#para;

After twenty minutes of heading in one direction through the common, she opened her bright blue lollipop and shoved it into her mouth after finding a bench to sit on. Van watched as people walked by all living quite normal lives. She wondered what it was like to exist without uncertainty. Unfortunately for her, before she could ponder it any longer, something brushed up against her leg. She quickly reached down to swat away whatever bug it was, but her hand came into contact with something furry instead. Before she could get a good look at it, it had disappeared. As soon as she looked up, she noticed somebody heading her way. 

She wasn’t sure what it was, but the overwhelming urge to blurt something out– true or not, overcame her. “The woman behind you uses q-tips to clean between her toes!” Van shouted, clasping her hands over her mouth almost immediately afterwards. What the hell was that? 

— 

There they were, minding their own business barbecue sauce all over their tiddies (though that was due to a misfortune mishap with a burrito experiment and not the fault of the park goers that particular day), and along came a string of words Teddy truly never expected to hear in that order. While their lips formed a purse, their head whipped around. Looking first to the q-tip abuser in question, then back at the one who had spouted this accusation like it was a fire hydrant exploding under pressure. The demon blinked the surprise away and settled into the meaning of the phrase. 

“Well, better a q-tip than like, fingers right?” Everyone had little weird things they did. The lady who allegedly had fastidious phalange routines, and the strange young girl who decided it was time to share that information. 

Seemingly to her own surprise. Teddy squinted, watching the way Van (not that they knew her name) held hands over her mouth. As if she hadn’t meant to say it. As if something was driving her to gossip. The demon’s head tilted as if the weight of the metaphorical book of supernatural phenomena physically took a toll on their noggin as they searched through it. Not really noticing that the girl was getting closer to them. 

—

Van carried herself in a way that could be reminiscent of a child that knew they’d done something terrible but had tried to cover it up anyway. Her head was bowed and her hands were clasped over her mouth still. She stared at the ground, the overwhelming urge to throw something about the person in front of her into the void now, too. 

They were covered in a sauce, and it smelt like barbecue. “THEY LIKE TO MAKE OUT WITH BARBECUE SAUCES WHEN THEY FEEL LONELY!” The words left Van and she felt her own astonishment rise in her. Her voice came out muffled, despite the volume at which she spoke. She was closer to them now, and she shook her head. “I’m sorry, I’m not sure–” 

The woman who she had accused of using q-tips was seemingly still upset about the sudden burst of misinformation, and the woman’s hand connected with Van’s shoulder, sending her hands first to barbecue lover. She did her best to avoid grabbing onto their chest, but grabbed their arm instead. “Sorry– sorry, I’m sorry.” Anxiety swelled in her chest and she turned around to glare at the woman who was now retreating, but not before hearing her say something about the person she was passing. Something about being married to pickles? Van looked over at the individual next to her with a mortified expression. 

—

A hearty chuckle rumbled out of the demon’s chest, clearly amused by all of these goings ons. Teddy beamed, and played their part. Or at least they planned to. Planned to pipe out a Romeo and Juliette worthy tragedy of barbecues lost and carnitas trapped within thin tortilla blankets. Instead, a staggered shout erupted about their new companion. “This one puts her hands in the cheese bar at the grocery store! Wiggles her fingies all up in the burrata!!” 

Just as Van had, Teddy’s eyes widened. Hands raced to clasp over their mouth, though with a little more glee than horror. Their mind filtered through a thousand things that could cause such an outburst, and settled on something that was ‘contagious’ but all together not that bad. A little fun even. “Did– Did you–” Between fits of giggles Ted tried their best to question patient zero. “Hehuehuh– Did you happen–to see a fuzzy little–” 

The moment Teddy made line of sight with another stranger another bout of gossip came tumbling out. “That man has a very personal relationship with his bird Kevin!” 

— 

“I don’t do that!” Somebody walked by them with a narrowed expression and Van shook her head, a nervous laugh leaving her. “I don’t do that, they’re–” She continued shaking her head before looking back to the person standing next to her. 

“Did I what? Fuzzy what?” She thought about the way her fingers had brushed against something, but she wasn’t quite sure if it was fuzzy or not, just that it had felt weird. Before she could actually think about whether or not anything had happened prior to the rumors spinning off her tongue, she caught eye contact with somebody who was walking their dog. 

“That woman’s dog hates him because he gives him dry kibble!” The dog looked mortified, which she didn’t think could be possible. The owner looked displeased at the sudden outburst. “I’m sorry, this– I don’t know what’s happening.” She looked at the owner pleadingly but they rushed past. Van looked back to the person next to her. “What is going on!” 

— 

Oh the poor kid– Teddy tried their best to aim their laughter inward. To make it seem like they were giggling at the situation as a whole rather than at the expense of the girl herself. “The dog farts in her owner's face because of the kibble thing!” Teddy shouted. “And they LIKE it.” They followed up. If the dog and its owner were briskly walking away before, they were jogging now. Almost at a sprint. Probably for the best. If either came in contact with the shouters, they might find themselves in a similar scenario. 

“Ahhuhah– No, no, you’re okay hun. It’s–” Okay, breathe Jones. This is serious. Not just seriously funny. “It’s not you that’s doing– THAT OLD LADY ORGANIZES HER SOCKS BY STANK.” Well there went Teddy’s composure. To onlookers, they might assume the pair was just two young dumb idiots being silly (or under the influence, but hey, the former was nicer to assume). Teddy was a bit too old to be called a kid anymore, but that didn’t mean they weren’t childish. 

“It’ll pass, you just gotta ride it out.” 

—

Van watched in horror as the dog and its owner practically ran away from them. She was disgusted by what her company had said. She winced at the thought, then looked over at them as they began to laugh. Were they laughing at her, or at the person running? She wasn’t sure. She felt uneasy. It was a permanent feeling now, she realized. 

Then, they interrupted their laughter by spewing more lies. Or, she thought these were lies. Van looked over at the old woman, before she was speaking on behalf of things she had no clue about, too. “That woman wishes that her grandkids would leave her alone because they only ever ask for money!” The old lady’s brows narrowed and she shuffled away.

“What will pass!?” Van asked. The urge to reach out and shake them took hold, but she fought it off, knowing that grabbing people randomly was fucked up. She inhaled through her nose and tightened her jaw. She didn’t like saying things about people, especially in public. It was terrible for her anxiety. A child and his mother walked by and Van practically screamed after them. “THAT MOM THINKS THAT HER CHILD WAS UGLY AS A BABY!!!” 

— 

The whole shebang was getting a bit too sour to be properly funny anymore. Teddy steeled themself, and tried their best not to look in any particular direction. Hoping that not seeing any new faces would quell the spell that had taken hold. Well. Not spell exactly. Effect was the better term. “It’s like– ahh fuck. You know the dancing plague in France or whatever?” There had been a recent entertaining video on youtube about it, maybe this kid would know. It was easier to explain it all away as a fluke of nature rather than something beyond the pale. 

The demon turned, taking a quick glance for the least populated area, and settled on a secret spot they’d found ages ago. It was not Teddy’s alone, but it was far more secluded than here. Beneath the weeping branches of an ancient willow, Teds beckoned the young woman to follow, as they kept a viscous tight lip seal on their rumor roosting tongue. “Under here. We can avoid people– Like Mr. Highwaisted pants over there, he thinks a flood is going to come and sweep us all away any–” A quick clasp and guilty expression and Teddy hoped she’d realize there was something else at play here. That it wasn’t just national shout obscene untruths day in the park. 

— 

“The dancing plague in France?” Van looked at them like they had three heads. What would she care about France for? And she wasn’t sure if that was even a real thing. There was no way somebody just danced and created a plague. Maybe she should have paid more attention in school to know that this was real. “Are you saying that this… we’re in a plague?” That didn’t seem right. 

Van watched as their head swiveled around, gaze pouring over the common. They then beckoned for her to follow, and though everything in her told her not to, she was doing so anyway. She thought about the number of things that had happened lately and she felt her stomach turn. “Why are we avoiding people?” It was obvious, even if she didn’t quite believe what was happening, despite it happening. She swallowed thickly, throat suddenly dry. She looked over at the man that her company began taunting, and winced as the man began to pull his pants up by his belt loop. “It’s because he stepped in gum on the way here and sold his shoes for fifty dollars.” Stupid. What even did that mean? What was she saying? 

“Is this like laughing gas? Only we’re telling lies? I haven’t even gone to the dentist in like, years. This isn’t possible.” 

— 

“Nah bad—” A pause, a second for composure. “Bad analogy. Forget it, unless I show you puppet history. It’s a whole thing.” Teddy never really knew where the line was with stuff like this. Did they play it close, acting as if they didn’t know, or did they sit and try to explain everything to someone who may or may not have any close calls with the stranger side of life, between fits of fancy falsehoods. The latter seemed a lot more complicated and this wasn’t exactly the daunting task Ted had set out to complete. 

They just wanted some ice cream to finish off what was a pretty decent lunch. Banana and barbecue carnitas burrito. A strange sweet and spicy mix that most would scoff at, and a very easy marker that whatever was spewing forth from their fables, was just that. Lies. The demon’s eating habits would make for excellent gossip with most offshoots from the badalisc line. Hell, Gabagool had chided the taller demon about it years ago. 

“Sort of works only on who you can see.” There was absolutely a sigh of relief when they realized the girl was following. No matter how sketchy it might have looked. It was probably better for both their physical (sorta, if someone got real mad) and emotional (mostly that one) safety that they ride it out amongst those who don’t give a shit. “Lying gas.” A good enough lie. Easier than the truth. “Yeah that’s it exactly. Must have been a leak. There’s a strange lab around here that experiments on all sorts of animals and people.” Was that the scuttlebad? Or was it just Teddy trying to make any of this sound convincing. Probably not the best thing that they weren’t a hundred percent sure. 

–-     

“Puppet history? What does Shane and Ryan have to do with any of this?” Clearly, Van had missed that episode. It didn’t matter, apparently, because her company was waving away the analogy altogether. Their expression was pinched as if they were trying to come up with an explanation they didn’t know how to approach and Van stood there in confusion as she almost always did. 

As Van listened to them explain that the rumors only spun off their tongues when setting their sights on a new victim, she tried her best to keep her eyes to the ground. She didn’t want to make up lies, and she wasn’t really sure why she was doing it to begin with! It was stupid and silly, but it could get somebody hurt if she didn’t watch out. People were sensitive. She knew that if she were on the other side of this, she would hold their comments to her chest like a second heart and let it plague her for days, maybe even weeks. 

“A strange lab?” Van’s brows furrowed and she started to look around, but caught herself and forced her gaze on an almost heart-shaped rock that was beneath the tree. “That doesn’t…” sound right, Van wanted to finish. But this town was strange, and she was beginning to accept that fact. “On animals and people? That’s fucked up. Can they just do that?” Now, she was a little pissed. “I feel like I should have signed paperwork? Do you think we can sue? This isn’t right.” She clasped her hands together, fingers pushing against one another in an anxious display of fidgeting. “What if they sue us?” The words came out in a whisper and she looked up at the stranger, worry etched into her features. 

—

Teddy quirked a brow, excited that there was another Watcher fan in town. But that was hardly the thing to stop on now, was it? Things got so complicated so quickly when they had to lie on the fly. The demon often preferred the truth, and now they were kind of wishing they’d just gone with it in the first place. 

Though– Maybe it was just that there were less people to gab about, but it seemed like the heaving waves of word vomit were slowing already. Teddy hardly felt the need to talk about Mr. Jenkin’s prized porcelain poodle collection. Thankfully everyone else had just been a stranger and not a customer or neighbor. They were more than sure the old man would not care for the accusation.  

“Ah yeah.” Tight lips pressed against one another, heavily considering the alternative to this outlandish lie. “Don’t think anyone is gonna sue us. Or that we can do much of anything about it. One of those….” Teddy trailed off into a sigh. “Look it’s not a lab, or anything like that but the real explanation sounds even weirder. Which is very Wicked’s Rest, but like, not government conspiracy shit. I just– don’t know if its something you’d wanna hear.” Some people didn’t take to the supernatural side of things very well. That being said, being in the dark in a town like this was probably more dangerous than actually facing half the creatures that ran around. 

