After the first few days, relaxing got boring. I found myself pacing around the apartment like a lunatic, having no one to talk to, or really much to do. The school work I was given was easy. The couple of things I could watch on TV became repetitive.

But, on the fourth day, I woke up to a surprise.

"Dad, you're still home?" I saw him in the kitchen as I walked out of my room, looking in the cabinets and writing stuff down on a notepad.

"I'm sick," he said in a nonchalant manner.

"I know you're not." I crossed my arms. "You literally own your own business, you don't even have to fake sick to a boss."

"Well, talk to Sean about that." My dad just laughed, turning towards me. "Can't I just hang out with my daughter for a day?"

"You really want to be stuck in the house?"

"Hey, there's one thing that all of us under supervision do." My dad acted as if I should know what that one thing was, but I just stared at him blankly.

"Huh?"

"We bend the rules a bit, kid." My dad grinned, walking over to the coat rack. "Get some stuff to keep you warm, I'm taking you out to the roof."

Dumbstruck, I slowly shuffled back into my room. My dad, he never was the kind of person to yell at me about rules and stuff, but still. I never saw him as the one to break a rule like this. It was kind of terrifying. After all, my dad could get in a lot of trouble if something goes awry. They might even separate us.

But, at the same time, it was hard for the two of us to have some father-daughter time, with like, doing normal father-daughter things.

It was an exhilarating thought. I found myself running around my room like a kid, getting myself ready to go outside. In the midst of my fury, I found myself grabbing the purple winter coat, that was still hung on my chair.

I didn't think about the "it's winter, there's snow on the ground, and you're going outside" part until I was actually outside.

"Dad," I whined, feeling the wet cold already hitting my ankles. "Why did I agree to this?"

"It's just the cold, it's not going to hurt you." I wasn't looking at my dad as he said this. Bad idea.

Whommmp. My back arched as I felt a thud on my back, turning around just in time to see a sprinkle of snow fall from my coat and onto the ground.

"Hey, at least tell me first!" I started to awkwardly scoop up the snow around me, having only made snowballs once before at school. My dad, who I could already tell was much better at this than I was, waited with a snowball in his hand until I had fully prepped mine, before flinging it in my direction. I lugged mine back, though unlike his, it didn't make it far until it broke into pieces midair.

"You need help there?"

"I am perfectly fine." I picked up another lump of snow, losing half of the mass as I was trying to jam it into a ball. "Can you just..." I mumbled.

"Let me help." My dad was in front of me before I could even respond, helping the snow into my hands and squishing it into a ball. With him, it seemed easy, and I wondered how I let so much snow escape my grasp earlier.

"Thanks..." I felt my cheeks grow warm against the brisk breeze. I wish it had been as easy as he made it.

"It's not problem, kid." My dad patted my head, which was just a substitute for ruffling my hair, since I had my hood up. "I'm just going to have to drag you outside more, it looks like."

"Well, I guess I'd have to agree." A voice spoke up from the other side of the roof. Before I could even see who it was, my dad yanked me behind him, his grip tight against the puffy jacket.

Looking past my dad, I saw the source of the voice, and felt my blood go as cold as the snow beneath me.

Agnidev.

"Gi, get inside, right this instant." My dad pushed me towards the stairs, not taking his eyes off of Agnidev for even a second. "If you need help with anything, sire, we're not the ones to ask."

"Actually, I think you are." Agnidev took a few casual steps forward, looking at a puff of fire bursting from his fingertips. "You're well respected, correct?"

"Gi, please, get inside."

"Dad, what if he hurts you?" I found my voice barely coming above a whisper, as I reached up with one hand and gripped my dad's arm.

"He knows better than to hurt me." Despite this, my feet wouldn't move. I didn't know exactly why, but something about this man made me expect nothing but the worst.

Maybe, the news people were just getting to my head.

"Micheal," Agnidev knew my dad's name. Weird. "If I really wanted your daughter, you think she'd be able to outrun me? Trust me, I don't think she could outrun even the slowest in my arm, looking like that." He broke out into a bone-rattling laugh.

I automatically shrunk back at that remark, feeling self-conscious, but also safe in the puffy jacket that was too big on me.

"Leave my daughter alone." My dad gave my arm one final push, and my legs finally began to work. I dropped the snowball before running towards the stairwell. Throwing open the door and making sure it was shut firmly behind me, it wasn't long before I whipped myself around and peered through the small, dark window that stood in the beige door.

I couldn't hear anything that was going on through the door, but I could tell that Agnidev was getting a lot more aggressive towards my dad. He was walking around him, seeming to be stalking him as if he was prey. Fire was dancing from Agnidev's hands, reaching out as if to grab my father, but my father would not move from the spot upon which he stood. I couldn't tell if my dad was scared, or angry, or even talking, but through his stiff shoulders and clenched fists, I could tell he was on edge.

From what I knew of him, Agnidev was not below hurting people to get things his way.

"Please just go away, please..." I reached out to grab the bar to run back out, and it took every bit of focus for me to not do so. Agnidev was getting closer to my dad now, and the flames were now hitting his skin directly.

My pulse rang through my whole body, even as Agnidev took a few steps away from my dad. The fires on his hands went out, and for a few seconds, the two were both entirely still.

Then, my worst fear nearly happened.

Flames shot out from Agnidev's hand, flying towards my father like birds in a death dance. I couldn't stop myself at this point. I dashed out of the stairwell, hearing the door slam behind me before I even realized what I was doing. But, before I could reach my dad, he sternly held his hands up in front of him. From them, a very faint, almost invisible bubble spread across him, taking the force of the hungry flames with ease. When the fire subsided, my dad calmly brought his hands down to his sides, his face growing as cold as the snow on the ground.

For a moment, no one moved, and the only sounds I could hear were the wind and the ringing in my ears. Finally, Agnidev turned around, before slowly trekking to the edge of the roof. He didn't say anything as he jumped off, likely using his flames to carry himself down.

It felt like an eternity before I found the strength in my legs to walk the rest of the way to my dad. He didn't look at me, but when I got next to him, he simply wrapped his arms around me, pulling me close to him. It was still a few moments before he spoke again.

"If that man ever approaches you again, just run." His voice was just a whisper, as he held me even tighter. "Please, don't try to fight him. Just run."

"Dad, maybe we should get inside." I looked at my dad a bit closer. His eyes seemed unfocused, and I had a feeling that his shivering was not just from the cold. Taking my hand and placing it as gently as possible onto his shoulder, I started to guide him towards the stairwell. He went we me willingly, but I wished I knew what was wrong.

Until then, I had never seen my dad like that. I didn't want to see him like that ever again.