“Hmm-Mfhmm,” I mumbled, mid-chew on a piece of buttery sashimi that might have been sent from heaven itself. Seriously, have you ever had genuine fresh wasabi? It’s like a tiny punch of flavor and fire, but the good kind. The kind you’d die for. Or, you know, undead for -undie for?- Whatever.

But back to my musings.

Things were already getting crazy. Between the experience I have been accumulating -that I still had no idea what to do with- the quests, mysterious race modifications, and this bizarre gaming system that only I could see. Let’s just say I wasn’t exactly thrilled about explaining it all to someone else. I mean, who admits to getting life advice from what is essentially an invisible AI overlord? Dom might think I was nuts, and frankly, I wasn’t sure I could blame her.

“So, who brought you here?” she asked, snapping me out of my internal debate.

“Oh, her name’s Jinx. She’s-” I started to explain, but of course, the universe had other plans.

“Well, well, well, who’s this?” a familiar voice chimed in. I turned my head toward the sound, and sure enough, Jinx was walking up -arm in arm with another girl who could have been her twin. They approached with a synchronized confidence that practically radiated trouble.

“That’s Dom,” I said.

“Nope, that’s Hopper,” Dom corrected, her tone flat.

“Wait, hold on,” I said, realization striking me -I’m not always slow on the uptake. I gestured vaguely between the two newcomers. “This is your sister?”

“Guilty,” Jinx said with a grin.

“Oh wow, small world,” Dom replied, raising an eyebrow. I could tell she was being sarcastic.

Jinx gestured between us as she made the introductions. “Hopper, this is Declan. Declan, Hopper. And this is Dom.” She paused to give me a wink. “Nice to meet you,” she said reaching out to shake Dom’s hand.

Dom nodded. “Nice to meet you, Jinx.” She shook Jinx’s hand and then tilted her head towards her sister, “Hopper.”

Hopper smiled warmly. “And nice to meet you, Declan. I’ve heard a lot about you.”

There was something going on that I didn’t quite understand. Hopper didn’t look like the person Dom had been talking about, but for some reason there was an undercurrent of animosity there that raised my neck hairs.

“All good things, I hope,” I said, trying not to sound awkward.

Jinx interjected, “Anyway, Hopper’s been dying to meet you, Declan.”

“Really?” I asked, slightly surprised. “Oh, by the way, where is Nile?”

“He should be here any minute,” Hopper said.

“When I told him that you were here, Declan, well… let’s just say he was surprised,” Jinx added.

“Surprised and excited,” Hopper finished, glancing toward the door.

And just like that, Nile burst into the cafeteria, practically dragging someone else along with him. His expression was a mix of disbelief and excitement as he locked eyes -or, well, tried to- with me.

“Holy shit, dude. Declan! What the hell? What are you doing here?” Nile exclaimed, loud enough to turn a few heads.

“It’s a long story,” I said at the exact same time Dom blurted, “It’s a long story.”

Nile laughed awkwardly, the sound filling the air with a touch of unease. The tension between him and Dom was palpable, the kind of thing you could cut with a knife. A few beats of silence passed, heavy and awkward.

Yeah something was definitely going on. I needed to do some sleuthing to determine what it was exactly, though.

Dom stood abruptly. “You know what? I’ve got a class I need to get to. It was really wonderful to see you Declan, look me up later, okay? We’ll get coffee and talk -we have a lot more to catch up on.”

“Yeah, Dom, for sure,” I said, watching her leave – the strange distance hanging between her and Nile like the Gap Chasm of Xanth.

As the door swung shut behind her, Jinx broke the heavy silence. “Well. That wasn’t awkward at all.”

“Tell me about it,” I muttered.

Nile dropped into the seat next to me like a wrecking ball of energy. Totally ignorant of the drama he was embroiled in. But the thing is, I knew it was an act. “Declan, man, what’s up? How the hell did you get here?”

“Whoa, whoa, hold on,” I said, raising a hand. “Before I dive into my epic tale of misfortune and questionable decisions, let me hear your story first. Dom gave me the highlights, but she left out the juicy details. Spill.”