— 

The stranger reassured her that they wouldn’t be sued and Van relaxed slightly. Her fingers continued to tap against one another in a pattern that was self-soothing. If she could focus on that, then maybe she wouldn’t need to think about the implications of spreading lies across town. What if these weren’t lies at all? What if she somehow had become adept to knowing people’s darkest secrets? What if the person in front of her really liked to make out with barbecue sauce? 

But then she thought about what they had said about her and it had been a blatant lie. Okay, so maybe not. She took a deep breath, trying to even out her thoughts. Van thought about the fact that this could have been a government conspiracy. That would make more sense than anything else. Maybe a truth serum gone wrong. They had those, right? She bit the inside of her cheek as she watched them. “What’s your name?” The question came quick, but she wanted to know what she was supposed to call her partner in crime. If they could even be considered that. “I’m Van, and not like the car. And I don’t want to lie anymore. That’s the truth.” She lied all the time. About how she was, as well as on the internet about who she was. Even if that confident persona was who she really wanted to be, did that matter? 

— 

Beneath the willow, a strange comfort began to pool around them. Partially because the effects of the scuttlebad were wearing off. And at least partially because of the strange runes Teddy began to inscribe in the dirt beside them. Nothing huge, Teds wasn’t sure they had the energy for that, or remembered all the words exactly right. And a ritual gone wrong would be just about the worst they could imagine right now. Van, (not like the car) as she explained, deserved better than that. 

“Teddy. You can call me Teddy. Or Teds, whatever you like honestly.” The demon offered a comforting smile, and nodded along with Van’s wish to remain truthful. A wonderful sentiment they wished more folks would adopt. “The lying should die down. Seems like it’s already starting. Look, you haven’t told me how I… dance on rooftops to Britney Spears or anything in a few minutes.” Though that might not be total fake gossip. 

“All of that–” Teddy gestured outward, waving their free hand towards the patch of grass they’d come from. “–was the result of a little creature called a scuttlebad.” Either Teds was about to sound insane, or it’d be a good little lesson. Who knew which it’d be? 

—  

“Teddy.” Van nodded. “Okay, Teddy. Teds, whatever I like.” She crossed her arms over her chest. She attempted to look bigger than she was, but she was still a pipsqueak next to this person. “Die down?” She blinked at them, still not quite understanding the science. “So it is… like uh..” she thought about it, trying to remember the side effects of laughing gas, but came up empty. 

“No, but you look like you would enjoy that.” She thought that maybe because she had already told a lie about them, that there was no more juice in it. Not that it made sense. She bit her bottom lip, worrying it between her teeth, and found herself deep in thought. Van was pulled out of those thoughts once Teddy explained that a… “What? A what?” She hadn’t ever heard of that name before. 

“So that’s what the government is doing? They’re calling the lying gas scuttlebads?” That didn’t make sense. But she had to accept that this was the government, because the government lied to its people all the time! It made the most sense. “That’s fucked up. We should overthrow the company doing that. Making people lie about stupid things.” Not that she ever would, she was too much of a coward.

—

The demon’s face scrunched. Yeah they fucked up with the whole government thing. “No– just.. Okay ignore all that. No conspiracy shit that was— that wasn’t the right way to go about this. Not if you want the truth. I’m trying to not–” Teddy sighed, they were rambling. Nine times out of ten the demon came off as cool, calm, and collected. But that was when they were using practiced scripts or barely improvised offshoots. This was different. This was high energy when they were trying to be calm. Their free hand pinched the bridge of their nose, while the other finished up the ritual it was performing. The circle of runes in the dirt beside them lit up, and gave them a bit of an idea. 

Time for show and tell. 

“Okay so. I just thought big bad government shit would be… easier to digest? But it’s more complicated than that.” They paused, considering how to phrase the next bit. “It’s also a lot less sinister. At least as far as intent is involved.” That was a good thing, wasn’t it? Teddy continued, this time taking their fingers and weaving a smaller ritual in between them. One that was meant just to illuminate, one that could show a small image of something if Teddy wanted it to. 

“There’s our world, animals, plants, fungi, single celled organisms or whatever, right?” The dirt began to glow, a subtle golden shimmer at first, but then an almost hologram-like projection popped out. Something like you’d see on a 6th grade science chart. Kingdom Phylum Classy Order Fast Food whatever. “Well, if you’ve lived in Wicked’s Rest for any amount of time, I’m sure you’ve noticed some… stranger things going on, right?” God they hoped this wouldn’t freak them out. They were trying. 

—

Teddy was telling her to now ignore the conspiracy theories. That didn’t make any sense. Was Teddy backpedaling because they were a government tool? Van stared at him open-mouthed, not quite sure what to make of their sudden explanation. And then things were glowing. Okay, maybe totally a government drone. 

She watched in horror as Teddy began to explain through something Van couldn’t quite identify. The ground was glowing, and all of a sudden, images were spread thin in an holographic manner across the dirt. Van felt her stomach twist with uncertainty. Obviously this person had… something, some kind of projector. She looked around for it, but still, there was nothing to tell her that this person wasn’t doing these things themselves. 

“You’re lying again, And that–” She pointed to the ground, uncertainty layering over her like a second skin, “that’s a lie, too, right?” Van didn’t want to see any of this. Couldn’t, if she were going to have a sound peace of mind. She needed to go, like. Right now. “I– No. No, this. No.” She shook her head at them, hands pressed flat against the space between them as if she were stuck in some kind of box. “No. That’s not real, this isn’t real. It’s government lying gas. That’s– that makes more sense! Stop lying to me.” 

—

It wasn’t working. Teddy felt their stomach sink as her expression changed from one of confusion and maybe a little stress to one of fear and something else Teds couldn’t quite catch. She was backing away, and calling them a liar. The very thing they were trying not to be. The demon sank further into themself. Suddenly feeling rather small. On the surface keeping that even keel, but below it was turmoil. A not-so-fond remembrance of so many times they’d faced something similar. 

This wasn’t about Teddy, not exactly. Just their words. Their failed explanation. But still it pulled at them in the same way it always did. Whenever someone found out that Ted wasn’t worth being around. That they should be feared and reviled and all those wonderful things that reminded them they weren’t human enough, and weren’t demon enough. Too different. Too foreign. 

They bit back on their own feelings. Offering an apologetic smile and scooting back. Giving her some space. “Okay just–” Teddy had fucked up. “Sorry. Sorry, this is too hard to explain–” Nothing was going to fix this. At least, nothing they could offer right then. “I’ll just leave you alone. Be– Be safe okay?” The demon nodded, and began their exit. Turning only at the last second to peer over their shoulder. Hoping for any change. “If you do want to talk about it ever, come down to Mephisto’s Repository.”

—  

Somewhere very deep down, Van knew that Teddy was not lying. That this truth, no matter how vicious, was the kind that was irrefutable. But she wasn’t ready. Wasn’t ready to understand that the world so many others spoke of was true, and it was binding. 

The disappointment that flashed across their features made Van feel incredibly guilty, but if she focused on it for too long, it would eat her alive. She couldn’t have that, not right now. Not when she was so incredibly fragile. 

“Kid,” he called into the treeline, not for the first time. He’d been talking periodically, trying to make sure his voice was heard. If he was lucky, she’d come to him. He didn’t think he’d be very lucky. He rarely was. Still, he kept going. “It’s me. Heard you had a run-in with something. Gael says you haven’t been around in a couple days. I’m just here to check on you, all right? Not going to make you do anything you don’t want to do, but if you’re hurt, I’m going to make sure you get help.” From someone who was better at that than he was. “And if you’re not hurt, I’ve got food. Can you let me know if you’re here? Please.”

—

What had been a decently tidy camp made from an old dumping ground had become more of an actual dump. Tornadoes had done less damage than the wreckage wrought by the angry hands with plenty to destroy, little to stop them from doing so. Papers, old drawings, journals, supplies, all strewn across the dusty ground. And in the center a hunched and pouting figure. Carefully watched by another. 

The cu-sith. The very same that had come along that day with the ranger, apparently followed the fae home. And now it sat like a silent sentinel. Watching the tiny crumpled kid shudder where no more tears or screams could come. 

Ren was in no state to notice just about anything. Far too in their own world of self discovery and destruction. The creature however, was far more perceptive. Responding to Emilio’s call with a protective growl. Standing over the nymph and guarding her from the voice that rang out in the woods. 

—

He heard it before he saw it. A low growl cutting through the quiet of the forest, immediately putting him on edge. The knife found its way into his hand like it had always been there, like it was a natural extension of the limb. If Ren was out here alone — which Emilio highly suspected was the case — anything else was a threat. 

Of course, he had no intention of leaving. He came out here to find the kid, to make sure she was okay, to coax her back to the safety of Gael’s house where there were no wardens with iron knives or slayers who loved them too much to let them go. He cared enough about Ren to know that other people could keep her safe far easier than he could, far better. But he also cared about her too much to give up. So he moved towards that growling, moved towards that danger. And he was afraid. Not for himself, but for what he might find there. Images of a living room floor flickered in through the cracks, and he shook them away. Now was not the time to worry over ghosts.

The growls lead him to a campsite… or what was left of one. Things were strewn all over, fury clear in the chaos. Ren sat at the center, clearly hurt and distraught but alive. Emilio let out a breath he hadn’t meant to hold, relief settling over him so heavy that he nearly stumbled beneath the weight of it. And above her…

Langley had mentioned a cu-sith, hadn’t he? Emilio didn’t know much about them. Bits and pieces here and there, things Rhett had told him. Enough to know it wasn’t a threat to Ren. Enough to know it probably was a threat to him. It seemed to zero in on the knife he hadn’t yet put away, and Emilio quickly tucked the blade into his pocket, holding his hands up in an attempt to communicate that he meant no harm. He wasn’t sure it’d work on the creature, but he wasn’t as worried about it as he should have been. Instead, he looked to Ren. “Hey, kid,” he greeted lowly. “You with me? Been worried.”

—

“It will not leave.” The tiny voice came out from the hunched figure. Raw, crackling, and clearly having spent a good long while under duress. She was referring, of course, to the creature that still stood over her. That eyed Emilio suspiciously, but made no move to go after him. It seemed warily content with the gesture, seeing as the kid didn’t seem too agitated by it. If anything, Ren was far more concerned with the cu-sith itself, how it hovered protectively no matter what she did. No matter how much she shouted at it, thrown things. It came back. It stayed. It tried to lick at the bite it left, either from guilt or care. Tried to bring her dead things to eat. But Ren just wouldn’t budge either. 

The growl stopped as Ren’s hand drifted absently to the canid’s side. Stroking the fur that sat beneath the moss and leaves. Evidence of her state was just about everywhere. Bloody knuckles that echoed the massive dents in the upended cars scattered around the dump, her leg still unbandaged, now with two wounds instead of just one, a thin coating of dirt almost everywhere. It was like she hadn’t moved from this camp in days. Hadn’t done anything but thrash about, destroying as much of this place as she could, and hurting herself in the process. 

“Why will it not leave?” 

—  

She looked like shit. Sounded like it, too. And Emilio hated himself for not checking on her sooner, for waiting until Kaden told him he’d run into her before realizing she was gone. He should have been out here days ago, hunting her down and doing something worthwhile, should have found her before things got this bad. He’d been so distracted lately. The anniversary of the massacre came and went in a haze of whiskey and grief, everything else numbed by the date on the calendar. It was no excuse. He should have done something sooner; he knew that.

“It likes you,” he said quietly, taking a step closer with his eyes still on the cu-sith. It didn’t make a move to attack him, so he risked another step and another, until he was crouching beside her in the dirt. “It’s got good taste.” The joke fell flat, because he was bad at this. At the comforting, at the being there for people. He wasn’t sure how it kept falling on him. Ren, Nora, Leticia, Andy… every one of them deserved someone who was better at this than he was. “It’s a cu-sith,” he elaborated. “They like fae.” He knew she’d hate that, knew she hated anything that reminded her of what she was, but he knew she’d want an explanation that was real, too. “Will you let me take you back to Gael’s? Somebody needs to clean you up.” And it can’t be me. Even if Emilio did know anything about first aid that wasn’t just slapping tape over a wound and hoping for the best, his hands were shaking a little too much to be useful. “You can’t stay here, kid. Not like this.”

