I am losing you again

Let me out and let me in

'Cause you're not alone here

Not at all

Let me belong here

Break my fall

Break My Fall – Breaking Benjamin

He got the hang of it pretty quickly, but of course he wasn't really good at it at first. By the time we played a game or four he probably would've been able to beat a monkey at chess. Nevertheless he enjoyed it, and so did I. Just talking and joking along was fun and all, but this was a nice change. It took the stress that had been building up in both of our systems away, leaving us without worries for a while.

Well, that was the case, until a loud knock sounded from downstairs. Mark had been thinking where to move his remaining knight and he froze, nearly dropping the light wooden piece when he realised who knocked on the door. I looked him in the eyes and tried to keep calm.

"It's cool, my parents will deal with them." I whispered, and he nodded. I was aware of the fact that he didn't really trust my mom and dad, but we didn't really have a choice, did we?

I slowly stood up from the floor and sneaked to the door, opening it just a crack to hear them talk downstairs. My mom had just let the group in, they hadn't started their conversation yet, so I motioned Mark to come and listen as well. He crept up to me and sat at the door.

"Would you like something to drink, maybe?" My mom asked the visitors.

"No thanks, madam, we won't stay long and we have a task to do. So I'll just get to the point: I saw something in the forest a few days ago, and it wasn't an ordinary animal or a person. It was some kind of monstrous flying creature, floating over the treetops."

I noticed Mark hugging his knees closer to his chest while the hunter was talking. How dared he call him a monstrous creature! If only they could get to know him, instead of hunting him down because he has wings. I knew it was in vain, but I silently hoped that when they would actually find him they'd talk to him. That way they would realize he's just as much an actual person as they are.

"I honestly haven't seen anything like that in the woods." My dad told him.

"Neither have I." My mom agreed.

I could imagine the frustration the hunting group must have, but I didn't feel sorry for them. Hopefully they would leave now, so Mark and I could relax again.

"Are you sure? I saw the thing not too far from your house, it still might be around here somewhere..." The hunter said, and his companions seemed to mumble in agreement. Damn, that guy sure was determined to find Mark, even though he didn't know exactly what he saw above the trees that day...

"I'm completely sure, I would've noticed a flying creature above my head." My mom replied, with a hint of irritation already.

"Okay, and did you see things in or around the house, perhaps? The thing might've been here while you were out working!" A male voice spoke, probably one of the others searching with Malcolm. "Maybe we should check..."

"Yeah, that's a good idea. Let's quickly search the house and then we can get moving again. I don't suppose you mind?" The hunter added, and my eye widened.

Mark turned towards me, fear visible in his irises. Were they going to look through the whole house?! My parents wouldn't let them, right? I focused back on the conversation.

"Is that really necessary?" My dad asked, obviously annoyed now.

"If you've got nothing to hide there shouldn't be anything to worry about..." The hunter replied, a deep tone in his voice. He surely knows how to shift discussions to his advantage...

I hoped with everything I had that my parents would stand their ground. They might not know that Mark was here, but they knew I was, and that those people couldn't find out about me. I glanced over at said daemon again and I could see how tensed he was. Sometimes his wings even twitched, but he didn't seem to notice.

"W-Well..." My mom started. "That's not the case, there's nothing out of the ordinary here!"

"Excellent! Then we'll just get started, shall we?" Malcolm decided and I could hear several people starting to move around.

We didn't have much time. I shook Mark out of his stressed trance and pointed to the ceiling. He got the message and we both went up to the window. "You first." I whispered and I pushed the window open. He got up on the windowsill and I tried to help as much as I could to get him up there faster.

Just when he'd gotten a hold of the roof itself I heard footsteps on the stairs, rapidly moving this way. There was no time. My heart was almost beating through my ribs as I went over the possible things to do, and the best option was to do what Mark did that one day: dive under the bed and hope nobody sees me. At least I didn't have giant wings that could give me away...

I shoved myself with the chessboard in my arms under the bedframe and held my breath, hearing my door being pushed open. Trembling I saw a pair of boots tread the floor only a couple of feet away from me, walking next to the bed.

I wanted to think of some sort of plan, but all my brain could manage was "Don't find me don't find me don't find me..." If they would discover me... What would they do? Kill me? Imprison me? Sell me to... No, I wouldn't let them take me there. I'd rather die than go back to that park in town.

The guy kept searching, he looked into the desk and yanked my closet open, only to find a bunch of clothes. Good thing I didn't hide in there... I didn't see much of him, but I could tell he was getting annoyed already. After what felt like an hour he made his way back to the door and left, huffing angrily.

When I was sure he was downstairs I sighed deeply and started to push myself from under the bed. The guy had left the door open, so I could hear what was going on in the living room. I crawled up to the door, right on time to catch some of the conversation downstairs.

"... Nothing in the bedrooms upstairs either..." That was probably the dude I saw here, reporting his findings to the others.

"Well, I guess we're done here, then." The hunter spoke with a sigh. "Sorry for disturbing you, O'Connaills, have a good night and let us know if you see anything odd."

"We will. Goodbye Malcolm, fellow searchers..."

Footsteps echoed all the way up and then the front door closed with a small bang. It felt like a weight was being lifted from my shoulders, we would have some peace again with them gone. Now that they've searched the house completely they didn't need to come back anytime soon. I should probably check on Mark now, he hasn't heard the rest of the talking between my parents and the hunters and he looked even more shaken than I was when he left.

I got up and turned towards the open window but stopped dead in my tracks when I heard a loud, rattling noise from above my head, accompanied by a short shriek. My jaw fell, it was unmistakably Mark's voice... I ran to the window and heard shouting from outside.