AIDAN

Sleep was terrifying. My violent memories played on a loop throughout the night. I would see the hand reach out from the darkness but then change to the eyes and teeth of the monster responsible for dangling me mid-air. Every hour, I awoke drenched in sweat. It might've continued all night if not for the man who entered my dreams.

What made the experience so unique was knowing I was asleep. Lucid dreams weren’t uncommon to me, but this was beyond vivid. From a huge stone balcony, I watched the still water of a pond ripple in the breeze. All the while, the crescent moon reflected against the dark surface.

From behind me, he was soundless, but I still felt his presence. The dumbest part was not immediately running or at least backing away. He moved close to my ear and whispered,

“Every night when you lay,

I am never far away.

You are in my heart forever,

no matter what we endeavor.

Keep me close.

I’ll hold you tight.

My promise to stay

Till morning’s light.”

Blood rushed through my body and my heart pounded in my chest. I turned to look at him, but the dream faded.

Light poured in from the window above my bed, nudging me awake. After a few minutes of nothing happening, it seemed safe to test the waters. I shuffled around without anyone, or anything attacking me. Throwing off the covers, I saw no visible bruising and breathed a sigh of relief. Sadly, the numbness from sleep faded, and I felt the binding around my hand. The red markings left from the necklace pressing against my skin were a glaring reminder of my situation.

My phone rang and I yelped before scrambling through my covers to find it. Once in hand, I looked at the screen and sighed in relief. “Hey, mom.”

“Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday dear, Aidan. Happy birthday to you,” she sang from the eponymous song.

At that moment, my heart was light. “Wow. You really went for the full song there.”

She laughed from the other end. “Well, you’re twenty-one now. I have to do something special since you refuse to live at home.”

I frowned at her words. “Mom, we talked about this. I need to experience more of what it’s like to be an adult. Plus, I’m a lot closer to school.”

Her casual tone reassured me. “Whatever. At least the only dishes I have to worry about are my own. So, what’s going on? You and your friends going out for your birthday?”

Sitting back on my bed, I stared at the ceiling. “I don’t know. Nadia is still in Italy. I might wait till she comes back.” I paused to look at the necklace still in my hand. “Things are hard and I could use my best friend.”

“What’s going on? Is it school?”

An involuntary sniffle escaped me as my eyes started to well. “Things are really overwhelming right now, and I’m in this big house by myself. I feel completely alone.” I stifled a sob. “I’m stressed out all the time and last night--.” No. I wasn’t ready to deal with the previous night. “Um, last night everything sort of came to a head.”

“Then come stay here till everyone is back. You can check on the dog on your way to and from your classes.”

The idea of going home filled me with comfort until I remembered the necklace. The stranger said he would be back for it, not to mention the matter of “they.” Every cell in my body knew the answer. “No, it’s fine. I think I just needed to talk about it.” I breathed deeply and swallowed down the lump in my throat. “Honestly, I feel better now.”

In my head, I could see mom shaking her head. “Are you sure?”

I brushed my hair back with my hand and smiled. “Yeah, but thank you for offering.”

“Alright, honey. Well, have a good birthday. If you need anything, just call me. I love you.”

“I love you too, mom.” I wiped a tear from my cheek and ended the call.

After getting up, I put the necklace around my neck and raced down the stairs toward the laundry room. Stepping in, my head became overwhelmed by wailing. I covered my ears to block the volume while I looked for the source. The sound became louder the further I stepped into the laundry room where Noelle’s black Labrador, Roxy, slept.

Glancing at the medium-sized dog, she looked sad lying on her cushiony bed. "I'm so sorry, girl. This must be Nadia's sick idea of a birthday joke. Let me find the speaker or whatever she's using, and then we'll go outside."

Roxy looked at me with excitement and the wailing stopped. "Play with me!"

The air caught in my throat. "Oh, my god. Nadia's trying to give me a heart attack." I coughed in between breaths. “Calm down, Aidan. I’m sure we’re just not all the way awake. Also, stop talking to yourself." Looking around the laundry room and finding nothing, I shrugged my shoulders and figured it was PTSD.

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An anxious female voice came from Roxy’s direction. "Is the man coming over again?"

I raised my eyebrows and shook my head at her. “Nope. There's no way.”

Roxy whined and pointed her nose at the white tiled floor. "You guys scared the crap out of me! Right over there.” She softly barked. “I ate it."

I raised a defiant finger to Roxy, willing the insanity away. "No."

Roxy jumped up with a louder bark. "And I'd do it again!"

I screamed at the top of my lungs and ran out of the laundry room before slamming the door shut. “This isn’t happening. This is not happening.”

"Aidan. Aidan? Aidan!" Her barking barely registered due to my hyperventilating. "Alright, well, now I have to pee, and we both know how that'll end."

I vigorously shook my head. "Okay. Auditory hallucinations. A totally normal explanation." With my fists clenched, I headed for my room. “Breath, Aidan. It’s PTSD from last night and talking to myself is probably not helping.” I grabbed my metal cigarette holder filled with joints and some clothes. “We just need a nice calm bath to settle down and not lose it.”