—

Perhaps there was more to the steadiness of the cu-sith than the hand on its shoulder, the way it eyed the detective with a knowing look. Seeing something that Ren hadn’t even known. A past case, a freedom won. The nymph made no move to look around. She was too tired to move. Sleep evaded her on the best of nights, this last week? Well… it was safe to say she did more screaming than resting. Her head lolled forward, releasing all weight from her neck, dangling there like a leaf too stubborn to finally be felled by the cool winds of fall. “It should not like me.” 

Ren knew what it was. Of course she knew what it was. She even knew that they were supposed to like fae but that didn’t excuse the behavior. Its or hers. There was a guilt to her actions, to the fact that she hadn’t gone home. But the longer she waited, the harder it was. Worse, the way she took out her frustration, her confusion, and her bitter sadness at the beast who only wanted to help her. Just like Emilio. Just like Gael. Just like everyone in this goddamn town. 

“If…” Time was good for one thing, allowing the young nymph to endlessly rehearse conversations that may or may never happen. To come up with the explanation. To excavate her thoughts beneath those hard won callouses of propaganda and misinformation. “If it is kind that means—” Ren bit at her lip and felt the soft salty touch of a tear she thought she was much too dried out to cry. “It means I have been hurting things that are not evil. It means I–” She’d killed people. Who didn’t deserve it. People who were probably just… people. Going about their business. She’d only seen the worst in them because of the lens she’d been crafted to wear. 

“I cannot go there.” 

—

“Why not? I like you.” Again, a teasing lilt that fell flatter than it should have. If he were able to focus on the cu-sith instead of the kid, he might realize that he recognized it. Most animals looked more or less the same, but Emilio made a point to memorize every goddamn one of them that escaped from Joy’s shitshow, checked the papers every day to track attacks so he could trace them down. A few had been returned to where they belonged, but not all. Not this one. And he’d hate himself for it later, because he always did. But right now, there was a kid who needed his help and a father’s instinct that hadn’t died when his daughter did.

He ached a little as Ren spoke, because he knew that feeling. He remembered the aftermath of the massacre, the realization that while vampires had been the one to rip his family apart, his uncle had been the one to show them how. There were bullets, and there were the people who fired the guns. Both were guilty — Emilio wouldn’t absolve himself of his own sins so easily — but there was so much more intent behind the person pulling the trigger. And Ren? She was a kid. Raised to hate herself and anything like her. She’d blame herself for it, anyway; he knew that. But that didn’t make it her fault.

Glancing to the cu-sith again, Emilio settled into a seating position. “I don’t know how many vampires I’ve killed,” he said quietly, rolling a blade of grass between his fingers. “How many zombies, how many mares, how many furies. When we were kids, me and my brother figured we’d keep track of it. Like a scoreboard, you know? But you lose count, after a while.” He’d been much younger than she was now when that count was lost, and still so excited about it. He used to think he would save the world. All he’d ever managed to do was make it worse. “I, uh… I can’t change what I’ve done. You can’t change what you’ve done, either. But we can both work to be different from now on. Redención, you know, forgiveness… It doesn’t happen overnight. You gotta do the work. Figuring out you want it, I think, that’s the hard part. And you’ve done that.” Maybe not in the healthiest of ways, but she had. “Next step is just… trying to be better, right? And I can help you, if you want. You can help me, too. Maybe we learn to be better together.” 

She was more redeemable than he was; he knew that. Emilio wasn’t a scared, lost kid. Emilio didn’t realize the error of his ways before he spiraled too far to be saved. Hell, Emilio wouldn’t have changed at all if external forces hadn’t dictated it. He’d probably still be killing any vampire he came across if he hadn’t lost everything to them. Even now, he killed the ones he figured deserved it without thought, without guilt. But Ren was better than he was. He could see that. Anyone could. Hesitantly, he tapped his knee against hers. “As for that house… Somebody told me, uh, not long ago, that you don’t get to decide if you’re worthy of someone’s trust in you. They get to decide that. And it seems to me like Gael’s decided it. So don’t take that choice from him, kid. Or from me, or from anyone who’s made it. Let people feel what they feel. Even if it means they care about you.” Maybe especially then.

—

In a way, Ren wished it had been raining. Wished the sky reflected the open weeping wound her heart ached with. But no. It was sunshine and warmth. Felt undeserved and wrong. Made skin already sticky with grime feel even more so as whatever hydration she had left evaporated with her sweat. The hard lump in her throat proved a better shield than expected. Kept most of her practiced paragraphs from exiting in the way she wanted. Kept defiant responses to a scoff. He liked her. Gael liked her. How long would it be until she got them hurt somehow. Failed to save them from something like her. Something that was monstrous, not because of what she was, but what she had done. 

“I remember them.” A few times folks had remarked on their inability to account for things. The only bits of Ren’s life that had been forgotten were the ones magically taken away from her. Eidetic. Perfect picture clarity. Perfect sound, smell, the weight of the blades in her hand. The weight of the bodies that slumped under their perfectly applied pressure. How it felt to dispose of them. Fae didn’t disappear like the undead. You had to deal with the consequences. You had to carry that weight to the grave, literally and figuratively. 

This wasn’t like the fight they’d shared before. Ren’s tone wasn’t defensive, wasn’t parroting things that had been shoved down her throat since before she could talk. She was thinking for herself, for perhaps the first time. Coming to terms with what it meant. “Gael is a good man. He is normal. Not like us.” A slight shift, a shared guilt, and Ren’s hand slid over to where Emilio sat. Lacing a pinky finger into his. The cu-sith settled too, deciding to nestle in around the pair. Providing support for both their backs if they chose to lean into it. 

“I cannot understand why he is so nice. It feels…” Wrong? Sour? Heavy? “It feels like I am setting him up for disappointment. He knows what I am but he does not know. Does not understand that I have killed many of my own. How can I just… pretend like it is normal?” Ren’s face still hadn’t lifted, nor had her tone. A flat tuneless stretch of words. “I do not deserve normal. I do not deserve to have… family like this. He should leave just as my parents did. Or perhaps I should leave. I–” A long sigh, and Ren’s green eyed gaze lifted skyward. “I do not know anymore. I do not know anything.”  

—    

“I know you do. Probably makes you better than me.” She’d hurt people, but at least she remembered them. At least she hadn’t done what Emilio had and seen them as so insignificant that she’d forgotten their existence at all. For her, redemption was still possible. A rocky road, maybe, but a clear path. She could make up for the things she’d done, because she was a child who someone had lied to, a prisoner of war who’d been fed self doubt and hatred all her life. She was never meant to be this, was never supposed to be a hunter any more than Nora should have been raised by humans who hadn’t known enough to tell her what she was. There was so much cruelty in the people who’d brought her up. If he ever met them in person, he didn’t think she’d forgive him for what he’d do. He didn’t think he would, either.

That wasn’t to say they wouldn’t deserve it. Emilio was a piece of shit; he knew that. He was a bad man, a monster that lived under someone’s bed, a knife with so much blood on the blade that you couldn’t see the shine of the metal underneath. But even he couldn’t make sense of Ren’s ‘family.’ Of what they’d done, of how they’d raised her. To take a child and feed them hate their entire life, to tell them they were inherently evil just for being what they were born… If anyone had done it to his daughter, he would have soaked the ground in their blood until nothing could hope to grow from the soil. Ren deserved better. Anyone would, but especially Ren. She was kind. She remembered the people she’d hurt. She cared, despite all attempts to take it from her. 

He was glad she had Gael, at least, even if he’d never say as much aloud. If Emilio was a shining example of all the things she shouldn’t strive to be, maybe Gael could act as the opposite. He was a little naive sometimes, sure, but Ren was right — he was a good man. Not like Emilio. “I don’t know about normal,” he said, thinking of all the pieces in the puzzle that were Gael’s ‘bear attack’ and what they meant, “but he’s a good guy. You’re right about that. But you can learn from good guys, right? You’re a quick learner.” He’d seen that much.

Her touch on his hand drew his eyes downward, and he looked at where she’d intertwined their pinkie fingers together. Warmth spread through his chest, and somehow, he felt guilty for it. Feeling warm when she was in this state, when people like him were the reason for it… It was something to be ashamed of. Everything was something to be ashamed of, really. “You do,” he said quietly. “You do deserve normal. Kid, you were — You were forced into a life that wasn’t supposed to be yours. Somebody made that choice for you when you were too young to know any better. You’ve been away from them for, what, a couple months? And you’re already seeing that they weren’t right about everything. You know how hard that is? Maybe…” He trailed off. “Maybe you’ve done bad shit. But maybe you wouldn’t have done it if you were where you were supposed to be. Maybe this is proof of that. You’re allowed to grow, kid. To change. To be better. You’re allowed to give yourself a damn break, too. Your parents leaving…” If they had at all, though part of Emilio suspected something more sinister. “That’s not on you. You were a baby. All a baby is supposed to do is exist. And no half decent parent would ever leave their kid like that. So that says everything about them, and nothing about you. Okay? Gael wants to stay. He wants you to stay. He told me that much. So… Let him stay.”

—

In the quiet of the woods, with someone who knew the kind of things Ren had gone through, the nymph was able to find a little peace within the turmoil. She wrestled with that. Ached with it. Guilt was a strong force that guided most things she did these days, even if it was far more aimless than it ought to be. She listened. Ren had always been pretty good at listening. Maybe it was the only thing she was really good at in the end. Emilio didn’t think himself a man built for comfort or speeches, but his words were a providence all their own. Everything she needed to hear. 

She was quiet. More than usual. This time out of reverence, of contemplation. The Cu-sith rumbled itself forward slightly, wormed its massive head onto Ren’s lap. Which in turn pushed the tiny fae a little closer to the hunter. She didn’t mind. The support on all sides was welcome, and she even leaned into it. Leaned against Emilio in a way she hadn’t before. In a way she might not ever have if she hadn’t allowed Gael into her life, hadn’t finally felt how nice a hug could be. 

“If…” A soft spoken voice finally broke the sweet sounds nature had to offer. “If it is possible, I would like to get better. I would like– if we could… figure it out together.” Wind rustled the leaves, branches heavy with the early summer boughs. Birds sang, bugs buzzed. It was peaceful, here in the dump. Whenever Ren wasn’t making a mess of it all. Whether or not he’d believe it, the detective had been one of the most solid rocks the fae could hold on to. Something about his understanding, his context, made it so much easier to attach. The world could turn, oblivious to those upon it. Every day would bring something new. Challenges, set backs. But if Emilio Cortez said they could step forward, said they could find a way… maybe it’d be okay in the end. 

Every saint has a past, every sinner has a future. 

— 

She leaned against him, and Emilio hesitated for a moment before wrapping an arm around her shoulder, letting his hand rest on her arm in a quiet show of comfort he’d never been allowed himself. He remembered sitting in the woods, leg a mangled mess and mind in worse shape than that, when Rhett bound out of the trees and pulled him into a tight grip that a man could only manage when stumbling upon a man instead of a corpse, when a beating heart was found instead of a dead one. Other than that, how many people had held Emilio in the interest of comfort instead of hurt? He figured Ren’s past was very much the same. Worse, maybe. He’d had Rhett, sometimes. Who had she had? 

Maybe he could provide a better answer to that here. Maybe he could do for her what Rhett had done for him in those woods two years ago. He was built to either bury the dead or turn them to dust, but maybe he could do more than that, too. Maybe he could speak them back to life, just as Rhett had in that clearing in the woods. Emilio couldn’t redeem Ren. She had to do that herself. But he could let her know that it was okay to want it, that it was something that she could achieve. And didn’t that count for something?

He swallowed as she suggested that they get better together, tried to determine if getting better was a thing he could do. Ren was a kid. Emilio wasn’t. The things he’d done, he’d done himself. He had a wife who had hated him, a daughter he’d failed to protect. There were people who could find redemption, he knew. People like Ren, who realized they wanted it before it was too late to grasp, who decided to make that change for the better before the hill they had to climb to get there turned itself into a mountain. There were people who could be redeemed. 

