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“Orders up, hot stuff.”He winked.

The vulgar way he raked his gaze over her was nauseating.Charlotte was too tired to deal with the non-stop sexual harassment from Barry, the disgusting pig of a man who was the cook at Hal’s Diner.She hated her shitty job; she hated the cruel owner, Hal, who had boringly named the diner after himself.

How unoriginal.

She hated her tiny, crappy apartment, which she shared with Ava, her best friend, and because she couldn’t make ends meet with this job, Charlotte was about to knock off and head to her second job.More waitressing that she hated as well.

This was Charlotte’s life: a repetitive, boring cycle of working, eating, and restless sleep.

She was exhausted.For as long as she could remember, she’d been having terrifying nightmares.But over the past six months, they’d been happening more frequently, becoming so realistic and terrifying that the lack of sleep had started to disrupt her day-to-day life.

Charlotte had been a young girl when the nightmares first started.They’d been fleeting images of horrifying creatures she couldn’t believe were possible.She would wake screaming in terror.Her dear grandmother, orYa-Yaas Charlotte would always call her, was always there, pulling her into her warm embrace, soothing her, and wiping away her tears.

My angelos, don’t fear,she would whisper, making Charlotte feel safe again.

Her chest tightened, sadness washing over her as she thought of her beloved Ya-Ya.When Charlotte turned eighteen, she passed away suddenly, bringing the world as Charlotte knew it to a devastating halt.Her loss was almost too much to bear.

Charlotte pushed the sad memories away.

Lately, her nightmares had become increasingly intense.The dreams had gone from the creatures searching for something to suddenly deciding that Charlotte was the thing they were searching for.

The nightmare last night had felt so real… There had been a dark figure taunting her, whispering thatshe was hisand he wouldhave her soonover and over.All around her, thousands of people were screaming in agony while everything, as far as her eyes could see, was on fire.The frightening creatures had crept closer and closer, almost touching her.

Charlotte had screamed, waking herself, leaping from the bed, and huddling in the corner of her dark room, unable to block out the wailing she’d heard in her nightmare.There she had stayed, unable to tell what was real and what wasn’t, until Ava had burst into the room, shaking her back to the present.

There were times the nightmares would be so terrifying she was sure her heart would burst, and she’d die from fright.Other times, a dark, tattooed man with strange purple eyes came out of nowhere.He had beautiful black wings and would save her, sneak her away right before the creatures would find her.She had been a little girl when he’d first appeared in one of her nightmares.He’d found her hiding in a small cave on a hill.With gentle coaxing, he’d got her out, wiping away her tears from her little cheeks.He’d taken her tiny hand in his giant one, then picked her up, hugging her tight and promising her the monsters couldn’t hurt her when he was around.She had always called himthe big guy.The soft-spoken warrior.During the years, she had spoken to him about everything in her life.He had held her as she’d cried over the loss of her Ya-Ya.Comforted her through her teen years as she spoke of the stressful things happening in her life, problems that only a typical teenage girl would find overwhelming.She loved him like a big brother and was excited to see him whenever he would appear in her dreams.Charlotte always felt safer when he was there, trusting him to protect her.

He’s not real, idiot.None of it’s real.

She’d never spoken of him to anyone.She knew she was crazy.Knew how crazy it would sound if she ever spoke aloud about the winged man in her dreams, let alone the monsters.Her grandmother had been the only one to know about them.

“Charlotte.”Hal’s angry voice pulled her back to reality.“If you leave that food there any longer, I will take it out of your wages.”

The stern-looking Indian man would do it, too.He’d taken money out of her wages before for less.He loved to make her life, as well as the other struggling waitress’ lives, a living hell.

“Sorry, Hal, it won’t happen again.”She gave him a fake smile, quickly picking up the plates.

She glanced at the clock: 3:55 p.m.Five more minutes,she told herself as she made her way to the old, worn leather booth in the far-left corner.Three men who gave her the creeps sat there, watching her walk over to them.They’d been in every day this week, always sitting in the same booth, always watching her.

They had been sitting there for a good half an hour, and during that time, she’d caught them continually staring at her while she’d been moving about the diner.The way the men watched her made her inwardly shiver.Charlotte couldn’t put her finger on it, but there was something about the three of them that made her nervous.They weren’t right.Charlotte felt silly even thinking about it, but all week, she’d had the eerie feeling the men weren’t what they appeared to be.She got the same feeling from them that she got from the creatures in her dreams…RUN.

She couldn’t wait to get the hell out of there.Trying to ignore the unwanted fear that crept up her spine as she approached them, Charlotte plastered on her fake smile and placed their orders in front of them.

“Here you go, guys.Would you like anything else with that?”she asked, politely forcing herself to look at them.She couldn’t afford to lose any more tips.

The man sitting on the right side of the booth had shaggy red hair and a messy, long beard, and when he smiled at her in a disturbingly perverted way, he revealed repulsive yellow teeth.“How about you?Are you on the menu?”he chuckled.

The pale, skinny man with long, oily black hair pulled into a ponytail next to him laughed along, raking his gaze over her.

Charlotte’s stomach churned.The red-haired man said the same stupid joke every goddamn day.

Creeps!

She stood there, awkwardly staring at them.She’d never been good at sticking up for herself; that had always been Ava’s job.If she’d been standing here now, she surely would have snapped some amazing comeback, putting them in their place.

The man on the left turned to her, his bald head shining from the lighting above their table.His sharp features and bird-like nose made it hard not to stare at the odd-looking man.

“No, nothing else,” he said in a low voice, giving the red-haired man an irritated look.

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