After setting everything down in the bathroom, I noticed the red jewel dangling from my neck. “Yeah, that’s not helping either.” I took the necklace off and threw it into the sink.

Once the water heated, I opened the window, stripped, and headed for the bath. My gaze was on the tub until my body collapsed and everything went black.

“Not again.” My face pressed against the bathroom floor. "Why does this keep happening?" I stood and checked the mirror for bleeding, but jumped at my reflection. The thing I called my body had grown, with my muscles three, possibly five, times thicker within minutes. “What. In. The. World?” I gawked at my biceps as I flexed them. “Okay. This is going to be hard to explain.”

Regardless of the aesthetic, my body disturbed me. “I don’t even—what in the—Jesus Christ!” I pushed it to the back of my mind as I lowered myself into the hot water.

I lit one of my joints and took a deep drag. “Any second now, I'm going to wake up in an asylum where I get to sleep and take drugs all day because that sounds more realistic at this point.”

A few minutes passed and I became drowsy due to my sleepless night. Feeling the high from the hybrid strain, I was almost asleep when a breeze came through the window.

Submerging all but my head underwater, my mind drifted to the image of a breezy pond from my dream. The man appeared again, and this time I saw his face. The water rushed up around me and hit the ceiling. Breathing fast, I pulled myself up to the edge as the water soaked the room. “Are you kidding me right now?” To top everything off, I still couldn’t remember the man’s face.

After throwing my wet clothes into a hamper, I scoured my wardrobe for something to fit my sudden growth spurt. The only thing even came close to fitting was a pair of gym shorts and a tank. I conceded to putting the necklace on and headed back down to Roxy.

As I approached the laundry room door, my hand started to reach for the knob when a knocking came from the front of the house. Wide-eyed, I froze and slowly turned around. It could’ve been the man from the night before, or even another monster. Knocking seemed oddly polite for either scenario, but it might’ve been a ploy to get my guard down.

I crept towards the front door, staying low and taking light steps. I surveyed the foyer, the dining and the living room for anything I could use as a weapon. Another round of bangs came and I jumped.

“Aidan!” It was Lana. I let out the breath I had been holding and opened the front door.

She stood on the porch, jeans and a tight camisole accentuating her petite and curvy Filipino frame. Her long black hair cascaded on one side as she smiled. With a quick motion, she brought her hands from behind her back, revealing the gift she was holding, a skinny rectangle wrapped in tissue and tied with a bow. “Happy birthday bi—what the hell?”

I jerked around, looking for a possible intruder or something unexplainable. I stopped when Lana poked my chest.

Her hand moved to my arms and squeezed. “Aidan, I just saw you last week. How did you get like this?”

Eyes still wide, my mouth opened and closed as I tried to think of a reasonable explanation. “Uh, well, I—.”

“Are you using steroids?” She frowned and removed her hand from my bicep. “I wish you would’ve talked to me about it first. This is basic med 101.” Before I could process what was happening, Lana pushed past me into the house. “And from the looks of it, you’ve clearly been using way more than any medical professional would ever recommend, if at all.”

I swallowed the lump in my throat and breathed deeply. “Uh, Lana, this really isn’t a good time.”

“You could damage your cardiovascular system along with your musculoskeletal system, your skin, and your hormones, not to mention the psychological effe—.” The dog barked from the laundry room and Lana’s eyes lit up. “Oh, Roxy! My sweet little angel baby.” She put my present down on the dining room table and headed for the laundry room.

My legs remembered how to move as I panicked while trying to catch up to Lana. She swung the door open and Roxy came panting out.

“Lana! Oh, my god! It’s Lana!” The dog stood on her hind legs and placed her paws on Lana’s shoulders, frantically licking her face. “Lana, Lana, Lana, Lana!” Roxy dropped and turned to me. “Why are you so big—I have to pee!” She barked until we let her out the back door.

Once done, Roxy came sprinting towards us, tongue flying in the wind. "Run! Let's run!" Roxy pounced around Lana, barking again. “Run!”

I was losing my mind. There was no way I could be hearing the dog. “Uh, Lana?”

She stopped playing with Roxy and turned to me. “What’s up?”

I could feel a little bit of my sanity coming back. “Why, um, are you here?”

She lowered her head and furrowed her eyebrows. “I told you last night I was going to take you to get your car fixed this morning.”

The conversation came back to my memory after being buried by the traumatic events of the last twelve hours. “Right.” I nodded. “You know, I’m just not feeling great this morning. Can we do it tomorrow?”

Lana tilted her head and shrugged. “Sure, it’s your birthday present.”

I sighed in relief. “Thanks. I just need to go lie down. Get a little more rest.”

She stepped closer and felt my head and neck. “Yeah, you're really warm, but that could be from the obvious steroid misuse. I recommend you stop if you haven't already, drink plenty of water and take it easy.”

I feigned a smile and nodded while trying to shuffle Lana back into the house. Roxy stood and stared at me, tail wagging. “Come on Roxy.” I waved her along. She didn’t budge at first until I pointed to the door. “Inside.”

Roxy lowered her head. “One of these days, you'll be the one in the laundry room.” Her gaze didn’t shift as she walked inside.

I never took my wide eyes off her.