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“Are you drunk?”

I scoff and shake my head like he could see me. “No. I just—” I stop because the sentence falls apart halfway through. “The floor is doing a thing.”

“What kind of thing?”

“A very rude thing.”

“Where are you?” he asks.

“Outside,” I whisper. “I needed air. Or space. Or…I don’t even know. I can’t see clearly…”

“Are you alone?”

I open my mouth to say yes but I don’t. Across the street, under a streetlight, a plague doctor mask appears. I’ve seen him twice, I’m not insane. My stomach drops and I want to scream at him to leave me the fuck alone.

“Mireya?” Damien repeats, waiting for me to reply.

“I’ve seen that guy before,” I say, and my voice sounds wrong to my own ears. “Inside.”

“Who?” He asks on the other side of the screen. I forgot he was still on the phone.

“The bird doctor,” I whisper.

“Listen to me,” he says seriously. “I need you to focus. Are they moving?”

The figure tilts its head and I laugh, but it comes out shaky. “They’re doing that thing where you tilt your head so people think you’re mysterious.”

“That’s not funny,” he says. “You don’t sound okay.”

“I am okay,” I insist, even as my legs decide they’ve had enough of pretending. I slide down the wall until I’m sitting on the cold pavement. “I just need you to come here. Like, soon.”

“How soon?”

“Now soon.” My throat tightens. “I think someone drugged me.”

“What?”

“I don’t like this.”

“I’m coming,” he says instantly.

“You’re at least twenty minutes away.”

“I’m coming,” he repeats. “Where are you exactly?”

“Next to Oak street, by the pumpkins decor in front of the club everyone goes to.”

“Stay there. Don’t drink anything else and don’t leave.”

I smile faintly. “You always give orders like that?”

“Only when I’m worried.”

My voice softens as I reply, “Okay then.”

The plague doctor takes a step forward and my heart stutters. The street feels longer suddenly, emptier, and scarier. My body is paralyzed, and my eyes are not focusing on anything. I think I know this person.

“Are you still with me?” Damien asks. My fingers tighten around my phone as I reply a small “yes.”