The broom fell from Soraya’s hands and clattered to the floor as she lunged for Jesmine. She couldn’t believe she was in their apartment after escaping the hellish nightmare she had found herself in. None of it made sense, but looking at Jesmine, she felt the scattered bits and pieces of herself come together.

  Gripping Jesmine’s shoulders, Soraya examined her friend from head to toe with wild eyes.

  Jesmine frowned. “Okay, Soraya, you’re starting to freak me out—and not in a good way. And dude…” She swatted at Soraya’s arms. “Why the hell did I wake up in the hospital? You know I can’t afford that shit. I had to sneak out when they weren’t looking and everything.”

  Soraya wanted to laugh, but her sense of urgency was still riding her hard. “Jesmine, listen to me—I can explain everything later, but we need to get out of this apartment tonight. It isn’t safe!” She practically shouted that last part. The adrenaline was still coursing through her veins, making her hands tremble against Jesmine’s shoulders. They’d had this conversation earlier that night, but this time, Soraya was determined to get Jesmine out. And she knew she wasn’t going insane.

  With her brows furrowed, Jesmine’s gaze darted around Soraya’s face. Soraya could see she wanted to argue, but after years of knowing one another and having each other’s backs, Jesmine knew when to follow without question. It also helped that Soraya was resolute this time around.

  Soraya watched as Jesmine made her decision and nodded. “Alright, let me get some water, and then I’ll pack a bag. Do you know where we’re headed?” she asked, removing Soraya’s hands from her shoulders. Walking into their small kitchenette, she pulled out two cups from the cupboard. Ever since they were young, having a cup of water had always helped to calm her nerves.

  Soraya swallowed her gratitude and nodded. “Yes, to the motel just on the outskirts of L.A. County. You know, the one we hid in last time when your crazy ex came after you.”

  A sardonic smile ghosted Jesmine’s lips as she filled both cups with water. “I don’t suppose we’re running away from one of your crazy one-night stands, are we? By the way, I never did get that second hookup story.”

  A hysteric laugh bubbled up Soraya’s throat. “We’re running from all six of mine and two of yours—actually, only five because I didn’t hook up with the fourth one, but he’s the one who knows where we live, and I’m pretty sure he knows the others,” Soraya said, shuddering.

  Jesmine spat out her water. With droplets dripping from her lips, she zeroed in on her friend. “What the fuck do you mean!?” Without waiting for a response, she threw up a hand and began counting on her fingers, “You mean, one, two, three—”

  By the time she counted to her fourth finger, as if she were in grade school, Soraya burst out, “Yes! I know, but now is not the time. Can you please hurry up and pack? I think I already packed your bag—it’s in Ahvi’s room, but double-check I got everything you need.”

  Jesmine rounded the corner with the other water glass in hand. “Did you bang an entire rock band? I turn my back for one second, and you’re out here poppin’ your pussy like there’s no tomorrow—which I’m very proud of, by the way.” She handed Soraya the drink, who accepted it with shaky hands. “You have a lot of explaining to do, missy. I am proud of you for putting yourself out there, but we have to have a serious talk about which strangers to fuck, when to bring them around, and when to stay away from the psycho killers.”

  “Like you have any room to talk, Jes,” Soraya said after taking a sip of water. The water tasted as if it had a film over it, but Soraya had worse things to worry about at the moment. “Your one-night stand with those two men is part of it, don’t forget.”

  “Yes, but that’s me, and we both know I’m attracted to shit men. You, on the other hand, have your whole life ahead of you.”

  “What does that even mean?” Soraya asked, exasperated, as she glanced back at their front door and shook her head. “You know what—doesn’t matter! Focus. Bags. Packed. Now.”

  Whatever had brought her back to the apartment—whether it was magic or something like it—what was to say it wouldn’t bring those monsters as well? Or worse, what if one of her hookups also showed up? Her heart was racing a mile a minute.

  “Damn. I see Ahvi’s already packed,” Jesmine yelled from inside the room.

  Soraya wasn’t focused on what Jesmine said as her mind whirled. Then she remembered the cut on her arm. She would need to take care of that before they left.

  Right, need to dress the wound, she thought. I can do that. Soraya needed something for her hands to do so her mind wouldn’t explode with all the unanswered questions she had. One thing at a time. Moving to push up the ruined sleeve of her hoodie, her mind went quiet as she stared at the smooth, unblemished skin, caked in the unmistakable signs of dried blood.