Before Nile could answer, the guy he’d come in with stepped forward. “Hi, I’m Jester,” he said, reaching out to shake my hand.

Awkward silence followed as I didn’t immediately respond. Jester blinked, looking slightly offended. “Oh, uh, sorry, man. I-”

Hopper cut in with a slap to Jester’s arm. “He can’t see, genius.”

Stolen story; please report.

Jester’s eyes widened. “Oh crap, dude. I didn’t -uh, sorry! Let’s, uh, start over?”

I smirked and extended my hand in his direction. “Hi, I’m Declan. I’m blind. Nice to meet you.”

Jester let out a nervous laugh and shook my hand. “Man, I’m such an asshole. Sorry about that.”

“You got that right,” Nile chimed in with a grin, before freezing mid-thought. “Wait -blind? Dude, what happened?”

“Vamps.” I gestured vaguely toward my eyes. “They didn’t take kindly to me trying to save a damsel in distress.”

Jinx flinched slightly. “I’m so sorry.”

Nile turned to her, incredulous. “You’re the damsel?”

“Guilty,” Jinx said sheepishly, avoiding eye contact.

Nile let out a low whistle. “Man, I need to hear this whole story. Declan, seriously, how did you and Jinx even get here?” He leaned forward conspiratorially and said in a whisper that could be heard all the way to the entrance of the diner. “What are you?”

I leaned back, smirking. “Whoa, buddy. I asked first. What’s your story?”

Nile leaned back, ready to dive in, while Hopper muttered to Jester, “This is going to be good.”

“I don’t know,” Nile said, frustration etched into his features. “And neither does anyone else. I went through the sorting system, like everyone else, and the damn thing just kept spitting out ‘unknown.’ Over and over. It was like the damn thing couldn’t figure me out.”

“Okay, what’s the sorting system?” I asked, leaning forward, curiosity piqued. Color me intrigued -was it related to the system that I seemed to have in my head?

“It’s how they figure out what you are -who you are. You know, like what kind of… Supernatural you are,” Hopper interjected, clearly enjoying the chance to explain.

“I call them Sups. It just makes sense,” Nile added enthusiastically. Hopper rolled her eyes.

“Fair enough. Being a ‘supernatural’ is a bit of a mouthful,” I replied, nodding. I focused my Sight on each of their forms, and Nile was a convoluted mess. No wonder the sorting hat couldn’t discern what he was. I knew that if I spent enough time studying, I’d be able to figure it out though.

Jester was occluded, though he gave off impish vibes. Definitely demonic, but not in the eat your soul sort of way -more of a trickster type. What he was hiding though, I couldn’t tell. I knew one quick and surefire way to get the complete download -but using Essence Drain, especially on people I’d like to stay friends with- didn’t seem like the smartest idea.

I turned my attention to Jinx’s sister, and her pattern was much easier to interpret. She was human, that much was certain. But a species of human that I’d never seen before. There were certain markers in her pattern that I saw reflected in Nile’s. But that’s where the similarities ended.

Personality wise I could tell that Hopper was sharp, like her sister Jinx, and there was an effortless charisma about her. The resemblance between the two was striking, but Hopper carried herself with a slightly more analytical vibe, like the kind of person who could recite magical trivia just to win a bet.

“So, the sorting system?” I prompted, looking between them. Did I feel bad snooping using my super Sight? No. Next question please.

“Right,” Hopper continued, gesturing animatedly. “It identifies your species, your race, where you fit in. Vampires, shifters, Djinn, Fae’Ri, demons, angels, humans -basically all the magical flavors of Baskin-Robbins. And then there are humans like Casters and Seers who can do magic.” Casters and Seers -maybe that’s what I saw that Nile and Hopper shared. Jinx did say she was some sort of spellcaster.

I’ll admit -I was a bit jealous of Nile. He was surrounded by beautiful ladies, and he didn’t have to die to get his powers. Not gonna lie, I felt I had the short end of the stick.

