Brightness woke him.

That, or the rumble of distant thunder, Adam thought, realizing the sound of rain beating against the window couldn't have roused him. Whatever it was, my head will split open if I don't take a Tempra soon.

Reaching over to turn off the bedside table light, he remembered he hadn't bought one yet. Or a bed, for that matter. The only thing close to furniture in his bedroom was a mattress on the floor surrounded by boxes still unpacked after the move.

What time is it?

Just as he'd reached for a lamp that wasn't there, he squinted at his naked wrist, looking for a watch he didn't have.

"Sorry. Did I wake you?" Evi asked him.

Adam saw the circles under his girlfriend's eyes and frowned.

"Wait, you haven't gone to bed?"

"We don't have a bed."

"You're hilarious... for a raccoon."

"That's ten points from Gryffinfuck."

"Huh?" He sagged into his mattress, and one arm flung over his face. "I swear you are getting weirder by the minute."

"It's from Harry Potter, silly."

"Evi, I told you. I'm not going to the movies to watch that crap. It looks so bad."

"Your breath is bad." She closed her brand new IBM ThinkPad and put it away. "And yes. You're coming with me."

"First, the scholarship, now this. What else will you make me do?"

"That's it. You complain too much. No sex for you."

"Hey! You woke me up, and instead of an apology, I got a threat."

Evi headed to the bathroom to brush her teeth. As she stood at the sink brushing, she said, "I think you were having a nightmare, anyway."

Still fumbling about for his cellphone to see what time it was, he rubbed his tired eyes.

"Really? Can't remember." He checked under his pillow and clicked his tongue. Nothing. "Come on!"

"What?" Evi took a gulp of mouthwash, rinsed, and spat while letting the faucet water run.

"My phone," shouted Adam, his temper spiraling. "Shit!"

"Wow. That sleep therapy is paying off. You are all rainbows and sunshine."

"That Rafael guy is a sham."

"He came highly recommended," she said, cuddling next to him. "But I agree with you."

"That's a first."

"You don't need a hippie quack doctor to control it."

It? His head was throbbing with pain now. Why can't she ever say it out loud?

"Evi, we are not having this conversation again."

"Just saying that if you set your mind to it..."

Adam turned to his side. He didn't want her wrapped around his chest anymore. Sometimes I think my love for the bottle is the only inheritance my father left me. He closed his eyes, trying to forget his headache. Can't she understand this is a disease? You don't control a fever; you cure it.

"Could you please turn the light off?"

"Don't get mad." She paused. "The thing is, no one should mess with your brain."

"Besides you."

She smiled.

"Right."

"Wait. I remember something. I dreamed about Rafael. He was dead."

"Be sure to tell him that in your next session. Shrinks love that Freudian crap."

"You were dead too," he told her, and she arched her eyebrows.

"You killed me?"

"And I had a crush on my neighbor, a smoking hot blonde."

"I was joking about the no sex stuff before, but get ready for a biblical drought, mister."

"Really?"

"Forty days and nights."

He kissed her neck, his lips slowly making their way to her ear, where he whispered, "Even if I do this?"

A sigh escaped her mouth. Adam took this opportunity to tease her tongue with his as he slid his body on hers. Their first kiss was short, playful. The second one, longer and intense, ended up with her biting his lower lip.

"Okay, fine. No drought." She licked his lips. "Your breath still sucks, though."

"Noted."

Thunder boomed through the apartment while forks of lightning spread over the Ávila National Park. Despite the caul of rain on the windows from their new home, they could see the Cruz de Navidad high in the mountain.

As two teenagers in love, not even eighteen yet, living together in the city would have been enough, but staying at a place that looked straight out of a real-estate magazine (with a view to kill for), and with the scholarship money pouring into their bank accounts every month, meant their life was paradise.

And all thanks to the President.

A knock on the door startled them both.

"It's me. Can I come in?"

Evi locked eyes with Adam. He winced and mouthed an apology.

"Sure, B. We are awake."

Bianca rushed into the room and clung to his neck.

"Hey, are you okay?" He gave Evelia a puzzled look. His sister preferred reading books to playing games and would often research on her own anything that piqued her curiosity, so she could later explain to everyone what she'd learned. At eleven years old, and more of a grown-up than most of Adam's college friends, she was the one who insisted on moving with them to Caracas because 'the best schools were there.' To them, there was no braver child in the world, which made this behavior all the more troubling. "Did the storm scare you?"

Bianca clung tighter and hid her face in his neck.

"She's shaking," Evi's voice filled with worry. "Honey, did you have a bad dream?"

"There's a man in my room."

Evelia and Adam exchanged fearful looks.

In Mérida, he'd have asked her to spend the night with them, sleep safely in their arms, and think nothing of what she said, except that perhaps this was an attempt to get their attention; they had spent a lot of time at the university lately, after all. In Caracas, however, disregarding this was a luxury he couldn't take.

You can never be too paranoid.

He handed the girl to Evelia, and she picked her up as they hurried to B's room. The hallway that connected the three bedrooms (theirs, Bianca's and Dario's) seemed longer than usual. It's empty, Adam said to himself, trying to appear calm. There wasn't a single piece of furniture where someone could hide. Not even a misplaced toy.

"You will see. There's nothing to fear," Evi promised.

She was right. A glance inside was all it took.

Unlike them, his sister had unpacked everything. Her books were on the shelf (she had assembled by herself), her wardrobe, organized by color, left no space for a monster to hide in the closet shadows.

"Sure, it wasn't a dream, B?"

"I saw it," she insisted. "A tall, green man."

"Like the Hulk?" He asked.

Bianca shook her head.

"What was green then, hon? His clothes?"

She nodded.

"What was he wearing, B?"

"A suit," she replied to Adam. "And he was grinning. A shark's smile."

"Oh, honey." Evi hugged her. "You were dreaming."

"No! It's the truth." Her teary, pleading eyes shifted toward her brother. "I swear."

"Guess she's sleeping with us tonight," said Evelia.

"Yeah," he agreed, studying his surroundings a bit unnerved.

"I don't like it here," Bianca cried.

"Maybe she can spend tomorrow's night at Camila's."

"Who?"

"Her friend from school."

"I'll think about it." Adam turned off the light and closed the door behind him.

Before they got halfway through the hallway, a muffled buzzing sound reached their ears.

"Isn't that...?"

"My phone."

He walked back to her bedroom while Evi, ashen-faced, stayed outside with Bianca.

There it was. In the middle of the room they'd left not a minute ago, Adam's Nokia stood upright, vibrating, 'walking' towards him. We were just here. His throat turned arid. How come none of us noticed it?

"Who's calling?" Evelia asked from the corridor.

"No one." Adam picked the device up. "It's an alarm."

"Let's go to bed," she said, approaching the doorframe. It was clear she didn't want to get in. "What a crazy night, huh?"

He forced a smile.

"The craziest thing is, my brother hasn't woken up after all this fuzz."

She switched Bianca to her other arm and gave him a look of distaste.

"Not funny."

"What?"

"She's afraid. Heck, I am too." Her brow creased. "It's not nice you're trying to scare us to get a laugh."

"Baby, I'm not following."

"Adam, you have no brother."

I scared myself with this part. Loved it.