I pushed open the door to my house and unloaded my bags in a heap on the kitchen table. I plopped into the chair, sweating and exhausted.

  After finishing my meal and beer, Danny had asked if I wanted an actual blood drink for the trip back. I didn’t want to explain to him why the idea of drinking a glass of wolf blood in front of a stone cold hottie was mortifying, so I relented. Fortunately for me, the brewery was practically deserted, emptied out by the bustling market, and Danny minded something behind the register and the odd customer that came in. I had been mercifully tucked away in the corner to hide my shame.

  I futilely fanned myself while I melted into the kitchen chair. I was energized now, but the sun was high in the sky and the walk back was more tedious while lugging all of my groceries and goods. I needed more blood. Stupid stomach.

  "What a weird day." I scratched my head and began rifling through the bags. I pulled out the small bag of grapes and smiled. "What a weird day," I said again.

  I carried the bag with me to the living room, sprawling out on the couch and grabbing the remote. Popping grapes into my mouth, I quickly clicked through the channels. I zoomed past cartoons, dramas, various movies I’d seen and some I hadn’t, but nothing seemed interesting. After cycling through them at least three times, I turned the TV off. Leaning back, I reflected on the day.

  After leaving the brewery, I had felt emboldened by the whole ordeal. On my way back through the market, I had stopped at various booths, ignoring any strange or jumpy behavior from the people around me. I bought a new pair of sunglasses to replace the scratched pair in my purse, and let the woman even sell me on a case so I could take better care of them. I picked up an umbrella to shield me from the rough days in the sun after the horrible walk to the market. As I had moved through the booths showing obvious interest and willingness to spend money, more and more vendors attempted to grab my attention, despite their obvious reservations. I was sold a myriad of things that I probably didn’t need, a large pink backpack to throw my loose items into, and a sack of the blood oranges I passed on the way in. By the time I had finally made my way to the front end of the market, I looked like a pack mule.

  Money wasn’t a factor, as the person who had stuck me here had amassed a small fortune and gave it to me—or at least part of it. The more I let people sell me things, talk to me, and interact during their day to day, the more relieved everyone seemed to act. And the better I felt. The normalcy of it was so strange to me, but I couldn’t stop. I desperately wanted to believe that things could be normal, and if someone like Danny could treat me like a regular person, surely everyone else could?

  I smiled at the first change I’d seen since I got here. Maybe things could be different. I just had to try.

  ***

  For the next few weeks, I tried to integrate into society as best I could. I shed the arrogance and anger that I had shielded myself with for the last few months and tried to bring down my walls.

  In an attempt to make myself more available to interactions, I sat outside on the grass a lot. I still spent a lot of time on my roof, but I tried to sprinkle in quiet moments out in the front yard, trying to tend to my pitiful garden and make my house look like a witch didn’t live inside.

  Though I still wasn’t comfortable drinking blood in front of everyone or casually hanging out in common areas just yet, I did my best to smile and wave when people passing by or swimming in the pool met my eyes. At first, they looked at me incredulously—like I was up to something—but over time, as interactions became more consistent and frequent, I think it became clear that I was being genuine, and they would smile back. Some familiar faces would even call out to me. One woman brought me fresh bread and cookies. They were incredible.

  At one point, I saw that mischievous group of boys slinking around down the street. I had been sitting outside in a chair reading a book after the sun had passed below the wall when I spotted them shoving each other and throwing a ball back and forth. When they had gotten a few doors down, I met eyes with the oldest—the one I had pushed onto the ground. I pointed at him and he froze—then I looked back down and chuckled. After a moment of frozen silence, I heard them all laughing at him and looked up again in time to see them take turns batting him around while he swiped at them and his cheeks darkened. They ran off, giggling and squealing, and I just shook my head, returning to my book.

  It was strange, the way that people began to orbit around me. Though many still kept their distance or stared, others seemed to gravitate towards me. The more I opened up, the more and more people would look at me with… reverence. I would move, and others would react. I looked up, and some waited with baited breath. It didn’t happen all the time or to everyone, but many in the city began to treat me as though they looked to me for guidance. It didn’t make sense, and I didn’t know what to do with it.

  About a month after having met Danny, I dared a visit to a museum in the city. We had a nearly exact replica of the Los Angeles Natural History Museum, and I sifted through foggy memories and was able to recall visiting museums with my family as a kid. I loved them. There was something so interesting about trying to imagine what ancient creatures used to look like while staring at the intricacies of their bones. I was walking through a section of the exhibits that had a giant mammoth when I actually ran into Danny. Like really, I ran right into him.

  I had been staring up, slack-jawed at the hulking form of the mammoth when I collided with him from the side.

  "Oh gosh I’m so sorry I— Danny?" I straightened myself out and was surprised to see him smiling smugly at me.

  "I’m beginning to think you missed the part of the deal that imbued us with superior grace," he said, crossing his arms.

  I felt heat travel to my face. "I’ll have you know that I was conducting important research and you have completely thrown me off. I’ll have to start over. What have you done?" I crossed my arms and stared at him as if he had ruined my life’s work.

  This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

  "My apologies then, I’ll let you get back to it."

  He started to turn, chuckling quietly, when I reached out to him. "Wait." He looked back at me. "You like bones? Uh… well I mean, you like to look at dinosaurs?"

  "Among other things," he said softly. His eyes briefly traveled down my body.

  I flushed again and tried to gaslight him instead. "Are you following me?" I asked playfully.

  He laughed outright. "Despite how big our city is, there is only so much to do and see before you’ve seen it all. But this place," he said gesturing to the models hanging above, "I never get sick of it."

