I yawned, my eyes watering. I blinked rapidly, clearing my vision before another yawn erupted. I shook my head and flipped through my mama's photo albums on the living room floor

The one good thing she did while she drank besides cursing everyone out was put together photo albums. She didn't do anything fancy or creative but on the back of each picture, she wrote drunk comments and the names of the people in the picture.

I got to the end of a photo album when one lone picture was left unwritten and left out. It was a photograph of me and my step-papa. I smiled at our goofy grins. My step-papa's eyes were shining, the sunset reflecting in his eyes and making his blue eyes brighten more. His nicely shaved face made him appear younger.

"He was a good man." I answered Tristian's stare from behind.

I looked over my shoulder and Tristian pushed himself off the wall and sat on the floor next to me. He tilted his head to the side and stared at the old faded photograph.

I remembered that day. It was a chilly summer day but we welcomed it. The past couple of days were so hot and the little fan barely worked. We were in the backyard, lying on the overgrown grass as a breeze swept through. I closed my eyes as the breeze blew through under my shirt, almost like wiping away the sweat with gentle hands.

"What a lovely day..." My step-papa trailed off with a content sigh, his arms behind his head with his cap lying on his stomach.

I mimicked his movements and a pleasant shiver went through me as the breeze cooled down my sweaty armpits. From here, I could smell the cooking of meat. My step-papa smelled it too and sat up on his elbows.

"Wanna crash a barbecue?" He asked, wagging his eyebrows.

My stomach growled and I answered with a nod. We put on our flip flops and went across the street to where our neighbor was hosting a party. My step-papa somehow managed to charm his way in and had one of the best meal we had all that summer. The neighbor went around with his camera and took a picture of me and my step-papa. We were sitting on the grass, grinning at the camera with our plates stacked with food.

"Where was your mother?" Tristian asked. I took the photo from him.

"She was there," I answered, my head nudging towards the big red chair, "She was too drunk to go anywhere." Tristian stayed quiet as I put the photo back and tucked the album back on the shelf and reached for another one.

"I'm sorry." He finally said.

I chuckled. "Don't be. In all honesty, I'm glad she's in a better place. She was gone before I was even born."

"What do you mean?" He asked, crisscrossing his legs and resting his elbows on his knees.

"My real papa died months before I was born. My mama told me he was the one for her, y'know? And I guess that led her to go spiraling out of control and took upon drinking after I was born. She met my step-papa at a bar and he fell in love with her, but she never felt that way for him."

"She never loved him? So he only came to visit you?"

"No, he stayed with my mama I asked him why; why stay with someone who doesn't love you. He said he stayed because he wanted to and needed to. According to him, I got attached to him when mama first introduced me to him," I paused, my eyes landing on a photo of my step-papa posing in front of his new car, "Even if his blood isn't in me, I know he's my real papa... I never cried so much when I heard of his death. Not even when my mama passed away. I just wished he lived long enough to meet Drakon."

Tristian put his arm around my shoulders and pulled me to his side. I sighed, closing the album and curling up against him.

I didn't know if we were officially a couple. I certainly felt something for him. I felt something from the moment he saved me and while that something I felt was fear and pain at the moment, there was just something about him that I couldn't shake off.

I spent many nights thinking about him, debating if I should go look for him and give him a proper "thank you for saving my life" or if I should tell everyone that yes; the masked man in the woods did actually exist, but he wasn't a man-eating monster.

And in the end, I chose to just him lock him up in my thoughts. I chose to ignore our first encounter and part of the reason I left my hometown to move to the city was because of him. There were many reasons I moved to the city and he was one of them.

There were times I tried to look for him, but I managed to snap myself out of it and walk away. He was just a stranger to me, but yet I felt a connection to him. A connection of gratitude or guilt that I didn't thank him and thought of him as a monster without even having said a word to him.

The mystery around him and the legend were all I thought about. Even when I spent all my time with Javon and friends, Tristian found a way to sweep into my thoughts.

And then the second encounter happened which led to where we were at the moment.

My arms tightened around him and I took a deep breath in. The wind outside started to howl as the days started to creep towards winter. The heater kicked in and I felt comfy enough to finally sleep. So far Drakon's been asleep and there had been no surprises.

I was about to doze off when I heard an ear piercing scream. I scrambled off of Tristian who shared the same alarmed look before we raced upstairs.

Tristian first came inside Drakon's room, turning on all the nights and grabbing him by the shoulders as he kicked off his blankets, fighting something I couldn't see.

I stood in the doorway, ready to grab anything Tristian demanded me to get. It wasn't the first time Drakon woke up with night terrors and it while it first scared me, I knew it was best for me to stay away. The first couple of times, I cried along with him and was basically useless. I let Tristian take over and he knew what to do to get Drakon to stop.

"Drakon! Drakon, I need you to get up now. C'mon, you're safe. Drakon, you're safe." Tristian repeated, holding Drakon in his arms until Drakon went limp.

He sniffled and looked around his room. "It-It was here."

"What was here?" I asked, stepping into the room and sitting on my knees next to him.

Drakon's eyes were red with tears, his hair sticking on his forehead with sweat as he tried to breathe in.

"The thing that took me and my friends." He sobbed.

I blinked, a wave of fear going through me. Not a second later, Tom, who was asleep on top of Drakon's bookshelf stood up and hissed towards the door. Drakon's eyes grew wide but before he could say anything, there were three knocks on the bedroom door. Tristian and I whipped around, a gasp flying out of my mouth and Tristian put Drakon behind him.

Javon stood there, blood pouring out of his mouth with blood and dirt all over his bare chest and back. Tears streamed out of his eyes and a big gash on his head allowed more blood to flow down his head and drip on the floor.

Instinct had me crawl off the bed when Tristian grabbed my hand.

"That's not your husband." He stated, never taking his eyes off Javon.

I yanked my hand off his grip and stared at him confusingly. Drakon stayed curled up behind Tristian's back, his hands held up to his mouth. He caught my eye and slowly shook his head.

I looked back at Javon and he reached out to me, but his hand didn't go inside the room. I looked down and noticed a black thin tube dividing Drakon's room and the hallway. I frowned at it but didn't have a chance to think through it when Javon scoffed and dropped his hand.

"I for sure thought this trick was going to work." He said to himself, wiping some dirt off his shoulder. I blinked and suddenly he changed his appearance.

All the blood, dirt and wounds were gone and Javon was standing there with a clean suit. His hair was neatly combed back and he straightened his jacket. He stared at us and then threw his hands up.

"What's with all these faces? C'mon, we gotta celebrate!" He chuckled and held a hand up towards Tristian, his eyes noticeably going dark but he still had that grin, "My brother is in looove!"

The hairs on my arms rose and the tension grew thicker. An uncomfortable shiver went through me and I took a small step back.

Brother? How could they be brothers? Javon was an only child. And Tristian did mention a brother, but there was no way they could be connected.

Javon's eyes snapped towards me and his smile curled into that smile that reminded of that shadow monster. His eyes grew darker until it was nothing but pitch black. The air shifted and I felt my knees grow weak. Drakon whimpered and Tristian's eyes narrowed.

Javon's eyes returned normal and he leaned against the doorway. "So are you gonna let me in or not?" He asked, nudging at the black line before he crossed his arms.

"Who are you?" I asked shakily. Javon turned to me and held his hand out as if he was expecting me to come over and shake it.

"Name's Harry. Harry Vale." He said with a smile.