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Warning: Contains kidnapping, yandere themes, sleep demons, sleeping paralysis
You were walking home after a long day of waitressing at a local restaurant. The sun set hours ago, it was dark out now and you did your best to stay alert as you walked along the main road to get back to the apartment. Not many cars were out but it felt safer than walking the back alleys. Tonight felt different though, maybe it was just nerves, but the air itself didn’t feel right. There was some dim lighting coming from the random street lights, that were few and far between. Glancing over your shoulder, you see a single shadowy figure moving from behind the buildings walking your way. You continued to watch the shadow and just lightly quicken your pace, still appearing normal. When you noticed the figure begin running, you broke out into a sprint, your heart hammered and you raced forward without looking back. Part of you felt a little silly, he was so far away when you saw him and didn’t even know if he was chasing you. But better to get a head start regardless, right? Your lungs started to burn the farther you got, but now you could hear faint pounding of him chasing after you. Panic started to scatter your thoughts, running blindly ahead. You turned to see how far ahead you were of your pursuer when your body smashed against a hard body. Your mind sputtered and soon all you could see was red blurs.
When you eventually came to, you found yourself in a large cage. Big enough to stand and move around in. There was a full size bed in the corner supplied with plenty of blankets and pillows. Glancing around the room gave you no help, just a few boxes here and there but not a lot to go on. It looked to be a basement or storage room. There were no windows either, no you had no idea how long you were out.
After what seemed to be a few hours, the large door at the end of the room began to open. You jumped up from your pile of bedding, scrambling to get out of the blankets. Bright light filled the doorway, but the silhouette was a dead give away. Hawks, number 2 pro hero…
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Hawks had been an amicable kidnapper so far, he allowed you out of the cage regularly to walk around but even when you were out, there were never any windows to be able to glance at the outside world. But while you were out of the cage, you were never left unsupervised. It almost made you feel like a new puppy, always being monitored to make sure you stayed out of trouble, then returned to your kennel before bed time.
You dreaded going to sleep. You would think that it would be the only time you could have a mental escape but not in these conditions. Probably for the last few years you have noticed that whenever in a new place or stressed you would experience sleep paralysis demons. For those that don’t know, sleep paralysis is when your mind is awake but your dreams overlap with reality. And while this is all going on, your body is frozen, unable to move or speak. In the earlier years you would see shadows behind doors and movie monsters standing over your bed. But since arriving here to Hawks’ cage, you were seeing something else. But at the same time, you weren't sure it was even one of the sleep demons.
The last few nights you have been seeing a large dark figure with glowing yellow eyes just watching you from corners of the room outside the cage. Your chest froze with dread, and felt like hours would go by as you struggled to breath under the stare of the other worldly being. Eventually your mind would shut down from exhaustion and let sleep take you. But that never gave you the answers if it was a sleep demon or just Hawks down watching you while your body was in paralysis.
That aside, lately Hawks had been much more talkative with you on your walks. Today was the day you were finally going to confront him about the subject. As you worked up the courage to speak up, you saw a slight twitch in his feathers. Hawks stopped and looked down at you. “Little bird… What are you thinking about?”
Oh right you forgot about the feathers being able to sense your vitals. You were caught off guard, now even more nervous and biting at your nail. You spoke softly, “I… I… Well.., Have you been coming back to my cage at night after you put me away to….. I don’t know….. watch me?”
He begins to chuckle at the question, “no”. He starts to walk off again then abruptly stops, without turning back around to speak again. “Why?”
You try and explain what you have been experiencing. Everything from the clinical golden gaze to the fact that you can’t even tell if it's real or not. “It kind of looks like you but down doesn’t feel the same, if that makes any sense.” Your head is down, trying to avoid any eye contact that could give him any more hints of how freaked out you are.
Hawks gently lifts your chin and bends down to your eye level. “When does it appear, how long after I leave you?” His voice is stern, almost a mixture of worry and anger.
