Crystal

“Hazelnut, cream only and a corn muffin please,” Crystal asked the smiling barista.

“Sure thing miss, here is your change and I’ll be right back,” She turned and began on Crystal's order.

Crystal turned and was about to walk to the pick-up counter when something caught her eye. She looked at the barista again, huh, weird… She could have sworn the barista's ears had suddenly become elongated and sharp, something Crystal thought elves would have.

They were round, normal shaped ears. Crystal stepped over to the correct counter to make room for the next customer. “Thanks,” she said as her barista handed her her coffee and muffin.

“You’re welcome, have a nice day!” The barista answered back, and Crystal could have sworn for the briefest of moments that the barista's eyes were glowing bright green.

…………….

Monday came and went, with the only thing of note being her bridge project and the subsequent sight of lazy idiots floundering. On Tuesday, she found herself in the library. Taking deep breaths as she tried to make sense of what she had seen in her earlier classes. Several of her fellow classmates had flickered. Becoming half-beasts, long-eared, or strangely colored, a few with a mix of everything.

“Are you not feeling well?” A voice said from behind her. Turning, she was momentarily taken aback. Haley, putting books away on a shelf, had spoken to her first. In the years that she had been coming here, Crystal had always been the one to start the conversations with the taciturn student librarian.

“I… I think I might be seeing things,” Crystal answered honestly. “It’s a blink and you miss it sort of thing, but I swear, it’s like half the school stops being… I don’t know, fully human? I don't know if I’m conveying that properly, sorry.” She rubbed her forehead, and caught Haley pausing for a half-second in her motions.

“Hmm, weird,” Haley mused. “Do I shift in your eyes?” That was Haley, always looking for more information.

“No, haven’t seen you change at all, thank god,” she shivered, did the temp just drop or is there a draft somewhere? “I… was part of the crowd at Forsaken. Do you have anything that might explain what's going on? Some info on the after effects of aerosol drugs perhaps? I really don’t want to be crazy.”

“Fourth row and half-way down is the Psychology section. Second shelf from the bottom on the right is the section for Psychological Effects of Drugs and Intoxicants.” Haley rattled off easily.

“Thanks,” she headed for the row, waving to Haley as she did.

“Don’t get lost,”Haley whispered. She barely caught it, but, strangely, it stuck with her.

Over the next few days, Crystal spent her time making sure her friends didn’t have mental breakdowns over last week's events and studying for tests. Chemistry was kicking her down hard, so she needed to be on top of her game. Every so often she thought she saw more weird and strange people. While walking to classes or going out, a person would randomly flicker and glow, or turn into a monster.

By the time Wednesday morning came around, Crystal could have sworn she was losing her mind. She found some drugs in her research that would elicit these sorts of hallucinations but they were all ingested or injected, nothing for aerosols. Parts of the world, buildings, people and sometimes even the air and earth itself started to distort and shift, revealing passages, monsters, or faces respectively. She was glad school was finally over for the semester, she had been afraid of what she might see. The only place other than her home that was remotely normal was the school library, even there Haley was starting to throw weird glances at her.

Crystal

Curling up into a ball underneath her blanket, she shivered as her mind raced. What is happening? Is something wrong with me? Please be a dream, I want to wake up, for everything to be normal again. The house phone rang and she jumped. Frank was at work and Luke was still in school dealing with make-up classes. Walking out of her room she answered the phone, “H-hello?” her voice cracked a little and she winced at how bad it sounded.

“Crystal? It's Officer Drake, I would like to speak to you about something, don’t worry, you’re not in trouble or anything. Just a few minor details I need to close the case.” Crystal wavered, she didn’t want to go out with all the weird shit she was seeing, but...

“Ok, do you want me to come down to the police station?”

“No need, Lynn’s Coffee is almost deserted around this time, let's meet there,” he offered. She knew the local shop, and it had some of the best coffee in town.

“Sure, see you soon,” and with that she hung up and let out the breath she was holding. She needed to get out. Crystal knew a few routes that didn’t have much foot traffic, checking her appearance, she freshened up so that she didn’t look like she hadn’t slept in days, which she hadn’t.

……………….

Lynn’s Coffee was small, with an outdoor patio in the downtown area across from the Black Bear Bar, a place where fake ID’s go to die. Crystal caught sight of Officer Drake, and sat down across from him. “So,” he begins. “How are you doing?” Crystal puts on a smile.

“I’m doing well, some issues with school and trying to get my friends to open back up after last Friday and-” Crystal was distracted by a small movement to her left, she saw someone reading the local newspaper with a massive cup of coffee at the next table, but she couldn’t believe she hadn’t noticed him. The man wasn’t there before she sat down and not after either. It was as if he had just appeared.

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“Crystal? You ok?” Officer Drake's voice was full of concern.

“Yeah,” she said hurriedly. “Just tired I guess.” The man seemed familiar, but the newspaper was hiding his face. Seriously, who reads newspapers these days?

“So, what weird monsters have you been seeing?” Before her distracted mind could register what Officer Drake just asked, her mouth ran ahead.

“There was this girl whose hair was made of leaves and eyes like-” It was at this moment that her mind caught up with her mouth and registered his words. “Wait, I didn’t… how did you- do you KNOW?!” this last part came out a bit more aggressive and louder than she liked, but she was confused, angry, and didn’t give a fuck.

“The existence of monsters and the supernatural is a well-kept secret,” Officer Drake began calmly. “One that you should have never been exposed to. The fact that you have the Sight, or ability to see supernatural beings and wield magic, just complicates matters further.” He raised a hand to stop her questions.

