A few things went through my mind the moment I saw that woman walking toward the store. First off, AAAAAH! Okay, now that’s out of the way, the second thing that went through my mind was that she might be apart of some kind of secret organization to track cubbi. Why else would we see each other again after only a week? 

Is there any proof that this secret organization exists? No, but it’s better to be safe than sorry. The way how my body reacts when looking at her has to mean that my instincts know that she’s bad news. 

She walked into the store, and Miranda welcomed her. She stopped and looked around the store before she began walking toward us. Alarm bells are going off. This is a code red. There should be no reason for her to be coming here first. 

She stopped at the counter and although Miranda looked confused, I was screaming internally. If she takes out a gun, I could probably knock her out and escape. Then I’ll pack my bags and dash on out of here. It would hurt to leave Ty like that, but my mission comes first before anything.

“Do you need anything?” Miranda asks.

The woman didn’t say anything for a bit, but slowly her mouth opened and she began speaking. “Do you not recognize me, Miranda?”

Miranda’s confused look only became even more confused as she looked at the woman. After a while, she shrugged. “I can’t say I know you. Have we met before?”

“That does not matter.” The woman looked at me and my heart beat even faster than before. I thought she would ask me the same thing, but she didn’t say anything and just looked back at Miranda. “Do you two know of Ty Peon?”

Huh. She wants to know about Ty? Is that the reason she’s here?

“Yeah, but why do you want to know?” Miranda asks.

It was plainly obvious to the both of us that something was off about her. The way she spoke was so lifeless it raised the hair on my arms. I could feel my tail wiggling around in there as my panic rose to a point that I couldn’t comprehend. 

But there was something else off about her this time. The way she said Ty’s name is way different from how she talks normally. I couldn’t pinpoint what it was, but it only sent colder chills down my back.

“We both know each other from way back when. I just want to catch up on old times.” She looked at me, but she made it look as if she were still looking at the both of us. “Do you know what he is like? When I catch up with him, I want to get back on old footing.”

Miranda was the first one to speak. “Well, from my previous experience with him, he just kind of seems like an asshole that doesn’t know he’s an asshole. He made a joke about,” She coughed into her hand. “And despite my embarrassment, he was just smiling.” She looked at me. “You live with him, so anything you want to say?”

I scratch the back of my head, uncomfortable about telling her this information. But they apparently know each other, and if it’ll help them reconnect like she says, then I guess it would be nice of me to just say it. 

“Well, he’s kind of antisocial. Like, it’s obvious he wants friends, but he won’t even try to fix his social anxiety. But he’s nice at the end of the day, which is what counts.” 

The woman nodded, and she began to leave. Before she left, however, she turned around and said a few more things. 

“Since you both know him, I would like to ask a favor. If you see him, don’t tell him about me. I am kind of shy so it will take a while for me to build up my courage, but when I do, I want my reveal to be a surprise. Hopefully, you can keep my request close to your hearts.”

With that, she left, leaving the store bathed in the feeling of awkwardness and pity. I couldn’t let go of the feeling that she was still someone to keep a watch out for. The way she talked, walked, and even breathed seemed so artificial and lifeless, like an alien pretending to be human. 

“I want to ask you something.” Miranda turned to me. “I’m gonna drive you home after work, and I don’t care what he says, you’re both coming with me and Karina to our favorite restaurant. Is that clear?”

There was a tone of urgency in her voice. If there was anything we both could agree on, it’s that whoever she was, she was bad news. I could feel it the first time I met her. The way how with every word she spoke it felt like a trace of malice left her lips.

“What do we tell Ty?” I ask.

“How do you think he’ll react?”

I thought about it for a second. “He’ll probably think it’s a joke at first. The more we tell him, though, the more he’ll start to panic.” I couldn’t have him panicking either. If that happens, then I might go hungry, and we’d have a new problem on our hands.

The last time I went a day without feeding, I nearly broke his shoulder when I fed again. He tried to downplay it, but he couldn’t hide the tears coming out of his eyes. I didn’t want to hurt him again, so I need to keep him as calm as possible so he doesn’t skip on a feeding. Otherwise, I’m going to become his biggest threat.

“We don’t tell him about her, but I’ll keep a lookout as much as possible.” 

I wonder what he’s doing right now?

***

“You better fucking not.” I growled at my computer. The enemy made their attack, and it’s a mother fucking critical hit. My last monster goes down and N00Bdestr0yer got the victory over me. 

I couldn’t even yell. My voice was all gone after that entire fight. He crit my monsters five fucking times in a row. There was no anger in me anymore. It was all just a vast pit of nothingness left in me as I watched his character model fist pump the air. I didn’t even bother pressing the main menu button. I was that tired of life. 

I looked up to the sky, a single phrase leaving my lips. “God, why must you do this to me. I don’t ask for much, do I? Am I just this bad at games? Please, tell me.” No answer. “Well, fuck you too!” 

Suddenly, someone knocked on the door. “I’m sorry God, please don’t come in!” I screamed toward the heavens. 

The knocking persisted, and I calmed myself down. There’s no way that this is God. He doesn’t exist after all. It’s probably just the mailman or something. Who knows, maybe Harmony got off of work early?

I turned the switch in my brain from lax to serious. Eyes hardened for the battle of war, fists curled up for the battle of the lifetime, and ass cheeks clenched, for I am ready for anything.  

