Strange

Bad Men

You woke up in Stephen's room but it was still dark. You looked over to see if he was still in bed but he wasn't.

You wondered where he was but just then, you heard a familiar voice behind you, "M, you didn't really think you could escape, did you?"

You looked at the man petrified, "Please don't take me back!"

He chuckled and grabbed your arm harshly, "Come on, let's go. Leave this foolish behavior behind." You tried to use your powers to push him away but it didn't work. He chuckled and said, "You really thought he trusted you to be without the bond? M, who would ever trust you. Especially not some random man who took you in. He's just using you for your powers. Now, let's go."

You sobbed, "Please don't. I don't want to go." You sharply pulled your arm away but he didn't let go, he began to pull harder until you felt as if he was about to rip your arm off, "STOP! I SAID STOP!"

-

Just then you shot up out of bed, realizing it was another nightmare. You looked over to see Stephen begin to wake up seeing you hyperventilate, "No, no, no!" He hastily turned on his bedside lamp to make sure you were okay. He turned to see you and your brokenness. You screamed, "I can't do this anymore! I- I"

He held your head with his scarred hands and looked you in the eyes in an attempt to calm you down, "It's okay Morgan. I'm right here, no one is going to hurt you."

You continued bawling and cried, "He was right there. He was trying- trying t-to take m-me away and-"

He nodded and spoke in a calming manner, "He's not here anymore, it's not real Morgan. You're safe, I won't let anyone hurt you ever again."

You nodded as he said, "Okay. Let's try to calm down, shall we?" You agreed and he took you through some breathing exercises, "Breath in, hold, breath out, breath in, hold breath out." You continued this cycle for about five minutes until you were finally settled. Then he asked, "Is that better?" You nodded and he brought you into a hug. You could tell he was almost heartbroken by what you had gone through, "It's okay sweetie. I won't let anyone hurt you."

You stared at the wall trying to fall asleep but all you could think about was seeing the man in the same room again. You felt as though you had to keep an eye out or else he would come and get you. Stephen noticed how tense you were and he rubbed your back and said, "You're okay." He continued to comfort you the rest of the night until you fell asleep.

-----

The next morning, you woke up to the bright sun in your eyes. You looked around to try to find Stephen but he wasn't in the room. You quickly got out of bed and walked downstairs to see him sitting at the table eating breakfast and reading a book. You shyly sat down across from him, feeling bad for what happened last night. You mumbled, "I'm sorry."

He looked up from his book urgently and asked, "What are you sorry for?"

You let a tear fall from your face, "I woke you up and bothered you, I'm sorry."

He let out a small chuckle and got up to sit next to you. He gently wrapped his right arm around your head and leaned your head into his chest and whispered, "You don't have to be sorry. It's okay. I'm gonna help you get through this." You nodded and let out some of your tears into his chest. He eventually pulled away and said, "Do you want to talk about it?" You shrugged your shoulders so he asked, "What was the nightmare about?"

You timidly answered, "The bad man...he was trying to take me back."

He then asked, "What was he doing?"

Your breathing got heavy just thinking about it, "I was in your room, and he grabbed me. I told him to stop but he didn't listen to me. He didn't listen."

Stephen nodded and noticed you didn't want to elucidate more on that so he dropped the conversation and went back to eating and drinking his coffee. Once you were both done eating you went to train in the training room with him. You liked it since it helped distract you from the nightmares.

Later, he began to teach you about the mystic arts. You were sitting down in the library and he said, "This probably isn't anything you want to listen to right now, but living with me might come at some costs. I was sent here to protect earth from mystical threats that are out of this world. I want you to know that so that you will be prepared for the time when one comes and we have to defend earth." You looked at him still confused so he continued elaborating, "Earth has its own 'bad men' and we need to defend earth from these 'bad men.'" You nodded as he walked away awkwardly but quickly turned around and sat back in front of you, "The reason I'm telling you this is because...I want you to be ready because...I think some bad men might be coming soon. He held up a book and said, "Some sorcerers want this book, so they can perform a dark spell from it. If they get a hold of it, our world as we know it will be destroyed. I could really use your help." You looked at him as confused as ever as he said, "You don't have to worry about it right now, I'm keeping an eye on them...but for future reference."

You nodded as he walked away and you continued to read to the best of your abilities. You practiced more of your spells, you were becoming very good at it. There wasn't much to do but you were used to it. While you were training,

Stephen entered the room and came up behind you. There was a heavy bag of sand on the floor and he said, "I want you to pick up the sand and put it in the other corner." You looked at him confused but began to walk towards the bag of sand until he stopped you, "With your mind." He was trying to get you to practice with your powers. You nervously nodded but he reassured you and he said, "It's okay, take your time."

You stared the bag down and focused on it. You imagined what you wanted it to do, and it worked. It floated throughout the air and into the opposite corner of the room. Stephen smiled and congratulated you, "You did it!" He then said, "Now, I want you to throw it into the wall as hard as you can."

You timidly said, "What if I break the wall?"

He chuckled and said, "I want you to." You nodded and picked it up once more. You summoned all of your strength and slammed the bag of sand into the wall leaving a few cracks in the wall. He looked at you shocked and said, "They aren't going to stand a chance."

You asked, "Who?"

He answered you, "The bad men."