A velvety black sky, speckled with tiny dancing stars, seemed to endlessly span over the bustling city that cold December night. Flickering lights and hustling pedestrians showcased the holiday fever that the whole city was radiating. Children cried, parents were on edge, millennials partied, clerks sighed, and everyone was trying their best to be jolly.

Deep within this chaotic concrete maze of gray buildings, high upon a towering rooftop, sat three still figures cloaked in shimmering white clothes. Solid as stone and keen as hawks, they sat, humbly tucked away in the deepest shadows. They watched the small street down below their trained gaze searching the ground.

A young man, huddled in a cozy black hoodie, emerged from a simple building down below, completely unaware of the three figures looming high above, watching his every move.

"There he is!" the slender figure sitting in the middle exclaimed eagerly, guiding her comrades eyes with a pointed finger.

They all watched intently as the man slowly shuffled his way across the sidewalk, eyes glued to the ground.

"That's him alright," the tallest one agreed with attitude. He folded his arms and turned to the strongest one, asking, "What do we do, boss?"

"For now," the powerful figure said. "We follow him home and make sure he gets there. After that, someone will take it from our hands until we can proceed with our assignment."

"I wish we could start our work now," the slender one sighed, her shoulders slumping. 

The boss shook his head, "He's not ready for us yet. He has to be conditioned, otherwise our words will mean nothing to him."

"I know," she sighed. "I still want to get started."

"Patience, young one," the boss chuckled. "You're eagerness to serve is inspiring, but we have to be patient."

The tallest frowned, "I just hope we can save him."

"As do we all." The boss agreed. "For now, let's follow him home."

The boss stepped backward. Suddenly, a pair of silvery wings unfurled from behind his back. They spread out and chased away the shadows with their glittering glow. The other two followed his example, their beautiful, feathery wings extending outward into the night. Each exchanged a glance with one another before nodding and taking eagerly to the chilly night air. Their wings kept them floating up above the city as they followed the lone man at a distance, watching him stroll through the night.

"Darn this new lock!" The metal keys jingled against each other as Tyler struggled to insert them into the shiny new door. He tried again to assert his dominance over the stubborn lock, but to no avail; it refused to budge. "I told dad I didn't need a new one! But of course 'he knows better'!"

After several more attempts, Tyler resorted to throwing the keys to the ground in utter frustration, "Why does everything have to be so difficult?"

Tyler sagged against the door in defeat. He shook his head back and forth and let out a shaky sigh, wishing with all his might that he could just give up. It was just not his day. 

With a new spike of determination, he faced the door again and shook the keys around for another moment. Finally, something in the lock clicked and Tyler shoved his door open, a gentle feeling of relief sinking in with his small victory.

The mundane apartment looked just as he had left it earlier that morning, simple and clean enough. Tyler made his way over to the main room, depositing his unforgiving keys on a table and settling down on the sofa. He whipped out his cell phone and clicked on the television for some background noise. After finally deciding on a channel that only showed old black-and-white films, he actually sunk into the cushions and felt the comfy pillows envelope his tired being. He enjoyed that feeling for a moment before turning to his cell phone to distract him from the night.

Next time Tyler lifted his sleepy eyes to check on a clock, the time read, 2:37 am.

A weariness descended on him at the thought of getting up tomorrow with such a lack of sleep. His glassy brown eyes traveled over to the doorframe of his shadowy bedroom. A sudden chill danced up his spine at the thought. 

There's was no way he was going to lay down in that bed and be faced with the possibility of those horrible dreams. He wouldn't let that happen on his watch.

Forcing his eyes to ignore the clock, Tyler glanced up at the flickering television with a yawn as he fought sleep with all his might.