin’ me all this crazy stuff is real? Like, seriously, this isn’t some weak joke? This shroud and superpower mess is legit?”

She locked eyes with him and confirmed the ultimate speculation. “Yes. Demons exist, and they’re controlling everyone around us.”