“Pretty sure I’m human,” Nile added with a shrug. “And so are they.” He tilted his head toward Jinx and Hopper, before looking at me, clearly fishing for confirmation.

I schooled my expression, keeping it neutral even as I thought to myself, Not a chance. I’d seen enough of Jinx to know there was more to her story. Instead, I just nodded. “Okay, so the sorting system says what you are, but for some reason, it couldn’t figure you out?” I asked.

“Exactly.” Nile ran a hand through his hair, exasperated. “It’s supposed to classify your species and/or race, but I guess I’m some kind of anomaly. So now I have free reign to go wherever I want, study whatever I want, until… well, until someone figures out what I am.”

“Interesting,” I said noncommittally, filing that information away. “I guess you and I are in similar situations, then. The Director told me I have free reign too. I can stay, explore, decide if I even want to be here.”

Jinx turned to me, her expression sharp. “Wait, you met the Director? How did you even get in here? I left you in the glade! When I came back to get you, you were gone.”

I opened my mouth to answer, but Nile cut in with a mischievous grin. “Oh, he’s always been nosy. If there’s trouble within a mile radius, he’ll find it.”

“Excuse me?” I said, raising an eyebrow so high it could’ve swept the nonexistent cobwebs from the ceiling. “Care to clarify?”

“Okay, fine,” Nile amended, holding up his hands. “When I wasn’t the one getting us into trouble, I could always count on you to step in and handle that for me.”

“Thank you,” I said, my tone dripping with sarcasm. “Anyway, I couldn’t just sit out there in the glade. It was pretty and all, but I was with a couple of familiars in unfamiliar territory -I had no idea where I was or how long you’d be. So I started exploring. Figured, why wait? So I bum rushed the shimmery wall thing, and that’s when the Guardian found me.”

Jinx groaned and I could hear the slap of her hand hitting her forehead.

“Wait, you met the Guardian?” Hopper said, her eyes wide. “Holy shit. And you’re still in one piece?”

“Yeah, that’s what Dom said,” I replied with a smirk. “But honestly, she was nice.”

“She?” Hopper blinked, her voice tinged with disbelief. “I thought the Guardian was some massive dragon or something.”

“Not quite,” I said, leaning back. “She’s about your height. Not a dragon. Well, not entirely, anyway. Her skin looked like tiny, shimmering scales, and her eyes -like they could see everything. She called me a Walker, said I was special, and then let me in. Of course, after that, the guards picked me up immediately and dragged me to the Director.”

“Wow,” Jinx said, staring at me. “So, you’ve already met the Guardian and the Director? That’s not exactly normal.”

“Yeah, and the Director gave me two choices,” I continued, lowering my voice slightly. “I can either hunt down the vampire who turned me to break the bond and cure my vampirism, or I can stay, train, and… well, embrace this new life.” My gaze drifted to the corner of the cafeteria, where a group of vampires sat in their dimly lit section, sipping from their goblets. Blood, obviously. “I haven’t met my ‘kind’ yet,” I added dryly. “Still figuring out how I feel about that.”

“And if you stay, you’d live here?” Jinx asked, her tone quieter now.

“Pretty much,” I replied. “It’s not the worst deal. But, to be honest, I thought I was alone in all this.” I glanced at her, then at Nile. “The fact that you’re here, and Dom too… it makes this whole thing feel a little less overwhelming.”

Jinx smiled faintly, her expression softening. “No offense, but you’re not exactly subtle. Trouble seems to follow you.”

“And here I thought I was the picture of discretion,” I quipped.

Nile snorted. “Discretion? You’re about as subtle as a minotaur in a china shop.”

“Hey, I’m blind now,” I shot back. “At least give me credit for not tripping over everything.”

Jester laughed awkwardly, breaking the tension. “Okay, okay, but seriously -what’s a Walker?”

I shrugged. “Your guess is as good as mine. All I know is, the Guardian seemed to think it was important.”

“Well, if the Guardian thinks you’re important, I guess we’d better keep an eye on you,” Hopper said, her tone half-teasing, half-serious.

“Great,” I said, grinning despite myself. “More eyes watching me. Just what I need.”