“ I don’t know… I try and stay awake as long as I can but I will just randomly wake up in that frozen state and it’s in the room.” Tears burn in your eyes, you do you best to hold them in. “ The last few times it’s like he’s slowly getting closer to me, he isn’t close enough to touch the bars yet.” You close your eyes trying to take deep breaths now.
Hawks gingerly pats your head in an attempt to soothe your nerves. “It’s probably just a nightmare, I'll bring you some more pillows and blankets to try and make things comfortable for you down there. And stop trying to stay up, it's putting extra stress on you.” His wings wrap around you dominantly, “I’m sorry little bird, I can't trust you yet to let you stay out with me but I promise soon you won't have to spend the nights alone.”
*Hawks POV*
He wasn’t as concerned with the nightmares but what if there was actually someone there. What if someone with a transportation quirk had decided to come spying on him. That Hawks could not allow, he needed to be careful. Especially with his new baby bird, he just needed more time to train and groom you into what he wanted, he needed you to be comfortable with him. But apparently with this entity appearing around you nightly, Hawks would need to monitor you more closely.
This time when he walked you down to the cage, his feathers followed delivering an array of soft and fluffy pillows and blankets. He arranges them almost like a large nest on the bed, hiding feathers in the layers of bedding and also scattering some around the room as a precaution if this thing is an actual person sneaking in.
You slowly opened your eyes and felt yourself choke with fear. Laying on your side you were staring directly into the golden eyes of your demon. He just hovered beside you staring soulessly at you. You tried calling for Hawks and fought against the invisible restraints of your mind to allow you to clutch at the nearest feather but your mind kept a rigid hold on your body. Unable to move or speak you began to hyperventilate as you held the gaze of the demon in front of you.
Hawks jolted awake, and scrambled to his feet to race to you. He could practically taste your panic and fear through his feathers. He couldn’t detect anyone else in the room with you, but knew you needed him. He flew the remaining amount of the way to you bursting through the door. He found you trembling in the bed, staring at something unseen. He threw the cage door open and hugged you closely while embracing his wings around the both of you to block your view. “It’s okay little bird, I’ve got you” Hawks gently brushed your hair from your face and held you tight against him.
As if Hawks' touch magically broke the paralysis’s hold on you, you began sobbing and clutching frantically at his shoulders to provide you with much needed comfort. You clung onto him as he walked with you. Still wrapped in his wings, you had no idea where he was heading. You wrapped your legs around his hips and he readjusted you to get a better hold on you. His arms securing you from under your thighs. Your head rested against his chest, using his heartbeat to soothe your nerves, the tremors had not yet subsided but were much more controlled than earlier. He maneuvered you up the stairs and through the upper portion of his home.
“Okay little bird here we are”, he tried to lower you down off of him but you refused. Convinced that the moment you lost his touch, the fear and panic to rush back into your system. You locked your arms around his neck and buried your face into him. He chuckled and lightly stroked his hand down your back. He turned himself and sat down slowly with you. Lifting your face, you found that he brought you to HIS bed. A light gasp left you as you finally met his eyes. They were nothing like the soulless gold eyes that terrified you. But warm and full of life, tears clouded your eyes once again. How could you have ever mistaken that thing haunting you as Hawks, your savior.
“I get to stay here with you? I promise I’ll be good, I don’t want to go back down there anymore alone,” You spoke through choked sobs. You really meant what you said, Hawks made you feel safe. You had no desire to try and run from him.
“Shhh, I’m going to stay right here with you. I promise I’ll keep you safe and the nightmares away.” He positioned you in the middle of the bed and climbed up to you. He tucked you under the bedding and pulled you into him. “Sleep little bird, in the morning we can make breakfast together”. You nodded and nuzzled into him soaking up his warmth. This time, for the first in a while you fell asleep right away and without fear of seeing your demons.
Everything had finally fallen into place. Hawks couldn’t have predicted that sleep demons would be the final shove you needed to have you running to him, but the outcome was all the same. He breathed in your scent, sweet and now all his. He looked down at your sleeping form in his arms, taking it all in from the now dried tear stains to the vulnerable way you held onto him. He was so proud of you and how far you had come since the night he found you. Phase one was now complete.