Athena and Derek heard their class number being called to board and stood up. They walked over to the attendant and gave her their tickets. Once they were cleared to board, they walked down the runway towards the plane. They climbed into the plane and found their seats. They sat down and began to get ready for the two and a half hours flight.

Derek plugged his earphones in and leaned his head back. While Athena watched everything and everyone. Her stomach was flipping over and over making her want to throw up. She heard a voice come over the intercom and watched as the attendant went through all the safety precautions and what to do if any of them happen. Once the attendant was finished, she looked over out the window and watched as the plane slowly inched its way back and down the runway before stopping and preparing to take off.

Athena felt a hand grab hers and looked to see Derek staring at her with a worried expression on her face. He gave her a reassuring smile and she tried to give one back but failed. She was a nervous wreck and clasped tightly to Derek's hand. He flinched a little from how hard she was holding on, but he didn't take his hand away.

Athena watched as the plane picked up speed until it was so fast that she was certain they would crash from going too fast. Suddenly, she felt the plane leave the ground and her eyes widened when she noticed how high they were getting. Eventually, they were higher than the clouds and the ride was smooth.

She eventually let go of Derek's hand, plugged her earphones in, and leaned her head back. She let her eyelids drop and soon she was fast asleep.

☆

Athena woke up to the plane jumping. She opened her eyes and sat up quickly. She heard screams and looked around to see people trying to fasten their seatbelt tighter around their waist. The lights on the plane were turned off, but some were flickering.

Athena looked beside her to see Derek awake and looking out the window. The sky was darker than before, almost black. Rain pounded harder against the window and bright lights flashed from outside. A loud sound rumbled around the plane making it shake violently.

The plane jumped again and jerked to the right. Athena grabbed Derek's hand and held onto it. She closed her eyes and tried to ignore everything happening around her, but to no avail. She eventually opened her eyes and tried to calm herself down and trust that the piolet will help them through this.

Suddenly the lights at the front of the plane began to flicker on and off rapidly. Athena looked over at the flickering to hear a lot of screaming and a black figure up at the top. Athena couldn't see the figures face or any of its body that wouldn't be covered by the long black robe it wore. It floated towards Athena while leaving a trail of blood behind it. Once it was in front of Athena, it reached a bony hand out towards her.

Derek tried to step out of his seat and get in front of Athena but was unsuccessful. He was pushed back down into his seat by an unknown force.

The bony hand reached closer to Athena and was inches away from her face before a loud shrill was heard and the figure began to writhe around. It fell to the floor with a sickening crunch and Athena saw a strange looking knife in its back. Athena looked up to see where the knife could have come from and saw a young man around her age standing behind the figure.

The young man was pale and dress in all black. His black hair hung over his eyes and his almond-colored eyes stared at her with curiosity. It wasn't when another scream sounded he looked away and crouched down next to the figure. When he pulled the knife out, the figure disappeared. He stood back up, pocketed the knife, and sat back down in his seat as if nothing had happened.

Athena looked over at Derek and noticed that he looked as surprised as she was to see him. No one else on the plane seemed to notice either the trail of blood, the figure or the strange man that killed it.

Eventually, the plane and the storm outside calmed down and they were flying smoothly again. Everyone on the plane clapped and cheered, but Athena and Derek were too confused at what happened to join in on the celebration. She looked at the seat across the isle and saw that the young man wasn't clapping at all, but had a smirk on his face. She planned on catching up to him after they land and asking him what exactly happened.

Athena took a deep breath and calmed her heart rate down. She closed her eyes and focused on her breathing. Eventually, she fell back to sleep.

☆

Athena woke up again to someone shaking her. She opened her eyes and glared at the person interrupting her sleep.

It was Derek.

"Time to get off, Athena," Derek told her.

Athena unbuckled her seatbelt and grabbed her carry on. She looked across the aisle and noticed that the man was gone. She shook her head.

Maybe I'll find him in the airport, she thought hopefully to herself.

Athena and Derek walked down the aisle and out of the plane. They walked through the airport heading for the baggage claim and car rentals. While they were standing waiting for their bags, Athena spotted the man standing in a corner. She almost couldn't recognize him, with the shadows falling over him. Athena looked around and noticed that he was standing near the bathrooms.

She got an idea.

"Derek, I'll be right back." She walked away from him and towards the bathrooms. She looked over at the young man and made slight eye contact. Athena hoped that he somehow got the message.

Athena walked into the bathroom and waited for a few moments before walking out. Suddenly, she was grabbed by the arm and pushed against the wall. She was trapped in between someone's arms. She looked up and was met with the same pair of almond-colored eyes from the plane.

"Wh-Who are you?" she stuttered as she stared into his eyes.

He smirked and answered, "The name's Celso." His deep voice made her whole body tingle.

Hoping that she could avoid blushing, she asked, "Just, Celso? No last name?"

Celso shook his head and chuckled. "Nope. That's just my name."

"Oh, well, nice to meet you!" She held out her hand to shake his hand, but he just looked at it. "You're supposed to shake it," she said cautiously.

Celso looked up at her. "I know what I'm supposed to do." He still didn't shake her hand.

"Ok." Athena, now growing uncomfortable, looked away from his piercing gaze and put her hand down. She started to try to get away, but he locked her more in his arms.

He leaned forward and spoke in her ear. "I know you saw what happened on the plane." She shivered when his breath fanned against her ear. Athena knew he noticed that and smirked. "You need to forget about it."

Athena turned her head quickly to look at him. Her face was inches away from his. She had to compose herself before she continued with what she was saying. "Forget about that? You seriously think that I can forget about that figure, the trail of blood, and your weird looking knife? You're insane."

The smirk on Celso's face disappeared. His eyes became hard and Athena swore she saw a little bit of concern in them. "I warn you to stay away. Stay away from creatures like them and stay away from me."

"Why from you?" Athena asked before she could think.

Celso gave a small smile. "Just listen to me, please." He pushed himself off the wall and turned to walk away. Before he got too far, he turned back to Athena and gave her a smirk. Then he was gone.

Athena took a deep breath and shook her head. After she composed herself, she pushed off the wall and went back to where Derek was standing with the bags. She gave him a smile when she was close enough to him. She grabbed her suitcase and pulled it behind her.

Derek led them over to the car rental and soon got them a car. He took the keys and led them to their car. He stuffed all the luggage in the trunk and handed Athena the keys.

Athena slid into the driver seat while Derek got into passengers. She turned on the engine and got the GPS to take them to their hotel. Finally, they were on the road and headed to their destination. The car ride was silent for a while until Derek spoke up.

"You took a long time in the bathroom," he said while staring out the window.

Athena took a quick look at him before turning her attention back on the road. She turned left down a road.

"I hope everything turned out alright."

Athena slapped Derek in the back of the head.

"Ow! What was that for?" Derek whined while rubbing the back of his head.

Athena huffed. "You know good and well what that was for! And it's none of your business why it took longer than normal."

Derek laughed. "I caught a glimpse of you talking to that man from the plane." He paused to see if she would comment but she didn't so he continued. "I didn't like how close he was standing to you."

Athena rolled her eyes. "Oh shut up, Derek. Nothing happened. Calm down."

Derek looked over at her. "Alright, but if he did do something to you, you would tell me right?"

"Of course, Derek. I would be screaming if he did something."

Derek nodded, satisfied. "Good." He turned his attention back to the road.

The rest of the ride was met in a comfortable silence. Eventually, they reached the hotel and got their rooms. They separated into their rooms and Athena fell down on the bed. She still had more than half the day to waste, but she didn't know where to start. She decided to take a short nap and decide when she wakes up.