A library is a place of solitude and yet it overflows with people. The voices of others scribbled across millions of pages. Whispers tucked away in the dustiest of tomes. A sanctuary of ideas bound only by the number of books its shelves may hold. It is this very place we find two creatures conversing. They hold visages so similar to ours they could be mistaken for human. They are NOT!

“Humanity is but a chrysalis for us. For we the evolved are the butterflies.” A booming male voice spoke.

“Butterflies are such a wasteful analogy.” Spoke a tri-toned female voice.

“Yet an apt one for in the confines of nature it is the only creature like us in that regard.” The man stood up from the marbled carved chair. He was a modern depiction of great Viking warrior Egill Skallagrimsson.

“How so?” She questioned.

“A caterpillar and a butterfly live not only in two different elements but are two entirely different creatures. It is by the cocoon one becomes another” He walked over and brushed a lock of pink hair out of her face. “The cocoon is where the caterpillar is liquified and its entire being is used as building blocks for something greater”

“So, the building blocks for me was her?” The woman asked as she investigated a reflection of hers in a far-off mirror.

“Yes, just as our newest member will be reborn from the flesh of the very meal you just polished off” The Viking grabbed a book off the shelf behind her.

“I am still not certain why we had to use him?” Her pondering question was echoed by the third arrival to the library.

“Yes, I too would also like to know why the boy.” The French man was bothered by the same question as the woman.

“It is quite simple. He was available, we are running out of time before the others arrive expecting a quartet, and somehow, he withstood being eaten alive for a whole week by those three women” the Viking pointed at the pink haired woman.

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“Oh, come now Gil” she laughed “we like to savor our meals”

“Yes, I know and yet somehow he survived.” Gil the modern-day Viking ruffled through the book in his hand and stopped at a certain page. “In my eighteen hundred plus years I have never seen a human survive your torture” Gil laughed as he turned the book towards them showing a drawing of a man being eaten alive.

“So, he gets to become one of us because he survived a little torture” the Frenchman snorted.

“Would you like to experience it then Victor?” The pink haired woman giggled as all three voices synchronized.

“No. I would not like to experience it Sakura” Victor retorted as he began to walk out of the room.

“Victor, I have a question for you while we are talking about the newbie. Who made you? I never asked when you decided to join us out of respect but now, I am curious” Gil looked over his book waiting for an answer.

Victor stopped dead in his tracks. He began to think back to the moment his life was changed. The moment he met a being much like himself yet entirely different. As every human is unique so is every Evolved who are born from them. He turned to answer the question asked by Gil, but his voice stuck in his throat.

“I…” Victor couldn’t utter anything about the terrible event that led him to being who or rather what he is now.

“It is alright many of us can’t voice those thoughts ourselves.” Gil rested the book down as he reassured Victor “I was more curious as to why you chose to join the two of us.”

“I had heard there was a pair who were trying find new members. I just couldn’t stand being alone so when I heard this, I went looking for you.”

“Wow! A rare moment of weakness” Sakura smiled as she hugged him.

A strange thing was occurring. A thing that only can be seen in nature documentaries and zoos. Beings of far superior physicality to humans sharing a tender moment. One might assume the remnants of their human mind may still reside in them but that was far from true. They were no more human than a god is an ant. Victor froze for a second and began to embrace Sakura as she had him.

“Wonderful. We are becoming a real family right before our newest member joins” Gil laughed as he hugged the both of them.

“I have a question” Sakura spoke up as she slipped out of the group embrace.

“Well?”

“When do the others arrive?” Gil parted from the group as he pondered how to answer.

“They arrive in six months I believe.”

“So, what are we preparing as a meal for our guests?” Gil and Victor looked at each other and laughed.

Sakura pouted “what?”

In nature even the most vicious of creatures can be soft and playful with their own kind when not on the hunt. This little exchange was the warmest thing this massive fortress of a home had ever seen. It was as strange as it was delightful. The wind swept through the house at it bellowed across the sharp corners as if laughing.

“Nothing” the pair reassured her.

The laughter and playful conversation went on into the night. The library a place of quiet contemplation was as a dinner table during a warm family meal. They exchanged stories of who they were when they were human, places they had been to, strange people they had eaten. Despite the topics they were at their most human-like on this night. However, no matter how human they appeared they were something more and less all at once.