Emilio Cortez was not one of them.

But he could pretend, for a little while. He wasn’t fae; he could lie if he had to. He hated it, hated lying to her, but it was a necessary evil, sometimes. You told your kid you were going to bed at eight o’clock at night in hopes that she’d get some rest herself. You told your wife you’d put a knife in your daughter’s hand tomorrow or next week or in a month and you packed a bag in secret. You told a kid in the woods that you were a half decent person so she’d let someone care about her. It was part of it, wasn’t it? Part of the thing Emilio didn’t let him say aloud anymore, part of what had died on that living room floor. It was part of it.

Nora showed up to the swimming hole and instantly started stripping down to her stolen bathing suit. Nora hated it. It was pink and covered in an amount of flowers that should be illegal. It had been the only thing in her size that she could get her hands on. Where were all the cool bathing suits? Nora wanted a simple one that made her look like a skeleton? Was that too much to ask for? Now she was in a pink frilly abomination. If Teddathan Jones said anything about it, Nora would bite his ankles while pretending to be a shark. That was a threat and a promise. 

Babadook was first into the swimming hole. Her dog splashed his way around, as Nora sat at the edge. Instantly she floated back to the surface, and lay there splayed out. She loved swimming. Nora wondered if it was the bear in her, or if she’d still love to swim if she was human. Eventually Nora caught the familiar scent of Teddy. “You’re late.” Nora told him. She wasn’t sure. Nora didn’t remember what time they agreed on or what time she’d gotten there. “Give me the baby.” Nora swam to the edge of the pond, hands reaching out.  

—

Another day, another retreat to the hidden pool. Nestled between a smattering of old growth trees, and a new growth of strange purple crystal. Teddy paid it little mind. Or at least they tried to. It matched many of the ones that seemed to sprout up overnight, taking a great deal of civil infrastructure with it. Roads were a mess, even more now than with the very worst bout of frost eves that Maine had seen. Houses had been upended, the commons were a mess. It was a lot. Even Teddy’s docking spot was taken out by one of these massive crystalline structures. Prompting the demon to leave their boat beside their dad’s house. Which was fine, it was out. Galavanting off in Greece with its new toy. 

Of course, that had the younger demon musing on how Alan felt about it. Leviathan was no stranger to spreading its… love… around. But Alan seemed like the type who preferred something more one on one. Would he be jealous? Would there be a fight? More questions that Teddy didn’t need to ponder right now. The only thing that should have been on their mind was how warm the water was, and how big Pascal was getting. It was only in comparison to the tiny swimmer that they really realized that the little otter was not so little any longer. 

“Here you go, Auntie Alice. Also, excuse you–” With a free hand they used it to ruffle the bugbear’s hair “I’m exactly on time. I had to stop to grab your snacks.” Teddy stuck a tongue out as they handed over the squirming bundle of squeaks. As delighted to see the young bugbear as she was to see him. Something that brought a delighted brightness to the demon’s heart. Just as soon as the otter was safe in her arms, the demon bolted. Racing for the large rock that overlooked one side of the pond, the deeper side, and made for the largest splash they could manage. Shirt lost somewhere between the beach and the not-so-springy springboard. 

— 

The bundle of soft fur and tiny paws was placed in Nora's arms as she did her best to dodge the hair ruffling. Nora stared up at Teddy, her brown eyes marking a small question as she noted the action used for endearment. A warmth spread through her as she acknowledged that she was really doing this. She was really making friends with people who knew she was a bugbear and wanted to be around her. Teddathan had mentioned how cool it was before, the fact that she was a bugbear. For a moment, Nora had been on edge about it. How did he know? But of course, he'd seen her illusion at the electronic store, so she shouldn't be surprised. There were people in this world who knew what things were. Most of them just happened to reside in this town. 

Nora planted three kisses on the little otter before letting Pascal free of her grip. She watched as the otter swam circles around her. Turning in the water, her arms splayed out to keep her head above water. Even Babadook doggy paddled his way over, giving the otter a quick and loving lick. "My snacks should have been on hand already." Nora talked a lot of game for someone who relied on the people around her to keep her fed. Well, she could always steal her food, she'd done that for two years, but life was easier when she knew she'd get a meal every day that she didn't have to plan for. Nora watched as Teddathan ran for the jumping walk, ducking under the water just in time to avoid the splash zone.

Could it count as avoiding the splash zone if she was voluntarily getting soaking wet? What were the rules on that one? Nora followed Pascal, as the pair swam to where Teddathan had fallen into the water. "Weak," Nora announced as she surfaced. "Needs more splash." Did it? Nora didn't know. She'd been under the water and not looking. "I expected better from you, Teddathan." Nora nodded sagely while giving Pascal little tiny chin scratches. God, she loved that otter so much. 

— 

Teddy came up for air long before they needed to. Water was a second home to them. If they wanted, they never had to surface at all. But today was lovely. Sunny without being too bright or hot, not really muggy or buggy or anything that’d have your skin aching for a shower. Even the algae in the natural pool was playing ball with the idea of it just being chill. “You didn’t even see.” Teddy, unlike most who walked on feet rather than fins, was quite adept at seeing under water. Seeing that the little bear was far and below the surface and had her eyes closed. 

Pascal beeped and squeaked as he swam between the pair in little tightening circles as Teddy drew closer. Half intent on dunking Nora to show what a terrible sport and mischievous little shit they were. Their long arms lolled out of the water menacingly only to hover mid-air as something caught his attention. A loud thump coming from somewhere beyond the treeline. 

“Did you hear that?” The demon blinked, tilted their head to listen and waited for it to come again, but no. Nothing. Not even birdsong. Instinctively, they paddled a little closer to shore, putting themselves between where the sound had come from, and the kid he’d come to like quite a lot. The little sister that they’d never had. 

“That wasn’t one of yours, was it?” Subtlety wasn’t usually Nora’s game. At least as far as Ted could tell. Though they wouldn’t mind if the bugbear was practicing something new on them. There was something thrilling and wonderful about being scared. About the highs that followed. Especially when it came from someone like ‘Alice’ who was pretty amazing at creating a ghastly ‘wonderland’. 

— 

The thump caused Nora to whip her head around, droplets splattering around her from her hair with the sudden movement. She did hear that. The weird thing was, she couldn’t smell that. Nora sniffed the air. She’d gotten very good at keeping track of the scents in the area, and all she could smell was their group, the water, and the surrounding flora. Teddathan had swam between her and the noise. That was very sweet of them, but as far as Nora knew, Teddathan was just a regular human. Nora was a bugbear and an axis apprentice. Hunter apprentice? What did Emilio training her with a knife and stake make her? Whatever. Didn’t matter.

Nora ducked under the water, swimming to the edge and pulling herself out of the water. She wasn’t scared, whatever this was. Hopefully it was just a friend waiting to be made, but if it wasn’t she was pulling Slayer out of her overall pockets. “Not one of mine.“ Nora noted back to Teddy, her eyes scanning the horizon. This was what she’d been training for, ever since that night with Debbie. Protecting those around her so no one would get hurt. Teddathan and Pascal were in safe hands with her.

The tree next to Nora moved. Nora turned to face it full on. This was not normal. Nora came to this clearing basically every day. This was where she did all her nightly knife drills, and here was her usual tree target moving. One of those weird purple crystals was gutted through its weird, misshapen trunk that had months of knife marks etched into it. A gaping maw opened in that distorted trunk, at the same time branch like arms reached forward and grabbed Nora.

Later she would kick herself for this. What was the point of all her training if she was just going to do nothing when the time came. It wasn’t like she was scared or anything. It was just, well the tree was cool! She wanted to see it do more, she didn’t realize that more was going to be it grabbing her and wave her around in the air like it just didn’t care. 

—

Before Teddy could protest, Nora was swimming forward. A leapfrog of who got to be in the most danger. And while the demon was very quick in the water, they were far too focused on seeing through the forest to notice the tree. No, not a tree. A Treepy. Capital T, ready for capital punishment. So it seemed. The thing scooped up Ted’s little buddy like it was nothing. To be fair, she was quite small and it was… well it was a goddamn tree. 

The demon scrambled, leaving Pascal in the safe care of Babadook as they rushed forward trying to get the creature to drop Nora. Hopefully over the water, though being a bugbear she’d probably be a bit heartier than the average young adult. Teddy wasn’t thinking smart. Just hoping for distraction. They charged headlong into the trunk. Splinters of angry chipped bark lodged themselves in the demon’s shoulder and chest, and barely did anything to stop the angry pine. 

It did notice them, however. And wouldn’t you know it, the thing had more than one branch capable of lifting, grabbing, and throwing. Teddy flew through the air like a demonic wiffleball. Slamming back against a rock formation… no. One of those stupid crystals that had popped up everywhere. The kind they had tried their best to avoid. A sharp pain just below their shoulder blade was the least of their concern. The treepy still had– “NORA, fuck– hold on I’m– I’m gonna get you!” Teddy hadn’t meant to snoop on the kid’s real name. Well, they hadn’t meant to use that knowledge before she had a chance to share it herself. Oops.

What came next was quick, raw. Teddy’s human exterior all but shattered as the beast inside grew. Big enough to wrestle a tree, angry enough to break it in half. The demon  (often known as Big Finn around these parts) leapt and fared much better than the scrawny two legged tackle they had tried before. The tree groaned and creaked, fighting back as much as it could but Teddy was a tidal wave. They pinned the branch to the ground so Nora could escape, then pinned the rest of the tree so it could be taken care of. 

— 

Nora was being waved like the barbie doll of a petulant toddler, who didn’t want to put her toys away and go take her evening nap. First Nora was up, then Nora was down. Then Nora was being shaking a bit. Nora felt her stomach protest from the shaking. She did not expect to be on a monster amusement ride, and did not eat according food. Worst of all, Slayer, practically a toothpick compared to this thing, was doing nothing. Nora was stabbing and slashing like her life depended on it, and it probably did, but the tree didn’t even seem to notice.

Then she had to watch, helpless, as Teddy got thrown back into a burst of crystal. Nora let out a low groan. Fuck. How was she supposed to be a protector, if she couldn’t even protect people from a fucking tree? Nora kicked at the branch that held her, only resulting in her big toe screaming at her in pain. Right. She wasn’t even wearing shoes, much less her kicking boots. This was exceedingly frustrating then.

Then for the second time in her stay at Wicked’s Rest, Nora was met with the knowledge that someone in this town knew who she was and had done nothing with the knowledge. Despite the dire situation, Nora recognized the buzzword that was her name, used by the same mouth that had just called her Alice moments before. How long had they known? Had it been this whole time? And just like Emilio, they played along because it was what Nora wanted? It was… It was nice to know.

Not as nice as knowing about the giant fucking beast Teddy was turning into. A giant fucking kaiju of a beast. Something that Nora took so many mental pictures of because she knew she’d be drawing Teddy until the end of her days. The giant creature pinned the tree down, and Nora scrambled out of the way, going straight for her camera so she could snap a few pictures. “So fuckin’ cool.” She hadn’t meant to say it out loud, but Nora was entranced. If she’d known that turning into a giant monster was an option, she would have taken that over being a bear. “What are you?” The kaiju was busy tearing up the tree, but Nora was tentatively touching his back leg’s scales. Her hand touched, just like she knew it would when it pinned the tree. Not an illusion. Real. Sick. Nora needed to know everything about this right now. 

—

The beast made quick work of the old tree. Normally Teddy wasn’t one to outright kill another supernatural creature, least of all one that was generally well mannered like a Treepy. They usually only went after things that deserved it, or at least who had been in the very wrong place at the very wrong time. Maybe this was more like that. If the demon was thinking more clearly they might have noticed the purple glow coming from the thing’s trunk-maw. How it was uncharacteristic for the species and should’ve been a more forest-y green. 

Instead, the demon was acting like a woodchipper. Ripping the thing to shreds for having touched someone the demon cared about. While Big Finn was still Teddy, it was in many ways just more exaggerated. Larger than life, fueled by emotion and lots of fish. When it was finally satisfied that the tree was no more than splinters that coated the ground below, it finally relented. 