  Holding her breath, she brushed her fingertips over her forearm and didn’t feel the sting of a fresh wound. Rubbing at her arm—gently at first, then more vigorously—she realized it had completely healed. Dried flakes of her blood drifted to the floor. There weren’t even signs of a scar left to indicate that she had nearly had her arm torn off by the creature.

  Her arm was completely fine.

  How is this possible?

  She pulled down the sleeve of her hoodie and examined the three long slashes that ran through the soft material. If it weren’t for the tears where the creature’s claws had punctured her, she would have thought she’d imagined the whole scenario. But she knew she wasn’t losing her mind—though it was obvious that some outside force was trying its hardest to convince her she was.

  Jesmine walked out of Ahvi’s room, snapping Soraya out of her revelation, carrying the backpack Soraya had packed for her. “You got most of it, thanks. But there’s something else I need to grab, and then we can go,” she tossed over her shoulder as she headed for her room.

  Soraya remembered her own pack sitting in Ahvi’s empty room and headed inside, trying her hardest to quell the uneasiness swirling inside her. She picked up her bag when a sudden thought occurred to her.

  Jesmine remembered Ahvi!

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  Slinging her pack onto her shoulder, she ran out of the room. “Jesmine!” She rushed to her friend’s open doorway and found Jesmine facing her bed, her bag on the mattress as she stuffed something inside.

  “What?”

  “You remember Ahvi!”

  Jesmine zipped up her pack and turned around to face Soraya, giving her an odd look. “Our roommate since the beginning of the summer? Yeah… why wouldn’t I remember her?” She said it as if it were bizarre to even ask such a question.

  “That was part of the reason you were sent to the hospital!” Soraya exclaimed. “Do you remember that?”

  Jesmine pursed her lips. “Why would that have sent me…” She trailed off, appearing deep in thought. Her eyes darted back and forth as if she were watching her thought process unfold right before her eyes. “Holy shit… I forgot about Ahvi.”

  Soraya nodded enthusiastically, relieved that she finally wasn’t alone in this madness. “You forgot about Ahvi, and—and—” Soraya’s memories came rushing back like sand from an hourglass. She had forgotten far more than she realized, and that thought was terrifying. “The street. We got attacked by these frog-like monsters, and you hit one with a car. Then I disappeared and—came back to the apartment and found you here, acting as if nothing happened. Remember?”

  She decided she wasn’t going to share all the odd things that had happened to her until they were a safe distance away from the apartment. Most of her memories didn’t feel real to begin with, and it would help to unpack the strange, attractive men and the very odd but very real situations she found herself in with Jesmine.

  Jesmine was giving her the same look she had at the beginning of the night—like Soraya had lost all sense of her mind.

  The gun flashed through Soraya’s mind, and she stepped closer to Jesmine. “You didn’t remember Ahvi, and then you didn’t remember the street fight or your flying hookups—but you were there. And before I disappeared, I had dropped my gun, and you picked it up.” Soraya could see Jesmine thinking, and she hoped it was a good sign that her friend hadn’t blown her off yet. Considering the last time, Jesmine had thought she was on drugs after Soraya explained.

  Soraya continued, “I had asked you about it right before—” The memory of Jesmine collapsing came a little too late as Soraya realized that Jesmine’s eyes were starting to twitch.

  Without thinking, Soraya lunged forward and gripped Jesmine’s head between her hands. What felt like an electric current passed through her hands, and Jesmine’s eyes lit up as she flinched away from her touch.

  “Ow! That…” Jesmine blinked rapidly. “Wha—Holy shit.”

  Soraya’s heart soared with hope.

  “Holy shit,” Jesmine repeated, swallowing hard and still blinking rapidly.

  “Yes?” Soraya asked, on the edge of her seat.

  Jesmine snapped her head up to meet Soraya’s gaze. “HOLY SHIT! THEY HAD WINGS!”

  Soraya nodded vigorously as bone-rattling relief flooded her system. She was no longer alone in this. “Yes! Yes! It really happened.”

  “Oh my God!” Jesmine said, clawing at her hair. “They were—”

  “Yes,” Soraya encouraged.

  “And then they—”

  “Yes,” Soraya agreed.

  Jesmine clutched her shirt. “And the thing with the flowers. Jesus.”

  “Yes—” Soraya cut herself off, confused. “What about flowers?”

  Jesmine opened her mouth and then shut it. “Oh, um. You weren’t there for that.”