“I’ve worked with your mother, who also had the Sight, and it seems you’ve inherited her gift. A gift that is rather easy to control once it’s recognized and guided. I’m sorry to spring this on you, but you are going to need someone to teach you.” He paused and looked over to the man reading the paper. Crystal, her mind somehow clarifying and believing the crazy he was spitting, after all how could she deny someone who believed her? She followed his gaze to the man at the table beside them and she gasped in shock and fear. He had put down the paper and it was the same man who had brutally killed those women and saved her life just the week before.

“Nice to formally meet you,” he began, his eyes observing her. “My name is Alikur, but most people call me Al. It will take some explaining but long story short I’m the cause of your Sight awakening. As such It’s my duty to teach you for the next six months.” The longer Crystal stared at the tall man, the more his form seemed to shimmer. He raised an eyebrow, “I thought so. Your Sight is powerful, before you see what I truly am, I will warn you in advance. Yes, I am a monster. So please don’t scream when your Sight breaks through my illusion.”

“Take a few deep breaths, emotions can cause your control to go haywire,” he said in a calm but firm tone. “To purposefully pull back the illusion I’m wearing, you will have to focus. Steel your nerves, and imagine a window in front of you.” Crystal did as she was told, if only to quell the bubbling fear in her gut and stop the nausea inducing shimmering blob that was now Al.

Forcing herself to calm down, she closed her eyes and pictured a window. After several deep breaths, she could think clearly again. Crystal understood what he was trying to do. She imagined the window opening, revealing the truth right outside. Opening her eyes, she could see it. Her window, warping at the edges of her vision as she saw Al for what he truly was. Crystal did the only thing she could do.

Alikur

He looked at Crystal, now collapsed neatly in her chair, looking as if she had just dozed off. “Huh,” Drake scratched his head. “She fainted.” Al looked at him. Drake hadn’t said anything while Al had attempted to give his first lesson in magical focus.

“No shit Sherlock,” Al began, seizing an opportunity to release a bit of stress. “The only way that could have been more obvious is if she had stood up and either swooned or face-planted.” Drake shook his head, glaring at Al.

“I’m going to inform her family that she will be staying in secure custody, not in trouble, just in possible danger due to evidence that she has provided that made her a target for the criminals who used the attendees at the Forsaken Den as unwitting test subjects for an experimental aerosol drug.” Drake's explanation, a backstory for the incident at Forsaken Den, gave a very good reason for Crystal to not be returning home anytime soon.

“Let me guess,” Al began. “I have to carry her back to NEID by myself.” Drake's smile gave Al the clear answer. “Fine but you’re fitting the bill for clothing.” Drake's smile faded as he eyed Al suspiciously.

“Don’t you make your own clothes?” he asked, remembering Al’s secret Santa gifts of home-made leather jackets and jerkins. Al raised his eyebrow and jerked his head at Crystal.

“Do you really think she would willingly wear leather made from fresh animal skins? No, add to the fact that she would definitely see it as weird by her standards.” He sighed heavily again, thinking over the situation. “On second thought, shake her awake. If she suddenly wakes up in a stranger's office building with the likes of Lauren and Boss, it’s going to get awkward real quick.”

Crystal's eyes were barely fluttering as Drake tried to gently shake her awake. “Don’t you dare call Ruby, I haven’t forgotten the BBQ incident,” He growled. Al chuckled at that, Ruby had drawn a mustache with barbeque sauce on Ryan when he had passed out drunk. He had woken up with his face covered in ants.

“Don’t worry, I left her at the office,” Al chimed. “Now if you want to wake someone who clearly doesn’t want to be woken up, you know you have to apply a bit of force.” standing up, he nudged Drake out of the way. Not actually wanting to hurt her much, he used the same method he used on Ruby when she was being lazy. Albeit, with my tail instead of a magic flail of destructive force. His tail came around and struck.

Crystal shot upright, her eyes bulging, “FUCK!” she cried out as she grabbed her thigh, where Al had whipped with his tail. Whoops, a little too much force.

Drake looked at him, scowling. “Was that really necessary? Just because the area is warded, doesn’t mean you can do whatever you want.”

Al raised an eyebrow, “So you’re angrier that I made you spend more energy than me essentially whipping her?” Crystal looked at Drake in horror and he began to stutter, a look of shock on his face.

“Th-that is not what I meant and you know it jackass!” he turned to Crystal, “Sorry, I am mad at him for hitting you but we do need to get moving, I’m the one holding up the barrier keeping people from seeing or hearing anything strange.” He sat back down, sighing deeply.

“We really should be going, I’m hoping Ruby and Lauren didn’t start anything, and it would be good for you to meet the Boss,” Al said to Crystal as he took out a slip of paper. “Press this to your thigh and you’ll be as good as new.” Handing her the slip, he began to walk away.

“Hey wait!” she yelled after him as she pressed the slip to her thigh, in a flash of soft white light it vanished. She began to follow him, “I… I don’t- you appeared as a fucking minotaur! How are you like this again? Where are you going? Why the fuck did you hit me?! Who the fuck are Ruby and Lauren?! Are you going to explain any-holy shit that works fast...”

Al sighed, waving goodbye to Drake, who gave him a look of pity as he walked away. “In the order of questions asked, as I don’t believe in that ‘You’ll figure it out yourself in time’ bullshit,” he began, not bothering to check if she was following. “Yes, I am a minotaur, I look like this again because you lost focus and it is a very powerful illusion. I hit you because there is still daylight out and I, and now you as well since you’re my apprentice, have shit to do.

“Ruby is an earth elemental that looks like a child, you met her before, she wanted to make you a pet. Lauren is a vampire coworker of mine who doesn’t get along with Ruby. Finally, yes I am going to explain everything that I am capable of as that is my job.” He took a breath, finally looking over his shoulder at her. she was following him, her eyes wild but focused. Good, she’s listening.