There was a touch and a soft voice coming from behind them. Feeling accomplished and proud the creature turned, beaming with a massive toothy grin. They hadn’t thought about the fact that they were revealing themself in front of the bugbear. If they had, they might not have acted so quickly. Though… fear and monsters tended to be Nora’s thing. Judging by the almost-expression she wore, she didn’t seem dismayed by the form at all. Excited, if anything. 

“Well, this isn’t exactly how I planned on clueing you in.” The voice came not from the beast directly, but impressed into Nora’s mind. Only a low rumble, sounding like something of a guttural laugh came from the creature. “But uh– Glad you like it baby bear.” 

— 

 Flecks of wood went everywhere, a piece scratching against Nora’s bare arm as the tree was torn into shred. Nora didn’t care. This was horror gold. God, imagine if Teddy released the beast on the town of Wicked’s Rest. They would all scream and cry. Nora wondered what it would take to convince them. It would be so fucking funny. Nora could make illusionary fire come out of their mouth and everything! If they don't have fire. Did they have fire? They looked like a water-based monster, but you could never tell these days. Every day Nora was reminded that she knew nothing about anything.

Then Teddy was talking in her mind. Her fucking mind. Oh, Nora was delighted. So much happened in a span of five minutes, so much to digest. “How long have you been a monster?” Nora asked, excitement tinging the edges of her monotone. “It’s fucking sick.” Nora snapped another picture of Teddy’s face. All thoughts of the tree were escaping her. The tree had been a cool creature, but this was… well it was more! It was bigger, stronger, cooler, better! She couldn’t even bring herself to bring up the enjoyment of learning Teddy had known who she was this whole time, and hadn’t turned her in.

“Do you breathe fire? Destroy buildings? Can you run superfast?” Nora was turning into a monster superfan, the questions flitting from her mouth faster and faster, emotion bypassing her normal emotionless mask. It was hard to remain the cool girl when reaching genuine excitement over a topic. “How are you talking in my mind? Can you read my thoughts?”

— 

A low chortle rolled out of the demon as it circled around the smaller figure. Much smaller. This wasn’t the biggest Teddy had ever become, but it was definitely enough to dwarf Nora. Was this how Leviathan felt, they wondered, when Ted was just a welp. Barely a fledgling imp. There was a joy to it that they hadn’t realized. Being able to fully surround someone you cared for. Being able to be yourself around them. (Literally.) Nora was full of questions and each made the demon preen just a little bit more. It lolled over onto its back, ignoring the slight wince that came with the action. There was far more good that outweighed the tiny lick of pain. 

“I can’t breath fire, though that would in fact, be sick. I haven’t tried to destroy a building but I bet I could.” It thought carefully for a second before continuing. “Sunk a lot of boats though. It’s very fun. You’d like that.” Another laugh echoed through the small clearing. “I can swim a lot faster than I can run on land. But with leggies this big I can move at a decent clip.” Teddy wiggled their webbed toes around. Dangerously dangling them over Nora’s head. Each claw bigger than the girl’s whole torso. “As for the last bit, no I can’t read your mind. I think this kind of communication just comes with… whatever made me like this.” A second’s consideration, then they followed it up. A moment of vulnerability and hope. “Demon magic.”

— 

  Nora’s human was small, but her bear was big. At least, she’d always thought her bear was big until she’d seen Teddy’s monster. Nora spun in circles, and she stood still. Her body unable to decide what to do to get the best look. Part of her wished she could get a bird’s eye view, but then she wouldn’t be close enough to touch the scales, and she did. Most of her life, she went by the horror house rules of look don’t touch, but there was a giddy excitement in meeting a monster worthy of its own Godzilla movie that made her forget those basic manners.

The street lamps had just flicked on for the evening and that meant it was time to head home. But something pulled at her senses. She followed it, focused like a scenthound trailing its quarry, and found herself face to face with a gloomy alleyway a couple blocks away from the morgue. There was a sound, like rats scurrying through garbage, but that wasn’t what interested Regan. Death was present, glorious death – perhaps represented by some dead rats or a raccoon that suffocated under trash. But there was something else, too, tiny pinpricks along her skin made her hair stand on end, and that uncomfortable feeling in her stomach could only mean one thing. But what was a fae doing in an alleyway? She knew her own kind would happily dig around for a dead dumpster raccoon, but another banshee in town seemed improbable at best. Still…

Regan took a few cautious steps into the alley, listening for more movement. It was coming from the dumpster – a particularly smelly one that not only smelled of decomposition, but of rotting bananas, overripe cheese, and burning hair. “Who is in there?” Regan asked, not really expecting a reply. She found that sometimes when her senses were triggered, it wasn’t a person at all, but some kind of small animal. The others said they were still fae. She didn’t believe it. “Anything good?”

Pinched between the remains of a broken couch and what might have been a television set at some point in the nineties, one very focused fae sat, sifting through mountains of garbage in hopes for finding treasure. Old habits, as it were, did not die so easily. The detective had made it clear that pretty much all the food in the fridge at Axis was available to her. Hell, she had Gael who would cook pretty much anything for her if he just asked. The asking was the hard part though. Especially after having been away for so long. They probably shouldn't have even been out tonight. Gael, Elias, and she were trying to decorate the house. She was encouraged to add her own 'flair'. Emilio had said a few times how dumpster diving wasn’t exactly the best option. But Ren didn’t see why. Didn’t get it exactly. Which of course meant she wouldn’t stop. Just, y’know. Not do it in front of Emilio. People threw away far too much. Half the things in here still had use, or could be repaired with the right skill set. Ones that Ren often lacked. She’d been built for destruction after all. Not fixing. 

A destructive force that’d been called upon sooner than expected. That old familiar prickle, starting at the back of her neck, swirling around her stomach and filling her chest to bursting. Connection. Savored and relished by most fae, a disgusting foul thing for her. Pretty ironic considering whatever her foot was currently halfway submerged into. Instinct drew knives from sheathes and primed her body to leap until— until a voice came. One of those. Monsters disguising themselves as people. Quite a lot of that in this town. It was why Ren had been sent here after all. 

Anything good? Of course there was. Ren’s backpack (also a dumpster find) had been filled with several things that should never have found their way into the trash. The knives slowly moved back into their safe spots. Where iron couldn’t be spotted, and it couldn’t accidentally brush her own skin. Ren moved carefully until she was at the side of the rather large dumpster. Two bright green eyes poked out along with a shock of red hair. Only halfway peering over the edge. Intense and unblinking, as always. 

At the end of the alley there was a woman. Or a beast wearing the skin of one anyway. She seemed sleight, not too much taller than Ren herself. White-blonde hair and a somewhat stern expression that in a way reminded Ren of Nora. Even keeled. Not betraying any thoughts. Nor did it give the nymph any clue as to what kind of fae she, apparently, was about to deal with. Ren still hadn’t found any Aos Si near here. Just scattered lonely fae with nothing more than their own name. 

“Found… copper. Big enough piece to use as lightning rod.” 

For a second, Regan thought that the huge eyes peering over the edge of the dumpster belonged to some kind of animal, a raccoon or skunk, but the messy mop of red hair and wary expression said otherwise. There really had been someone rooting around in there. And Regan’s skin came alive with needling electrical impulses, enough to make her stomach clench with discomfort. This felt like a mistake. Even a freshly dead, not even picked over by vultures animal carcass wasn’t worth this interaction, was it?

Regan's eyes narrowed as she looked up at the… child? Yes, that face looked like the face of a child. A child in a dumpster. A fae child in a dumpster. Marvelous. Yeah, she should have just gone back to her car. There was something else about her that seemed… off. A rawness, an untamed energy that radiated from her, riding along with the vexing sensations reminding her that they shared a connection.

The girl’s mention of a lightning rod intrigued Regan. It was an unexpected twist, a touch of mischief, or maybe insanity, in an otherwise gloomy alley. "Copper, huh? That could be useful," Regan replied, slowly, as if speaking to an animal that could dart away at any moment, any syllable spoken too harshly. She took a step closer but kept a safe distance. "My apologies if I startled you. I didn't mean to interrupt your... scavenging. I thought there might be something else in here. You know, like a – well, you see, I’m a pathologist, and I thought there might be a–I mean, I smelled decomposition." That mess of words was close enough to the truth, somehow, that she didn’t cramp up. “You know,” she said, still keeping her voice low, “there could be dangerous things in there. Needles. Other sharp objects.”

The fae child in the dumpster tried her very best to hide the flicks of confusion and mild ire the conversation drew about. Hell, she tried to hide any emotion that flooded up. Tried to remain as stoic and still as she could. Not unlike the other fae at the end of the alley. Imitation at its best. A few folks had suggested just that on Ren’s to-do list of learning how to be friendly. Also compliments. Several mentioned those. Was Ren supposed to compliment the other fae now? Was that the best plan of action? The idea felt odd in her head, but when did interacting with other fair folk ever not? 

“Yes. Useful.” At least this woman wasn’t telling Ren she shouldn’t be in the dumpster at all. Just… safety. Something the nymph rarely considered. At least not her own. “I have… made notes of sharp things. Avoided.” A short pause followed, a moment for consideration. “Why would there be needles?” Was there something about this particular garbage bin that the entomid had missed? Needles usually meant doctors. A thought that bawled up and ignited the fear stricken bonfire of Ren’s heart. The stranger had called herself a pathologist. Was that just another type of doctor? 

The red hair disappeared beneath the shelter of the metal wall. She attempted to volley back some conversation, making it seem like she was just going about her business. Continuing her scavenging effort and not hiding from someone who might be a doctor. But– She was fae too. Ren’s head began to swirl with too many thoughts, too many flashes of unwanted memories. Tales of white labcoats and how they’d all just dissect her like a bug if she were to ever go to one. But— How was this fae also a doctor? Did she have a similar mission or was this some strange cosmic confluence just meant to confuse the younger of the two? 

“There is–” She called back. Over the edge. Trying to hide the shiver in her voice. “Decomposition. Several things. Dead rats. Not good for eating.” Did other fae eat dead rats too, or was that just the semi–feral nature the world had given Ren? “Poisoned.” You could tell, you could always tell. Something about the way they bloated, the color of the bile from their mouths. Helped Ren plenty of times, figuring out which dumpsters to take sustenance from, versus which she should only take things out of. 

She didn’t know why there might be needles in a dumpster? Regan blinked, the question catching her by surprise. Of all the things to ask. How old was the girl? Old enough for the explanation, Regan decided. “Needles are commonly discarded in the trash. Sometimes from drug use, sometimes from other… things. Either way, you don’t want to get stuck by one. That’s how several diseases can be transferred.” Could fae even get Hep C? That was a rabbit hole Regan didn’t want to go down. Her head always spun when she considered how different her immune system might be from those she autopsied.

She was no closer to understanding just why there was a child in a dumpster – one who apparently took stock of the nearest sharp objects, and who was comfortable around rotting food and poisoned rats. Regan narrowed her eyes, trying to seem less curious than she was. ”Well, yes, it would be a terrible idea to eat a dead rat.” Though the way it was said made Regan wonder about another meaning. No. Absolutely not. “You… agree, right?” This child was not out here looking for dead rats to eat. But digging around in a dumpster for other food was only marginally better. Dead rats were good for plenty of other things, though. Regan took a few cautious steps closer, until her hands curled around the top of the dumpster. Her fingers twitched with discomfort. Not only did she feel the bugs biting her skin – the sensation of being near fae – but she recognized she was in a vulnerable position. And this child was more than a child. Who knew how dangerous and unpredictable she was?

Something small and fast scurried past Regan’s feet. She didn’t flinch, but did drop her gaze to get a quick look. Whatever it was had already zipped across the alley, disappearing from sight. This place was for the rats. Not for the two of them. “Look,” she said, slow and calm, “why don’t you climb out of the dumpster, and I can find you some food that isn’t half-eaten and full of harmful bacteria? Oh, but, um… bring the rats, if you don’t mind.”

“Oh.” More things that sounded like doctor speak. It was undeniable that something was tugging at Ren. Several things in fact. The electric buzz underneath her skin from being around another fae, the need to act friendly to get more information despite the instinct to run in knives and teeth bared, the indoctrinated fear of doctors and their ilk, and lastly a few loose screws from the broken furniture literally pulling at a few of her strings. (The sweater was already so threadbare, it wasn’t like losing a few more could possibly make it any worse.) 