  Soraya cleared her throat as a sudden blush blossomed on Jesmine’s cheeks. “Yeah, okay. Anyway, Ahvi—I don’t know what happened to her, and her phone is out of service. I think we could leave a note explaining everything and telling her where to meet us or to stay clear of the apartment for a while. She’s not going to be happy we have to move again, and—what is it?”

  Jesmine was shaking her head. She looked away from Soraya. “Look, Soraya, about Ahvi. She… wait, what’s up with your ears?”

  Soraya cocked her head to the side at the sudden change in the conversation. “What about my ears?” she asked, just as an image of her reflection in their bathroom flashed through her head.

  Slowly, Soraya raised her hand to her ear, hoping for the slim chance that this part of her memories was something she’d dreamt up or hallucinated. But as her fingers touched her ear and followed the edge of it, instead of tracing the normal curve, they traced a hard, unfamiliar point at the side of her head.

  At the same time, Jesmine reached out a hand to touch her other ear, rubbing the point between her fingers, and then pinching it. Hard.

  “Ow!” Soraya slapped Jesmine’s hand away. “That hurts!”

  Jesmine stepped back in horror. “Eww, it feels real!”

  Soraya scowled at her. “You didn’t have to pinch it like that.”

  It was Jesmine’s turn to scowl. “Excuse the fuck out of me. How was I supposed to know that was your real ear? It sure as hell didn’t look like that yesterday—or our entire lives, might I add.”

  Soraya pinched the bridge of her nose. “Just don’t do that again.”

  “Just when you think you know someone,” Jesmine grumbled under her breath. “Are there any other secrets you’d like to tell me? You know, after knowing each other for eighteen years.”

  Soraya’s jaw dropped. “Are you seriously butt-hurt right now?” Jesmine crossed her arms and looked away, her face clearly showing her hurt. “I don’t know what the hell is up with my ears, or why weirdos are after me, Jesmine! None of this makes any sense, and I’m freaking the fuck out right now. I don’t need this shit from you.”

  Jesmine sniffed. “Whatever you say, Soraya—if that’s even your real name.”

  Soraya had the real urge to throttle her friend, but they didn’t have time for this. Still, she supposed if she were in Jesmine’s shoes, she might react the same way.

  “So, are you and Ahvi best friends now? Are y’all part of some secret organized fairy council or some shit?”

  Soraya blinked, once again thrown for a loop by Jesmine’s words. It was one of her many irritating qualities. “I have no idea what that means. We don’t have time for this. Let’s go.”

  Before she could continue, a sudden coldness crept into the air, making the hairs on the back of her neck and along her arms stand on end. Jesmine must have felt it too, as she also went mute. They both stood still and listened—for what, they weren’t sure. But after years of survival, they knew something wasn’t right.

  It was as if the whole apartment complex had gone eerily quiet, as though the building itself was holding its breath. Soraya and Jesmine snapped their gazes together, an unspoken message passing between them.

  Slowly and as quietly as they could, they exited Jesmine’s room and stood in the living room, quieting their own breaths to listen more carefully. The lights flickered overhead, and the electric humming became more distinct in the stillness that surrounded them.

  Thud.

  Soraya turned her head toward the door as another thud echoed in the hallway. “Did you hear that?” she whispered.

  Jesmine shook her head. “I can’t hear anything… but something doesn’t feel right,” she whispered back. “I can’t explain it.”

  Soraya knew exactly what she meant. Then she heard the sound of booted footsteps echoing up and down the hallway, growing closer and closer to their door. One unhurried step after another. Soraya cautiously approached the door, relieved to see it was still locked. The footsteps stopped. A black shadow fell across the peephole, and without a second thought, Soraya held her breath and leaned forward to peer through the fisheye lens.

  It took her eyes a moment to adjust—and another moment to comprehend what she was seeing.

  A black mass filled her view, the hallway light seeping around its edges. Just as Soraya was about to lean away, she paused. She heard the sound of… sniffing. Someone—or something—was sniffing heavily at their door. She watched as the black mass swayed this way and that, the sniffing continuing relentlessly.

  The bad feeling in the pit of her stomach tripled as she realized the black mass she was looking at was a wide-brimmed hat.

  The sniffing cut off abruptly, and the figure on the other side of the door straightened. Blood-red eyes with pitch-black irises stared back at her through the peephole. A jagged smile spread across its decayed lips as the horrifyingly familiar creature’s gaze bore directly into hers.

  It was too late to leave.