"Incredible," the doctor gushed as he inspected Victor's wound. "The bruising has already subsided. I've never seen anything like this!"

Victor snuck a look at Connor, his cool blue eyes widening at the news. He shivered as the doctor placed an ice pack on his chest.

"When do you think I'll be able to leave?" Victor asked.

His father lit up with anticipation, wearing the same clothes as the day before. His salt and pepper five-o'clock shadow and the caverns under his eyes made him look his age.

The doctor used a bony pale finger to adjust his glasses. "Based on the severity of your injuries when you got here yesterday, I expected you to stay for a couple of days. But, your rate of recovery has been nothing short of a miracle. You'll probably be able to leave tonight." He glanced at the ice pack on Victor's chest—his gold-rimmed glasses gleaming under the rays of the afternoon sun slanting through the raised blinds. "You're lucky that it wasn't a fracture."

Victor let out a sigh of relief. Connor grinned a wide, toothy grin. His dad's shoulders dropped for what felt like the first time since Victor woke up in the recovery room.

The doctor gave his nurse a nod. "I'll check back in on you this evening." He promptly left the room, his nurse trailing behind while staring at her clipboard.

The door flew open a few seconds later. A giant floating bouquet met Victor's gaze. The levitating bundle of flowers moved to the side, revealing Summer's hazel eyes staring at the ice pack on Victor's chest.

Her hair was in a braided ponytail, and her bottom lip quivered at the sight of her injured friend. Mr. Au grabbed the flowers and took a whiff before placing them on his seat.

Summer straightened her loose-fitting neon-green blouse. "I would have gotten here sooner, but there was a huge line at The Flower Garden, and for some reason, they only had one checkout line open."

Summer shrieked at the sight of Connor's bandaged forearm. She ran to him, wrapping both of her arms around his torso. Connor patted her back while facing the wall to his left, trying to hide his beat red face. Summer moved to hug Victor, but she quickly reeled back as if suddenly remembering his injury. "How are you all feeling?"

"Apparently my wolverine genes kicked in," Victor mocked. Summer smiled, but confusion was written clear across her face.

Connor gave Victor a look. "We'll be fine, Summer. V will probably be able to leave tonight."

"That's Great! Connor told me on the phone that you guys got mugged?" Mr. Au folded his arms. Connor shifted on his feet. Victor braced himself for the bullshit his friend was about to spew.

Connor cleared his throat. "We stopped at the gas station on our way home. Some drugged up guy smoking a cigarette pulled out a knife on us. Victor rushed the guy and disarmed him. They got into a fight and when I tried to break it up, he put his cigarette out on my arm." Connor glanced over at Victor's dad, but all he got in return was a look of indifference.

Summer clasped the amethyst stone attached to her golden necklace. It shone through the gaps between her fingers. "Wow, that must have been terrifying."

Mr. Au gently massaged his son's shoulders. "I'm going to get some lunch. Thanks for the flowers, Summer."

"Yeah, thanks Summer," Victor said enthusiastically, trying to make up for his delayed gratitude.

Summer blushed. A hint of pink contrasted against her light-brown skin. "Don't mention it. I'm just happy to see that everyone is okay."

"You're such a sweetheart," Mr. Au said before sauntering out of the room.

Summer's face dropped. With her animosity aimed at Connor, she asked, "What are you guys not telling me?" Victor and Connor averted their eyes. The air grew dense. "If you two are going to lie, at least do me a favor and come up with a better story than that." Summer rested her hands on her hips. "Not to mention the fact that both of your auras are all over the freaking place."

Victor perked up. "Summer, what color is my aura?"

Summer scoffed. "Now's not the time for jokes. Why are you guys hiding things from me? I thought we were friends."

"I'm not joking, Summer. Please, I really want to know."

She removed her hands from her hips and softened her face. "How about this: I'll read your auras if you promise to tell me what really happened, deal?"

Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

"Deal."

"Well, you're injured so there are black swirls muddying your aura at the moment, but normally, it's a beautiful and rich golden color."

"Gold... wait a minute, Victor, your eyes turned gold right before you saved me," Connor recalled.

"My eyes were gold? What the hell, that sounds awesome! Why are you just now telling me this?"

"Well, you did manifest super powers seemingly out of nowhere. Your eye color was not a detail I particularly cared much about."

"Okay, so mine is gold. What color is Connor's?"

Summer's eyes jumped from Connor to Victor. "What are you guys talking about?"

"Please, Summer, we'll tell you everything," Victor said.

Summer kissed her teeth while turning to face Connor. "Like I said before, you're injured, so it's muddy right now, but normally, your aura is a bright shade of white. Now start talking."

Victor smiled warmly, staring at the amethyst stone resting on Summer's chest. "Connor is an angel."

