'What are you talking about?' There was a slight panicked feeling in my chest that made my heart thunder as I heard the words slip from his lips. He looked at me with a benevolent expression on his face and waited patiently. It took me a few minutes to realize he was waiting for me to tell him to rise. The fmiliarity in the words and actions scared me. Not only did it feel like he had walked straight out of my dream, but it was as if he'd turned into an undeniable reality. It was already nagging at my brain, but then he decided to answer.

    'I am Taemin Alexeii Machiavelli Grimaldi.' He pronounced his name a little curiously -Day-min Alek-say Magi-a-velli Grim-wol-gy. 'I escaped from the clutches of Lucifer and his demons. I came here for sanctuary, but it seems the enchantments only lasted while your last embodiment was here.'

    I stood there, trembling slightly as he continued to recount what had supposedly happened before he caught sight of me that morning in the bus.

    'I have no idea how long it has been. Too long, basing from what I saw when you passed by. I was unsure of what to do, but I sat here by the gate, waiting for something. Then there you were in that yellow monstrosity, sitting with that -' he stopped talking and looked at me in horror. 'Daemon, what were you doing with that Adherent?'

    He was again spouting words that made no sense to me. I was vaguely aware that I wanted to run, but my legs wouldn't move, and I was afraid that instead of granting me a way out, they would suddenly crumple under me. I opened my mouth to speak, but no sound came out.

    'You're in shock.'

    Apparently. Everything around me had started to go in slow motion, and I was feeling slightly heady -no, it was liek vertigo. Bile rose up in my throat and I was afraid I would gag and offend the suspicious Bulgarian. There was something in his eyes that told me despit his raggedy appearance, that he would not particularly appreciate someone's lunch anywhere near him. 'Excuse me,' I managed to choke out.

    It was like some kind of trigger. As soon as I croaked the words, my legs moved, and I ran. Taemin -the part of his name that I remembered, took several steps forward as if to come after me, but changed his mind as soon as I turned and pumped my legs faster. I could feel myself radiating fear. My legs burned, but I ran faster still, for several hours it seemed. My sight was already getting blurry when I reached the first houses of the town. The late afternoon chatter calmed me down, and slowed down my legs. No one looked at me in a funny way -it assured me that talking to such a suspicious person didn't affetct me in any way, at least physically.

    'You're late, Tiffany,' the grocer shouted merrily, and I waved back. It was true. The sun was already setting behind the ridiculous cloud cover, and the sky was burning a bright orange. My mom and brother would have been back by then, and probably wondering where I had gotten to. 

    But the kitchen was locked when I got there -I had to use my own key to open the door and everything. This was a little out of character -they always got home at almost the same time, except when Leo was out in basketball practice with his team(this was something I never got, since they never competed in varsity games). The back gate was slightly open though, which meant one of them got home and probably went out again. I wondered where mom was -after all, I expected that she'd be in the kitchen cooking up something delicious, like maybe honey-roasted chicken.

    The house was dark, and getting darker by the second as the light outside receded into darkness. There was a faint smell of something, like othe stagnant dank air that hits you when you walk into a house that's been locked up for so long. I was fairly suspicious -our house always smelled faintly of orange blossoms mixed with whatever my mom was cooking. It may sound a little disgusting, but it was comforting. The smell that wafted through the house at this moment was as chilling as it was foreign. 'Mom?' I called, half-hoping that no one would answer. 

    'Tiffany?' The voice came from my room, soft and a little strained.

    'Mom? Why are lights off?' My tone was joking as I half-jogged up the stairs and pushed my door open. It was dark. She was crouched beside my bed, looking down on something. 

    As she turned, I almost fell back in terror. It was my mother, but she was different. A frightening kind of different -her eyes were wide, like they were being forced open by some unseen force, and her lids were turning purple. Her beautiful face was marred with the terrifying expression that she wore. I opened my mouth to scream, but no sound came out, save for a squeak that made her smile.

    'What's wrong, child?' She opened her arms as if to hug me. 'Come into your mother's arms.'

    Up close, her voice sounded like a scratchy record, with a piercing undertone. My mind didn't comprehend what was happening. Several questions flew by my perihpery, but not one of them made sense.

    'We have been waiting for you.'

    She was about to grab my arm when the windows started creaking -all of them. Like some unseen force was trying to force its way in. I closed my eyes and curled onto myself in a protective cocoon, and shut the world out. I might have died right then, just like that, but