What was the play here? Be kind, be open to something, so she could have another person on a growing list of monsters who would later be dealt with? Why did fae have to be like this? Why did they have to pretend to be human? Granted, if there were any other way, Ren would also not be where she was. Not be who she was. But that thought didn’t occur to the people-sized racoon of a kid. 

“Terrible to eat a poisoned one…” Ren had eaten rats. Ren had eaten loads of rats. They were easy to catch and had a decent enough amount of meat on them. Especially near a town like Wicked’s Rest. Big ole fat happy rats. People attracted pests of all kinds. And a scavenging hunter like Ren had no qualms doing multiple types of pest control. 

Why was it that people were always trying to give her food? Was that how people communicated? Hi, hello, how are you, would you like some food? It was more common than the compliments Ren had been advised to give. Which was something she’d forgotten to do here. Though there was still time. The stranger was beckoning her out, asking her to grab the deceased rat pack. Which was a favor, something else she was told would make people like you. She could do that.

“Here.” After a bit of scrambling, the nymph was back on solid ground instead of loose waste. Handing over the rats (at least she had thickly gloved hands, that was good, right?) and looking for something to compliment. “You have a nice…sweater.” Ren did not know the term turtleneck. But the clothing looked neat and tidy. Something Darya would wear. Practical. Good.

For a moment, Regan wasn’t sure if the girl would even come out of the dumpster. She had little reason to, really. She seemed perfectly content here, and who knows how long she’d been busy scavenging before Regan had happened upon her? But she did climb out, and with a tangle of rat tails clutched in one hand. Regan’s eyes lit up as they fell upon the droopy whiskers and limbs of the rats, and she had to remind herself to reel it in. This wasn’t someone she knew, and she was quickly learning that others in town found her intense interest in death to be… odd. But if she was odd, at least she was in good company. Even besides the obvious, there was something off with this child. The stilted way she talked was also notable. 

“I appreciate it.” Regan said, which was an acceptable reply to being thanked, and the girl likely knew it too. “You… have nice rats.” Feces. There went that. Regan shifted the weight between her feet as her mind raced to think of something else. “And hair! Very red. Bright. It’s an unusual color, you know. I don’t see it very often, but I did autopsy someone the other day who–” No, no, that was no good either. She bit her lip, then gave up with a sigh. Which of them was worse? She really couldn’t say. “Anyway, uh, let’s get to that food. Are the rats truly for me?” She graciously accepted them, but saw something at her feet. Another rat?

It was… it looked like a rat, kind of, but with no tail and muzzle. In its place was a flat, white disk with beady eyes and a straight cut of a line for a mouth. Regan didn’t know what it was, but she knew she wanted to kill it, dissect it, and articulate its tiny little skeleton. She looked at the girl, brow furrowed. “Have you seen these before?” She kept her voice quiet, so as not to scare the small creature. It appeared timid. “Some kind of local mouse variant? Were there more in there?” She pointed to the dumpster. But when she looked back for the creature, it was gone. She spoke too loud, she knew it. Just what she’d been worried about. Before she could express her disappointment, two of them skittered out from behind a couple of trash cans. “Oh!”

Controlling her features to contain the rather obvious trepidation that bubbled up was harder when face to face. The dumpster had provided a steel shielding that Ren found she was missing almost immediately after leaving its safety. The other fae returned the compliment, both to the ‘catch’ of deceased rodents and of Ren’s hair. Along with it disclosing something else that Ren didn’t quite understand, but sounded like another big fancy doctor word. “I do not need more food, I have already gotten enough, but yes rats are for you, I do not need–” 

The scurried movement around their feet caught the attention of the shorter fae. Eyes trained for catching even the slightest of motions followed the strange thing as it ambulated across the alley. The ones that appeared from behind the trash cans must have been separate because the one Ren had followed had gone for a different hiding spot. No. It was safe to say that these things were not in the dumpster. She liked to think she would have noticed. But something was happening and that meant speaking was no longer a priority. 

Somewhere beneath Ren’s glamour her antennae twitched. Carefully taking in any input. Heat fluctuations, like those caused by moving creatures, any vibrations or hints of tones, though these things didn’t seem to be making much sound at all. In fact they were quite devoid of sound all together, in a way that made little voids wherever they skittered. Ren decided pretty quickly she didn’t like it or trust it. 

Instinct put her between the oddities and the other person. Protective. It sent her hands flying to where her knives were stashed, but the presence of another fae had her pausing. Stopping before grabbing the hilts of the iron blades and mentally reeling as she changed gears for any other type of weapon as stealthily as she could. “Let us hope there is just three.” Ugly little things. Twitching and tilting their heads as if they were studying the pair right back. Suddenly the walls of the alley felt a lot more like an unknown threat. Was this their home? Whatever they were? Ren wasn’t sure she wanted to find out. 

Regan stiffened as the child slid between her and the black and white rats. It almost seemed as though she wanted to defend her from the creatures. That thought would have been more strange if the creatures didn’t radiate a strange sort of menace. Something about their silent movements and small, almost humanoid features made Regan’s already chilly skin even colder. A third joined the two she was looking at before, and she was able to observe them a little more clearly now – they were about the size of rats, but had oddly humanesque anatomy, albeit crawling around on all fours. For a second, one terrible second, she thought one of them… smiled.

Then they scurried. Closer, closer, and Regan knew they needed to act, to move. The girl seemed to be reaching for something in a manner suggestive of a weapon. Just who was she? “Move,” Regan said, approaching her, “we shouldn’t engage.” She stopped short of giving the girl a nudge, not trusting or knowing how she would respond to that gesture. 

One of the creatures went up to Regan’s boot and though she tried to kick it off, the thing clung on tightly. She could feel its little feet pattering against her pants but she remained focused, calm, and wiped it off with a quick brush of her hand. As it was flung into one of the garbage cans, the metal didn’t make a sound as it collided. How– Regan turned to the girl, trying to keep any panic deep down and choked away. The child had her own creatures to contend with as the other two seemed intent on climbing her. For now, this wasn’t an emergency. It wasn’t too late to run, as cowardly as the prospect made her feel. “We need to get out of here. I don’t know what these are, or what diseases they carry, or what their diet is or what they want.” Regan grimaced down as the thing recouped and ran right up to her again. They were fast, faster than actual rats, but if there were only a couple they could still escape, they could– 

But as several other creatures came marching around the corner like a trail of ants, their tiny hands and feet silent as they slapped against the pavement, Regan knew their chances of being able to slide out of the alley evaporated. Her lungs pulsed with a reminder: you do not run; you’re the force of nature that tears down others. But forces of nature did not discriminate well, and if it could be avoided, she wouldn’t allow this girl to become collateral damage.

Tiny hands and tiny feet danced along every surface the alley had to offer. What had they done to awaken these beasts now? Ren had been in that dumpster for long enough that any number of the critters could have found and pounced upon her, but now it seemed like they were swarming out of an unseen hive. In moments the walls began to pulse with a gooey pulp made from a cluster of the black and white creatures so thick it was hard to tell where one began and another ended. Just what the hell were they?! 

Ren had been so preoccupied with the writhing mass slithering down the far end of the alley that she hadn’t noticed a few crucial things. One, the opening of the alleyway was quickly closing, leaving them two dead ends. Two, several of the quicker fiends had scampered up the nymphs legs and had found her back a good place to start causing some havoc. As itty bitty bite marks began to pop up all over Ren began to fight back. No longer caring if the stranger saw the iron knives. They were by far her best tools. Soon as they fell into their comfortable home in her gloved hands, they began whirling and flaying as many awful skittery beings as she could get to. 

Still didn’t stop one from crawling up the back of her neck, sludging something awful into Ren’s right ear as it continued its merry little path across her face. Smiling that god-awful mockery of a human expression. She would have screamed, no she tried to scream but nothing– nothing came out. A knife caught the noise thief in the placid white face and slammed it against the dumpster where it splattered next to Ren’s backpack. 

The alley had gone far too quiet. Not even the drops of rain made noise on the metal roofing as the sky opened up and began weeping. Ren’s senses were going a little haywire. Even the stranger’s voice sounded far away and muffled. It was looking like there was only going to be one way out. For the briefest of moments, Ren wondered if the other fae had wings. And if she knew how to use them. 

Hundreds. It looked like there were hundreds of them, leaking out from the cracks between the bricks, which themselves seemed to be shifting as the alleyway darkened, exit blocked off. It was disorienting, Regan reasoned, all the black and white, it made it look as though the alley itself was bending to their visual chaos. That didn’t change the fact they were still trapped, as more creatures rained down from the building and swarmed. Before Regan could blink, she was covered. A creature in her hair, trying to slurp it like spaghetti. Another one climbing up her pant leg and chewing through her sock. A third biting into the flesh of her arm. Tragically, she needed to drop the dead rats to deal with them. She snatched that one up in her hand and crushed it, noting the absence of death against her skin even as the life left the creature. In fact, it had no true remains at all, and simply melted into a strange, dark goop that dribbled from between her fingers. 

Another one chomped into her skin, having managed to skitter up her pants all the way up to her thigh. Regan grimaced. That was it. The knife-wielding child had the right idea. Regan may not have had her knives on her, but as her lungs reminded her again, she was never without her greatest weapon. And if the girl could take care of herself to this extent, she would be able to tolerate a scream or two. Regan inhaled deeply, urged on by the pain of yet another bite. Her lungs listened, filling with a force so great she buckled to contain it. As her intercostals complained, she knew it was time. Regan hastily grabbed a creature in each hand, ignoring their nipping, and let the scream come pouring forth. In an instant, the force of it traveled across her body, turning the ones she was holding and the ones clinging onto her into goop. 

Others nearby suffered similarly. Their skin stretched out and they popped like silent balloons, leaving only a lingering scent of freshly baked goods behind. Where Regan had grown accustomed to seeing a spray of blood and organs, there was nothing. And like before, she could feel no death. Regan turned, looking back at the child to make sure she wasn’t in pain from the scream and to see if she’d managed to destroy all of the creatures. But within seconds of the scream stopping, lightning flashed directly overhead, bathing the alley in light before snatching it away again. She had caught a glimpse of something that made her marrow chill. There were more. So many more. 

The entire alleyway was alive with a viscous force that wanted them dead. Or maybe something worse. Disconcerting smiles surrounded them from all sides, closing in and pushing Ren just inches away from Regan’s back until– The scream. Even with whatever fuckery was going on with the nymph’s senses, she heard the scream loud and clear. Not really realizing it had come from the woman behind her, she struck out at the sludgelings. Worse than the actual sound, the vibrations sent ricochets bouncing off the bricks. It had the neat little effect of popping any and all of these creatures it came across. Unfortunately it played a little havoc on the bug as well. 

Ren felt as though she’d been struck by the lightning overhead. (Lightning she only managed to miss because of the sudden deafness that afflicted her. A silver lining, as the fear a storm like that would inspire would be much worse than the strangeness of the scream’s effect.) As pulsing waves reverberated throughout her, the glamour she tried so hard to keep up, to maintain at all times went wonky. Flashing through various colors as her muscles seized. The insectoid body went from green and brown, to bright teal, to whites and pinks. Strobing striped for just one second before settling back down alongside the screamer. Flicking back onto the glamour, the (ever so slightly taller) human looking red-head. 

To Ren, it was a blackout. Too much all at once just shut her down and plugged her back in. Even if she had registered what had caused it before, she might have forgotten after that. A few things occurred to her in the moments after the incident. That many of the sludge creatures were off of her, and her mind had cleared enough to figure out a way to escape. The fire escape was clear enough that both of them could grab a hold of it, that they could scramble up and out to safety, or at least to somewhere less coated in gooey enemies.

 “C—” Her first attempt at speech after the scream was not exactly an award winning spectacle. More of a croak akin to waking in the night and needing water.  

“Can you climb?” 