  "Yea it’s pretty cool. This is my first time." I glanced back up at the mammoth, still amazed that anything could be so big.

  "Then come. Allow me to show you around."

  I was startled when he put out an elbow to me, but I linked my arm in his and allowed him to escort me around the building. How chivalrous.

  "Do you have any favorite places?" I asked.

  "Of course. I really like the insect exhibits."

  "Insects! Really?" I made a face. I wasn’t scared of bugs by any means, but I didn’t favor them.

  He laughed. "Yes, insects. Have you seen them with our eyes? The colors and patterns are exquisite. They almost don’t seem like they’re real. You can’t appreciate them with human eyes."

  I cleared my throat, not typically comfortable with talking about the fact that I was no longer human, despite being surrounded entirely by like-beings. "I haven’t seen them yet. I thought I might go there last."

  "Well, now we go there first. You have to see them. You’ll understand when you do."

  And so he led me to the insect exhibit. At first, it really just looked like what I expected: a bunch of bugs. But as he led me to the various display cases and encouraged me to lean in and take a good look at them, I saw what he meant. Each bug was like a jewel. The iridescent colors shimmered in ways I’d never seen before, and the patterns of their wings and shells were so intricate, it was shameful I had never been able to see it with such inferior sight. The more I looked, the more it felt like they were works of art. My favorites were the butterflies and some of the shiny, blue or green beetles. I could see all the way to each section of their eyes. I wondered what they saw when they looked at the world. How different it was.

  I barely noticed the glances from other guests, despite the burning that pricked along my skin. It was only until I saw some familiar faces that I became aware of my arm still hooked with Danny’s. I cleared my throat and removed my arm, pretending to need a good look inside a large case full of flying insects.

  "Remarkable, aren’t they?" He finally asked, stepping up beside me and gazing up at an enormous moth.

  "Yes. I would never have known, could never have appreciated them before." I glanced at him sidelong and he was grinning.

  "I’m glad you like them. Come."

  He led me in and out of different parts of the museum, showing me things he loved and things he thought I might love. We stayed until we had gone through every exhibit twice. When we made to leave, he asked if he could walk me home. I jabbed a thumb over my shoulder. "I just live over there, you know."

  He put a hand to his mouth and gasped, "But it is a man’s sacred duty to make sure a lady gets home safe and sound."

  I snorted. "Oh yea… It’ll be real dangerous tonight, what with all the creatures of the night on the loose."

  We both laughed and he said, "If you insist." He leaned forward and I flinched, unsure of what he would do. But he simply took my hand and kissed the top of it, old fashioned and everything. My face burned hot and I took notice of the eyes of others around us setting me ablaze. "Until next time, then," he said, smiling. He turned on a heel, and he was gone.

  My walk home was uneventful, but my thoughts were far away. What a typical, stupid girl I was. I was not going to fall for this old-fashioned gentleman act. Nope. No way. But despite my best efforts, I could not wipe the smile from my face the whole way home.

  I’d been sitting in the living room trying to find something on the tv when I leaned back and groaned. "I hate boys." I said aloud. I just wanted to relax in my room and not be plagued by thoughts of bones and bugs and boys. I closed my eyes and tried to think of something, anything else.

  My attempt was cut short when I heard the city alarms going off like dog-whistles. My blood ran cold. A human. There was a human getting close to the walls. It had happened so few times since I came here, but even once was too many. When would they learn? I closed my eyes again, praying to anyone that would listen that this person would just turn away. Just turn away and nothing will happen to you. Please. Please.

  I snapped my eyes open at the distant sounds of alert, male voices shouting. No, no, no. If they were shouting then it meant concealment was no longer an option. I covered my ears. I didn’t want to hear any noise. Please just kill them and get it over with. Why wouldn’t the humans just learn from their mistakes and stay away?

  A massive crash sounded, followed by a boom that shook the earth. I jumped up from the couch, heart pounding through my chest and body tensed for an attack. I listened for any sounds and frantically looked around for intruders.

  Then the screaming began.

  From outside I could hear blood curdling screams flowing through the corridors of my house as if they’d escaped from my own throat. I ran to the window and peered outside to see a woman running on the sidewalk outside my house, crying and dragging a young girl away who was knocked unconscious. Black rivers flowed from a gash on the unconscious girl’s head. Her arm was bent at an unnatural angle, hanging limply at her side. Everyone was screaming and running away from the direction of my house. Away from the bottom floor room leading to the entrance to my home.

  The room in which I stood now.

  Thunderous sounds could now be heard just outside. Like the beating of a drum.

  "Eyevoree! Eyevoree, come down!" People screamed from all directions.

  "Where is she? On the roof!"

  "I don’t see her! She’s inside!"

  Me? I wasn’t in any danger. What were they running—

  My thoughts were cut short as a crash exploded from my right. The sound was so loud that I covered my ears and cowered to the floor. Glass and drywall sprayed in all directions. I was about to recover when a colossal blow to my right side sent me flying across the room. I crashed into the bookshelf and cracked the entire structure. The whole room shook as I slammed into the wall. Books clattered on top of me.

  I was momentarily dazed and in extreme pain. I steadied my gaze and peered out of the mountain of books piled on my entire body to see a monstrous creature standing in my now broken doorway. Its mouth hung open and dripped a pool of blood on my floor, staining a stream of black. Its eyes searched around the room. Then, it fixed its gaze on my eyes hidden under thousands of pages and it charged forward with rows of razor sharp teeth, and a mouth poised to swallow me whole.