Walking to my door, the person knocked a third time. I opened the door, preparing to have the most mind numbingly dull conversation of a lifetime, until I saw that red hair and summer grass eyes. My mood softened as Jessica froze with her fist still hanging in the air.

“What are you doing here?” I ask.

“You gave me your address before leaving a week ago.” She said.

“I remember that, but why are you here, right now.” I point to the floor.

“I just wanted to see if you were safe.”

I have no clue what she means by that. Looking at what she had on, I gazed my eyes along her body. She wore a white trench coat that went all the way down to her knees. She wore a white sweater and blue jeans underneath. 

Her hair looked as if she had just recently crawled out of bed and her face was devoid of any form of make-up. She looked as if she had just woken up minutes ago.

“Mind if I come in?” Jessica asks.

“Sure, why not.”

I move out of the way and she enters my home, taking off her trench coat while stepping inside. She hung it over her arm, folded it, and set it on top of the coffee table. She looked around my house while I shut the door and made my way to the kitchen.

“Want some coffee? Looks like you really need it.”

“Yes please. I haven’t had any this morning, and ever since I woke up, I’ve been stressed out.” 

I poured some coffee for the both of us and made my way to the table. She turned on the T.V. and immediately turned the channel to the news. What appeared on screen was a crime scene, but this time no yellow tape or dumpsters. Instead, the camera stationed itself in front of a gym. The only reason I knew it was a crime scene in the first place was because I could see a police car and ambulance in the gym’s parking lot.

“I’m not a big fan of the news.” I said while sitting our coffee down. “They only cover the awful shit and biased political crap.”

“Yes, but it’s still important cause otherwise you won’t know about this.” Jessica pointed the remote at the T.V. and raised the volume.

The victim was an elderly man of sixty-four years, Austin Ollman. Just like the previous victims, it was reported that he was nude, but this time, instead of in hiding, he was in the middle of the parking lot for everyone to see.

“They weren’t supposed to say that.” Jessica growled while facepalming herself. “Why won’t they just listen when we say information is confidential.” 

The police wanted us to keep it a confidential but fuck the police. We're the news and we think the people deserve to know that there is a serial rapist murderer on the loose.

“Shut the fuck up! We just want the immediate family to know first, you assholes!” Jessica yelled at the T.V. before turning it off.

From what the T.V. news people said, and the way Jessica acted, I could only come to one conclusion. As two sets of information clicked together, I immediately began panicking. 

“Are you a police officer?” I asked.

“No, I’m a detective. I figure out the crimes and tell the police who to arrest.”

A moment of silence passes between us. 

“So, are you going to arrest me?” I point to myself.

Jessica shook her head. “No, I’m just checking up on you. I also want to tell you to stay safe when leaving home. I don’t want you to end up dead.”

“But if there’s a serial rapist murderer on the loose, wouldn’t you want to tell women to be careful?”

“Normally, yes, but this is a special case this time. The target for this person seems to be men either in their mid teens and young adult, or middle aged and above.”

“Well, I’m not in any of those demographics, so…”

“But you got a baby face. You look like you’re sixteen.”

I rub my face, my smooth, no beard face. I haven’t shown any signs of growing any facial hair ever, and I blame my father for it. Yeah, he may have an entire beard, but he had to have given me some really messed up genes for me to never grow facial hair even once in my life. 

“Do you have any leads for the dude?” I ask, changing the topic before my pride’s hurt even more.

“Well, it’s not a dude, for one thing. From the way the,” Jessica coughed into her fist. “Sphincter is still intact with no damage, we can only assume that a woman did this.”

Well, that’s interesting.

“What’s more, is that the bodies normally have bruises and broken bones covering their entire body.”

And now that just sounds familiar.

“According to the autopsies, the victims were still alive, even during the ordeal.”

Oh.

“What’s even more, is that the strength of the perpetrator is very astounding. The first victim was the quarterback for the Juxten Highschool Football team, and he was in peak physical condition for a kid his age. He can’t be taken out so easily, and it’s obvious from the signs that it wasn’t a sneak attack either. There were signs of a struggle, so the criminal has incredible strength to take them head on.”

Oh, fuck.

There were a few things that came to mind, none of them good, and all of them just really made me freaking terrified. I already knew that Harmony wasn’t behind this because not only was she always either here or at her job, but I also trusted her to my very being. Even when she could have killed me a week ago during her breakdown, she managed to hold back enough so I didn’t suffer lasting injuries.

But there was one thing clear. There was a cubbi behind this since all the signs matched up. Incredibly strong, and incredibly strong, and now that I think about it, beyond that there’s nothing that really says it was a cubbi. It could have been some extremely buff woman that decided that now was the day to become a serial killer. 

“So you’re just here to see if I’m safe? That’s really it.”

Jessica leaned back in the chair and let out a long, exhausted breath. “I also just want to relax. I’ve been working on this case night and day for an entire week. I nearly passed out, and after we left the scene, my partner told me to rest.”

“So you came here for that?”

“Got a problem with it?”

I shook my head. She could stay here as long as she wants, as long as she pays for any remaining days, of course. 

Jessica turned her head up and began sniffing out something. I had no clue what the fuck she was doing until she looked at me.

“Do you smell that?”

“Smell what?”

I tried smelling what she was sniffing out, but I couldn’t pick up on anything. 

“It smells like a back alley strip club in here.” 

She looked at me, wanting an explanation, and all I could do was look away and whistle. Just ignore her, and maybe the smell will go away. Although I doubt it.