Even in the darkness of the alley, she could see hundreds of beady little eyes lighting up. On the walls, on the ground, right at her feet. And there was something else – a rainbow of colors flashing around the child. At first, Regan thought it was something the little creatures were doing to her. But she looked, and where the child once stood, there was now a monster – one going from blue to pink to striped to red. It had massive, buggy eyes and twitching antennae, its limbs long and insectile. She was about to unleash another scream, this one aiming right for it, but in another flash the child was back, replacing the monster. “What –” Regan said, her chest so tight her words came out as a screech anyway, but she clamped her mouth shut. Not before another couple of creatures popped. 

Regan went to rub at her eyes but realized her hands were covered in that dark goop, the innards of the creatures she’d unmade, and she thought better of it. Just what had she seen? She questioned that a lot, but this was one of the stranger things her eyes were leading her to believe was happening. Nothing to do with death, so far as she could tell. Was the pathology hers or the child’s? She kicked away another couple of goop-critters and watched the child scramble over to the fire escape that was dangling tauntingly over the alley. So far as she could see, none of the creatures had gone up there. It was a possible means of escape. But how to get up there –

“That’s too high up!” She yelled a response, looking up at the tantalizing ladder as she could feel more of the creatures closing in around her. One of them jumped up on her shoulder, and she clapped her hands around it, turning it into goop between them. “Lotnaidí beag.” Regan hissed. She needed to try. She jumped, and just barely managed to wrap her fingers around the bar. Which fortunately, proved to not be iron. It was slippery from the rain, though, and she could feel herself sliding down. Feces. She needed to – right. She knew what she needed to do. Regan could feel her wings trying to come to life from beneath her glamour, wanting to flitter and provide lift. Even with how cruel she was to them, they still acted in self-preservation. They couldn’t do anything while they weren’t visible, though. Which meant… 

Regan allowed herself to drop from the fire escape, and made sure to land on another one of the creatures in the process. Her shoe was slippery with dark remains when she dragged it against the ground. She fumbled with the clasp of her necklace. A couple of the rat-things managed to climb aboard and chew on her fingers as she tried to work the necklace off, but she prevailed. Her wings appeared behind her, summoning her usual disgust along with them. But she would call upon them today. 

Before Regan could slide her necklace into her pocket, the finger-chewers grabbed it and leaped away, scurrying back into the mass of creatures. Lost among them. Regan opened her mouth, speechless, the realization of what had just happened flashing like the lightning overhead. In her stillness, more climbed onto her and bit her flesh. She growled at them and flailed, shaking them off. Don’t make this for nothing. Regan looked at the child and flicked her wings before letting them send her into a clumsy flight upward. It was enough for her to comfortably reach the fire escape and ascend from there. Her feet on solid enough ground, she got to her knees and extended both of her hands. “I can pull you up. Quick.”  

The pit below was a growing pool of death. Both of the inky creatures who refused to be washed away by the rain, and of their own, should they stay. Ren knew that, but she never really knew when to back down from a fight. Even when the tide cascaded further away from her favor. If not for the other, for the strange spark of protectiveness that felt so foreign in her chest, she might have stayed. Might have tried to figure out what else broke those gooey black and white bodies and their silent aura. Ren was at home behind the blade. When it was an extension of her arm, finding homes amongst monsters she wasn’t so sure were all monsters anymore. Well, the ones that could talk and feel anyway. 

These things, ironically, seemed pretty black and white. 

Above however, was an insurmountable force of nature. As green eyes cast skyward, the clouds illuminated from within. Ren realized with horror that this wasn’t just a rain storm. The sludge still blocked up the nymph’s ear. Still messed with her perception. But she was seeing it now. Her body reacted as if she’d heard the thunder. As if she was back in that small room all alone, or locked outside of it in an attempt to quell her of this foolish fear. 

Ren didn’t hear Regan shout. Didn’t pay attention at all to the solution she struggled with, and barely acknowledged the help she offered. It made enough sense, a fae having wings, that it wasn’t something she stopped to question. There was only the sky, open and angry. Endless and vast. The tiny nymph felt like she was falling upward into it. Like the pull from the banshee was from the clouds. Like the next she’d feel was the static hum of a building lightning strike. Too close to escape the waves of thunder as they rolled through and broke her. 

Phobias were not often a logical thing. And for one as strictly stuck in logical sensibility as Ren, it made for a harrowing experience. Trying to reconcile reality with what she was feeling. It felt like she was dying. 

Something was wrong… besides the obvious. Regan shouted again, come on, hurry, but the child stood there staring up at the sky. When lightning crashed down, she turned inward, buckling, and Regan realized what was going on. She was afraid. Not of the awful little creatures that were surrounding her on all sides, but of the storm thrashing overhead. Regan waved her hands trying to get the girl’s attention, but it wasn’t working. She looked up, the rain hitting her face and getting in her eyes. It was coming down harder if anything. She needed to get the child out of here. “Please, you’re okay, you’ll be safe, but we need to get you–” Lightning. It revealed the growing pile of creatures, starting to climb all over the girl. This wasn’t going to work. She couldn’t scream down without risking hurting her. Her wings twitched in frustration, water shaking off them in droplets. 

Right.

She could be annoyed about them later. For now, they were necessary. Without looking down – she hated looking down – Regan let her wings lift again. The storm was riding in on strong winds, and the updraft made this much easier. She closed her eyes, and she jumped. Despite her mistreatment of them, her wings behaved as they should. And when Regan didn’t feel herself making impact with the ground, she dared to look. Hovering. She was hovering. Below her, the creatures reached up with their tiny little hands in an effort to grab her, but they were too small and she was too far off the ground. The girl was not so fortunate. Regan reached her hands out once more. She had never done this before, attempted to carry someone else, and she doubted she could manage it. But they overcame enough poor odds today for her to be willing to try. 

“Come on. I’ve got you. I… think.” She frowned at her own uncertainty. The sky opened up and lightning flashed down again, and Regan didn’t want to wait a second more. If the girl kept panicking, the creatures would take her. She managed to get behind the girl and wrap her arms around her. “Just shake those things off! Get them off.” Her wings struggled to hold both her weight and the additional weight of the child, fluttering as rapidly as they could. She was getting lower, not higher. This wasn’t going to work. But as another harsh gust of wind blew in, it carried their salvation with it. They were lifted up, enough that she was able to drop the girl on the fire escape and then crash right into it herself. 

A muffled string of sensory input barely made its way through the nymph’s psyche. Ren was frozen, at perhaps the worst possible time. ‘Get over it!’ Her mind screamed. ‘You useless thing, just move.’ The words flooded in faster than the rain pelting them from overhead. 

‘It’s just lightning.’ It would call. 

‘I know.’ She’d respond. 

‘It’s just a storm. You should not be scared. You can be stronger than this, or you can die on the field Renata. Do not be like them. Do not be useless.’ It reminded her.   

‘I know.’ She’d respond. 

She didn’t realize it but it was her mother’s voice. Words screamed in frustration, in some manner of concern. Or at least how it showed through the lens of an old hunter trying something new. Managing a child’s fear the only way she knew how. Tempering them to it, trial by fire. 

Regan had lifted Ren from her rooted position. Held this close she could just barely make out the words actually being said, rather than memories filtering in. She never did live up to those lessons, after all these years. The storm still scared her. It was as simple as that. Ren would rather face a hundred vodniks, a thousand trolls, or a million stupid gremlins than one little lightning storm.

But they were safer now. Far enough away on the fire escape. Regan had lifted them from the immediate threat, and now it was only Ren’s fear holding them from true and proper safety. They had to leave, and Ren wanted nothing more than to do just that. Even if it meant going farther up to do so.

“Извини” The apology was quiet, barely audible over the wind. She wasn’t really even sure who she was saying sorry to. It still felt like begging forgiveness from her mother. 

Regan tried not to look down, she really did, but she couldn’t help it. Squinting through the rain, she could see the alley was teeming with darkness, writhing like a black and white wave. A wave that was swelling. The two of them might have been safe here on the fire escape for now, but it wouldn’t last. They already knew those creatures climbed. And the child was still… unwell. Small. Completely different from the confident but unusual presence she was earlier. Regan took a deep breath. Her wings hurt. That was more effort than she’d ever asked them to expend before, and there was a deep ache in her back in muscles she couldn't even pinpoint. 

“Child,” she said, looking at the girl, and then casting a cautious eye down to the blackness threatening to swallow them, “I know you don’t like the thunder. But we need to keep moving. Those things – there are too many, and we’re not safe here. We’re going to need to escape and inform someone, the authorities.” Which also meant there was no reclaiming her necklace. Something that was going to be a problem, and one she didn’t have a solution to. Regan tightened her hands around a rung on the ladder and looked at the girl. “You’re brave. I can tell.” She thought of the knives, the way she’d wielded them. “Summon your courage, strangle your fear, and think of food served on a plate and not the lid of a trash can. Come on.” 

It wasn’t much. But it was enough. The maybe-a-doctor-definitely-a-fae was right. Ren nodded, trying her best to steel her nerves. Strange how a sturdy support and gentle coaxing worked so much better than a shouting match. Realizing two sets of wings was better than one, she let her glamour slip enough that her own could unfurl. Only the second time she’d ever intentionally dropped any part of it in front of someone. It was for safety she reminded herself as the pair lifted off. She could be as angry and uncomfortable about it as she wanted later. 

The shopkeeper’s tone did not sound pleased. As Andy rounded the corner towards the front, she saw a young girl standing there with a pinched expression. Andy didn’t give a damn if this girl had actually committed petty theft. Who was she to judge? Stealing was how she and Alex had made a living anyway. 

In an attempt to get closer in case she needed to diffuse the situation, Andy began to loiter at a neighboring end cap, looking over the variety of multivitamins. The shopkeeper continued asking for the girl to empty her pockets, and Andy felt a surge of frustration. She thought about the woman who had intervened when Andy had gotten caught, and how she had lied through her teeth– something about being her’s and Alex’s older sister, and that they would never steal. 

She bit the inside of her cheek before turning around, staring down the man. “Why are you harassing my sister? She didn’t steal anything.” They could pass as siblings– both wearing a smattering of freckles and red hair, even if the stranger’s was cropped short. 

—

All Ren wanted to do was try. Try using that money thing that Emilio kept going on about, try buying something for a change instead of only ever fishing for not so moldy things in between banana peels and god knows what else found its way into a Wicked’s Rest dumpster. The nymph had been excited even. A chance to test out her newly acquired skills in friendliness. 

Apparently the shopkeeper didn’t care for the tactic. The man took one look at Ren’s raggedy outfit, listened to her sad excuse for a compliment, and mistook the ‘smile’ for a strange grimace. Put it all together and there you have it. A kid who was up to no good. The little redhead had spent a decent amount of time trying to decipher which of the snacks in the aisle was the exact kind Van had supplied her with the other night, which one had the strangely sweet and sour flavor. The one they said was fruit flavored but certainly was not. The shopkeep took this deliberation time as another act of delinquency. 

So he started yelling. 

All at once Ren was so small again. Was being chided for something she hadn’t even done. At first she tried to protest. Be open to conversation as it were. But that only raised his voice and added more fire to his tone until– 

Sister?? Her mouth must have dropped open. Ren felt like words were coming up, protest, but something caught her. The other girl’s look. It was similar enough to her own, but– there was no fae tug. Did she know something Ren did not? Had she been watching the nymph? How long had she– Was any of this even possible– 

Oh. It was… probably a lie. But… why? 

— 

The man glared at the two, cheeks rouge from the obvious discontent. 

I don’t give a shit if she’s your sister. She stole. 

Andy looked at the girl again, brow raised. She didn’t look like a thief, but most people didn’t. Andy stopped herself from telling the man that she didn’t care if something was stolen, because that would potentially only make things worse, and she doubted that was what they needed anyway. 

“You’re mistaken. She didn’t steal a damn thing.” Andy stepped closer to the girl, putting herself between the two. The man smelled like overly saturated cologne and it hurt her nose. “What do you think she stole? What did she take?” 

The man stammered, the red deepening across the bridge of his nose and across his cheekbones. 

Well I– I don’t know, but I saw her put something in her pocket! 