"Was," Connor added.

"Connor was an angel, and I'm technically half-angel. And we got injured fighting a demon in a forest clearing."

"Oh my god, that explains it!" Summer shouted.

Of course she believes me, Victor thought. "Hold on, which part explains what, exactly?"

"Originally, I thought you guys were ancient souls. I remember reading that really old souls have bright and beautiful auras. But now that you mention it, I can see one describing your auras as angelic." She flashed a bright smile at Victor and Connor, then it waned. "You guys fought a demon?"

Connor took on the arduous task of explaining all of the previous day's events. Summer sat at the foot of Victor's bed, listening intently. To Victor's surprise, she refrained from asking questions, and she responded to every fantastical detail with a smile and a nod.

"V, you're like a superhero!" she exclaimed.

"Yeah, and apparently having angel DNA means I heal quickly, too. I wonder what else I can do. Guys, what if I can fly?"

"How about you make sure you're fully healed before you start flinging yourself off rooftops," Connor said.

Summer giggled, covering her mouth with her hand. Her eyes went wide. "Wait a minute, so that time in gym class—"

"Yep. At the time, I thought it was just some weird adrenaline thing. But apparently my mom left me a pretty awesome gift. But there is one big problem."

"What is it?" Connor asked.

"I don't exactly know how I triggered my powers. It sort of just happened."

"Think back. What did you do before manifesting them?" Connor asked.

"I didn't really do anything. All I could hear was my breath, and then everything kind of faded away. I also felt really... content."

Connor tilted his head like a blue-eyed falcon. "Fascinating."

"Meditation!" Summer exclaimed. They gave her a puzzled look. "I used to be overwhelmed by other people's energies, causing me to get these terrible headaches. But then I tried some mindfulness meditation techniques, and I learned how to focus on my breathing whenever things got hectic."

"Okay, so you're saying this mindfulness stuff will help me master my powers?"

"I have no idea. But what you described is how I feel when I'm meditating."

Victor laid his head on his rock-hard pillow. "Maybe meditation—"

A high-pitched shriek caused him to lurch his head back up. He glared at Summer, a wide grin present on her face.

"Sorry," Summer said. "It's just... I've been wanting to get you guys into meditation for years now. But I was afraid V would just make fun of me again."

Victor smiled sadly at the ice pack on his chest. "Listen, I know I dismissed all of that mystical stuff before, and you're right, if you would have asked me to start meditating before yesterday, I would have for sure made fun of you for it. I guess I just wanna say... I'm sorry for being such a dickhead." Summer pushed out her bottom lip. "Oh god, please don't cry." She went in for a warm embrace, her stomach hitting the ice pack on his chest. "Summer, ow!"

She leapt backward and apologetically raised her hands. "Sorry! I need some time to prepare, and then we can officially have our first group meditation session!" She clasped her hands together and started bouncing up and down. The multicolored bracelets wrapped around her wrists jangled, matching the rhythm of her movements.

"By we, you mean you and V, right?" Connor asked dryly. Summer stopped bouncing to fix him with a stare. He broke eye contact and looked out the window. "Okay... just let me know when we're doing this."

Summer promptly returned to her bouncing.

Connor looked at Victor with a face as still as stone. "We need to address the demon we encountered. We came out of it alive this time, but if we don't prepare, the next time we meet one could be deadly."

"What do you know about demons?" Victor asked.

"Demons are lower dimensional entities. Some of them can enter this plane by possessing humans who are in low frequency emotional states. Humans who are extremely depressed, for example, are the perfect candidates." Connor lowered his eyes. "Once a demon possesses a human, the original soul gets replaced by the demon, effectively killing the person."

Summer fiddled with her amethyst. "And you said they've always been here?"

"Yes, but they usually avoid direct human contact. They mainly come back to take part in the vices only present on this plane. Yesterday was the first time I've ever even seen a demon. It's also the first time I've heard of one attacking humans."

"How do we kill them?" Victor asked.

"Decapitation is the only way. However, it's possible to stun one long enough for you to run away if you splash them with some holy water. I usually carry a small bottle with me just in case, but of course, I forgot to bring it."

Victor smirked. "You just have holy water on hand? Did you rob a church or something?"

Connor pulled out his phone and began typing. A couple of seconds later, he shoved the screen in Victor's face. "You can literally buy it online, and it's surprisingly inexpensive." Summer pulled her phone out. "Summer—"

"Already ahead of you. I'm buying some as we speak!" Summer exclaimed while typing on her phone.

A knock at the door made everyone jump. "Come in!" Victor shouted.

Mr. Au walked in and dropped two bags on a chair. There was a collar from one of his t-shirts and a pair of shoes in one bag. A large splotch of grease darkened a portion of the other bag.

"You guys hungry?"