If it were Alex, Andy would have dug into her pockets for her, but this was a stranger. A stranger that Andy was pretending to be the sister of. She looked over at the girl. “You didn’t steal anything, so you don’t need to show him the inside of your pockets if you don’t want to, but if it’ll get you,” she looked back to the man, frown deepening, “back the hell off, then is that what she needs to do to get you to lay off?” 

—

It made no sense. Absolutely none of it did. The stranger who kind of looked like Ren insisting she was related, or the shop owner’s need to see the inside of her pockets. There was a stagnant hesitation as Ren processed through all that was being said. As the shock of being screamed at like she was back at the compound wore back into a dull ache rather than a paralyzing poison. Shaking hands (the only part of her that wasn’t stone still) moved from her sides to reverse the nearly empty pockets in both Emilio’s second jacket that he’d given her, and the shorts she’d pulled from a dumpster outside of some big box store. 

Crumpled papers with unsatisfactory drawings, a wadded up ten dollar bill, some coins that were not even American currency, a tiny vial of holy water that Emilio had left in the jacket by accident, and lint. Nothing special. Nothing to be accused over. Nothing they even sold in the store. Luckily, Ren didn’t keep her knives in her pockets. No, those were in the sleeves. Safely tucked away where they didn’t even leave a bulge or anything. 

Ren had been trying so hard to be a statue she’d forgotten to breathe entirely. Now, she could go without inhaling for a bit longer than the average kid her size, but the hungry gasp she tried to hide still wouldn’t go unnoticed. Still, she couldn’t speak, so she just had to let the stranger do it for her. 

— 

Andy watched the man’s expression devolve into something akin to embarrassment. Satisfaction colored her tone as she spoke. “See, there isn’t anything. I see the money she would have paid you with, but that’s it.” There were some other things, but those didn’t matter. Whatever the man thought he had seen wasn’t there. If the girl had pulled out something that she’d stolen, Andy would have had to dig for some excuse. 

It was clear that the situation had startled the girl and Andy felt a surge of guilt that she hadn’t intervened sooner. She had been in the other’s shoes more times than she could count. At least, until she’d gotten better at stealing. The man continued to stammer, throwing his hands in the air before turning around. The back of his neck was red, too, and Andy genuinely hoped he’d carry the embarrassment with him for the rest of the day. 

“Asshole,” Andy muttered under her breath as he went back to the register. She looked back at the girl who stood there as if some kind of statue. “You okay?” Andy tried her best to smile, but it didn’t quite reach her eyes. “What did you need? I can get it for you.” The girl had money, but by the state of her, something told Andy that maybe it was all she had. “Some of this is buy one get one, anyway.” 

— 

“I uh–” One thing about Wicked’s Rest, for all its strangeness, for all the monsters it housed, there were so many people ready and willing to lend a hand. Ren had no idea the outside world would be like this. In fact, she had been brought up to believe almost the opposite. Darya had made her a perfect soldier, one who wouldn’t question orders or think too deeply about the fact that she was set out to kill her own kind. Each day out in the open was a test of her loyalty, because everything out here seemed to contradict the older woman’s teachings. 

“Was gummied worms.” It was probably a good thing that Ren had not spoken more than a few words to the shopkeeper, he might have noticed the thick accent that clung to every statement, and how she so often misused words, ordered them wrong, or applied suffixes that didn’t quite belong. “Soured ones.” 

The night with the others had been a whole different flavor of strange. If Ren hadn’t excused herself at ten to go walk Perro, she might have stayed the entire night. But instead, she returned to the sorry excuse for a shelter out in the woods. Dreams of citric acid covered sweets dancing like sugar plums around her head. A feeling of belonging she never dreamed of having. And the guilt that it inspired too. 

— 

“Gummied worms?” The girl had an accent that Andy didn’t recognize. It wasn’t her job to pick her apart, she decided. “Sour gummy worms… got it.” Andy offered the girl a smile, this time with it reaching her eyes, before she turned towards the aisle with the candy. “You should try peach rings, too. They’re good.” She plucked one of each from the shelf, dropping them into the basket next to her other items. “You have good taste, though. Candy is a good choice.” 

The girl was a little on the thinner side, and she reminded Andy of herself. It was like she was looking in a mirror from when she and Alex had gotten out of Lyon. Her stomach twisted slightly, but she kept smiling. “Do you need anything else?” Not everything was buy one get one, but it didn’t matter. Now that she was in a better position, she could help, and she wanted to. Especially after the bullshit with the shopkeeper. 

“No pressure, by the way.” Andy knew what it felt like to be offered help, even when you weren’t asking for it. It could be awkward, and the last thing that she wanted to do was make the girl feel guilty. “If you just want the candy, that’s okay, too.” She heard something from up front and the shopkeeper stared at them, a begrudging expression flickering across his features. Andy had to do everything in her power to not give him the bird.

—

At the repetition, Ren’s cheeks reddened just slightly. Almost hard to tell under all those freckles. She’d never seen anyone else with as many as she had. For a moment, it had the fae wondering if the ruse would have worked otherwise. Did normal humans look a lot like their siblings? Ren didn’t get enough of a chance around the other Adelskold kids to really tell. Everything was always kept at a distance. Everything here was so close and warm. 

Andy (not that Ren knew her name yet) was taller than her. By quite a bit. (To be fair, this wasn’t saying much. Most dogs would be taller than Ren if they stood on their hind legs.) She had her hair grown long in a way that would surely have annoyed the nymph. It was already too long for her liking. Something she’d have to figure out how to deal with sooner rather than later. Having a bit on top was fine during the winter, but now? It was too warm to have to contend with. 

“I do not think I need anything else. Was… craving? This is more than enough. Your kindness is remarkable.” Too many people offering her too many things. It was too much to process most of the time, right now, right after being verbally suckerpunched by the man who owned the store? It was worse. Awful. Ren was surprised she managed to say anything at all. 

—-

Andy noticed the way that the girl looked at her, but she didn’t comment on it. There was something familiar in her expression, but Andy wasn’t sure what its name was. Not admiration, that was for sure. Andy wasn’t the kind of person to be admired. 

“Remarkable?” Andy bobbed her head before letting out another laugh. “I’m not sure about that.” Her gaze cut to the shopkeeper who was watching them from the corner of his eye– it was obvious by his body language. She made a show of dropping another item into her basket before turning fully towards the kid. Andy silently wondered how old she was. She looked to be about Alex’s age which made Andy’s chest tighten. The question of whether or not this kid was a con artist came to mind, as Andy had taken that approach more than once, but there was a genuinity that was absent. Even if she were a con-artist, Andy wasn’t sure she cared. 

“So that’s it, then? Sour gummies? Nothing to drink?” Andy had half a mind to ask if she needed toiletries, by the state of her, but she didn’t want to assume. Too much too quick, and the kid might tuck tail and run. If it hadn’t been for Alex standing behind her, Andy probably would have, too. 

—

Even if the girl didn’t think so, Ren saw it as admirable. The young nymph wished things like this came easy. A smile, confidence to fight on someone’s behalf, rather than just fighting them. A certain familiarity to this whole schtick that she could never really master. Not with a hundred years, or however long it took for something to finally get the better of her. Nymphs were supposed to live a long time. That was the whole point of Darya’s experiment. A longer lasting warden. Someone who could fight things from the inside out, and keep doing it as long as she didn’t die. 

What Emilio, Nora, Van, Thea, Gael, and even Cass taught her, is that you need people around you to keep you alive. Even if doing so goes directly against what you were programmed for. The unknown redhead was in there too. Giving just a little bit of sunshine to make the flowers bloom. 

“I am fine with water I have, but you are kind for asking this.” Maybe she should have been suspicious. Maybe she should have stopped to think, but Ren had a habit of taking most things at face value. And right now, there was a kind woman who was doing more than her share of being helpful. The kind of thing you do to try and make friends. “Let us just leave as soon as we can, yes?” 

—

“Water, sure.” Andy wanted the girl to ask for more, but she knew the feeling– of asking too much, of taking too much and how the guilt would cause you to erode. Andy didn’t want to drive off the girl before she could truly help her. “You just stay put, I’ll go and pay, okay?” She gave the girl a small smile before heading towards the register, grabbing two bottles of water from the nearby drink fridge. 

After she’d paid for the items as well as gotten fifty dollars cash back, Andy stuffed the bill into the bag, beneath the items she’d purchased so that the girl wouldn’t see it till she was long gone, and returned to her side. “Here you go.” She handed off the bag with a small smile before motioning for the redhead to follow her outside. 

“My name is Andy, by the way.” The girl hadn’t asked, but she still felt the need to supply it. She looked towards her jeep before glancing back down at the kid. “Sorry you had to deal with that shithead to begin with.” Andy frowned slightly as she looked back inside to the store where the man was watching them through the window. After being noticed, he immediately looked away. Rolling her eyes, Andy let out a sigh. “I don’t think he’ll give you any more issues.” She twisted her own bag of goodies around her fingers, letting the bag spin one direction and then the opposite. 

It hurt how much of herself she saw in the girl. Was this how small she had looked? How much more pity would this girl be given? Although, Andy wasn’t sure that her assistance had been out of pity, but instead out of reflection. “Figure it might be overkill, asking if you need a ride anywhere.” For how careful she usually was, one might point out this was out of character, but she just hoped that if this kid did have a sibling somewhere out there, they might appreciate someone looking out for her. Andy knew that she’d be grateful for anyone that decided to help Alex. “I hope you like the peach rings, though. They’re good.” 

—

If Ren had blinked in the time between when Andy stepped in for her, it’d have been a miracle. The wide eyed stare had barely left the other red head the entire time, and yet somehow she missed the secret transaction stowed away in the plastic bag that’d been handed over. Just like that. Ren hadn’t done anything to deserve this. Just… got yelled at. Which as far as she was concerned, was a pretty rote thing to happen in her life. Adults yelled, she stood still until it was over, and hopefully it’d be okay. 

The nymph mechanically followed Andy (That was her name, she had offered it, something Ren hadn’t even considered doing. All those tips on how to be friendly seemed so far away when things like this happened.) out into the parking lot. Quite like a lost puppy might, upon being offered a scrap of a meal. Only, the puppy didn’t believe it deserved the things it was getting. Driven on by a bodily instinct that superseded the mental blocks placed ahead of it. “Ren.” Squeaked out. Barely audible. Tiny in the way that the entomid always felt. 

“I do not need… ride.” For the first time Ren’s gaze flickered away. Drifting to the jeep that wasn’t unlike some of the few cars that made their way deep enough into the compound for Ren to see. A big practical thing that could just as easily drive off the paved streets as it could on them. “I do not know how… to fully express how kind this is.” The bag in her hand rustled, and her lips attempted something that was almost a smile. “This was not something you needed to do.” 

— 

“Ren? I like that name. It’s nice.” Andy understood the shock after being accused of something. It had happened with her parents, and the multiple run-ins with store owners like the asshole back inside. She wanted to give her time to process.

Andy shrugged, her smile still present. “No problem, no ride, then.” If she were in Ren’s shoes, she probably wouldn’t take it either. Especially not in a town like Wicked’s Rest. “You don’t need to worry about it.” She neglected to explain how somebody had done the same thing for her. Even if it hadn’t happened that way, Andy would have stepped in anyway. She knew that she didn’t need to identify with whoever was in trouble, not always. “Ehh, the guy needed to be taken down a peg, it wasn’t an issue at all.” 

She looked towards her jeep, then down at the bag that Ren held. She hoped that she wouldn’t dig in and find the fifty dollar bill until long after she was gone. The last thing she needed was for the girl to try and give it back. Andy let out a soft sigh. “Stay safe, yeah?” Andy wasn’t sure if she would ever run into Ren again. The town was small, but not that small. “And just… if anyone starts anything like that with you again, hold onto what’s true, you know?” Even if it’s not, Andy wanted to say. 

—

Something closer to an actual smile graced Ren’s lips for just a moment. That warm sort of feeling filled her chest again and she found herself glancing down at the ground rather than look Andy in the eye as she fiddled with the bag in her hands. Still too frazzled to realize it was probably a lot heavier than it should have been. The tiny girl wanted to speak up. Wanted to properly express what all this meant to her, but that would require words she just wasn’t capable of arranging adequately.